XD351

Mate that’s epic ! Congratulations! And an awesome report with fantastic photos!

The one year thing was a case of shoot first , ask questions later ! The DPI and the minister knew all too well that the scientific evidence would have squashed the idea of a fishing ban so they conveniently ignored it . We ( rec anglers) have to tread very carefully here because this ban has set a dangerous precedent- if the government can just roll in and ban something without any research, public consultation or any evidence that it was needed then this will not be the last ban they impose upon rec fishing ! Every time a minority party jumps up and down having a hissy fit or uses what is essentially extortion tactics in parliament to get what they want the government of the time will simply give them what they want to shut them up .

It is the southern end of Lake Macquarie Noel.

I lived there for a year in 2007- nice place ! link to dpi map https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/680450/Map-lakemacquarie.pdf Below I have added a few spots I used to fish for flathead usually using prawns or half pilchard as bait . ( red circles) I never put traps for crabs out as it was illegal back then but is permitted now - link to post on here about it if I were going to try for a crab I would do it in the yellow circles as this is an extensive shallow area with lots of weed and not much current . If you want to fish the main inlet channel ( Swansea to the ocean ) stick to the last and first hour or so either side of a tide change as the curren rips through here hard . Please don’t swim in the lake unless it is in a caged area or shallow with good visibility as there are some humongous sharks in there - especially around pulbar island. I used to swim in the clear shallow water around the islands in the main channel at Swansea . There are two tackle stores there - one on the south west side of Swansea bridge and another at marks point ( this one has a YouTube channel also that does a weekly fishing report every Friday ) sorry can’t name them on here due to site rules - they will be easy to find by doing a search on the internet. Unless they have updated it the ramp at chain valley bay is only very small - I wouldn’t want to launch anything bigger than 4.5 m tinny there . Sometimes I could catch poddy mullet at the ramp also .

Anyone want to have a guess how long it will be before they deem them a “threatened species “ and turn every headland in NSW into a protected habitat zone - no fishing , no diving , no nuthin !

This is from the DPI Fisheries Facebook page - posted about an hour ago . https://www.facebook.com/share/p/YZXJhoBUayvTDcZa/?mibextid=WC7FNe And for those that don’t do Facebook:

Also a by election coming up down there -pandering for votes ?

If what I watched on the budget estimates review where minister Moriarty was questioned on many occasions about various things relating to this ban is anything to go by DPI doesn’t know when it will take place nor do they know why it was enacted . Scary stuff for us fishos ! The feeling of contributing to rec fishing by paying my fishing fee is now well and truly gone for this fisho .

Just gotta keep at it ! From what i have seen on social media there ain’t a lot of flathead around .

I used to fish for them back then but sort of lost interest once the cold started to get to me as I got older . I would have devastated if it was a pb flattie 😭😭😭😭

Great report and Epic haul of crabs and garies mate !

Thank Zoran! I had a sneaking suspicion that it was going to be tough going as my mate fished there a week or two earlier and caught bugger all . I fished half tide rocks a few weeks back and caught bugger all , the fish had moved from their usual holding spot to a place where we never used to get them - maybe the result of the recent dredging? Also my mate decided to fish a whole pilly and got two flatties while I fished a half pilly and got zip - not even a bite ! Work that one out ! Very strange times up there !

I seen a few guys at the ramp cleaning blue spots but they weren’t big from what I saw .

It has been 30+ yrs since I last ate one - forgotten what they taste like !

G’day Raiders, I lobbed up to broken bay for a quick fish and to do a bit of recon - arriving on first light. I fished my usual haunts using half pilly ( drifting from either patonga to lion island or flint and steel to lion island ) then ran a few drifts from flint and steel towards patonga after the tide change (11:19am low)but only managed one measly 38cm flattie . I lost a decent hairtail while trying to land it - with a run out tide , SE swell and NW it made the spot very lumpy and I couldn’t stand up in my little boat and that cost me time trying to get close enough to get a grab on the hairtail and the hook pulled 🤬 this was on a green cyclops rig and a whole pilly. I did have a drift across the mouth of Cowan but didn’t get a bite so I decided to do some set up work on my sounder until around 2pm then and went home. A word of warning in regards to sounder set up - I made the mistake of using some settings I got off some American YouTube channel and it rendered my unit unusable- I had to do a factory reset, update the firmware and start again from scratch using some guidance from a sounder tuition course I payed for ( Australian guy and a recognised expert with sounders) As it turned out the course was spot on when it said I won’t need to wander far from factory settings - mainly contrast and brightness or sensitivity. All the fish came from the area circled and on the run out tide . I at least got to try out my new brag mat , this is the one sold for use in a kayak and it forms a V shape when opened so you can lay it across your legs and sit the fish in it to measure , I use one side flat against the floor and the other side forms a backstop stopping the fish sliding off . I found this made photographing much easier and faster - just got to work out a way of training the fish not to move right when I take a photo 🤣🤣🤣

