Jump to content

Dee Why Jim

MEMBER
  • Posts

    26
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Dee Why Jim last won the day on February 3 2021

Dee Why Jim had the most liked content!

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

Dee Why Jim's Achievements

BREAM

BREAM (4/19)

45

Reputation

  1. I notice the author is Simon Cassettari - I used to play cricket against him back in the late 70's early 80's when we both wpould have been early 20's. Park cricket in Manly Warringah - from memory his team was called Curracurrang Creek.
  2. Conventional wisdom is that, similar to Luderick, this lining has a weedy taste. Easy to remove with a bit of hessian or other rough cloth. Caught and ate a couple of drummer caught recently at Little Bluefish - they are an excellent table fish in my opinion
  3. Hi Waza - a great article. You have an amazing way of connecting to 70/80's fishing. I made a few rods myself back in those days - remember feeling like a more "legit" fisherman with a few homemade, one piece rods tied onto the top of the car. Hope you are feeling better and able to get out and about DY Jim
  4. Hi Waza - good to see you back posting great fishing yarns. I did a bit of fishing in Urunga in the mid/late 70's - I had a mate who knew an old guy who had retired from the Sydney trams and moved to live in a house that backed onto the lagoon about 500 metres south of the caravan park / start of the boardwalk. I was pretty much a beginner then (not too advanced now to be honest) but the old guy had a rowboat and a yabbie pump he was happy for us to use. The guys I went with weren't too much into fishing so we rowed around exploring the lagoon during the day and I went out again in the late afternoon with a couple of dozen yabbies and a 6lb handline. There was another recent post on Fishraider about early experiences that made fishing part of your life. My holiday in Urunga were certainly part of that for me. I can remember as clear as day rowing out to find the narrow channel that meandered its way through the lagoon and holes and banks further south away from the town. I caught plenty of fish - with live yabbies it was probably hard not too - and didnt get anything that would seem special to an experienced fisherman but to a 15 year old novice it was like heaven. Got the hang of feeling the fish bite, slowly take a bit of line and then accelerate off. Mostly bream and flathead but got my first whiting, big enough that it took some line (probably 10 feet but it felt like 50) as it cut an arc around the boat heading across the shallows. Just before covid I drove up to Coff's Harbour on a golf trip and detoured into Urunga for old times sake. Walked out along the boardwalk to the beach and up onto the end of breakwater as Waza described. The Lagoon seemed much shallower than I remembered - there is a section of the breakwater that lets the water flow in and out from the river with the tide but I am guessing that this isn't enough to stop the lagoon silting up. I hope I am wrong but got the sense that fishing in the lagoon might not be the same. The lagoon is, however, a great spot for kids to swim and play and the water looked clear and clean. The town is a little more built up but still has an old time fishing village vibe - worth a visit if in the area and as Waza said the breakwater, river mouth and adjacent gutters on the beach look like prime fishing territory. Dee Why Jim
  5. Lots of more experienced folks than me on here but can't resist a "back in the old days" post. Fishing stores - mine was the old Graham's in North Narrabeen - used to have 100's of blanks of all sizes and wraps of fibreglass. Many more blanks than made up rods. Folks running the shop were real fisherman and were happy to give recommendations and of course sell the kit to build the rod. I built half a dozen or so when I was still at school in the 70's. They weren't super great to look at but catching fish on a rod you made yourself was very satisfying. My favourite was a yellow CR5126FT blank. Still have it thought the top 12 inches is long gone. Added a 6" sand spike and used orange binding - paired with an Alvey 55A and 10 lb line. Sorry for the self indulgence but enjoyed those days!
  6. Went to Burning Palms on Monday to put some of Waza's advice into practice. First time down there fishing since 1976 but it doesn't seemed to have changed much. The path down has been made more user friendly though it is still a big of a slog up the hill on the way back to the car park. Fished the gutter between the platform and the island (Tablet) as shown in the photo - the gutter is not that big, maybe 20 metres wide and 40 metres long but a very fishy looking location. Swell was super low and Waza's recommended bobby cork technique with cunje as bait got my son and I a few drummer. Kept one about 38 cm for dinner and let the others go. We should have caught more but I was a bit rusty and missed more than a few solid downs. Messaged Waza when I got back and he suggested I should have used a heavier sinker to keep the bait at the right depth given the blustery conditions. Will hopefully put that advice into practice next time though 4 hours holding a 650 Alvey and 12 foot fibreglass rod was a lot harder at 61 than it was when I was 16. Very sore the next day! The platform is easy to get too and plenty of cunje and crabs (plus cabbage weed) available. The platform in the photo below is close to water level so it really is a low tide / flat swell spot. As with all rock fishing spots, wear cleats and a life jacket and spent 15 minutes (or more) checking out the swell before getting close to the water. There are a higher ledges close by but the whole platform is very flat with nowhere to go in a big swell. Have to agree with Waza that is a magical place, the old huts give you a sense of going back in time. Hard to believe it is only an hours drive (and 30 minutes walk) from much of Sydney. Didn't see another fisherman on any of the nearby headlands and had a great day out
  7. Denisfisho - great question. I have been reading the suggestions made by experienced folks fishraiders as I am also a beginner with SP. I note the idea to use a slower retrieve with longer pauses. The only two fish I have caught on plastics were both after a slower than "normal" retrieve. Once I was fiddling with the drag and the second time I had a few hits and deliberately stopped to see what would happen. Not a statistically significant data set but my two cents worth. I also suspect that I have made the mistake (landbased) of staying too long in one spot as you have mentioned. I am thinking that next few sessions I with try to have a few locations mapped out in advance so that I have a plan to start in location A and move to B,C and D. Good luck!!
