FrigateMack

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Balmoral is shallow, so kings will not pass through as much. There are squid off the pier, sometimes.

I've been fishing in Sydney for a few years only, so not an expert. But I do get reasonably consistent results, thanks to the knowledge I've learned from my mates and the general community around here. Thought I put a few tips down, and I hope people find this useful. This applies to the Northern Beaches area, where I mostly fish, but the general tips should not be too different along the NSW coast. Safety Rock fishing can be dangerous and you need to take the whole activity as an exercise in risk management. Some basic common sense tips: Go with someone who is experienced. Don't go to spots that are on the news frequently. Always wear cleats or rock fishing boots and a life jacket. Always look at forecast - if the swell is too high or the wrong direction or the wrong interval for the given spot, don't go. Be ready to go home, or have a plan B, if you come to a spot and the conditions are different than the forecast. I'm not going to say which swell size and direction is dangerous, because it depends on the spot. If you're just starting out, don't go out if there is any swell over 0.5m. Generally, south-east is the prevalent swell direction in Sydney, so areas exposed in that direction tend to be the most dangerous ones. Even if conditions look OK, be on the lookout constantly, as conditions can change fast. Don't ever turn your back towards the ocean. Expect a much bigger than average wave, ocassionally - perhaps once an hour. Don't even think about this activity if you're not fit and can't swim. How to Find Spots Look at Google maps and search for prominent rock platforms, points, etc. Most good places for pelagics "stick out" so that the fish that follow up/down along the coast have to go past a corner, which creates a natural choking point of fish traffic. These places also have structure and current/pressure points underneath, which is where kingfish like to hang out. Look for spots that have rocky cliffs behind - it's likely that the terrain continues in a similar way under the water line. When chasing bigger pelagics, look at Navionics or other marine maps to find spots that have deep water near the shore. Caution - these spots are also the most dangerous ones as there is nothing to stop big incoming swell. Once you've identified a potential spot, explore it when the weather is nice. Again, go with someone that is experienced. Some spots are tricky to get to - be prepared to put a lot of time into the exploration. It took me about a year and a fair number of trips to find my best spot. Techniques and Target Species This is what I've personally seen working, but.. the learnging never ends. Livebaiting - I do this most of the time, as it seems to work best for me. I generally get kings and bonitos in spring to autumn, and salmon in winter. Yakkas are the standard live bait around Sydney, and can be caught on the spot, while it's still dark (rock fishing in the dark is doubly dangerous!!). Burley the spot with a mush made of breadcrumbs and seawater. Throw a bit in every 20 minutes. The rig I use for yakkas is a 8lb fluoro leader with a glowstick 40cm up the line, and small #10 hook. Best yakka bait is fresh chicken. I keep the yakkas in a bucket with an aereator. Once the sun is up, the technique for catching yakkas is different - throw in a bit of breadcrumb burley to create a cloud of it in the water. This creates a corresponding "cloud" of yakkas. Lower a sabiki rig down into the school. This will generally get one or two yakkas per attempt, but often there are sweep or the little "zebra fish", which you don't want. This is why I prefer catching yakkas while it's still dark with the glow stick + chicken, because there's less bycatch. There are two ways that I use with live bait. For areas that have sandy non-snaggy bottom, just set up a Y-shaped rig of 50 pound leader. One 50cm leg goes to a #4 star sinker, the other goes to a Hoodlum hook. Use a strong big hook - kings will wreck everything else. The rest of the setup is a strong rod and a 8000 Saragosa reel with 50 pound line. Pin the hook through the livie on the back, just below the first dorsal fin. Cast the livie out and wait. The other method works wherever the bottom is rocky and snaggy. The setup is 2m of 50 lb fluoro leader, with a big float near the top, then a small ball sinker, than the hoodlum hook. I pin the livie the same way and cast it out as far as I can. I have caught a bunch of kings, salmon and bonitoes this way. Rarely, something even much better.. Squid as bait - Don't bother with servo squid. Use fresh caught, either whole or parts, hooked on the same rig as you'd use for a livie, or even better - two snelled hooks about 10cm apart. This will catch whichever monster happens to see it first. Bronze whalers feed on squid, so you'll hook them occasionally. Otherwise, this is a kingfish killer. You can catch squid at many rock fishing spots. Just look for a spot that combines seaweed, sand and rocks in the same area. Lures - heaps of fun, and they seem to work best in summer. Heaps has been written on this topic so I won't repeat it here. All sorts of lures work from the rocks. I like chrome slices for bonitos because they cast out very far and are easy to retrieve at various speeds. This will also work for mac tuna. Kings will grab them as well, but less often. For kings, I seem to have more luck with pink (for some reason) bibbed shallow divers and other similar stickbait. A pillie on a ganged hook under a float is the standard way to grab a tailor off the rocks, nothing new there. It helps to wrap the pillie with a bit of thread, to keep the choppers from destroying the bait without getting hooked. At the places where I fish, this seems to usually only work just before sunrise. The bite tends to stop after that. I got some nice tailor that way. Otherwise, when there is an active school of tailor, almost any lures works. Surface poppers are heaps of fun, just for the visual effects. Snapper: I occasionally get a decent snapper up to about 45cm, in the colder months, off the rocks. Best to target them once the swell has died down after a big storm or at least some rain. This works in areas that have rocks/rubble that extends out and then meets sandy flat bottom. The method is to turn up an hour or two before sunrise, burley with a mush of breadcrumbs and chopped up pilchards. Then cast out half a pillchard on a 20 pound leader, with just a hook, unweighted. Cast it 10 - 20m out, and let the pilchard slowly waft down through the water. Sometimes, this rig will catch a bonito, a random rat king or other pests. I've also had tailor chop off the terminal tackle - but it's just a hook, so it's not a big deal. The standard way of catching a snapper - a paternoster with a snapper sinker also works. Yeet it out far enough for the rig to sit on the sandy bottom and wait. There's more details to cover for all of the above, but it should be a good starting point.

