Paikea Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Wading the flats Gunnamatta Bay, Port Hacking Many years ago looking down from the Fly Bridge of my 10 M Game boat when travelling thru the channel at the entrance to Gunnamatta Bay I often saw schools of big Whiting and Bream swimming in the area of the last channel marker (before the deep water) at near low tide. Since then I have always wanted to wade out there at low tide and fish using Nippers, Bloodworms (and now) small chugger surface lures. Unfortunately age and two bad knees caught up with me and put any attempt on hold. However, I am still keen to give it a go. In the meantime I thought that I would share this info with Raiders in the hope that someone will try it and do a post on their experience. To get there you have to get onto Darook Park Beach and wade out. The following pics show both the flats and the Channel Marker. Good Luck Cheers Paikea The Channel Marker is at the edge of the deep water. The line showing the ferry route is wrong, it has to use the channel at all times. The Channel Marker, to the left of the incoming boat, at low tide you can nearly walk right up to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krispy ! Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Have done it a couple times, seen some bruiser whiting in less than a foot of water but very spooky. To get them you have to use 3lb or less and little or no sinker and you have to keep your distance. Cast past the whiting and retrieve into them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 The line of spots on the 1st picture is the ferry route. Have seen a few people wade out at low tide. On a low, low tide around christmas, you can wade to the channel markers at the north end, the middle marker (2nd photo) but not the southern marker ( at the entrance to the channel - too deep there) Just depends on how deep you want to wade through the water ( to the knees or the 'jatz crackers' - i.e. near the waist) On the last of the run-up, I have drifted over the area with nippers for bream and whiting (better when dark, early morning or just after dark) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boattart Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I did a fair bit of that last summer. Some thumper whiting around and saw a guy catch one off the beach using worms close to 2lb. For my effort though all I could find are the pre-schoolers which are thick. I had one day with live nippers at the south end I got 5 keepers but there where still a lot of undersized fish which was great for the kids but a bit frustrating when you see the big ones swim past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillie Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Watch out for the small rays that get up on these flats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_s Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I drifted these flats lat Sunday morning (on the big high tide) on a kayak tossing around pink soft plastics. Didn't get a hit in 2 hrs and only saw a school of mulllet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boattart Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 (edited) Watch out for the small rays that get up on these flats yes you're right...saw lots lots of rays too....mostly diner plate size but still pack a punch if you surprise one. Edited January 8, 2015 by boattart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iceman Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 The way to fish the flats there is in a bit of wind afternoon north easters are good so the fish will be a bit less spooky Wade out and cast with the wind lightly weighted baits or my favourite lure for this is an austackle shinku in bondi brown or a tiemco stick minnow in 007 fished on 3lb flouro Run up tide preferred If there is no wind or very little I would fish a surface lure like my new favourite whiting one Luckycraft Sammy 55mm in stin shrimp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtBundy Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I had a go yesterday at low tide but the wind made it hard to spot anything and I could only just figure some weedbeds to cast around. Looked to be a lot of what I think were nipper holes though. If I had got there earlier in the day it looked like there was plenty of ground to prospect around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 (edited) Pumping of nippers there is Banned. Edited January 8, 2015 by yowie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass assassin Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 My local wading spot! Darook weedbeds can produce some cracking fish with the right conditions. Poppers and 'WTD' lures over the top of the weed get the job done. My Grandfather lived a few houses back from the actual park,with his boat shed on the water, so my introduction into fishing was in this area. Many a day and night was spent chasing Whiting and Bream, or just mucking around in the tinny at high tide on flats. Some of my bigger Bream and Whiting have come on poppers up there. Kilo plus Bream and 40cm plus Whiting was the norm a few seasons back, it seems to have slowed down a bit there though the last few years (maybe the fish are becoming wary of hooks?) The drop offs have produced some decent Flathead and I've caught rat Kings there at times. I havnt been up there for a few months, but reading and writing about it, I'm itching to get back up there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paikea Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 Great responses to my query, thanks all. When I was a pup I used to fish for big mullet in the bay, in those days huge schools of them would come into the Port as far as Audley Weir where perps would throw big treble hook jags into the school milling at the base of the weir and jag them out. Saw the same thing done at Toukley years ago. An old man who lived right on the beach and had a boat shed and timber ramp going into the water taught me how to find and look at Flathead lies and Whiting snorts to see what stage of the tide they were feeding. If a snort has sand/mud upstream of it the Whiting were feeding on the run out tide etc. Great info for a young lad. The old man (probably younger than I am now) also had some great pics in his boatshed of big fish caught off his ramp. One was of a big Tiger Shark that had been feeding on the Mullet. Ah, those were the days. Cheers all. Paikea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 I know one bloke who around 30 or more years ago, jagged the big mullet in the surf along Wanda Beach. He said the 5 or 6 pound ones would fight like crazy. Of course, jagging has been banned for a long time !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floating_Medic Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Watch out for the small rays that get up on these flats Yep, mostly the electric ones that send a shock all the way up your body and into your hair! I was in the baths at Gunnamatta Bay holding my then 3 year old nephew and stood on one that sent the shock all the way up my legs, through my body and into my nephew! It scared the crap out of me but made my nephew laugh his little head off but I think that was more from my reaction to it that the funny feeling of the shock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_s Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 (edited) I gave this spot a go this morning from the kayak (last channel marker). I got hammered by leather jackets (big ones). They chased the soft plastic to the surface, a net would have gotten me one. I might try again tomorrow. Edited January 10, 2015 by mark_s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaClH2OK9 Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 +1 with Yowie. No pumping nippers. It's been 12 months but I fished the flats and beach into shallow water (30 cm.) I always found bread my best bait for bream / tarwine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtBundy Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 My reference to the nipper holes was more that I thought it would indicate a food source for fish to come in for - not so much for pumping them. Good to know its restricted anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchie18092 Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Yep, mostly the electric ones that send a shock all the way up your body and into your hair! I was in the baths at Gunnamatta Bay holding my then 3 year old nephew and stood on one that sent the shock all the way up my legs, through my body and into my nephew! It scared the crap out of me but made my nephew laugh his little head off but I think that was more from my reaction to it that the funny feeling of the shock! Numb rays - very nasty pieces of work. Have been knocked off my feet by one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel2230 Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 Thought i would add a few comments even though it is an old thread. Just finished a quick 2 hour session at Darook Park, wading the sand flats with a red spotted popper, and caught 1/2 doz whiting with 3 keepers over 27 cm. tide was rolling out at the time, very sunny, so not the best conditions. Joel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass assassin Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 Good stuff Joel! I've been up there a couple times lately in the inflatable yak. I got a Solid Whiting last Tuesday in the rain. The Monday before I headed up in the morning, got smashed by some big Bream but failed to get hook ups. I also lost my brand new Tonic sunnies overboard, so if anyone finds them in the weed, let me know...haha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Hi Bass, Just read your post and I am wondering whether have you ever caught something from the sand/shallows at darook park beach or only in the kayak? tks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass assassin Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 10 hours ago, Fernando said: Hi Bass, Just read your post and I am wondering whether have you ever caught something from the sand/shallows at darook park beach or only in the kayak? tks Hi mate. Yes, before I got the yak I used to wade up there all the time. Either on the weedbeds or fishing into the drop off. I've caught Bream, Whiting, Flathead, Flounder, Trevally and even rat Kingfish up there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Hi mate. Tks for letting me know. Nice to hear that, I'm going to have a go!! tks, Fernando. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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