Fishing with Big Neil in Sydney

[DerekD]

Hi,

This is the fishing report for last weekend with Big Neil. He has the photos so hopefully will be able to add them when he gets back to Leeton.

So after catching up with Donna, Stewie & Waza the night before to discuss fishing the plan for the Saturday was to actually do some fishing. I met him at the place he was staying and then we drove to the Freshwater/Queenscliff area. Me to collect some cabbage and string weed for fishing and Neil to drop some pottery off at the extended family. We then went down to Mosman to meet with the others. I’d invited @henryr down to join us and had a mate (Hannes) over from Germany for work who was also going to meet us there. That was the plan at least. Turns out Hannes and his boss Nils went to the pub for a drink and then made some new friends. They got back into the hotel at about 6 in the morning then made the mistake of lying down on the bed to.... zzzzzzzzzz. Fortunately the choice of Mosman bay meant we could have something to eat and then have a flick while we waited for the others.

Neil walked past a parked car and ended up in a conversation about fishing. This was how we met new Fishraider @ryan.f. Turns out he was just getting into fishing locally. He had a 9 foot rod so we invited him to the wharf to show how we would normally fish that outfit. Neil was happy flicking a lure while I was mentoring Ryan. At this stage HenryR arrived and spent some time chatting to Neil. Finally, Hannes rocks up and we could change location to chase the target species of Luderick. Ryan had to leave at this stage so we shifted to Clifton Gardens as I can usually find a few down there. Hannes borrowed one of my squid jigs and spent some time chasing them - unsuccessfully but I think he was just happy to be back in Sydney. We were sheltered from the NW winds so it was really pleasant down there. We made up the burley and started chasing luderick in earnest. They were there but really picky. Henry had some downs but only landed one. Neil and myself were in donut territory. We could see them swimming through the weeds but they wouldn’t play. The most frustrating thing was that inside the netted area where we aren’t allowed to fish were about 5 times the number of blackfish. Pretty sure they have worked out what is and isn’t a safe area over the years. Wasn’t really happening so we shifted back to Mosman bay where both Neil and HenryR scored a few blackfish. While not huge amounts of fish we did get the target species. All in all it was a lovely day.

The plan was slightly different for the Sunday as we had Hannes and his boss Nils joining us to pump yabbies. The target species for the day was whiting. Nils had not done much fishing in his life so the day was a balance between fishing and touristy activities. We met at the sandflats of Bayview and introduced the two Germans to the yabby pump and sieve. They learned what to look for and how to best use the pump and sieve as a team. Nils got a yabby on his first pump but it had eggs so was released. Over an hour we got enough yabbies for the afternoon fishing session. We were conveniently close to a tackle shop so popped in for a look and some gear. We did the touristy bit next with a looping drive up to Palm beach and back with a convenient stop at the Newport arms hotel. We got back to the Manly area in the afternoon for a fish. Hannes and Neil knew what they were doing so I left them to their own devices after showing them how to rig up and hook on the yabbies. Nils had pretty well never fished before so I worked with him on casting and how to work the yabbies over the sandy bottom. He must have been listening as he hooked a few flathead, a cracking whiting and surprisingly, a long tom. He was grinning from ear to ear by the end of it and I’m hoping we have another fishing convert. This was followed by dinner at one of the local pubs.

While not huge numbers of fish it was still a fantastic weekend of fishing with excellent company.

Regards,

Derek

 

[Larkin]

Sounds like a great weekend was had by all!

Derek you sure covered some territory - enjoyed the report and well done on the fish caught!

Can’t wait for the photos @big Neil

Edited September 23, 2022 by Larkin

[bessell1955]

What an enjoyable weekend1

[Burger]

Sounds like a beaut weekend!

[Rebel]

Top weekend.

[Isaac Ct]

Sounds like it was an awesome weekend end.

good to catch up with friends and make new ones.

[Squidless]

What a great weekend. Looking forward to the photos. 

[nutsaboutfishing]

Sounds like a ripper weekend

[Little_Flatty]

Awesome weekend out!

Thankfully the yabby pumping was rescheduled to the second day. Couldn't imagine yabby pumping with a hangover 🤣

[big Neil]

Some beautiful views up the peninsula as well as the opportunity to get some first class bait. Even though I caught nothing that day, it was still great to see Nils (a total novice) finish up with 5 fish, including a monster Whiting. Great day out!

I will sort the pics out in the next few days and post them. bn

[big Neil]

On 9/24/2022 at 3:24 AM, DerekD said:

Hi,

This is the fishing report for last weekend with Big Neil. He has the photos so hopefully will be able to add them when he gets back to Leeton.

