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Mulloway, Kingfish and the 'Murk' effect


wazatherfisherman

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3 hours ago, fragmeister said:

Bullocks Liver dipped in kero! LOL ... maybe it had to be something stronger than the smell of the sewage.

You are a wealth of Fishing history Waza .

Thanks for your ongoing contributions

Cheers

Jim

 

Thanks Jim, I have countless stories from those days, of fish and fishermen. rescues, fun and hardship on the rocks, not to mention plenty of tips from the "old ways" -I know you know how good the fishing was in those days! Some of the catches of fish taken there in comps were just unbelievable by today's standards. A shame for all the young/new fishers. The "kero-dip" became popular during the depression, when those that were catching heaps of fish "traded" them for other groceries. Kept families in food during those tough times. Aniseed was another popular additive. The last couple of times I went to the Mattens was in the boat on a flat day

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23 hours ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Cossie we used to stay in the 'cave' high above "greenie" where the rope up to "magpie" was as it was the only place that was comfortable to both sit and lie down. I could put a story on here every night for a year about adventures at the Mattens! Did one 3 night trip and a few 2 nighters. October for Mulloway and giant Pigs, November was giant Luderick, big Kingy's were a possibility any day. Fishing the back(shallow end) of the lake was the hottest Luderick fishing you could ever find. Did you ever try fishing at "Pig Rock" about 40 metres north of the entrance to the lake- in front of the "swimming pool"?

No not pig rock

stayed in the cave during a few all nighters chasing the bream.

i remember the lake firing for blackies. I don’t know why but I found the logs at Rosa a bit hairier than the ropes at the mattens.

In terms of dodgy spots yellow rock has always ranked No.1 for me.

 

cossie

 

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3 minutes ago, cossie said:

No not pig rock

stayed in the cave during a few all nighters chasing the bream.

i remember the lake firing for blackies. I don’t know why but I found the logs at Rosa a bit hairier than the ropes at the mattens.

In terms of dodgy spots yellow rock has always ranked No.1 for me.

 

cossie

 

Pig rock, like "suicide" the next long rock in the water, was only fishable when really flat. AVERAGE Pig there was 4-5 kg and if you burleyed with chook pellets they'd be swimming around in sight. 9 out of 10 would "destroy" you there even though it was over 40 ft deep. Shallow end of lake fished from the back high rock(of main rock) about 18 inches deep with bobby cork and "fingernail" sized bait was sensational fishing- even better than deeper main lake. I hated just trying to get on/off the ladder at Rosa- couldn't reach the hand hold so used to take a metre looped rope to 'lasso' back peg. Macquarie lighthouse was by far hairiest climb even though longest down bit was only about 40 ft. The "Block" at eastern ave had the most frightening fixed ladder. After watching an old black and white fishing club home movie of a club outing to Yellow Rock I went there with a few of the guys- we took a long look and decided it was a death trap.  Went to the "Trap" instead, also pretty dodgy but at least no climbing involved and a way out of the water, albeit dicey

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  • 1 year later...

Just resurrecting this after a few PM to Waza and taking a real interest in his stories. They remind me of my rock fishing days around Jervis Bay, but thankfully all of my climbs were of a much lesser scale.

The mention of The Murk kind of reminded me of a place a couple of hundred metres downstream of the Shoalhaven River bridge at Nowra called the Milk Hole. The Horlicks factory was perched on the riverbank and used to produce a powdered milk drink that was said to help you sleep. God knows what was in it, but every so often they would discharge a whitish liquid into the river that would drive the fish nuts.

Bream, blackfish and pretty well everything else that swims could be caught in huge numbers, but the real attraction to me was the big, bully mullet.

If you knew a guy who worked in the factory he could smuggle you out a jar of gluten, which was a clear, jelly type substance with the consistency of chewing gum. A little bit of this on an unweighted #4 hook thrown into the discharge almost guaranteed you a hook up on a decent mullet. Fish of 4 and even 5kg certainly weren't uncommon and on a little 3kg spin stick was some of the best estuary sport fishing I ever had. The runs and jumps those fish would perform on light line certainly got the heart rate up there. 

Sadly, fishermen were eventually locked out, the factory closed down and is now the site of the Manildra Ethanol Plant.

Edited by Green Hornet
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Hi,

I lived at Tamarama in those days. My dad and Uncles used to tell me stories about what you did. I was to young to go fishing there. Later on I did fish at Ben Buckler, that was hairy sometimes.

