knight76

Finally got a chance to get out today and have another shot with the boy. Bought half kilo of Banana Prawns which I now figure was way too much, prob just go for 200 - 250g next time. Also picked up some servo prawn along the road with ice to make a slurry, just in case we manage to actually catch something this time. Got to the place Camo suggested around 3:30 and stayed there till just on 6pm. The first hour and a half we could hardly get a bite. Was on the incoming tide, a breeze blowing in to our faces. Tried no sinker at first but with wind blowing in to our faces could not cast out far enough without the sinker, so had to add a small sinker. With the sun setting I hooked a just legal bream, right on 25cm. Not 5 minutes later the boy hooked a just legal trevally. Both caught on the servo prawn. They weren't touching the banana prawn today. Got nothing else after that, we might of scared the fish away with our victory cheers lol. Thanks again for the tips here guys, was great seeing my son land his first legal size fish.

It's not really the rain, it's the wind. I'm living in Gorokan where we got hit pretty hard. Rain was very heavy, but the wind was on a whole nother level. Trees were coming down all over the place, roads flooding. When that request was issued we were expecting another barrage of heavy rains and even stronger winds in the next fee hours. So rather than have people leaving work right in the middle of it, better to get them home early and avoid the danger.

I'll definitely try the Banana prawns next outing. Hopefully he can catch something worthy of taking home to brag to mum about :-) I'll take the prawns and some chicken thigh garlic mix to try also.

Thanks for the tips Jimbu. I won't get out for a fish this weekend, too busy. Probably aim to get out the next weekend to try these tips out.

Thanks Austral and Camo1808 for the tips, and especially Camo for the location. The son and I actually went out last night and fished from the break wall up at point B. Got there about 5pm and fished it for a about 1.5 hours. Got bites early on but nothing for half an hour so we moved on but headed home not long after. It was towards the end of high tide I believe last night. We did get to enjoy the beautiful sunset though Was using servo prawns for bait, and I tried cut squid tubes bought from co-op, I cut these in to approx. inch wide strips and tried a few casts with the entire length of the squid tube trailing the hook, and also a half length tube with the hook through it a few times. Got a few bites on that, but to me it seems too tough, I left it out for a fair while and when reeled in there was a few chunks missing but clearly not what they wanted to eat whole. The prawns were ok with the usual missing bait but after a while the bites died completely. I'm thinking of trying the chicken thigh fillet with garlic that I read about as a bait. It seems to be popular. I've also though of grabbing a lure and seeing how that goes. It's difficult fishing with a 10 year old once it gets dark in areas with no light. I am thinking of starting fishing at about 2pm, fishing until about 5 as the sun goes down. Maybe with some chicken filet, and cut pilchards as bait this time. Also thinking of going to lighter line, maybe 2kg mono with similar fluro leader. Thanks again for the tips.

Spent some time in forster and whilst there hired a kayak, the wife and I enjoyed kayaking and I am now thinking of getting a kayak to enjoy, and also to fish from for some fun. I'm definitely entering at the budget end and as a first timer don't want to spend heaps on a kayak and find I really didn't enjoy it as much as I thought. I can't see that happening though :-) Plan is to fish Tuggerah lakes area, lake Macquarie and Brisbane water. Being a novice that is not keen on meeting god too soon I plan to stay close to the shoreline and fish wharfs and moored boats etc for bream, flathead etc. Once I get my Arnie Kayak arms I can head further in to trouble. Question time: Would a kayak like one of these suit this purpose, with ability down the track to head further in to lake Macquarie etc and get in to some of the locations not reachable shore based. And now for general Kayaking questions. Should I be tethering myself to my kayak so if I ditch, the kayak will not get too far away, obviously a PFD would be used. I weigh 90kg, 6'1", very dark brown hair and blue eyes, though the last two probably don't matter much for kayaking I imagine.

