Keflapod

Hi Yowie, Can I ask what water temp you have in the hacking at the moment? The Georges river and bay has been sitting on 19.5 up until Christmas and the fishing has been abysmal. Even the stingrays were absent at that point.

Mate it was the REEL. vintage reel vintage fish if you want to catch a bigger Jew use an older reel lol. Well done on a spectacular fish. Some people dedicate huge amounts of time and money to get a fish half that size. You did it with one bait, one rod in one evening renting by a bnb. Buy a lottery ticket so you can retire 😆

Lucky the couch owner wasn't still asleep on it with the remote control. And those floating couches might have been made by Nick Scaly furniture. 🤣 OK dad jokes never cease at my place but fair dinkum those reds are beautiful fish. Love the way you put it on the brag mat, fish alive, full technicolour and not covered in the red stuff. Nice run of the boat for you, and nice of snapper for your son. Next time you see a floating couch, grab a rod with a squid head, send it down and watch it like a hawk...

Hey Jimbo, Your report created a flashback for me - no not the illegally-induced ones lol - I meant that I remember perhaps 30 years ago, there were crowds of people fishing the Captian cook bridge pylons. Burley the side of the bridge pylon and walk-the tide as your float was carried by the tide alongside the pylon. There were heaps of people assembly-line fashion. I have not seen anyone on the pylons fishing in years - probably illegal to tie the boat off on them and fish them... I bet the fish are still there but no-one fishing them..

Well Bob you did it again. When the odds are against you (weather, religious conscience, too many soapies and even a hook shaped like a banana), you still come up with the goods. Such a solid fish on light line, I'm sure the lord will pardon your deviation from his house and applaud your angling expertise. Afterall, like you said, Jesus was a fisher of men. The fishermen were fishers of fish. Now you have become fisher of fishermen. That's quite a mix of fish, fishers and men. You are truly blessed, as are we to be privy to your stories and experiences.

Hey Jeff, And I was gonna say "oh of course the motor had issues and you had to return to port because your son was getting all the action", but you have a photo to prove it. I guess you have the knowledge to diagnose the problem at sea, implement a solution and got yourself back to port without any incident. That's huge I reckon, and there was more effort involved in that than catching the fish. Well done on the fishing results as well. Big smiles on itchy's face after those nice snaps. Oh, maybe it will be the "itchy and scratchie" show? Except you two won't beat eachother up. And as was stated earlier, your son might get a hold of whiskers first. You never know. I guess it will be 'watch this space'.

Man that is a hard pill to swallow. I have had amazing luck with 2 rods that went overboard. The first one was an ugly stik I built myself - baitcaster with a shimano bantam baitcaster reel. I used it only a couple of times when I placed it against the gunwale of my boat. Well it went flying over so fast, but me being young at the time, I had cat-like reflexes and I lunged at it with the skill of a world glass goal-keeper. I grabbed it by the butt and dragged it back in. Well from that point on my brother called be the butt-grabber. This was near lion Island and the fish was a mack tuna. But only a couple of trips later, HE cast a baited rod over and forgot to keep a hold of the rod butt. Over it went and I hassled him about needing to HOLD ONTO the butt. Well I cast in another rod trying to snag it (but I REMEMBERED to hold onto the butt) and I actually caught his rod and brought it up... This was at Watts reef. True story

Hey Gordo, Kingies can drive you mad. They make no sense sometimes. If livies dragged by their noses don't work, try something else. Drop'em a jig or a freshly dead butterflied yakka or as one old-timer said, cut the tail off a livie and send it down (I've never tried that one though). There is always SOMETHING that will get them to bite - squid strips, cuttlefish heads+guts or even yabbies! You gotta work out their mood on that day.

The drone is a great idea. All I got to figure out now is how much line I need to drop a couple of baits from kurnell cliff top onto browns mountain. Blue eye from the shore! Actually Khalid I think we will see more of this style of fishing, except in those areas where you need special permission to fly a drone. And I believe there are quite a lot of drone no-fly zones in populated urban coastal areas. Keep these reports coming mate coz they are a really interesting twist on our great sport. Great vid and a great result as well.

