Live bait spots in the Georges?

[Aardvarking]

As many may know it has been my journey to catch my first jewfish over the past few months, but the limiting factor for me has always been catching bait. I always get up super early to catch yakkas and squid before the sunrise, and am left disappointed every time when the yakkas don't show up and I can't seem to catch squid. Next time I go out in the kayak I want to fish the Georges river for the first time and am looking for a sure fire spot where I can catch some livies or some squid in the morning, so I'm not left disappointed like I always seem to be. There is nothing more frustrating than spending 2 hours trying to catch non existent yakkas before seeing a school of jewies on the sounder with nothing to drop down to them like I did last session 

[GoingFishing]

Squid can be difficult and i rarely target them as bait so cant offer any help other than the further up the georges river u go the less likely u are to come across squid

yakkas should be easy, are u burleying for them ? What kind of rig are you using and what time, early morning just before sunrise is best

[Aardvarking]

4 minutes ago, GoingFishing said:

Squid can be difficult and i rarely target them as bait so cant offer any help other than the further up the georges river u go the less likely u are to come across squid

yakkas should be easy, are u burleying for them ? What kind of rig are you using and what time, early morning just before sunrise is best

Yep, burleying up with bread and tuna oil. Usually get to the water at least an hour before sunrise, and use a rig with 2 size 12 mosquito hooks on dropper loops and one hook on the bottom with a little sinker sitting on top. The issue for me isn't catching them, just finding the buggers. They always only seem to be where I'm not.

[GoingFishing]

Where abouts are you trying for them ? 

If you want certain results try end of the rock wall adjacent to the tug boats in botany bay and then head back up river. They are always there and in plague proportions

[Pafisho08]

Hi

As for yakkas there are very few upstream  from C Cook bridge .You may do better going for mullet as that's what the jew go for .

There are yakkas at times around the north pylon on the C Cook bridge and also under the pontoon N side .

Bob

[Aardvarking]

47 minutes ago, Pafisho08 said:

Hi

As for yakkas there are very few upstream  from C Cook bridge .You may do better going for mullet as that's what the jew go for .

There are yakkas at times around the north pylon on the C Cook bridge and also under the pontoon N side .

Bob

Okay, cheers. Any tips on catching poddy mullet in the george's river? 

[mii11x]

Try any wharf/ramp in the Hacking, yakkas are there most times of the year.  Squid can also be caught here.  Its not too much further from the Georges.  Also if you dont have yakkas, why not use lures, they are just as effective IMO.

As for the squid, you might get lucky and snag a squid in the Georges, but like I said, you'd be lucky because they are pretty much non-existent.

Pafisho08 is also correct about he yakkas too, they show up every now and then around CC bridge on the north side.

I have never targeted yakkas or squid in the Georges because they are just not there, a lot of other places are better to catch bait.  

I know there are plenty of mullet in the Georges, but I never seem to catch any so I rarely try.  Ive tried unweighted size 12 hook and bread, a float with a size 12 hook and bread, even mullet traps and I never succeed.  I dont know what im doing wrong to be honest.

All the mulloway I catch in the Georges are caught on squid and live yakkas, the only problem with the squid is that it does, at times, get picked to death.  Having said that, Ive caught some stonker bream as a jew by catch using live yakkas.  I've sometimes used live herring that I have caught in the Georges or Hacking and that works too.  Dont underestimate a legal sized tailor also.....yes 30cm......legal size.  

I always open the stomach of Mulloway on the rare occasion I don't release them and Ive found bits of squid, prawns, vertebrae(obviously from fish), crabs, worms, even small bream.

On a side note, last year I was fortunate enough to find an accoustic tracker inside(not in the stomach) a mulloway.  I did track down who fitted the tracker and we exchanged notes.  It was placed in the fish 1.5 years earlier when the fish was 40cm and released at Abbortsford.  In that year and a half it made its way out of Parramatta river/Sydney harbour and then into Botany bay and the Georges river(well upstream).  From memory it was just over 80cm when I caught it.

