Where Are The Fish In Port Hacking?

[monch]

Hi raiders, i'm getting increasingly frustrated at not being able to get legal sized fish in port hacking.

Fishing land based around any jetties and wharves i can get access to, i have not been able to land a legal sized anything in a while. Particularly chasing bream on soft plastics, (although i wouldn't mind getting anything else legal sized) there is either no decent fish where i go or i am just doing something wrong. I've casted many different soft plastics with varying jighead weights and sizes at fishy looking areas and all the results i have gotten are many missing tails on my plastics which i found out was from dam leather jackets.

I consistently get average and sometimes very good casts right next to moored boats and their anchor ropes, pontoons and next to pylons on wharves, been snagged up plenty of times on weed and other assorted structure as well and have not had 1 decent hit yet. Tried different times of the day and tide but haven't made a dedicated early morning start during the change of the tide yet (have to wait for the tide to coincide with dawn and get my ass outta bed as well). I've been using gulps and squidgies in 2 and 3 inch varieties and the fish seem to respond better with the scented gulps (missing tails, small bite marks) compared to the non-existent results of the squidgies. I used 1/16 and 1/8 oz jigheads at first but the plastics seemed to be dropping very fast in the relatively shallow water (guessing 2-4m) so i use 1/32 and 1/24oz jigheads more often now with not much difference in success, only change is less casting distance.

I have not tried using burley with soft plastics, have a 2-4kg 702 catana rod with shimano sedona FD 2500 spooled with 6lb fireline and usually use 8lb mono leader.

I have tried toning down my retrieve to more subtle movements with the rod tip, also, should i allow slack line for the plastic to drop after the cast and also between twitches or keep a relatively taut line to feel for the takes?

So i offer my situation for you fellow raiders to analyse and diagnose and hopefully i can get some advice that will steer me to some fish. Any suggestions on locations, structure to look out for, technique and anything in general is greatly appreciated

P.S i don't know if this is the appropriate forum for this topic, admins please move it to another if its more appropriate.

Edited April 6, 2009 by monch

[monch]

No suggestions guys?

[A.dawg]

G'day monch trying to get bream landbased in the hacking on soft plastics isn't easy...

Most bream of mine legal in the hacking are eaither caught at maianbar on hardbodied lures and bait or swallow rock drive/Audley on soft plastics here water is shallower and alot more snags to cast to making it a very very good bream spot on soft plastics bream are usually caught by sight are these area's

Goodluck

[Camoman]

Hey mate,

As A.dawg said bream on plastics landabsed in the Hacking aint easy. I have only caught a decent number and size using bait and burley from my boat. There are a few spots inlcuding up past swallow rock and also south west arm where i have had success although these are a little harder to access than the wharves (such as wally's or lilli pilli baths, etc).

I think if you are limited to fishing off the wharves or even to mainbar/bundeena then maybe change your tactics to going for some squid or whiting, jackets or even flathead. At the common wharves and at bundeena these are more prevalent and easier to catch than the bream. maybe try bait fishing rather than plastics. nippers always do the trick in the hacking. an old favourite of mine when i was land-restricted was to pump nippers at mainbar then fish off the end of the flats into the deeper main channel. this usually produced gud results with whiting and flathead. similarly, squid can 'always' (unlucky if you dont at least catch one) from budeena wharf or wallies at night on jigs. just make sure you use quality to increase you chances.

6lb fire and 8 lb leader should be working ok as this is a relativley light set up. if you still dont ahve much luck try 4lb line and 4lb flouro leader. sizing down has always increased my big hits but also increased number of bust offs too depedning on territory. i have found that the hacking fish are very sensitive to weight of tackle.

