LuckyFil

You could take the grandkids to the trout farm at Harrietville, its a nice place for a picnic under the trees and the kids can't miss with the trout. Its free, you only pay for the fish you catch - all gear and bait is provided i.e. bamboo pole, fixed line and fish pellets. Not quite sport fishing but they'll have fun. Must make a point of chasing the cod soon - it looks exciting and there are some beasts in the Tumut dam!

Thanks Bruce. Your right re the high country, I've been a saltwater fisherman all my life but the last couple of years done a trip into this area and apart from the fishing it's peaceful, often dramatic scenery and great for hikes and the cooler change in weather.

Thanks Neil. I caught a small rainbow on this trip in the park next to the river at Porepunkah - I didn't realise cod were there as well! Had some follows from much better trout at the same spot so worth a try while you're there. The tackle shop guy in Tumut was complaining about the huge cod in Blowering dam eating all the Yellowbelly - ha. I also read a report in the local paper that fish breeders have relocated their big cod from western dams that are drying up into Blowering as its pretty well drought proof. Enjoy your trip to Bright it's a beautiful area. If you're chasing trout try up stream of Bright towards Smoko and Harrietville. I also went over the range to Mt Beauty and fished the Kiewa which had some good fish in it but they were too clever/shy for me to get any other than a coupe of tiddlers.

Just back from a few weeks in the Victorian high country around Bright. Broke the trip with a few days at Tumut both on the way there and coming home. The trip wasn't all fishing as we were travelling with friends and did some hiking and cycling on the rail trails in these areas which are great activities when the weather is cool, which it was until the last few days when we had the warm nor' westerly winds that took the temps to the mid thirties. The campground in Tumut is right on the banks of the Tumut river (very pretty spot to spend a few days) so I had several sessions casting spinners into the very fast flowing river. Surprisingly I caught several trout both rainbow and brown right in the campground. Nothing huge but fun to catch and one was big enough to throw in the smoker. I also had a crack spinning up at Talbingo (just above Blowering Dam). It was a cold day and I didn't feel that inspired with no interest at all in my spinner until I was about to call it quits and got a strike right on the shore that resulted in my first ever yellow belly (Golden Perch I think is there correct name). It was fantastic eating next night but was the only one for the trip . There had been good snow falls above Bright and still plenty on the ground at Mt Hotham when we drove up there, resulting in good flows to the trout streams. I'd been to the same area last year and the fish were much more willing then and we caught a few fish in the 40s then. But this year it was tough going with only small fish around 20-25 cm and not many of them. On our last session we switched to an evening fish after sunset. I'd been working my way down the stream casting ahead of me and had a few hits and caught 2 fish , 1 brown around 20cm and a rainbow at 28. The water was mainly shallow fast runs but I worked any deeper water pretty hard until I found a good hole under a fallen tree. The strike came after just a few turns of the reel and a huge trout jumped clear of the water in front of me. I thought there's no chance I can get this in as I was only using 8lb leader and the fast flowing water was in its favour keeping it away from me even when not jumping. I managed to work it out of the main flow to my side of the river did the drag up half a turn and slowly got it back to me while trying to keep the rod tip low and reduce it's opportunities to jump. After an eternity I got it close to my waders and without a net somehow got a hand under it and threw it onto the bank and dropped to my knees to stop it sliding back into the water. Sorry for the long winded story but it was pretty tense and I fully expected a 'big one that got away' result, so I wanted to relay some of the details. It went 55cm and fed four adults with plenty left over for the next night - and tasted fantastic. It was well conditioned with plenty of muscle and had a fully belly with four large cicadas in it - there were thousands of them in the trees this year and the noise overpowering so I guess the bigger trout must have been taking advantage of them. So despite the lack of numbers this fish (and the yellow belly) made it a great trip. Cheers Fil

Lots of helpful info there Paddy. Which waterway do you fish? cheers Fil

Lip gripping a big flattie usually means some lost skin. Not to mention dodging the hook on the lure. But no net means you gotta get creative. well done Fil

Good report and nice bass! how do you work the lure - slow roll with the arms paddling along, twitches or just cast and leave it sitting? cheers Fil

Some flats near Kinchella that you can access off the shore could be worth a try if you’ve got any nippers left

Wow great fishing there Bruce. Were you around Jerseyville or further down towards the mouth? Fil

