wazatherfisherman

Bought my first sidecast from Jim Mitchell's at Hurstville, Barrie's Sports and Hobbies at Burwood and Miller's Sports Store at Ashfield had "the full range" of tackle, used to count out hooks and wrap them in waxed paper. Got my first "Tubular Fibreglass" rod from Mick Simmons at Haymarket- Jarvis Walker "Gold Medal series Port Hacking"- Luderick rod- so whippy you couldn't break 4 lb line through it. When I was a kid, the barber shop at Croydon (nowhere near the water!) sold tackle, bike parts etc- even had a back section with a full size snooker table and 'gallery' seating. Family had on-site van at Windang, my Grandmother bought the first aluminium boat with an "outboard motor" that was down the Windang end of the lake and there was 2 tackle shops- one each side of the road- the western side was the big one. That was well over 50 years ago

Or the Peak during the week once the traffic started and 'brown haze' prevented seeing "the chimney" over the building. I've also got 2x JS980's- one I rebuilt the other the "Butterworth Jig King Deluxe" as is- "deluxe" meant a roller tip, great off the shelf Jig rod. Cost about $45 new. Penn 113H 4/0 Senator 'Special' my first jig reel, then 500L Jigmaster 4/1 "Hi-Speed" - had huge amount of gear stolen from Carramar garage but they left the 980'S and Jigmaster. Still have FT70 120 Snyder and Silaflex original FT 70 with the aluminium 'extension butt' cut down as a LBG rod. Irons mostly named 'death related' names like 'Assassin', 'Coffin' and Maverick's 'snake related' names like 'Rattler', 'Sidewinder' etc. Also WK(Werner Kossman) 'Super-jig's' and Speed King 'Swivel-hips' (my fav)

Hi Derek- the shop I went to reckons they are largest in the world now, but I have found Dinga's prices at least as good! We'll have to go in there together one day (it'll take a full day!)- going by myself was too overwhelming! I'm sure I heard "Angels dropping from the ceiling playing harps"- Dare anyone to go in there and just buy what's on their "list"

Good luck Raiders and have a great time!

Hi Yowie "The Gulf" at South Curracurrang often has giant"evil-size" Kings, unlandable (from there!) but exciting to see and hook (always live in 'hope'!)

Fair enough! Do from waveless beach using 'soft-ish' rod, same principle!

After winding line on, just go out in the boat and let all line out and troll it for 3-4 mins then wind back on through the water- rod tip down. Plenty of tension that way. For braid,keep boat moving slowly to wind back on. This also how to get rid of line twist/memory and gives most line an extended 'useable' life as 'straightened out'- DON'T tie anything on line when you do it, not even a swivel. Without a boat, can be done by dropping line from rod in water along a sandy stretch as you walk, then winding back on through the water with tip down at water level, a bit of extra finger/thumb tension needed for final 100 mtr's. This method particularly useful if using mono on Alvey or baitrunner reel also, as twist inevitable when using sinker (or anything) on rod side of rig above swivel. From shore do process as you walk away- drop, wind back on through water then drop a second time, wind back on as you walk back. Takes only a few minutes on beach and line back on smoothly and straight/twist free. When nylon line first came to Aust it was often very stretchy, or very stiff, trolling it behind boat for about 5 mins was the accepted way to 'get it straight and 'even' on spool.

Hi Kracka- what size Alvey and what size line are you thinking? As Green Hornet suggested Gary Howard makes excellent rods for your purpose and has various models- depends on length, line and reel/size. I used 6" (600A5 no drag) from the rocks and 650 from sand. 600 is a fair bit lighter and plenty of line capacity for rocks around Sydney (barring live-baiting) Sounds like you want something like MT 8144 (8 wrap 12 ft)- good general rod- bit heavy for Bream, but good for Pigs, Snapper and you can manage Groper- again as Green Hornet suggested Gary Howard or Wilson (Snyder blank) MT series in 7, 8, or 9 wrap depending on line

Mate nothing wrong with your story skills- enjoyable read! Great you caught some fish, well done

Hi Donna looked this up on the net- Broome Billfish Charters Cable Beach 0407 682241 opens 7am

Great post GoingFishing! Thanks for posting, excellent, easy to understand and thorough. Well done

Welcome and well done, got to be happy with that!

Or put the sinker in the cage. Haven't tried it on livey rig as you try to keep reasonably 'aerodynamic' -less 'drag' in water for both bait and predator and as Goingfishing stated less likely to tangle.

