LuckyFil

Always great to get family and friends onto some good fish. Their smiles make it very satisfying

Magnificent fish Kobi! Sounds like @hookerbrucetaught you well with the light line skills. Cheers Fil

A cracker session! I’m interested in how you pin the poddies when using them as livies. Just put the hook through the upper jaw or through the body towards the tail? cheers Fil

A great outing after a slow start with that beaut jewie capped off with trifecta of flatties. Lovely pic of the jewie with that purple sheen they have along the top.

Always good to take a fishing rod no matter where you go - including a cricket comp ha!

Well you went with the master so don't expect that result every time ha! Great first report and pics, a 41cm bass is a very nice fish and yes they do pull hard. Cheers Fil

Yeah the surface strikes, even from small fish are a quite special. We couldn’t help but laugh at the persistence of some tiny fish whacking the lures.

I would guess so as I noticed some old cables at the side of it

There's a small ramp near the junction of the Colo and Hawkesbury. It's call Skelton Rocks Reserve suitable for small boats only and avoid at the very bottom of the tide as there is sudden drop off.

Thanks Bob! I might send you a message later re our trolling failure to see if I can work out what we did wrong. Cheers Phil

Yeah it was just on 48cm. Tried to get a pic of it on the measure but it wouldn’t cooperate and we didn’t want to keep it out of the water too long. we crushed the barbs on our trebles with pliers for easier release. Doesn’t affect the hookup rate and better for the fish too.

I haven't been up the Hawkesbury chasing bass for many years but after all the recent reports of it being a good year I had a trip up there yesterday near the junction with the Colo. Special thanks to @Picklesfor his reports and tips which helped get us motivated. I was joined by brother Steve fishing from an old 10 foot flat bottomed punt with a 5hp motor which limited how far and fast we could travel, not to mention how well we coped with the wash from the wake boats. Luckily only a few out being a weekday. The fishing started slowly as we took a while to get back in the groove of casting bass lures but it wasn't long before we started to pick up a few, initially on deep divers but then on cicada surface walkers and a couple on a spinnerbait. We tried trolling to cover more ground but that only produced one more small fish. So we decided to stop and drift along a cliff with overhanging trees and the sound of cicadas above. It wasn't long before the little bass were whacking the surface lures, although it often took two or three attempts before a hookup. Didn't bother with pics as they were small fish around the 20cm, some tiny and not much over 12cm but cheeky little buggers that hit the lures hard. On one of our last drifts for the day Steve's lure was hit with a mighty boof and we knew this was a much better fish. Out came the net for the first time on the day and a 48cm bass joined us for a few quick pics and the release. . We fished for a bit longer picking up a few more fish around the 25-30cm range then called it a day. I was pleased to see so many small healthy fish in the river which looks promising for the future. The water also looked clean and much better than previous years. Cheers Fil

The tailor go great in a smoker if you have one

Sounds like a great trip. Loved the video and pics from both boats! Hope to get amongst 'em tomorrow. Fil

Hi Donna Yes I'm interested to get a pair please. Let me know what I owe you and how to pay. Thanks Fil

You may have already tried this, but if you’re sick of catching salmon you could try letting your lures sink under the bait schools as there’s likely to be other predators lurking!

Fantastic video. Great scenery and looks like a beautiful place to fish, not to mention a cracking yellow belly. That’s dedication fishing when it’s minus 2! Fil

That is weird, catching trout and flathead in the same area!

Great catch of bass and nice healthy looking fish. How’s the water quality after the floods? cheers Fil

Nice catch on plastics. I heard the entrance was closed due to sand buildup, did it seem like that to you? Fil

You weren’t kidding when you said “monster trout”! Great report and pics.

I see what you mean about the whiting it looks quite golden. Looks like a scar on its back too. Yeah trags are funny fish, I’ve never caught one in an estuary but I was fishing for snapper (hand lines) with my Dad and brother many years ago off Palm Beach and a school of trags moved under us and they went crazy, we caught dozens and dozens in quick time. They we’re taking any baits and even bare hooks at times. Then they just shut down. Only time I’ve caught them. Fil

Brunswick can fish well at times, apparently there was a good run of green backs off the southern break wall a couple of weeks ago but they left when the white bait moved on. There are also jewies off that break wall but you need livies. I spoke to a fellow who said his mate caught some good jacks up the river using live mullet and herring. So live bait seems the key up there.

Just back from a 3 week van trip up the NSW north coast - Hat Head, Evans Head and Brunswick Heads. Weather was strangely dry and warm, strange because we're not used to 3 weeks with no rain! The water was very clear in most places and the water temp was all over the place, 18 degrees one day then 22 the next which I put down to the time of year and the variable winds. Several days of northerly brought the cold water then the southerly change returned the warmer current. The cold water didn't help with the rock/beach fishing but the creeks/rivers less of a problem. The fishing was patchy. I had plenty of donuts at spots I knew could fish well (and places I hadn't fished before), and a few better days. It wasn't purely a fishing trip so we were often doing other stuff; bikes, walks, kayaking etc. On the way north the rock fishing at Hat Head was dead not just for me but everyone I spoke to and no boats going out from the ramp - not a good sign. I caught one good sized flattie off the beach on a plastic from a gutter it was roughly 68cm (my brag mat stops at 60. I thought I'd hooked a big clump of weed until it got back to the shore break then off it went! Took another 5 minutes to slowly work it onto the sand (only using my light rod and 10lb line). Then a couple of smaller models somewhere between 45-48 (didn't measure) from the river at South West Rocks - also on plastics. The river at Evans Head looked very fishy and I caught a few undersized flatties there and one about 50 (no pic). My first time here and some local knowledge would help as there's lots of possible places the fish could be. Brunswick was very pleasant for swimming kayaking etc but water was crystal clear and hardly saw any fish being caught off the beach or break walls . On the run back south stopped at HH again and finally had a good session off the rocks with 3 drummer, 2 bream and a tarwine. The first hour I burlied hard and tried bread, prawns and cunje for no bites, then the next hour 6 good fish - most on bread. The bigger drummer was 48 the others 45 and the bream 35-38. Sorry for the crap pic, it's a long walk back to the cleaning table and was dark by then. So for our first van trip since covid it was great to get out of Sydney and have plenty of swimming, fishing, bike rides and walks with no rain! Cheers Fil

Gordo What a great story beautifully told and accompanied by plenty of pics. As others have said, a peaceful remote location away from people with good fishing, wildlife and an old friend to share it with. As the overused saying goes, it doesn’t get much better! I’m mainly a saltwater fisherman but discovered trout fishing a few years ago and I love it, the locations you’re fishing are wonderful and the trout really put on a performance when hooked. Must get back to it soon. cheers Fil