Nice topic. Targetting big things off the rocks does it for me. Casting out a livie under a float and then seeing that float disappear violently.. Or casting metals off the rocks and getting that Bonnie / Kingie hit. Golden. There's also a small sense of adventure, driving over to the rocks through the empty suburbs in the middle of the night, then getting down to the rocks while it's still dark, before anyone else comes. Some places have a sense of wilderness about them, even though it's near such a big city, right alongside suburbs and busy beaches.

Cheers. Yeah I try to fish gutters for sure. Might need to put more time into it..

I do well with tailor off the rocks - with the usual pilie on a ganged hook. I often get a bite or two just before sunrise. The other way I've had luck with is when they go crazy a bit later in the year - basically any kind of lure seems to work. But I never seem to have luck at a beach. Is there anything other than luck + putting time in? Particular times or ways to look for them? I fish around Sydney.

It's been a tough couple of months in around Sydney. I'm hoping that the influx of nutrients from the floods / rain over the last year could make this summer season awesome. As soon as the winds die down and the EAC brings in a bit more warm water. Not quite there yet, but.. almost...

Just to answer my own question after spending a better part of a day at Pittwater today - Nope. No surface action. I saw bait schools in front of West Head, Flint and Steel and a few other spots on my sounder. But nothing appeared to be feeding on them. Also, I didn't have any luck with catching squid either. There was too much wind chop and swell to get out in front of Barrenjoy which was meant to be my plan B.

