Jords boi

Moved into the area near the northside of the bridge so have been getting up early when I can, as well as some late arvo sessions to hit the wharves/piers and surrounding areas to chuck a few lures about. Haven't bothered too much with live baiting even though the yakkas are plentiful at the moment, rather just casting metals, stickbaits and shore jigs. There has been heaps of activity and bust ups on the surface, especially through the middle of the channel towards the bridge. One morning recently, there was the most action I've seen from the shore in years, giant schools of whitebait being smashed by Salmon, Tailor, Bonito, Mac Tuna and a mix of rat and decent kingies. I managed to snag a decent mac tuna that was very quickly bled and iced for ceviche just to give it a try, and actually turned out really well (lot of people out there who will turn their nose and nothing but the best so shame on them, but end of the day, matter of preference). Managed a few decent tailor, one that was kept for dinner for the family. 

A question for the raiders out there, what are your go-to lures/techniques when you're fishing in areas like this, with bust ups like this? I caught both the tailor and maccie on a 25g metal, but no luck on the stickbaits or shore jigs even when casting into the schools when they were busting up like crazy. 

Good Stuff! I've been fishing the piers/wharves around the harbour bridge (northside) and have seen heaps of action lately, more often than not, right in the middle of the channel so too far for stickbait/metal casts. 

36 minutes ago, blaxland said:

 try this article

 

My bad! I looked for recent articles but should’ve looked further back

Hey all,

im suffering from a bit of winter blues and most of the spots I fish during the warmer months are comparatevly dead. I’m still keen to get out (early mornings or late arvo/nights) but am pretty unsure of where to go. I usually put a heavy line out with a big bait (yakka/pillie/squid) and have a line for an SP but am open to trying new things. Anyone have any ideas on what could be some good areas to try (not your secret spots) that are around Sydney harbour. I would love to try and hunt a king having never caught one. Any advice I’d be keen to hear and appreciate!! 

head over to the fishing articles page and there are articles about certain spots that are commonly fished. 

4 hours ago, Blackfish said:

I recon one came up on here the other day and Volitan nailed it . Starry Toadfish.

 

Thanks!! Must be this time of year or something 

Never seen a toadfish/puffer fish this big, is it something else?? Been fishing these areas/waters for years and never seen one

Heading off to Cowan creek Friday night and staying over on a boat till Saturday arvo this weekend. Hoping to go after some Jew and some other stuff so we are looking to catch some yakkas and other baitfish we can live bait with. I’ve got a rod set up with a sabiki jig and have been told sometimes putting bread or squid on the end of the little hooks works sometimes. I’ve had some luck with yakkas at Waratah bay down on Cowan creek but was wondering what are some helpful hints and tips hunting yakkas. 

I’m only fairly new to fishing more seriously so am trying to soak in as much knowledge as I can from all you wise raiders so all your help has and will be much appreciated! 

JordsBoi

59 minutes ago, DerekD said:

Hi Jords Boi.

After watching Jeremy Wade and his Goliath Tigerfish and the locations you would have seen I am definitely envious of your catch. Is what you caught one of the Goliath Tigerfish that Jeremy was talking about? Did you by any chance take any photos you can share with us?

Regards,

Derek

Hi Derek, 

I believe it was just the basic sub species rather than the goliath, but our boat driver caught one 1m+ that was potentially a goliath, not quite as big as Jeremy Wade's one. The normal ones grow up to 33lb's and i believe the biggest goliath ever caught was 150lbs+ which is absurd. Ill have to look around for some photos and get back to you! 

1 hour ago, Captain Spanner said:

I see you have said that the line snapped and you lost your sinker and hook and everything. Was the sinker sitting on the hook or was it up the line a bit above a swivel or similar and if so, how far above the hook. If the sinker was straight on the hook then you could have been bitten off, likely a shark if it was very heavy and loaded up before it cut through the line.  If the sinker was further up the line and you have lost the lot then that is different. The line might have had a nick in it or got scuffed around a rock or something on the bottom, was the line rough or scuffed near where it snapped? A second fish might have bitten the sinker during the fight but less likely, if it was a big fish (possibly a shark) and the line was under alot of tension when it snapped then the fish might have swung his tail through the line under tension causing it to break. 

