Georges River Jewfish Report Friday 12/04/08

[jewgaffer]

Hi Everyone.

After getting a jew each as I mentioned in my report last week including his personal best, my friend Paul Esky6 informed me that he was available any day this week. Paul sounded very keen to have another go at the Georges River jewfish and of course the associated bi-catch which is so common in the Georges. It was left up to me to pick the right day to go.

I had six rods rigged up and ready from our last trip. I only needed to downsize the hooks from 7/0 mustards to 5/0 suicides as the lower hook for the head take and heavy duty 3/0s as the upper pull and slip and the control hook to best suit the bi-catch.

After getting daily reports over the last few days from regular fishing Captain Cook Bridge landbased jew fishermen of shutdown and time waste for fishing in general from the ongoing southerly situation, we decided we would wait for the beginning of the first wind change to a northerly direction which encourages the return of general fish feeding activity.

On Friday morning, when the gusts started to be more predominant from the north east together with a steady barometer reading around 1022 milibars which indicates fine weather would return with the wind change, we jumped at the opportunity of having an allnighter on Friday. We could take the advantage of a night time run in and a top of the tide changover due in the very early morning hours.

I had a call from Nick Fishinnick, told him of our plans and Nick invited us to join him in his Savage Osprey which was quickly made ready, on the water, and tied up in front of Nick's home in the Connells Point area.

At that stage I thought Tom Varos1999 would be fishing in the Georges alongside us but Tom rang and told me that he and his friend were going to have a go at the Port Hacking jew.

The good news was I received an SMS from Tom around 8.30pm with a photo of a school jew they caught in the early run in tide at Ship Rock, Burraneer. Tom was very pleased with that as the jew was caught in the early run in the evening and they had till 5am and the best part of a run out tide to go.

We started our Georges River session right as the north easterly wind changed fully around from the southerly which had been ongoing since last Sunday. This was lucky timing and we were all excited by our prospects of being there right at the change from quite a few days of lousy fishing due to those conditions.

We commenced fishing for live bait in the bait grounds between the bridges. We couldn't get a sinker down to the bottom in six to eight foot of water near the shore line without hooking up bream, trumpeter and legal whiting, some times hooking up two and three at a time rising up and spashing on the surface. We would have had something like thirty hook ups and the area is not known as good bream and whiting grounds.

We weren't to know whether or not the frenzy times were going to continue throughout the evening, but there appeared to be a wide time window on its way at that time. The water looked very fishy indeed.

Had we been targetting bream and whiting with nippers and worms around Towra, and with flathead around, and the other species boiling up as they were, I reckon we would have had the best day in the Bay anybody could wish for.

Now here is the strange part about it. There were no signs of baitfish anywhere near the best bait grounds for that time and wind direction.

It become almost dark so we pulled up anchor and decided to anchor and settle down for the whole of the early run in jewfish territory in deep water.

The water was literally alive with chopper tailor in the light of the bridge area, but with no noticable movement in the dark area sections anywhere directly under the bridge. I suggested we anchor in a little closer to the dark water and get a couple of rods in there with a couple of big whiting on them first, and then spread the little live bait rods for a supply of tailor as we had no live bait other than a good supply of larger whiting.

Paul was running a float with a rod light wedged into the top of the float with around about a metre from the wedged in stopper to the paternosta hooks on the rig Paul meticulously designed at home, and began catching tailor one after the other above about ten metres of water. The tailor were everywhere, but only along all the lit up areas and only in the centre deep water pylons.

At that stage we commented how lovely and mild the night was. Yes it certainly was a balmy type of night.

The way the atmosphere felt last night I made a comment to Paul and Nick that we could live on the water right here and fish for a week.

Nick and I had to use heavier lead on our live bait jigs to keep them upright in the current. To our surprise we began hooking up on yellowtail and herring, two or three at a time in near 25 feet of water.

We were pestered by undersize bream on our bait jigs, so I said to the boys that everytime we hooked up up a bream we should leave it on the hook to keep the other bream away and it did work as usual except when we had a black bream on and hooked up on undersize snapper. At one stage I left both of them on and that discourages the others of the same species and we got yellowtail or herring on the other hook instead.