I think people may be missing out when dismissing the Aussie salmon. I find that if they are bled and chilled immediately after being caught, the results can be pretty good. Also, I find that their quality varies. Some of the 80cm+ donkeys that sometimes turn up later in the year are not great. The smaller specimens can be quite nice. I also remember not having any issues with salmon caught in Port Phillip Bay, when I lived in Melbourne. So the place they are caught might also play a role. Anyway - here's what I do with them. 1) Clean and fillet. If logistics/timing allows, keep the fillets uncovered at the bottom of a very cold fridge for a few hours or overnight. 2) I make stock from the frames and the wings. See photo. I cook them with misc stock veggies, salt and some herbs (a bit of thyme is great), on slow fire, for a few hours. 3) I steam the fillets. Other ways of cooking the fillets make salmon too dry. Photo on steaming setup below. They only need 15 minutes or something like that. Add a bit of salt, pepper and lemon juice at the end. 4) One way to finish the project is to combine the stock, the steamed fillets, some noodles and other bits and pieces as per the 3rd photo bellow. Not bad! Thoughts?

Deciding where to go on my day off tomorrow ;-).

@DerekD - Yep, will do.

Thanks, Derek, this is a killer. High quality advice! I made the rig you suggested and headed out with it this morning. A small metal lure with about 40cm of fluoro and a surf candy at the end. I run across a school of salmon in front of Middle Head this morning. Instant hookup!! These are "just" salmon, but the fun factor is there. After I had a few salmon on board, I tried other setups - a 40gm halco and also a 40g halco with the candy, as a sort of science experiment. The only rig that worked was the small metal with the candy following it. Looking at the salmon stomach contents once I got home explained everything - it's all the little "eye" bait, not too different from the candy lure. I'll definitely try this on other pelagics when they turn up. I only got into fishing a couple of years ago, when I moved to Sydney, and one thing I love about it is the learning process.

I read somewhere that these are great for some of the pelagics. But I don't know anything about fly fishing. Does something like the surf candy only really work with some sort of fly fishing setup or is there a way to rig them up with a normal spinning setup? I'm interested in both land based / rocks and boat fishing scenarios. (Target locations: Northern Beaches rocks land based. Boat: Pittwater, Sydney Harbour. Desired species - the usual suspects - kings, salmon, tailor, bonito, etc.)

The weather forecast last Friday looked OK, so I launched my inflatable cat at Appletree Bay and headed out to Jerusalem Bay. There were about 10 other boats there already. I would probably avoid the weekend as I like it less busy. Once at the spot, I started the burley, but I had to wait until about 9pm before the bite started. I lost about 4 or 5 fish until I figured out the right rig. A ganged hook with 20 or 30 cm of PE coated (black) wire, then a 20lb leader and 20lb main line. Blinking underwater red LED light about 30cm up the leader. The fish didn't really show up easily on the fish finder, or at least were hard to tell from the school of bait fish that I created with the burley. I experimented with different bait (pillies) depth, and in the end all the bites seem to come at about mid-water, a few meters down. I used pillies. This is the first time I tried and happy that I got a nice feed. Btw, I'd say catching 2 or 3 would be enough for a decent dinner. No need to catch up to legal limit (10). Leave the rest for the next time. Hairtail are vicious, and fight like a large tailor, I'd say. They managed to bite through 50lb leader easily, hence the need for the wire rig. I headed back around midnight in total darkness. I had both a phone app and the fish finder to help me navigate, although I know the area reasonably well, too. Got a couple of trevallies on the same setup, which are always a welcome bycatch.

So, I've tried air pumps from the various fishing stores. The white pumps from the big fishing store that's everywhere rust in one or two trips. The dark blue ones from the shop with the snake in the name are fully plastic, so one would think they'd be better, but they are complete crap and last only one trip - and that's even when I wrap them in tape to try and waterproof them a little. Then I tried some pumps from ebay, with rechargeable batteries. Terrible - a single drop of water will destroy them utterly. So, none of these are waterproof in the slightest. And, yes I try to look after them and keep them as dry as I can. There's only so much I can do when rock fishing. I need an actual IP67 air pump. Any tips?

