Matt

There are quite a few spots you can wander too (or if you have one of the golf carts, drive too). The first would be the rock wall protecting the boat harbour, plenty of GT's and small Queenies to be had along there. There is also a small wharf nearby (off Airport Drive) that I believe is accessible but never fished it myself. What I did last time I was there was take a walk north, there is a good walking track and the beaches you can access all have good reef edges and sand to fish. I got plenty of little reefies and pelagics on a mix of plastics along there, the best one I found was Catseye Beach (I think?). I am sure there are better fish there, but I didn't encounter them that trip. There are more beaches and headlands to look at too. The 10,000 Saragosa is an overkill I would think though? Cheers Windy

Can also look at Bass & Flinders Point (Salmon Haul Bay) on Port Hacking. It is fairly easy spot to fish and has good kelp beds with good numbers of Squid. Any of the wharves in the lower end of Sydney Harbour are also pretty good. I have done well at Clifton Gardens and Balmoral at different times. Cheers Windy

Yes, there is a wonderful little split ring tool from Smith (Smith Split Ring Pincette). It is priceless for small hard bodies and changing hooks. I highly recommend checking them out, I have owned a couple for many years and they have made life sooo much easier. Pretty available from most tackle stores both shop and online. Cheers Windy

I am pretty sure that the regulations for size limits are 'in possession' so using an undersize fish for bait is illegal. Having said that, I do believe there are allowances for Poddy Mullet in particular for bait use. But in my example where I used to use live, undersize Whiting it would be illegal. I remember the howls of protest when they introduced size limits on Tailor meaning no one could use small Tailor as bait anymore (another gun bait, but very hard to keep alive). As always, best to check fisheries for exact rulings. Cheers Windy

Used to Sweep a lot for John Dory (and Mado's) and caught more Johnies on those than I ever did on Yakka's or Slimies. I think anglers just get caught up using Yakka's and slimies at times. Another gun tactic we used to use (not any more, not legal) is undersize Sand Whiting for big Flathead. Cheers Windy

The whole area can fish well, where you were I find to be one of the better ones (exact opposite to what TheFoosh said, I think the worst stretch is where he does well!!). You used to be able to wade out along the rock groyne and fish either side but since it became Oyster encrusted it is a little dangerous and slippery. The north side of the groyne is good but the silt/mud there can be deep and wading it a bit hairy. The shoreline running from here along to Half Moon and Sisters Bay is a gun stretch especially for Bream but the rocks are slippery so be careful there. Cheers Windy

I will throw another vote in the Manns Stretch 5+ and 10+ if you can find them. I have a few left and they are pure gold. Some more HB's I have been using specifically for Flathead and have success are: Zerek Tango Shad 69mm (the 50mm is good too). Daiwa Tournament Spike 52sp Lively Lures Micro Mullet Cheers Windy

Berkley Gulp Shrimps in both 2" and 3" Probably the only plastic I find that crosses different species and styles. Cheers Windy

I would ditch the plastics for Tailor, just end up being an expensive outing with lots of dead plastics. Metals, hard bodies and poppers would be the go. Tailor can be a load of fun on poppers. can't comment on Snook, not something I have ever caught. Cheers Windy

I have been keeping a hand written one since 1999 and every so often I do some research into specific software etc to upload all the info into. There are quite a few specific logs out there, one I have been mucking around with lately is Fish In Sight (http://www.fishinsight.com/). It's freeware and looks ok. One problem I find with these are they are tailored to the US market, but they certainly have a lot of options for capturing details. There are others too but a lot actually require purchasing or are 'cloud' based allowing others to see what you catching and where which I don't like. Otherwise you can make your own using Microsoft Access but you will need some knowledge on how databases work and how you can use Access to build them. Excel is OK but it is limited in what it can give you. Cheers Windy

it looks super inviting but never had much luck there myself. Got a couple of small EP's from the road bridge and some Bream off snags at different times but I always left it feeling disappointed. The mouth of the creek on Lac Mac though holds some top Bream. Cheers Windy

Heya At the mouth of Homebush Bay, Wentworth Point. I was actually looking for Trevally as it can be a good spot for them there but there was a bust up and hey presto a couple of small Salmon. I actually haven't got that many of them this year but have seen them! Later in the afternoon I was at Iron Cove along the Russel Lea shoreline and got some nice Bream along there. Good little shoreline for Bream but the rocks are deadly there now, so slippery! This weekend might be good for Salmon, high tides on dawn and dusk and they might push up with that tide. Also think it might be a good tide to hit some of the canals and creeks around see if some nice Bream are pushing up them. Cheers Windy

Nice vid jdanger. I have been having the exact opposite on the Parra to you this month, more Bream this month than last and better size too. Some quality Flathead and I got some Salmon well up the river on Sunday! Only think i haven't found much of this year are Trevally. Amazing how we can be fishing the same waters and get totally opposite results, I was thinking the same thing last month, I was really struggling to find fish and it looked like you were getting a few. Cheers Windy

I once managed to lasso a small Rainbow. Had to cut off a massive tangle at Middlingbank on Eucumbene one evening and I let the now loose line just drift out in the water whilst we sorted out some stuff. I picked up the rod to wind in the loose line and setup again when all of a sudden I had a fish on! Was super confused and wandered if I had cut the wrong line or something but no, a small Rainbow about 30cm had swum through the loose line and somehow looped it around its tails. One very unlucky little Trout! Windy PS. He was released unharmed.

