Thunder Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I have read a lot of reports from members who fish and squid around the Spit Bridge. Do you drift or anchor? Are you allowed to anchor near the bridge? We anchored near the middle of the bridge 2 weeks ago between 11pm and midnight about 15m out from the wooden structure on the west side and we were drifting baits under the bridge and towards the structure. There was a land based guy tossing a chrome lure all the way to the middle. At first he tossed it across our lines and we untangled it and gave it back to him. He kept on tangling our lines and then started tossing it at our boat. Around midnight the Police turned up and told us we had to move. I can't believe this guy would even think to call the Police. We ended up moving on. Later on 3.00 - 4.00am, tailor were breaking up under the bridge and on the eastern side of the bridge and we kept our distance, however, other boats were anchoring, drifting and motoring in the main channels right under the bridge trying to catch the tailor and squid. Can anyone tell me the legalities of anchoring and fishing in this area. Where do you guys catch your squid? Is it around the bridge or further away? Cheers Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miller Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 (edited) I have read a lot of reports from members who fish and squid around the Spit Bridge. Do you drift or anchor? Are you allowed to anchor near the bridge? We anchored near the middle of the bridge 2 weeks ago between 11pm and midnight about 15m out from the wooden structure on the west side and we were drifting baits under the bridge and towards the structure. There was a land based guy tossing a chrome lure all the way to the middle. At first he tossed it across our lines and we untangled it and gave it back to him. He kept on tangling our lines and then started tossing it at our boat. Around midnight the Police turned up and told us we had to move. I can't believe this guy would even think to call the Police. We ended up moving on. Later on 3.00 - 4.00am, tailor were breaking up under the bridge and on the eastern side of the bridge and we kept our distance, however, other boats were anchoring, drifting and motoring in the main channels right under the bridge trying to catch the tailor and squid. Can anyone tell me the legalities of anchoring and fishing in this area. Where do you guys catch your squid? Is it around the bridge or further away? Cheers Greg hi mate you can not anchor near the bridge.The sign says no anchoring in channel a bit hard to see at night but it is there and old mate land base probly did not call the cops they come past evey now and then to take a look around cheers miller Edited December 4, 2007 by miller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abiasin Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 i dont believe you can anchor up there but everyone does it, and usually no one cares just like tying off to markers in the harbour. i anchor up from the bridge a bit and out of the main channel and drift the baits down towards the bridge. we score plenty of squid there at the right times of the tide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbielites Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 Hi Greg, I drift because that’s how I squid, it works for me, I get better results. It is illegal to tie up to the structure there are signs. It is also illegal to anchor in a channel. This is from the boating hand book. * do not anchor or fish in channels where you will obstruct other vessels. Note: All regulations for avoiding collision still apply in narrow channels. Also, * when engaged in fishing you must not impede the passage of any other vessel navigating within a narrow channel or fairway I have been there many a night and seen people drop the pick in the middle of the channel. It is a silly move and potentially dangerous. Having said that whilst drifting I have responsibilities too, *A vessel drifting is deemed to be underway and has no special right of way. It is required to comply with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea. Cheers. Robbie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunder Posted December 4, 2007 Author Share Posted December 4, 2007 We were anchored about 15m out from the bridge and in line with the pylon so we were not obstructing either of the main channels. Even if we were drifting, this guy would have still thrown his lure at the boat. He hit the side of the boat twice and hit the outboard on another occassion. It was also 11pm till midnight so there was hardly any boat traffic. Cheers Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netic Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Mate if his lure had of hit my boat alot more would have happened then us just being pissed off.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miller Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 cheers miller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 (edited) Hi Thunder Greg I know how you feel when you take the trouble to anchor and set up in close to some of the best land based spots when there are no land based fishermen there, and then have to anchor up and move when fishermen turn up. It's just the luck of the draw especially when you are anchored well away from the shore for the sole purpose of casting towards the shore or into wharf and jetty pylons etc.....I believe boat fishermen should give way to landbased fishermen. Still I regard a land based fisherman casting a hardbody lure right out among your lines and finally at your boat as being over assertive and inconsiderate. That cove could have easily fished in harmony with you in those circumstances. Actually hitting your boat and motor like that this particular fishermen seeks refuge in fishing for all the wrong reasons When I fished an overnight night session at Captain Cook Bridge on Monday night with Barker's friend Alex (Frangkie) , we were not able to stay at the first pylon because a land based fisherman was walking up from his car carrying long beach rods with Alvies and we were running four rods on the night with a strong current running and the first pylon is in casting distance for land based fishermen. At the start of a Taren Point session I prefer to start off at the first pylon and anchor up square off the 1st pylon provided there are no landbased fishermen fishing off the rocks. I also like to move around the back of a pylon and cast back into the eddy fishing back against the current and casting back at the pylon again before the line goes under the bow, while having other rods at the stern running down current away from a bridge to allow for jew schools moving on from the bridge. As to Taren Point bridge, should there be land based fishermen there already, I give way to them completely and I start my session closer towards the moored boats. That way everyone's happy and you do get to know them, particularly when I myself fish there landbased. I am still able to fish in the general vicinty and feel good about it for next time when I meet up with them at the rocks. Mind you when I fish back off those moored boats, in the run in, I start off in deeper water casting towards the run off away from the boats, with a chance of either intercepting fish hunting