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Headed out early with Swano in the hope the water had cleared enough for some kingy action. On the squid straight away before light and with a dozen or so in the tank we headed for the point for a slow troll but was very slow so we spot locked the poly and sent some fresh strips of squid and that did the trick with us both getting + 80ss and I got smoked by a real monster 😡 and pulled the hook on another good fish. Great day out Deano and congrats on your PB Kingfish

Hi Raiders After wild weather I finally got out to put the newly acquired Butterworth through it's paces. While the upper harbour is still off colour the lower reaches are clearing up after the big fresh and the Blackfish are hungry. I met up with Trevor at the spot before sunrise, only to find it occupied by another group of fishos there so we made our way around to a second spot hoping it might produce. In the pre dawn light it was hard to judge the depth to fish. It was a matter of trial and error, looking at the way the float was sitting and adjusting the float stopper. Trevor got the first down but pulled the hook, only just feeling weight. I got a few downs before I pulled up tight on a good fish. The new rod performed beautifully, with a great parabolic action and a softness which makes you really feel the fight. We were into a school and the fishing was pretty consistent as the tide was nearing high. One fish reefed me in the kelp, I couldn't pull him out so I free spooled, dropped all tension, and after a couple of minutes my float surfaced and I was still on and soon he was safely in the net. At the the top of the tide the bite slowed down, we looked back at our first spot and the other guys were gone so we move in. Fish came on from the first drift, and we kept adding to the bag. Quite a few throwbacks, but most fish were in the 30 to mid 30 range. Trevor got wrapped around a pylon by a very good fish, he tried everything to get him out, but had to bust him off and we watched his homemade Aussie red cedar float drift away. I bagged out with my 10 and the bite really slowed down so we called it a day. I pulled up the keeper net and 2 fish dropped out the bottom onto the deck and a third with his head half out the hole. The net obviously got torn on the oysters. 5 fish had made their escape so we ended up with 13. Good day thanks mate.

Was due to head out to Bate Bay late yesterday (Monday) with a mate, but he pulled the pin at the last minute, as the wind had blown up a bit and his back was not good - the rocking of the boat would have made his back worse. I was ready to have a fish, so I pushed out my tinny and headed up river. Tried soft plastics along the main channel as it was the start of the run-up. Not a touch except plenty of weed. Headed up to the mouth of South West Arm and had a look. A couple of terns were moving about, so tried a metal for a while then hooked up for a few seconds, then gone. Hard to say what it was. The water still has a bit of colour in it, and as the fish dropped off near the boat, it was followed off by a school of fish. Hard to see them, but they had greenish backs and maybe were larger tailor, not kings. No more hits so anchored near the mouth, and dropped a couple of baits over, pillies and salted tailor. Not a bite all night on the bottom. Usually there are small reddies about to take your baits, but none there. None up from Lilli Pilli last week, so the heavy rain has probably flushed them outside, or into an area that I don't normally fish. I kept spinning and eventually pulled out the largest tailor after a hundred or so casts. The sun dropped out of sight and a few yakkas turned up. Kept a couple for livies and cut the others into strips. The strips still did not attract any bites on the bottom. One livie was bitten on the head by a squid, and the other attracted nothing. There were small pillies splashing about in patches, and a few bully mullet jumping about near the shore. Was thinking of heading home about half dark, so gave the yakka strip a bit of movement, and hooked up a tailor. I pulled up 4 on the yakka strips jigging them back to the boat, and 2 throwbacks, then the bites stopped on dark, so headed home.

