Report On Hawkesbury Jewfish Mission Wed 25/7/o7

[jewgaffer]

REPORT ON TARGETTING JEWFISH AT HAWKESBURY TODAY FROM JEWGAFFER - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED -GREAT WEATHER - PERFECT BOATING DAY - PRETTY POOR FISHING - BUT GOT WHAT WE SET OUT TO DO .

INHLANZI MAY LIKE TO ADD A FEW MORE DETAILS LATER AND A FEW PICS HE TOOK WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY

Hi everyone. this should have been a pretty short and sweet fishing report as inhlanzi and i report back to you on our day trip to the hawkesbury. but i thought while i do have a bit of time i would give you a little bit more to digest so that you can give a bit more thought to solving the jewie riddle within this rather lengthy report

i'll let you make up your own minds whether or not you follow along with with what i am talking about in your quest for a few trophy size jewfish which are often around in good numbers at this time of year simply by looking at the size of the jewie scales at most of the hawkesbury boat ramps. it seems someone must be catching them with fishing lines. it don't look like those jewies would fit into crab traps to me.

I received a pm from inhlanzi late last night which led to a telephone call from him in that unmistakable broad africaan accent telling me he was going to fish the hawkesbury for jewies today and asking my opinion on the barometric pressure for his jewie prospects and seeking my advice on possible hot spots in the conditions

i suggested he fish box head for livies and motor out to fish around the reef in the bay around the back of lion island and should he have tailor chopping up his squid consistently on the bottom to immediately move out to the pinnacle, drop down in hook size for the chance of getting snapper as well and fish the remainder of the run out and then find a good sandy stretch between lion island and wide of walker for the run back in.

i informed him that in my opinion is was definately a big no no for fishing closer in such as at juno in this particular run in.

i advised him that if they do come in jewies may well travel in packs out in the open thru the sand from along the side of lion island into the walker side of the mouth during the run back i today. i thought thursday would be better though due to a west and north westerly being forecast immediately after the recent southerly and south westerly influence which has just only recently gone to west which would only bring further cold fall off the ranges and lower water temperatures in the rivers.

i told mike the opposite to a south easterly, a north easterly and a move towards easterly has been more often than not proven to make a lot of difference to predator fish such as kingfish hunting back running inside river mouths and further up into rivers for marauding jewfish coming in from offshore

mike said he was dead set on gunyah and wanted to be there at daybreak.

i told him in that case i would take my time and meet him at 11am for the run in and he could pick me up at brooklyn.

it's amazing how keen fishos can get to meet and become good fishing mates on this site:-

i had noticed a bloke in a boston whaler who knew what he was doing and fishing away quite determinedly at a couple of good spots several times before over a year or so as being the boat it is, a boston whaler has a certain aura and a perception about it that lingers on in ones mind.

the whaler resembled my own mustang centre console in shape and had a proper jewie set up.

in fact i had my eye out for a boston whaler for about two years before i sold my yalta deep sea boat but had to settle on a mustang centre console which is also one helluva jewie boat to my mind anyway. still i had always wanted to buy a boston whaler for its excellent fishability and it's intrinsic value

the bloke in the boston whaler turned out to be inhlanzi, a fishraider who i know now as mike . inhlanzi once pulled along side me at gunyah for a chat. i had no idea he was a fellow member of fishraider who had exchanged chatter and gave me top advice on other matters in quite a few posts not recognising we had struck one another before and nor did i .

when i first saw mike i was pretty impressed. i immediatley said to myself this bloke knows what he is doing. it was great to see a bloke by himself handling a little drogue and sea anchor in the gunyah whirlpool and spreading out various livies in a competent and tradesman like manner.

he reminded me of a tuna hooper and longliner all in one.

cripes i thought to myself this guy knows all the ropes and was as busy as a roof truss carpenter in his boston whaler.

he had the appearance of a fisho on a life threatening mission to catch jewfish in a hurry and airfreight thirty of them to south africa .

i could tell he knew the exact spot i was in on that day and had to settle for almost a no go zone in that pretty narrow sandy drop off, around a pile of rocks and snags which in reality can only accommodate one boat within about 20 square meters around that particular jewie thoroughfare.

anywhere outside that perimeter is only a rough chance of a jewie hook up, a haven for boggle eyed yellow mourays and a real bad anchor buster in the 70' sections as well.

anyway i met mike at brooklyn after he fished from 6 am - 11am for only a wheel barrow sized ray as he was set on fishing at gunyah till i arrived at brooklyn

to his credit mike persevered with catching livies early and got us a good supply of yakkas and tailor ready for the session together from 11 am to the top of the tide after which mike put the boston back on the trailer around about 5pm

i must admit if mike hadn't had to go to a professional consultancy meeting, old jewgaffer here would have fished on for another 24 hours as the conditions had just began to change to north east with a big chance of further towards east in the morning

the result for our session finished as a good day on the water but again a poor fishing day

after many hours of presenting perfect baits and getting almost nothing mike got a nice a nice healthy flathead which he generously donated for dinner for shirl and myself. mike got another ray, a pretty big shovel nose, and the jewie was my only contribution for the day besides something i was about to gaff but decided to shoot instead.