Been a long while since I was on here. I gave up after a while, just a combination of getting busy, no-one to fish with and inexperience setting me back. My son recently had his 10th birthday and we bought him a fishing rod as he was keen to go fishing after an outing with his cub scout troop. Went out with him last weekend and caught 4 undersize bream. 2 each so he caught his first ever fish. Snapped a pic and threw it back, funny thing is he hooked it by the tail lol. Now back researching this fishing thing again. My current rig setup is on 6' rods running 4kg mono main line, with 4kg fluro leader joined by swivel. Leader is about 1m long, and have a size 1 sinker on but can change this depending on the tide current. Have been looking in to spots in and around Swansea to try out.

I ended up putting this on a well known auction site as I don't need it and could use the cash.

Wow that is amazing, I paid $5 for it. The reel is in pretty much new condition as it is, everything is very smooth and clean. I don't think it would need a service. It was this guys father's reel and it was just sitting in its box on a shelf unused for years.

I went garage sale hunting today and found a nice looking reel. Its a Daiwa SS3000. Can anyone tell me anything about it? It has a box with it that says limited edition, and their are engravings on it. It has a nice little felt bag that the reel goes in. Is this a good little find?

Thanks for that, I will try a larger sinker to get the bait down the bottom. I was casting in to the right, and in seconds the line was way to the left. As soon as the bait arrived further to my left I would get bites. I think fish were chasing it down stream and when the line stopped its progress they attacked it. If using a bigger sinker, should I use a swivel to stop the sinker a half meter or so up the line to hide sinker from the fish more? This was land based off a boat wharf near the RSL. Using prawns as bait.

I recently went fishing and caught 5 fish, all too small to keep. All little bream. The place was Swansea channel near the RSL for anyone who knows the area. Fishing the incoming tide from 2 hours before dawn till an hour after. The tide moves along fairly quickly there and takes your line downstream very quickly. Should I be using a heavier sinker to get the bait to the bottom faster or be happy to let it sail down stream. Are the bigger bream down lower or is it pot luck? I am slowly getting better at this fishing game. 1st outing caught sweet FA, Second outing got some little bream, third outing will be this weekend, same spot again. Oh, and whilst I am typing this topic out, what is your strategy on hooking them once they start biting. Do you just wait for them to take the bait, or try to jag them somehow? Thanks for any assistance.

I rocked up on Saturday morning at about 5am and started fishing. I was fishing from a boat dock behind the Swansea RSL. I was debuting my new bream rod. A shimano rod and reel combo I bought from BCF earlier in the week. The new reel felt infinitely better than the old rod I was using. Rigged with 4kg mono line all the way to hook. Nothing much happening early on but as the tide came in the bites came. Soon every cast was getting plenty of bites and then I caught something. The damn thing looked weird colored, had no scales, had a big weird prong on its head. I had no idea on size or bag limit so I threw it back. It was a leather jacket. Does anyone eat them? After that, I caught another 4 bream but all were too small. I think the largest was about 18cm. This was using thawed, servo bought prawns. So now for question time: I was using light sinkers and the tide was running in fairly quickly. Should I be using a heavier sinker to get the bait to the bottom faster or be happy to let it float down stream quickly. Also, as I kept catching under sized fish, are they generally at the bottom and thus my sinker was getting my bait to them, or just my bad luck? And, what is your tactic when getting bites, do you just let the fish hook itself, do you jag the rod up timing it with a bite to snag em, or wait for them to take it in their mouth and swim for a sec then jag? Even though I didn't take home a fish, I really enjoyed the fishing. Watching the sun rise over the horizon. Chatting to some locals who strolled up to ask how it was going. Actually catching some fish not like last time lol. Also, i didn't lose any hooks other than one snag. Where as last weekend, I lost several hooks when I had fish on the line. Which I am putting down to my bad knot tying. But I am tying better knots now. Anyway, stay safe everyone and happy fishing. Oh, and the obligatory where I was pic.

Could the name of the boat be Black Watch by chance. I know nothing about boats and where names are kept etc. But over your shoulder when your holding the Tuna it is on the boat.

Maybe it was the Rex Hunt style kiss that put them off!