PJ Garn

Cheers for the heads up Daniel. I've been throwing pink tassies with no success also spinnerbaits and jensen insects. Might head out Monday... think I've got a couple of reds in the box!!!! PJ

Hi Raiders Just wondering if there have been any catches of trout since the latest let out of water from Warragamba? Ive been down the weir a couple of times with a week in between but haven't seen a fish!!! I did hear one report that some had been landed (Unconfirmed) but I won't believe it till I see it personally. Cheers PJ

Dan Being an addicted prawner I would advise that this isn't the time of year to go prawning!!! In saying that when I first started I prawned for 12 months straight thru the dead of winter and still go 1kg of prawns in a cold hard night!!! Rule of thumb is prawn any month with an 'R' in it's name... spring thru to autumn... as has been said before you are best to prawn on a run out tide on a new moon (no moon in the sky)!!! If you are like most people you can only prawn on the weekend (recovery time after being up all night is usually the whole next day) so don't worry about being exactly on the new moon... from experience the prawns can run well upto 9 day prior to and after the new moon. They are funny creatures and you can never guarantee what happened last month will happen this one... some of the best prawning sessions can be had when the wind is howling and it's p'ing down with rain. My suggestion to you is to get out, talk with others, watch what they do, copy what the good ones do and basically enjoy a night away from home. My first prawning session this year will be the weekend of 15/16th September... an 'R' in September. Saturday will be the best night I would say with 1.72 high to 0.19 low... high will hit the lakes at approx 10pm (don't go by the high at the ocean, add at least 2 hours to the tide chart times)which means you will prawn till approx 3.30 - 4.00am. PS. See you on a lake somewhere... we usually prawn The Entrance!!!! :thumbup: PJ

Hi Raiders To say I'm SORBLE would be an understatement!!! So I hear you ask what is SORBLE? SORBLE is how I feel after today’s and recent trips to the Nepean River following the recent floods. SORBLE is a result of all the attention given to our lovely little river by TV, print and online media. SORBLE is me feeling so P'off that I visited the Penrith City Council offices on the way home to complain about SORBLE. SORBLE is "SICK OF RUBBISH BEING LEFT EVERYWHERE"... I'm sick of it and I would imagine many of you would be too!!! Now as a dedicated responsible fisherperson I take it upon myself to leave any location I visit the same or maybe even somewhat better than when I arrived. But unfortunately our river is experiencing an onslaught by ignorant outsiders, fisher AH's and one timers who have been attracted to it's banks with the lure of catching a trout!!! When they leave they leave their indelible mark by the way of tackle wrappings, bottles, discarded line, etc, etc, etc. Today I saw two packages of kiddie rods carelessly discarded on the banks, left obviously by people who don't fish too often... did they have a fishing license??? I bet not!!! So I took myself off to the Council offices to complain. After the usual run around and the girl not sure if it was under their jurisdiction (rubbish in river is not but on the banks it is?) I was asked to put my complaint into writing to the GM of the council. Apparently another person had also complained this morning. I suggested that they need Rangers down there booking these ignorant people to discourage their SORBLE ways!!! Raiders, I ask that if you are of the same mind as myself about this issue you leave a post supporting my stand... get your mates to post... let's get this post to go viral. I'm quite prepared to take this to the media and wake up everyone about SORBLE. What I find amazing is that "Mother Nature" cleaned our river up only about a month ago and already it's back looking the same as it did before. We all need to do something to ensure places like this exist for us to visit and fish in the future. If we (Fishos) are not very careful the actions of those of us who create the SORBLE will spoil it for all of us (they already do) and places to fish will become off limits to all. We all need to do something... support the SORBLE cause now. :thumbup: More bloody SORBLE!!! Cheers PJ

Big Al Take a look at what I found yesterday in around 10 minutes... is your tassy amongest this lot???? I certainly have quite a comprehensive selection of lures in my kit now kindly donated by people like yourself. Cheers guys With regards to tassy rigging... throw the treble and wire combo supplied with the lure in the bin or cut the wire and keep the treble as replacements for other hardbody lures when needed. Then set up as pictured... use a single hook around a size 4 (I like red ones for some reason) the problem with the wire supplied is it doesn't allow for the lure to travel up the line when a fish is hooked... the extra weight of the lure can be used by the fish to throw the hooks... hope this helps!!! Cheers PJ

Seems like with Trout in the river Bass are a by catch at the moment... But bloody hell what a by catch!!! What a stunning specimen of a fish... Well done mate!!!!

