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.

Hullo All; With all the reports of big flatties coming out of Narrabeen Lake a quick word. All the regulars will know about this but a lot of newcomers to the Lake may not. This time of the year with warm water and possibly the lake closed there is a very nasty little parasite shows up. It is called " Pelican Itch " or " Narrabeen Itch." It is especially common in the top end of the lake. According to the boffins it is a tiny little beast that lives in the surface tension of the water. When wet wading you can be affected. Sometimes you can see a red mark on the for want of a better word the " high tide ' level where you have been wading. Otherwise no visible signs. But , a couple of hours later the itching can be very uncomfortable. On kids it can be unbearable for them. So , the best idea is after fishing wash with hot soap and water and if possible rub the legs with metho. For kids a cream like Stop Itch or Soove would be cheap insurance. Reason being if the kids or anyone scratch it and break the skin it can become infected. For us older fossils the metho treatment followed by a trip to your favourite watering hole for some internal antiseptic is highly recommended!! Cheers. Oldfella.

Hi Again DRC; Not talking luderick this time. A tip; If you are in a kayak or dinghy and you hook a big flattie paddle gently to the nearest shore. As long as you DO NOT take a flattie off the horizontal you can \lead them around like a dog. The instant you lift their heads they start shaking and you are in strife. I have been 100 metres or more of the bank and have led them ashore with no worries. Give it a go. Cheers. Oldfella

Hi Guys; Just a suggestion. When whatever the fish seen are finicky like that a one inch S.P. in clear with a blue fleck has been successful for me. Might have to hunt around to find them though. Also of course , light jig heads and line. Cheers. Oldfella.

Hi Again All; Firstly I want to apologise re the gentleman that made the observations on the bite. I saw him on the news last night and he is certainly NOT a book boffin. BUT no apologies to the media!! It seems the great white has taken over as the medias favourite A few years ago any shark that was sighted was "a "12 foot grey nurse.:" Any reptile sighted was a "6 foot black snake." Hopefully in the media these two veterans have ben given a well deserved retirement. I have been involved in motor sports as an official for over 40 years. And I can assure you any serious racing incidents I attended were NOT the ones reported in the media. A bit of sticking to the facts would go a long way. Cheers. OLdfella. .

Hullo All; Must be getting old and cranky. The report in the media on the lady whose leg was injured at La Perouse. (1) How the bloody hell did they know it was a " great White."?? (2) The so called boffin even gave the size of the thing!!. 3.4 metres the " expert " said. In the old measurement that is near as dammit to 10 feet!! If it was a 10 foot Great White it would have taken her leg off and not even burped!! About time the both of them got out of the textbooks and into the real world. Personally I would think it was a small Bronze Whaler or something similar' Soapbox now packed away Time for a beer. Cheers. Oldfella.

Hi Again Fellas; I think that Gladiator fishing tackle are the Australian agents. Drop them an email and I think they will help you out. Cheers. Oldfella.

Hi Fellas; Do a bit of Googling and you will find someone who stocks or can get Tortue for you. Just rememberto take the "crankiness" out of the line soak the spool in hot tap water for around 20 minutes before winding it on. Have used Tortue on Alveys , eggbeaters , centrepins and baitcasters for more years than I would like to think about!! Cheers. Oldfella.

Hi Guys; Anyone around Port Stephens ; BEWARE BEWARE!!! According to the Greenies, misinformed idiots et,c, . The kingies are going to eat slow moving kids , dogs and anything that puts a toe in the water! Anybody with kids tonight had better serve them a Valium sandwich for dinner to calm them down! What a load of complete BS.!! By the sound of it the East Coast this summer is lousy with the bloody things!! Pity we cannot have an open season on idiots Must go and consume a Boags to calm down' Bottoms Up!! Oldfella.

Hi All; Nothing suspicious going on. Just a normal thing for the Northern Beaches. As you may be aware there are huge kelp beds out off the coast. Also there is a huge sandbar that stretches basically from North Head to Nobby,s. That is why vessels waiting for a berth in Sydney or Newcastle moor out there. Good holding ground for anchors. There can at times. be a combination of big seas and ships swinging round the anchor break off the kelp and if an on shore wind it ends up on the beaches. When it gets half buried in the sand especially in hot humid weather it ferments (goes half rotten ) and gets fly blown. Result , kelp maggots in huge numbers. All the real old hands used to make a bee line to fish the beaches. Would be the best natural berley going (maybe a dead heat between these and rotten cunjie.) All fish love them. Just a normal part of nature. Media or do gooders yelling and screaming can do absolutely bugger all. Probably been going on for thousands of years. Hope this may be of help. Cheers. Oldfella.

Hi Fab; Well done for having a go at basically a dying art. To make it easier for you I suggest you try to get hold of a net needle. Might be a bit hard to find now but they were available made of plastic. The old ones were made of anything from local hardwood , bone to Brass. I have two of my Grandfathers needles. One made of Mulga wood and the other hand carved from a beef rib bone ( I think.) Anyhow Google it up and see what you can find. Cheers. Oldfella.