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Charcoal is a good product to use when you want to cook. It can also be used in a forge as it can burn hotter so you have the opportunity to melt things that required a high temperature. I have a lot of wood lying around, so I thought I'd have a go and see if I can make some. Its a pretty easy process. Find a paint can and stuff as much wood as you can into it. Next thing is to put a lid on it to seal it, making sure you have a small hole in it. The hole means that pressure won't make the lid pop off, Next is you heat it up.. I put it my fire place. Keep an eye on it, and wood gas comes out the top and will burn off. Wait until the flame goes out Take it out, put it somewhere to cool down and block up the hole. This is stop any chance of embers that might have fallen in catching fire. When cooled, open it up, and admire your handiwork Next thing to try is actually using it. Thanks for reading!

I had the chance to go out with a mate on Saturday to try and catch some king fish. The ride out was a bit lumpy, but we got to the spot and we were live baiting and jigging. I managed to get my first King on a jig. I think we were in about 120 metres and I found it all rather hard work. One of the crew showed me how to change my style and I think it improved. It was till hard work. I ended up with three keepers, all in the high 70's. I need a lesson on holding fish for photos because this one looks tiny! Anyway, I headed home and decided to try my hand at lightly seasoned and sashimi. Plenty of fish left over and this was the final result Pretty happy with the result. I got a second pass for Sunday and headed out to the flathead grounds.It was a bit smoky after Lion Island had been on fire the night before from a lightning strike. @kiwicraig and @flatheadluke were out there too, so I tried to catch up with them. I got a bit confused as I thought they were both on the same boat, but it turns out they were on different boats. Didn't see them, and I think that they didn't get much. I managed to get a few flathead and then came home to start the cleaning process. A nice weekend for me.

Good stuff mate. I make my own hardwood charcoal too using 20litre paint tins or 44 gallon drums as i have charcoal fired bbq's all the time and use alot. I have an open pit fire going and sit the drum/s on top and stack wood up on the outside of the drum/s too. If i bought heat beads or lump from places like the green warehouse I'd need shares in the place. As for trying it out,I'd doubt you'd go back to buying beads or lump as the flavour cant be beaten in my opinion. People buy gas bbqs probably mainly for convenience,quickness but the process of gathering the wood or charcoal,lighting it,watching it burn down etc while having a few beers enjoying the outdoors,friends,family is what makes it for me. In Uruguay where im from and countries like Argentina,Chile etc a bbq (Fiesta)goes on for hours,many times into the late hours of the next morning or longer. People will turn up at say 6-7pm and will still be there at 2-3pm or longer.lol. Another thing i never forget to accompany my bbqs with doesn't matter if its beef,chicken fish is Chimichurri sauce which is very traditional for us and goes down great. Let me know what you think of your maiden voyage into cooking with your own homemade charcoal. Cheers.

G'day again I live in Croydon and have fished the bays around Five Dock -Drummoyne for over 40 years. One of the most popular baits people use when fishing the area has always been skirt steak- I stress skirt because it has a 'grain' that is tubular in appearance, not unlike a worm. Just cut it along it's 'grain' and feed on similar to using a worm. The common rig used by most for daylight hours is long rod, large ball sinker, bead, swivel then long trace- 3 to 5 feet down to hook. There is virtually no tidal run and casts are directed towards the moored boats where the bigger Bream often sit underneath in daylight hours, hence the large sinker. Same rig is used if worms are the bait. Fishing this way is pretty 'laid back' and doesn't produce big numbers of fish, however they are often excellent size. There is a guy we call "King of the Bay" who tries to fish almost every day even if only for an hour or so. He sets up two or three rods across the road from where he lives and regardless of what other bait he has, one rod is always baited with skirt steak soaked in olive oil, garlic and parmesan cheese. Every so often he'll say "got another good 'un the other day"- when we ask "what on?" answer is mostly "on me marinated steak, of course!" His "good 'uns" are usually awesome size Bream.

With the lack of wind on Saturday night, I thought I would try my luck for an hour or so down the spit. The water wasn't very clear, but it wasn't too bad. Usually there would be more people around, indicating more action, but I was by myself for around 20min, only bagging one squid, until another regular showed up with a light to help attract more. For the next hour, we pulled in three each, and dropped a heap. So, not a bad result considering there hasn't been anything to brag about for the past few weeks. We were using a variety of coloured jigs, and they seem to be hitting them all..... they weren't too fussed. The mrs cooked them up by adding ginger, shallots, dried chilli, cumin seeds to hot oil in the wok till fragrant. Then added the squid - cooked for a minute, then soy source, salt and coriander.

I burn the 20L drum a couple hrs and the 44 gallon overnight.