Well we hit the river again this morning!!! Arrived around 8.30am and the car park was packed... lots of dad's and sons out for a fish on a lovely Easter Monday morning! (Some dad's and daughter too). Me and the you fella headed downstream of the weir and found a nice unobstructed bank to cast from... a good practise area for you know who. We gave it about and hour and a half with no result and then headed back upto the weir. I was flicking SP's around in the turbulence and hooked onto a small rainbow (probably under legal size) but I can now say my luck has turned and even though I failed to land the fish, I know there's always next time!!!

Mate it's pretty hard to find with the naked eye... head past the weir, turn left at the third She oak and pace out 150 steps and you should be right on it!!!

Don't worry about that I soon whacked on a tasy back to front and it didn't know if it was coming or going!!!! Either a Freudian slip or I believe he means Carp!!! Hi Mate Thanks for the pic... just to rub it in eh?!!! Just wondering did you hook up on the Dollies with the Tassy? Heading out tomorrow with my young fella for an early flick down the river... knowing how my luck is running at moment he will hook up and land a monster and he's only five... I'll keep you posted!!! Let me know when you're up for a run up the river... PJ

Well fellow raiders, I must say that the past few weeks have been enjoyable enough chasing elusive trout on the Nepean!!! Now, either I'm doing something wrong, I'm just a bad fisherman (not likely) or my luck is out...(the most plausible reason)but in the trout stakes(after about nine outtings with an investment of considerable time)I've hooked and landed a big fat zero, blank, BUGGER BLOODY ALL!!! The start to this didn't go well... my first outing (as the river started to receed after the recent letting out of Warragamba)was marred by me loosing my iPhone at the Weir. All I can put it down to was the bag I was using has several pockets on it and I believe I left one open and hey presto my phone was history. $900 later and I'm now the proud owner of a new iPhone 4S that stays securely zipped in my bag!!!! Oh and if anyone reading this found my phone I would still like it back... it's no good to you as I had the IMEI blocked by Vodafone. So I've hit the river numerous time since. I've hiked upto Glenbrook Creek and at least got a follow. Headed up the gorge with Searabbit only to help him lose one Rainbow and land a smaller model on hard bodies.(Rapal Style)Thursday last, I had a spare arvo so headed to the weir again. I was wading thigh deep in the downstream weir pool (outside of the exclusion zone) when a guy lobs next to me. Within about two throws he's on and lands a nice little rainbow of 30cm... my bloody trout me thinks!!! To top things off and add insult to injury when I inspect his weapon of choice (a small pink tassy) I discover he'd put it on back to front!!!! THEN and as I fished away he disappears behind the upturned roots of the fallen She Oaks that litter the banks only to be interviewed by Channel Ten NEWS!!!! (See here for his interview )I got chatting to this fellow and discover he was a visitor to our fair city of Penrith and this was his first trip to the Nepean... infact it was his first Trout ever!!! Good on ya Stacey!!! Now to today... Easter Saturday. When I arrived just on 7am, the car park was packed, I headed down to the weir which was invaded by fishos. They were bloody everywhere!!! I headed for my possy; thigh deep in the middle of the weir pool and proceeded to throw an arsnal of different lures from spinner baits to tassies to hard bodies and back again. Different colours, patterns, sizes... do you think I could evoke a take? So I set off for the far side of the river and explored some areas that haven't been quite accessible till now... still no luck!!! So I hear you ask... why the title "Nepean River Rewards" well along with giving myself some well earned R & R the past couple of weeks. The peace and quiet, being within one's own thoughts on the river bank with only the noise of the birds, raging water and the occasional train or plane to disturb is soothing to say the least... good for the soul. I've also not exactly come home empty handed!!! As a result of the huge influx of fishos on the river there is the spoils of their toils to be had!!! It's obviously some of these guys have dusted off the fishing gear and headed for the river... a little rusty maybe in the finese of casting and they're losing a swag load of gear in the process. To date I've given a new home about to ten lost treasures and donated only three... I've had to get wet to get them but then I reckon it's worth it... don't you? By my estimations I've found approximately $100 worth of lost tackle in a couple of weeks. It just goes to show it's not all about the fishing!!! :thumbup: Here are most of my rewards for the last couple of weeks!!!!

