Fishing newby

[Apm]

Hi guys

I'm in my late 30's own a small business , have a wife and 4 kids, I have made my motorsport hobby into my full time job which is great but I've just started to turn my small amount of spare time to fishing, it's new to me but I love it , I love being close to the water , being alone and peaceful for a few hours every now and then , but to be honest I'm terrible at it lol

I'm from south west sydney and usually head to botany bay,  I have spent a bit of time on the beach at Yarra bay and have been to the beach just south of the entrance to the cooks river , Brighton le sands to Kyeemagh, I got 2 flounder at Yarra one afternoon on prawns and lots of small undersize Whiting on worms at Kyeemagh/Brighton . I've been trying to learn online as best I can but cant find a lot about land based fishing from either of these spots . I'm a total newby so if anyone could give me some basic pointers I'd be very appreciative,  I'm not looking for any super secrets and as much as I just love being there and having a go a few more fish would be awesome ! 

Thanks again for any help 

[Welster]

Welcome To the site APM.  That's so cool turning your hobby into a job.  What type of Motorsport are you into? 
 

I mostly fish from a boat so I can't help much.  Maybe starting with catching bait would be good. Squidding bear bear island, yakkas near any structure,  Nippers maybe at  Mainbar and fish the flats. 
 

I think land based I'd set myself up to fish the structured areas like the Groynes for example or maybe walk the beaches flicking plastics.  Target one species at a time.  
 

As the water cools fishing will get a bit tougher in the estuaries the numbers drop away but the quality often improves. The fish are a less aggressive.  Blackfish are a good winter species and probably trevally. 

[DerekD]

Hi APM,

Welcome to the forum. If you are fishing down near Brighton then learning to catch your own bait is a good way to start. There are sandflats near Dolls point where you can go Yabby pumping on dropping or low tides. One video showing how to do so is:

I put them next to the holes rather than on top. At a slight angle from vertical but pointing towards the hole. The intention is to collapse the hole. If I keep these somewhere cool in a bucket of saltwater I can use them for fishing the next day. Whiting and bream love them.

A few things. I like Wilson or Alvey yabby pumps. I've got one of each which are decades old and still going. Stainless and made to last. The longer ones might look good but from what I understand they can be a bit hard to handle. When I start I tighten up the wing nut inside to compress the washers and loosen it at the end of a session. A quick flush with water and it gets put away.

When rigging you can use a running sinker up to a swivel. I like using size #4 or #6 long shanked hooks and feed it either up through the poop tube and out the chest or from the head down. Cast them out then with 10 to 15 second pauses move them across the sandflats about 30cm at a time to create a small disturbance to attract the fish.

When I go yabby pumping with the nephews I put the bucket down and the kids have a ball picking them up and putting them in the bucket for me. The youngest one tries to let them go at the end of the bait gathering session so I have to watch that.

Regards,

Derek

PS: This guy also shows how to rig them:

 

Edited April 20, 2020 by DerekD

[Apm]

Hi Welster

Thankyou for the reply , yes it has been great to turn something I really enjoy into my job but it has also spoiled it to an extent , hence my new hobby fishing !

I'll take the advice on board , thanks again 

[kingie chaser]

Welcome to the forum.

Sounds like you have a dream job!

I once drove an ex race V8 supercar around Eastern creek for 5 laps & loved it, I can certainly see how it becomes an addiction but obviously take a hell of a lot of money.

Imo, you cannot restrict yourself to one system or area, you need to sprout your wings a bit as Sydney is a big place, even though it may mean a little more travelling.

Don't get me wrong, the bay can be productive & I do 90% of my fishing in BB but by boat so that opens up a hole new world.

One suggestion is to look at getting yourself a small tinny.

 

Another suggestion is to try to think species specific, finding location & setting rigs etc to target a specific fish will usually work better than trying to just catch anything.

To do this you need to research habitat, rigs & or baits.

Not sure what you mean about not finding much info?

There is a heap of info on fishing BB & the rest of Sydney out there on the net & in this site, so I would suggest you do a bit more digging through google & also use the forum search on here.

https://www.fishraider.com.au/topic/53177-botany-bay-land-hotspots/

https://www.fishraider.com.au/topic/90894-ramsgate-beach-5-april-2020/?tab=comments#comment-672878

https://www.fishraider.com.au/topic/82686-landbased-fishing-spot/

https://www.fishraider.com.au/topic/90947-questions-on-catching-kingfish-land-based/?tab=comments#comment-673501

http://www.fishingmonthly.com.au/Articles/Display/19071-Sussing-out-shore-based-spots

http://www.fishingmonthly.com.au/Articles/Display/21976-Land-based-fishing-is-looking-good

https://www.australianfishing.com.au/forum/topic/50425-favourite-land-based-fishing-spots-in-sydney-harbour-and-the-parramatta-river/

https://manofmany.com/outdoors/12-best-fishing-spots-in-sydney

https://www.kaydofishingworld.com/land-based-fishing-spots-in-sydney-harbour-and-the-parramatta-river/

 

I don't mean to sound arrogant or rude but these took me 5 minutes to find!!

 

Fishing is a very enjoyable pass time BUT it takes years to learn, to learn about the fish, the gear, the best conditions etc but it just takes some research, dedication & persistence.

 

Good luck.

KC

 

 

Edited April 20, 2020 by kingie chaser