So after catching up with Donna, Stewie & Waza the night before to discuss fishing the plan for the Saturday was to actually do some fishing. I met him at the place he was staying and then we drove to the Freshwater/Queenscliff area. Me to collect some cabbage and string weed for fishing and Neil to drop some pottery off at the extended family. We then went down to Mosman to meet with the others. I’d invited @henryr down to join us and had a mate (Hannes) over from Germany for work who was also going to meet us there. That was the plan at least. Turns out Hannes and his boss Nils went to the pub for a drink and then made some new friends. They got back into the hotel at about 6 in the morning then made the mistake of lying down on the bed to.... zzzzzzzzzz. Fortunately the choice of Mosman bay meant we could have something to eat and then have a flick while we waited for the others.

Neil walked past a parked car and ended up in a conversation about fishing. This was how we met new Fishraider @ryan.f. Turns out he was just getting into fishing locally. He had a 9 foot rod so we invited him to the wharf to show how we would normally fish that outfit. Neil was happy flicking a lure while I was mentoring Ryan. At this stage HenryR arrived and spent some time chatting to Neil. Finally, Hannes rocks up and we could change location to chase the target species of Luderick. Ryan had to leave at this stage so we shifted to Clifton Gardens as I can usually find a few down there. Hannes borrowed one of my squid jigs and spent some time chasing them - unsuccessfully but I think he was just happy to be back in Sydney. We were sheltered from the NW winds so it was really pleasant down there. We made up the burley and started chasing luderick in earnest. They were there but really picky. Henry had some downs but only landed one. Neil and myself were in donut territory. We could see them swimming through the weeds but they wouldn’t play. The most frustrating thing was that inside the netted area where we aren’t allowed to fish were about 5 times the number of blackfish. Pretty sure they have worked out what is and isn’t a safe area over the years. Wasn’t really happening so we shifted back to Mosman bay where both Neil and HenryR scored a few blackfish. While not huge amounts of fish we did get the target species. All in all it was a lovely day.

The plan was slightly different for the Sunday as we had Hannes and his boss Nils joining us to pump yabbies. The target species for the day was whiting. Nils had not done much fishing in his life so the day was a balance between fishing and touristy activities. We met at the sandflats of Bayview and introduced the two Germans to the yabby pump and sieve. They learned what to look for and how to best use the pump and sieve as a team. Nils got a yabby on his first pump but it had eggs so was released. Over an hour we got enough yabbies for the afternoon fishing session. We were conveniently close to a tackle shop so popped in for a look and some gear. We did the touristy bit next with a looping drive up to Palm beach and back with a convenient stop at the Newport arms hotel. We got back to the Manly area in the afternoon for a fish. Hannes and Neil knew what they were doing so I left them to their own devices after showing them how to rig up and hook on the yabbies. Nils had pretty well never fished before so I worked with him on casting and how to work the yabbies over the sandy bottom. He must have been listening as he hooked a few flathead, a cracking whiting and surprisingly, a long tom. He was grinning from ear to ear by the end of it and I’m hoping we have another fishing convert. This was followed by dinner at one of the local pubs.

While not huge numbers of fish it was still a fantastic weekend of fishing with excellent company.

Regards,

Derek

 

Thanks Derek. This was a great day out. Not only because I got to meet two new friends, but because I got to visit yet another few new areas for a fish. Great to visit the "peninsula" again. About 40 years since I had been there previously, naturally things were very different. Here are a few photos of the day which Derek has described.

Derek, Hannes, Nils (left to right)

Pumping Nippers...

 

Derek instructing Nils on the finer points of fishing for the first time...

As reported, I caught NOTHING, whilst novice Nils caught 5 decent fish. Hope he considers taking up the sport when he gets the opportunity. A top day in a very lovely, and popular part of Sydney.

Cheers, bn

Edited September 27, 2022 by big Neil
incorrect order of photos.

[big Neil]

As mentioned above we caught up with old friend Michael ( @henryr) at Clifton Gardens and ended up moving to Mosman. He and I continued fishing for Blackfish and had some success, even though the fish were somewhat smaller than we have caught before.

One of the smaller Blackfish which I caught on a rod which I bought from Ryder, some years back when he first taught me the art of Blackfishing...

It was really nice catching up with Michael again and meeting Hannes who , incidentally, fishes freshwater in Northern Germany. Naturally Hannes and I had plenty to chat about as my formative fishing years were spent freshwater fishing in England. There are many species common to both places.

Derek and Hannes...

Thanks for reading, bn

[Squidless]

Awesome photos @big Neil

[Pickles]

Great when raiders get together.