Ahab

Plenty of jellybean yellowfin caught yesterday. Most seemed to come south of Browns and were in the 5 to 10 kg range. Heard of a quadruple hook up on one boat. A few larger specimens caught from 30 to 50 kg. Even heard of a few dollies and a Marlin raised. We went against to trend and headed north to the tuna hole about 35 miles out from broken bay. It has now been named the non tuna hole. We did manage a small yellowfin on the way back in over the shelf and then a very small Mac tuna. The yellowfin willmake some nice sashimi. Water them went from 16 in broken bay to 19 a few miles out up to 20.5 and then down to 19.5 at the tuna hole. Very sloppy conditions until after lunch. If I was heading out today or tomorrow I would be heading just south of Browns. Cheers Cpt Ahab.

Crusher 87, weather was perfect. Not sure how it is at the moment I think the water is that warm that the seabreeze didn't really get sucked onto the land like it normally does. Hopefully the current has slowed down by the time you get there. The leads to the bar crossing have been covered as no longer reliable. As always you need to pick your day when crossing the bar. We were in a 6.1m Surtees, and it was fine both in and out. Noticed this year that a lot of smaller boats were launching from the creek. FYI the mackerel rigs people were using consisted of a 5/0 hook with a 4 inch wire trace running to a small treble. The mackerel generally bit the back end of the bait so this rig was quite effective for very slow trolling of live baits. The treble just swings free. Plenty of live bait on the bait grounds so you should have a blast. Cheers Cpt Ahab.,

Well in the absence of a response from anyone else I will provide a brief response to my own question. Spotted mackerel are reasonably abundant on the goal grounds and up at grassy head. Up to 7 kg. Best caught on live bait with wire and a stinger hook/ treble free swinging. Wahoo about up to 18 kg. Make sure you have suitable gaff so your hands stay away from toothy bits.6 inch skirted lures in yellow and pink seem to be the go. Jellybean yellowfin off fish rock and kingfish off the headlands. The current is roaring south at about 5 knots and water temp between 25.5 and 27 degrees. Some reports of small black Marlin and sailfish Cheers Cpt Ahab.

We caught some decent cobia off South west rocks some years ago and they were sensational eating. In fact I put them above Spanish mackerel but not as fishy. The kids loved them as well. Cut into cubes, flour salt and pepper and then shallower fried sensational. Cheers Capt Ahab

Hi all, heading up to South west rocks this week end for 3 or 4 days fishing. Targeting pelagics, Marlin, tuna,Spanish mackerel, cobia, dollies etc. on the two previous occasions we have fished live baits off the goal and trolled down to fish rock and back. We have had some success but I was wondering if there were any other locations or tactics we should try? Any info or feedback would be appreciated. If anyone has any marks that would also be helpful. We are in a 6.1 m surtees( plate alloy hardtop) .We would be happy to provide pm feedback if you have a very secret spot!! Cheers Cpt Ahab

Pretty much the same for me. From port jackson, went to the traps north of 12 mile and tried lures, live bait and fresh striped tuna for zero. Tried a bottom bash with livies and got smashed by leatherjeackets. The razor gang cut up 4 rigs before I called it quits.Trolled further to the shelf and found more traps. Same thing. Trolled north and then back in. No current lines, few birds, blue water but only a few striped tuna to show for it. Water temp went from 25 to 26.4 degrees but no clear breaks. Classic day on the water though. Light nor Easter to come home on. Great day. Cheers Cpt Ahab.

FYI, Took a spin offshore yesterday from Sydney. Late start, 9 am. Shot out to 12 mile and did a couple of drifts with live yakka a for 0's. Trolled from 12 mile out to Browns Mountain and back to Botany wide FAD for 0's. Threw a livie at the fad but no action. Buma about the fish but at least I could play the stereo as loud as it would go and none could hear how bad I was singing along. Water temp at heads 21.4 dropping down to 20.4 about 8 miles off shore then up to 23 just inside the shelf. There was no clear temp break just gradual increase/ decrease in temp. Crossed and worked a couple of current lines to no avail. Current at the shelf running at about 3 knots south. A few random mutton birds but they were just cruising. Water never got to a deep blue but I am not yet convinced on that as I have caught fish in very average looking water. Offshore it was blowing about 12 -14 knots from the northeast but inshore it was about the same from the west. No problem if you were in one or the other but for about 5 miles where the two met the sea ay was just atrocious. A positive was a gazillion butterflies that had be blown out to sea in the westerly. Another great sight when the fish aren't biting. Best of luck to anyone having a crack tomorrow. Cheers Cpt Ahab