  8. Interesting data - a 1 metre mulloway could be as young as 4 years or as old as maybe 15. I guess the variation is the result of food availability? Or maybe some fish have genes that make them bigger? Fish release program seems like a great idea but I hope DPI are confident there are enough mullet, worms and other stuff for the mulloway to eat.
  9. Hi Waza - thanks for the welcome lockdown diversion. Your article motivated me to spend a hour or so on Google. Found this link to a Fishing comp organised by legacy in Yamba before our time but it looks like a huge event in terms of both people and fish caught. Some good shots of the breakwalls you talked about in an earlier story about Yamba. Did you go to any of these regional, fundraising type events? Looks like there was a mix of some very serious fishermen and plenty of casuals. DY Jim
  10. Thanks for the diagram - based on your prompting I have started to look at doing it myself. Also found a link that has lots off good stuff on seascape reels. Seems I have the low ratio (about 3:1 ratio) model so no high speed spinning. Maybe that makes the pinion gear a bit more robust - it has more teeth than the high ratio models. https://www.reelmanaustralia.com/jack-harvey-page-20 I found one small difference vs the diagram and thought I would put it in this thread in case someone looks in the future. The drag plate shown as 4a is different in my reel - no key on the outer circumference. The other 2 washers are d section as shown but the middle one is just a normal concentric washer. I thought perhaps that the original was lost but there is also no key way on the inside of the main driving gear. Perhaps not a bit deal but maybe I have an earlier, slightly simpler model. I have ordered a sheet of Carbontex and some Cal's grease and will give that a go. Also looked at the recent thread on using felt so could try that as well. As I mentioned initially not a high usage reel but want to get it in working order just in case. Thanks everyone for their help.
  11. Hi Waza - this is an old threat but just stumbled on it. Great write up. My fishing heyday was the late 70's and early 80's. August was the prime trevally month off the rocks around Dee Why. The fish were often so thick that it was a great time to introduce friends to rock fishing. The fish were typically all the same size maybe 32/34 cm - not huge but they did fight pretty well. Cube of pilchard with a #1 hook was my rig - sometimes with no sinker but usually a 00 or an 0 size. There were times when you could cast, wind in the slack, count to ten, give a quick strike as you have described and a fish would be hooked more time than not. Bought a CR5126FT blank from the old Graham's fishing store in Narrabeen specifically for trevally and bream - the rod is long gone but still have the 55A5 Alvey that I bought to go with it. Great memories - reading some of the comments seems the trevally aren't as thick these days? We were a fair way from the North Head so not sure schools near Dee Why were attracted by the sewerage but perhaps the Sydney Murks boosted the whole population. Went back to some my old spots a few months ago with my sons - we got a couple of trevally so some still a few around around. Hopefully everyone in Sydney can get back to fishing soon
  12. Hey GH - that's great, appreciate your help (and those above). I was a bit wary of doing it myself as I suspect I mucked around with it years ago and could easily have got things in the wrong order but now I can at least check the various bits are all there. I have almost exclusively used direct wind Alvey reels so this might be a dumb question but if I replace the washers etc myself I can roughly check that the drag works as it is supposed to when fully on and fully off. With the drag set at some intermediate point should I be able to get a sense if it is releasing smoothly and not grabbing as can happen if things are not working right? Maybe the only way to be sure is with a decent size fish ?
  13. Hi Folks - I have an old seascape reel (see picture below) that I haven't used in decades - not sure it has ever really been used much. Does anyone know where I could get it serviced ? I am thinking the old drag washers will need to be replaced with whatever is the latest and best material. I don't intend to use it on a regular basis but would like to get it into shape so that if the opportunity arose the drag would be in working order. Somewhere in Sydney would be my preference. Thanks for any help provided - I hope this is outside the rules of the site. Delete if this is the case Jim PS Hope everyone is coping with the lockdowns ok and the next few months see some positive changes
  14. Thanks for the article Warren - helping us all get through lockdown. The visual of an octopus wielding two knives as it tries to escape is fantastic - wont be able to keep a straight face next time I see an octopus at the fish markets. This might be outside the scope of a fishing site but as I am stuck at home behind a desk through I would share. I had a job about 8 years ago that got me to South Korea. We had a local agent and visited customers and other boring stuff. After one visit Suhwan asked if I was up for a traditional local lunch. Only possible answer was "no problem". We went to an old building right on the coast - jutted out into a shallow bay that was a mud flat at low tide. I was told that the local delicacy was octopus. "No problem - I like BBQed octopus". "No not cooked - it will be raw - like of sushi style" A small octopus with legs about 12 inches long soon arrived, wriggling on a plate. I didn't ask but assume it had come from the bay over my left shoulder or maybe from under the floor we were sitting on - not table or chairs in this less than fancy joint. There was a momentary pause from the Koreans - I guess allowing me the opportunity to bail out - before a pair of scissors was produced and the octopus was quickly turned into a plate of wriggling pieces about an inch long. Before we tucked into the writhing mass there was a safety warning. "Dont eat them too quickly and make sure you chew them properly". This was probably unnecessary as I wasn't planning on going too hard but I answering with "Ok, but why the warning?" "People have died if they swallow too many without chewing because legs will attached themselves to the back of your throat and strangle you to death". Yikes !! I was part way through a jug of Korean beer and wondered if I would need the remainder to combat the octopus if came for me. As advised they were still very much "alive" and sucked onto the inside of your cheek and tongue and it was actually quite hard to chew and swallow each segment. Heeding the safety warning I worked my way through my share of the 8 legs and had a few more beers and we went on our way back into Seoul. The taste? As you may have guessed very much like garden hose with a touch of salt.
×
×
  • Create New...