Pittwater / Barrenjoey Rats

[jacobaflak]

First Post Let's make it a good one!

I've come to the conclusion that there's no such thing as a comfortable / productive land based spot, and if there is, it's raided by.. Let's not go there because they're my kind and i'm fed up with their nonsense and mucho attitude! Lol

A few mates and I will be hiring a boat this Saturday from Barrenjoey and fishing the heads. I'm pretty sure they'll be happy with anything that bites, but i've got 2 personal trophy fish. 1 is Kingfish, and 2 is Salmon.

From what iv'e heard, the Kingys have been 'very' friendly lately. Iv'e done a lot of research, but iv'e heard so many different things! What's the most effective?

This is what i plan, is this a good or bad move?

30kg, or 30lb (Forgot which iv'e got) Mono Line, with a 3 way swivel. One end with my line, the other end with a Float, the 3rd end with 3-4m of line with a fresh squid and a tiny tiny sinker.

What size Hook should i use? Should i get a lure? If so, which? Is it worth trolling with a skirt?

I plan on getting there really early, maybe 7ish. I know they're early morning top of water feeders

Any other tips? I'd love a salmon too! Is it a good location for Salmon? I'm more focussed on the Kingys though

Cheers

[Linc]

First of all when it comes to fishing, 7ish is not 'really early' most would consider it fairly late

From all the reports, all you need to do is ensure your bait is somewhere around the marinas in pittwater and you're in with a good chance of a kingy, your rig sounds OK but I sure hope it's 30lb line and not 30kg as that would be overkill.

Unless there are a lot of snags I'd even suggest using a leader of 20lb or so since the kings are not huge at the moment, i've been landing them on 10lb in botany bay, and you're always going to get more bites.

Take a lure for sure, I've done well on flick baits for the rat kings lately, try a 1/2 oz jig head and just chuck it around, sometimes they take it on the drop othertimes you need to work it a bit, but if you throw it around the moorings you're in with a real good chance.

[jacobaflak]

First of all when it comes to fishing, 7ish is not 'really early' most would consider it fairly late

From all the reports, all you need to do is ensure your bait is somewhere around the marinas in pittwater and you're in with a good chance of a kingy, your rig sounds OK but I sure hope it's 30lb line and not 30kg as that would be overkill.

Unless there are a lot of snags I'd even suggest using a leader of 20lb or so since the kings are not huge at the moment, i've been landing them on 10lb in botany bay, and you're always going to get more bites.

Take a lure for sure, I've done well on flick baits for the rat kings lately, try a 1/2 oz jig head and just chuck it around, sometimes they take it on the drop othertimes you need to work it a bit, but if you throw it around the moorings you're in with a real good chance.

Thanks for that Would you suggest around Barrenjoey heads ? Or deeper into Pittwater? I'll go with a lighter line Possibly a 15lb. If i'm throwing flick baits around, what rig am i working with? I'll get a few flick baits and i'll take squid just for variety worst case, if the Kings are playing hard to get, at least i'll be able to fish something else

[pete76]

get a rapala or halco redhead bibbed minnow about 10-20cm long, will get you kings and salmon everytime!!

i usually troll til i find them, then chuck a livey, squid or whatever....BTW the earlier the better, try 530-6 for better results

havnt really fished your way, but id say headlands

good luck

[Linc]

Where do you get the boat from? if it's near moorings I'd say try the moorings first then troll out to the heads as Pete said. For the flick baits or any plastics you can just tie the jig head straight to your mono line if you like. best is to have a flurocarbon leader (I like 15lb for small kings) but mono all the way is easy and will do the job.

Definitely try a few different techniques, some bait, some lures some different rigs - what works one day might not work the next - and a boat doesn't always guarantee a fantastic catch (just gives you a hell of a lot better chance)

[Scratchie]

Also depending on what type of boat you get will determine whether you can take it outside! Of it's a tinny, then I'd play around the moorings in pittwater!

Good luck!

Cheers scratchie!!!

[jacobaflak]

Iv'e got a bunch of different lures that i can use, including the bibbed minnow, and i'll be grabbing the suggested ones tonight I live an hour+ away so arriving at 6:30 should be good, but any earlier will be tough. The boat is from Barrenjoey Boat Hire, it's near the headlands, but it's a dinghy as the rest are sold out lol. Depending on the Chop-O-Meter, i might troll towards the heads. Thanks everyone Fingers crossed!

[Linc]

Just don't go anywhere that makes you feel uncomfortable, common sense usually prevails though some inexperienced boaties do bite off more than they can chew sometimes - no fish is worth that!

Good luck, we do expect a report by the way!