Headed down to the Northern Beaches rocks yesterday arvo as the swell had finally dropped enough for a fish. Tried last Tuesday but while the swell wasn't that high it still had a lot of power and was sweeping over the rock I like to fish off so I had to can it that day. There was still a bit of colour in the water but it was definitely clearing up. I started burleying with bread and prawn heads left over from Christmas (kept in the freezer since then). First cast I was onto a big bream of round 37cm. He took a bread bait. Then lots of nothing. A few kelpies and wirrah for an hour or so. When I wasn't concentrating enough I thought I'd got snagged but it turned into a 'moving rock' - a lot of weight and couple of tail beats and he'd wrapped me round a rock and as soon as I put pressure on the leader cut on a barnacle. Almost certainly a drummer. Bugger. As the tide started rising and it got a bit darker around 6:00pm the activity improved with some better bites. I tried a peeled prawn and bang was straight onto a good fish, he had a lot of weight and went straight for the underside of the rock ledge so I'm thinking a good drummer or maybe a groper. I lent heavily on the rod to get him out and up into the wash and up pops a big drummer. Mercifully a small wave provided enough wash for me to get him onto the rock beside me. The fish went 49cm and was very fat , I'd guess around 3kg. A short time later I tried a large bread bait as I'd run out of prawns . A gentle bite then weight had another good pig diving for cover. I didn't give him enough straight away and he had me under a rock and the line chaffed through. Bugger bugger. Anyway two nice fish to go home with after a long time since my last trip to the stones. Fil

I found it hard to find any worms, so went with nippers I did not expect the fish to be on after the rain had great time till the wind came up

Sorry to hear of your mishap, I’m a bit of a jig addict my self & if it was me I’d be telling work of some family crisis that just popped up & try & get down there today before high tide with some snorkeling gear & scouring the foreshore, I like Franks idea 👍 as well. I have some doubles of hayabusa & Yamashita lots still in packets or unused, I’m willing to part with for under $10 a piece, if interested PM me & I’ll post some photos, I think I might have 1 or 2 red hayabusa in my collection as well

Lol I have probably spent 3 days of my life perving on squid jigs. I wish there was a bulk pack I could buy that covers all conditions so I'm ready for anything. Looks like a snorkelling session down there would pay off, some of them still in the packet.

Weekend before last we went to Culburra fished the river it was filthy . Did manage some fish on the rising tide. Also got more bream and blackfish day before. Heading to Weipa Sept 4 to 18th might be a spot available

Try reading this, it may help a little.......

Try closer to the mouth of the bay on the last few hours of the rising tide for the green eyes, the arrows can handle dirtier water if you find the bait you might be able to pick up a few

Water was green to clear but good casting conditions to practice at least I was at Bare Island off the bridge from 8am to 11am caught a small one ideal for bait seen 3 on chase. Nothing after that. The first catch on my new dedicated Egi set up so was pleased. Technique improving and first time i didnt lose a jig 🤣 so a was a good day.

Not sure who is beating up fish raider over this topic. Just looks like a few people expressing an opinion which is what fishraider is about I think.

Still think for switch baiting the control given by an overhead is much better than a spin reel , line capacity is another issue , down size the Inters to Tiagra 30 LRSW which hold about 500 M of 24 kg and you are ready to rock and roll- as for Finnors for real heavy duty-nope aint going to happen.

Some old HIFI speakers had very strong magnets, and can be found at dump shops for next to nothing.

That’s tough to deal with. At least you get to enjoy re-building your collection again.

Agreed on trailer setup, I had to mod mine a bit OT make it easier to launch-retrieve to be honest, Im not sure how heavy those boats are, but I can launch - retrieve my old fibreglass boat on my own, and Id say its heavier

Good work Swordie👍 Unfortanetly for us mere mortals the bay has been blown hard all year haven’t had a chance to fish due to wind seems ok mid week but turns to poo on the weekend. great job 👍👍👍👍

looks like the slammer and goosa are about the same ( reel weight 600g , line capacity slammer has bigger spool ) if you mean the Daiwa Saltis spin 4000 it's stats look smaller? ( 450g can't find braid capacty) you know the goosa is built like a tank. it's a bit heavy if you want to use it for hours but the next option is a stella at 4 x the price If you are throwing metals 30g - 60g the heavier ones need a bit of a winch to wind them in time after time. If you can handle the weight I'd go the Goosa.

Fin-Nor LT100 Lethal can winch up the titanic, and you can get one for around $130 I think it is 25 KG of drag and holds 300 yars of 100lb braid I like my one

Well done guys

Not too sure about this "open transom" business, the Renegade has a splash well, can't see it being an issue compared to a front/side/centre steer.

We got them on 30 lb spin sticks with 40 lb leaders

Hey JohnD have you tried the fin nors?

if you are serious about big fish-get overheads EOS-oh and a decent stand up harness set like a Black Magic

Lack of oxygen in the water

That’s a fat pig & great report, got to love Xmas burley👍

Great report and you had a good time.

