macman

First thing to consider is what type of fish do you want to target? What sort of areas do you want to fish? You can't really hope to get started until you consider that most basic of things. Matt

It would be worth trying in the boat for sure, it's a bloody trek in there by land though, looks simple on the map. Berowra creek was fishing well from Easter onwards but has really dropped off over the last couple of months. Lot of fish being caught low in all the systems. Matt

Brittania Rock is in the middle of nowhere and a long walk in, is that where you mean?

It works more frequently than you would think in the estuary, you should be able to gather string weed and cabbage at Turrimetta which is only just around the corner from the front of the lake. I've caught plenty of fish on cabbage well up the Parramatta River, and other places when string weed has been scarce. Matt

Or you could use wobble rollers which are great for aligning a smallish tinny onto a trailer. I use the big black ones, and I line then up with the panels on the underside of the tinny. Helps with loading single handed. They don't actually take any wait, but when you ratchet the tie down, they do help with fastening everything up. Matt

Not in a fairly obscure UK based forum, no. Matt

If you need any measurements taken, I have a set of verniers etc, but in the middle of a reno.

Nice reel, I bought a crappy one a few years back with no lineguard, I cut off and filed the lugs and resprayed it, lovely reel to use. Matt

I've got one, I'll get a photo for you over the weekend, if I forget, send me a PM.

Good to see the Iceman is still good at fishing. Looks like a trip to Glenbawn is in order some time in 2019, plenty of fish there! Matt

OK ta, good to know.

I had no idea that the Gary Howard was built on a composite blank let alone the 3145G. Are you sure that's correct? If it is, then it's a miracle, the 3145G hasn't been available for years. And if true would look for one myself. Matt

Yeah , well done, must be tempted to strip it and paint it? They are pretty easy to do, I've done a couple even hand sprayed goes well. Matt

There are a lot of people banding together on this already. But, it requires careful reading of the proposal, real thought and then for everybody to make a personal submission, attend the meetings where possible and support people who are fighting for our rights. Most importantly act with a bit of class, hot headed behaviour and raw anger is not going to help anyone. Be very aware of the facts, there is a lot of misinformation out there. Matt

Cabbage usually has copepods living in it, these are the tiny shrimp like bugs that love to live in it. If you want to keep it for any length of time, make sure you wash all of the bugs out, they die and cause it to stink otherwise. When fresh try to keep the bugs in it, I think the blackfish prefer it with lots of bugs Matt

The biggest cause of stuffing reels up when doing self service is to put the handles back on before you put the rotor back on. If you put the handles back on early you are tempted to wind them or they wind with gravity and this is what stuffs the gearing.most reels only achieve the proper fit and tolerance once the rotor is attached and pulls the pinion up hard against the gear casing. I have learnt this the hard way but luckily only on cheaper reels. Matt

I put a swivel on metal slices simply because otherwise there isn't somewhere to tie line to, it don't like to tie directly to a split ring, it doesn't really work. But where the metals have a solid loop on the front, I usually don't bother with the swivel because then you have to add a split as well. Like the little gillies metals which kill the bonito and salmon, I just tie them direct. Matt

I'm not putting a swivel near any lure that doesn't need it, if it doesn't cause line twist, then why use a swivel? If I'm trolling a plastic occy for kings or tailor then I'll use a swivel. Soft plastics generally track straight, so no swivel and no snap, and if I can see to tie one, a loop knot gives them the perfect action. Snaps are perfect for hard bodies when you are trying to find the one that the fish are going to go near and you are changing them often, good quality ones don't fail, snap swivels on straight tracking hard bodies offer nothing. Matt

I've fished all of those spots, 1 to 6. The most productive are 2,3 and 4. Rising or falling tide aren't that important, but movement IS, you need the float drifting right to left or left to right. Spot 4 used to be one of my go to places, then they built a little fishing platform there and it buggered it completely, it may have improved over time but I stopped going there. 2 and 3 fish well, mostly on the run in tide, although I've caught fish there on both run in and out. I've caught fish on the other side of the bridge at 1 and 6 but you need to cast quite far to get where the fish are. I've caught fish on both cabbage and weed at the spit. There are a lot of small fish around there but it pays to take your polaroids and look for bigger fish feeding in the shallows, they WILL take baits in as little as two feet of water in plain view. Also take a spin rod with a squid jig as you will see plenty of squid around these areas. I haven't fished this area for a while, as I don't live close and the parking is terrible but have caught plenty of blackfish there in the past. Matt

Its been a strange season, low water levels have made fishing tough. On the positive side most of the waterways I've fished have lots of fish at all sizes, great to see. 37s and 38s aren't anything to scoff at, nice fish. Looks like nice water up there. Do you catch many on the surface? Matt

Hi Stu, I fish the rocks around Yamba, its much the same up there as it is around Sydney, I just use the boots, Adrenaline I think they are called. they wear, I get about 2 seasons out of them. Matt

I like the atomics but they have the worst trebles of any lure, very poor for a 15 dollar lure. Matt

Small circle hooks actually work pretty well, I tried them for a few seasons and didn't seem to effect hookup rates, only problem is that you end up with either a clean hookup in the corner of the mouth or a gut hook up which is a pain with a circle. I ended up going back to a large long shank, less hookups, but avoid a few of the smaller fish. Matt

It doesn't take long from Windsor, we did it in my mates ski boat 2 weeks ago. I wouldn't do it in my tinny with the 15hp though!