Mate, that was a great read brought back a lot of memories.

Cheers.

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13 hours ago, Green Hornet said:

Just resurrecting this after a few PM to Waza and taking a real interest in his stories. They remind me of my rock fishing days around Jervis Bay, but thankfully all of my climbs were of a much lesser scale.

The mention of The Murk kind of reminded me of a place a couple of hundred metres downstream of the Shoalhaven River bridge at Nowra called the Milk Hole. The Horlicks factory was perched on the riverbank and used to produce a powdered milk drink that was said to help you sleep. God knows what was in it, but every so often they would discharge a whitish liquid into the river that would drive the fish nuts.

Bream, blackfish and pretty well everything else that swims could be caught in huge numbers, but the real attraction to me was the big, bully mullet.

If you knew a guy who worked in the factory he could smuggle you out a jar of gluten, which was a clear, jelly type substance with the consistency of chewing gum. A little bit of this on an unweighted #4 hook thrown into the discharge almost guaranteed you a hook up on a decent mullet. Fish of 4 and even 5kg certainly weren't uncommon and on a little 3kg spin stick was some of the best estuary sport fishing I ever had. The runs and jumps those fish would perform on light line certainly got the heart rate up there. 

Sadly, fishermen were eventually locked out, the factory closed down and is now the site of the Manildra Ethanol Plant.

Hi Pete when I read your PM I was wondering if the spot was what we were told- a dairy/butter factory. There was a state estuary comp there (Shoalhaven) and our "spies" told us about the gluten, if you didn't have it, you wouldn't have a chance in the comp. I didn't fish that one, but heaps of amazing fish were caught, mainly around the factory. Our guys didn't run in the first three (teams event) but it (the bait) was discussed at the club meeting prior to the event

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8 hours ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Hi Pete when I read your PM I was wondering if the spot was what we were told- a dairy/butter factory. There was a state estuary comp there (Shoalhaven) and our "spies" told us about the gluten, if you didn't have it, you wouldn't have a chance in the comp. I didn't fish that one, but heaps of amazing fish were caught, mainly around the factory. Our guys didn't run in the first three (teams event) but it (the bait) was discussed at the club meeting prior to the event

A lot knew it as the milk factory but in actual fact the milk/butter factory was situated across the road and up a bit from Horlicks. For all I know both plants could have shared the same outfall, but I don't think so.

The gluten was like silicone and once you got it on your fingers it was impossible to get off and everything you touched ended up with a sticky film over it attracting every bit of dust, dirt etc. Cleaning up your gear after a session was a right pain in the butt, but worth it.

When the place was firing, guys would show up with surf rods and huge sets of jag hooks. They'd fill buckets in no time but some of the injuries I saw from hooks with massive barbs flying through the air were horrific.

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On 12/15/2019 at 12:09 PM, Rebel said:

Hi,

I lived at Tamarama in those days. My dad and Uncles used to tell me stories about what you did. I was to young to go fishing there. Later on I did fish at Ben Buckler, that was hairy sometimes.

Mate, that was a great read brought back a lot of memories.

Cheers.

Thanks Rebel, I could put a thousand stories on here about adventures down the cliffs. It is an extremely dangerous place to get to, but the rewards were usually great. Sadly, the cliff claimed a fair few lives and ALL the old crew had near death incidents. Last few times I went there were from the safety of a boat! We've been thinking about a "44 year reunion" down there in 12 months, but it'd be by helicopter in/out!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Great reading, Waza, thanks

Only time I fished the bluefish murk was when it was turned back on for a while early or mid 90's, haha too many years of systematic abuse to my brain cells has clouded my memory. Thankfully I missed the earlier period as I didn’t get into rock fishing till I was a bit older at 19 in 89. I know one person who contracted hepatitis from it (more than likely that’s how he got it). The thing that blew me away other than the smell and paper on your line was what the bream, blackfish, blurters, reddies had in their guts, choka block fat full of peas and corn, lol we all need to chew our food better.

I know one guy that was still fishing the mattens with his crew in the 90's but after seeing the video that was doing the rounds at the time of those boys climbing it I never took up the invitation to join them. Just stuck to nth head and bluefish for my deep water spots. Few trips to Rosa gulley and through the chute to get to that big cave at the northern end bream fishing just after dark was productive. I’d struggle to find it now.