i would like to say this . tomorrow, thursday with a north easterly aspect should be a much better day for the marauders, the schoolies and the big late winter jewfish to come in.

in my saying this you should remember that last year's warm normal currents due in spring didn't reach us until late february march and i reckon everyone had aweful fishing results in coastal estuaries over last spring and Christmas.

thus those warm current have hung on much longer this winter . i can tell you more too. when we froze in our boat's this winter it would have been very much warmer if we had been floating around in the water. this info may help everyone think about what the marauding jewies are going to be like soon when they replace these loitering soapies which were all over the place before the big floods and still hanging around well after them even on the hairtail night.

the place has been lousie with sea lice, and other puffed up two headed gastropods and worse according to what humesy and myself encountered by catching 14 eels on a beautiful boating and picnic day on sunday .

i believe this is the change we have been waiting on for nearly 2 months. in my opinion top times for tomorrow are from 11am till 10pm in three close together locations .

my mustang is off the road having a prop repaired by solas propellers in queensland.

does any one want to go thurday and if so we can meet up at brooklyn at 11am ?

short notice is no problem for me and i will be there with bells on

inhlanzi will get the few photos out of his camera and they will be added today

cheers

jewgaffer

and thanks inhlanzi your boat was fabulous and we had really did have a great day in that whaler.

yep inhlanzi we sure will have to team up regularly, i tell ya, and that mike was a very nice thing to suggest

p.s the name inhlanzi is "very catching" and means "fish" in africaan but in my own opinion it really means "fish raider" in africaan and then some mike !

Edited July 27, 2007 by jewgaffer

[kantong]

thats some great information there JewGaffer. Will have to remember it when I get a boat

[nargse1]

great report....... ill do the same and take notes for when i get a boat

[inhlanzi]

G'day Raiders I will add a few pics for Jewgaffer of our trip in the Hawkesbury River yesterday.

Pic of jewgaffer with a shovelnose at the rail bridge on the Hawkesbury.

Jewgaffer in action with the tiger rods.

cheers

inhlanzi

[thereddragon]

Hi Jewgaffer

Top report, excellent info. well done to both of you.

[Boban]

Jewgaffer,

Looks like I missed out Thursday, but would you be interested in a day/night next week?

Let me know if you are. I would love to meet up with you.

Cheers

Mitch

[abiasin]

well done guys sounds like a great day on the water. great pic too the water looks great.

[johnno]

Great report as always JG

Good to see you got out with a fellow member

[VA911]

Jewgaffer,

top report again,

cant wait to learn more. looked perfect near the bridge. Not much traffic on weekdays i take it. Looks like you were in the eddy.

[jewgaffer]

Jewgaffer,

top report again,

cant wait to learn more. looked perfect near the bridge. Not much traffic on weekdays i take it. Looks like you were in the eddy.

no vince i was with inhlanzi in the boston whaler

jewgaffer

[Dorado 2]

I really enjoyed reading your report JG normally I tire of long reports and to be honest started reading the bottom half first but had to go and read the top half as well. Nice to see how this site brings poeple together and end up being good mates!!

Cheers

[nightstalker]

no vince i was with inhlanzi in the boston whaler

jewgaffer

Jewgaffer, i am reading your posts the way daniel listens to mr miagi in karate kid.

It seems i have so much to learn.

thinking of trying the end of the run in at one of the spots you mentioned in your report on sat night.

the forecast is for ssw pushing against the last of the run in, which will prob mean a drop in barometric pressure.

pretty locked in due to work for days to fish, but do you have any thoughts on how it looks for sat evening.

i have put many hours in on the jew and finally cracked it about 3 weeks ago on the Macleay with a 13kilo fish but looking forward to scoring the hawkesbury jew my old man and i chased when we were clueless 20 years ago.

i will be chasing squid, tailor and yakkas for livies and only fishing that last 1 1/2 hours of run in on dusk before running up the creek for a hairy, again for old times sake - the old man liked nothing more than wrestling with a big hairy.

nightstalker.........

[jewgaffer]

Jewgaffer, i am reading your posts the way daniel listens to mr miagi in karate kid.

It seems i have so much to learn.

thinking of trying the end of the run in at one of the spots you mentioned in your report on sat night.

the forecast is for ssw pushing against the last of the run in, which will prob mean a drop in barometric pressure.

pretty locked in due to work for days to fish, but do you have any thoughts on how it looks for sat evening.

i have put many hours in on the jew and finally cracked it about 3 weeks ago on the Macleay with a 13kilo fish but looking forward to scoring the hawkesbury jew my old man and i chased when we were clueless 20 years ago.

i will be chasing squid, tailor and yakkas for livies and only fishing that last 1 1/2 hours of run in on dusk before running up the creek for a hairy, again for old times sake - the old man liked nothing more than wrestling with a big hairy.

nightstalker.........

Jewgaffer25/07/07

hi nightstalker yep just read your stuff and tweeked up quite a bit and you were so right about the barometric pressure as i just checked in my boat and the guage has dropped quite a bit to a normal 1016 and wow she stopped at steady so go for it for frid sat or sun. as i think next week may mean more sw influence and another cold snap on top and struth here we go with sw and looks blizzards and snow again

i thought i would answer your questions in this manner.

