Berrero

Yep, caught my FR record on a soft plastic as by-catch as well. Bloody things pull like a freight train and nearly spooled me twice on my 1000 reel

yep, +1 for jelly prawns, used to see them in parra river occasionally schooled up along the banks. have even seen kingies smashing them at my feet before not sure the best "legal" way to collect them though

I'll send you a PM

You'd be surprised, there's a fair few of them in the Sydney systems. I managed to see a good 50cm+ one cruise right past my feet while fishing in the cooks a few years back. Like you it caught me by surprise as it was the last thing I would have expected to see. Called up one of my local fishing mates right after to let him know and he said it's the Buddhist monks. They buy live fish from the markets and release them back into the water as a way to gain good karma. Guess they just don't know that some fish prefer a lot warmer climates. Just thought I'd shed a bit of light on the mystery. Great catch

Hey Raiders, Going on a deep sea fishing charter this weekend for my work christmas party (woohoo!) I've been on my fair share of deep sea charters, but this time I thought I'd be one of 'those people' and bring my own gear, mostly because my heavier setups are yet to be broken in properly. Having cut my teeth fishing ultralight in the estuaries the past few years, and the fact I haven't ever been bottom bashing with my own gear, I just wanted to put out there what I was thinking of taking along and then seeing what people think. I was thinking of bringing my slammer 4500, currently spooled with 30lb braid with a 20lb or 30lb fc leader. I know most charters run a lot heavier line but I'm thinking (hoping) it's not really needed and is just a bit of protection for newer fishos / less gear lost to snags. Or should I really be running 50lb+? I don't really have any 'boat' rods, but I'm thinking my 5-10kg TD zero would be able to cut it - my only concern is the 28g cast rating. I know I won't be casting off the boat out deep but I'm thinking the snapper lead on its own might be a bit of a strain on the rod - not as it's dropping, but the constant up/down throughout the day. Considering to maybe bring some surf pyramid sinkers as a bit of a middle ground, but then drop times would be increased, really unsure here. I'm hoping to also throw a few lures around while I'm out there - some bigger 4-5" soft plastics (should I bother with anything other than a jerk shad style if I'm only going to be vertically fishing or would paddle tails still have enough action that deep?) and what weights would people recommend? would something like a 1/2 ounce jighead be heavy enough? Are smaller 2-3" plastics any use that deep? should I even bother with anything that small? Also thinking of bringing some bigger soft vibes, but again, worried about the sink rate being too slow to be feasible. If anyone could offer any sort of advice that would be awesome. I guess what I'm mostly curious about is if I should even bother bringing my own gear, or would my rod weight rating / lighter line be an issue dropping big sinkers all day. Obviously not chasing big mackerel or anything just expecting the usual reef mix, but thought it would be a bit more special to finally break in some of my heavier gear. Thanks in advance all, TIGHT LINES

