Fergofisher

Water must have pushed off as well as the fish. Cube up and send some weightless pillies down next time mate, have had some glory sessions doing it that way. Sometimes they only want livies sometimes they like a cube of pilly..

Went off the fad off Port Kembla last Sat - Water was coffee.. Nothing around but debree in the water.

Mate all different. Iv caught a lot more bigger Jews on single hooks rather then double, just presents better in the water. Squid strips got the little fish going but i usually have at least 1 full out with a single hook pinched in the top of the hood. For the yakkas, i usually just butterfly full yakkas with the hook pinned from the bottom jaw through the head of the fish. about a metre and a half or so of leader to a running snapper lead attached to a swivel.

Cheers John, and yes haha i have plenty of questions. I'm happy to put in the hours to figure these fish out as usually not many want to give away there secrets which is understandable. Thanks for the info, i was thinking much the same about starting on the shelf and following the general rule of thumbs. Will keep you in the loop this season if i get the chance to head out. I ended up treating myself with a couple Tiagra 50's - so hopefully i get the chance to hear one screaming.

Gday Raiders, This year - is the year i am hopefully going to be able to finally target a YFT. I have a 4.75 Top Ender and have (in the right conditions) been 30-50 km offshore regularly. Need advice on a couple things before the season properly starts to help me try and land this dream nugget. Ill usually have someone on board with me so i don't mind running 4 rods as we have a bit of experience clearing them fair fast when we were on our marlin mission earlier this year. Gear: I currently have x4 Okuma TG30 2 speeds with 500m of 50lb braid and i would say 100-200m of 15kg mono top shot. For each, i have 24kg stand up back bone elites. Will this gear suffice on fish up to 50-100kg? I am willing to upgrade to a couple Tiagra 50WLRS's with 24kg setups if need be to be able to land one of these beasts. I have a couple heavy spin rods to pitch as well. Lures: I have a mix of Xrap 15's, 20's & 30's. I have a number of 6, 7, & 8" skirts all different colours etc mainly by Pakula. Lure wise will these do the job with a mixed spread? Teasers: I have a Pakula witchdoctor with a few flash strips attached. I have a few birds etc as well. Will this assist? Outriggers: I do have a set of outriggers. Not sure if this would wise to use or not? Leader: For the skirts i think they are already rigged at about 100-120lb. For the divers etc, will 80lb do the job? How much leader as well for the divers would work? Belts: I only have stand up belts not a full harness but again willing to get a black magic setup as example if that's going to help my arms not fall off. Couple more questions: - Where to go i am completely unsure.. This is the main concern i have. What sort of water do they sit in generally as in temp wise or does it vary? - I know to look for bird life etc, but if this isn't happening am i looking for temp breaks, clean/dirty water, mass eddies etc? I have access to Ripcharts to give historic guidance hopfully to put e in the general area of the hot spots - How close in can they be caught? As in do i need to wait for perfect day to rip 30kms off or do they come in closer to the heads at all at any point or do they just follow the bait etc? - Is cubing the better option when the fish aren't coming to the surface? If so what's the general rule of thumb as in how often i should cube, cut into halfs quarters, when to feed a bait back through the chum etc etc. Cheers for the help in advance, this fish has been on my bucket list since i can remember. Thanks Legends.

Al good mate. Theres some solid Jews in the river so don't be suprised if a random one picks up you're bait. Yep theres a little boat hire place just below the circle on the map. It has a tackle shop, food drinks etc as well - i think it's called the boatshed or something like that? Not sure on hire wise though, i know for sure you can hire little boats but not sure about 8 in one..

I have marked a few spots mate to give you an idea. The river used to be a haven for Jews, good bream and flathead it is a little more quite these days but you can still get some good fish.

Gday Eddy, Fished Tuross many times in the past, stunning quite spot down the coast. Are you chasing anything specific? Or just having a fish?

Went up to the Hawksbury last Sunday night. Not only to have a fish but to clear the head. Ended up trying the usual.. Juno, mid grounds, few of the bridges etc. Hard to find any yakkas or tailor in the average water but had some pre frozen yakkas and squid from a previous trip. Nothing for hours, about an hour after turn of the tide from low to high they came on the chew. All babies up to about 50cm but managed to snag a few. All let go of course, good to see the river teaming with soaps! A couple eels, 1 catfish.. The usual classic weekenders driving full speed a boat length from me which i could only just laugh. Rods: Ranging 4-6kg Reels: Ranging 40-50 sized daiwa Braid: 30lb jbraid Leader: 40lb Shimano Ocea Hooks: Mustad 5/0 Bait: 3 week old frozen yakkas/squid. I did have some prawns but they didn't do the trick, couldn't get freshys unfortunately.

nice good little feed there. What technique got them on the chew, slow life or jigging?

2.5g works well up river as it's not that deep where you're fishing the edge. lighter the better, has a better drop

Mate hit up any ledge in the harbour or where you can flick a plastic off. If you can find somewhere in reach of mored boats even better. As DerekD mentioned, jump on google maps to give you a better idea. Have a few spots to go to, if there not hitting you in the first 5-10 throws - move on

Ok thanks mate. Yakkas or slimys? What area would you target for a good place to start the cube?

