TheHuffnpuff

nice fish!

Sometimes i like to fish whole Prawns sometimes i don't. When the fish are being picky and not touching a whole prawn or the guts are getting sucked out of the prawn and only coming up with the shell i like to take the head off the prawn, take the tail off, and take the shell off and peel it that way

I was watching a few of your Forster youtube clips earlier and just noticed your signature and you're the same guy! You rock! Love your camera work. What fish did you use for the livebait and how did you catch them?

Stick to calm waters until they get used to it. The hawkesbury river is good. Fairly calm if you stay in the bays or up river a bit. My kids also like to explore the small beaches in a lot of the bays, so pull up on a beach and let them explore if they get bored. You could also try catching crabs (the edible ones!) buy a couple of witches hats, they're only cheap, and let the kids pull them up after half an hour or so..always exciting to see if they have a crab in them. Sing out if you need more info.

Cheers

My kids loved digging up those bright blue crabs with the white legs, and they also caught some smaller dark crabs with purple and red claws. Do they make good bait? Didn't try them in case there may be legal size requirements or something. Thanks for the reply!

Put some Rod holders in the boat, preferably the angled ones that they can just sit the rod in while waiting for a bite, they get bored pretty quick from holding the rod if nothings happening.

Good tip, thank you, I saw some cheap plastic ones at+_+_) for about $7 or so each, once I've figured out a way to attach them without drilling hols in the tinny I'll probably go and get some.

you have some great water at your doorstep if your not after a feed try out the nepean river

boat ramp at tench reserve

targeted fish

bass

mullet

carp

and the good old eel

all can be caught on a big variety of bait

mullet and carp prob the best for the kids just a simple float rig with bread or corn baits berly lightly thats it

bass can be caught on bait but i prefer a lure might be something to look into alot more patience needed

cpl of nice spots up river to pull up let the kids run a muck swim what ever

pm sent also

Thanks mate, got the PM, great meeting people who live nearby!

We've had some fun fishing the shore at Nepean under the M4 bridge, caught 2 fish that looked like carp but had no whiskers, and a silver perch and an eel-tailed catfish.

Hi mate, congrats on the boat !

To answer some of your questions

- Good places around Sydney for tinnys are Port Hacking, Hawkesbury River, and if you don't mind the drive down the coast, Windang is a great spot.

I'd stick to bait fishing in slat for the best chance of catching something for the kids, if you use prawns you can catch just about everything in the sea. Find some sand and use prawns and you'll be hookng bream, whiting, Flathead and all.

I'd limit the trips for about 4 - 5 hours maybe. It just depends on how the kids feel. Being in a tinny might make them want to move around after being stuck so go to a sandbar and fish of that for a little while

They can drive the boat a long as you keep an eye on them and are in the boat and they don't go over 8 knots (i doubt the tinny with a 5hp will go over 8 knots with 3 people in it, so it should be all good)

I'd take lollies (sugar haha) the chips favorite type, chips, soft drink in an esky with ice and some plastic cups

For tackle i'd take 3 light rods, some different sized light sinkers, a couple of swivels, size 8 long shank for whiting and size 2/4 for Flathead and just about everything else !

I'm in a rush atm mate so if you need anymore answers i'll be back in just over an hour, so just let me know and i'll help you out as much as i can

Goodluck

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

Hello all,

New to the forum but I've enjoyed recreational fishing for many years, mostly land based freshwater coarse fishing. I have 2 boys aged 9 and 11, and I've just bought a little tinny hoping to make lots of great memories for the boys. I'm also new to Sydney, having lived inland most of my life with very little sea fishing.

We live in Penrith, and I was wondering if anyone had any practical tips in terms of how to make my boys experience as enjoyable as possible so they don't get bored and begin to dread time out on the water.

In particular I'd like to know: -

Good places to try out and what to fish for.

What type of fishing is most likely to keep them interested (salt, fresh, bait or lures)?

How long should I limit trips to?

Other things to do while in the boat if the fishing gets boring.

Can I let them drive the boat?

What should I take along with me (snacks, other fun things?)

What kind of tackle would be practical (rather than lugging things along with me that we probably wouldn't use)

I'd appreciate comments from people who have experience with taking children fishing in a boat.

All the best

Martin