Hope you’re still catching fish mate

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1 hour ago, originalrockhoppa said:

Great reading, Waza, thanks

Only time I fished the bluefish murk was when it was turned back on for a while early or mid 90's, haha too many years of systematic abuse to my brain cells has clouded my memory. Thankfully I missed the earlier period as I didn’t get into rock fishing till I was a bit older at 19 in 89. I know one person who contracted hepatitis from it (more than likely that’s how he got it). The thing that blew me away other than the smell and paper on your line was what the bream, blackfish, blurters, reddies had in their guts, choka block fat full of peas and corn, lol we all need to chew our food better.

I know one guy that was still fishing the mattens with his crew in the 90's but after seeing the video that was doing the rounds at the time of those boys climbing it I never took up the invitation to join them. Just stuck to nth head and bluefish for my deep water spots. Few trips to Rosa gulley and through the chute to get to that big cave at the northern end bream fishing just after dark was productive. I’d struggle to find it now.

Hope you’re still catching fish mate

G'day mate glad you enjoyed the post, there isn't anywhere like the Mattens. I actually had a great fear of heights, but had to overcome it (well, to a degree anyway) as the fishing was just so good and just had to be a part of it. Wally McLuckie one our mentors (who originally took us down) was still fishing it until he was nearly 81! Only allowed to carry 4 kg, so he used to skin and bone all fish before going up. Whenever he got a big Snapper we'd carry it for him.

The catches of fish (especially in Syd Metro comps) were .just mind blowing by today's standards There were no such things as bag limits and if your team of 4 didn't get 3-400 fish you weren't a show at winning anything. Last one I fished I weighed 139 fish and ran 3rd, beaten by the East's guys who fished "Big Rock" at north end of the spot. Their Tailor were twice the size of ours and we got Bream, Blurters etc mainly under 1 kg that night. They also won the year before with a huge catch of Pigs, Bream, Luderick and Tarwhine all on cunje.

None of my old crew go down any more unless you count off the front in a boat! They were great times. Rarely can get fishing these days due to really crook legs, but stay connected via Fishraider. 

As for peas and corn you forgot the rice and ciggy butts! Murk had to be banned for comp fishing as it wasn't a good advertisement for our sport and from the Mattens you could see the "layers" of guys at the murk fishing 3 "tiers" above each other at "Burger Bill's"- the boil where the outflow met the ocean. Anyone thinking this was "grose", well, Bondi Beach was always packed in a big Nor'easter that brought it all into the beach. Hence "Bondi Cigar's" became famous! 

Great to read your last post, brought back joyful memories to me too! Keep at it

Regards Waza

Edited by wazatherfisherman
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The first time I got taken rockfishing was down nth head, climbed down in the dark, I was told it’d be easier if I couldn’t see the bottom. There was a reasonable climb though apart from missing rungs on old timber ladders and swinging yourself around a blind corner and trusting there was somewhere for your foot to land without being able to see it. I was a bit sketchy with heights but by this time was 2 years into my electrical apprenticeship and had been forced up a long bowing timber extension ladder which got me a bit acclimatised to climbing.