Gday Raiders, This year - is the year i am hopefully going to be able to finally target a YFT. I have a 4.75 Top Ender and have (in the right conditions) been 30-50 km offshore regularly. Need advice on a couple things before the season properly starts to help me try and land this dream nugget. Ill usually have someone on board with me so i don't mind running 4 rods as we have a bit of experience clearing them fair fast when we were on our marlin mission earlier this year. Gear: I currently have x4 Okuma TG30 2 speeds with 500m of 50lb braid and i would say 100-200m of 15kg mono top shot. For each, i have 24kg stand up back bone elites. Will this gear suffice on fish up to 50-100kg? I am willing to upgrade to a couple Tiagra 50WLRS's with 24kg setups if need be to be able to land one of these beasts. I have a couple heavy spin rods to pitch as well. Lures: I have a mix of Xrap 15's, 20's & 30's. I have a number of 6, 7, & 8" skirts all different colours etc mainly by Pakula. Lure wise will these do the job with a mixed spread? Teasers: I have a Pakula witchdoctor with a few flash strips attached. I have a few birds etc as well. Will this assist? Outriggers: I do have a set of outriggers. Not sure if this would wise to use or not? Leader: For the skirts i think they are already rigged at about 100-120lb. For the divers etc, will 80lb do the job? How much leader as well for the divers would work? Belts: I only have stand up belts not a full harness but again willing to get a black magic setup as example if that's going to help my arms not fall off. Couple more questions: - Where to go i am completely unsure.. This is the main concern i have. What sort of water do they sit in generally as in temp wise or does it vary? - I know to look for bird life etc, but if this isn't happening am i looking for temp breaks, clean/dirty water, mass eddies etc? I have access to Ripcharts to give historic guidance hopfully to put e in the general area of the hot spots - How close in can they be caught? As in do i need to wait for perfect day to rip 30kms off or do they come in closer to the heads at all at any point or do they just follow the bait etc? - Is cubing the better option when the fish aren't coming to the surface? If so what's the general rule of thumb as in how often i should cube, cut into halfs quarters, when to feed a bait back through the chum etc etc. Cheers for the help in advance, this fish has been on my bucket list since i can remember. Thanks Legends.

When are you chasing them, night or day? A normal squid jig will get them.. Try a different techniques as sometimes they are shy. Slow lift or a couple heavy jigs, just need to keep trying to see what entices them to grab it. At night i tend to use something with a bit of glow to it, works well..

Nice mate well done. Also how good are the Frostbite eski's!

Stonka, well done.

Unsure mate about the Geospot but i would recommend the 54lb ipilot Minn Kota for that size boat. I run a 54lb on my 4.75 Top ender and that holds fine in 3-4 knots of current offshore. Will be cheaper as well without having to get 2 110amp deep cycles to keep the 24v running.. If money isn't the issue, go nuts on the bigger gear, will get more time out of it with less effort.

Depends on how many you have in the spread mate. If you have a witchdoctor, flippy floppy, bird or any other teasers out try and run them within 5m behind them. Start you're spread on the second pressure wave. Get up to 6.5-7knots and look back and you should see (pending how big you're boat is) multiple pressure waves. Bigger,darker lures in close and just have a lure on each pressure wave after that. Try and get them to sit at the bottom of the wave they will work & breathe better and stand out more. shotgun i run just past the wash at the back. If you have 5 rods, just work 1 lure per pressure wave starting at the second. Have them in the wash as much as you can. You're boat is basically a big teaser think of it that way. you want you're lures in the zone as much as possible. It's also not just a set and forget style, check them occasionaly they are breathing properly and dont have any weed etc on them.

24 soaps in a sesh is still fun! nice one

cracka!

Great but frustrating report mate, well done on raising so many in a session - regardless of the reports out there - that's a solid effort. You were just quite unlucky with the fish wrapping itself up! Do you have outriggers at all? If yes, run 1/3 of breaking strain drag and hold on. Everyone is different but i have found the solid hook up rate is far better with a bit of drop back from the riggers. Once the fish hits, you don't need to do anything special the slight drop back in the line should give you a better chance of the fish turning then sticking it into it's boney head then just the fish hitting a lure straight from a rod. Without riggers, the boys above all have it spot on, if you can take the time to fill you're spread with teasers and sight see (maybe when you have a bit more sleep or coffee to keep you interested) it's a great way to pitch back a slimy.. From my experience, i would troll lures around until you can hopefully find some balls of bait. Bring all you're lures in and slow troll 2-3 slimys if you can 20m, 30m and 40m back across current works best but have had hok ups going into and with the current. Works even better if you have some flash strips, dredges etc 5 or so metres in from of the livebait to mimic the lone wolf behind the pack waiting to be taken. Lightest drag you can run without having line run off the reel and troll at 2 knots until you get a strike. 7-8/0's seems to be the honey spot for fish up to that 150kg mark. Keep at it man, you will get one and it will be up there with the best things you have done.. The feeling of boating a dream fish makes it so much better when you know how much time, effort and money has gone into the battle. If you're ever in need of someone to tag along and talk shit with - hit me up.

No worries mate, thank you for the heads up.

Seems correct but even if it happens (Which it won't) no one will follow that silly suggestion. What's next, you can't use a rod?

Gday Raiders, After some tips on where the slimy mackeral hold up around Bellambi? i am launching in a boat, probably heading up to Bandit in chase for a Black Marlin while the warmer currents are still around. Should i go before the sun rises or are they in numbers currently of any specific reef? - any help will be much appreciated!