Sinker was just sitting on the line not tied on by itself. It’s brand new so doubt there would’ve been nicks or damage to the line. I’m heading out tomorrow and I’ve got wire trace on it now so hopefully won’t get bitten off again!

Jeremy Wade is a living icon! This news made my day!

22 hours ago, DerekD said:

This is a topic almost 10 years old which I thought I would revive as there has been a lot of fishing since then. Rather than best catch ever I should probably change that to "favourite catch ever". I'm hoping to hear some more amazing fishing stories from other people.

I have a story which I promise you is the absolute truth (there were 4 other witnesses) and it still makes me laugh. Headed out with a contractor I did a lot of business with (we are still friends) and his sons. The whole day was one of those ones that if I could re-live I would. We were fishing the Manly area and decided to head in to the beach near the ferry wharf for lunch. One of his sons was sharp eyed enough to spot a landing net in the water in reachable distance. Out comes the boat hook and up comes the landing net. In that net was a whiting of about 28cm and still alive. To top it off inside the same net was also an unopened bottle of beer (I don't remember the brand). If you need a better sign from the universe that you should be having beer battered whiting for lunch then I don't know what it would be. True story.

 

The poor bloke who dropped that!!! 

I was in Zimbabwe fishing on Lake Kariba a number of years ago and had the bucket list opportunity to fish for tiger fish. The fight those things put up is other worldly. Thick wire trace is obviously essential but we were fishing pretty heavy gear and I managed a 65cm Tiger which was hands down my most favourite catch. 

8 hours ago, frankS said:

I would be guessing it was a Hairtail that bit you off with 80lb line, either that or a shark.

I am 71 years old and been fishing since a age that I can't remember , I have an enormous amount of fishing gear but I still enjoy the feel of a hand line, not 80 lb more like 6-12 lb . I used to fish 40 lb line back in the day in the mid 60's and 70's out at the Peak off Sydney and have caught some mighty big fish with hand line, some of which are small Yellowfin tuna to around 30lb ( hardly never measured or weighed fish back those days ) Cobia, Wahoo, Snapper and many more species that frequent the offshore reefs.

Very rarely use them these days but still have a couple in the boat. Got a wall full of them in the shed.

Frank

my first guess was a shark, but interesting that you say it couldve been a hairtail. 

Thats amazing! wouldve been a pretty crazy experience bringing in one of them on a handline. I'm with you, love the feel and the whole primitive nature of it. 

7 hours ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Even though I have a huge fishing tackle collection I still love handlining Bream in the rivers and Flatties outside- you rarely miss a 'proper' bite.   Biggest-   On our 2nd "annual hairtail trip"(done 27 now)one of the guys Ross, who was new to fishing, slowly and excitedly pulled a big flathead on a heavy handline to the low 'duckboard' at the back of the boat for gaffing. Before I could gaff it, he swung it onto the duckboard(low platform) next to our feet. A second later the most massive Mulloway of all time did a slow-motion roll right on the surface only a foot away, looking for the flathead. It was there for a few seconds and I could have gaffed it easily except third mate Doug grabbed my shirt from behind and pulled me back on purpose. It was a home-made gaff from a wooden broom handle and the opposite end to the hook had a loop of venetian blind cord to put your hand through, which I had done. It's lucky for me Doug was so quick thinking because that giant Jewie would have knocked us off the platform and we all agreed it would have drowned me for sure. That was in Refuge Bay in Cowan in 1988

That’s incredible, what a sight that would’ve been. I’ll be heading to refuge bay this weekend, here’s hoping! 

Always been a fan of handlining when I’m on a boat, I find it gives a cheaper alternative to having lots of rods out at once and can get more of a chance of catchig with more lines out, especially for catching yakka and other baitfish. I recently purchased a couple big handlines (40/60/80lb) and have added them to the arsenal when out in Cowan creek or Pittwater etc (the local for me).