Hi Jim, I headed out late morning for a look on my lonesome. Still plenty of salmon boils off north head but no luck with spinning small metal lures. Two other boats trying but I didn't see them hook up. Headed to my favourite flatty drift and managed a good feed with 4 blue spot and 2 dusky/ rock in just over an hour. I let one of the latter go because it was a stonker at 75 cm and I think they become breeders at about 80. The spot I fish for these is around 0.5 Nm SSW of "foul ground" in 50 m of water about 4 miles off Manly beach. I use squid rings on circle hooks and that seems to do the trick. Salmon were still working when I returned to the harbour at about 2 pm. There was a pod of 5 whales only 200 m off North head. Would have been a great trip even without the fish. Cheers Cpt Ahab.

Thanks for the replies. Didn't bother to wet a line and took the advice on wine and fire. All good. Cheers Cpt Ahab

Hello raiders, Heading down to kangaroo valley for a few days next week and was wondering if it was worth taking some fishing gear with me. No idea what to expect but thought I would toss a few lures around from the bank. Any ideas or suggestions or is it just too cold and best off drinking red wine around a log fire? Much appreciated in anticipation. Cpt Ahab.

Gidday Hodgo, Bumma about the flattie. I have used long shank hooks on flatties for many years with great success. I have recently started using smaller circle hooks to great effect, particularly on the slow drift and where you may want to only take a few keepers.you can also keep the trace size down to about 5 kg. Flathead tend to swallow the bait and just sit there and once you start hauling them in the then wriggle about.Normal j hooks and even the long shank hooks can end up gut hooking the fish which is not good for the fish if you want to release it and not good for you if it chews through your trace. This is my 2 bob's worth Cheers capt Ahab

Bumma about the lost fish and my call would be a jewfish. Never let a cheap, crappy or damaged outfit stop you from landing a top fish. I got smashed up by a kingy last week and I could feel him running my line along the bricks. Free spooled for a few seconds and backed the drag right off and 15 mins later landed an 80 cm fish. The 8 kg braid and 10 kg leader looked like an old bit of hemp all frayed and chewed up and broke when I pulled on it. Was lucky on this occasion as have been busted off plenty of other times. Fish was released to fight another day. Capt Ahab

Evening all, heading off next week on a bucket list adventure. Going down the Murray River in a tinny from Yarrawonga to the sea. While I have fished the briney my entire life, I have not done any freshwater fishing. I will be on the river for about a month and could do with any advice on techniques,lures,baits etc. I have 5 and 10 kg spin outfits and bought half a dozen spinner baits in various weights and another half dozen stump jumper lures. I also have a couple of smaller rapalas that I will take. I have a yabbie opera house I style trap and a ring net. I have read as much as I can get my hands on including all the licensing requirements and seasonal fishing restrictions. I will have the opportunity to troll or fish from the bank morning and evening. If anyone has 2 or 3 top tips for this type of fishing environment it would be appreciated as I will have plenty of time to test them out. I hope to take a few fish to eat (but survival won't depend on it).I hear that Redfin go ok on the frypan as do callop. Cheers Cpt Ahab

Thanks Guys, The wiring from the battery to the switch panel is only 4 mm (15amp rated wiring) hence my dilemma. It does only run nav lights a sounder and a radio but not big enough to run much more. Some other dodgy wiring including speaker wire to the nav lights and this is a production boat. I was really trying to save additional wiring running up and down the boat but after a sleepness night I decided to do it once and do it right. New circuit with fuse and switch running the two sockets. Thanks for the advice. Ahab

Hello fellow raiders, a little advice please. I am wiring some cigarette power out lets onto my tinny to run a couple of things but in particular an electric fridge. Unfortunately the existing wiring is inadequate and I need to run 6mm cable (manufacturers recommended spec). If the fridge has a fuse in the plug and an on /off switch can I simply run a new +ve and -ve from the battery to the power socket without running via a switch panel or separate fuse arrangement? I know that the socket will be energised at all times but does anyone see a problem with this? I could run an in line fuse and switch at a push but not ideal. If i run everything to the switch panel,I need twice the amount of cable to get back to the socket again. Assistance or advice gratefully received. Regards Ahab.