Berleyguts

Fish under a bridge. Surely the fish will be under it so they don’t get wet. 😉 😂 The WillyWeather app now gives rain alerts based on radar activity, which I am finding are surprisingly accurate. I can get a notification on my phone and Apple Watch that, for example, “a brief shower should arrive in 2 minutes…”. It allows me to get the clothes off the line or grab an umbrella etc. I can see it being beneficial when fishing.

Happy New Year to you too, Donna and to the mods and all the Raiders. Thanks for keeping us going during what has been a couple of trying years. Here’s to a much better year in 2022! Me? I’m seeing the new year in with my new Greek friend, Omicron, who I get to spend the next 6 or 7 days with. 🤧😷🤕🤮🤷‍♂️😂 Take care, everyone… and stay safe!

I used to use a ratchet jockey wheel. Bought it at the 3 letter chain store where you have lots of fun. 😉 You just work the lever backwards and forwards. I found it pretty easy to use. I had to drive up a steep driveway into my garage, then unhook the trailer and manoeuvre it across and down a bit onto a side slab. When hooking up, I had to manouvre it up and across and then backwards into the garage so I could hook the car up. When I moved to Port Stephens I no longer had this problem and I only recently changed to a standard jockey wheel.

Great stuff again, Jeff. You’ll get Whiskers one day! 😎 How do you think the new ramp will go when launching, or more importantly, retrieving solo? I’m worried I’ll fall off the thing trying to walk my boat onto the trailer with the rope(s). I’m not so keen on driving it on, at least until I get a boat catch. 😂 I only went for a land based session today. No flathead but it was good to get my feet wet. 😂

Great stuff, Jeff! So, you got a morning session in on the low tide change? Might have to have a crack myself on Thursday or Friday - I was originally thinking of a gentleman’s start inside the Bay. 🤷‍♂️

You can launch your yak right off the shore at Corlette and chase whiting, flathead and bream with ease. It won’t be rough unless it’s particularly windy. It would be a long paddle UPstream (not down river) to find the fresh water but if you have a look at some maps and Google Earth you should be able to find some access points. I still haven’t chased bass here. I bought a kayak with all intention of doing so, then sold it a year or two later without even putting it in the water… would have been handy for a certain little waterway I heard about! 😂

I use milk bottles as floats and write directly on them. I’ve never been picked up for it. However, I haven’t used them fir awhile and they became brittle from the sun and disintegrated. So, I’m looking for more floats… thinking of spraying part of them with a bright flouro stripe or similar so I can spot them easily from afar amongst all the others.

I didn’t know that! I knew that lobsters were fed to slaves in Maine in the USA but didn’t know they were fed to Tassie convicts.

Cracking report… well done! I wonder what the wedge tail did to wind up struggling in the water??? 🤔 I’ve seen footage of a North American bald eagle swoop on a large trout or salmon and really struggle to move it back to shore. Apparently, once their talons are locked into prey like that, they can’t release them until they land somewhere… don’t know if that’s true or not. Looks like the eagle knew you meant it no harm and came to you for help. A towel placed over their head will often calm them down. Great effort!

Great effort again, Jeff. 😎We’re you using ZMan jerk shads on the flatties too, same as the snapper? I was thinking a paddle tail might be the go.

Thanks Donna. No rush. 😎

I sometimes salt them and freeze them in a vac seal bag. Sometimes I just freeze them (no salt) in a vac seal bag. I don’t find them going too mushy if vac sealed. I keep them on ice in the boat and fillet as I go and pop them on the hook.

You lost me at “I was looking at my bung hole”… I just cracked up. I can’t even bend over that far! 😂

I’d like to submit my claim for a record slimy mackerel of 36cm, taken on a drifted jig, off Port Stephens yesterday (28/10/2021). Report here: https://www.fishraider.com.au/topic/93977-shaken-not-stirred/

Nice feed there, Yowie. 😎

Yes, I don’t mind an oily fish from time to time and I thought about cooking up the slimy… I’ve heard they go alright in the smoker. I no longer have a smoker though (part of the decluttering when we downsized the house). So, bait it is. If I catch another one that size at the right time of year, I’ll bridle it up. 😉

