hookerbruce

I tried that last year with a 50cm rainbow runner I caught next to the fad, Had a couple of good dollies grabbing it but it was just a lttle big for them they lost interest when they had killed it. The fad was on the quite side yesterday. Glad ! didn't hook up on that 100kg blue you got last week. It could have been an uneven battle on my little 19 or 15 kg outfits. bruce

Wanted to go for a fish out to the Fad yesterday but prefer to have someone with me. So posted on fishing trips for a crew. sebcox replied and we arranged to meet at Grays Pt ramp at 6. Drove in to the carpark at 6 and he was waiting, good start. We got underway and found him boat savvy and he had the advantage of putting the rods in the rocket launcher, and didn't even have to stand on the esky. Gave him a hook and asked him to tie it onto my bait line to catch livies, 10mins later it was finally ready as with any deckie he was full of excuses The hook was to small ok it was a no 14 the line was to thin ok it was 2 lb it was too dark ok it was. the line was badly twisted ok catching salmon on 1 kilo the week before does that Caught yakkas and kept a few sweep as emergency baits and headed off he asked how I rig for the dollies I showed him my rig and suggested when we get to the fad he watch me cast our the first couple of livies to see how it was done. Not sure why but he was a little uncertain. Got to the fad and only 1 boat there I had the first bait in the water and hooked up in about 10 secs his line hit the water as I hooked up and Seb was on. Both fish were around the 60-65 mark and healthy so went back. Had a steady flow of fish but all around the same size and smaller. Eventually Seb hooked a better fish which was 78 cm without flattening the tail. Only decent sized fish. Under the fad were some darker fish about 30 cm we both caught one and on return home I.D ed as cottonmouth trevally. We were surprised how hard they went for their size. So anew species for us both. Had a troll around then ran towards shore and trolled from the 100m mark managed 1 nice bonito which became sashimi. We had a good morning at sea, fished well together even with my sarcastic coments. Seb caught the biggest yakka, he caught the biggest dollie and he kept catching the mutton birds to keep them away from my line. bruce

Hi I have a starter so we'll head out in the morning thanks

Anyone going out tomorrow or does anyone want to come for a ride with me from Grays Point ramp

Nice tailor. What part of WA are you heading to ? We went across the top as far as Broome 2 yrs ago Know what you mean about missing the season last year I spent the whole winter blackfish season in Qld. I think the warm weather and tropical fishing was almost worth it. bruce

Congratulations In your own boat is even better bruce

I fished the sport fishing comp run my Nowra club on the weekend. On the fri arvo managed 2 salmon around 2kg on 1 plus a flattie 1.4kg on 1 This put me in the lead in th estuary section on fri. Sat I had my crew on strike (can't beat him to the rods anyway). After a tense battle that saw us up anchor and chase his fish over a submerged breakwall very close to an anchored boat over the sand bar in the middle of the river and then most of the way to Greenwell Point I finally managed to net his fish. He was excited and I was very relieved to have it in the boat. A salmon of 2.2kg does not sound very big but when you're fishing with1 kg line it is a feat particularly when its you're first ever salmon and even more so when you're only 5. His fish would be entered in the junior or sub junior section so I was still leading estuary until 5.30 pm when someone hooked in their boat and landed in my boat a big big flattie on a live poddy supplied by me. We actually had a triple hookup with the other flatties only around 45 cm. Decisions had to be made on the spot so we decided to take the flattie to the weigh in as it would be a sure winner. We also decided we had to release the fish. We were only 2 mins from the ramp and another 10 mins to go weigh the fish and have it back in the water. The big esky was emptied and filled with water by the deck wash hose another pump was put into the esky which recycled the water let it splash down for aeration. The esky was overflowing and the bilge pump was flat out trying to keep up with the amount of water pumped into the boat. With an extra 100kgs of water at the back of the boat it handled a bit different and was heavier to winch out. Towed the boat and fish to the weigh station carefully got a very angry fish out of its new home, carefully weighed it horizontally took it back to the river and released a very healthy big flattie to the applause of bystanders on the wharf. The fish was caught by another Raider so need him to do a report with photos and weight etc. Didn't fish again on sat but we were out again on sun morning. We still had a few livies and first 2 casts produced 50 cm flatties then quiet so we moved. My crew member's little brother didn't have a fish to weigh and after a battle with a salmon he finally landed a 1.5 kg salmon on 2 to take out the sub junior section which is not bad for a 3year old. Sorry for the long story we had a great weekend we nearly all won a trophy and our club were overall winners of the interclub comp Bruce

