LittleNipper

You didn't happen to retrieve your boat at Patonga boat ramp on Monday morning by any chance? I have a feeling you may have been the one next to the ramp when I was launching (black bow rider boat) - you or your mate have a white 4WD? When you say behind Lion island, do you mean behind when driving to the island from Patonga (ocean side) or behind (closer to Patonga beach) P.s awesome catch! Bream is my family's favourite fish so your tips about spots around Patonga area were greatly appreciated, Thanks

Thanks Towards the end of the Hawkbury River (where it opens up to the ocean)

Headed up the coast with the family in search of some sea food for Christmas. Set out the crab traps and fished whist awaiting Drifting produced 7 nice flathead all around the 40cm mark. Decided to anchor in the channel and blurley which resulted in 4 x trevally and 1 PB bream Picked up the pots and a solid 13 crabs came with it no need to be lining up at the fish shop this Christmas

Are the jackets in the hacking plentiful? they are my favourite fish and despite having a boat for 1.5 years I have never come across them. (I only fish inshore) if you can point me to a wonderful jacket location in the hacking I would be forever grateful! 😁 I’m just that excited haha

Does lake Illawarra produce many crabs? I’ve only been there twice. One for my on water lesson when I first purchased my boat and the second time I didn’t realise how shallow it is in the middle and got beached 😅

Hi raiders Initial plan was to head up the coast for some crabs to eat at Christmas however due to covid uncertainty up north at the moment I headed down south. Was throwing out gulp 2.5inch soft plastics for at least 2 hours with only 2 pikes hitting it. I threw the soft plastic out and left it out while I was attending to another family members rod when I look over and my rod is moving and spoiling off very very quickly! After a 10minute fight on 10lb braid and getting tangled in my other rods line i see the glamourising silver under the water and up comes a 67cm kingie checked my Apple Watch and heart rate shot up to 140bpm from my usual 60 resting heart rate 😂 All in all a good day with my first king and also getting a feed of aust. salmon. Dad got a sneaky photo claiming he caught the fish haha cheers P.s if anyone knows any places not too far down south for some blue swimmers that would be much appreciated. I think I have up the coast all sorted for crabs, happy to share

Hi raiders! headed down south and fished off the break wall to wet a line and hopefully get a feed! day started off well with 2 trevally around the 32-35cm mark and a 28cm flounder. lots of decent sized slimey mackerel around which was perfect to keep as strip bait as I’m heading to Jarvis bay in the next few days. fish stopped biting on bait for a while so I decided to throw out a lure, was spinning a metal for a while with no luck and changed to soft plastics. 1 hit for another trevally, 10minutes later another hit for a 55cm salmon. First time actually catching something with a lure! (Despite the hundreds of dollars I’ve spent on them) happy with the catch! Heading to Jarvis bay and st George basin for the next 3 days so wish me luck! baked the trevally for dinner and served on a bed of leek with roasted sides!

Hi Zoran, apologies i meant not this Monday the following i can see the swell up till next Saturday (I’ll be checking closer to the day) but so far looks good

Hi guys as of September I unfortunately will be working full time lol (coming from a 9 day fortnight) and this coming Monday will be my last Monday off before going back to full time. As such I’ve checked the weather and so far the swell seems very low (0.4-08) over the weekend at port Kembla and up the coast around lion island / barrenjoey im thinking of finally taking the maiden voyage offshore after 1.5 years of having my first boat I own a 2019 5m Stacer bow rider with a 90hp Yamaha. I’ve only ever fished around the Hawkesbury, patonga, lion island south side on a really good day, and port Kembla inside the harbour I am thinking of chilling just outside port Kembla break wall if I go down the coast or fishing around the heads of barranjoey / Northside of lion island. can anyone recommends any tips or anything to be weary off out there (or other places which produce decent fish) and even its even possible for my boat to go out there with a novice captain. I was also thinking of maybe paying for one of those custom lessons (about. $300-$400 for half day) to show me how to handle the boat offshore, I’ve watched plenty of videos on watching the swell and how to drive a boat in it wether it be a head on or following sea however obviously it’s different actually doing it. I’ve practiced a little bit where the end of Hawkesbury means patonga area cause you get a lot of swell and waves there any tips would be greatly appreciated. Slightly nervous but figured I’ve got to face it one day and 1.5years is quite a long time to not properly try cheers

Thanks @Blackfish the tailor is at the bottom of the photo but just under the barracuda there is a yellow fin pike, at least I think it is. I caught one on the hawksbury and wasn’t sure what it was. I found a post on fishraider of someone else catching the same thing and I think the consensus was it was a yellow fin pike Cheers

@kingie chaser thanks Kingie nah definitely not, I’ve heard the cuda and pike can be good bait so I’m going to give it a try on the next trip cheers,

Hi raiders headed out to port Kembla for the very first time. Bit worried since it was my first time and I am relatively new to fishing off a boat (1 year now). Was more of a port Kembla maiden voyage to sus out the facilities and getting use to the area got to the ramp about 6am and it started off slow with only 1 trevally and a lot of undersized snapper moved to a different spot which seemed to produce quite well. Ended up finishing the day with 6 trevally (sized between 30-40cm) 1 Taylor, barracuda and a pike As it was more of a practice day I didn’t pack too heavy on the gear and wasn’t expecting to target any larger species and then this happened..... Hand line with a patenoster rig and 2 x hooks flies off the gunnel into the water. I make a quick dash for the gaff and just reach the hand line at full stretch. I start to pull but instead it pulls me, I let out a bit line and with much patience I start to see that yellow tail come up to the edge of the boat. I grab the net but it takes me for one last ride and betters me, snapped off. The disappointment was real i re-rig to target trevally and other bread and butter species and then off it goes again! Flies into the water from inside the boat, this time I thought it was gone. Out of reach from my outstretched arm and a 1.75m landing net, I look over to my little kayak rod and it starts bending, I start to reel it in and realise I’ve actually hooked onto my hand line which has crossed paths with my kayak line. I pull in the line and with a tear in my eye and the feeling of redemption I hype myself up. I pull my hand line and the the fight begins. Unfortunately it ends with a straightened out hook and the feeling of disappointment yet another time - this also happened 2 more times. The last time the fish spooled my hand line and broke off needless to say that I have surly learnt my lesson and should always be prepared no matter what I am targeting.

@GoingFishing @noelm thanks guys upon thorough search Through fishraider for barracuta it seems these are not too good to eat

Hi raiders i was fishing at port Kembla the other day and caught this fish below can anyone identify it? I initially thought it was a pike based on the teeth and the body Cheers Jimmy

Can anyone find any links to the different rules that apply over Easter as mentioned above? I can only find the usually documentation stating reasons for leaving the house but I can’t find anything re: “local” only travel. need to forward it to some of my fishing mates. Don’t want any fishos getting fined over the long weekend