Best Spots For Luderick

[Reeso]

Where are the best spots for luderick in middle harbour or on the north shore. Ive never targeted this species before because Ive always been told that theyre rotton eating, is this true? and also any tips for catching them? Is it important wahat kind of weed you use?

[REKLESS]

Gidday Reeso,

I am in a similar boat to you,just after info about sow & pigs reef.I do have a l;ittle bit of information about the blackfish around manly wharf though.They respond to burley and I have caught them there from the small wharf/pontoon on the eastern side.The trick is to go ultra light as they were pretty fussy and several times I was forced to use "Silly gear" to get the things to bite.

Silly gear is 1kg line,long traces ,small baits and small floats and a few times when the drift was right weightless baits saw them getting unstuck.

As far as taste goes,just fillet and skin the fish and if you do this soon after capture you will have no problems with the weedy taste.

Hope it helps a little,I have also seen the blackfish at the nets near fourty bastards beach.

simon

[Guest bluecod]

Where are the best spots for luderick in middle harbour or on the north shore. Ive never targeted this species before because Ive always been told that theyre rotton eating, is this true? and also any tips for catching them? Is it important wahat kind of weed you use?

55361[/snapback]

Reeso,

The answer to the first question is one that I don't think exists. I've seen quite a number of different spots fire when conditions for those spots are right and depends on whether you're land based, have a boat, willing to fish the ocean rocks and if you have the right gear. Burley always helps [sand with just a hint of weed in it thrown around your float]

Many of the harbour jetties and walls will fish well at times, as will Bantry Bay, the Spit, Narrabeen lagoon and parts of Pittwater [e.g. Palm Beach Wharf]. Some spots only fish on the rising tide and others on the falling tide

Bled, iced and skinned they eat very well when fresh - whoever told you they don't eat well doesn't know how to prepare them.

Light line and a finely tuned float in the estuaries - slightest touch should take the float under - grease your main line from the float stopper to the reel so you can keep the line from sinking and as straight as you can get it [helps striking]. Let the float freely drift with the current but keep in contact with your float at all times.

Bait [weed] is a very important element - some days they will bite only on cabbage or streamers, other days only on green weed and sometimes on brown weed, and at other times they are not fussy. If using cabbage or streamers use only a single leaf and if using weed, it has got to look natural. I've found they generally bite better on overcast days or when in shadow.

If you know of a spot for good green weed, send me a PM and I'll let you know where the only rock in Sydney is [that I have found] that has a reliable supply of streamers. Same deal for you too Rekless

[Reeso]

I was told by my uncle,

When he was growing up he used to catch, scale and clean them, and take them around and give them to all the neighbours because they were such bad eating.

[bung]

bluecod! shhhh i know where that rock is too...

there are some monsters at manly wharf...seen 3lbers there at night in the lights. they graze over the weedbeds during hte day on either side of hte wharf. me and a mate had a good go at them 2 weeks ago using tackle that wasn't particularly finesse...i think the 6lb fluoro trace helps but. late arvo, after 3pm, high tide was when they turned on.

[Grantm]

When I lived on the South Coast I used to regularly catch Blackfish in the estuaries on shelled prawn and live nippers. Never caught one with weed. I tried but couldnt get one, switched to prawn and nippers and bingo !

Same tactic as Bluecod desribed but with bait, just drifting a float along the edges of the weedbeds. Dont know if this works in the Sydney waterways but it worked down their.

I know Ken catches them on sp's which im keen to try too.

Anyone else have success on bait around here ?

[damariboyz]

bluecod! shhhh i know where that rock is too...

there are some monsters at manly wharf...seen 3lbers there at night in the lights. they graze over the weedbeds during hte day on either side of hte wharf. me and a mate had a good go at them 2 weeks ago using tackle that wasn't particularly finesse...i think the 6lb fluoro trace helps but. late arvo, after 3pm, high tide was when they turned on.

55401[/snapback]

Hey Bung, Wat the hell is that in ya foto. Russ

[bung]

a sharked bluefin

[Reeso]

Well I went down to Cremorne Point this arvo to give it a try for black fish. I did everything just as I have read, streamer weed wrapped around the hook, bout 1.5 metres between the hook and float.

Few casts and then I noticed the float dip, but I striked too early and the fish let go. Next cast the float dipped and I left it and then it went down and stayed down so I struck and had my first luderick, pulling it into shore it was a big fish, about 30cm and fat as, but just as I was lifting it out onto the rocks it bit through the hook and splashed back into the water. Thats right, it bit through the hook, that sly little bastard, what are you supposed to do to stop that happening? Unbelievable, Ihave to go back again tomorrow, I have unfinished business with that fish.

