Botany Bay

[Sido]

Fellow Raiders,

Planning to go out this weekend and hit botany bay however forecast winds are westerly between 15-20 knots.

As a newbie to boating - is this fishable and is the go to find some protection - ie. Mollineaux Point, around the foreshore (Novotel, in the river?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Sido

[rich-oh]

There are plenty of place you can get out of the wind but you will be in for a slog to get to them depending on where you launch of course.

If our flicking SP try near Towra there are some pretty secluded spots before it becomes marine reserve, but i always find the bay doesn't fish well in a westerly . The flatties are an option but it certainly quites down a bit if its from the west.

[griffox]

Hi Sido,

I faced the same issue last Friday.

Early in the morning the winds were light, so I tried a couple of spots around the Bay.

As the day progressed the wind increased until it made things a bit uncomfortable (I'm in an open 12' tinnie),

so I anchored up hard against Moll' Pt. for the incoming tide.

Kept the burley going (bread, pellets and a dash of oil) and cast very lightly weighted pieces of pilchard into the trail.

For about two hours I kept pulling in small Trevs.

Mostly undersized (30cm for Trevally), but quite a few "homies", catching (and releasing) about 20 fish in total.

The only problem came when I made for home (Cooks River ramp) as the wind had now blown up and was making a metre of chop with loads of white caps and spray across the whole Bay.

Only a short trip back to base, but I was soaked!

In general, westerlies are not the preffered winds to fish (here on the east coast), mainly (I think) because the cooler winds off the land tend to cool the top layer of water and push the bait down and away from the fishy zones.

And from a boaties perspective it always makes the trip home hard work...!!

As always though, you have to judge for youself the safety issues.

I didn't mind getting bashed about a bit for the run home after having a good fun few hours of fishing, but I wouldn't have put my less enthusiastic mates (or my better half) through it!

That's my two cents worth...

[srudds100386]

Hi,

Also not too experienced but I think it is definately fishable. Tuck away behind any protection I.e - container wall/yarrah bay. Definately not too comfortable getting between spots in a smaller boat though.

Interested to hear others opinions as I said, I'm not too experienced either.

Cheers

[Guest Aussie007]

the bay fishes well in anything except a southerly over 15-20knots+ the southerly is what kills the bay its just unfishable with a good meter of chop and rough as guts last time i was out there it was a good 30knot wind and over a meter of chop the worse side is mol point as the wind has picked up right across the bay and makes boating dangerous it was slow going for me in my 14 foot runabout and wet water splashing over my windscreen top speed was around 15-20kph to keep things on the safe side me and my cousins have seen the bay at probably its worse around 9-10pm we set out for mol point in the dark for a night fish in a 14 foot pongress under powered boat we fished for around 30mins than all of a sudden a massive 50-60knot wind storm hit within 5mins it went from glass to the roughest hardest water ive ever been in waves breaking over the transom and over the windscreen taking on water it was scary we put life jackets on at this time u could motor along the ports break wall i was about to abandon the boat and jump in the drink to swim to the side it was that dangerous we ended up beaching the boat at the bend to the old wharf south side near the tugg boats we than pushed the boat around into calm water where we had a breather and talked about the hair raising experience we loaded up the boat on the trailer when one of the tugg boat drives drove his car around into the parking lot to make sure we made it out ok as he was watching us struggle what a night that was it was a learning experience i rarely fish nights now because of this reason ive been back out on the bay probably 30-40 times since this night i think it was just a rare occasion this was around 2007 i will never forget it

[Keflapod]

G'day Sido.

Before I can reply, I will need some more info:

1. Size and type of your vessel (open, half-cab, etc)

2. Reliability of your boat

3. Experience you've had

4. Number of people you will take with you and their comfort levels

5. Your expectations (catch'n'release, must get a feed, etc)

Why so much info ?

Because 15-20 knots of westerly is not comfortable to drive through or to fish through and you will likely be exposed to the full force at some point in your trip.

Your own experience and that of your passengers becomes an important factor.

If you expect to get a good feed, you may not quite get that because the combination of strong westerly, full moon and stiff currents may present challenges that are not easy to beat to get onto a fish.

See if you're in a 6m half cab with one other crew member, both fairly experienced, reliable boat and just flicking SP's around looking for a tussle here'n'there, then it might be OK to go.

But if your in a 14ft open runabout, dodgy tiller steer 2-stroke and fishing with the wife'n'kids looking to put something in the empty freezer, you should either stay at home or go to an up-river spot and fish landbased.

See what I mean ?

Fishing in a boat has a lot of things to take into account so please think through the situation carefully before getting out there....

I hope this puts your questions into perspective.

Tony

Edited August 3, 2012 by Keflapod

[Sido]

Thanks everyone for your feedback - really appreciate it.

Tony - Quinne bowrider 5.6 metre, 115 merc optimax only 2 years old.

Experience medium and looking for a feed and relax with 2 mates - 3 of us all together.

Launching Oatley and motor into bay - most likely around foreshore for protection.

Hope it helps but agree I would never risk mine or passengers life - all about relax and recreation!!!

Cheers - Sido

[Guest Aussie007]

Thanks everyone for your feedback - really appreciate it.

Tony - Quinne bowrider 5.6 metre, 115 merc optimax only 2 years old.

Experience medium and looking for a feed and relax with 2 mates - 3 of us all together.

Launching Oatley and motor into bay - most likely around foreshore for protection.

Hope it helps but agree I would never risk mine or passengers life - all about relax and recreation!!!

Cheers - Sido

your pretty safe in a 5.6m boat

[Perrotst]

Hi Sido,

You should be safe in the quinine. You should be okay in some spots. The bay can be a really uncomfortable when the westerlies pick up. Even if you go out past the heads and hang behind the cliffs you should be okay as it protects against the westerly.

At the end of the day safety comes first and only go where you feel comfortable. Goodmluckmif young out this weekend.

Cheers.

[Sido]

Thanks guys - appreciate all the feedback