p-ziller

Was good to go out dude. Glad we caught you one in the end. You forgot to mention my beer sweats! Hahah

Bass will demolish any crank bait in natural colours! Ive also had success with 'made' spinnerbaits with jig heads no heavier than 1/8th and grub style plastics in colours ranging from green to purple. They also love expensive lures as close to the trees as possible haha! Cheers, Paul.

Good job mate!! There are some big ones around at the moment, congrats on your first bass!!! If you need a few more spots in the area or somebody to tag along let me know. cheers, Paul.

Any more updates on this? Would be great to see some finished pictures! Cheers, Paul.

Good work mate!! The mount is looking sweet. Laser cut or hand cut? Cheers, Paul.

Well done Mate, great fish! Cheers, Paul.

What a stonka!!! Great fish!

Beautiful looking place and fish! Well done!!!

Well done! Heard a few reports from friends that the Macquarie River is holding at the moment! Good to see the system thriving. Cheers, Paul.

Still looking if anybody is interested.

Awesome report mate! Interested in vehicle transition and tyre brand!

Hey Raiders, I'm looking for somebody to take me out past the heads this weekend, Saturday if possible, Sydney preferable. I've got experience inshore, but nothing outside in Australia. Happy to go halves, clean and work. I don't have much heavy gear (only Raider snapper & 5000 reel). Thanks, Paul.

I'll have a look around about this. Hopefully someone can help you out.

Thanks again for the input raiders. i have done some heavy digging and managed to find this. Below is a link that should give others in a similar predicament some much needed information: http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/605732/nsw-recreational-fishing-catch-and-release-handbook.pdf It gives a few helpful pointers and information about what to do with things such as getting gut hooked as well as survival rates etc. I have attached the most useful piece of information from our blunder. If a fish is caught that is undersized in must be returned as is irrespective of condition. Do not kill it, just put it back in the drink. i hope this can help somebody else out in the future. Tight lines! Cheers, Paul.

Thanks guys. like I said, I checked the dpi rules etc. It wasn't until well after that I actually worked out via their site that it states the fish must return. The only other info I had found was a thread from this site but it was more of a debate then the rules. (Scratchie/Mod team: Is there information you can lead me towards? The DPI website was fairly cryptic). However, one thing I couldn't find more information on was if the fish was to go back as is (struggling) or if it is best to humainly kill it before putting it back. We honestly wanted to put it back as neither of us really eat fish, we just thought one of the near by fishing boats would scoop it up once we left. Thanks again all. cheers, Paul.

Nice one mate!!!! Congrats on another first.

Happy New Year Raiders! It’s been a while since I have posted and one of my resolutions was to get out more, so here is a report based on what happens when you do. Kat and I have been waiting for this break for a very long time! We have been so busy with work and other projects that we have had very little time to fish together, or at all for that matter. This season I have had a very good run on the bass but not on a lot of other target species. We decided to fish Sydney Harbour with my brother so headed of the day before to stock up on some tackle, a few new lures and some new squid jigs. We received a bit of info from one of the guys at ‘On Duty Bait & Tackle’ that there were a few kings being caught in the harbour. Being that we were going out within the Boxing Day Sale period I had ‘NO CHOICE’ but to buy some new and heavier gear in the form of a Shimano Raider Rod and 5000 Reel. We left the house at 5am the next morning and by some freak change of heart I decided to scrap the Harbour plans and drove to the Hacking. We launched in Yowie Bay with the plans of catching live bait. I felt a little squeamish at the fact we had to rely on my captaining abilities to land squid and yakkas so we grabbed some prawns from the ‘Bait & Go’ machine just in case. My plans were to try for a few squid around Jibbon Beach but the swell was a little too big at this point to take the Tinnie close to the heads so we pulled up short at Salmon Haul. We anchored up and within a few casts the Mrs was on and this thing was massive! We ended up with a few lollypops and another bigger model over the hour but decided to send a few out in hopes for kings. We headed into one of the bays near some moored boats and got a burley trail going. Throwing over some pillie cubes and squid guts, a little action showed up on the sounder. We rigged up with some squid head and threw them overboard. Within a matter of seconds Kat was on and it sent the drag screaming. After a 10-minute fight we got it to the boat and she had her first taste of the silver ghost!!! We measured her at 68cm… Yewwwwww!!! Unfortunately, The fish leapt off the boat seat and down between the cross brace and floating floor that supports the motor. I tried to get the Jewie out carefully, unaware that its gill rakers had gotten caught on the other side of the brace. We swam her for 10-15 minutes to no avail, every time it swam off it went belly up. Shortly after this, the bite went off after tide change. The brother caught a small pinkie but that was it. It was still a little too choppy to get closer to the heads to try for kings so we called it quits. We decided to take the remaining squid home with the Jewie, which happened to end up as a sensational meal! If people would like to shed some light, my question is: What is the best possible outcome for an event like this? We filmed the fish not being able to swim off in case we ran into the fisheries department. Is this the correct protocol? Apologies for the novice question but we couldn’t find the information anywhere. Photos attached. Thanks, Paul.

Send me a message when you have a few dates planned. Would love a day out with a few raiders! Cheers, Paul.

If its the same spot I'm thinking of, i know what you mean. Went down there late August to see everything flooded! A friend of mine had told me they were slowly releasing the dam with the rain expected in the coming months. Bit of a crap situation, but he ended up getting on to some trout further in. Think i will have a go there next time. Cheers, Paul.

They are great fun! If you are ever keen let me know, I've got a few spots.

Me too! Glad to see the systems are still healthy! True that! hopefully we are all in for a good season!

Thanks Neil, hopefully the coming weeks bring the big girls! Cheers, Paul.

Well done, What a stonker!!! Would have straightened the hook for sure!!!

Didn't get away unfortunately mate! Good luck!!! Look forward to your report. Cheers, Paul.

Unfortunately the weather ruined our plans! hopefully be up there in the next few weeks!