Cam

[Steve07]

Easier way is to pump some nippers at low tide,then set up a couple of light threadline outfits with

6lb line,sinker & a metre long 8lb leader.Tie on a mustad suicide hook which are perfect for the

live nipper's,then go out and target Bream,whiting & flathead which are pretty common in the

hacking.Best results always come very early morning just as light is in the sky especially for

Bream.Try bigger plastics later in the morning if you want to & target flathead.

cheers

Steve

[Davemmm]

Easier way is to pump some nippers at low tide,then set up a couple of light threadline outfits with

6lb line,sinker & a metre long 8lb leader.Tie on a mustad suicide hook which are perfect for the

live nipper's,then go out and target Bream,whiting & flathead which are pretty common in the

hacking.Best results always come very early morning just as light is in the sky especially for

Bream.Try bigger plastics later in the morning if you want to & target flathead.

cheers

Steve

Steves right nippers are definately the way to go.

When you get some at Miainbar head back over to Warumbul which is the next point round (check it on google maps). You can fish landbased there into some decent water that definately holds bream, whiting and squid.

Dave

[jewgaffer]

Hi Monch

Not many night fisherman anchor up and night fish just wide of Mainbar whether the prawns are running or not... There are small prawns and squid hanging around up there, so fishing the drop off out from the shore and also casting back into the channel would be worth a try with all sorts of bait especially taking a line off the good general catches in Botany Bay after the recent rain..

Cheers

jewgaffer

[monch]

Many thanks for the tips guys, i guess i'll have to focus abit more on bait fishing to hone up my skills.

i've been able to get squid relatively often, tho not many. On good days i get about 3 or 4, usually only 1 or none at all but this is still more successful than with other species. Travelling all the way to maianbar to pump nippers is abit of a hassle for me so i have not tried it yet, but will do so when the conditions are right and when time permits. Are there any places other than maianbar to pump nippers? i've heard pumping nippers anywhere in gunnamatta bay is banned, dunno about other places.

So far i've been trying to get live baits with bait jigs but have not had much success yet. I am able to get mullet on pieces of bread if they are around but yakkas are more difficult and slimies are harder still i also find that a single hook is easier to manage than a bait jig (even tho i cut the 6 pack bait jigs into 2 and have 3 hooks on each) as the fish aren't taking the jigs unless bait is on them, making re-baiting a long process.

Still, i will perservere and hope luck comes my way.

[snapR]

Hi Mate,

I used to fish hacking regularly in the high school days and agree with most advice from other raiders above..

For you..being based on the city side of the water and looking to save time do what we used to do and pump nippers at Great Turriell Bay, we would score a heap. Not sure about it these days, pretty sure it isn't illegal tho.

If you turn left into dean street..the map doesn't do it justice but there is a track in between 2 houses at the end of the loop facing the water which leads down a hill to the sand. pump here on low tide. They should stay alive for a few hours depending on which tide you wanna fish. careful of the stingrays that will most probably dart around your feet.

We fished well for whiting and bream in the same small bay mostly and also took nippers to other places.

I love the clarity of the hacking... it's truly a wonderful place to be even if the fish aren't on!

<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Dean+Street+caringbah&sll=-34.061388,151.11439&sspn=0.008355,0.013733&ie=UTF8&ll=-34.048819,151.11969&spn=0.008355,0.013733&t=h&z=14&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=Dean+Street+caringbah&sll=-34.061388,151.11439&sspn=0.008355,0.013733&ie=UTF8&ll=-34.048819,151.11969&spn=0.008355,0.013733&t=h&z=14" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>

Cheers,

Dom

Sorry here is another attempt at the map.

<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Dean+Street+caringbah&sll=-34.060606,151.1116&sspn=0.008355,0.013733&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=-34.059593,151.114926&spn=0.006222,0.00912&z=16&iwloc=A&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=Dean+Street+caringbah&sll=-34.060606,151.1116&sspn=0.008355,0.013733&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=-34.059593,151.114926&spn=0.006222,0.00912&z=16&iwloc=A" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source...=16&iwloc=A

[Scienceman]

As a teenager I lived and fished the Hacking regularly. Here are some tips but many places now need a boat. Even a small tinnie is enough.

