Yowie

Thanks Mike, a couple of feeds in it. Not much fight from the whaler, so I dropped the landing net over - mate's net is not very big - had the whaler in it, then it bounced out and took off on a screaming run then under the boat, and eventually come up rather docile again. Cut off the hook in case it became agro again. Told my mate to cut it off so he could get near the pointy end for having a small net. 😂

It was a bit of action, and a couple of feeds to be had.

Headed out with my mate to Bate Bay this arvo. Anchored up, berleyed away, then a hookup with the bonnie on a bare hook being retrieved. Used one fillet for bait, the other to be salted. Plenty of slimies about as well. Only 1 trag each today, though my mate pulled up a very large yakka with a small trag hanging on until it hit the surface. The trag swam around the yakka for a little while then back to the bottom. Biggest trag at 44cm. The reddie not much over the limit. Just before sundown, some tailor turned up, a few bite offs until we used ganged hooks. Half a dozen each, though we kept what we wanted and released the rest. The biggest about 48cm. Near darkness I hooked up what I thought was a nice gummy, however, at the surface I saw the brown back, then it rolled over to reveal the silly grin of a whaler. Around the 1.1 to 1.2 metre mark. Hook cut off. Some time between bites. When we first headed out, there were large schools of pillies splashing about, which probably attracted the tailor.

Kingies can be annoying. You think you have him, up off the bottom, then down it goes, you can feel the line on rocks, then gone. One nice one for a second effort.

Great work there Chris, a metre kingie is what most fishos want to catch. A few trags as a bonus, plus crabs still about. 👍

You certainly are getting into the fishing scene, a good variety of fish pulled up. The whiting is a good sized one. 👍 Practice makes perfect as the saying goes.

I have had bream and flathead attack squid jigs, and heard of kingies grabbing 1 or 2, so anything is possible. If you take a video or photo of a penguin or other bird, DO NOT post it on any social media site. Non Fishraider people regularly read this forum, mainly to find out what fish are biting and where, so no posting here either.

A nice catch of big choppers, a close up of the toothy mouth is the last thing many baitfish ever see. Around this time of year, many years ago before I had a driver's licence, I used to ride my pushbike to the Captain Cook Bridge on the Georges River in the early morning, near the northern end, and drop over a handline with ganged hooks and bait, and hook up a few tailor. It was a long way to haul up the fish with a handline. Always fishing in the dark, so that when first light appeared on the horizon, the tailor would stop biting so time to ride home with a few fish in the bucket. The bridge lights would bring them on the bite.

A good detailed report, and the fishing paid off considering it was night time. When you retire, you can fish anytime. 😂

Nice catch of bream. Mullet gut was always a favoured bream bait in the old days 😁, when I was a little bit younger that is. It is still used but not by many now. As you said, stinky stuff but the bream can smell it regardless of the water conditions.

I could see what was happening with the forecast, so had to go. The fillets were good, now crab next. Big swell for the rest of the week, also the wind.

Thank you, the fillets were good.

Thanks Rob. Not exactly pulling them up, however, had some nice crumbed fillets tonight. Crabs cooked for another night. Could see what was coming along with the weather. My fishing mate could not make it Monday night, so I headed out myself at the last moment. Up river is very murky. Young Issac reported nothing biting on Sunday.

Had to get out for a fish before this southerly hit today, not staying home. Water a bit cleaner near the mouth on the run-up.

Thank you Zoran. The fish were eager to grab the baits, due to my fishing techniques. The fish are hungry, just having trouble finding the baits in the murky water.

When you realize there is a crab on, usually just a dead weight though at times you can feel a slight movement as the nippers are moving around trying to chop off the bait from the hook, slowly retrieve the line until near the boat. Keep the crab just under the surface, then slowly place the net in the water so that the crab is in the middle of the net opening, and scoop quickly otherwise the crab will let go and swim off. Just takes practice.

Thank you. As I said, try further down river at the current time, especially when the run-up brings in slightly cleaner water.

Happy with what I caught considering others are not pulling up too many after the heavy rain. Fishing drops off a little heading to winter, but still fish to be found. I like autumn as the best time to fish.

Not a lot, but a feed of fillets and then crab. The nippers soften a little with large amounts of fresh water, mainly the nippers that have recently moulted their external shell.

Not a lot of bites from bigger fish, mainly the little pickers - tarwhine, little reddies, toads over the sand flats. Another week should be good to go.

Headed out this arvo to Maianbar flats to pump some nippers. Some of the nippers are a bit soft due to the large amount of fresh water in the system. I caught the smaller whiting there, just over size. Nothing else but toads pinching the nippers. Headed to Gunnamatta Bay just before sunset. Anchored on the edge of the sandbank, rising tide. Baits into the deeper water, and nippers onto the shallow sandflat behind the boat. Nothing in the deep water, baits just sitting there. A few smaller tailor splashing but not taking any pillies. The nippers produced a lot of pickers, and an occasional crab though most fell off before getting to the boat. I used mullet fillets that I salted from last week, tougher for the crabs to hold on to. Bream on the nippers. On full darkness, I up anchored and tried a couple of drifts over the flats, and scored the larger whiting, but that was it, so headed home. Water very dirty up river, still murky in Gunnamatta, but not as bad. Lots of logs, branches and general rubbish floating about.

A great fish in the photo. Sounds like some nice fish pulled onboard, certainly worth the trip. Just another croc 😂. You do not realise how many there are in the rivers until you visit the north of the country - they are the ones you can see, but there are many more hiding.

That will work for a smaller flattie, however, one at the 60, 70cm mark or bigger is a different thing. An angry fish is what you have with the larger flatties, just wanting to swing that head, and the head spikes will rip and tear if they make contact with you. Extreme caution needed with a large flattie when the head is swinging, especially in the confines of a kayak. There are various grips to hold one. Practice a grip first on a dead one, then imagine the swinging head of a live one with the grip you are using, and where the head spikes will end up in your hand, arm, feet.

A very successful session, a good variety of fish with a big bream as well. Bream at 40cm and over are good sized. 👍

As Noel stated, fresh bait is better than salted bait, however, in the early mornings, fresh bait may not be available. I cut off the fillets - mainly tailor, slimies, bonito, little tuna species, yakkas but also smaller trevally and mullet at times. I use a large glass dish. Fillets skin side up, a shallow layer of salt onto them, then turn over and a thicker layer of salt applied. Into the fridge. One day of salting is good for most of the above, except for larger bonito or small tuna then 2 to 3 days. Drain the water then each fillet separately placed into a plastic bag, labelled with type of fillet and date. I have used the salted fillets 12 months or more later, the better ones being bonito, tailor, small tuna for that length of time.