eladamrine

Just grabbed the shortest rods I had for convenience and had to bring enough for everyone in the family. Was too lazy to tie a leader for everyone especially as we want to start fishing ASAP given the 2hr limit!

General area you were fishing? Visited Sussex Inlet / St George Basin for 3 days from 26-29 Dec for holiday. Rainy / windy forecast most of the time. Luckily one of the mornings was OK conditions, so we hired a small boat with a motor to do some fishing. The place only let us go out for 2HRs as they were very busy which was a shame. However, managed one legal flathead (about 50cm), an undersized snapper and an undersized flathead. I think we could have gotten more if we had more time as the flathead were all caught 10 mins before we had to return the boat. Fished a place called Jew Fish Bay where all the boats are as it is deep there. However, on the map it does not say there are any mulloway there. What time did you leave and return? We left at 9am to 11am. What style of fishing were you doing? I was trying to use Berkeley Gulp soft lures without any luck. The flathead was caught on frozen prawns sold at the boat hire (non hawkesbury). What gear did you use? 7 inch rods, sinker straight to 1/0 bait holder hook, 12lb braid, and no leader. Were you land based or from a boat? Boat

Wow they look massive!

Still a nice day out. Probably no fishing because of lots of joggers / pedestrians. But they should add that to the sign to make it clear. Good job. Thanks for letting everyone know.

North Sydney Ferry Wharf I went during the long weekend on Sunday from 3 to 5:30PM. Bottom of the tide. Fished for blackfish using a pencil float, 12lb braid main, 6lb flurocarbon leader, size 8 hook, 9 foot rod. Landbased Been to this spot twice. Excellent for blackfish. Always lots of bites and good sized blackfish. No local seaweed / cabbage unfortunately (most on the wharf are too small). Very comfortable as it is a wharf. Just need to watch our for ferries. Have not seen much other types of fish being caught - just a leatherjacket in my two visits here. There is public parking nearby but it is usually quite busy. Caught 3 fish this time (1 was too small) and lost about the same amount as it is a fight to keep them from darting into the pylons. Park nearby which also makes for excellent picnic spot / rest of the family to relax.

Great catch mate! Some nice sized blackfish there!

Nice!! Good job Keith! How did you eat the trevally?

Thanks Keith for those two suggestions to get weed far! See you at Ramsgate groynes soon!

Awesome report @LandBasedKeith! Lovely flatheads! Excited to know there are flatheads around those groynes too! Might have to bring my soft lure rod next time I am on the groynes along with my blackfish set up! What do you think about the cabbage on the jetty in Sans Souci park? is it good weed? is it a good spot? Where are you getting weed these days? Last time I checked Tonsbridge weed died out Last time I went, a blackfish fishermen told me he buys his weed from a bait shop in Sylvania. That is my next option if I can't find any of the stringy weed!

Well done mate! Beautiful fish! Hope you bled the blackfish!

General area you were fishing? Ramsgate Beach groynes. Learned to fish this place by @LandBasedKeith.Was raining pretty heavily for most of the 3 hrs but no wind. What time did you leave and return? 10am - 1pm. From middle of the tide to high tide. What style of fishing were you doing? Fishing for blackfish with a pencil float and seaweed as bait. What gear did you use? Black Queen Deluxe rod, light reel and 12lb line. 8gram pencil float and Size 8 hook. Were you land based or from a boat? Land. From the groynes. Very slippery went wet with joggers. Cautious of slipping when netting fish or casting.

Awesome post!

Nice catch!

Good job maintaining commentary as you were falling. What a professional. hahaha.

Hi guys, My name is Stephen. Looking to do some rock fishing anywhere in Sydney (I live in Rockdale. Have own car). I am very interested in catching Black Drummer. I watched Scotty Lyon's videos on YouTube to get into fishing, and drummers look like great fun to catch. However, If there are no one keen for Black Drummer, I'd be happy to target something else and learn more about rock fishing safety. I've also asked around for some info on this forum on how to catch Black Drummer. I have come up empty on a few occasions in a few places and would like to see what I am doing wrong. I've been rock fishing a few times in Kurnell with the old man. But we are both pretty new to rock fishing. We follow safety instructions and check the weather/swell beforehand. But I am still a bit scared and a bit tense when rock fishing. It would be good to go with someone more seasoned to learn about how to do it safely. I will have a lot of free time this week/next week (on a study vacation before exams). I have life vest and rock cleats. I have some fishing gear and willing to buy extra rig items. Let me know, thanks.

Hi Keith. Good job! The guide on catching black fish by Robert in the "Fishing Chat" sub forum says blackfish will take seaweed at night. I tried this once, but these two older fishermen started cracking up when I told them. They didn't think it was a good idea. So I don't know what to think

Thanks guys. Appreciate it. It was indeed my first fish on a lure. @nbdshroom Thanks for your YouTube videos. You actually told me how to do a basic retrieve and to learn to double uni knot in the comments section of one of your Cook River videos.

Thanks for the reply. It is my first time in the area, so I will explore more of it next time. Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, Shroom seems to know what he is doing. I love watching his YT videos. It seems like he really enjoys fishing. Another fisherman also told me that there were jewfish in the area. However, I don't really have the gear or know how to target those at the moment. But I am looking forward to catching a few Bream and Flathead. I will keep an eye on that website. Thanks.

Hi, this is my first fish report. I fished the airport side of Cooks River from 4PM-6PM today. I was casting only about 10m out from the land. It was my first time fishing using a soft plastic. There is a lot of places to cast from along the river, but most places require you to step in some mud to get close enough. I was inspired to fish Cooks River and using soft plastic by watching Shroom's videos on YT. I landed an awesome Flathead about 15mins in. I didn't get to measure it, but it was about 40-45cm. It was released as i'm told you shouldn't eat anything from Cooks River. I had some other "bites", but did not catch anything else. I used the Zman Grub 2.5" in Watermelon Red. Thanks

Good job Keith!

Great info!

Good job!

Thanks for letting me come a long. I learnt a lot and enjoyed the day. Thanks. By the way, did you see the Trevally fisherman who came after us catch anything?

Hi @LandBasedKeith, I live around the area (Rockdale) and I am interested in fishing for blackfish. Are the string seaweed at every groyne in Ramsgate or is there a particular groyne? I also tried using prawn and pilchard at high tide in ramsgate last week and didnt get any bites. Do you know if any other species are in Ramsgate? Thanks.

Thanks for your replies Wazatherfisherman and noelm. @noelm I try to boil green prawns, I hear that kills the virus. I will try gathering cungie. Do cungies grow in rivers and bays or only on ocean rocks? I live near botany bay so that would be the first place I look. I don't know how to look for deeper water. Is it related to looking at the pattern of the wash? @wazatherfisherman thanks for the detailed response. I'll probably print it so I can read it all. I just bought a lifejacket and attached rock plates to my shoes. The ocean scares me, so I wear them all the time when rock fishing. I will look into getting cungie to use as bait. I want to ask how long would the cungie last in the freezer the salting technique? And what other fish might I encounter with cungie apart from drummer? I've heard what you say about having the hook 1m off the bottom of the sea floor. How do you judge the depth? Is it just trial and error and seeing at what depth you get snagged? Thanks for the tips about rig setup. I'm excited to try out the spot you mentioned in the Royal National Park. Too bad it looks like bad conditions tomorrow or else I was going to head to the Royal National Park or Dobroyd Head. Looks like the East South swell will make both places dangerous.