up river or catching fish and bait fish coming out from the cover of the boats. When anchored I stay away from main thoroughfares, and I am particularly cautious in the Hawkesbury even in the day time!! I anchor square on to pylons for safety reasons and I carry nine and ten foot foot rods for distance casting into main channels rather than anchor in or too close to them. For some reason you get high speed traffic on the darkests of nights when least expected. ......We always light up well, switching on every available light including flashing torches/ head lamps if we see or hear another boat approaching. Some of the habits of high speed solo boaties late at night are so erratic at times that, if you weren't anchored in their path they could well crash into the pylon. Cheers jewgaffer Edited December 5, 2007 by jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbielites Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Sounds like that guy was what Ceph would call "a door handle" I am with the others, I would have flipped. Did you say any thing to the cops about the guy chucking shit at you? Robbie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piss'n'Broke Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Guys just be careful there Many inconsiderate, pig-headed, selfish B@#$@$% fish this bridge and comming into the warm weather it will only get 100X worse!!! Greg got hit a beauty in the back of the head by a LB guy tossing snapper leads many months ago. I dont believe in the aggro approach but be warned,,, at the best of times the spit bridge has many, many fools fishing it. And sum brain deprived LBS love to fish off the bridge from above, so wear a hardhat, and carry a knife when passing underneath . Either which way, you gotta give to get sum back. Pity alot of people dont believe in this As for anchoring I wouldnt give it a 2nd thought,, Ive seenen up to 7 boats anchored in the channel there and the water rats have come past towing another boatie, nutting said BUT next nigt, "move on"!!! Not much you can do in these cirumstances. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunder Posted December 5, 2007 Author Share Posted December 5, 2007 We were right in the middle and a long way from the shoreline and there was no boat traffic at all. I was actually surprised he could cast that far. At first he was casting over our lines near the pylons, then he started aiming at the boat. We had already untangled his lure from our lines and gave it back to him. The next one hit the outboard tangled on the cables in the transom and my fishing buddie untangled it and gave it back to him. Then he started hitting the side of the boat. I had the knife ready to cut the next one off that landed in the boat or across our lines, but the Police asked us to move along. I was thinking about driving backwards and forwards in and out the pylons, but I was not going to sink to his level just for a little satisfaction. There were also guys fishing from above in the main channel, but they were on the eastern side of the bridge. Door Handle is a good way of describing him. Some mothers do have em Cheers Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hook'm Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Mate if his lure had of hit my boat alot more would have happened then us just being pissed off.... yeah what an idiot sounds like a lemon canon is in need Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Soprano Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Haha hookm, it's funny you should say that... You wouldn't believe the number of times me and my mate have discussed mounting a potato/lemon canon on the tinny whilst out on the water and dealing with dickheads! There's a lot of 'door handles' out there for sure. Sometimes it's just better to move on and find somewhere else, that's the beauty of being in a boat! Cheers Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingiemaster Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 We generally drift to get our squid from around the Spit bridge. But we sometimes anchor at the south east side when the wind or tide is strong. This is the shallowest and lowest part of the bridge well out of the way of the main channels. I actually have some sympathy for the land based guys as I often fish land based myself and so I give them a wide berth Even then you can foul each other’s lines as their baits drift far and wide in the current but that's just fishing and no one’s fault. In any event we can track down squid in several locations around the spit and beyond. From the otherside of the fence I have been fishing from the rocks only to have divers, who have hundreds of metres of cliff’s edge available to them, literally swim around my blackfish float. It goes both ways for all fishos and boaties to be considerate to one another. But the guys that shit me are the ones fishing off the bridge. It's prohibited for a number of good reasons but the main one I trust is that a dangling set of ganged hooks doesn't rip the eye out of unsuspecting boatie passing under the bridge. Sometime ago I actually spent a bit of time walking back and forth across the Bridge late at night fishing either side from the shore etc or just checking it out and spoke to some of them incidentally. Some are actually quite decent folk who tend not to fish the main channels and have actually told stories of decent captures (fish, not a boaties eye ball). But most are idiots who catch next to nothing. Without casting dangerous aspersions, they are not the kind of people you want to mess with. Let’s just say that they didn't just wander down from mummy and daddy's mansion in Seaforth or Mosman for a fish off the bridge, more like they came for a fish to celebrate their weekend parole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Dan Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Thunder, mate you have far more tolerance then me thats for sure. I would have untangled the first one thats for sure but hitting the motor and the side of the boat a few times definately would have generated alot more attention from me. Squidding at the Spit, with out a doubt i have far better results by drifting the area anyway. Ceph - looks like "door handle" is going to stick and become common Fishraider termanology!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gretsch Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 The Spit is the "Knob" attracting capital of the Sydney waterways... If your not ducking the LB's snapper leads, you are holding on tight and hoping that old mate gunning it flat stick doesn't plough into you... Robbielites is on the money. Door Handle central!!! Good spot to squid though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stylo Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 Just reading this post now and can say that I have seen what is being described about the guys casting into the channel and idiots fishing off the top of the bridge. I was there Fri night and there were these two door handles casting metals into the channel, not aiming at boats, but taking undersized tailor ... Didn't really see, but some of them came up looking jagged, but I guess that's what happens when you high speed retrieve (?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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