Hey Rob, You've been 'eyeing off' a spot? How does one do that? In camo gear sneaking a peek from behind a tree with binoculars and sunnies? Lol. Now we are eyeing off your whiting.. Very nice fish, especially from landbased. They would have gone hard being hooked so shallow. They are among my favourite fish. Well done.

Nice smorgasbord of fish there yowie. Ripped off on the crab though. It's amazing they can still feed. I guess you could say he was clawless but he doesn't have to worry about that anymore eh?

Well Jeff, it seems you catch more than just reds. You catch people as well, but unfortunately no marlin. Kudos to you mate for being observant, quick thinking and responsible enough to put whiskers on hold in favour of surviving spear fishermen. The karma is on hold to reward you in a more significant way. Wait and see.

Hey BN, Indeed it is your signature I was quoting. I didn't quite remember the wording but the message is profound and that's what I took onboard. That little incident is what drove me to build and fish a 6m plate alloy boat in Botany Bay. Overkill so I don't get killed😁

Hey kingie chaser, These stories are bitter sweet for me. I help others but the one time I could have used some help, there was none (well at least, not from humanity). The bitter part of bitter sweet. Many years ago I had a 4m tinnie and I was returning from a trip in summer. LOTS of boats around. I was eating a sandwich while travelling home at 25 knots. I set the tiller lock on the outboard so I can be hands-free while I ate. Well it failed after a few minutes and the boat swung violently 90 degrees. As I cartwheeled thru the air, I got a hand to the throttle. I wasn't hurt (miracle # 1) and I looked around for my boat - I couldn't see it. I looked around for a boat to get assistance but suddenly there were NO boats around. No help, so I waited for some minutes, then noticed a boat coming slowly towards me. It came up to me at idle speed and the motor stalled. It was MY boat. The tiller was in full lock and I managed to set the throttle to minimum as I flew overboard. If it was in full throttle the boat could have hit me or worse (miracle #2). So I ended up saving myself. The sweet part of bitter sweet: I once rescued a bunch of people whose 10foot tinnie capsized in shallow water near towra in a big southerly. They were on the beach and didn't realise the weather changed. I was the only goof still fishing. I noticed them leaving the beach and I knew they would not make it so I stayed to see if they made it to Kurnell boat ramp. They didn't. I rescued about 4 adults, 2 kids and 2 dogs plus towed their tinnie back to the ramp. One guy remained in the tinnie to bail it out. They didn't thank me or offer any payment but I am happy they didn't bcos it came from my heart, not my wallet. In hindsight they were probably a bit shocked at it all but they were so lucky - late afternoon, wet mobiles, no-one around and a very quick and smooth rescue. So the moral of the stories, help others when you can, and as one other raider mentioned in his signature, something like "remember that you have received but forget that you have given". For my bitter story, I remember that I have Received, because it came from God. Luck like that just does not happen. I also hope that the rescued people thank the good lord because their luck was just as great as mine.

Hey Zoran, Wow, what a trip. Now I'm gonna say something that might polarize some members, but it's just for a light dig. Yep, bait fishing saved the day!....Again...! Ok, ok, ONE fish did it but what a fish. You can almost hide behind it. Love the story, the pics, the result and of course the cooking and presentation. I was really into deep dropping some years ago but it was too far, too hard, too expensive and now I'm too chickenshyte to go that far out to sea. By the way, yes, bricks are not dense enough and will slow down on the descent as the pressure rises, causing some overruns. Window sash cord weights are ideal and the only way to get them at a reasonable price is to go to period house demolition sales and ask. Typically 7lb - 8lb weights are the go. The price of lead is prohibitive these days. Jeez the fillet looks good on the plate. Now I'm gonna go and cook my whiting fillets....Also caught on bait...ahem...😆

How many kilos of pressure are you applying and the line breaks? You might have to upgrade to 200lb braid to lift those buggers! I've never caught a flattie bigger than 75cm so I can't say I have seen them stick to the bottom like that.