Hey Raiders, Has been quite a while since I've been fishing properly, work to blame for that one, but with 2 weeks off I was happy to get back into the swing of things and try get back on my usual fishing schedule (every day if I can manage :p) Started out Saturday morning at shag bay (around the corner of shag point, near Tom Ugly's) fishing live worms on a float rig and unweighted prawns. Had a good session landing probably 20 fish - mixed bag of the usual suspects - nothing of size but was good fun on the ultralight gear & finally getting some practice using my new alvey. The tide was getting up pretty high and lapping over the top of the jetty so decided to call it a day and head back in. Bit of a tangent here but my great uncle passed away a few years back and my great aunt has been slowly finding his fishing gear stashed around the house. Occasionally she'll offer me some stuff - s/s yabbie pump, old tackle boxes filled with stuff, etc., but last time it was his old lure box filled with some pretty cool things. Ended up taking half a dozen hard body lures (including a really old squid jig that has the mounting point tied on with string) and a packet of some old grubs that were 4-5 inches long and some old painted jigheads. Gave myself a bit of a challenge to try and catch something on his old gear to show my great aunt. Anyway, back to the story, before walking back the 100mtrs or so decided to try and tie on one of the 4-5 inch grubs on a (guessing) 1/2oz 4/0 jig head and hopped it along the jetty as I walked back in. Bit of a gamble on a 1-3 rod 1k reel and 6lb line, but thought what the hell. About half way to the shore I had a decent hit so decided to dump my stuff at the start of the jetty and head back out for one last pass before heading home. Sure enough, same spot got hit again and was on to something heavy. After an awkward fight trying to keep it away from the poles and the one handed net attempt after the decent walk back in finally had her landed. She spat the hook as soon as she got in the net and the leader was so thrashed it looked like it was about to snap. A really healthy and chunky 58cm - decided to keep her for a feed to make it even more special. (lure was placed back in the mouth for the photo) Headed back out on Monday with @JamoDamo to the same spot, was a bit quiet the first few hours throwing blades and small plastics, nothing to really write home about but managed one decent tailor and a handful of other fish. Once the tide emptied out a bit more the flatties started coming on and we landed 3 of them around the 50-55cm mark, we made the decision to keep these as well and have a bit of a feast that night. Finally tried the famous salt and vinegar chip crumb - and coming from someone who doesn't usually eat fish, they were amazing. Comfortably fed the four of us and still have about half a kg of fillets left over. Then along to Tuesday and back out with @JamoDamo, this time we decided to try and hit my old stomping grounds around the bay run parra river. The wind was belting like mad and the tide was a little too high to get to my usual wading spots so we sought shelter and tried fishing one of the smaller drainage canals out of the wind. Pulled up a few smaller fish then worked our way right out to the mouth and kept flicking. Managed to pull up a good flatty - was only using 6lb leader again so was a tense fight - didn't have the landing net on us and we were fishing on a 45 degree concrete bank.. Luckily Jamo was able to get down with the lip grips and pull her up safely. Finally broke my p.b flatty on lures, she came in at 61cm and swam off very healthy. I have hit 60cm on the dot 6 or 7 times now on lures and thought it may never happen 😅. We are about to head out today again to the waders lagoon down at woolooware, will hopefully have something to write about tomorrow :-) Tight lines to all

Not that I can offer anything really constructive to your hunt, but thought I'd point out that bream are a veeeeery slow growing fish - there's a good chance those tanks you saw are 30-35+ yrs old... Words of wisdom told to me by a friend -- they don't get that old eating everything that presents in front of them, they can definitely be very elusive

PM sent, thanks BN

My workplace is planning on organising a fishing charter for the xmas party this year. We've been looking for something to suit 10 people (hoping to book entire vessel if possible) and we will have a few beginners so looking for something more based around the heads / close reefs rather than deep sea fishing 80-120m. I've been on one about 10 yrs ago that launched from Cronulla and we just drifted around just past the heads, but for the life of me I can't find any info from it. Most charters I've seen either cater for the large group but exclusively do deep sea trips, or are based closer in shore but only hold smaller groups of people. Do any fishraiders have any experience or suggestions?

Record submission for sand whiting on lures 48.5cm caught 01/10/22 at sylvania waters on a 1/8 metal blade

Video of the snake.. apologies for the language!

