wazatherfisherman

1st one looks like South Whale second is definitely the ovens

Hi Neil I googled 'Fishing at Williamstown' and heaps of info came up

Welcome to the site- good intro and there's a gold mine of info here

The lights on the left hand side of the picture definitely look like the Ovens- too far out to be South Whale

You need another arm Dave! 3 fish at once is pretty good. Some good eating in that lot!

For many years there was a vacant block on Rayner Rd about 3 houses from the end and access was via that block then around the hill on a well used track, then down the rope. After the block was built on, they tell me that there was a dicey track along the edge just past the last house on that stretch (facing north) but I don't know what it's like (or still there!) The alternative access was a long walk around the lower section from the beach side. The Rayner Rd access was via the higher section, along the level above the lower way in. Although it's a famous location for LB Game, it doesn't fish too many fishers at a time and you need to gaff everything as there's nowhere to was fish up either. Yellowtail needed to be caught before light most of the time also, at the mouth of the gulph. You need your own rope about 15m long to hang onto to aid getting down. Stout Long Toms were often annoying when live-baiting there, but plenty of big fish have come from the location. Not that ideal a location for you- the lower spot before you go around the corner to the ovens (accessed from the beach and walk around) and known as South Whale, although low, is a great spinning spot, with other species available also. Just beware of the swell and take the usual safety gear. September-November there are also some really large Black Drummer along there and they get Snapper casting wide- a better spot for your spinning than the Ovens

Well done- great eating fish too

Yes but don't use braid for the sinker leader or hook leader. We used to use 18+half pound 'Tortue Supercontrol' mono for that style of fishing or 23+half pound if up higher. I personally only use braid for spinning and never rock work. You don't need that heavy a line, but if that's what you have by all means use it- wouldn't want to attempt breaking any snags with it though. If you enjoy this style of fishing, save up for another outfit and put mono on it- you don't need heavier line than about 25lb (11kg) for just about any rock fishing bar live-baiting for big stuff. My old line classes for the rocks were as follows- Bream and Luderick 3kg line on both sidecast and centrepin reels, Spinning lures 6,10 and 11.5kg (the latter only for Kingfish really) on all 3 types of reel (Spin, O/H and Alvey) Tailor/Salmon/Snapper 8 and 10kg, Drummer 6,10,15kg depending on area, Live baiting 10,15,18,25kg again area dependant. Cliff fishing 6kg for Bream, Luderick, 10-12kg for everything else- all mono, usually Tortue, Weiss(no longer available I think) or Schneider (it was cheaper but marginally thicker) all three brands were great for the rocks

My suggestion would be to make a few short sinker leaders at home with a couple of different size leads run between about 40cm of leader on the 2 swivels. Same idea for your hook leaders so you are ready and utilising the low light periods fishing rather than rigging. Although these type rigs don't lend themselves for fish running with the bait, if you can't get it out to where they are, you aren't in the game- just strike straight away, they usually swallow the bait pretty well straight away anyway

You should get far more distance with the longer rod- however, I'd try the 9'6" rod with 56gm lead and nice aerodynamic bait.

My suggestion would be to fish for them without lead or only the smallest sizes of ball sinker between a swivel and your hook/s during the low light periods especially into the dark. Be VERY careful when fishing the rocks at these times- many fishers use the 'distance' method that can be utilised from safer locations than the 'wash' style. Your rod would be capable of getting enough distance for the longer casting method if you use nice neat smaller baits and balance the casting weight of sinker/bait. Stay safe and remember that the peak times for these fish are AFTER times of big seas- not during.

What is your set up mate?

This is a pretty hard question to answer as all locations are different. Most 'distance casting' spots you try to land your bait/rig on sand patches close to reef/boulders. The gear required would be able to cast a good sized bait plus enough lead to reach and hold the distance to the sand. How far? Depends on both the location and the sea conditions at the time. We used to rig in the following manner: hooks on a 10kg leader of about 40-45cm, swivel, bead (to reduce 'impact' on knot and prevent it wedging on), ball or barrel sinker, swivel. The sinker runs between the 2 swivels which are 40-50cm apart. The higher swivel enables more distance cast-wise, as the sinker movement is obviously restricted and is also necessary when using the type of reels we used, which were sidecast reels (Alvey's) to negate line twist. The barrel sinker was used when there was a decent sea running, more to get distance than anchor the bait, as it barely anchors the bait when the sea is rough. Fishing at one of the well known Snapper spots in the Royal National Park, we simply use a large running ball sinker above the bead and swivel, which means dealing with line twist as well, however, fishing high (at this spot about 15-17 meters above the water) you aren't constantly casting, so it doesn't become too much of an issue for the first hour or so.

