GILL'T

Went for a cast or two after work, and it was 20 minutes well spent, landed this lizard on SP. Heavy bugger around the 52-55cm mark, he went back to be caught another day.

After having losing a land based battle with an Australian Salmon (bit straight through my below average mono) I made the move to 15 lb braid with 15 lb fluro leader and I gave it a test run today, landed one flathead who was sent back to be caught another day. More to follow hopefully.

I haven't been but I'll be sure to give it a go! Yep, I'd been to line up a fish sometime i'll PM you, what are you fishing for lately?

G'day Papafish, Yes, Balmain local so the shoreline is pretty convenient. I have tried Nicolson street, but haven't had any luck there just donated a fair bit of gear to the snags/rocks. What have you caught there?

Hey Mike89 A little further along at the bottom of Hosking/Johnston Street, you'd be facing Jones bay.

Went down to a little sand bank spot on the east end of Balmain for an afternoon flick around 5:30pm, with great water clarity at the moment and the wind easing up it was hard to resist, I'm making an effort to catch more fish on lures and I regret not doing it sooner. Saved these two flatties from drowning using Squidgies 'Silver Fox' , landed both withing 15 minutes of each other, really enjoying the warmer weather and becoming a member of the SP club. My trusty measuring thong is 30cm for record.

Massive obviously, ha ha

Headed out today for a break from the studies, caught the run out tide around 4pm, and I won't lie I'm one happy amateur fisho. managed to land my first dusky flathead and to top it off my its my first fish caught of soft plastics. Sorry about the pictures only had a thong handy for relative size.

Little surprised to pull this guy out in Balmain (Illoura Reserve). Can anyone tell me is its flounder or sole?

Great banter on the live update MACKEREL, gives us office dwellers some entertainment between meetings and pushing paperwork around. Keep it up

A friend of mine is visiting from the UK, so we did what any sensible person would and got a slab of beer and went fishing down at my local spot in Balmain. Managed a few small sized snapper and pesky leather jackets 3 in quick succession, they’re pretty greedy but we obliged and responded with squid. We used one for bait and then started catching these small silver looking buggers, I see they are two different types of fish, but as I’m fairly new to the flicking game I haven’t a clue on what they are…. Any help with ID would be great. We carried on till dark and the slab was finished we surprisingly landed this big nasty eel before our last beer, thing grabbed on to the hook and felt like pulling a log through water. Not too keen on another run in with this guy.

Thanks for the advise Raiders. I've heard about using berley cages with chicken feed, soaked in tuna oil is irresistible to the little buggers. I have seen small white plastic cages from BCF. Pardon my ignorance, but am I right in thinking I attach this at the bottom of my line, with hooks higher up (like a Paternoster rig) and cast in with the cage on the line? or am I being completely thick?

G'day Raider's This is my first post so please bear with me. I'm new to fishing and admittedly a weekend worrier, after finally after far too much procrastination, I picked up a trust worthy Shakespeare "catch more fish combo" from the local Ray's outdoors. After doing some of my homework and picking up a few new jig heads (NITRO'S), soft plastics, blade lures and various other items for the arsenal I have finally stated to land some catches. I've been frequenting Balmain East on the Darling Harbor side having the best luck around 19:30 to 20:30 mark. I've been using squid for bait on a Nitro jig, without a sinker and seem to have to best results. I have tried my soft plastics (squiggy;s and zerek shrimp) without so much as a sniff from the fishes.... am I doing something wrong? Not too big to boast about but.. Also after having this pesky bugger stealing the majority of my bait I managed to hook up a Flaty but I think he was too heavy for my line and as I hoisted him out of the water my line snapped . Also the Leather Jackets are a pain in the rear, I struggle to land them on anything I try Any advice on the local area (land based), gear, and bait would be much appreciated.