Hows the harbour fishing? Heading out this friday 5/1/18

[Ojay Samson]

Hey raiders,
So i've got a plan of going out on the harbour this friday and would like to know some info... How is the fishing at the moment, is there anything biting or are my efforts better pointed elsewhere (botany or hawkesbury brooklyn area?)
Planning to launch at rose bay and be on the water by 530am to try catch some live bait squid and yakkas (not really sure where to look for it so if you are willing to share feel free to PM me).
Going to make a day of it with my gf and 2 mates on board (one mate doesn't even fish lol). Will be using lure and bait, just hoping to stumble onto some fishing action.
I am planning to just explore around the the port jackson area namely from taronga zoo area and east towards the heads and possibly to manly area. (I don't frequent these areas as often as if i launch from rhodes ramp and have never fished around manly area by boat so i'll be shooting blind in that area).
Just a few more questions if anyone can answer them:

• Besides back at rose bay are there any other places that i can dock at to use restroom facilities?
• Are there any other places one can recommend getting lunch at besides at sydney fish markets (only place i know that I can go with a boat and get a feed in the harbour) as we plan on just buying lunch somewhere as opposed to packing or brining cooking equipment) as the fish markets are a bit to far for my agenda i think.
• How does one anchor their boat at a beach? Ive never known other than beaching it bow first  then pulling it back into water ( i did that with my small tinny but not to game anymore trying that with the now bigger boat... ive always wanted to beach or anchor just off the beach at cliftons to go for a swim etc but everytime ive gone its already been fully anchored up and nowhere to find a spot to attempt. From what i saw everyone just anchored just off the beach and was stern facing the beach and nothing else at the stern it seemed, how do they stop their boats from swinging sideways, and do you just jump in from the boat and swim to shore? or do people drop their passengers off at the dock where people fish at cliftons then someone stays behind with the boat? ive had a read of some methods and have made a sand spike with rope hoping to try the anchor out then reverse in slowly till close enough to swim or wade to shore... is that the standard way of doing this? last thing i want is come to close and snap my transducer off or i dont know, sorry i might be overthinking this since ive never done it and have no clue.

I'd greatly appreciate any help to my questions, i'm also interested in peeking outside the heads if weather/time/mood of passengers permits as I just finished mounting my first epirb (xmas pressie thanks mum :D) and its like a feeling  of unlocking a new level or something in a game... I can now venture outside and explore places i haven't been yet (yes i know i need more than an epirb for open water, got them all already, epirb was the final piece for going 2nm out).

if anyone's heading out on friday give us a wave.

Also if anyone has any battery recommendations you have my attention as I've decided to finally bite the bullet and replace my 2nd (house battery) which powers all my electronics as i tried it today and its not even worth its own weight anymore. I am thinking of getting the Supercharge Sea Master MFM70. I want to install a dual battery system with VSR/ASR (ie blueseas add-a-battery) further down the track so want a battery that would suit both mainly powering electronics and helping crank in an emergency for redundancy sake. Will be picking one up sometime tomorrow for hopefully $194, if anyone has any better recommendations im all ears. Since this 2nd battery is mainly for powering my electrics would it be a better option to just get a deep cycle?...

Cheers raiders.

 

Edited January 3, 2018 by Ojay Samson

[blaxland]

Hi Balmoral boat shed has a tender service if you eat at their cafe but its really crowded at this time of year. Toilets etc all there