Ss Birdseye Hits The Hawkesbury...

[Captain_Birdseye]

Well, we will be.

My brother and I have dusted off the boat, checked the motor works before launching (made that rookie mistake before) and plan to head onto the Hawkesbury from Brooklyn tomorrow morning at first light.

A quick chat with the bloke at Windybanks, confirms the belief around here that the bite will really pick up late Sept/early Oct but it has been 18 months since we've taken the boat out and I'm really looking forward to it. I love getting out onto the breakwall or sand bar up in the Camden Haven but being in a boat - you just can't beat the promise of maybe finding that spot no-one else has fished yet... that HAS fish. Or failing that - finding the same place everyone else fishes and catch a boatload!

So we'll be out nice and early armed with plastics, lures, bait and a pocket full of dreams...

Full report with some pictures (hopefully of fish) Saturday/Sunday arvo.

Just hoping to land a decent Bream or three (as that's what we're targeting) - well at least one legal fish of any kind so I can get the gas burner out and cook up some extremely fresh breakfast/morning tea for us.

Here's out trusty steed for the session...

Good luck if you're fishing this weekend!

[iMick]

Nice rig mate, forget about the Bream... that canopy setup looks cosy for an all night livebait sesh for the Jews.

Enjoy...

Mick

[Blood Knot]

Good luck Capn Birdseye - enjoy your day on the "berry"

John

[Captain_Birdseye]

Here's the report from Saturday:

Not a huge day in terms of fish but it was a great 6 hours out on the water (pity that stretches to 8 total hours for the whole expedition when you add travel time and cleaning the boat afterwards).

All up we caught a dozen fish (all flathead bar one legal Tailor) and kept two Flattys.

Biggest fish 44cm, so no monsters at all.

Early morning and on the water... the 3 hours of sleep before hand is quickly a non factor.

There's much more of this fish... you just can't see it as the other 38cm are out of frame...

Looks can be deceiving - really liked the look of this spot... nada, zilch, zero anything. But a good view.

What we kept - two Flatties

As fresh as it gets - been lugging around a gas burner every land based place I've fished for the past 2 months - and got it out to cook the smaller of the two flatties in kaffir lime leaves, onion, chilli, garlic, ginger, oil, butter and salt and pepper. Wrapped in foil, cooked on the front deck - beautiful.

Highlight of the day was the 'catching' of the smaller of the two kept flatties.

My brother hooked up on a plastic and I got into position to net it and it comes in really quick and does a head wobble about a metre from the boat. I was worried it'd spit the plastic so I get the net in the water asap and as my brother brings it a little closer with a quick wind, I just instinctively scoop - even though the fish wasn't ready by any stretch. Fortunately I did what I did - because no sooner had I started to scoop, the plastic and hook wizz past my head my brother exclaims that his line has busted (that's what he thought had happened) and he thinks the fish is gorn!

I look down into the net - and the flatty is safely caught.

Naturally I then claimed the fish as my own.

Good day out, look forward to many more in the near future.

[harold]

of course it is your catch and not your brothers. Good on you for having a great time out there.