If the other hooks didn't hook up tailor as the bait jigs hit the surface we would catch yellow tail or herring on the bottom. We sure had one helluva live bait supply on the jew in around thirty minutes and heaps more to take home.

The whiting live baits which were cast out into the dark sections between the pylons for the jew were getting their eyes gouged out and only the gut taken out without much sign of any other injury. This is usually the work of bream schools but I couldn't understand why no other flesh was taken as bream hit to kill and then tear a live bait to pieces bit by bit.

The tailor were still very active on the surface. We were getting hits on the live baits, chewing type of hits and not the thumps shaking the rods which jewfish occasionally give before the head take and this went on till around ten oclock when, out of the blue the wind suddenly changed to the south west.

It suddenly became absolutely freezing cold. We all rugged up to wait for the top of the tide and the run down. Esky6 was shivering as was myself and Fishinnick. I have fished for many years in freezing conditions in full on winter in places like Coal and Candle and I must admit I have never felt as cold on the water as I felt last night. Athough I was over rugged up as were the others it was a real body shock to all of us and with teeth chattering headware on and the lot, it was hard to get reasonably warm after such a lovely balmy night as it was on the water from sunset well into into the mid evening.

When were arrived there were a lot of boats fishing for jew but most of them anchored up and left before midnight. Most left even before the jew tide hit the top.

There were several landbased fishermen in groups and some on family outings who also packed up early even though there was only a slight south westerly wind. The cold the south westerly breeze bought over the water with it was the remnants of the same southerly front that ruined the fishing completely in the days before, and this time bringing into Sydney with it, on Friday night, a very cold batch of air from the South Western Ranges, coming off the Snowy Mountains.

I'm not saying a short southerly burst is all that bad for jew, in fact they fire up as a new southerly front comes in, still ongoing southerlys and cold upon cold inshore and in estuaries effects the activity of jewfish as well.

There has to be an equalibrium between sea water temperature and estuary air and water temperature to encourage the cool autumn weather jewfish schools and the larger winter fish to come into the estuaries to school up and do their bit before they go outside to spawn.

The very minute the wind changed and the freeze came in, the tailor and other activity dissappeared completly. The seagulls which had been just sitting on the outside of the tailor schools breaking the surface just suddenly took off and dissappeared.

We were cold but determined to stay on as we had a few hours or more to wait for the top of the tide, the still water and the early run down for our jew.

An occasional seagull scout or two would skim in close above the water close to where we were fishing and that gave us signs that the jew would still come in and the seagulls would get hold of their share of rising stunned tailor as usual.

The boat started to swing, so to be able to stern fish the run out we anchored up and changed bridge sides exactly square on to where we were, lining up a direct angle from the moored boats to the closest and most convenient pylon for the incoming jew to hit first. There were three boats or four boats anchored out further to the side from us, including a mid night arrival and another late starter both appearing to be set up for jew.

One of the Ugly Tiger rods that I had set up for Esky and Nick started to bend hard and the 750 Penn started to scream for about five seconds to which to my ears sounded like eternity. It was a typical jew run from the start. However the rod straightened up again without making the hook up. We gave that rod a good ten minutes and I made the mistake of asking one of the boys to pull the line back in when we had to check the bait on the rod next it which had been only tapping away for quite some time. The livie was dead and badly bruised and we had enough rods out and I should have left that rod out there as a jewfish generally always comes back to devour the livie it maims.

Shortly after that we had a wave and call from Dominic who was fishing off the rocks with my regular jewfish mate Taren Point Julius asking us to bring the boat in to free up his line which went around a rock with a jew on it near his feet. Before we had the chance to get our seven rods in and up anchor, Julius managed to net the jew for Dominic, and from where we were it looked to be about a jew around three kilos or so.

It just goes to show how narrow the time window was for feeding frenzy before the cold front came over again. It only took a slight south westerly breeze which was extremely cold. This made all the difference to the fish feeding, shutting down the frenzy of baitfish and various other species, because the temperature already had the edge knocked off as it was about to recover from the previous bad spell of the ongoing southerly effect. It didn't really affect the jew all that much on this occasion it seems, but may have quietened down the the jewfish school activity to some extent last night, according to the bird inactivity during the run out.