Last week as mentioned in a previous post I managed to catch a couple big blue swimmer crabs on said handlines as well as a couple decent bream (31cm & 29cm). On my 80lb line I had a huge slab of yakka on a big hook (unsure of size) and after 20mins or so of it sitting just above the bottom of a real deep section of Cowan creek BOOM the hand reel line went off and I slowly grabbed it and let the line flow out and it was extraordinarily heavier and stronger than the bream caught earlier on the handline. After 10 seconds or so the line snapped and the hook/sinker gone. Would love to know what people think might’ve been the culprit. It was around a section of Cowan in between cottage point and Cowan point. 

As a result of this somewhat disheartening event (thought I was on to a monster catch and dinner), I’ve rigged one of my big hand reels with a wire trace ready for next time. I’m heading out to Cowan the next two saturdays in search of revenge and I’ll make sure I report my journey. 

Would also love to hear stories of people’s experiences with handlining and any advice would be greatly appreciated, maybe even stories of raiders’ biggest catch on a handline??

Thanks all!

Well here’s hoping next time it happens I’ll be ready to catch one and then we can ID it properly 

9 minutes ago, PaddyT said:

A few big cowanyoung around a t the moment but a bit more common out at sea-having said that Cowan is a weird place and all sorts of things turn up there , tuna could be mack tuna at that size, certainly seen them up Cowan before

 

Yeh I’m thinking they could’ve been Mack tuna with that girth and the markings and colour. It was a pretty incredible thing to witness. One of them chased a garfish so hard the garfish hit the hull of our boat and then became the fish’s breakfast 

4 minutes ago, frankS said:

Yakka's at 35-40cm are huge, sure they weren't Tailor ? and Kings grow to well over 1 metre and do frequent these waters. Sounds like you had quiet an adventurous day in what is normally quiet waters. Right place at the right time , doesn't happen all that often and I hope you made the best of it while it lasted.

Thanks for the good read and keep at it.

Frank

Yeh that’s why I was surprised! Had the exact same markings as a yakka yellow tail of the same style. Unsure what else it could’ve been for that size, defs not a tailor as we caught some tailor at that same spot but they were small throwbacks. 

Any advice on catching those big kingies and what set ups to use? I felt annoyed and frustrated that I missed an opportunity to catch one but I wasn’t prepared or set up. 

Thanks!

Launched the tinnie at half 6 yesterday morning at apple tree bay and headed up the creek. Managed 4 big yakka (35cm-40cm) in Waratah bay, although wanted some smaller ones for live-baiting but not luck haha. Then headed around to what I think was Looking Glass bay near Cottage Point and not 5 minutes after anchoring down, some garfish started jumping around and soon more and more were getting chased around the bay by some bigger fish. All of a sudden they were right around the boat and we saw 3 or 4 massive fish that looked like kingfish but they looked and swam more like tuna and had the incredible girth of tuna. I’ve been told kingfish don’t grow too big there and big ones aren’t found in Cowan creek but these were huge (Close to a metre I’d say). Any idea if these were just rogue large kingies or something else? Managed to get a couple big bream and blue swimmer crabs for lunch too, so a good day all in all! 

On zman grubs again? That thing is a horse!!

That’s incredible! Wish I was catching fish that big now not to mention at that age 

Got the use of a tinnie for a week and hit narra lake and did some fishing around dusk and got a fair few just undersized bream but no flatties or Jew (using live poddies) as well as mullet fillets. Keen to head out around Cowan creek (launch apple tree bay) but does anyone have any advice on what might be good to catch some sizeable fish?

2 hours ago, joking fish said:

The Ferry Wharf but please keep hush hush. It's a well kept secret don't want the fobs turning up and taking 50-100 undersize fish in a session.

Used to fish around there years ago but thanks for the reminder about it! Even drove past there yesterday! The reds are a great catch well done

Where abouts at palm beach may I ask?? 

On 09/04/2018 at 1:44 PM, scottyboy said:

Before the bridge l/h side mate

Cheers mate, I’ll give it a go soon!