Manly beach

[Pommieben]

Had a couple of hours on Manly beach yesterday evening. Just fishing with the surf with light gear and prawns. Landed 3 bream up to 30cm, 2 flathead around the 30-35cm mark, a couple of undersized whiting and a bag full of dart. Not too bad for a couple of hours. Excellent sport on light tackle.

Not much in the way of bigger fish showing at Manly at the moment. The Tailor are all small and I've not seen a salmon for months.

I'm looking for some hints and tips on bagging my first Bronze/Dusky whaler. I gather the harbour might be a better bet than the surf beaches? Any advice on locations/methods/baits greatly appraciated.

[brettmann86]

Mate the beach is the go for the smaller sharks and just fish the same way you would for a Jew, but add in some wire trace big oily bait like striped tuna will do fish the gutters and you'll get one sooner than later

[aeb870]

I do lots of beach fishing but with heavier gear for mainly Salmon and anything else out there. Could you tell me what kind of gear you use for smaller fish, well the more edible fish really

[Pommieben]

I do lots of beach fishing but with heavier gear for mainly Salmon and anything else out there. Could you tell me what kind of gear you use for smaller fish, well the more edible fish really

Yeah sure. I use an 11ft european style freshwater quiver tip rod, 8lb fluorocarbon straight through to a 1 or 2 running ball sinker and a 1/0 suicide hook. I use uncooked prawns, Peeled and split into 2 or 3 baits. Very simple really. Happy to demonstrate sometime if you like.

[Beaver]

Sounds like a nice mixed bag. I fished there a couple of weeks ago for 3 big whiting, and a few small dart. Lots of small tailor too. Won't be fishing there this weekend with the surf carnival on that's for sure!

[Pommieben]

Sounds like a nice mixed bag. I fished there a couple of weeks ago for 3 big whiting, and a few small dart. Lots of small tailor too. Won't be fishing there this weekend with the surf carnival on that's for sure!

I hear you! I'm going to be heading out of Manly this weekend!

Out of interest. which end of the beach did the big whiting turn up at? I'm still hunting for some good leagal sized whiting. They all seem to be around the 20-25cm mark, although I did manage one of 28cm the other day.

[Beaver]

Got them from North Steyne last time, biggest around 38cms, there's a few big ones mixed in with the smallies...

[duncan.march]

There are definitely some decent whiting there if you can get past the small ones and in particular the dart...of which there are far too many.

I have found the trick to the big ones is live worms - since I have figured out how to catch them I have started to get much better whiting. That said, enough worms for an hours fishing takes me about a bloody hour to catch!!!

Managed to turn this

into this there one night last week - great fun on light tackle.

I'm also keen to have a crack for a shark down there one night - particularly with the inlaws about to descend....for a month so if you fancy a bit of company let me know.

Cheers,

Dunc

[Pommieben]

There are definitely some decent whiting there if you can get past the small ones and in particular the dart...of which there are far too many.

I have found the trick to the big ones is live worms - since I have figured out how to catch them I have started to get much better whiting. That said, enough worms for an hours fishing takes me about a bloody hour to catch!!!

Managed to turn this

into this there one night last week - great fun on light tackle.

I'm also keen to have a crack for a shark down there one night - particularly with the inlaws about to descend....for a month so if you fancy a bit of company let me know.

Cheers,

Dunc

Definitely mate! You can show me how to catch those damn worms!

[Maiders]

There are plenty of sharks on the all the northern beaches guys. First big oily baits, a little burly with tuna oil and you shouldn't have too many problems finding some.

[Mondo Rock]

Pic quality is crappy, but I caught this nice little whaler on 15lb braid and a whole mullet bait (meant for a jewie) at Maroubra about a month ago. I'm 6 foot 4 inches tall - which makes the shark about 4 foot long by my reckoning.

I was lucky that the hook was lodged in the corner of his mouth as I had no wire, just a 30lb mono trace, otherwise he would have bitten me off quick smart. On the other hand I really thought I had finally hooked my first beach jew so was a bit disappointed to see the bronzy as it washed up the beach.

The funniest thing was that I caught it on dusk just as the swimmers were starting to come in. Several of them were a little concerned to see a shark come out of the same gutter they were just floating in.

Oh - I should add that I sent him back to bite another day. With a new lip ring.

Edited February 13, 2012 by Mondo

[Pommieben]

Pic quality is crappy, but I caught this nice little whaler on 15lb braid and a whole mullet bait (meant for a jewie) at Maroubra about a month ago. I'm 6 foot 4 inches tall - which makes the shark about 4 foot long by my reckoning.

I was lucky that the hook was lodged in the corner of his mouth as I had no wire, just a 30lb mono trace, otherwise he would have bitten me off quick smart. On the other hand I really thought I had finally hooked my first beach jew so was a bit disappointed to see the bronzy as it washed up the beach.

The funniest thing was that I caught it on dusk just as the swimmers were starting to come in. Several of them were a little concerned to see a shark come out of the same gutter they were just floating in.

Oh - I should add that I sent him back to bite another day. With a new lip ring.

Cheers for all the info guys.

What sort of rig should I be using for these sharks? Should I be using something like a paternoster rig to anchor the bait in place or just freeline a the bait in the gutter? Is it best to use a single or double hook rig?

Sorry for all the amateur questions.

[ginko]

If you're after sharks, a circle hook is a good place to start - # 8 or bigger I'd say. Just don't strike too soon. The shark will probably bite at the bait, take it's time and eventually come back and swallow it whole and then try to swim off. if the bait is in its stomach as it swims off your line will come back up, and the hook will run along the edge of its mouth outside the teeth. When the circle hook passes the teeth, it will finally catch on the edge of the mouth, and hey presto, you're hooked up securely and no matter the chomping, the shark can't bite you off.

With a regular hook, well, chances are pretty good that the shark will bite through even the heaviest trace.

I've used both two and one. I think two is better at the beach, just because one tends to rip out of the bait. use a sliding snell to get the hooks placed perfectly on the bait, and try not to get too much of the bait on the hook so the hook has lots of room to "bite" into the edge of the mouth. in a boat, one is generally better, since there is much less casting, and I seem to catch more when the bait is not filled with big metal hooks.

An exception, though, is using yellow-tail that are a bit too big when tailor are about: I find two hooks is best, since so many tailor end up biting off the back end off the bait fish and missing the front hook if you're fishing with only one. In fact, then I abandon the circle hooks, and use the sharpest regular hooks I have for tailor.