Killer1979

Day 3 - more fish!! Hired a little boat from soldiers point marina. Tried for flattties with no luck then went to scratchies "secret" spot near Taylor's beach and got a mixed bag. About 30 tiny snapper, 1 small bream, 11 good size whiting, 1 tailor and a cuttlefish!! All on prawns, the cuttlefish was wierd, thought it was a squid at first but it was definitely a cuttlefish. Great day on the water and the boys have just filled there bellies with whiting. Going to hit shoal bay jetty at the crack of dawn tomorrow! Thanks for all the tips guys!

Awesome, thanks scratchie. Can I get all that at the tackleworld in Nelson Bay or is there a better tackle store to go to?

Day 2. Success at soldiers point jetty! Got on the jetty at 7am and caught about 8 well under size whiting, 4 undersized bream, 4 little puffa fish and the biggest puffa fish I have ever seen. The thing was bigger than a basketball!! So we still don't have any fish to eat but the kids had heaps of fun. Thanks for the tip scratchie, light gear, long shank hooks worked well with prawns. We have booked a little poly boat for tomorrow morning from soldiers point. We will try that spot at Taylor's beach for whiting. Any suggestions to get some flattties?

Will give that a try too ribs. The good wife has other plans for me today so I will miss high tide. I will be allowed out again about 5pm so I am thinking I might give the soldiers point jetty a crack!

Thanks scratchie. I will try that!

Day 1. Nelson bay Marina (inside the marina), Nelson bay break wall and shoal bay beach. 0 fish Terrible, windy conditions and dirty water. Hoping for some improvement tomorrow.

Thanks Scratchie. That doesn't sound great. Typical, the one time I get to fish this amazing place there's no bite. Oh well, I shouldn't complain. The storm could have done a lot worse things than put the fish off! Hopefully it improves over the next few days. ?

About 2 hours away from Port Stephens! Getting excited. How is the water colour? Is it still fishing ok?

I hope all the rain is making the fish hungry! Can't wait!

I used to just put a swivel above the float and nothing between float and jig. It means the jig comes up to the float when you wind it in making it more manageable but the swivel stops the squid from being able to just take off with the jig as it gets the resistance from the float. Only problem with this is a set depth. Off a pier it's fine but drifting in a boat would present some challenges.

Yeah the orange and white ones.

I am no squid expert Craig but when I was younger and fished off the Lorne pier a lot we used to do exactly that. Float about 2 or 3 metres above the jig and just leave the rod while we actively fished for other species. Always caught heaps of squid! I think it depends on the depth of the water, you probably want the jig about 1 metre above the weeds. Cheers Al

I am right handed in everything I do. But I cast with my left hand and wind with my right...

So thanks to all you legends and your fantastic input here is my fishing plan to make sure my kids have a heap of fun fishing saltwater for the first time but we also get a feed of fish! 1. Early morning start at soldiers point jetty chasing some whiting and any other species that may be around. Using long shank hooks and prawns. 2. Late afternoons / evenings flicking soft plastics on shoal bay beach. Will have a surf rod running a big bait in case there are any surprises around. 3. Early morning at shoal bay jetty going for Taylor. 4. Breakwall one day going for bream but have a big rod going in case there is a kingy ( could I use a surf rod for a kingy?) 5. Hire a tinny and drift in scratchies magic spot near Taylor's beach. Between the yellow market and red marker for "guaranteed" whiting haha. 6. Drift jimmys beach with soft plastics. 7. Fish anywhere with 3-5 metres of water. 8. Go prawning? What is the go with prawning? I assume I do it at night with a headlamp and a small net? How deep do I go? Are sharks going to eat me at night? Haha. Thanks everyone. Feel free to add if I have missed anything! Cheers Al

Awesome thanks Jeff.