I would like to thank Fishinnick for the good company and the hospitality in supplying a great fishing boat for Paul and myself in the Savage Osprey, and it was nice to meet Nick's dad and the family.

And of course a big thanks to Paul Esky6 for the friendly help as usual. I congratulate both the boys for their great enthusiasm to target jewfish and for their excellent live bait catching which is an absolute must. Patience, and perseverence and getting everying right when fishing for jewfish does pave the way for eventual success and ongoing success at that.

Jewfish are a big part of the last stage in the natural pecking order close inshore and in the estuaries and eventually come around. At least we know they will be always there for the taking and quite often just after a fisherman has given up.

EDIT !! I just had a pm flash on my screen from Davemmm who gave me the excellent news that he caught a very nice jew in Woollaware Bay a few hours ago while playing around with tailor and running a live yellowtail in shallower water !! I spoke to Dave on the phone this morning and I had an idea he woud go out tonight. What a great way for Dave to break in his new Polycraft, landing a fabulous jewfish !!!

Good on you Dave !!!

Cheers

jewgaffer

Edited September 30, 2008 by jewgaffer

[Yabbiehunter]

Top Report and Top marks for bearing the cold and staying out there when the going gets tough. Very intersting information in relation to wind/ weather changes, well noted. I found that very interesting.

[cupster]

ditto,good post !

[RPL]

Hi Everyone.

After getting a jew each as I mentioned in my report last week including his personal best, my friend Paul Esky6 informed me that he was available any day this week. Paul sounded very keen to have another go at the Georges River jewfish and of course the associated bi-catch which is so common in the Georges. It was left up to me to pick the right day to go.

I had six rods rigged up and ready from our last trip. I only needed to downsize the hooks from 7/0 mustards to 5/0 suicides as the lower hook for the head take and heavy duty 3/0s as the upper pull and slip and the control hook to best suit the bi-catch.

After getting daily reports over the last few days from regular fishing Captain Cook Bridge landbased jew fishermen of shutdown and time waste for fishing in general from the ongoing southerly situation, we decided we would wait for the beginning of the first wind change to a northerly direction which encourages the return of general fish feeding activity.

On Friday morning, when the gusts started to be more predominant from the north east together with a steady barometer reading around 1022 milibars which indicates fine weather would return with the wind change, we jumped at the opportunity of having an allnighter on Friday. We could take the advantage of a night time run in and a top of the tide changover due in the very early morning hours.

I had a call from Nick Fishinnick, told him of our plans and Nick invited us to join him in his Savage Osprey which was quickly made ready, on the water, and tied up in front of Nick's home in the Connells Point area.

At that stage I thought Tom Varos1999 would be fishing in the Georges alongside us but Tom rang and told me that he and his friend were going to have a go at the Port Hacking jew.

The good news was I received an SMS from Tom around 8.30pm with a photo of a school jew they caught in the early run in tide at Ship Rock, Burraneer. Tom was very pleased with that as the jew was caught in the early run in the evening and they had till 5am and the best part of a run out tide to go.

We started our Georges River session right as the north easterly wind changed fully around from the southerly which had been ongoing since last Sunday. This was lucky timing and we were all excited by our prospects of being there right at the change from quite a few days of lousy fishing due to those conditions.

We commenced fishing for live bait in the bait grounds between the bridges. We couldn't get a sinker down to the bottom in six to eight foot of water near the shore line without hooking up bream, trumpeter and legal whiting, some times hooking up two and three at a time rising up and spashing on the surface. We would have had something like thirty hook ups and the area is not known as good bream and whiting grounds.

We weren't to know whether or not the frenzy times were going to continue throughout the evening, but there appeared to be a wide time window on its way at that time. The water looked very fishy indeed.

Had we been targetting bream and whiting with nippers and worms around Towra, and with flathead around, and the other species boiling up as they were, I reckon we would have had the best day in the Bay anybody could wish for.

Now here is the strange part about it. There were no signs of baitfish anywhere near the best bait grounds for that time and wind direction.

It become almost dark so we pulled up anchor and decided to anchor and settle down for the whole of the early run in jewfish territory in deep water.

