Milestones at Blackwattle Bay

[Mike Sydney]

It seems like only yesterday that I posted here of my first ever catch on lures: 

I went down to Blackwattle Bay this evening for an hour on dead low tide with dead slack water. A lot of rubbish about but the water was pretty clear.

My experience with low tide is that there are still fish to be had if you work the structure hard and have a little patience. While it felt ‘dead’ to begin with there was still a lot to attract fish to the area - floating debris and leaf litter still provides fish with cover and gives a clue as to where any minimal tidal movement is flowing. 

With a motor oil GrubZ on a 1/24th HWS and 6lb I fished under the leaf litter clumped up near shore. 

It was only a few inches deep but I was able to hit two more milestones this evening, with a 34cm bream becoming my 400th catch on lures, followed soon after with a 32cm whiting - a new PB for me! 

Both fish were in probably 20cm of water and hiding underneath leaf piles. Nearby baitfish were playing unmolested while these two predators took advantage of what little cover they had.

With two good fish landed I cut my session short and am heading home. 

Thanks to all raiders for their support over the past year or so. I wouldn’t have gotten even close to this success without all your advice and support. 

See you out there!

 

[wazatherfisherman]

Good effort Mike and interesting reading all your posts

[Little_Flatty]

Well done Mike. Some nice fish there. It's funny how things change for you as an angler when you realise how shallow some fish will go.

You really have come a long way in a very short time. It took most of us much longer to get to your level of consistency. Just shows what you can achieve when you put the hours in, have the right help and do a bit of focused skills development.

[Mike Sydney]

Thanks Mike! Putting in the hours alright, and the money for that matter. I stopped being afraid to lose lures and just cast them anyway. That’s caught me a ton more fish, but has cost me a lot more money in lures!

I’d be scared to calculate just how much money I’ve thrown into lost lures….though the Big Corporate Fishing chain sent me a 6 pack of beer, a cooler bag and some jerky a few weeks back so perhaps that’s a clue!!

[Little_Flatty]

3 minutes ago, Mike Sydney said:

Thanks Mike! Putting in the hours alright, and the money for that matter. I stopped being afraid to lose lures and just cast them anyway. That’s caught me a ton more fish, but has cost me a lot more money in lures!

I’d be scared to calculate just how much money I’ve thrown into lost lures….though the Big Corporate Fishing chain sent me a 6 pack of beer, a cooler bag and some jerky a few weeks back so perhaps that’s a clue!!

I'd be terrified to find out how much money I've given to Shimano over the past few decades! In my late teens and twenties, if I wasn't fishing, I was riding and racing all kinds of (push) bikes. I have to admit that's partly why my last reel was a Daiwa 🤣

[Mike Sydney]

52 minutes ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Good effort Mike and interesting reading all your posts

Thanks @wazatherfisherman, if they’re a fraction as interesting as yours I’m on the right track.

I was reading your posts long before I joined FR, and one of my more memorable fishing experiences came from trying to follow your directions to “white rock” at Bradley’s Point after perhaps a month of fishing. We’d been looking for a ‘secret spot’ online and one of your posts brought me in to Fishraider. My mate and I clambered over the rocks with a little wet boot work, as I assured him confidently that the tide was receding. We tied and baited and snagged and retied and retied, with hooks far too large, line too heavy and generally not a clue about anything. Fishless and sunburnt we decided to quit only to realise I’d been dead wrong about the tide direction. I’d got the time right, but the direction wrong and the way back to the track was underwater to the knees. Naturally I’m in jeans and carrying what felt like 100kg of gear but we had to suck it up and wade on through as it was only getting worse. These days I stick to the estuaries!

[wazatherfisherman]

2 hours ago, Mike Sydney said:

Thanks @wazatherfisherman, if they’re a fraction as interesting as yours I’m on the right track.

I was reading your posts long before I joined FR, and one of my more memorable fishing experiences came from trying to follow your directions to “white rock” at Bradley’s Point after perhaps a month of fishing. We’d been looking for a ‘secret spot’ online and one of your posts brought me in to Fishraider. My mate and I clambered over the rocks with a little wet boot work, as I assured him confidently that the tide was receding. We tied and baited and snagged and retied and retied, with hooks far too large, line too heavy and generally not a clue about anything. Fishless and sunburnt we decided to quit only to realise I’d been dead wrong about the tide direction. I’d got the time right, but the direction wrong and the way back to the track was underwater to the knees. Naturally I’m in jeans and carrying what felt like 100kg of gear but we had to suck it up and wade on through as it was only getting worse. These days I stick to the estuaries!