Fortunately for me, none of my relos are into fishing. If they all were, my boat would sink under their weight. The net result is I end up watching me catch fish - just the way I like it. And I prefer looong trips - 8-9 hours - I call it "quality time away from the asylum, ie the real world". But well done on making their day - catching, CLEANING, unsure about the cooking, and definitely the eating. Now you are the favourite uncle AND father-in-law amongst all the relos in your family.

Lake Macquarie? Were you sight casting to a sand bank or just random casting ? I wonder what brought them on like that.

Many years ago, Donna and Stu had an idea to create a fishing website and forum. Over the years, it grew and transformed. It is no longer a website, but rather a medium through which a sprawling community of (generally) like minded people can meet, digitally or arrange for it to be in person. We love to be on the water to enjoy the environment, to catch a fish or two, then give others the benefit of our experience. Also, the moderators and other people who give their precious personal time to keep things going on a daily basis, deserve special mention as well. And of course, those people who take the time to contribute reports, photos and feedback based on a lifetime of experience, without which there would be no community. We are truly unique in many respects and I wanted to take the opportunity this Christmas, to recognize us all, every last individual who forms our community. To you all, I wish a Merry Christmas and a bright and fish-filled new year. May we learn new things, tick items off our bucket lists, enjoy every trip by seeing the positives and above all, stay safe.

Nice kingie Rob. What line class did you get it on? There have been quite a few kings around in the river. My mate is getting 1 or 2 legal ones from amongst many rats.

Don't we just love it. My insignificant other half says "can you get us some fish for NYE hun - there's a good boy" and pats me on the head. And like an overzealous puppy, I lunge at the boat and get ready for a trip. Then I bring the fish home like I have returned with the stick in my mouth. Whichever dynamic we use to go fishing, it doesn't really matter. So long as we are out there doing what we love, then we will always be that happy puppy. Well done Bruce.

At least your son and his mate like fishing. Mine is allergic to fishing gear and never touches fish. Well done on managing to co-ordinate a trip with him - it's harder to do that, than to pick a decent weather day.

Thanks all for your positive comments and likes. It's nice to get the positive feedback.

Hey Rob, The kingie, trevs and big bream were caught on pillies. The whiting prefer the worms and the remainder of the fish were mainly nippers and some on the worms. I have to admit it can be expensive to buy all these baits but these days I value my work-life balance more than ever so I want to make sure I have my bait-bases covered when I'm out there. So if plan A doesn't work, I can go to plan B, etc, until I run out of letters.