Slinky It is glamorous... and just for the record there is more money spent (in the world) in the pursuit of carp than any other fish!!! Thanks for your comments and just maybe we might see you on the river enjoying glamorous arvo chasing these underrated funsters!!! Ray R Flightless yes, beer drinking no... you've gotta keep your wits about you when chasing these beauties and any impairment makes the task at hand all the harder!!! Kiwi Waynie did grab a long neck on the way home though!!!! Cheers PJ Garn

Hi Raiders (After a long time absent) After entertaining visitors from the UK yesterday in our lovely Blue Mountains and attending a friends 40th birthday party till late last night... I awoke just five minutes prior to our agreed meet up time of 7.30am at Kiwi Waynies house!!! Not to be one to disappoint, I jumped on the mobile and told him to hit the river with young Jim and I'd join him sometime after eight o'clock!!! I arrived at our chosen spot to find it invaded by two other Carp hunters and after a quick chat learned that Kiwi and son were just a few hundred metres downstream. I joined them and set up on a small, fairly uncomfortable bank in full sun. With Jim appropriately sunblocked up, we fished a nice run of river and witnessed Carp and Eels meandering our swim. Half an our past and with Jim having landed a nice Bass on a bread baited hook our mates up-streamed yelled to let us know they were vacating OUR spot!!! We burlied our new spots and settled into the comforts of our new surroundings and were happy to enjoy the peace and quiet being broken by the sounds of the Formula One boats racing in the Regatta Centre lakes. The Kiwi and I both decided to toss a couple at the Bass which are now making their way up the Nepean for summer with no success but enjoyed the cools of the Nepean around our waists. It was then I decided to climb a "She Oak" that conveniently lies over the swim we were fishing and after some minutes I happily alert the Kiwi of several nice Carp now feeding on our free offerings!!! For the next hour and a bit we perched ourselves like a pair of frustrated Kookaburras on the horizontal limb of the tree; watching, waiting and wishingfor one of three nice fish to approach our corn baited hooks and give us the thrill we'd come for! On several occasions our baits were fondled, only to be rejected as they felt the slightest weight or sign of a foreign hook... gee it was an addictive learning lesson, as these three beauties glided in and out of our swim, feeding tentatively only to remain free and greedy as we watched on!!! Eventually as our session went into overtime and after an absence of some ten minutes or so, they came back for dessert!!! Meanwhile I'd re-rigged my rod now minus the small free running lead that had previously caused my prey to reject my offerings. As two fish swam into a heavily corn burlied patch beneath me, I readied and steadied myself on my perch and finally as I lifted the rod tip, I felt weight!!! The beauty beneath me sensed my number eight hit home and immediately rolled on his side to give me a glimpse of his bulk before he headed for a nearby weed bed. I gingerly made my way down from my vantage point keeping just enough weight on him to subdue him whilst not staining the 4lb line to excess. The rest is academic really... he went 6.02KG and the first fine fish of this season. Here's to many more to come!!! I truly hope I can do some more sight fishing for Carp this year... it's soooo much fun!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to my personal photographer Kiwi for these pics some of which were taken from our perch!!! Cheers PJ Garn

Well done mate!!! Kiwi Waynie wondered why we didn't see you up there... now we know why!!! Have you seen Waynies 1.84KG buck Rainbow from the weekend??? Cheers PJ Garn

Well done Waynie on your first YFT... I wanna be the next to catch one but the opportunity to get out chasing them has never come up!!! (So anyone with a spare spot pls PM me!!! LOL!) Thanks for the steaks they were delicious!!! Cheers again PJ Garn