saltrix

There was a crowd as expected at Parsley Bay but all seemed considerate and orderly and we launched OK. I was expecting dead calm conditions as there was no breeze but there was a confused swell which made things very jiggly when we picked up a few yellowtsil at West Head. The yellowtail were on the large size and too big for live flathead bait so we headed out to the 45M area and tried to find the schools. On the way out there were some good sized waves and it was a bumpy ride, I hoped the rock fishermen were wary as there were some whoppers every now and then. As usual the spikey flathead stripped the bait very quickly but we managed a few good bluespots bertween us.\ We kept a few of the spikeys (Long spined Flathead Platycephalus longspinus Maximum size 34cm ) as they are good eating and as long as you do not exceed the flathead all species limit of 10 fish each is no reason not to keep them for the table. I know some of us use them for bait and I have caught good fish on a fillet. Back at Parsley Bay there was a long delay to pick up the boat but againit seemed orderly.

Launched at Parsely Bay and had a very bumpy ride out to the flathead area about 4nm out. Caught a few flathead on pillies and cuttlefish going over a spot which appeared OK. Then the motor refused to rev up. Checked the prop and fuel feed and all was OK, waited a while to see if overheating was a problem but still no revs. Gave up and called Marine Rescue who came out and towed us in. While we were waiting put out the sea anchor so we would not go too far and could get going quickly when the tow arrived and drifted the right way back towards Barrenjoey. Picked up a few nice flathead while waiting Thanks to Marine Rescue for the tow. My mates boat had recently been serviced and once on dry land we took the cover off to find the same problem I suffered following my service several months ago. When replacing the fuel filter on the early 75 Mercury is easy to knock the linkage slightly out of its connection to the throttle so after a bit of use it falls out and the motor wont rev. Same outboard mechanic serviced both motors. I was fortunate the sea was kinder when I was out and I was able to increase the revs manually leaning over the motor while my mate steered to get back home. No way in todays seas. Manually increasing the throttle I dont think is a good idea as I think the timing is altered by a different linkage, but some experts might correct me there. My mate did 3 years on the job with Marine rescue at Cottage Point so understands the work these volunteers put in.

Were the whiting those with brown diagonal stripes, known as the eastern school whiting? They are the main type caught in Moreton Bay. There is no legal size and they do not grow as big as some of the other whiting species I often catch them in 55m while chasing the flathead, and I should reduce hook size and target them when getting stripped pilchards back. They are good eating but you need a good catch. I was surprised when I first caught them but then identified them as a deep water fish.

The Leatherjacket species found outside tend to bite off hooks and also bite the line off at any point of the rig, sometimes even a long way from the hook meaning the entire rig is lost. Lures are also lost. Using a smaller longshank hook catches them, sometimes a wire leader is useful as they are fairly good eating, but they have a very sharp parrot like beak and don’t always just bite the bait.

Started a bit later today from Roseville ramp. There was not the usual standard of co-operation this morning, resulting in a long wait ot get out. As there was not much white water around the headlands we headed straight out to DY Wide., but the SW stirred things up more as we got out wider and it was a jiggley session. We needed the sea anchor to hold bottom and the first drops fed hooks and sinkers to Jackets. Changed areas a few times to catch a few and the sea calmed down a bit for the run home but it was not as good aas the last trip. Lots of albotross around as the Cuttlefish are dying after egg laying and the birds know to come around at this time to feed on them at the surface. If you are lucky enough to find one that has just died and surfaced they are good bait, but the birds usually find them first.

Nice salmon. How do you make pickled fish.?

If you take a close look it is actually a Marbled Flathead, different tail markings and a streaky brown skin without the blue spots. At this spot off Dee Why the usual mix is one marbled to every 2 bluespots, still a good feed and a nice fish. Thanks for your comments.

Nice report and the sunrise photo is great

It was foggy on the road but at Roseville ramp it was clear. Tried a troll around Dobroyd but only managed a salmon. Had a bit of a troll around North Head but the swell was up a bit so did not want to get too close in. It was a bit foggy as well. Got a bit of a fright when about 1km out as a whale leapt into the air about 50m away and did a half somersault. Then headed out to Dee Why wide and fished in about 55m for a good feed of flathead, they were all a good size, the biggest measuring 63cm and was a very heavy fish. This was my catch, my mate did almost as well and had a pansized red also. Thanks to a post on facebook the kingfish were copping a hammering with dozens of boats around Middle Harbour

I was not near the spot called the whale and do not know it. you have a copy of my bottom depths chart and on it is clearly marked one of my spots labelled FF and the depth there is 52m. Perhaps you can tell me what the red mark and gps is east of my spots. Saltrix

We were fishing in 50 to 55m. It was fishing for a feed using 35lb braid 30lb leader and 1lb lead and a sea anchor early to hold bottom. Use your sounder to fish between the reefs but you must be on the bottom to catch the flathead. Use a lighter trace on the lead so you don’t lose the rig on a snag. pM me if you want a starter gps mark.