I believe two were wearing lifejackets and two were not

My son (aged 32) went to North Head this morning planning on a dawn spin off the rocks. He recounted this story to me later today. When he arrived half hour or so before dawn he realised the swell had not dropped as much as forecast and while not extremely high there was a long wave period i.e. a lot of power behind each wave. Instead of setting up to fish on the rock platform he decided to wait up higher and watch the swell for a while. Four other fishermen walked straight past and onto the platform. They asked why he wasn't going down and he explained he thought it looked a bit dodgy and he wanted to check it for a while. They said it's fine and started fishing straight away. Within a minute of that conversation a large set of three waves hit in succession, the first brought well over a meter of green water over the platform which is only about four meters front to back then the rock wall behind - so nowhere to go apart from the scramble track down on one side. All four were knocked off the feet and my son expected to see them in the ocean when the white water cleared. Miraculously they had all managed to cling to the rock surface and despite plenty of missing skin were OK. Two of them managed to hang onto their rods , the other two didn't . They both had two rods each including 2 Saltiga reels and one Stella and one saltiga rod. Both their bags were in the ocean, one of which had his tackle and a new phone worth $1000. That pair were now down about $4000 worth of gear (including the phone) and one of them was preparing to dive in to retrieve one of the bags which was still afloat. My son argued with him almost to the point of physically restraining him from jumping in. My son said they were extremely powerful waves and this guy didn't look like a strong swimmer. Even if he could swim against those waves he'd have been smashed trying to get back onto the rocks. He clearly was not thinking straight and panicked. They were able to flag down a passing boat that retrieved the floating bag and went into the next quieter bay and were able to thrown it onto the rocks . It contained their car keys amongst other stuff. I'm recounting this as I know there's a lot of newer fishermen on this fishing site and I wanted to tell them of the dangers of underestimating the swell when rock fishing. My son has lived his whole 32 years on the coast and is a surfer, fisherman and strong swimmer so he knew what to look for when checking the ocean. If you aren't sure, check with other fishermen and if there aren't any around sit and watch the sea for at least 10 minutes where you plan to fish - your life may depend on it. Stay safe guys Fil

I caught a couple of fatties in Brisbane Waters last week and one had a crab in his gut and a couple of the small hard bodied yabbies (not pink nippers). Maybe they like crabs this time of year or there just isn't much small fry around to feed on? I haven't seen any schools of whitebait in the bay yet. Fil

Great fish and great pics - well done. Fil

sounds like a fun days fishing with a good collection of table fish to bring home - and share with Mum!

Good catch - especially given its early in the season. Not after your specific spots but wondering what general part of Brisbane Water were you? I fish the bottom end around Ettalong and Hardys Bay and the flatties there seem to have just woken up too. Cheers Fil

Congratulations a nice lizard and a very happy fisherman in that pic!

I've had success using a wriggler tail plastic on the lower hook on my paternoster and bait on the other hook. Often got just as many fish on the plastic as on the bait!

No reports of mackerel but they were consistently getting kings from Fish Rock while I was there and there were some good meter sized fish amongst 'em

It's still early in the season so the fishing is a bit tough. If you are land based the waterfront reserve in Woy Woy that faces the channel (I think its Paddys Channel) is worth a try for bream and flathead as is the public wharf in Woy Woy. If you have a boat the Rip at slack water (current is way too strong otherwise) either side of the bridge is worth a drift - there is some very deep water (60 feet plus) on the downstream side which apparently holds jewies at night (never caught one myself). The beaches McMaster, Kilcare, Avoca are all worth a try for tailor and salmon at dusk with pillies or lures. Apart from flicking plastics for flathead, Brisbane Water is best fished at night as it can be dead during daylight hours. Good luck Fil

Had a couple of sessions this week up the Central Coast. First attempt was off the rocks near Avoca, conditions were good for the target species (drummer) - plenty of wash but too much to make it dangerous. I had cunje for bait and bread burley. I caught my smallest drummer ever - see pic. Even at this size he dived hard and went straight for cover. But it went downhill from there - a blue spot wirrah, a kelpie and a sweep. Time to go home... Next outing was in the old Quintrex flicking plastics for flathead around Hardys Bay and Ettalong. Again conditions looked good with colour in the water after the recent heavy rains and a good runout tide. Lots of casts finally produced one small flattie at 40cm. He was very dark as I caught him over a patch of weed. A while latter after moving slightly downstream produced a much more aggressive strike and a good fight with a few nervous moments and one missed netting attempt and I finally had a better one that measured 63cm. A few casts later and the plastic was bitten off just behind the hook which Im guessing was a small chopper. Went home with a few fish, which after several dud outings lately was a good feeling. Cheers Fil

Thanks yeah I like the white plastics too

Nice mixed bag - not easy when the water is cold and muddy. Did you catch the flattie on a plastic or bait? Cheers Fil

Thanks Whisky that certainly looks like him!

Landing a big fish on your own is a real challenge, but getting two at the same time now that's just showing off! 🤣 Congrats. Fil

Yeah got that right. Ah well makes for good story if nothing else