It’s been some years since I have posted a report, preferring to sit on the sidelines and give others the benefit of my experience as well as the odd silly remark for a laugh. I thought I would come out of the woodwork and do something, for old time’s sake. Well actually my posts are more like a story. Christmas is also my birthday so I decided to give myself a present and took myself out for a fish. That’s the only way I can get a present these days (and yes I can hear the violins in the back ground) . I didn’t think too many people would be out on the water on the 24th of December so I didn’t get to the ramp too early. I was right about the bit where I said “I didn’t think” because the last convenient parking spot was taken 30 seconds before I could get there. I recently had an attempt by thieves to steal my aluminium trailer so I like to park in an area at my ramp where there is a heavy guard rail through which I thread my freight-70 chain to lock it up. I also use an electronically alarmed lock. On top of that I also use a trailer hitch lock and a club lock on the car steering wheel. Each lock has a different lock/key type so the would-be thieves would need to have a broad skill-set to open them all. Anyway, I left the boat in the water and drove 200m to lock it up against a telegraph pole and jogged back to the ramp – not a fantastic start but now I was ready. Fortunately no one stole the boat while I was locking up the trailer because I realised I left the key in the boat. I first set out a couple of crab pots in the river, not far from my fishing spot so I could see them, then parked at my first spot. No sooner had I set the gear out, the little rod goes off. The fish zoomed everywhere and tangled the other lines, the burley pot rope and around the anchor. While trying to unravel the mess, the fish nearly spooled my little reel. I had to pull in lines, cut other lines and run around like a madman to stay connected. Finally I pulled in this mystery fish – a 58cm kingie. Well most people would say ‘Wow, what a fight’. Instead I said ‘all that for a fish I have to release?’. I think I’m becoming a grumpy old man! That fish was laughing as it swam away, I reckon. After resetting, the fish were coming in regularly, but finding a bream bigger than 27cm was proving a challenge. While they are legal, I was looking for bigger fish so I released them all. I moved around a bit but it seems the fish are all the same size. Then the stingrays moved in. Time for a rethink. The tide was fairly well down so I decided to try the river mouth. On my way there I noticed two boats close together and both guys were fighting (fighting fish, not each-other). Us fishos are pretty good spies so I slowed down to initiate ‘operation sticky beak’. I saw one guy land a nice whiting so I knew I was in a good spot. I thought ‘privacy over piracy’ so I parked 50m away, not in their burley trail like some do. Hopes were high and I didn’t wait long before a rod goes off. Now I know what a stingray feels like. They usually stay deep and get heavier as they approach the boat. Cursing my rotten luck I pulled the ray in with total disregard but I couldn’t see it because it went under the boat. When it finally emerged it was silver! I missed the first attempt at netting the fish and it realised I was either an amateur or an unco-ordinated old man so it tried to go around the motor. I felt like my netting style must have looked like I was trying to swat a fly but I finally got it. Before lifting the fish in, I looked at the other old guys to see if they were now spying on me. Sure enough, they were. It seems my fly-swatting attempts must have provided them with some entertainment. Lifting the bream over the gunwale told me it had some weight and it hit the deck with a thump. It was well over 40cm and well conditioned. I just love it when a random unplanned plan comes together! The moral of the story for these old guys is to fight a fish with the rod held low and pretend to be REALLY annoyed and disappointed when the fish comes up, in case passer-by boats stop and fish your spot. Then net the fish and leave it there, and pretend to be unsure what to do with it until the passing boat is gone. Then lift it into the boat. Works every time or me! The NE wind was starting to pick up, so some of the smaller boats left but the fish were still biting. I stayed like a stubborn child coz I had the adrenalin going now. The next hookup was a bit different – good fight but more erratic. I couldn’t pick it until I saw some pink. I had forgotten what a legal red looks like because I don’t fish the ocean anymore, but a quick measure and the snapper went 34cm. My mum would love that so the adrenalin was still going. It’s amazing how the air of anticipation just MAKES bites happen because it did. Next I had a double hookup and my chronic indecisiveness found new highs. I picked up one rod and the fish was bolting but the other rod was doing the same. Ever tried to do what they do on Wicked Tuna and pull in a second rod while fighting the first rod? Well I tried that but it’s multi-tasking and it was almost as bad as my fly-swatting netting attempts. So loosen the drag on the second fish and concentrate on the first fish. I could tell it was a trevally so I needed to make sure it didn’t tangle up the other fish. I chased it around the boat, the anchor, out the other side of the boat before I could fly swat him. Nice fish in the mid 40s, then jumped on the other rod. This fish had taken a bit of string by now and so was a longer fight. I love how they turn sideways in the current and just when you think they are tired, they turn and bolt. The boat was bouncing around now in the chop and netting this fish was starting to prove tricky but he joined his buddy in the boat. How good is that? I was stoked. I stayed for a bit longer and it seemed the bite slowed down but when I pulled in some gear to rebait, I realised there was a fish sitting on it. These were some thumper whiting and they did not move until I pulled in the line. Then they shake their head and randomly bolt for about 2m and stop. If your drag isn’t set properly they will break your trace. I caught 3 nice whiting and released several more legal bream. No other boats, no jet skis, no noise, but the wind picked up and I noticed the anchor was dragging. Try as I might to reset the anchor with a long lanyard but to no avail so I called it a day. Driving back to the ramp, I swear I could hear the theme to Rocky playing in the background. I was really happy that quality prevailed over quantity. I caught a few for my family, for the parents and out-laws as well as releasing a fair few legal fish. These fish were a nice present so I thanked myself and return to the woodwork from where I came. Merry Christmas to all Fishraiders.