Can Anyone Give Some Advice?

[Dlai]

Hey guys,

I've been fishing on and off for a while now, but I've never really had any good catches, am I doing something wrong? I don't have a boat, so I've been just shore and rock fishing, but I dont know many good places, but I know there has to be around my area, northern beaches, around Dee Why. Can anyone suggest a good place for wharf fishing around dee why? I usually go to little manly, where i heard there are king fish, but have never caught anything big enough to keep, and certainly never hooked a king fish! I've also tried rock fishing off harbord, and there are a lot of rock cod there, but most are pretty small so I let them go. For bait, I prawns and squid.

Also, does the gear really matter? I mean the rod and reel, or is it just mostly technique that lands the catches. I have found that I catch more using my hand reels rather than my rods. But my rods and reels arnt very good, they are from BigW, which I bought a long time ago haha.

As for the fish I go for, I don't have a particular target when I do go fishing, any catch is good for me. But I do have a preference for snappers and also squid, but I have no idea how to catch squid.

I enjoy fishing a lot, but rarely have much sucess at it If anyone can offer some pointers and some good locations, it'd be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Edited November 8, 2008 by Dlai

[brickman]

the best advise i can give you is the 3 L's

light line,light lead,live bait

start at the bottom off the food chain and work your way up

the best bait for rock fishing is usuly under your feet

as far as spots go you need a spot for all conditions or a headland that has many spots

i spent 20 years fishing this spot and know the area like an old friend

cherrs gary

bugger'i'd better explane the spots

1;good place for the kids to have a swim

2' shallow night time spot for bream using crabbs

3;slopping rock flatty spot

4;good rock with rod holes flattys bream and treves[great spot for night]

all the rest off the spots are for experianced rock hoppers only

5;i fished here in a big southery blow and a good south swell[snapper behind the bommy]

6'going clockwise free standing rock with rod holes[tailer,kings]

the next one is a red hot tailer spot if you get tailer here the kings are usuly not far behind]

the 3 spot is a bit dodgy and can only be fished with a swell off 1.5meters or under]

7;this spot can only be fished in dead flat seas has to be under .5 meter to fish hear very dangerus]

big groper

8 snapper tailer and just about every thing else[you need to berly this spot

9 bream in close and tailer behind the breakers can be fished in any swell

never fish the joey alone and give the point a miss in any swell over1.5 meters

why i love this headland is you can fish someware around the joey in any conditions it realy covers all bases

Edited November 8, 2008 by brickman

[Juzza]

Cant put it better than gary's advice

Justin

[taloyoak]

Dlai,

Just think of anything/sport you have done in your life, and how you were when you first started. Everything takes time, patience and skill. Fishing isn't so much luck- it is a combination of knowledge, equipment, timing etc. I fish for Blackfish. It has taken me the better part of 8 years to be good at it, and I learn everyday. I suggest you maybe go fishing with experienced fisherman who can teach you something. You don't need a boat to catch big fish- it just helps to get to spots, but look at all the catches of the rocks. You need to pick a few target fish and then work on that. I never go fishing and just throw my line out and "hope" for the best. Gear is a very important part of success. You don't need to spend your retirement money, but get gear that works!- pay for what you get!. What is really important is that you buy good quality line, hooks, and bait. Like Brickman said- best bait is under your feet. For the rocks, bait like crabs, cunjei, cabbage are all great. On the flats/wharfs, worms, yabbies, prawns. Most people get shitty servo bait because they are too lazy to put in the effort at collecting your own. Go buy a $30 yabbie pump, a $10 air pump and then collect some- they are suberb bait. When you tie you rig together- always use fresh line, new hooks etc. Make sure you tie your knots well!. Learn a few good knots ( find online), and check your equipment lots, wash it in fresh water etc. When I go fishing for Blackfish, it takes me say 15 mins to get bait, then another 10-15 to rig my rod. I re-rig the rod everytime I fish. new hook, new line etc. For around where you live, NArrabeen Lake is a good spot. There are plenty of Flathead/bream/whiting/blackfish there. you can get to good spots on foot. Fishing the rocks is great but can be dangerous, and you shouldn't go on your own. North Head, Bluefish Point, Mona Vale, Long Reef, Turimetta, Whale Beach ( ovens) and Barrenjoey are all great spots.

Anyway, I could go on forever...lol. Listen if you want to be taught how to fish for Blackfish, then PM me and I could take you to a few spots.

for learning how to catch quid, there are a few items on the site that tell you what you need to do.

The amount of learning, and knowledge you aquire now will have a trade off soon. When I first learned to flyfish I was ready to give up after the first day- it was so hard and frustrating. But now I love it the best.

well hope this helps, if you have any questions, PM me.

Cheers,

Matt

[Dlai]

Hey,

Thanks for the advices guys.

Gary, thanks for the map, but is that map of Dee Why headlands? Is there a particular street I could enter from?

Hey Matt, just tried Narrabeen lake today, used a light line, light lead and light bait as Gary said. I went along the Woolies side, around 2 hours before and after high tide, and used squid as bait. It is servo bait, I guess it'll have to do untill I get a yabbie and air pump. Caught a small snapper, let it go, then caught the same one again! lol. But that was it, we saw fish jumping out of the water a few times but we didn't catch anythin else besides the snapper, but I will keep tryin

For the yabbie and air pump, where abouts would I get the yabbies and worms from? My freind has a yabbie pump, but we dont know where to get yabbies from northern beaches.

thanks alot.

[brickman]

the map is barranjoey headland[palm beach]

light line,light lead,LIVE bait not light bait good on you for having a go

regarding pumping nippers you better check with where you can pump them i think narra and pitwater are no no's

i travel to mainbar or bundeena to pump nippers but it's a long way

gary

[Juzza]

Dont forget about some fresh prawns, blue tailed ones (cheaper, generally buy this one) or tiger prawns (more expensive but tougher). Fresh live baits...BEST. I use to buy squid 'servo quality' it deterioated really quickly/it was already deterioated and i got less bites/no compared to using prawns.

About yabbies..dont think you need an airpump just a bucket with a little bit of water, and just keep them cool (ice pack/shade)!!! Especially with the hot weather coming up

Justin