GirellaMan

This is a really good blog and podcast on catching blackfish: https://www.salamanderbaittackle.com.au/how-to-catch-luderick-nelson-bay-break-wall/ Armed with this and the info in the two posts referred to above, you should get a few. GirellaMan.

Thanks fishos got plan B, C, D, ... to try out, I think the basic problem was the bait wasn't going down to where the fish probably were due to turbulent currents and upwellings. Another blackfish lesson for me - there's always something new to learn. There was another fisho using stringy weed a bit further round from me, the exact same thing happened to him too, so probably it wasn't they decided suddenly no to cabbage and yes to stringy. Of course the fish might have simply swum off...

I thought this was impossible but it's easy! It doesn't seem to grow but it keeps and the blackfish bit on it well up to 8 weeks after I got it off the rocks. It saves a 3h round trip each week to get the bait. It also is a great way to deal with going on holidays to a spot where the cabbage is hard to get. GirellaMan.

Hi Fishos You might be interested to know of this system for keeping cabbage weed, it's very simple and works really well. You get a styrofoam box without a lid, put it outside in a semi-shady spot out of the way, ½ to ¾ fill with fresh sea water, and put your cabbage in it, as per photo. You change the water every week or even two. So far, it's kept the cabbage going for up to 8 weeks and it didn't seem to affect the blackfish's enthusiasm for the bait. It might have lasted longer except I used it all up. GirellaMan.

Hi Fishos During the weekend blackfish outing, in the favourite Sydney Harbour spot, things were going great with 4 in the keeper bag, until the drift got really fast, which hadn't happened before, at this point the float was leaning right over and at this point the downs stopped. Upgraded to a bigger float with more lead, still seemed to lean right over and no further joy with the fish. It wasn't windy at all, it seemed to be the current. What's the drill to deal with this? - a float with lead on the stem? A big float with lots of lead on the rig? A string of split shots? A float that's shaped like a sail? Any bright ideas? I guess I'll try all this if it happens again! Thanks for your help. GirellaMan.

Hi Fishos Caught 4 nice blackfish on the weekend, when filleting them one of them was really hard to fillet, the explanation appears to be this strange spine deformity! It fought like a demon, and tasted ok. Have you ever seen this? What causes it? GirellaMan.

Went fishing at Blues Point, they've rebuild the sea wall, however some locals don't like people fishing there and took it upon themselves to graffiti the brand new seawall, pretty much every 8th sandstone block, with the attached image that they've stencilled on with fluorescent red paint, as per picture. There's Fisheries and council signs everywhere there, talking about size/bag limits, dioxins, don't make a mess, but none talking about no fishing. Also the language is wrong, normally these signs are on a post, with logos, and say things like "Fishing Prohibited. Penalties apply. Fines >$x". I checked with Fisheries, it's bogus and complain to council, which I will do. Unbelievable! Any constructive suggestions as to the next steps to fight back? It might help if you guys also complain to the council, it's North Sydney Council Telephone: (02) 9936 8100. Blackfisherman.