ONE

if i was fishing for hairtail i could be in hairtail grounds not fishing for hairtail if that makes sense to you

in this case i would have lumo tubing betwen two smaller hooks, in this case 6/0s and tubing above the top one just in case and with another type of bi catch in mind with the jewies in those grounds and simply do my no hairtail chant.

in my case the this is due to multi line tangles and my own dilemna would be whether it's best to use catch and release techniques with a comfort lift or just shoot them. no offence to hairtailer fishos it's still a great past time but i once i got so crook from dinner on hairtail that even my teeth ached and then my gums bled and nowadays even the thought of a hairtail turns shirl off her chips.

oh i may as well add this so you'll see the effect hairtail can have on others. i was tied up to a yellow buoy (the outside one of the two mate) in the current fishing in 70' at wobby near the big blue yacht there with my mate italian sam and my other grandson james aged 10 at the time and more of a four eyed library type kid than the fisho his litlle brother, little byron, my great little livie catcher and my bad back deckie.

i passed a rod that was bendng away like a beauty to young james to play a jewie but sam got it into the boat for james in the form of 6' pike eel which actually lurched at little james who hid behind the centre console and was so scared he wanted to ring his mother.

not long after that sam caught a hairtail, decided he wanted his hooks back and sam suddenly screamed louder than the noise from the party house opposite as the hairtail had grabbed hold of his thumb.

james was spooked for the night, even saw serpents in shadows and became horribly seasick in mill pond flat water and said pa i don't think i ever want to go jew fishing again please pa.

TWO

the jews seem to be acting different this year due to the abnormal conditions hanging in for so long.

the place is still loaded with schools of soapies and i reckon you just have to think real hard as to where and when the schoolies, which my mate jimmy bowers often says he regards schoolies as being jews from 7 kilos up, will come in as marauders.

i believe there is two different strains of jewies on the hawkesbury and that is the colonized ones are unlike in habits than their gutters of stockton beach cousins who come into maraud the rivers and go in the same manner as the iluka and yamba, south west rocks and of course the ballina versions.

just to make the word "colonized jewies" a little clearer it seems colinazation is slowly happening way up the georges and more so it appears since the deep piloned bangor bridge was built

when you are fishing at hawkesbury you have to think like "which is which"? that i am fishing for as i seem to be getting zilch jewfish.

so off goes the pumpkin and on goes your head and you may well say ok everything must be wrong - weather, atmosphere , barometric pressure, rain wind and you say what the hell is it!

for a good example then you might say wow i got it ! i will fish only the long deep sandy runs away from the reefs and rocks because....! and i'll see if the wow happens again this time and so on.........got it ?

night stalker your name is very appropriate particularly in the case of the "marauders", the marauding in from the sea type jewies, as the local jewies have got well and truly used to aqua marine motor bikes doing burn outs up river and all the usual other deafening noises in the hawkesbury so you need to think hard and pre plan what the jewies are likely to be doing on that particular day and adapt or relocate to allow for any changes in their habits and i believe if a good brain thinks harder than a fishbrain a good result will come for sure

i really hope this helps

regards

jewgaffer.

Edited July 27, 2007 by jewgaffer

[nightstalker]

Awesome jewgaffer, i do know what you mean by not hairy fishing and will pursue that, will however have a crack at a big marauder on dusk pinning my chances on a kilo or so tailor - should be able to get my hands on one with a bit of effort.

Sometimes i wonder if i'm smarter than the fish but after a being a 20's idiot - i've gone back to my roots and thinking hard like a fish for several years now.

so much stuff i saw as a kid with my old man is making sense now and have some great fishing mates that i get really deep with theories about.

would love to check in and run them by you from time to time. I'm also a keen geographer and thinking harder about barometric influences, offshore currents and the like.

we've recently got the north coast snapper pretty wired scoring regularly in the five to eight kilo bracket but would love to get my backyard wired on some of those marauders - not to abuse them but just to experience the thrill of working the buggers out.

The one i got on the macleay was an unbelievable night - my mates lost 2 other and a heap of tailor came back scaled. Must of heard 30 jew smash baits on the surface that night - have you ever experienced a night like that.

Nightstalker

[covanova]

Jewgaffer,

Looks like I missed out Thursday, but would you be interested in a day/night next week?

Let me know if you are. I would love to meet up with you.

Cheers

Mitch

ljepa slika bobane!

[jewgaffer]

Jewgaffer,

Looks like I missed out Thursday, but would you be interested in a day/night next week?

Let me know if you are. I would love to meet up with you.

Cheers

Mitch

hi mitch i am sorry i missed reading your reply and an invitation to go next week.

thanks heaps for your invite i'll fish anytime but i need 2 tides and ebb, 15hours from early am to get the best fish in daylight.

mitch pm me we will go from there mate

thanks

jewgaffer

[Boban]

Thanks covanova. You'll find that there are a few of us on here.

Jewgaffer, I have sent you a PM.