Great stuff Anthony! 120m of water is certainly hard work! But you got your rewards! If that fish your holding is the one in the sink, then yes you definitely need improve your fish holding technique! Haha ? Well done cheers scratchie!!!

Belmont Jetty Parking is close Walking distance of shops (coles/woolies/cafe's) Can be a little bit quiet during the day due to traffic (drop off/on point) Have had decent amount of success at night, some decent flatties around there Not Sheltered Belmont 16's jetty Right across the road from mine Kid Safe (as much as a jetty can be) Surprisingly quiet during the day (weekdays) Is at a yacht club, so Saturday and Sunday mornings can be off limits due to all the small sailboats Have had decent luck, no stonkers yet but for this end of the lake decent amount of bream, keeps the kids happy If no fish are biting, chuck the gear in the car and head into the 16s Boatshed (12 or so ontap craft beers) Not Sheltered (if its windy go to the boatshed) Black Jacks Point Great spot for bream Close to parking, Public toilets Good section of grass for kids to run around (even a rope swing) Not very protected if its windy, seem to cast against it Thats it fishos, hope to see you out and about. Regards Squ!rt

All this talk about meats im going to try a 3 hook patternoster with a lamb cutlet,t bone and rump steak next time out.It should still be cheaper than servo bait.lol.

UPDATED : Link to Google Map>> Landbased Map Lake Mac Hey Fisho's So I thought i would put together my top land based spots to fish on Lake Macquarie, I live on Lake Mac at Belmont and regularly fish the lake in lots of different locations. Some of these spots are kid friendly and others i wouldn't recommend (close to rocks etc). All of these locations are within range of parking, no major bush walks or hikes to get there most of them are within 50 meters or under within the car, I will include a google map location of each point where i fish and whether it is sheltered or open (wind), most of these spots are great on turn of both tidea and some are good during the whole day and night. These Spots Listed are in no particular order of best or not, just all the spots that are in driving and walking distance of tackle shops/shops/toilets/food etc. These Spots do not have a guarantee in catching fish but i personally have caught fish at all of these locations in different weather conditions, best to check weather and tide reports as usual. In Regards to what i consider "Kid Friendly" I mean safe enough for my 5 year old to run around and not get injured and access for my 3 year old girl in her pram etc. Swansea Breakwall/Reids Reserve Great spot man made break wall concrete path Fish facing back towards swansea bridge Semi sheltered (break wall breaks most of wind) Semi Kid Friendly - Rock Fishing/Concrete Path, but there is a playground next to carpark Swansea Bridge (Lake Entrance Side) Can almost fish from your car Great at night (light from bridge) Entrance from the ocean to the lake Not sheltered from wind Heaps of different Species caught here, from seeing sharks to jews and kings. Not Kid Friendly (very rocky) Pelican Foreshore Fantastic for Kids Great Parking/Toilets/PLayground Semi Sheltered from wind Two great little inlets that are about waist height water, (kids love it) Perfect in Summer, Fishing is slow but perfect spot for first timers (kids) Down the road from local tackleshop (fishermans warehouse) get your fresh bait from there and have a yarn. Coony/Coon island/Swansea Holiday Park Parking simple and easy Kid friendly, can have a swim as water is only waist deep Always seems to be fairly sheltered from wind (mainly due to being on the other side of channel) 2 minute drive from Swansea shops (bait, fish and chips for kids etc.) Nice drop off on rock point, Bream/Flatty/Tailor/Kingys Swansea Channel/Channel St Good spot to try or come back to before/after Coony As its the channel on Lake side, check tides, always seems to be better before a runnout IMO Not Sheltered, can be good though, get longer casts. Semi Kid Safe, Concrete walkway(watch for bikes) grassy area and picnic tables literally 30 second drive from Swansea shops Naru Beach/Boat Ramp Great little spot, fantastic for the kids and good Bream This spot there is two locations, i fish on the beach/rocks near the inlet into Swan Bay more than the boat ramp side, upto you, caught fish from both spots Boat Ramp to chuck your boat in Sheltered to an extent on beach point/side Two carparks, if the one closest to the beach point (on Bend) is full 5 seconds further up near boat ramp is plenty of parking even on weekends. Make sure to drop in to Fishermans warehouse for latest Lake info, only up the road too (fresh bait) Just be cautious of the road, it is a dirt road (Naru St) after a big rain it can be a bit slidey, standard car no issues, wouldn't recommend taking a Merc down there. >>>

The humble mullet doesn't have a great reputation as the best eating fish around, but my wife likes them so after catching a few on the weekend, I decided to have a go with a couple on the smoker. First I made up the brine mix which was 200 grams of salt and 100 grams of brown sugar in 1 1/2 litres of water. Refrigerate and put the fish in in for a few hours. Take them out and wash them gently and then pat dry with a paper towel. Put them on an oiled smokey tray, and cook I looked in on them to see how they were going and then plated them up Turned out pretty good with a salad.

