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Cronulla And Kurnell


james7

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Perfect conditions again last weekend. We headed out of Port hacking wondering whether we should drift Bate Bay for some flathead or head down the coast off the National Park. We decided to try off Cronulla and then head out to Kurnell.

No breeze meant no drift, so things were pretty slow for a while. Syd picked up another banjo ray. I told Syd that in my last post, RayR said that they are "fiddler" rays and that Syd should put it under his chin and "play" it with his rod. How's this RayR?

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We were catching plenty of "throwbacks". Syd decided three at a time was the way to go.

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After many hours slowly drifting all over Bate Bay, we moved out to Kurnell with only half a dozen keeper flatties on board. Way off in front of us a couple of whales were playing.

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We stopped about 150m away watching them until a big cruiser flew past us straight towards the whales. That was the last we saw of the them! :1badmood:

We started catching all sorts of rubbish - Sgt Baker, Jackets, Rock Cod, Mado, Maori Wrasse, Slimies and a few squire - Where were all the good fish? Eventually Syd picked up a couple of flathead as the sun was setting.

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We decide to head in right on dusk. The yellow orange sky turned bright red just after the sun disappeared over Cronulla. It gave us a spectacular view as we made our way back across Bate Bay.

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Conditions were close to perfect once again, especially for mid-winter - relatively warm, practically no swell and only a gentle breeze.

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We only kept a few flatties, having thrown back at least thirty smaller ones.

No "trophy" fish, but still a great day on the water! Even the fish were singing about it!

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Cheers

Peter

Edited by peterS
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You guys always do well!

Do you ever NOT catch a fiddler/banjo ray? haha well done

We've caught heaps of rays over the last couple of trips, both banjos and shovel nose. You always get a few off the beach when the conditions are calm.

Here's Syd holding a big one I caught on my light rod. I thought it was going to bust me off for sure. It certaily had some weight!

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Cheers

Peter

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G'day Pete,

Another great report, from another fantastic day, you're definately on fire producing the goods mate.....it's good to see the weather holding up nicely and seeing plenty of fish being caught down RNP way.

I'm wanting to try my luck down there sometime soon but hoping you can give me some advice about conditions down that way.......does it take long to get from bate bay to say wattamolla? besides jibbon Bombora are there any other hazards to be aware about?

Cheers

Robert :beersmile:

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Good effort on the flathead PeterS and Pick-A Box-Syd.... After all the repeat efforts on the flathead, you may as well provide GPS marks for all the banjo sharks in the Hacking area... :thumbup:

Cheers

jewgaffer :1fishing1:

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G'day Pete,

Another great report, from another fantastic day, you're definately on fire producing the goods mate.....it's good to see the weather holding up nicely and seeing plenty of fish being caught down RNP way.

I'm wanting to try my luck down there sometime soon but hoping you can give me some advice about conditions down that way.......does it take long to get from bate bay to say wattamolla? besides jibbon Bombora are there any other hazards to be aware about?

Cheers

Robert

G'day Robert

You're right, the weather has been perfect lately. With hindsight, I think we should have gone down off the Royal National Park instead of persisting off Cronulla and Kurnell last Saturday. We had to work very hard for a few flatties!

Regarding hazards around Bate Bay and along the Royal National Park, there are a few. Merries Reef (or Voodoo) extends a long way from Boat Harbour well into Bate Bay. I always give it a wide berth. As you mentioned, Jibbon Bommie is very dangerous, especially when it's calm. The waves rise up out of nothing and can be well over 2m. See the photos below.

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Along the Royal National Park it's a matter of common sense. There are a few spots that are dangerous close to the cliffs and like anywhere else along the coast, you always have to watch out for that "freak" wave. As most boaties, we don't take chances and keep a respectful distance.

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does it take long to get from bate bay to say wattamolla?

We usually troll from the mouth of the Hacking, around Jibbon bommie down past Wattamolla and it takes about 45minutes(?). I'm not not sure of the distance, but I'd guess it's about 10-12km.

Cheers

Peter

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Well done on still bring home a feed Peter,

My bro and I were out on Saturday in perfect conditions only to pick up countless undersize flatties and a never ending stream of slimies of the bottom.

We tried everywhere from middle of Bate bay all the way down to mid way between Marley and Garie in 30-100 meters - even trolled back from Marley to Jibbon for zilch.

Was a great day to be on the water though with virtually no wind a few passing whales and seals.

Cheers

Luke

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