Recent COVID Lockdown fishing adventures

[The Rev]

Hi there fellow raiders,

Like all of us I am in lockdown here in Sydney, and I am stuck here in Manly and the surround's - I do feel blessed!

For the past few weeks I have been getting out on Fridays, which is my day off, and have been having success on the reefs and sand in the Manly to Dee Why stretch which is within my distance limit.

First trip to Long Reef was on an afternoon with a 4pm high tide and managed a 4 nice pan sized pinkies. We also managed to hook up to a very large seal on the live bait. Thankfully he looked up at us after a minute and shook his head so vigerously they snapped the 65lb line at the swivel! That was a relief.

Second trip was back to Long Reef but this time there just stacks of 28-30cm trevally plus barracoutta 😞  We also managed to find a large cuttle fish that was just about to die after spawning and netted it for bait for future kingfish trips. After a while catching and releasing the trevors' and cutta' we headed wider and caught some nice flathead, blue mowies and a banded wrasse.  I have to say that the last time I ate mowies they were a bit bland, but these ones were fantastic cooked up in a beer batter. 

Third trip we just headed out off Dee Why to the previous spot and caught a nice mixed bag of pig fish, mowies, blue spot flathead and a large red rock cod. The excitement of the trip was when I had my biggest fathead on.  I was winding it up and it felt like a  60cm+ fish and had it to about 12 meters under the boat when the line stopped and shook violently.  I immediately knew it was a shark. We looked over the side to see a large shark had swallowed my flathead whole and it rolled over to show a large white belly.  About 5 seconds later we had a 7-8ft white pointer at the boat inspecting my burley pot at the back of the boat about 3ft from my face which certainly got the heart beating!!!  I'm in a 4.2M Quintrex Renegade. No pics were taken as I just started the motor and took off.  I have heard of too many bad stories of white pointer shark inspections of fishing boats including a mate from Wollongong who had their 21ft fibreglass boat sunk by one (true story for another time).  Here are the photos from the trips.

Tight lines everyone and for those who don't live close to a boat ramp like me, hang in there, eventually the lockdown will end and we will be able to get back to all fishing.

The Rev 

 

[Rebel]

Great haul. Well done. Super photos.

[leonardgid]

from what i understand  the 5km rule only applies  to land , if you are one of the lucky ones that  has a boat ramp  near you then  once on the boat  there are no restrictions , nice bags of fish by the way , thank you for sharing .

 

[Burger]

17 minutes ago, leonardgid said:

om what i understand  the 5km rule only applies  to land , if you are one of the lucky ones that  has a boat ramp  near you then  once on the boat  there are no restrictions , nice bags of fish by the way , thank you for sharing .

Pretty sure it's now a blanket 5km from your front door if going outside your LGA, which ends at the shoreline I believe.

[Jiggy]

 ...including a mate from Wollongong who had their 21ft fibreglass boat sunk by one (true story for another time).  Here are the photos from the trips.

Was that off Belambi/Wollongong a few years back now?

[The Rev]

29 minutes ago, Jiggy said:

 ...including a mate from Wollongong who had their 21ft fibreglass boat sunk by one (true story for another time).  Here are the photos from the trips.

Was that off Belambi/Wollongong a few years back now?

Was back in about the year 2000 off Trap reef that is east of Wollongong about 10km out in summer time. The boat sank in 60 seconds such was the hole that the shark put in his boat. Came up from below and rammed it's head through the hull.

[mrsswordfisherman]

Just popping this in FYI 

https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/rules/changes#rules-for-your-local-area

Exercise is an activity that requires physical effort and is designed to maintain or improve health. Examples include running, walking, cycling, water sports or swimming.

Recreation includes outdoor leisure activities such as a sitting for relaxation, or to eat, drink or read outdoors.

Provided you follow the rules for your local area, going outdoors for exercise and recreation is allowed in

• Greater Sydney
  • including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour local government areas
  • excluding local government areas of concern: Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool, Parramatta, Strathfield, and some suburbs of Penrith
• regional and rural NSW.