Hi Mike I'd like a dollar for every time I had to wade to get to White Rock, so as to be there for the peak time (the run out tide). It fishes well this time of year, so maybe try it again, as it would fire after all the rain has pushed the fish down to the lower harbour. Plenty of different species along that stretch and not very 'snaggy' if you're on the biggest ledge- it's sand bottom with a few kelp patches.

For the record, I once carried almost half a big white bucket of water with about a dozen small Yellowtail that I caught off the zoo wharf, all the way there via another spot on the inside of Bradleys Head called "Two Rocks" and had to wade waist deep with all the gear by myself. When I finally got to White Rock I had to have a rest before fishing and jumped the crevices out to the main ledge, only to see about 10,000 of the same small Yellowtail schooled up. Could have caught them there! Massive effort, but I had to laugh- never bothered carrying them in there again!

[Pickles]

3 hours ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Hi Mike I'd like a dollar for every time I had to wade to get to White Rock, so as to be there for the peak time (the run out tide). It fishes well this time of year, so maybe try it again, as it would fire after all the rain has pushed the fish down to the lower harbour. Plenty of different species along that stretch and not very 'snaggy' if you're on the biggest ledge- it's sand bottom with a few kelp patches.

For the record, I once carried almost half a big white bucket of water with about a dozen small Yellowtail that I caught off the zoo wharf, all the way there via another spot on the inside of Bradleys Head called "Two Rocks" and had to wade waist deep with all the gear by myself. When I finally got to White Rock I had to have a rest before fishing and jumped the crevices out to the main ledge, only to see about 10,000 of the same small Yellowtail schooled up. Could have caught them there! Massive effort, but I had to laugh- never bothered carrying them in there again!

Yep - been there - done that Wazza?

[Pickles]

Great report Mike, thanks for sharing - 2 really nice fish - what did you get the whiting on, same sp as the bream?

[Mike Sydney]

Yes the whiting took a grubz as well.

[bessell1955]

Your effort was well rewarded.

[Rebel]

Great report.

Super photos.

Nice bream.

[jenno64]

nice bream and ting!

[wazatherfisherman]

8 hours ago, Pickles said:

Yep - been there - done that Wazza?

Hi Bob can actually one-up doing that carrying Yellowtail effort.

Went to Rose Bay wharf to catch some Yellowtail to take down the cliff at the Mattens below Dover Heights as they'd been almost impossible to get for a couple of weeks off the rocks.

The Kings had been thick at the Mattens and the local population of mostly larger Yellowtail had 'vanished' during that time (as had the Pike), getting one of either was a guaranteed strike, so we started at Rose Bay and got about 20 lollipop sized ones and caught a cab to the clifftop as we were still too young to drive and travelled by train/bus from the Western Suburbs. About half a dozen cabs refused to take us with the bucket of water (no wonder!) but finally one guy agreed to take us the 2km to the top provided we nursed the bucket (it did have a lid on it!)

Took about twice as long as usual to get down the cliff, then really struggled around the 'boulder walk' before finally getting to the destination to fish.

Quickly changed the water in the bucket as the aerator had fallen off the bucket and smashed just 100 meters from our trip base. 

Same as the day at White Rock, when we went out to the edge to check out the spot, there were more small Yellowtail schooled up than we'd ever seen, sitting like a cloud on the surface!

The things you do when you're young

P.S Sorry Mike not trying to hijack your thread, I've followed your reports with much interest as I've fished the bay at Iron Cove for over 45years

[masterfisho7]

Top stuff some nice fish its not a bad place to fish I live hear there and have also got fish there

[Mike Sydney]

23 minutes ago, masterfisho7 said:

Top stuff some nice fish its not a bad place to fish I live hear there and have also got fish there

It’s consistently productive for me on all tides, and has been so good lately I have to deliberately decide to fish elsewhere just for some variety. Just oozing structure wherever you look!

There is a fishable area on the city side as well at the marina where a bloke I met has caught estuary perch. Only a small space before the locked off gate but a pleasant place to fish. I’ve not caught there in three sessions however.

Edited April 11, 2022 by Mike Sydney

[Larkin]

Well done on the milestones mike!
The more you fish the more you learn. It’s one of the things I enjoy most about fishing! 

[Isaac Ct]

Great stuff mate, the persistence of a couple of years and now you a racking in the fish. Well done.