Feel free to ask any questions you have! Happy to part with any useful info I have

Working a lure at 12ft or more is a mission

I think it was around 1/2 hour depending on how hot I had the fire. I was working at the same time and would only look up every now and then. As I said, my tin was small, I think a 1 litre, so maybe a bigger one might take longer to get all the gas to burn off. If I find a bigger one that fits in the fireplace, I'll give it ago

Was out and about with with two of my kids doing a little photography ( while the eldest boat tart headed offshore ). Target species for the day was to of been snakes and lace monitors, didn't do so well finding snakes but we did manage to find 5 lace monitors. My kids probably got better shots than me as I tried to stay back to let them get in close. We were lucky enough to be following one when it picked up the scent of a dead seagul, which it tore apart and ate pretty quick.

Great work anthony. Jigging in 120m is no walk in the park. Bet your arms are really sore. Kingfish Sashimi is delicious.

The Mowie prepared the right way is beautiful - simply fillet and skin - do not scale or gut - once filleted and skinned remove the rib cage and all of the black stomach lining. Dunk the fillets in egg wash ( I squeeze fresh lemon in the egg wash and mix) then dunk in some anchor bread crumbs then pan fry in olive oil - delicious.

Nice work! The fishing, the report and the pics. I'm glad the icecream didn't make it onto the plate. There's such a thing as too avant-garde in the kitchen.

Well done nice to see the Kingfish are around

No problems Donna, will update more as i go, still yet to explore more on the Wangi Wangi side of lake mac, mainly stick close to Swansea/belmont side as it has proven good and is consistant, but the other side may change my mind

read this also

Go to Gunyah Point You need fresh local squid

This is fantastic - pinned and thanks very much.

I've had some luck under the train bridge.

Thanks very much for the extra information. I didn't have a bigger pain can lying around, I just used what I could find and that would fit in my firepace, when the Mrs wasn't around ? I'll look up that sauce too. Sounds excellent Cheers

Thanks Neil I might even be able to put some actual fishing reports on then also!

I fished the Peak back in the late 70's and yes there was some fish there. Gee it was a long way out and the big adventure just to fish there in those days. As FrankS said it was all land marks to find it as GPS wasn't around then. Certainly a buggar when the city was covered in fog, but I was lucky and fished with a fellow who did have a sounder that made finding the Peak easier (The North or South). Most just joined the pack and had no idea, so if they someone anchored they did the same. I remember one day all these boats must have seen someone already anchored so they presumed that was the mark and they are miles away. When the fish were on you could just about stepped from one boat to another and Gee there was some angry boaties. There were some big fish kills by some out there to. But like all fishing it wasn't always like that, sometimes it was just plain dead. It was the start of the Jigging craze, Penn Jigmaster Reels, Policansky Leverdrags, ABU 10,000. Sportex 3327A (I think) blanks. Wayne Hanstead and Joe Gospel brought out the Iron Glass range as well as the ground breaking "Irons" . There was also the good old Butterworth 996 blanks. Fish wise yes 10-20kg Kings were around as well as all the sizes up to there. We only jigged in short periods because it was bloody hard work and always had lives down. We also caught Yellowfin which were not that uncommon on lives out the back of the boat whilst waiting for the Kings, I caught one jigging but only a little tacker of about 15kg, also caught them on floater baits for Snapper . We only used handlines for Snapper and didn't they scream off, again only small ones thank goodness We also caught some very nice Snapper when the current was right. If you stayed out there till dark, which we did there was some big Trag to be caught and they were all big. Its nice to reminisce sometimes but I'm sounding like a old man , well maybe there's a reason for that.? Hopefully the real keen kids that are fishos now can do the same in 50 years time,

Araldite and silicone won’t stick too good on that kind of plastic. I would recommend a drop of super glue on each side of the dividers.

HI, Use gravy beef marinated in Berkley Gulp Recharge juice and keep it in clip-lock bags in the freezer . Bob .

Yeah, Nah- sorry but if the trailer is registered then it has the right to be on the road along with any other registered vehicle or contraption, as usual its toffs from certain blue ribbon electorates worried about the effect a dirty fisherman will have on their property values, if its unregistered , sure , tow it.

Might be the go to put some garlic and holy water in the bricks. ? zombies might be the ones we need to worry about if kim Jong un (bubblehead) keeps going, ?

Haha, thanks for the reply guys, yeah I was all manual. The thing is, this jigging thing is addictive... and now my addiction has gone so far that I'd rather not catch fish than use bait. Not that I am saying there is anything wrong with using electric reels and real bait, I must admit it is much more efficient. But fooling these big fish with fake stuff and then pulling them up with your own hands just feels... special.