[Guest bluecod]

that sly little bastard, what are you supposed to do to stop that happening? Unbelievable, Ihave to go back again tomorrow, I have unfinished business with that fish.

55527[/snapback]

Reeso - ever hear of a long-handled landing net, either that, or beach it and lift it out with your hands, Good luck

[kevvie]

bad luck Reeso, at least now the technique should have proved itself and it's a matter of refinig to suit your style. I fish cremorne a little and find that a falling tide is ideal, the first of the run out. I don't find it necessary to fish such lite gear as metioned but each to thier own.

As grantm suggested, at certein times blackfish will eat any bait that comes thier way. We caught 14 blackfish on a central coast beach on sunday using live nippers. We were targeting bream and whiting.

I think they are great to eat if prepared properly.. fillet and skin is the only way to go...

[Reeso]

What do black drummer taste like? because I have heard that people are getting them down at Cremorne too.

[kevvie]

They are fish for the mother in law.... I don't like em

[bung]

black drummer are sensational...10x better tasting than nig's.

ya wouldn't get them at cremorne i would think but...most ocean rocks fish or outer harbour. maybe black trevally you are thinking of?

[Bashir]

I agree with bung, Drummer are great on the plate and beat a blackie any day. I'm not sure if you can get them at cremorne, but there are heaps to be caught in the harbour at places like middle head, grott point and dobroyd head.

[kevvie]

How do you prepare them bung?

I'm interested to know how a drummer could taste that good. Maybe iv'e been missing out on something good all this time?

Are all drummer good eating? are black drummer better eating than silver drummer?

[Reeso]

Just got back from down at the same spot at cremorne. I endured the torrential downpour and this time I hooked him and got him to shore. nice fish.

[bung]

keen angler, reeso!

kevvie, like nig's bleed, fillet and skin the black drummer, lightly dust in flour then pan fry in olive oil on medium heat, season and serve. also great battered and deep fried, and in stir fry (chuck thin slices into the stir fry at the last minute otherwise it will overcook and fall to bits). i like black drummer better than bream.

never tried a silver but they apparently taste pretty crappy.

Edited June 30, 2005 by bung

[Bashir]

All my drummer get bled and gutted. I add salt and pepper, then wrap them in baking paper, then foil and straight onto the bbq for 10 minutes. Simple is good and I have found that most fish taste good done like this. You can add your own herbs etc.. inside the gut whilst cooking to experiment a bit too. They are nicer than bream, but a fresh bream from the rocks or surf goes great in a buttered fry fan mmmmm.

[Guest bluecod]

Just got back from down at the same spot at cremorne. I endured the torrential downpour and this time I hooked him and got him to shore. nice fish.

55767[/snapback]

Well Done Reeso

What's next on the list ??

[Reeso]

I dunno bluecod,

Theres still alot of fish I havent caught.

Never caught a jewfish, a bit of a step up from luderick, but youve gotta be optimistic.

[macman]

G'day,

Well i've heard of a lot of things over the years, but never a luderick biting through a hook. As for pigs at Cremorne, I'd be very surprised, silver drummer perhaps, black trevally definitely, also surgeonfish are very likely, also the most likely culprit to bite through a hook.

As for the eating qualities of black drummer. I reckon they are the most underrated table fish, especially a fish of 1-2 kilos. Definitely not mother in law fish. Silver drummer on the other hand I wouldn't feed to anyone but the cat.

Congratulations on the luderick capture, and you won't find too many more pleasant places to fish in Sydney than cremorne point.

Sorry, I forgot, you should try the spit as well. It is a very good year round spot for blackfish. You can fish the north west side, and there is occasionally weed there. You need to cast a long way to get to the channel edge though. On the south side you can fish on the western side frm the run where the bridge is , right around to the back of Pearl Bay. Fantastic fishing spot and rarely anyone there ( except the run at the front which is second rate most of the time anyway)

Matt

Edited July 1, 2005 by macman

[REKLESS]

Yep,I can personally vouch for the silver drummer as the single most horriblest tasting fish that I have ever had,catch and realease 100%.

Pigs .....mmmmmmm,better then blackfish pretty hard to beat especially when they have been treated properley once caught.Trouble is where I go fishing for them it is hard to carry and esky up and down a 300ft clff!!.

simon

[dart]

I saw a guy tie up to tarren point bridge fourth peer across from the right and he was catching a tone... he was using a float and peeled prawn and was just dropping in like two feet bringing them up every minute...... If you can get around botany bay i think that would be worth a good try

[Reeso]

I bumped into this Asian bloke down there who was fishing with weed, I asked him if he was getting anything, he said yeah he has been getting good blackfish but not today. I say, luderick? He says no the other type. Thats where I heard from, so thats all I know.

And Im telling you, that fish bit through my hook, Im not lying.