Keep at it man, you just gotta put in the hours for Mulloway unfortunately.  Keep a dairy of your catches noting everything including weather conditions and a pattern does eventually present itself in every system for them with makes them easier to target years down the track.

Hope some of this helps, happy to help those who try, try and try again using their own knowledge first!!!

Mick

[Aardvarking]

Seeing how hard it may be to catch bait, I might try another spot instead of the George's, and I'll save it for when I'm a bit more confident with jewie fishing and can target them with lures. Thanks for the help everyone.

[Captain Spanner]

1 hour ago, Aardvarking said:

Seeing how hard it may be to catch bait, I might try another spot instead of the George's, and I'll save it for when I'm a bit more confident with jewie fishing and can target them with lures. Thanks for the help everyone.

You're not giving up that easy. Which area of the Georges are you planning on fishing? If you tell us that we can try to tell you where you might be able to catch poddies where you launch your kayak so you don't spill salt water in your car driving your livies around and giving them a headache. You will be able to trap poddies at most places that you are able to launch your kayak. Herring on tiny bait jigs are another good option around bridge pylons but a bit less reliable to catch. 

Another option is to dedicate one or several trips to go to the hacking or kurnell and catch squid, keep it in snaplock bags in the fridge and use it that arvo/night or the next day. Or catch it one day, freeze it in snaplock bags and take it as a backup bait for when you can't catch livies, or just use the squid or try both. If you take the squid for bait you have to use it for bait that trip or keep it cool and eat it that night, it will not re-freeze well enough for jewies. We often catch just as many if not more school jewies in the Georges on self caught frozen squid than livies, partly because you always have it and you don't always have livies. Fishing squid strips is much more economical on bait and strips are more durable than whole baits. Any squid with a hood longer than your hand should get 4 strips out of the hood, one big or two smaller baits out of the head and two wing baits.

[Welster]

The search function on this site might help you out too.   Particuarily I’d  start with reading @jenno64 posts he fishes the Georges River  on kayak, using poddies for bait generally for flatties with the occasional Jew bicatch.  

I have never fished for Jews but as Rick was suggesting and may be able to clarify the Mullet make their sea run soon. I think people say it’s around the time of the first autumn westerlies.   I’d say mullet would be the primo bait then. 

When the mullet are running you will probably see posts pop up about it and the La Perouse aboriginals group will post on FB about netting they are aloud to do.

[Pafisho08]

HI 

The go to lure at present is the Samaki fork tail 125mm soft vibe in mullet colour or green/ orange .Work them slow with lift & drop.

Any of the deep holes on slack tide ----  Good luck.

Bob

[Aardvarking]

2 hours ago, Captain Spanner said:

You're not giving up that easy. Which area of the Georges are you planning on fishing? If you tell us that we can try to tell you where you might be able to catch poddies where you launch your kayak so you don't spill salt water in your car driving your livies around and giving them a headache. You will be able to trap poddies at most places that you are able to launch your kayak. Herring on tiny bait jigs are another good option around bridge pylons but a bit less reliable to catch. 

Another option is to dedicate one or several trips to go to the hacking or kurnell and catch squid, keep it in snaplock bags in the fridge and use it that arvo/night or the next day. Or catch it one day, freeze it in snaplock bags and take it as a backup bait for when you can't catch livies, or just use the squid or try both. If you take the squid for bait you have to use it for bait that trip or keep it cool and eat it that night, it will not re-freeze well enough for jewies. We often catch just as many if not more school jewies in the Georges on self caught frozen squid than livies, partly because you always have it and you don't always have livies. Fishing squid strips is much more economical on bait and strips are more durable than whole baits. Any squid with a hood longer than your hand should get 4 strips out of the hood, one big or two smaller baits out of the head and two wing baits.

Didn't really have a plan for which area, I figured I would base it around where bait is accessible. Most of the George's river seems to have nice deep Jewfish holes to fish. Instead of having a live well I have a live bait tube I built which I tow behind the kayak, so wherever I fish has to be within paddling distance of where I can catch bait. One thing I was thinking, does anyone know if the San Souci wharf has any bait around it? Seems like it might be a nice spot for yakkas, seeing it's close to the mouth of the river.