Once I was down there  Bellissimo caught an approx 10kg king plus other fish, John Belfield was with us there too getting amongst it (John being the guy that fished the mattens and was a part of the video) I got a few reddies, tarwhine and bream, got busted up a couple of times then couldn’t stay away after that, I was just as hooked as the fish. Not proud of it but there was a bit of shamatuerism (A Steve starling term I think) going on at the time and bream were worth chasing. The next time I went back there was with John in the afternoon and with a southerly in our faces at the top of the climb I asked him if he’d mind going to bluefish instead haha. After a while I was almost running up and down there, helped a bit that I’m tall and had a long reach. Haven’t been down the head in about 20 years, I really miss it, the climb got rebuilt with council issue galvanised steel ladders and stainless pigtails chemset into the rock face, one of the club members was a boiler maker on the council haha but they’ve deteriorated beyond repair now, nobody wants to do maintenance. A bit of paint every couple of years they’d prob still be good. I moved down the south coast for a while then lived at Cronulla for a decent stretch and have only been back in my home area for a few years. I miss the head so much I'm seriously considering walking around from bluefish this season and spending the night but it’s such a long trudge be prob 2hrs from bluefish carpark and the amount of gear needed for a proper fish would break my back. John used to accasionally bring the matten swing arm pulley over to the head with his Southside crew and fit it to some bolts there to lower gear down but that area is all high fencing now after the council figured out that sandstone cliffs deteriorate and chunks collapse, after the big rock fall near the hat, they had to do a study to work that out haha. At least nowadays I usually have the ledges to myself when I go, sometimes there’ll be someone else there but usually they’ll be going when I’m leaving or Vise versa, not many real fishos around here anymore mate. I spent a couple of days down there over winter recutting foot and hand holds that had worn out, so much easier with battery powered tools rather than lump hammer and chisel. A couple of days pruning bushes along the track too. Still more to do, it’s getting harder for me to get up and down some spots so I figure if I spruce it up now it’ll make it easier for me to keep going down there as long as I can. Hope I can still get down there if I make it to 81. The climb is nothing like the mattens though, that place was nuts. Inside the harbour from the nth head just past old mans hat, there was a place that was called the monkeys where you needed a rope ladder to get down to a ledge where someone during the depression had built a shelter, not a pill box, in the 80!s they found a newspaper down there from the 30's I never went there either but a spot just west of there the 'harbour ledge' about 15m up, you had to jump and slide down the rope about 3m to land on a boulder just above the ledge, took people down there that got to that point then they went back up and waited for me to finish fishing

I only heard stories about the numbers of people that used to hit the ledges and the bags of fish that used to get weighed at the Bluefish fishing club. . Bellissimo's personal best fish list reads off almost like a state record list. 

The best spots always seem to be the ones that are hardest to get to. I went for a fish almost 2 weeks back then rolled my ankle the next day, still limping but want to get down tomorrow, see how I go, think I’m dreaming but I’ll definitely  go for a fish just before this next southerly hits on Tuesday, there’s likely to be some swell but hopefully I can get to a spot

Haha yeah rice, I forgot, never ciggie butts though haha wow from the fishos no doubt, the north side beaches used to get covered in sewer on a half decent southerly, I used to spend a lot of time surfing when I was younger, ear infections were rampant, paddling out through the foam that was up to your chin even when holding your head as high as you could, solid logs and condoms, wasn’t pretty, much better now that it’s gone

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G'day again Paul Sullivan(Slug/Sluggo depending on how friendly you were) was a junior in the AFA and came to the Mattens a fair few times, he had an unbelievable lucky escape at the Mattens one morning, fell on the top half of the cliff and ended up upside-down with 1 loop of rope around his ankle- lucky the ropes were tied to a second set of pegs at halfway or we'd be missing another champion fisho. No doubt you heard of his exploits at Bluefish catching Bream while still at school.

Learned to climb the cliff in the dark, could probably still climb it blindfolded if  I was able to climb at all, as the minute toe holds are "etched" in my (and all the guys) mind/s, there was only one spot for each toe/foot both up and down, you couldn't even see half of them anyway and they don't change at all. Last time there with Tim Walker we cemented a couple of new solid stainless pegs in, one on the 30 odd ft climb above the big climb, but I never returned to fish again after near 22 years and multiple accidents, the last trip nearly got me twice, with a fallen Blue Tongue and then a Pigeon flying between me and the cliff, sense finally got the better of me. 

Macquarie lighthouse was just as bad a climb, just not as many long downs in one go and you needed a 400 ft+ pulley rope. I found it worse than the Mattens. by far. Fished Rosa, Gap/s, Jacobs Ladder, Cemetery and later in life Cape Banks and then Julianne at Little Bay, caught some good fish there and at Donkey's around the corner.

When I was younger and fit also used to do the Gutter at Curracurrang and Burning Palms- which was a favourite spot also.

As more often than not the Mattens trips were overnight, it was a great place to learn rock fishing, as you had time to chase all different species and they were all there. Younger fishers would be blown away by both number and size also. 

Anyway, glad you enjoyed it and great to see another old rock hopper on the site. 

Regards Waza

Also do you know Mark "Reddog Jefferson?

Edited by wazatherfisherman
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Like to see them do a historic re-creation of Bondi rescue set in the 70's with the wind blowing from the north east.

Reedy to Hoppo " There's a bloke at backpackers that's taken a big one and is going under"

                                'What a rogue wave"!

                                No a choker from the outlet. Your turn to clear his airways....god luck. 

