Hi mate,
The Hawkesbury is great, we hired a houseboat from Brooklyn last week and a dinghy with a 2hp outboard. The kids had a great time in the dinghy, so much so that I didn't waste any time getting the tinny this week. We fished with squid and prawn off the back of the houseboat and caught a few small snapper and 3 nice leatherjackets, as well as a number of a very shiny triangular looking fish with black and yellow and silver colouring that were about 2m down.
The highlight of our trip was definitely the dinghy, my older son caught a tailor on a plastic lure, and my younger son hooked into a monster using the same lure that pulled us halfway down Waratah Bay before breaking off. Afterwards he said, "look at how red my hands are Daddy!" I determined then and there to get a boat and come back to give him another shot at landing what I can only presume was a big jewie. I made the mistake of following the fish along the shoreline in the boat, instead of trying to play it away from the side into deeper open water.
I'd like to mix things up a bit for them though, not going to the same place too often to keep it fresh. When they are bored they swim or want to drive the boat.
Just a question on fishing prawns, we were cutting off small sections of prawn tail and putting them on small size 4 or 6 short shank hooks. Is it better to use a whole prawn? How should the prawn be put on the hook, and should we peel the prawn first?
Thank for your reply,
Martin