Port Hacking Jewfish Session Thursday 15/05/08

[jewgaffer]

Hi Everyone.

Yesterday Chris (Waterrat) and myself did a Port Hacking jewfish session starting off around 3pm. When I arrived at Swallow Rock wharf Chris was busy catching poddy mullet one after another to add to the live bait supply. Chris was using tiny fly hooks on a quality ultra light rod and loading his hooks up with pinches of the same bread and tuna oil mix he used for the floating burley. Chris had arrived at 12pm and by the time I arrived Chris already had a good supply of large yellowtail and mullet. I had a few arrow squid and small and large yellowtail left over from my Hawkesbury session with Grant (Arked) on Wednesday, and a large size tailor caught by Grant for our trimmed slab bait supply. Chris had also pumped a good supply of nippers so he could fish under the jew rods while I sat back and monitored the baits.

We had a short discussion on the benefits of fishing the deep water as opposed to the shallower drop offs for the daytime part of the session. Chris suggested we take a look at South West Arm in a spot where we could fish towards near 50 feet of water a couple of hundred of metres around the nearside of the mouth. We planned to move on after that to fish the moored boat area for jewfish in Gunnamatta Bay for last of the run in tide and all of the run out tide. I suggested that we set up for the night behind the medial line of a group of cluttered moored boats in a spot where the water drops off into a good 22 metres, instead of having another session in Burraneer Bay. In the Hacking I have always found Burraneer Bay is more reliable for jewfish with a good chance of a legal size snapper bi catch and Chris landed a healthy jew there at our last session.

The Burraneer Bay spot is 250 yards outside of the marina and can be lined up with the Water St boat ramp, the terracotta tiled boatshed of the two each side of a house and the far side of the Marina. This spot is an excellent, although specific early run in tide spot thru to the still water and it also pays to stay on for a couple of hours of the run out as well. It is a spot where incoming jewfish hang around longer and school up waiting on new baitfish to come in with the run in tide. It has a flat 45 foot area which drops off fast into near 65 feet of water.

The purpose of the session was to see if the spawning size jew which seem to be around 8-10 kilos this year as per recent results at Wanda which includes a few fish caught around that size by my Georges deckie and friends Taren Point Julius and Mulloway Mark formerly of Fisheries, who carries an album of big jewfish for all and sundry to see which he has caught in South Coast areas over the years and Taren Point and Wanda as well. Mark is a good bloke to fish with and he is a red haired carrot top and boofheaded gentle giant of a bloke who reminds me of Brutus in the Popeye comic.

Chris has an intimate knowledge of depths, wrecks, reefs and likely hot spots due to his occupation in all parts of the Georges, Botany Bay and the Hacking and the surrounding deep sea areas being a long time member of the Sydney Water Police based in the Botany Bay and the Port Hacking area.

Chris is a keen boatman, a deep thinking back to basics fishermen with a real love of the open sea and light to medium game fishing as well and Chris's co workers enjoy fishing and often refer to Fishraider fishing reports.

At South West arm the action was slow on the live bait rods for that spot in the daytime I'd say, but Chris continually landed small bream, whiting and small flathead on the nippers. There was heavy weed bottom cover for our live bait to hide. I prefer sandy areas which are open runs and clear of weed when fishing for jewfish. While taking a look at the area again after several years, I spotted a good land based spot for night landbased fisherman in good water alongside the rangers' headquarters which has parking close to a public jetty which can be accessed from National Park. The close in rocky area looks very fishy to me at the right time and going by the green growth on the easy to fish adjacent rocks, it looks to be a good land based blackfish spot as well. Because it has noticable drop offs in close to deep water around from the point, it would be a good spot where jewfishermen could set up comfortably for an overnight session with a well spread out rod spread. It is also a good spot where landbased fishermen can walk along the many flat ledges or boat fishermen to persevere either in very deepwater or just out of the rocky areas in close and particularly during the days when the Hacking sandy shallows are deserted.

When we arrived at Gunnamatta Bay, the general action was fast and furious, and in no time Chris was among big whiting down deep on the nippers, and lost one big hard run which was difficult to play on his lightweight rod and then caught a big stump of a bream well over a 14 inches long for me to take home for my wife Shirley. Most of the livies on the jew rods were almost immediately eye gauged and killed by bream and I was busy cutting strips off them to show flesh rather than casting a full fish back dead and untrimmed, only to have similiar bites without hooking up on the big 8/0s. There were also big tailor down deep, going on the number of yakkas coming in with only the head left on the hook. Overall it is a spot I would recommend for a night session using nippers for bait, and setting out a couple of rods with live bait on for the jewfish.

We waited on for the jew to come in while Chris continued to fish on with the nipper bait and released several under size flathead which is a good indication that flathead nest up at night in that deep water as well, the night being a normal fishing night and a wind change to the west had livened up the general action.

Overall we had a good night fishing together. When everything else went off the bite and later when it went very still and quiet around the still water of the bottom of the run out we expected we would do ok, but we couldn't get onto any jew.

I must mention how well the nippers went for Chris down deep, and had we both specialised with light gear fishing with nipper bait we would have had a very good night of general fishing indeed. I hope that is a good pointer for our members. When fishing for general species, the deep water at night in the right places has always been one of the Hacking's good points over other rivers.

I would like to thank my good mate Chris who I have known from the Georges in earlier days for another enjoyable session but it seems tiredness and good jewfishing results go together, jewfish being the come out of nowhere species they are.

I feel my doing this report with pics or no pics might be helpful to Port Hacking fishermen. My mobile phone camera was on video mode for all the pics apart from the fat 35cm bream on the boat floor on the measure caught for my wife Shirley by Chris.

Anyway at this stage it seems for me it's back to tracking down the school size jew again tomorrow night.

Last night a fishermen fishing by himself in the cold on Swallow Rock Wharf offered to help me with my car while Chris brought the Seafarer in. He lives at Heathcote and was still fishing at midnight by himself after starting in the afternoon at Swallow Rock, which really shows a real love of fishing and there are many reasons why our members keep on fishing as much as they can. He was a real good bloke and if I see him again fishing alone in the Hacking, I will be loading his gear into my boat so he can fish in a better location for the fish he hopes to catch off that wharf with me and my jewfish mates, that's for sure.

Cheers to all and I hope the Port Hacking members do very well in the deep water in Gunnamatta Bay. In my opinion behind the moored boats on the run out tide wide of the coast guard base is one of the better night spots for fishing away in general in the Hacking with a good chance of catching jewfish as well.

jewgaffer

Edited May 17, 2008 by jewgaffer

[ETTY]

Wow what a comprehensive report and well done with your successes!

As a Port Hacking fisho your tips and spots you listed are most appreciated!

Hope I can share some success from your info soon!