I have travelled with gear all over the world and generally match what I am taking to my luggage. Most of the time I can fit my Fly Rods into check-in luggage as they are 4 piece, they have their own carry tube which makes it easy and I can sometimes fit a 4 piece travel spin rod in with them. Where I want to take heavier gear that is either 1 piece or 2 piece than the old PVC tube works. I went the extra step and bought a specific one designed for rods with extra padding and locks etc. Its been with me to a lot of places both international and domestic. Just needs to go through the 'large luggage' areas of air ports. You hear bad stories about rods getting dusted up but I haven't had an issue (yet!!). The rest of the gear gets scattered around the various luggage cases, just make sure you don't put anything into your carry on that could potentially get pinged by security. Good luck. Windy

Heya mate, man thats depressing! First Wallace and now Lyell, some good Trout waters getting reddy busted. Might have to stick to TCD. Been good although been a lean year for chasing Trout, only been up to the Snowy Mountains once. Been honing my Bream'ing skills again as I might come out of retirement and re-enter the tournament circuit again after a 6 year break. You been getting out? Windy

Nice session, he is a skinny Brown, post spawner no doubt. When did Redfin start showing up in Lyell? Admittedly I haven't fished it in a couple of years but I did extensively a few years back and never saw or heard of them? I hope they don't get a major foothold in the lake, it looked to be turning into a top mixed Bass and Trout fishery and those reddies can potentially ruin it! Cheers Windy

Spinning, I catch more Trout over there on soft plastics, small hard bodies and in-line spinners (Vibrax's, Celtas etc) than I do with Fly. Blairy has mentioned a few top places, in the Otago region I love the Taieri and Manuherikia Rivers and any of the dams in the region are good (have a look at Manorburn and Butchers for example). Over at Queenstown try driving north along Lake Wakatipu until you get to the small town of Glenorchy, some good access here to Trout and Quinnat Salmon as well as some shallow lagoons that hold amazing Trout (just tough access). For some easy fishing, try Lake Hayes near Queenstown. I doesn't look much but it holds top Trout and some XOS Redfin too. Cheers Windy

Well, you are in some of the best Trout country on the planet there. Nearly every piece of inland water has them in numbers and some amazing sizes. Can't comment too much on saltwater down there as I haven't done it yet but I have explored a lot of the lakes and rivers chasing Trout and it is tough to even indicate a favourite spot they are all so good! Windy

Minimum of a rod length for me, sometimes longer if I need some finesse (clear water and spooky Bream!). But that is just me, there isn't a set right or wrong. If the water is dirty and visibility poor then you can get away with shorter (and heavier) leaders, clearer water then lighter and longer, always served me well. Windy

Both, probably 70% of my gear is braid with fluorocarbon leaders. But I have a few setups with mono straight through, mainly for hard body spinning or where if I intend to chop and change lures a lot where a leader would soon need retying. I tell you what though, it is tough to go back to a mono mainline after using braid, the sensitivity is so much better with braid!! Mono does have better abrasion resistance than braid under tension, been a lot of tests over the years done on that i believe. Windy

I generally just use half hitches, 99% of my fishing is light tackle and I have never had an issue with the FG knot failing doing it this way. Cheers Windy

I have always wanted to try it, flicking fresh baits into the same structure that I do with lures. I used Live Prawns as an example but I guess fresh squirt or blood worms would be good and of course live nippers? On hard hit areas like the Parra and Harbour in Sydney it may well turn a tough day into a winner, who knows? You could do something similar when target Flatties, run a live Poddy Mullet along a drop-off while throwing big plastics? Or on a beach targeting Tailor/Salmon, run a Pillie out and throw some metals? I would be interested to see how you go, be sure to pop a report up! Cheers Windy

There is never a definitive answer to that sort of thing. It all comes down to the individual and how much effort you are willing to put into learning about your intended target fish. I don't think it is correct to ever say that lures out fish bait etc, it is how the individual puts those things into play. I know awesome anglers from all spectrums of styles. I think maybe the illusion that lures are better comes from the fact that the 'chuck and chance it' or the holiday fishermen uses bait and generally don't do all that well? Here's an interesting scenario to ponder for the Bream spinners out there. If I went out to target Bream under the boat hulls and I had two options, one a lightly weighted soft plastic (my lure option) and a lightly weighted live prawn (my bait option), which do you think would do better? Of course the above scenarion would require collecting the live prawns, but that goes back to the point about how much effort are you willing to put it. Cheers Windy

Another interesting tip for yakka's is grated potatoe as berley. I also tend towards using small pieces of Squid for them, lasts a lot longer (whether on a single hook or on a sabiki bait jig). Cheers Windy