It is a lot quieter had 4 or 5 boats including spearos (they were ok took turns to drift past the FAD) last sat had 15 boats . We were out there by 730 still getting fish when we left for a troll about 930. You don't have to fish on top of the FAD when there are a lot of boats this seems to spook the larger fish and you find them up to 200 m from the Fad. I was using 100lb jinki trace have on 15kg mono open face reel.

You catch a good range of fish in the hacking expecting you to come up with a Samson or cobia anytime. Yes it does seem a long way especially when you troll out or back. If its a bit bumpy I don't go or I troll out. Bruce

Used a 30cm yellowtail on a 10/0 hook free swimming around the FAD area. the smaller dollies were hassling the bait but a 90cm and the 103cm fish finally took the bigger bait. The photo may appear tomorrow, just have to transfer from phone. Bruce

Last year I fished for dollies quite a bit trying to break the 1 met mark. The best I could do was 98cm. This is my 3rd trip this year and finally broke the metre. Not a big fish when you see some of the ones being caught lately. Came in at 103cm so I am very pleased. It was a beautiful morning out at the FAD, warm water and a brisk current to the south. Water was about 26 and blue as. Caught my fish on a large live yellow tail. We kept 6 other fish up to 90cm and released quite a few. Did a troll in a large circle out from the FAD without anything happening then trolled half way back to Jibbon for nil I think I'll fish the river tomorrow. Bruce

That's interesting. I'm heading out tomorrow but I won't get to the 500f. Syd south Fad plus 5 or 6 ks will be about the limit. thanks

kings go hard. Both are good captures the smaller one on a small hook and light handline and the bigger one on 15lb line. A good size for the Hacking. It's always nice to take home a meal. bruce

Hi We were out from Port Hacking on sat saw all the activity around the 50m mark worked it with the lures then trolled out to just south of the fad. 5 stripies and couple of small dollies around the 80-100m mark. Now I know why we didn't catch the big dollie you caught it. Congratulations, a great fish. We will try again on thurs. bruce

When you fish at the Fads you don't have to be on top of them anywhere within about 200m can produce fish. We fished Sydney south fad on sat kept 8 dollies 70 - 80 cm released quite a few more. there were two boats of divers there and we didn't get within casting range of the fad. caught them on live baits and floating pillies. start your drift up current of the Fad and a bit of burley helps bruce

There was a bit of colour on sunday in the deep water not enough to put fish off, should help if anything. Although I would leave it to wed and let this wind die off. Quite a lot of shelter in the hacking but the best spots tend to be a little exposed. hookerbruce

Good work on the big feed of whiting. Shoalhaven river gets fished heavily and netted, yet always produces good catches for me too. I'll be going down there in 2 weeks hoping the whiting will eat nippers as well. Hookerbruce.