Rock fishing at night.. Firstly, don't go rock fishing at night unless you know the spot really well. It's best to familiarize yourself by going during the day until you know every rock at the spot. All other rock fishing safety rules apply, only 100x more so: Life jacket. Cleats or boots with spikes. Ideal conditions - that is low or no swell. Check swell forecast and then check the real conditions once at your spot. Don't stay if the conditions are even slightly off. Ideally, don't go by yourself. Bring a head lamp + a spare light. The best headlamp I found is Nitecore HC65. It has a focused beam and a flood beam, plus a red flood light. The beam intensity can be adjusted and should be set to very low. Or use the red beam to preserve your night vision. The headlamp uses the 18650 battery so it lasts for days. But, when fishing, it's best to turn the light off. Or at least, don't point the beam at the water. I often get to my spot well before sunrise, sometimes at 3am. It's easier to catch yakkas at night. Once my lifebait bucket is full, I target tailor, until the sunrise. Just before sunrise seems to be the best tailor bite. Tailor setup: One of those little green LED fishing lights taped to a float + the usual ganged hook rig. The LED light is better than a glow stick because glow sticks are not bright enough. You can't see them, and the float, during twilight. Also, snapper via distance casting off the rocks bite best around sunrise as well, especially after some rain storms or big swell. The main tip though is to bring litres of coffee and to be slightly insane to even be going rock fishing in the middle of the night.

I fish for the pelagics off the rocks, mostly using livebait, very early mornings. The fishing tends to be pretty abysmal whenever the moon is bright. I've gone enough times to notice this pattern. I haven't stopped going whenever I can though, moon or not. My theory is that the pelagics (kings, tailor, salmon at least) tend to hunt visually, so they're not as hungry when the moon is bright. That said, it doesn't seem to affect bonitos and mac tunas, for example. I guess those are not nocturnal hunters. Can't speak to other species, I don't target them as often.

Another idea. This is what I do. I run a 3.5m inflatable cat, and I explore around middle harbour occasionally. Before I launch, I go to a wharf - Balmoral seems to work - before sunrise. Any other wharf should work as well, especially if it's lit at night. I burley with bread or bread crumbs, then use a #10 (tiny) long shank hook with tiny pieces of chicken as bait. You can get a bunch of yakkas in a bucket with an air pump pretty easily. It takes about half and hour to an hour to get 10 or 15 of them. If the place is very dark, it can help to put a little glow stick about 30 or 40cm above the hook. It attracts yakkas and makes it easier to detect a bite. Good luck.

Re eating quality - the ones caught off the beach / rocks / ocean side, are not bad. Inside any system, no so. The best way to cook them I found is just to scale and clean them and then steam them with some ginger, soy sauce, etc.

Thanks all. I went with the Demon Blood. It's heavier than what I would need for just bonitos. Works perfectly with a 4000 reel. Got a good feed the other day. It'll work great with a heavier reel for bigger things, as well 🐳.

Fair enough, PE1.5 - 3 would be OK. I'm liking one of the longer Demon Blood rods. And the Ocean's Legacy Specialist.

One of the guide rings on my old Seabass is broken, so rather than trying to fix it, I'm going to get a new rod. Because it's a good excuse, lol. The Seabass was OK, but a bit too flippy. I'm after something around 9 - 10 feet, for casting 40 - 60g metals / lures out and then lifting the bonnies up to the rocks. Maybe around PE4 - PE6 rating. Suggestions?

Great stuff. I've got the same experience with my kids. It's about catching as many little fish as possible in short amount of time. Not about getting up at 3am and working for the rest of the day to (maybe) catch one big thing. My son looked super happy from catching his first little slimy mackerel the other day..

I go rock fishing almost every week and I take a Sensor Surf 153XXS fitted with a Saragosa 8000 and 50lb line. My reasoning was to get the longest strongest rod I could get to be able to fling livies to New Zealand, and also to allow me to maneuver kings around the rocks. I can also just crane most fish out on the ledge with this monster of a thing. But if I was getting another rod, it would be a bit shorter to get back some leverage and a bit more flexible. Maybe something like the Sensor Surf 132S. But this is just my current point on learning curve and others on here are more experienced. I caught some good ones with this setup though, so I'm happy for now.