The water was literally alive with chopper tailor in the light of the bridge area, but with no noticable movement in the dark area sections anywhere directly under the bridge. I suggested we anchor in a little closer to the dark water and get a couple of rods in there with a couple of big whiting on them first, and then spread the little live bait rods for a supply of tailor as we had no live bait other than a good supply of larger whiting.

Paul was running a float with a rod light wedged into the top of the float with around about a metre from the wedged in stopper to the paternosta hooks on the rig Paul meticulously designed at home, and began catching tailor one after the other above about ten metres of water. The tailor were everywhere, but only along all the lit up areas and only in the centre deep water pylons.

At that stage we commented how lovely and mild the night was. Yes it certainly was a balmy type of night.

The way the atmosphere felt last night I made a comment to Paul and Nick that we could live on the water right here and fish for a week.

Nick and I had to use heavier lead on our live bait jigs to keep them upright in the current. To our surprise we began hooking up on yellowtail and herring, two or three at a time in near 25 feet of water.

We were pestered by undersize bream on our bait jigs, so I said to the boys that everytime we hooked up up a bream we should leave it on the hook to keep the other bream away and it did work as usual except when we had a black bream on and hooked up on undersize snapper. At one stage I left both of them on and that discourages the others of the same species and we got yellowtail or herring on the other hook instead.

If the other hooks didn't hook up tailor as the bait jigs hit the surface we would catch yellow tail or herring on the bottom. We sure had one helluva live bait supply on the jew in around thirty minutes and heaps more to take home.

The whiting live baits which were cast out into the dark sections between the pylons for the jew were getting their eyes gouged out and only the gut taken out without much sign of any other injury. This is usually the work of bream schools but I couldn't understand why no other flesh was taken as bream hit to kill and then tear a live bait to pieces bit by bit.

The tailor were still very active on the surface. We were getting hits on the live baits, chewing type of hits and not the thumps shaking the rods which jewfish occasionally give before the head take and this went on till around ten oclock when, out of the blue the wind suddenly changed to the south west.

It suddenly became absolutely freezing cold. We all rugged up to wait for the top of the tide and the run down. Esky6 was shivering as was myself and Fishinnick. I have fished for many years in freezing conditions in full on winter in places like Coal and Candle and I must admit I have never felt as cold on the water as I felt last night. Athough I was over rugged up as were the others it was a real body shock to all of us and with teeth chattering headware on and the lot, it was hard to get reasonably warm after such a lovely balmy night as it was on the water from sunset well into into the mid evening.

When were arrived there were a lot of boats fishing for jew but most of them anchored up and left before midnight. Most left even before the jew tide hit the top.

There were several landbased fishermen in groups and some on family outings who also packed up early even though there was only a slight south westerly wind. The cold the south westerly breeze bought over the water with it was the remnants of the same southerly front that ruined the fishing completely in the days before, and this time bringing into Sydney with it, on Friday night, a very cold batch of air from the South Western Ranges, coming off the Snowy Mountains.

I'm not saying a short southerly burst is all that bad for jew, in fact they fire up as a new southerly front comes in, still ongoing southerlys and cold upon cold inshore and in estuaries effects the activity of jewfish as well.

There has to be an equalibrium between sea water temperature and estuary air and water temperature to encourage the cool autumn weather jewfish schools and the cold winter larger fish to come into the estuaries to spawn.

The very minute the wind changed and the freeze came in, the tailor and other activity dissappeared completly. The seagulls which had been just sitting on the outside of the tailor schools breaking the surface just suddenly took off and dissappeared.

We were cold but determined to stay on as we had a few hours or more to wait for the top of the tide, the still water and the early run down for our jew.

An occasional seagull scout or two would skim in close above the water close to where we were fishing and that gave us signs that the jew would still come in and the seagulls would get hold of their share of rising stunned tailor as usual.

The boat started to swing, so to be able to stern fish the run out we anchored up and changed bridge sides exactly square on to where we were, lining up a direct angle from the moored boats to the closest and most convenient pylon for the incoming jew to hit first. There were three boats or four boats anchored out further to the side from us, including a mid night arrival and another late starter both appearing to be set up for jew.

