ross patti

I hear you, Brett !. I fished Sunday from the road bridge to Pumpkin point, with primo baits and came home with 1 flattie. Caught 2 gajillion bloody catfish, 1 undersize bream and the flattie. Very quiet, very sad.

Nice bag Yowie . . . you fish magnet, you !

Snuck out again today to usher in 2015 in the fishiest way possible. Sounded around in between Juno and the Western shoreline opposite . . . Challenger head, I think ? . . . and found a good patch of bottom . . . we dropped the pick and put a spread of rods with bloodworms and live nippers, chucked out some burley pellets and sat back and waited. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait too long, although it was a beautiful morning with light winds and glorious sunshine. The first few whiting were around the 30cm mark, mixed in with some nice keeper 28cm bream. I have a theory that if you are not catching bloody skates, you are not on good whiting ground. Well, based on that fact I was the skatemaster today ( must have caught 7 or 8 of the bloody things ! ), I was quietly confident we were in for a good day. I reckon we had arsed our luck and came across a small cockle bed . . . coz the whiting action improved as the run in tide grew stronger. I will master this photography business one day soon, but I'm sure you will get the idea of the beasts we tangled with. The 2 biggest in the photo I titled " 2 horses and a hat " went 42 and 41cm. Some of the better fish appear in photo 2, most there were above the 36cm mark. That blue esky they are on is 72 cm across . . . as a guide. A great day, a great feed of primo fillets, and a great way to start the new fishing year !!. Happy Hookups fellow Raiders !!!

Ribs, The flatties were not really thick at any time. A fair bit of water between them. The biggest factor seemed to be decent tidal movement in the water. No run, no fun. I reckon the run up tide would fish best, so tomorrow morning should be OK. Don't forget . . . not TOO shallow Good luck mate !!

Hi Raiders, After a long lay-off from any fishing because of a broken arm, I finally got the chance to go with a good mate on his boat and wet a line after 3 long months !. While still a bit hesitant with the busted wing, I was absolved of all anchor duties ( for this trip, at least ! ). All that time at home allowed me to study the online fishing and tackle shop and I topped up with leaders, hooks, and I even gave them newfangled vibes a look - in. I used to fish hardbodies on the racks, and so thought I'd give these "new" metal things a shot. We fished among the patches in Botany Bay, but a bit wider and deeper than everyone else. You could just make out the weed clumps, and I put my best efforts into casting this little missile so I could flick it back at the edge of the weed. I had a nipper out at the same time and was kept busy with a few smallish bream and whiting. Once the tide got a bit more momentum, things got interesting. My nipper was smashed by a solid take, run, and fight. After much coaxing, the magnificent 40cm whiting slid into the net. Less than 5 minutes later, a well executed cast had the vibe in a prime position between some patches. I was unsure of the speed of retrieve for these things, so I just went with the general speed settings for vibes . . . . slow, fast, and true love. Anyway, after some delicate twitches and rolls and flicks, the middle flathead in the picture engulfed the vibe. It was a 5.5cm, 12 gm lure, and when I finally netted this flathead, the lure was nowhere to be seen. Once he chilled in the slurry for a while, I opened his gob and there was Mr vibe, lodged in his mouth. He went 53cm. It was a great fight, and it brought back all the memories of my days on the racks. Presentation and finesse, followed by brute strength, then backed off drags to land it. Ended with another nice lizard on bait ( the biggest in the pic . . . went 65cm ), and a nice fat bronze bream that went only 36cm, but he was solid. All in all, a very nice day on the water. It was so good to get back out after all that time, and even better to bring home a primo feed. Happy hook-ups fellow raiders. Happy 2015, too !!!!!