In the local government areas of concern

• you may go outdoors for exercise with one other person you do not live with, and/or members of your household (people you live with)
• you may supervise a child aged 12 or under while they exercise or play outdoors
• going outside for recreation is not allowed.

[zmk1962]

14 hours ago, The Rev said:

Was back in about the year 2000 off Trap reef that is east of Wollongong about 10km out in summer time. The boat sank in 60 seconds such was the hole that the shark put in his boat. Came up from below and rammed it's head through the hull.

I recall reading about one such incident involving two brothers and one’s wife. The shark bit the bow and took out a chunk. All survived but the three were in the water for hours with the shark circling. But from m memory that involved a tiger shark estimated to be around 6m. 

BTW, top catch above. Lots of good eating there. 
cheers Zoran 
 

 

[Yowie]

17 hours ago, Burger said:

Pretty sure it's now a blanket 5km from your front door if going outside your LGA, which ends at the shoreline I believe.

I spoke to a water police officer at Marine Command at Balmain a couple of days ago. He said I could head out for a fish up river as I am not in a restricted LGA, stick to a 5km limit from launch site and not head outside (which means fishing inside Port Hacking as it is part of Sutherland LGA)

For those in restricted areas, no fishing. He said just use some common sense, and fish one out (unless with a house member, then 2 up in a boat)

He was one of the officers that headed out to Browns Mountain to issue a few tickets to those dopes in the 2 boats out there. Those fishos were from restricted LGA's (a local government area of concern) so should not have even left at all to go fishing anywhere.

[Yowie]

Some nice catches of fish there Rev. 

As for the mowies, I do not like them for eating, and they head back into the ocean for someone else to catch. 😂 Have tried them in different cooking recipes, but not for me.

The pannies make good eating.

Edited August 17, 2021 by Yowie

[Jiggy]

I recall reading about one such incident involving two brothers and one’s wife. The shark bit the bow and took out a chunk. All survived but the three were in the water for hours with the shark circling. But from m memory that involved a tiger shark estimated to be around 6m. 

Yes that's the one I'm thinking of, it was the early 90's by memory. I was out the day after this boat was sunk near there and guess who came to check us out! I saw it on the sounder first as it came up behind us; the sounder drew it as a perfect shark image.

I had a 14ft predator tri hull at the time and the great white was longer and almost wider, it was a big unit. Gave us a once over and kept going. Awesome and scary at the same time.

[Yowie]

Just spoke to my neighbour, not a raider but a mad keen fisho.

A mate of his is a copper from the water police. There was a change of rules yesterday (since my Monday phone call and report filed above) that people who live in an LGA that borders the ocean and is not a local government area of concern  i.e. a restricted LGA, then you are allowed to fish offshore to the maximum distance of 5km from the shoreline.

The water police are checking all boat regos as they motor past your boat, and if you are from a restricted LGA, you will be spoken to and handed a rather large fine.

If you have excessive people on board, you will be spoken to and handed a fine.

Just be careful when you attend a shop for fuel, bait, food and using a public boat ramp, maintain protection and distance!

 

Rev, sorry to highjack your thread, just posting some info for the others.

Edited August 18, 2021 by Yowie

[The Rev]

1 hour ago, Yowie said:

Just spoke to my neighbour, not a raider but a mad keen fisho.

A mate of his is a copper from the water police. There was a change of rules yesterday (since my Monday phone call and report filed above) that people who live in an LGA that borders the ocean and is not a local government area of concern  i.e. a restricted LGA, then you are allowed to fish offshore to the maximum distance of 5km from the shoreline.

The water police are checking all boat regos as they motor past your boat, and if you are from a restricted LGA, you will be spoken to and handed a rather large fine.

If you have excessive people on board, you will be spoken to and handed a fine.

Just be careful when you attend a shop for fuel, bait, food and using a public boat ramp, maintain protection and distance!