Hi chokpa used a similar set up to catch livey's when fishing high up- you put a sabiki style bait jig on (still with a sinker on bottom as well) instead of leader and hook, under same rig as you've demonstrated. Handy when baitfish well out or from up high. Regards Waza

Well done great report and catch. Don't forget your Alvey! Regards Waza

Hi Pickles check out Gary Howard's estuary Luderick. Our site sponsor Dinga can probably help you out. They are around $130 when last I checked Regards Waza

Winter means westerly's and flat seas, 'safer' low ledge night time fishing for Bream and Pigs. Tailor and Snapper on floating Garfish in the low-light periods. Big 'lone' winter Kingfish on live Pike during the day. Always the possibility of a big Groper when you can get onto the wave-washed areas at high tide. Red Crabs easier to get when it's flat. Luderick abundant. Chinaman Jackets as an "if all else fails" target from the rocks. Tailor and Trevally abundant on the Sow and Pigs reef. Hairies in Cowan. Kings at the Peak. Big Tuna out wde. A small but constant burley trail always the way to go. Night fishing really productive. Gotta love winter

Glad to hear you had a top time- did it 23 years in a row as an annual trip chasing Hairtail and loved every minute on the houseboats (before them the older 'Halvorsen' cruisers)- so close to suburbia yet a 'thousand miles' from anyone once it's dark. Lucky someone had enough foresight to declare the surrounding area as National Park and leave it a 'wilderness' so close to the big population centres. Anyone considering doing it, (particularly if you like fishing) should try it- it became an annual highlight on my group's fishing calendar

Excellent Nick- the 'goon' fishes so much better in summer, when the prawns are active, which are of course the best bait to use. The first couple of times I fished there (many years ago) I walked all around the 'main' section between the bridges and although heaps of fish were sighted, we didn't get many strikes (or fish!) We worked out that the lagoon fish are definitely far more active on the large run-in tides, particularly around Christmas and started using live prawns instead of our usual small hardbody lures. Night fishing the big tides with light line and prawn baits (alive or fresh) rarely failed to produce a variety of species. Using only 1 small split-shot squeezed only lightly onto the line (so it could 'slide' easily) is the way to go when fishing both the Hinkler Park and 'blocked-off' sections. If you clear yourself a 'pathway' through the spiderweb in amongst the Casuarina trees on the middle/right hand side (when facing towards the surf bridge) you will be standing on a sandy area (stays submerged even at low tide)- there are absolute 'elbow-slapper' Whiting there in summer, which are the only fish I ever ate from the lagoon Just in front of the seat/table and in to the mouth of the blocked-up bit you are likely to catch just about all the different 'goon' species including EP's and Jacks (caught 2 there on live prawns) and have seen large fish plough into the schools of big Mullet that school up behind the reed banks on the southern side. You can't really access most of the southern side due to these reeds, but there are Mullet, Luderick etc all along here- would be great in a kayak. In the late afternoons in summer, you often see fish busting-up on the surface, quite close to the shore. They are usually only around for a minute or two (visibly) before moving off and are mainly Trevally not Tailor, which is not a common occurrence in Sydney estuaries, but provide a bit of excitement - just be aware that they will head straight for any tree branches or snags as soon as you hook them-(Tailor won't) The back western corner of the lagoon has a spot known locally as "The Dog-Hole" which is like a tiny "harbour" up next to the golf course- using small live fish baits like Poddy Mullet and Herring (you need to take them as not available on-site) Bigger Flathead, Trevally (mostly Big-eye) and the odd Mangrove Jack lurk- access is via Addiscombe Rd, climb around the fence Back in the main lagoon, the car-park adjacent to the canal that goes under the Pittwater Rd bridge is also a good (and super comfortable!) spot that you can almost fish from your car. Bream, Whiting and Flatties are the main catch here, with a variation of rig needed. A small ball sinker above a swivel and 45-60 cm of 3-4 kg leader down to the hook is better along here as you need to throw out a bit further and there is also just a little bit of current flow. As you are up a little higher above water, lure fishing is slightly more difficult here and there are often a couple of snags from Casuarina branches etc in the canal. Hope this helps you get a few more. Feel free to ask any questions. Cheers Waza

Not 100% sure but I heard it was due to removing them for the whale migration season as well as the listed 'maintenance'

Well done iconnolly it's a beautiful system with many different species-

Hi and welcome- if a big southerly blows up there is a great little spot with several moorings called "The Peep-hole" it's the small bay immediately on your left as you enter the large Yeomans Bay, which is on the opposite side of Cowan from Jerusalem Bay. Really protected from the wind and there are nippers that can be pumped from the sandflat (they are in most bays so take the yabbie pump)- same type of fishing as most of the system. Regards Waza

Thanks mate- a very under-utilized spot in Sydney and I used to eat the Whiting but no other fish!

Thanks GF - I know it's polluted but there's plenty of fishing action in there

Thanks Rick! Congrats on those choice Reds too!