Most of the Snapper we used to get were on days directly after a big swell, using 0/1 ball on the hook left to slowly sink in the wash or alternatively cast further by using a sinker running between 2 swivels about 40-45cm apart. The big Snapper we used to get of a night, often after the Tailor had quietened down or while Tailor fishing using Gars and sometimes Pilly's. When chasing them from the rocks you get most fish before light. Striped Tuna and Bonito our preferred baits

We did 27yrs of 'annual Hairtail trips'- had a few years that we didn't get any over the 5 days, but like Frank says, they were great times if you love fishing

Hi Donna they have been around for quite some time- there were a few reports on here from memory, plus the usual social media reports. The last few years we have caught them from the shoreline at both Illawong Bay and Akuna Bay, the best month for shore fishing was February in both 2022 and 2023. I haven't been able to go yet this year, however, they have been catching them at Newcastle in better numbers the last couple of weeks. Maybe many fishers are keeping quiet this year? The majority of reports of captures have been from around Flint and Steel near the entrance

Do you mean catching Gars or using them? Just ask on the forum- they are around much of the year to catch, great for bait all year

Yes!

The spot in the movie is the 'island' I've been telling you about for ages!

Great fishing again Chris! Whatever you've targeted you always come up trumps

There was never a ladder at Old Man's Hat- it wasn't needed. You just followed the old wall all the way from the road to the end, stepped through the huge break in the wall, walked back to your right a short distance to where the gully is and follow the lowering ledges back towards the water. Other than a few 'larger' steps, there is no climbing involved to get to the spot. The ladders down north head proper were removed by council years ago. Bluefish was barely a climb either, the rope was there more as a 'steadier' than a climbing device. You carried all your gear and rods and only used one hand on the ropes to get down. Most 'climbing' spots you have to lower your gear down. From the guys who fished there regularly, it was the blocking of parking that was more of an issue. We used to access the spot just north of Bluefish called 'The Gutters' via the same closed carpark, which was on the eastern side of the treatment works. Walking north down the fence-line until reaching another spot with a large hole in the fence, hop through the hole and walk down the treatment works road to it's lowest point and then straight down a steep track to the bottom. There are 3 'gutters' (as they're called) and they are top Luderick spots, with Black Drummer, Groper (no take now!) Bream also available, plus gutter's 1 and 3 are good spots to spin for Tailor at dawn. No good for Kings due to the terrain. The gutters can still be accessed from the Fairy Bower end by going down the ravine at the end of Bower St (east side!) then walking back south. It's a much longer way in (about 25 mins) as opposed to going from the treatment works end (5 mins straight down), however you could still go that way. Last couple of times I fished the Gutters, the entire steep track up had tomatoes planted all over the hill, presumably to help bind the soil together, because in heavy rain, it became super muddy clay and a bugger to walk the steep track up. That was many years ago now though.

Great fish Chris! Those things pull as hard as anything and that's the biggest one I've seen caught in Sydney. Not as memorable as your Marlin but a great capture!

Middle Head is rock fishing same as the ocean- plates and safety gear needed. The climb in is pretty easy- there used to be chain concreted in at the top instead of a rope, not sure if it's still there. You access the different spots separately, decide on which looks best and safest by viewing from the top. There are Luderick, Drummer, Bream, Trevally and Squid all along, plus the middle spot is ok for spinning for Tailor and pelagic fish, not a great spot to land Kingfish though. Enough cabbage to have a fish for Luderick and there used to be quite a few large Blue Groper (no take now) floating around towards high tide. The spots east of Cobblers Beach have similar species and if you walk as far east as you can go (just this side of Middle Head spots but no access this way) there's a rock in the water you can climb on (you get wet doing so!) that is a really good spot to spin for Tailor- cast parallel to the shoreline over the washy area on your right. Also in case you didn't know- beware of naked people- it's a legal nude bathing area Worth getting a national park pass? If you are going to visit any of the park's (bar the snowy) more than 6-8 times over the year it's worth it at $65 as all are $8-12 a time

Great video Neil and cool music choices

Still fish for them at times, but my rock hopping days are long over due to a chronic leg condition. Fished the Dover Heights area for about 22years, much of the time catching Luderick. There are some good posts and articles on the site in regards to Luderick and plenty of folk here to answer any questions you might have on the subject