Ok , first you need to establish what bearings you have - either Holden or ford and the numbers on the bearings will tell you that- my bet is Holden . So first step is to get those numbers and search online , then you can buy hubs with bearings but there is a catch - you can have hubs with Holden bearings and ford pattern wheel studs and visa versa - this was done to give trailer manufacturers a choice depending on what wheels they could source - they used to us second hand rims to keep costs down . You will want 13 or 14 inch rims , 13s are old Holden pattern HG back and everything else is HQ onward thru commodore, ford is different stud size . 13 inch tyres are available but be careful to get either light truck or there is a dedicated trailer tyre available - doesn’t have the drive tyre rating so you can’t use it on a car - I got caught and ended up with tyres that were not rated for the weight I was carrying and had to change them , that being said 14inch are more common now and more available at all tyre shops . You are more than likely going to have to change the guards so you might need someone to do some welding. I can’t name suppliers on here but one starts with super , the other with road or you could look on that popular bay site . so in summary: get hubs with bearings that fit your axle and with a stud pattern that fits your rims , watch out what tyres you buy as some are not suitable - I got mine from a tyre mob called Bob something and make sure everything is galvanised- alloy rims look nice but will cause you grief in the long run . If searching for bearing numbers will cause you grief I will do it for you just let me know the numbers

In my case I have to factor in a journey from the Penrith area to somewhere to collect bait, with the exception of catching poddies , squid , yakkas or collecting weed ( if you can find any ) Sydney harbour is out of the question ( intertidal zone is protected ) so I have to go further a field for nippers and blood/ squirt worms . Pipis on Sydney beaches are hit and miss at best and usually small size , I dare say beach worms will be likewise- anlso very timid and any nipper beds that can be reached by foot cop a flogging . Sometimes it is cheaper to buy it and definitely less hassle . I’m currently sorting out a worm farm and a blackfish weed growing tank so I can go out the back and dig up a few worms to use to catch freshwater mullet ( good bait for flathead and bream ) and carp( for fun ) in the Nepean , I’m hoping the blackfish weed thing works because a 2 hour round trip to the ocean rocks to collect it doesn’t please me !

Putting a (still)frozen pea on a hook - now there’s a task I would look forward to! Would be like trying to thread a ball bearing in to a hook 🤣🤣🤣

You Don’t need much Derek ! An old stocking foot with some pillies in it and tie that closed with a bit of cord that is a few feet long - this serves as both the stinky and hand bait - that’s it ! If you had to buy all that it would only set you back $10-$15 at the most but you could scrounge around and get that down to a couple of bucks if you have a local fish market that sells sardines - usually around $12 a kilo and you only want 250g at most . Forget the pliers - better off not starting out learning bad habits . Probably the two best tutorials I have seen were by Alex Bellissimo and Roger Osborne ( he made multi part tutorial but you had to buy it ) when I get home I will have a look for it . Probably the biggest expense is paying for the parking at the beach - it’s highway robbery! Thank you for unlocking this thread Donna ! I think there is still a lot that can be added to it .

I noticed on a FB page I look at there was a brown caught in the Nepean last week , I also heard they were going to release water from the dam early last week ( you may be able to confirm this on Sydney water site? ) . Plenty of streams out west - cox, fish , duckmaloi and Turon rivers and I think there was a dam at wallarawang ( possibly thompsons creek dam that was fly or fly and lure only . Also Oberon dam and wyangla dam for trout . Can’t vouch for the fishing at any of these as it has been years since I fished them , I have seen a few decent trout come out of the upper Turon near Turon gates but it was a while ago and I can’t remember who posted it on Fishraider .

🤔 I wonder if I can convert my yammie to air cooled and use my polycraft for that 🤣🤣🤣 🤔 maybe a dragon boat would be more fun 🤣🤣 If that was in Sydney you can guarantee there would be a pack of clowns on jet skis going down there.🤣🤣🤣

I should have known 🤣🤣🤣

Stiff water 🤣🤣🤣 you’re a classic 🤣🤣 I dare you to paddle a kayak through there ! That’ll get your biceps pumping!

Yep!

This sounds eerily like the council meeting they had to try and get Mona vale basin turned into a marine sanctuary zone - in the end it was decided that the council didn’t have the power to implement anything because it is a DPI controlled region . Best they can do is ask for a case study in which case they will probably have to pay for it, these studies can take years and cost a lot of money . There are other issues at play here as well like people catching undersized fish and cutting these up to hand feed these groper- if it is illegal for me to cut up an undersized tailor for bait how can it be legal for them to do it ? I think an overhaul of the spear fishing / skin diving regulations and a way better education program are in urgent order . Now I’m obviously not a spear fisher so not certain on this but if I have to pay a fishing fee to line fish why shouldn’t the spear fishers also be made to pay the same fee? Do they pay an fee?Also do you have to register a spear gun ? Do you need a licence for one ? I don’t want to debate the last two as I don’t think this forum is the place to argue the intricacies of spear guns / weapons or their ownership- just a simple yes or no answer is all I want .