Went out for a cruisy wading session yesterday with @JamoDamo at the woolooware waders lagoon. Nothing amazing to write home about; James landed a nice trev around the 50 mark and a couple of flatties 40-50. After a few hours we headed over to shag point for a quick flick where I managed to land a decent trevally and James cleaning up with about another 8 flathead <45cm. A decent day by any means - especially given the weather. Packed up and on the drive home we decided on a last minute stop for a quick 10 minute flick at one of the canals in Sylvania Waters. Pretty much as soon as we arrived James called the spot as a waste of time and wasn't expecting anything out of it (me too a little bit to be honest). A few casts in I managed to hook something big & heavy that took me for a bit of a run. Managed to get it to the surface, saw it thrashing about and I was over the moon! My first mulloway on lures! Only a soapie but it didn't matter -- only for James to quickly correct me -- "that's a ******* whiting man!!!!" Off James went for the frenzied run back to the car for the net. He arrived back shortly after and up she came. We were both just standing there looking at each other speechless. Took a few pics and after realising that she wasn't going to release well, and the fact we forgot the brag mat at home, decided to take her home for an official measure. Once we calmed down and decided to keep casting I picked up my rod only to find the blade I was using had a split ring pretty much bent open and was missing a treble. It was still in the whiting's mouth! Must have busted the hook off just as we got it in the net... we got so lucky. Was a great way to top off an already decent day. Smashed my old pb of 42cm out of the park. Stradic ci4+ 1000 TD Zero 7'3 1-3kg 6lb braid 6lb leader small 1/8 metal blade We also ran into a huge red belly black snake while heading in from wading.. I'll try and upload the video and put it in the comments below. Tight lines!

While I'm not local to the area, I did a similar holiday in huss a few years ago and happy to shed some light. I fished shore based around the actual bay a fair bit but didn't get much interest from anything. There weren't many gutters or anything per se, more just a gradual slope off and was fairly shallow still a fair bit out. There are a few rocky outcrops scattered around the bay which looked better, I saw some people a few times throwing squid jigs and going for luderick but was a bit too washy for my liking at the time. There is a REALLY nice inlet at the entrance of Moona Moona creek, which at high tide has large sand flats with plenty of fish -- saw plenty of 40+ whiting cruising around and even managed a few salmon off the flats. Also a nice bridge to fish off (burrill st) which is really deep and holds plenty of fish. Was crystal clear conditions last time I was there and you were able to see fish cruising around at 4-5mtrs deep. Also saw a huge school of larger luderick on the other side of the bridge, holding around the mangroves on the left looking upstream. If you're up for a bit of a change I also ventured down into Jervis Bay territory and fished murrays beach boat ramp, it looked like an amazing squidding ground. Only managed a couple of them but fished all the way west down to hole in the wall with jigs and lures for a mixed bag. Huge kelp beds right on the shore and plenty of rocky outcrops. You are correct about the exclusion zones, might be best to check with the locals before you try somewhere new, but I'm pretty sure the locations I listed are good to fish as I saw plenty others in the same spots. You'll probably have most of what you need however there is a small tackle shop in Husskisson that I highly recommend, the old bloke there was really friendly & helpful. Hope that can shed a bit of light for you, like yourself I only had a week so didn't really have time to knuckle down and fine tune any specific type of fishing, but I think once you get there and see the conditions you'll be pleasantly surprised and have a great time regardless. Also not sure if you'd have the time / funds for a fishing charter but the middle of the bay is prime trophy flathead grounds, was one thing I wasn't able to do last time I was there... next time for sure! Enjoy your holiday mate

I own both reels and logged quite a considerable amount of hours on both. While they are comparable and roughly equivalent my personal preference and recommendation would be for the vanford. The ci4's have been around for a while but the vanford have been built from the ci4 body so there is little to worry about it being new & 'untested'. But as with all things it's really down to personal preference

Not that I could really give you broad advice on the topic but I was in a very similar situation to you 18 months ago, I ended up getting a liquid oxygen (lox) rod and was extremely impressed, by far my favourite rod (and I have quite a few now lol....) Walked into my local chasing a penn prevail 2 and left with the lox instead. It's an absolute pleasure to cast with and have no problems casting with it for hours on end. Not sure on the exact model of mine, it's 11ft6 though, I'll be home later and I'll check & report back. Lox also have a flat rate warranty fee of $90 I believe, if anything ever happens to the rod they will fix it for that flat rate and mail it back to you. Regardless of reason - even if you smash a rod tip in the car door etc