kantong Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 gday raiders, im heading up to port stephens in a few weeks with a couple of mates. We are looking to hire a boat/tinnie to go out fishing. All of my mates put together have as much experience with boating as elephants have with flying. Just wanted to find out some safe areas around that area where we can venture and what areas to avoid. Especially help with dangerous areas to avoid that would be great! Things like how far should I take the boat out, what conditions would be not suitable for going out.... reefs etc Im thinking about charters, but may be a lil costly, but if you had a good experience please pm me. Ive never fished port stephens before, so be interested in what it has to offer, should be good to get out of sydney for a little bit! Cheers, kantong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njsconst Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 (edited) kantong, If your going to hire a tinny I would stick inside and NOT venture out past Tomaree headland. There is a good spot between the northern tip of Soldiers Pt and Middle Island. The water drops from about 12mts down to 25mts, it's a massive hole. Good spot early morning or dusk for school jewies, bream and smallish snapper. Another good spot is the huge sand flats south of Tea Gardens for whiting. However the small stingrays can be a pest (No Steve Irwin jokes!). Best fishing I've done up there was in Feb 2006 out at the FAD (22kms from Tomaree Headland). Got about 30 dolphin fish in 1.5hrs. Best of luck, I hope the weather gets better. NJS Edited September 11, 2006 by njsconst Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inked Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 gday I am pretty sure that hire boats have restrictions on where they can be used, and that you will find that you are limited to the bay and can't head out wide ( past windawoppa). It's a beautiful part of the world up there, i'll be up there in a few weeks time with the mrs. i'm stinging to go dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 Have you checked the web to see if you can actualy hire boats in Pt Stephens ?? I get up there several times a year & cannot recall seeing boats for hire or hire boats on the water. Could be wrong , but check it out. If you end up land based , try the retaining wall at the marina , always seems to do well or just inside Tomaree headland. A walk along the Nelson Day beach can produce whiting . There is also another retaining wall at the Soldiers Point ramp , again , worth a try Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kantong Posted September 11, 2006 Author Share Posted September 11, 2006 gday Geoff http://www.psboats.nelsonbay.com/ they have some for hire. not sure how much $$. thanks for the LB tips. Will heed the caution of staying inside the heads, cheers raiders. How do I get to the ship wreck on Stockton? ill be staying near shoal bay, how far is the drive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abitfishy Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 gday Geoff http://www.psboats.nelsonbay.com/ they have some for hire. not sure how much $$. thanks for the LB tips. Will heed the caution of staying inside the heads, cheers raiders. How do I get to the ship wreck on Stockton? ill be staying near shoal bay, how far is the drive? There are hire boats at the marina where the dolphin watching tours etc leave from, as well as D'alboras marina. Take your pick. However when I was up there without a boat, the ones from the dolphin watch marina were older but bigger and more comfortable which may be a factor if you are lacking in experience on a boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dezmo Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 Pretty sure you can hire tinnies from the marina at soldiers point. There are plenty of small fish (bream, whiting snapper) around this area, but i have never done very well in the area. Still great fun however. My advice would be to keep an eye out for the oyster racks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kantong Posted September 12, 2006 Author Share Posted September 12, 2006 gday dezmo with those oyster racks, is there a certain distance that i need to be from it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 cant you hire boab hire boats at port stephens. they are equiped with everything and you can takem offshore. www.boabhire.com.au or 0421919305 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kantong Posted September 12, 2006 Author Share Posted September 12, 2006 wow!! i didnt even know that existed! i was like wtf is a boab? but dang no boat license..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 (edited) There are restrictions as to where you can take the hire boats - not anywhere near the heads, I don't know about Boabs, I've not seen any, try anchoring near the oyster racks around soldiers pt for healthy bream, deep water west of middle island for bream as well, maybe an early jew, the weather usually restricts you to the sth side of the bay in a small boat this time of year, if the weather allows you could head over to Corrie Island for bream, whiting and maybe some flathead. Salmon, tailor, bream off the beaches at the moment, or try the ocean rocks for pigs and bream, the breakwall in the bay is firing for luderick now, and good catches of bream as well, you should be able to get weed from steadies tackle shop in the bay. Enjoy your holiday in gods country, while you still can. Edited September 12, 2006 by Yoda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inked Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 http://www.waterways.nsw.gov.au/docs/portstepn_front.pdf this map shows the area in detail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kantong Posted September 15, 2006 Author Share Posted September 15, 2006 gday yoda, u mentioned corrie island. Which side of corrie island? Just looking at the map inked provided (Thanks for that) there looks like deepish water near Boondaba island. Any raiders vouch for its fishing quality? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Oyster racks to the west of Corrie, Rocks to the North. West of Boondaba (middle) Island is a popular spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kantong Posted September 15, 2006 Author Share Posted September 15, 2006 cheers Yoda, sounds like you know alot bout port stephens, you live there? Just confirmed my accom, staying at anna bay. any boating action/hire around there? Ive read some reports of kings being taken in around fingal bay, and snapper. I hope they are still around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Yes mate, I've lived and fished here since I was 6, that's about 40 years, Anna Bay is tops for beach and Rock fishing, call in and see the guys at Anna Bay Bottlo/Bait for the lowdown, there's lots of good beach/rock options around Anna Bay, but if the weather's up then you may have to head into Nelson Bay where you can hire boats, if you want to see some seasoned blackfisherman in action then head to the Breakwater in the Bay at the top or bottom of the tide. Hope you enjoy your holiday and catch a few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inked Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 hey yoda, got any hot spots over the other side. we are heading up in a couple of weeks to hawkes nest. Got a little runabout that will give us access to pretty much anywhere. whats the fishing like around pindimar and bundabar cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoda Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 (edited) there is pretty well good bream around these areas at this time of year, boondabah (middle) island fishes well on the western side as it is a broken reef patch with deep holes, but the current rages north and south of it as it is a bottleneck for the tide, you can fish the deep holes on the slack tides but it is usually best in the western lee out of the tide anyway, if you are staying at Hawks Nest it is probably a good idea to try around the Bridge and around Corrie, You might like to try Hawks Nest Beach for Salmon & Tailor or bream, or venture up to the Gibber, try Jimmies beach in the evening for bream, if you have a decent boat then you should try around the islands for snapper. Good luck mate, let us know how you go. Go see the guys at Hawks nest tackle, they'll give you the good oil. Edited September 16, 2006 by Yoda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Reely Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Watch out for Bommies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inked Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 thanks heaps Yoda I'll be up there in about 3 weeks time, so if you are about I'd love to catch up, shout you a beer and pick your brain on the area cheers dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now