With an earlier forecast of strong winds we thought burley and the harbour would be the best option but this morning there was only a moderate westerly so we decided to try DY wide. Trolling Washaway and North Head drew a blank but they are always better with a bit of wash. With the breeze we needed a sea anchor to slow the drift but the flathead seemed hungry and were a mix of Bluespot and Marbled and varied in size from 34 to 54 cm. As the morning went on the breeze dropped and the sea anchor was not needed. We headed in about 10.30 and I took this picture as I thought it looked good and made me feel fortunate to live in Sydney where we have such a beautiful harbour. I took the fish out of the ice slurry to take a picture but they would not fit on the esky. We both got a good feed taking 16 between us but none will be wasted.

Nice report and soundslike you enjoyed the trip and the scenery.

A different fishing style to what we here are used to. Nice photos, thanks for your posting. Alan

We saw a trawler working all the way down the coast from about 5 km out from Barrenjoey so if you fished his sweep you might have found them patchy,but there are plenty out there. We find that the fish are in patches so use your GPS, mark a catch spot and go back over that ground a bit varied.

I think Yowie was right, I think the bigger female fish are out wider but we got a good spot producing fish at the shallower depth so we kept there before going deeper. As usually the bite is better at the change of tide we missed the bigger fish out wide.

Launched with my mate at Parsley Bay at sunup. There was a crowd but all launching was smooth at first light. Headed out to sea to find a rather large swell as we got out further as well as a bit of chop[. Picked up a few at 45m then went out to 50m to get a few more. Finished with 15 bewteen us mostly Bluespot but 1 Marbled. We must have been fishing a spot where males were in residence as most were male 37 to 49cm. Got a few meals in the freezer now and some frames for the crabs a bit later.

Thanks for the report, nice photos and a good catch. Good to have a report as I am heading to the same area tomorrow.

With a forecast of strong northerlys followed by a gusty southerly change we were not keen to be out wide on the flathead grounds off Broken Bay so decided to have a quite day in the river. Set a couple of witches hats off Dangar and did a couple of drifts in the bay at Patonga to catch one flathead going 39cm, it seemed small after the flathead I usually get out at sea but as it was legal and required for tea we kept it . The small reds then kept taking the bait and as I do not like injuring them we gave it away and drifted out along the shore towards Lion Island. There were a lot of pickers around and my mate had only a small bit of his 1/2 pilchard left and decided to put it back anyhow, then got a very nice flathead on it. This seemed to be a popular drift as there were several boats doing the drift. It got a bit quite then so we decided as the wind was not too bad to try a troll around Barrenjoey as we used to get good fish there at times. Not today though and there were a lot of boats in the area. We then went to a close mark we had off Palm Beach and fished the bottom for a nice morwong, an u/s Pearl Perch, a wrasse, and several Sargeant Baker, and several u/s reds. Kept the wrasse and morwong and returned the rest undamaged. The sea was pretty calm at this point. Returned to pick up the wiches hats. and stopped in the Bay to pick up 6 Tailor on metal slices, which only just made the 30cm but were fun on the light rods, and when we got to the hats found one nice male, and as it was getting warm called it a day. The southerly was a bit late up there but it did come a bit strong later. Got a few meals out of it and a bit of bait for next week.

Great sunrise photo anda good report

That definitely looks like the coral crab, but it is interesting about the paddler crab being poisonous, I must look closely at what I catch.

Yes, pleased to know that you know your species. I had a couple of spikies as well but did not include those in the photo as a lot of fishermen think they are undersized when they are actually fully mature fish and are good eating. I think that they do count to your bag limit of 10 flathead so I only keep the larger ones. Usually marbled and bluespot are about equal from where we fish off Dee Why.

We were expecting crowds on the ramp and at fishing spots but we had the ramp to ourselves at Davison Ramp except for a later charterboat. The sea was pretty calm but a steady light drizzle kept up all morning. Tried a troll around Dobroyd for nil and again around North Head for a small king that quickly went back. Landmarks were out of the question and GPS and compass were the go all morning Got to Dee Why Wide and picked up some flathead, a morwong, and a bonito in 50 m. Even managed 3 flathead at omce but lost 1 lifting them in but took a quick snap of the 2 left. Finished up with a feed and had some fun catching another bonito at middle harbour. Not as good a catch as Scratchies but something to eat.

Great fish, persistance pays off.

Thanks for that tip, we usually try out deeper if it’s quite but it was so sloppy we were a bit unenthusiastic.