South West Rocks Blackfish

[Oscarthebeagle]

A report from a couple of weeks ago.

Took a few days off work and headed up to SWR to fish with my Dad @hookerbrucer who was up there for the week.

Packing and travelling without the usual wife and 4 kids made for a very easy trip. Last time we all went to SWR I had rods taped to the roof racks the car was so full, this time 3 rods, small tackle bag, pillow and small suitcase had the car looking almost empty. Plan was to leave Sydney early Wednesday morning and returned Friday evening in time to say goodnight to the kids..

Had an easy drive up and arrived 11ish, dad was already at the river fishing. Fished a couple of 2hr sessions each day targeting Blackfish out at the river wall or Back Creek depending on the wind and tides. We caught close to 50 legal Blackfish over the the trip, kept maybe a dozen to eat and released all the rest, most were 32-36 cm size with the biggest fish at 43cm going to dad.

All trips produced some fish but the most memorable was one of the afternoon trips where i found a nice eddy along the wall and fished into it, almost every drift had a down but all in the same 1sq/m spot next to a rock at my feet, before or after that spot nothing, 1/2m to far out nothing had to be right on that spot, I counted 14 solid fish caught in a 1 hour period, plus a few just legal or undersize fish right in that spot.

Did a couple of morning trips out to the wall casting a lure for Jewfish, not something i know much about but gave it a crack anyway, casting a 100mm pearl wriggle tail on a 8lb braid 2500 size 7ft outfit. Just walked along the wall having a few casts anywhere i could see a nice rock to stand on close to the water. Caught 1x Jewfish at 63cm the first day, 2x jewfish about 50cm+ the second day and missed a couple of hits, surprised me that I caught anything and gave a good fight on the under-gunned gear in close to the rocks.

 I had an enjoyable few days sitting on the rocks next to my father and did a few chores around the house in between fishing trips. Made it home at 1/4 to 8 on the Friday evening just in time to put the kids to bed at 8pm.

Thanks for reading 

Ash

 

Edited August 26, 2022 by Oscarthebeagle
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[Isaac Ct]

Nice report mate, great fish and photos. 
Well done

[Yowie]

Great work on the blackfish, and a good effort on the jewies on lures.

How is dad (Bruce) going?  no reports from him for a while.

[Hoods]

Gotta love The Rocks. Always somewhere to wet a line. Well done on the Jewies..Always a lot of fun off the wall. A couple of years ago a school of Kingies took up residence along the wall and towelled everyone up. A bet the tackle shop loved them.

[Centrepin]

Ash,

We  are at North Haven and you guys are doing much better than here this year.

Give my regards to Bruce, If I have not already done so.

Plenty of weed down here if you need some.

I am impressed with the Jewies, I will have to give them a try.

 

Well done,

 

Geoff

[masterfisho7]

Top report great photos well done 

[Larkin]

Sounds like some good father son bonding with a feed of fish to boot. Well done 👍 

[big Neil]

I love the "lure" of waiting for the down on the float when Blackfishing, not that I get to do it very often. Takes me right back to basics when I first started fishing. Have you tried fly fishing for Blackfish Ash...great fun on a nice whippy fly rod. Cheers, bn

[bessell1955]

Good haul of Blach fish.

[Rebel]

SWR is the best.

Super photos.

Great haul.

Nice Bkackfish.

[Oscarthebeagle]

Thanks for reading and thankyou for the comments. Sorry for the delay in my responses.

On 8/26/2022 at 7:54 PM, Yowie said:

Great work on the blackfish, and a good effort on the jewies on lures.

How is dad (Bruce) going?  no reports from him for a while.

Jewies were a lot of fun and a surprise for me as i don't really catch many. My lifetime total has now gone from 4 to 7.

Have sent you a PM regarding what Bruce is up to.

On 8/26/2022 at 8:06 PM, Hoods said:

Gotta love The Rocks. Always somewhere to wet a line. Well done on the Jewies..Always a lot of fun off the wall. A couple of years ago a school of Kingies took up residence along the wall and towelled everyone up. A bet the tackle shop loved them.

Always love spending time at SWR, can always find something to fish for. i wasn't there when the Kingfish were in the river but heard they were terrorizing the Blackfish, taking some off the line and hitting floats as they were being wound in across the surface. 

On 8/26/2022 at 10:09 PM, Larkin said:

Sounds like some good father son bonding with a feed of fish to boot. Well done 👍 

Time spent fishing with family is always time well spent.

On 8/27/2022 at 5:26 AM, big Neil said:

I love the "lure" of waiting for the down on the float when Blackfishing, not that I get to do it very often. Takes me right back to basics when I first started fishing. Have you tried fly fishing for Blackfish Ash...great fun on a nice whippy fly rod. Cheers, bn

I definitely find staring at the float waiting for a down incredibly addictive, spend most of my winter fishing trips watching a float.

Haven't tried flyfishing for them but i do often have a green weed fly as a second hook on my rig, it accounts for a few extra fish.

Ash