“Shaken, not stirred”, you ask? That’s just a lead in to what I thought was going to be a James Bond 007 fishing trip… 0 fish, 0 bites, 7 hours. 😂 I managed to get a leave pass today, even though I’m still trying to sort the garage out after moving into a much smaller home. This was only my 3rd or 4th trip since Covid started and I thought I’d wash the cobwebs off the boat with a trip to Broughton Island. With the Little Beach ramp still closed, Soldiers Point was the go. It’s closer to our new home but quite a long run to the heads. Consequently, I only made the heads at around first light. I couldn’t find slimies at Cabbage Tree, so just grabbed a few yakkas then pointed the bow towards Broughton. Man, it felt good to be back on the water! 😎 Forecast was for a gentle northerly wind, so I set myself up for a north-south drift. The drift was very slow however - only around 0.2 knots and there was no action. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong! I carefully followed Scratchie’s tips, not driving across my drift etc. but I just couldn’t turn a scale. I moved to another spot for a north-south drift but the wind had swung to the south and I had to watch the bommies. After hundreds of casts and still no snapper, I decided to do a flathead drift and try and take home a feed. I couldn’t even catch a flathead! I thought I was going to record a 007 day but I finally managed a 45cm trag, which will be made into my late father-in-law’s special tomato and pineapple fish dish. I also caught on a jig, the biggest slimy mackerel I have ever seen, measuring 36cm! Is there a Fishraider record for slimy mackerel?The slimy, a few yakkas and a couple of dragon snapper (sergeant baker) restocked my bait supply after I’d emptied the freezer when we moved house. Not a very successful day but geez, it was good to just get out there after so long at home!

I set my lever drag game reels to 1/3 of the breaking strain of the mainline. I tie the line to a set of certified spring scales and get someone to hang onto the scales about 30-40 feet away, then I put a good solid working bend in the rod and get them to read out the the number on the scales. I then adjust the drag until it just slips at about 1/3.

If you don’t want to duck outside to Mrs Murphy’s (“The Crack”) for yellowtail, you can sometimes catch small ones near Bannisters (formerly Salamander Shores) wharf. Also sometimes near Soldiers Point boat ramp. Try working soft plastics for flathead. 😉

Are you planning to fish inside the Bay or offshore? If in the Bay, you can pump nippers at Corlette. Access from Roy Wood Reserve (Foreshore Drive and Sandy Point Road). Try for squid in Shoal Bay, or garfish if they’re about. Bream, flathead, whiting. Get the Navionics app on your phone and seek out the deep holes for mulloway. Read Scratchie’s post, linked earlier, especially for tips on snapper. Talk to any of the local tackle shop owners. They’ll steer you right. Enjoy our little part of paradise and make sure you’re familiar with the marine park and the sanctuary zones.

You still doing that, Ron? 😮 I still remember that silver Trevally that buried a treble in your thigh at Gunsight, Port Stephens all those years ago! 😂

Well, the dog just went nuts at the door and I opened it for the delivery driver and was surprised to see two reasonably sized boxes. It took me a while to realise they were from Shimano. My hopes went up… what could be in such large boxes? A full suite of Stellas? Or Tiagras? Reality kicked in, however, when I lifted the boxes and realised they were quite light. Upon opening, I discovered they were packed with lots of air bags… unnecessary in my opinion but they will come in handy as I pack fragile items for our move in a couple of weeks. As I expected, I won some Shimano promotional gear: sticker, bottle opener, cap, neck shade combo thingie, and a gear bag. Still, I’m happy with that and I’m glad they came.

Why do you think I bought a console boat?😉😂

Looks great, Frank. I’ve been thinking of getting a boat catch for a while. The only thing that’s held me back has been my doubts about how the hell I’d climb down over the bow to get to the car! 😂😂

Ha ha, Jeff! Not quite. I didn’t buy the Outlaw until Jan 2014 and didn’t move to the Bay until March 2017. Metadata says 20 March 2019. But, yes, it’s been a long time between trips. I think I’ve put the boat in 3 times since Covid hit. 🤷‍♂️Moving house in 2 weeks and hope things settle down then and I’ll be up for a Wednesday or Thursday fish.