Have a look at a Penn Clash CLA 5000. Great reel. Tell you what is a great reel Shimano Thunnus C14 6000. I have both. Can't fault them. Cheers.

I was in a boat, south side of the headland. Yes Bear island has a bommie right in front of it & can be very dangerous. I have seen 8ft barrels breaking over it when the conditions are right & at the same time in a NW the swell hits the rock platform so not recommended at that time to be anywhere near there. I've only just started to target them in the last few months really but only from a boat. If you have a tinny @FishyMcFishFace it would open up more opportunities I think but hey I get how just walking in & having a flick can be way less time consuming & easier at times. We might have to catch up for a session one day.

Got a Saragosa 25000 paired with a terez 6'9 in 100lb line class. The best word to describe it is "tank" Saragosa is a good reel! Although if your going for larger faster fish maybe an overhead, although you would need a different rod. Maybe a Tyrnos or Talica.

Thanks guys, the water still had a bit of a brown tinge to it where I picked up the tailor probably coming from the beach, out the front it still had a bit of a green tinge to it & starting to clear up with a couple of bluish pockets, there’s still an occasional bit of salad around. @Central Coast Fisherman Yes spot on Phil I put the info out there to let people know the good water has arrived, hopefully the fish hang around for awhile

Let us know how you go Had the same thing in mind on Tuesday but couldn't get any squid. Water quality still very average.

Sounds like there's a real mix of pelagic species around . Well done on the kingie too. A good sized fish, especially having to deadlift it up the rocks on relatively light leader. Fil

pardon my stupidity, but what is a "egi sessions"?

Great story,well done.

Out from Sydney and caught a fish that no one on board had encountered. The beardie was identified by referring to an on board book. The muddy water and strong currents made for a difficult day out from Manly and Freshwater. Nevertheless, eight of us weighed in a mixed bag of 22 kilos (cleaned).

top review, good luck in part 2 of the comp

That’s one Cracker of a break there. Nice work getting him off of the Pylons

A great day on the water today with Tony and Lachlan. Bait was easy to collect and perfect “Kings Candy” size. Water Conditions were a little choppy off shore, but water was blue and warm - 25 degrees. There were lots of schools of Bonito eager to swallow baits of live Yakkas, salted slimies or strips of fish flesh. Tailor got into the act also and these were XOS size and I had to re-rig several times before swapping to ganged hooks. Kingies were all rats and released of course, but we were “smoked” by two kings fishing 40lb which was too light on Sydney harbour shallow reefs We Stopped in at Middle Head to restock with Yakkas then to North Harbour for a few more kings, but couldn’t find any slimies in the harbour - they were thick at the artificial 2 weeks ago - not sure if they have moved off shore or further into the harbour. I caught up with “Tony”, a fellow Fishraider and we shared some intel - hope he posts his awesome day on dollies.

2015 is a long time ago for a Welcome, Ha Ha HA

@PaddyT , the greens want everything to stop, from fishing, to using machinery on farms , and back burning of bushland.....

OK ive written many times on this subject and will again explain my position- there is an opinion in the general community and it seems in certain members of the fishing community that rockfishing is a terrribly dangerous activity and that rockfishos should be protected from themselves ie lifejackets (thats now- i see access restrictions coming down the track in my crystal ball-read on). Ive rockfished since i was 13-generally on reasonably easy to access spots as im not a fan of roping in-done the whole LBG thing for many years and only once had a near miss- which was totally my own stupidity. In Australia there are 250 drownings year in year out (the best source for this is Royal Life Saving-not Surf Livesaving) , The stats are put out every year by Royal Life and they show that year in year out 10 or 11 unfortunate folk die rockfishing -IN ALL OF AUSTRALIA-this is equal to diving (which no one seems to be having a moral panic about) , and far below deaths in the surf-about 50 every year and well below drownings in rivers, creeks and streams which from memory is about 100 (sorry dont have current stats directly in front of me). The Royal Life Saving Society dont have rockfishing in their top 5 areas of concern and to my knowledge never have. So the problem is overblown-having said that i have nothing but sympathy for anyone who loses a family member through drowning. I ran a swim school for 15 years and dedicated my life to teaching kids to swim so they wouldnt become statistics! The whole wearing a lifejacket thing is merely an attempt to restrict access- witness places like the Haven at Terrigal above-ridiculous (mind you there is a campaign being run to stop fishing their altogether by the local Greens). Lifejackets and any other safety measures should remain a personal choice , but to help anyone with their personal choices heres my list on deciding whether or not rockfishing is a good idea for you. 1. Can i swim 200M in a high energy environment eg the surf? 2. Do i look at the weather and understand it? 3. CAn I read the waves and surf? 4. Do I have correct footwear and understand the rocksurfaces and weed types at my chosen spot? 5 Am i coordinated enough not to fall in ? if you answer no to any of those questions then rockfishing aint for you, personally if i thought conditions were such that i needed a lifejacket then i simply wouldnt fish- and thats the bottom line-it shouldnt be legislated because A_you cant legislate for stupidity and B and you cant legislate for ignorance, you can only educate. Feel free to discuss!