 

Rev, sorry to highjack your thread, just posting some info for the others.

Not a problem Yowie - but to be correct and slightly pedantic,  LGA's on the coast include the coastal waters adjacent to them going out 3NM which equates to approx 5.5KM. This is written up in the NSW Health orders in the preliminaries (that Coastal waters are included) and when you check what the coastal water is - it is 3NM inc are you ever get asked.  Here is the except...

Division 2 Interpretation

3. 3  Interpretation

   1. (1)  The Dictionary in Schedule 4 defines words used in this Order.

      Note— The Act and the Interpretation Act 1987 contain definitions and other provisions that affect the interpretation and application of this Order.

   2. (2)  A reference to a type of premises in this Order has the same meaning as it has in the standard instrument set out in the Standard Instrument (Local Environmental Plans) Order 2006.

   3. (3)  For the purposes of this Order, the coastal waters of the State are taken to form part of the local government area to which the particular waters are closest.

But i doubt that extra 500m is going to change much!! I hear from the Australian Fishing Trade Association's facebook page (AFTA) that they are in discussions to have that limit removed for fishers that can access coastal waters.  They say that they have had verbal confirmation as of yesterday but there is nothing in writing yet.

Cheers, The Rev

[mrsswordfisherman]

Sorry this has turned into a Covid-19 interpretation of the rules. 

There are some rather questionable wording on a few posts on facebook such as "can I go fishing for fun"? answer yes.

I am allowed to sunbake as exercise - answer yes

I think we need to just all look at the one set of rules and information from the government. The continued spread of misinformation makes the job of our health professionals on the frontline harder. 

Here is the latest from Maritime NSW 16/8/2021

https://roads-waterways.transport.nsw.gov.au/maritime/covid-19-update.html

[Yowie]

3 hours ago, The Rev said:

Not a problem Yowie - but to be correct and slightly pedantic,  LGA's on the coast include the coastal waters adjacent to them going out 3NM which equates to approx 5.5KM. This is written up in the NSW Health orders in the preliminaries (that Coastal waters are included) and when you check what the coastal water is - it is 3NM inc are you ever get asked.  Here is the except...

Division 2 Interpretation

3. 3  Interpretation

   1. (1)  The Dictionary in Schedule 4 defines words used in this Order.

      Note— The Act and the Interpretation Act 1987 contain definitions and other provisions that affect the interpretation and application of this Order.

   2. (2)  A reference to a type of premises in this Order has the same meaning as it has in the standard instrument set out in the Standard Instrument (Local Environmental Plans) Order 2006.

   3. (3)  For the purposes of this Order, the coastal waters of the State are taken to form part of the local government area to which the particular waters are closest.

But i doubt that extra 500m is going to change much!! I hear from the Australian Fishing Trade Association's facebook page (AFTA) that they are in discussions to have that limit removed for fishers that can access coastal waters.  They say that they have had verbal confirmation as of yesterday but there is nothing in writing yet.

Cheers, The Rev

Thankyou for the clarification. 500 metres still does not get you to The Peak or Browns 🤣  but it might mean finding that patch of flatties sitting out just a bit further.

[Yowie]

1 hour ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

Sorry this has turned into a Covid-19 interpretation of the rules. 

There are some rather questionable wording on a few posts on facebook such as "can I go fishing for fun"? answer yes.

I am allowed to sunbake as exercise - answer yes

I think we need to just all look at the one set of rules and information from the government. The continued spread of misinformation makes the job of our health professionals on the frontline harder. 

Here is the latest from Maritime NSW 16/8/2021

https://roads-waterways.transport.nsw.gov.au/maritime/covid-19-update.html

I have been reading this latest update since it was produced in early August, but I cannot remember any changes since it was first produced.

Just a matter of us all finding what we can in the rulings, updates, etc. 

Thank you for the updates Donna, feel sorry for the fishos that cannot get onto the water.

Dave.