What fond memories ......but definitely not a tourist icon back then. Golden rule back then was to stay clear of Bondi in NE's and Manly in Se's.  Fished bluefish quite often but never took fish home. Biggest stands of cabbage weed i've ever seen, hence the giant blackies and drummer. but  mainly went there for the big trevs,  6lb leader, floating prawns and good timing on the wash was needed to bag them.

 

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1 hour ago, letsgocrabbing said:

Like to see them do a historic re-creation of Bondi rescue set in the 70's with the wind blowing from the north east.

Reedy to Hoppo " There's a bloke at backpackers that's taken a big one and is going under"

                                'What a rogue wave"!

                                No a choker from the outlet. Your turn to clear his airways....god luck. 

What fond memories ......but definitely not a tourist icon back then. Golden rule back then was to stay clear of Bondi in NE's and Manly in Se's.  Fished bluefish quite often but never took fish home. Biggest stands of cabbage weed i've ever seen, hence the giant blackies and drummer. but  mainly went there for the big trevs,  6lb leader, floating prawns and good timing on the wash was needed to bag them.

 

I could never understand what the attraction to Bondi Beach was back in the days of the "murk" being released- you could see it clearly and you sure could smell it.

What about the giant sea slugs in the back pools at Bluefish- never seen one the size of them anywhere else, must have thrived on the murk water. Like you, only went there for the Trev's when they were our "fish of the month", which you could catch all day on prawns.

When trolling along the murk line from Bondi, you could see them sitting under the edge of where the clean water met the dirty, in their thousands- they were thick wherever the cloudy water was and you could catch them all day if you wanted to. Always a bit of fun on light gear

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Hey waza 

Both those names ring a bell but can’t say I knew them

You might remember Bob Speed, used to work for Manly ferries, bream fished at bluefish with a Rangoon cane pole and wine cork even in the 90’s, he was about 55 at the time, he used to bring the big ferry ropes down for the climb over into tumbledown, massive man he was with forearms like thighs, Dom White was another of the older crew

I could rattle off a few other names but prob all a bit after your time, penman brothers Dave and Rob they fished over south way plenty, Craig Debressac, Glenn Ash, Jason Wagemans all hard core Rockies back in the day 

Gonna try to get back to the Harry Pontey at hat head this year for the first time in 20yrs, I hope to see some old faces that have moved to other divisions

keep an eye out for my reports if you’re interested in seeing how I go this season

Edited by originalrockhoppa
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I never met Speed, but heard all the stories from Wayne Taylor (at Weiss) and Slug who was in the AFA with me. The Penman's joined around the time I left, but I met them in their tackle shop down the far end of Burwood Rd at Concord. My old mate Steve G from Croydon knew them pretty well.

Terry Brown also worked the ferries and he was a great fisho as well, a couple of years older than me (I'm 58). The Bream fishing gang from Bluefish sure caught a lot of Bream(and other stuff!) Got selected in the Syd Metro team for Harry Pontey but broke my foot 2 weeks beforehand

Will keep an eye on your progressB)

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Oh sorry mate, somehow my gorilla math made you a bit older than that, hope I didn’t offend you

most of those guys I mentioned were 5-6 years older than me and I’m 50 so same vintage as yourself, you must have started young

just got back from bluefish, walked in, got to the bottom of the climb then freaked out at a set of waves and climbed straight back out, I’m such a pussy nowadays oh well, good bit of exercise anyway haha, perfect for nth head though, how I wish I could get down there, so devastated it’s inaccessible 😔

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3 hours ago, originalrockhoppa said:

Oh sorry mate, somehow my gorilla math made you a bit older than that, hope I didn’t offend you

most of those guys I mentioned were 5-6 years older than me and I’m 50 so same vintage as yourself, you must have started young

just got back from bluefish, walked in, got to the bottom of the climb then freaked out at a set of waves and climbed straight back out, I’m such a pussy nowadays oh well, good bit of exercise anyway haha, perfect for nth head though, how I wish I could get down there, so devastated it’s inaccessible 😔

No offence! Started climbing about 14 or 15, but became a "regular" at 16-17.

Not a pussy, that's how to stay alive on the rocks. Most of the bad wipeouts I saw (or was in) came from going when should have gone elsewhere due to bad sea conditions- there's always next week

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  • mrsswordfisherman changed the title to Mulloway, Kingfish and the 'Murk' effect

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