Know what you mean I was wishing I was in a game boat or at least something more than 5.5 metres Hookerbruce

After a successful troll last sunday decided to have a troll today. Tried getting livies just in case but they didn't want to play might have been the swell and surge. Headed out from Jibbon the swell and slop made it a little uncomfortable so threw out the lures and headed east going up and down. Conditions were safe just not comfortable.. Troll was uneventful till we reached the 80 met mark when a marlin took an interest in our lures. Eventually hit a orange coloured pusher on the 10 kg outfit. pulled a few metres of line but didn't stay connected. Marked the spot on the gps and worked the area for about 20 mjn. 3 times we saw him but he wouldn't commit and we didn't have a livie to feed back. trolled on and caught a small dollie in 100 met of water, trolled out to 125 met then swung a arc back to port hacking. Fished in the hacking for a while managed a nice squid and 4 throwback kings. Back home by 12 with plenty of time to wash the boat and do the lawns & gardens. Might give it another try on wed I'll see what the weather does. Hookerbruce

I think you left a couple of things out of your report don't think we worked out who was on strike but you were faster to the rod than me. The rod bucket was still under the seat in a bag so thanks dad for getting me some protection from the gimbel fitting Then had to find the camera and work out how to use it The excellent boat handling by the captain was the only reason you landed OUR fish And we were lucky to have one strike on a lure rigged by us that resulted in a hook up and a fish to the boat. Congratulations. bruce

Worked on sat. Then xmas shop then gardening sun only left sun evening for a fish. left home at 4pm. loaded up with some poddies then nippers at mainbar. Fished the sand flat at lilli pilli for too long as the fish weren't playing. Could be they were keeping away from loud music coming from the cruisers. caught a throwback whiting couple of rays,3 blueswimmers and a 38cm bream. Finally had to up anchor and chase a big one that grabbed a mullet on a 2kg mono outfit. About 15min later after a lot of chasing and backing down and trying to go sideways managed to net a very angry shag with a very long sharp beak. Untangled the line, removed the hook and released it safely. Then moved out to the deeper water hoping for a jew. No luck but in between the continuous stream of small pinkies did manage a 55cm flattie and a tailor. Back at the ramp a t9pm with a nice feed.

Hi Yowie I saw an older tinny, with gentleman, fishing with handlines and a rod wide of the baths this morning. Beige long sleeves and greenish wide brim hat Thought that might be yowie. Larger tinnie with canopy on my own. I went past about 6:45 on my way out to chase kings. I'll have to come over and say hello next time. (even if its the wrong boat it won't really matter) Never found any kings but caught my bag limit of sand flathead in 1&1/2 hours. went in and pumped some nippers but only managed two whiting and two crabs on the flats. While pumping nippers at Mainbar stirred up a blue ringed octopus. the ever hungry gulls ate it when it started swimming around. Bruce

After spending 110 days touring Qld got home and found everyone has been exaggerating about rain and bad weather in Sydney. The last 5 days have been good almost very good. Went down to Cronulla fri arvo and collected green weed from the rocks. Went down to the Georges sat morning early with my son, bites were a little slow but fish good size. It was one of those days when the fish just wouldn't stay connected with hooks pulling on a lot of fish. Another day you don't lose a fish. Did keep 2 @ 38cm, 2 @ 35cm and one 33cm about a dozen throwbacks and home by 9;30. Will give them another go one day this week. Bruce

Some in the Norman and the rest off scattered rocks along the beaches. Fished in the Wenlock near Moreton Telegraph station one small barra followed the lure in and a very large barra just wasn't interested. River is very sandy and shallow had to walk a far way to find some snags in a hole. Just been casting a lure from the beach at Seisia for one lost fish. Will keep on fishing our way north. Bruce

Just got off the house boat today. Had reasonable weather and all on board caught at least a couple of good fish. The mackerel were very good managed 6 or 7 good ones in one morning, kept two for the trip There were a lot more grey macks. than we usually catch. Sharks as usual were a problem. We fished from Redcliffs to Thud point mainly with one trip to Norman Creek. I still didn't manage a legal barra. 5 of 14 barra caught by others were legal we kept 3, largest 83cm. I managed macks, queemies ,various trevallies, fingermark, jacks,bream,blue salmon and an assoertment of other species. A few photos from the trip. I caught the queenie, blue salmon and the grey mack. In a couple of days we head for the wenlock and then on to Siesia