Oldfella

Hi Gordo; You will pick up almost anything in the Lake this time of year. Will bet that your S/P was a shrimp like pattern. With this hot weather around at present the Lake is full of them. All good tucker to all residents. Would be a good story on the first run. Was it a yellow eye (sand) mullet? ordinary mullet (bully) will also take shrimps under some conditions. Like at present. Interesting catch though. Go for a return match!!\ Cheers. Roger

Hi Barab;; I would think that the spiral pipe was a relic of a bow mounted fuel tank. If you look carefully you may find a hole (filled in) where the fuel filler was situated. Boats of that vintage used to have Built in tanks especially in the bow. ((before them new fangled portable ones.) Have a good scout around. Best of luck with the rebuild. Cheers. Roger

Correction; Wirrahs are known as boots or @#$%^&!! or Mother in law fish!!

Hullo Swag; A lot of Australians turn up their noses at fish like these (except Wirrahs.) But cooked in the Asian style (deep fried or steamed) hey are beautiful If you go into an Asian eatery and they have a live tank take a look. Fish like that are not cheap by any means. Try them in that manner and enjoy. Cheers. Roger

Hullo Colin; Do not see any reason why you could not use a swag on the rocks. Maybe there is some obscure council by law that could be dredged up by some nark. BUT remember in Kuringai Chase National Park you cannot put up a swag or tent on the foreshore. Sleep overnight on a boat moored a metre off the bank and that is OK. Put up a swag or tent on the shore and it gets severely frowned at!! Far as I am concerned plain #%^&##!!stupidity!! Cheers Roger.

hi Ragnar; You are not wrong. Bluefish can be very dicey. In fact there have been a number of fatalities off there over the years. A word of caution. The seas are very flat at present. In the next 48 hours or so there will be a big " roll back " with I would think very large and potentiallyt dangerous conditions on ANY rock spot. Just so PLEASE be aware of this. Hate to read about a Raider going into the drink!! Cheers. Roger.

Hi Sw; It is a wonder you caught anything today. Sea conditions flatter than the proverbial " Dunny Carters Hat." !! Tailor or anything off the rocks prefer a bit of wash. Tailor especially along with luderick and drummer. Usually in those conditions you will catch al, the rubbish under the sun. Kelpies , cockies and wirrahs love those conditions. A pity you only caught one leatherjacket. Beautiful eating fish and ideal for kids, Cheers. Roger

Hi Guys; DO Not be surprised as zmk said if you get back to the ramp and find a brass monkey trying to borrow a welder!! Typical Weather in there for this time of year though. Old blokes used to say to me in May. No hairtail yet son. Not cold enough. How right they were. Cheers. Roger.

Hi Waza; Just remember now the weather is getting cold the temperature of the water in the Lake drops and all the residents get the sulks. Shrimps may still be about but not in the quantities that there are during the Summer. Have to agree Mona Vale weed is top stuff. But I just hope you will not get selfish people taking buckets of the stuff!! I am ex Mona Vale and fished off there since I was a kid until we moved to Tassie. Miss a session off the baths still, Cheers. Roger.

Hi Kraka; Use one of those nylon pot scourers you buy at the supermarket. Also very good to take the silver off hairtail. Make sure though you use a brush ( old toothbrush is ideal ) to remove the blood from along the backbone. If the drummer and blackfish have been feeding on brown weed failing to do this can result in the fish tasting bloody awful!! Cheers. Roger.

Hi Mutch; Was thinking along the lines of Wimbeldon Avenue myself. But remembered that there is about a half metre step from the parking area to the waters edge. Also the parking area itself is a bit uneven. That's why I went for the camping area. Cannot have the " Lad" missing his footing. Gees , if he tweaked an ankle or knee it would take a few schooners of VB for internal therapy to fix it !!! Cheers. Roger

Hey bookwa; Hope I can front up to a schooner with a grin like that when I am 95!!! Cheers. Roger.

Hi Bookwa; Best place to take the " young fella ' would be to the camping area. There is grass right to the waters edge and in places no weed. Just have a wander around and pick a spot. Really , I think when you put a rod in his hand he will lose 40 years!! Go for it , well done to you and best of luck to the " young bloke." Cheers. Oldfella.

Hi Kracka; You will catch a lot of luderick at night on yabbies , worms shrimps etc. A good idea is to reduce your hook sizes. Years ago it was set in concrete to use a 2/0 for bream. Many were the grizzles about missing bites. One old bloke told me to try using a #1 0r 2. Guess what?? A lot of the " bream " were rather large luderick!! Do not worry about missing bites. They hit as hard as a bream. Personally I do not worry about berley. Being sneaky I fish where people have been pumping yabbies in daylight. As the tide rises the fish come over the bottom to pick up the small shells etc stirred up. Give it a try. Cheers. Oldfella.

Hi Koalaboi; Many thanks for the proper name of the beast. Narrabeen or Pelican itch would be I think a purely local name. Probably it is called " Entrance Itch " There. Any other number of local names in other areas. Surprised to hear it is a form of bilharzia. A lot of old diggers (WW2 ) who served in South East Asia or were POW 'S Referred to this disease as " Bill Harris ". That Species could be fatal. Again Many Thanks. Cheers. Oldfella.