Went for a quick lone fish in Botany Bay Sunday morning. After carefully positioning right on the GPS mark, I set about tying traces and terminals to the rods. I usually do all this the day before so not to waste time on the water . . . but family stuff got in the way on Saturday. Anyway . . . after meticulously tying the 6lb FC rock traces, I laid out a 3 rod spread that covered both sides of the drop-off with prime live bloodworms and nippers for enticement. I then set about putting the knife, pliers, net, etc all in their "go to " position, and finally sat down. Then out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a boat sitting quite close to me and wondered where the hell he came from. Pretty sure he wasn't there when I anchored, and I thought he was a bit rank anchoring so close to me . . .probably only 15m away. I just shook my head . .what can you do ? As it turns out, he wasn't anchored at all. He was drifting, and heading in a line to take him across the back of my boat and only 3 or 4 m away from my transom. I sat and watched him for a minute, thinking that he would obviously see the direction he was heading in, and that he would make a quick move. It soon became apparent that he wasn't gonna move at all. I politely said to him that maybe he might start up his motor and head away from the anchored boat. He muttered something to his 2 mates in their language and started his motor. Just when I thought that common sense had prevailed, he then proceeded to drive forward in the exact direction the drift was taking him, ensuring he collected all 3 of my lines around his prop. At first I wanted to kill him, then I looked up at his 2 gorilla mates. Then I wanted to kill all 3. They had the gall to lift their motor and remove the now entwined fishing line . . . . so it was no accident. My repeated swearing at them could have seen me stabbed . . .but I was livid. Now . .I very much doubt they are fishraiders . . . but on the off-chance they see this, please let me say this: 1. I hope my super fine braid gets spun onto your propshaft and works it's way down to your gearbox seals. 2. Everything I said about your mother is true. 3 Everything I said about your wife is also true. 4. I curse you with no fish for 5 lifetimes. 5. I took down your boat rego. God help you if I find out where your boat lives. In 20 years of boating, mostly on typically crowded Sydney waterways, I have never seen such an arrogant pig SOB. And after all that, I finished the day with a modest catch of 4 bream and a whiting. I put it down to the boiling blood. I feel better for having gotten that off my chest. Thanks for listening . . . .

Yeah, I went up for a mid-week fish near good old Juno Pt and kept 7 whiting from 34 - 41cm, and a lone 50cm flathead. The wind sprung up early and made it difficult to fish . . . but came home with a nice feed anyway.

Nice fish . . . good read . . . great pics . . . and caught on a nice sporting outfit !!. Well done !!

Did you pin a 8/0 in it and send out on the 'rigger ? The smaller one is a nice squid !. That's a great catch !!

Ah Tony, As others have said, you are a wordsmith. Or a wordsmithopolous maybe !. Your writing is as evocative as 50 shades of grey . Salmon grey in this case. Next time I see you I'll say G'day. If I see a boatfull of kids ready to stab each other over a trevally flippin about on the deck, I'll know I'm on the right track. Cheers . . . Rosco

Welcome Ollie . .. This is a great site to catch up on all things fishing. Plenty of local experience to share, and experienced guys and gals to share it with. Enjoy !! . . .

Many years ago while on a fishing club weekend away, the BBQ man got adventurous and filleted and cooked up a number of " odd" fish. I distinctly remember the humble pike as one of them. Despite a few bourbons on board, the pike was remarkably nice. They all had a laugh coz I was always critical of them keeping all manner of crap just to weigh them in !! Tony ( Keflapod ) mentioned that we all have different tastes. I'm a fussy bugger when it comes to fish. Ice slurry every time . . . no exceptions . . . I don't keep more than 1 trevally for the cat, coz I sure won't eat them !!. But the funny thing is that things like pike, butcher's XXXXXX, red rock cod, and who knows what other ooglies actually taste good. Sure, the pike smell . . . but so do some of our favourite things !!!

Hey Gilbey . . . I'm pretty sure the info you are looking for is on the fisheries website.

Well done Dunc !!! Bet you can't wait to show the pics of those little beauties to your coarse fishing, slingshot berleying, 20foot long pole carrying buddies back home !!!! You will be the king of the pub for months !!. Enjoy.

pm sent micl . . .