Unfortunately the squid idea isn't really ideal for me right now, because I am in the middle of my final year of school and can only find the time to go out fishing once every week or two. Of course I would love to go out fishing a few days in a row and allocate some squid fishing days, but it's just not doable for me right now seeing I seem to have exams to study for and assignments to do pretty much every week. It is definitely something I'll do more once I get the HSC out of the way, but for now it's just something to dream about for the future.

[GoingFishing]

You could try the wharfs around captain cook bridge and then paddle upstream. Depends on where you drop the kayak in.

Edited April 12, 2018 by GoingFishing

[mii11x]

12 hours ago, Aardvarking said:

Unfortunately the squid idea isn't really ideal for me right now, because I am in the middle of my final year of school and can only find the time to go out fishing once every week or two. Of course I would love to go out fishing a few days in a row and allocate some squid fishing days, but it's just not doable for me right now seeing I seem to have exams to study for and assignments to do pretty much every week. It is definitely something I'll do more once I get the HSC out of the way, but for now it's just something to dream about for the future.

The squid I catch I glad wrap and freeze the same night for use later.  I have caught multiple jews on squid that would be frozen for 3 or 4  months.

The squid I freeze have been taken up and down the coast (from Narooma to Forster) when I go on holidays and use them and have never had a problem either

[Captain Spanner]

2 hours ago, mii11x said:

The squid I catch I glad wrap and freeze the same night for use later.  I have caught multiple jews on squid that would be frozen for 3 or 4  months.

The squid I freeze have been taken up and down the coast (from Narooma to Forster) when I go on holidays and use them and have never had a problem either

This is what we do because of time restraints.

If you are fishing anywhere from Captain Cook Bridge upstream then I would pick a Herring over a Yakka every time. You can catch the herring around the bridge Pylons with a tiny bait jig, make sure you take a few bait jigs as the little chopper tailor make short work of them if they are around, that spot is better at night for bait and fish. Be extremely careful in a Kayak around that bridge, especially at night it gets alot of boat traffic, not everyone is looking properly for kayaks, not everyone has lights on and some people drive too fast through there. There are yakkas and herring around that pontoon as well. You can take soft vibes and plastics as mentioned above and tea bag them around the pylons if you cant catch bait. If you are limited on time you might be better off just going straight to that technique anyway if you intend on spending the majority of your break time chasing jewies. Otherwise I would be spending your 1-2 hour study breaks chasing and stockpiling squid and then have a dedicated Jewie session when you are prepared and the conditions are right. This same technique can be used at any of the bridges on the Georges, all will have simliar safety issues.

Off the jewie track, this would be a good time of year (while the water is still warm) to be throwing or towing little metals and plastics around the Hacking for Bonito, talior, salmon, Kings and the like, you can fish for squid while you're there too. Just make sure you paddle around that 3m bull shark they caught the other day.

[Aardvarking]

58 minutes ago, Captain Spanner said:

There are yakkas and herring around that pontoon as well.

Thanks for your comment, that is very helpful. Are you referring to the pontoon in San Souci park?

[Aardvarking]

I've done a bit of research, looks there's a good chance of getting some bait at the wharf at San Souci. Does anyone have any experience trying to get yakkas or herring there?

[Captain Spanner]

Sorry mate i forgot i hadn't sent my reply before and shut the window. You will get yakkas and herring at that pontoon but not necessarily every time. With small jigs you will sometimes get arrow squid when the water is clean (more likely top of the tide) but they are not reliable.

I still think that herring outfish yakkas for jewies around that area. There are alot more herring than yakkas there and herring are alot softer for the jewie to inhale and digest than a spiky little or even worse a big yakka. The herring just are't as durable as the yakkas for keeping alive, transporting, casting and in the current.

[Pafisho08]

I have watched people often catching yakkas at the San Souci wharf using pork mince on light line small oo sinker and size 10 long shank

hook and most fish are right under the pontoon. At times they catch enough for a feed not live baiting !!!! . This is also one of my Black Fish spots as winter arrives .

Regds Bob.

Edited April 13, 2018 by Pafisho08