One of the Ugly Tiger rods that I had set up for Esky and Nick started to bend hard and the 750 Penn started to scream for about five seconds to which to my ears sounded like eternity. It was a typical jew run from the start. However the rod straightened up again without making the hook up. We gave that rod a good ten minutes and I made the mistake of asking one of the boys to pull the line back in when we had to check the bait on the rod next it which had been only tapping away for quite some time. The livie was dead and badly bruised and we had enough rods out and I should have left that rod out there as a jewfish generally always comes back to devour the livie it maims.

Shortly after that we had a wave and call from Dominic who was fishing off the rocks with my regular jewfish mate Taren Point Julius asking us to bring the boat in to free up his line which went around a rock with a jew on it near his feet. Before we had the chance to get our seven rods in and up anchor, Julius managed to net the jew for Dominic, and from where we were it looked to be about a jew around three kilos or so.

It just goes to show how narrow the time window was for feeding frenzy before the cold front came over again. It only took a slight south westerly breeze which was extremely cold. This made all the difference to the fish feeding, shutting down the frenzy of baitfish and various other species, because the temperature already had the edge knocked off as it was about to recover from the previous bad spell of the ongoing southerly effect. It didn't really affect the jew all that much on this occasion it seems, but may have quietened down the the jewfish school activity to some extent last night, according to the bird inactivity during the run out.

I would like to thank Fishinnick for the good company and the hospitality in supplying a great fishing boat for Paul and myself in the Savage Osprey, and it was nice to meet Nick's dad and the family.

And of course a big thanks to Paul Esky6 for the friendly help as usual. I congratulate both the boys for their great enthusiasm to target jewfish and for their excellent live bait catching which is an absolute must. Patience, and perseverence and getting everying right when fishing for jewfish does pave the way for eventual success and ongoing success at that.

Jewfish are a big part of the last stage in the natural pecking order close inshore and in the estuaries and eventually come around. At least we know they will be always there for the taking and quite often just after a fisherman has given up.

EDIT !! I just had a pm flash on my screen from Davemmm who gave me the excellent news that he caught a very nice jew in Woollaware Bay a few hours ago while playing around with tailor and running a live yellowtail in shallower water !! I spoke to Dave on the phone this morning and I had an idea he woud go out tonight. What a great way for Dave to break in his new Polycraft, landing a fabulous jewfish !!!

Good on you Dave !!!

Cheers

jewgaffer

Correct me if im wrong, but isn't Ship Rock a marine park closed to fishing?

[arkedup]

Hi Byron

great report full of infomation as usual I am looking forward to our next trip out to learn more from you and maybe get a few

regards

Arked

[Davemmm]

Correct me if im wrong, but isn't Ship Rock a marine park closed to fishing?

Quite right the area directly around shiprock is a reserve. The dropoff from the flats and the channel that runs up into the bay are outside the restriction zone but are known colloquially as Shiprock as they sit just in front of the rock.

Dave

[jewgaffer]

Hi RPL Thanks for inquiring about Ship Rock marine park restriction. Davemmm is quite right and answered your question well. There is a fifty metre boundary around Ship Rock. The area the broadwater about a hundred metres or so from Shiprock and known as the mad mile thru Lily Pilli are good areas and well worth a try during the run in and the run out tide as well.

Cheers

jewgaffer

[roosterman]

hi Byron,great report as usual..

always full of food for thought so to speak...

well done guys for braving the elements

shame luck wasnt on your side but thats fishing i geuss

sounds like jg had you in the right place and all was good except the jew did not follow the script...

cheers...steve.....

Edited April 13, 2008 by roosterman

[Boban]

I tell you what Byron, you would be in trouble if you had to pay by the word

Why didn't you all cuddle up when it got cold mate? I hear it works.

At least no one was snoring. I remember one night on the Hawkesbury with my mate. I froze my ass off and got to listen to him all night.

[screech]

good report!

thanks for the company guys!! eventhough didn't land a jew stil awsome company on the boat!

must do it again after this bad weather pisses off.

you guys didn't fall asleep on the way home?

thanks for the tips and advice JG and Paul i'll be trying that whiting spot soon i think!