The Poacher

Hey Pickles that’s a great catch out of Sydney. You could also find a Church with multiple services on a Sunday. Good luck brother and keep the reports coming. cheers the poacher

Looks like fun - plus you can always grab a coffee at the Maccas too!

I use the wide gapes inside and they are now my favourite. No gut hooks, and the fish still hook themselves.

Great approach, and a great attitude DaveThe Boy. BTW - fillets of whiting in garlic and parmesan cheese are unbeleivably good. The Poacher

Hi Raiders, Took the young fella out with the aim of getting him a decent fish. Everytime he had been on the boat previously, it seemed that someone else would get the better quality fish. So I wanted one he could claim he did it all by himself. The kings wouldnt co-operate so we used the remaining livies for flathead. He dropped the first one, but nailed this nice 80cm fish. Got a few others on plastics too. Was a great morning and he was really chuffed. He took a bit of convincing to let it go, but in the end he was really happy to see it swim off. Cheers, The Poacher

What a night!!

You can see the scales missing off his side here. And a couple of teeth marks

Hi Raiders, The tide was pretty good for flathead yesterday (low at 7pm), and with the wind backing off, I sought (and received) permission from the missus to source some dinner. It took me 2 hours to catch a measly 10 mullet for bait. The litte buggers would swim around and over the trap, and occasionally go in. Obviously, my "trap" was sub standard as quite a few swam back out again. Anyway, we had enough for a few hours so I got going, Plus I had scooped a few prawns last week and fresh frozen them. Once I got the drift sorted out we started to catch a few fish - couple of flatties around that 65 mark on the livies. Plus the prawns were doing the business for my son on his 8lb handline (he loves the handline and prefers it over a rod). 1 each trevally, whiting, flounder. Then he hooked a solid fish that had some weight, half way in, it took off and went for a huge run over into the shallows - in all the kelp and amongst the wharves. I couldn't figure out what was going on so I motored over on the electric. Once into the shallows I couldnt quite see what was happening, but once the water cleared a bit, I could see a wobbegong (around 30+ kilos) swimming around with a bream in its mouth!!! To be honest it was a bit hairy in there with the current pushing me in to the wharves etc, but under a bit of pressure the wobby spat the bream and we got it in. The wobby wasnt happy and splashed us as he swam off back to camoflauge in among the kelp again. The bream was squashed to death and only had some scape marks on his belly - so we will eat him tonight. Of all the things that could have happened in Brisbane Waters on a Sunday arvo - I wouldnt have guessed that in a million years. The boys loved it, and will have some great stories to tell at school today. Plus we will eat well for a couple of nights. Cheers, The Poacher.

The fish were between 4 and 7m of water. Plus I got the Bonnies on a pink squid, plus the squidgy wriggler I had been using for flathead. In other words, they were eating anything that day!!!!

Thanks Captain Spanner - thats a very good tip. I use plastics too - but with the little kids on board it doesnt seem to be that effective. LuckyFil - I just hook them through the jaw, straight from bottom to top. Even the 10-15cm ones I hook the same way. They are a very hardy bait fish. Sam Bros - I got the bonnies with both methods. When the school was active we could cast to them. When they went down, we just trolled the area and still got them.

LuckyFil - I have trouble catching poddies in a trap. Sometimes I cant do it, but mostly its unreliable. I catch them on a tiny (size 10 or 12 trout hook) hook one at a time. The hook is so small most 8lb line wont go through it. So I used a leader of 4lb line. Also, I use whatever size mullet I can catch. Flathead eat them all. I would love to hear where/how other raiders catch their mullet, because its a pain in the butt for me. Or where other coasties catch their's. Also Regan - I sent you a PM. Cheers, The Poacher

Hey Raiders, Took my son and his mate out on Saturday morning as the tides and the forecast were ideal. As the tide change was at 8.30, I caught some livebaits the night before and kept them alive overnight. 12v pump plugged into a battery pack, which I left plugged into the wall via the re-charger. Was messy but it worked. Anyway, drifted around and got 5 over 65cms, and a big girl at 78cm. Kept a couple that were deep hooked and released the big ones. The big girl was caught on a handline and a size #2 suicide - hooked right in the corner of the mouth. I use small hooks on the smaller poddies so they swim around. But generally, I use those banana style hooks. To be honest, the kids LOVED the hand to hand contact of the handline. Flathead aren't really going to bust you off, so the kids really got to get a feel for keeping gentle pressure on the fish - and there is no hurry to "get it in". Then, as the tide bottomed out, I had a look in Broken Bay and saw a few birds working. Got 5 bonnies to top off the morning. Was great to be on the water, and makes up for those times when its a marine desert out there. The Poacher

Hi All, Have just sold my old boat, and am in the market for a new one. I want a 5 to 5.5m aluminium, with a 4 stroke, and an electric engine with I Pilot. Have narrowed it down to Tabs Territory pro, Top Ender, Renegade or maybe the new Frontier. To be honest, there arent many for sale in NSW - I might have to drive to Qld to get a 2nd hand one. Can anyone tell me if the Frontier 5.1m will handle light offshore? It looks completely like an inshore boat that might handle some chop. But to me, it looks like it would struggle with swell. Any advice appreciated. The Poacher

There are a lot of sharks in the area - we have had good fish eaten by Tigers at the boat etc. Not sure how to avoid them. Where were you? North, south or at the Jail? Steve

At least you broke your drought with decent size fish! Nice catch