trunklegs

That is one awesome snapper! Congrats!

Mate thanks heaps for this. Certainly a terrific mixed haul there for you. Have heard of the drums so will give 'em a try. Looked 'em up on google earth so know where they are. I wasnt sure if anchoring was permitted there though so uncertain how to access them best. So your tips are very helpful. Will give your techniques a go next time i'm there. Again, thanks for the tips. Much appreciated. Regards Dave

Great fish mate. Well done. Caught my first cobe last ,month, and it is very exciting. Congrats!

Great haul! Well done! And thanks for the clear tips as well! Was out on Saturday for my first visit to Botany. Did no good, but will certainly be back. Having been there helps me know 'where' ppl are talking about. Congrats!

Hey fishergirl. Great to hear! Obviously 'they' are out there. so time to get out. Nice to hear that it was not too crowded. Thanks for the tips too. Trunklegs

What great confidtions! And great sambo! Was out ot the peak too early, like you. based on the good weather forecast, but wind sent me 'inbay' as well. Managed a couple of morwong and a rat king before the leatherjackets drove me nuts and combined with wind made call to head in.

Great stuff. One of the good things about all the rain we have been having. Well done!

Well done. Metre kings are unbeatable. Congrats on a great threesome!

Thanks cuttlefish camp. It certainly was on mine too

Again, great report thanks. Interested that fh at 68. Deeper than i would have expected!

Really useful and helpful report! Thanks heaps.

Fantastic fish! Would have run well! Well done!

If you're like me and you mostly look at the forums forthe pics, then ignore this and skip to the photos! But I just gotta tell the story of the bestfishing day of my life! So excuse thewordiness. Just got back from a couple of days up at my favouritefishing spot, Forster. Was going to staywith my brother and his family and had been looking forward to it for weeks, sowas sweating on the weather reports. They chopped and changed daily in the week leading up to going away, butI went with some hope that the time I would be there might be clear. Alas. the weather turned out to be foul! Sheeting rain! But, I had promised my niece a fish, and she was keen. So with wind and waves low, and only a coupleof days to make the most of, wet weather gear was donned and boat launched. Ironically (as it turned out), I wasn't planninga serious fish so talked my brother and his wife (niece's parents) into comingwith us. Normally I don't like more than2 in the boat when fishing outside, but with only a short fish planned, andweather looking decidedly uncomfortable, thought the company would be fun. How right that turned out to be, but not for the reasons Ianticipated! After collecting some perfect jelly-bean yakkas, we shotout to a close reef. I was not confidentthat I had anchored us on the mark, and nieces first drop down confirmed that Ihad in fact missed the reef. She pulledup a double header of 40cm plus flatties! So with my niece continuing to pull flatties up at every drop, I thoughhere was good enough! My sister-in-law was also soon into the flathead act,with my brother and I helping out with de-fishing and rebaiting for the girls! In between times, I was floating the liviesout unweighted and bonnies were hitting them almost as quickly as my niece andsister-in-law continued to reel In flatheads. My brother and I took it in turns to bringthem in, in between de-fishing the girl's lines. I really couldn't believe it. For me, it was great fishing. I was stoked at being able to get my familyonto fish. But then the fun began. The small yakkas had now been used up and theones left were too big for my liking. Ithought, what the heck, and threw one out anyway. Beforelong, like before, the the baitrunner was screaming. I thought; biggggg bonnie! Mybrother grabbed it and after about a 40m run, begun to put some pull onit. He would get about 10m in and thenthere would be another short run away. This happened for about 5 minutes, when it began to dive deep. Line was headed under the boat, and with my brothernot so good on his feet, he handed the rod to me so I could lean over thegunnel to keep the 15lb braid off the boat. I began to wonder about my bonniecall, as it seemed to be sitting heavy on the bottom. I decided to take the risk of trying to putsome hurt on it, and after some fair weight it seemed to turn its head andslowly got it heading up. I was nowthinking shark and after another few minutes, my thoughts were apparentlyconfirmed, as the fish surfaced about 20m from the boat and there was a dorsaland tail fin sitting out of the water! About4 foot by the look of it. Bloody shark! Ah well, might as well get it over to the boat and have a closer look. So some more 10m in-5m out games were played while thefish took me on a ride as it circled the boat. But as the two of us got closer I got too afraid to believe myeyes. That's not a shark. What is it? My god! Is that a …. it couldn'tbe! Could it? I mean, I had always hoped that sometime inthe next ten years I might catch a coby, but now? It couldn't be. Long story short, cobia it was! So now getting it in mattered! Panic! Don't lose it panic!! Fortunately we got it to the side of the boatbut not having caught such a large fish before and being in that sort of a flapthat you get into when a fish matters this much, I farted around wondering howto get it in till my sister-in-law gave me the lip grips with that 'use the lipgrips; idiot' look that I deserved! Twoattempts later, and a 1.4 metre cobia is the only animal in a flap in the boat! Unbelievable. Whocares about the sheeting rain! And I hadjust planned to give my niece a chance to fish! Turned out to be the day of myfishing life. So far anyway…. (Excuse the photo quality. Was miserable weather!)

Just wanted to add my massive thanks to all who have contributed to this thread. As a relative 'newbie' it has been great to read thru a series of posts where many have shared sop much good wisdom. Much appreciated. Have recently purchased upgraded boat, and planning to hit the hawkesbury at night for first season. Looking forward to cutting my teeth and doing some solid learning. This thread has been a great part of my research. . Thanks again to all

Thanks for opp to have a say!