- in winter the marina at the end of Gunnamatta bay had good numbers of dory. Catch any type of small fish, hook near the head and fish just off the bottom. Also a good spot for blackfish which feed on the bottom and can sometimes be seen down deep. Dont think they will let you fish off the wharf now so a boat might be needed.

- nippers for big whiting, drifting around the moorings just off the ramp at the Royal Motor Yacht Club.

- Royal Motor Yacht Club in Gunnamatta Bay for big bream and jew at night, jackets in winter. Burly essential. Nowadays a boat is necessary and you should be OK in if you pull into an empty berth.

- Autumn / winter in the main channel up towards South West Arm using fresh yakka or mullet strips for big flathead, biggest has been ~10kg - I kid you not.

- Sailing club on the Burranear Bay side of Gunnamatta Bay Rd. Fish the pontoon for yakkas and good flatties out wide on live baits. Sometimes good tailor off the bottom on the same baits.

[pmak]

Monch,

Not sure if your dilemma is legal sized fish or the Hacking.

The Hacking is tough on lure casters - found that out the hard way. Flathead on SPs at Bundeena and Grays Point or at the drop-off at the edge of the Maianbar sand flats at low tide are some of the only methods that have paid dividends for me though Warumbul has produced snapper and frigate mackerel for me once. Squid are the most consistent catch for me in the Hacking.

For bait fishing, the other replies from Raiders are your best bet.

If it's bream on lures you're after, try Botany Bay or the Georges or Parramatta Rivers. Iron Cove or Hen & Chicken Bay are excellent spots though I would'nt keep anything caught there. Cooks River is also a good spot to hone your skills but also avoid keeping fish from that system. All are landbased options that would keep you busy with SPs and HBs.

If it's a feed you're after, you can try Kogarah Bay (accessed from Carrs Bush Park) for bream and flathead and the odd whiting or trevally.

Hope this helps.

pmak

[snipe]

Some good info here guys. Does port hacking get a run of salmon in the winter , kings in summer like I have read about Sydney Harbour? Just moved to Sydney, trying to learn the ropes.

[snapR]

Hi mate

Not sure bout kingies so much..probably tho.. Do know that the salmon turn up in parts but probably best to try the cronulla beaches for salmon

[On Strike]

Monch & Snipe,

I grew up fishing the Hacking, caught heaps but you have to make the effort. For spinning with plastics the best place I found is Mainbar ( Land based ). Fish the edge of the sand flats at low tide and wade the channels to get to the banks west of the fishermans bay channel. There used to be small channels in the middle of the flats that produced flathead and bream ( just keep the plastic above the weed ) or you can walk out and fish the Ballast Heap ( at low tide ). Another good spot is walking up Cabbage tree creek ( Between Bundeena and Mainbar ) You would be suprised at the size of the lake up there and the spinning is great. The effort to get there is small considering the potential of the areas to fish. If you haven't got a car catch the ferry from Cronulla and walk/ride. And Snipe, The Royal national park has heaps of great places to fish ( Beach and Rock ) like Bundeena, Marley , Watermolla and Burning Palms. Good Luck

[Jimikin]

Some good info here guys. Does port hacking get a run of salmon in the winter , kings in summer like I have read about Sydney Harbour? Just moved to Sydney, trying to learn the ropes.

I've seen good sized Salmon up as far as Gray's Point this year and Kings have been schooling around Lilli Pilli, not many keepers though.

[snipe]

Thanks for the info guys - moving in to a house in Grays point soon, will be good to be close to the water again and nutting the system out.

[monch]

Thanks for the info guys, very much appreciated.

I have seen frigates, bonito and some tailor up around in the hacking before and have tried to throw lures at them, got 1 hookup on a frigate but my drag was set too high from rescuing my lure from weed before and when the frigate darted off, the line went PING. Other times i have had some follows but no takers, they are so fussy ><'

I have also heard of kings and jewies being caught around the wharfs, i presume they are on the smaller side with the odd keeper or 2. I don't know how often these catches are tho.