Hey guys, i’m looking for weekend fishing mates. Im relatively new in Sydney. Im free most weekends. Im interested in land based and off shore. I'm happy to share cost for off shore sessions. I'm on Instagram if you need to get in touch. @serendip_pelagics Cheers,

All comments above about research, focusing on a target species, persistence and luck are all true - they all factor in to your success rate. I would even go as far to say that it's 50% luck and 50% all other factors mentioned above. To keep things simple, I would: * Find nearest beach for you to pump yabbies from. * Use light bream gear with light line , size 2 long shank hooks. * Fish the same area where you pump yabbies, at low tide, just off the edge off the flats (i.e. drop offs). You will catch lots of small fish but also have a chance at decent flatties, bream and whiting.

I don't have a pic of all my floats handy, but these are the ones I make. Obviously for ocean rocks but I also make a slimmer design for the estuary.

Hello, I know it has been a while since someone made a reply on this post but as I am new I will reply. My name is Alison. I am 24, have a little boy almost 4 and a wonderful fiancee. Recently moved to Sydney from a place called funnily enough " Fishing Point " in Lake Macquarie. My dad had a boat before I was even born ( poor Golden Girl, has not seen any action for atleast 7 years!! ) which when I was about 12 started going out the heads at Nelson Bay. Did this a fair bit till I was about 15. Then 2 years ago, meet Jim who I thought at first enjoyed fishing but was not the fish crazed addict I found out he was. First date sat on a Jetty, 2nd date went fishing at North Entrance on the beach - I turned up in knee high stilletos!!!! 3rd date fished Newcastle Harbour I was a spectator / yakkie catcher / anchor thrower and puller / lug everything onto boat and back off again / food preparer / photographer / boat washer / rod watcher / gopher ( get the file, hook, sinker, etc) / bait checker until a few months ago. After countelss all nighters I started to develop a strange feeling in my body when the rod would buckle over and the reel start screaming zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! So since Christmas I have been having a crack. Best to date has been a 42cm bream, 3.5kg Jew and 80cm Kingie. And what fun I had on those kings! So know I am shall I say slightly Obsessed Plus I love reading these fish sites which is new to me also. Everyday sometimes two or three times. YAY. It is relaxing and a great way for me to unwind after a hectic week plus I sleep like a baby on the boat even in the middle of winter. So,Hello and hope to see some of you on the water! HAPPY FISHING!

Hey Raiders, My name is Mike and I've been addicted to fishing since I was five. I nearly threw the habit completely over the last few years but then I found these pretty SPs in the fishing shop one day and since then I've pretty much returned to my fishing-addict ways. I work in IT and I spend way too much time around computers, so I'm forever grateful to everyone who runs and contributes to this site because it keeps me sane when I'm around the crazy things! My favourite type of fishing is wading the flats flicking SPs for bream and flathead. I also try to join my dad occasionally on his (usually fruitless) expeditions chasing jewies because it gives me a chance to land my first hawkesbury catfish When I finally get that out of my system I might actually start chasing jewies on SPs! Apart from fishing I also like playing guitar, going to gigs and hanging out in the pub with mates. Cheers to all and hope to get out on a social one day to meet all of you! Mike