Gary Brown's Weekly Reports

SYDNEY REPORTS

BREAKING NEWS

Well, it has finally happened. After almost 3 years of fishing, filming, editing, re filming, re editing and more fishing, "The Port Hacking -The Jewel of the South” has just gone off to the printers get pressed and packaged.

I have always known that the Port Hacking can be one of the toughest estuaries to fish at times and believe me some times we did struggle. All up we had about 6 hours of footage that Carl had to edit and cut down to one hour and forty five minutes.

In this DVD Scott Lyons and I will show you our techniques we use when targeting squid, what to do when blue swimmer crabs come up to the back of your boat, what rigs and techniques to try when chasing luderick, leatherjackets, bream, how to target flathead on live bait, different ways to catch poddy mullet, techniques on how to pump for nippers and some light offshore and estuary fishing for Australian salmon and bonito.

We have also put in 30 different fishing locations on easy to read maps to fish from the shore, boat and where to go to get your live bait. Scott also explains, with the use of a white board the details of the rigs we used throughout the DVD. We also go through the types of outfits we used and how to set them up.

The DVD will be available in your local Sydney tackle shop in 2 weeks.

RRP $24.95

FISHING CLASSES FOR 2009.

WINDYBANKS BAIT AND TACKLE

The next Fishing class will start on Thursday the 15th October 2009. It starts at 6.30pm and will run for 3 consecutive Thursday nights. The cost of $95.00 includes a fish barbeque and the class. To book in and pay you will need to either ring the shop or pay them a visit.

Windybanks Bait and Tackle
523 Pacific Hwy Mt Colah NSW 2079
Ph (02) 9477 1501
Contact Annette and John.

WATTO’S TACKLE SHOP

The Fishing classes at Wattos are run on 3 conconsective Wednesday nights. The class will start at 7.00pm and finish at 10.00pm. For further information you will need to ring or pay them a visit at the shop. The cost will be $80.00 per person.

For further information and to book in and pay you can contact Sean atEmail: wattosfishing@gmail.com

Address: shop 1 & 2 LOT 9 KURRAJOMG AVE ST MARYS NORTH
Phone: 0416 203 507
Contact Shaun

And while you are at it you could go to their web site and see what special they have on at the moment http://www.wattosfishing.com.au/

LATEST REPORTS.

Andrew Letho from Windybanks Fishing club has just let me know the following;
Steven BaxTeam Leader Land Management & Foreshoreph 9942 2538, fax 9942 2433email baxs@warringah.nsw.gov.au

Has advised him that the contractor who is renewing the Fisherman’s beach boat ramp is intending to start work on Monday 6th September 2009. The ramp will not be available from this date for up to 6 weeks. Can you please forward this notification onto as many people as you can.

Carl Dubois and Terry launched from the Kyeemagh boat ramp and conditions were ideal. Slight breeze, incoming tide and overcast. Straight up to the airport service bridge and Terry started with some Switchblades and Carl rigged up a Camo sandworm.

After 20 minutes Carl only had one tentative take and Terry hadn't even had a touch. Carl told me it was only 14.1 degrees, which could mean the fish may be a little lethargic. We kept at it and eventually Carl got a nice hook up. Solid runs and a 'thump, thump, thump' up the line and into the yak comes a feisty trevally.

They moved over to the rock walls and try the buntings but still the bream won't come out and play. Terry is keen to head out the front to try the flats for a few more Trevally so they about face and head out to the bay.

Carl is on a curfew and decided to work the freeway wall with blades as they drifted along with the wind. Carl had only 10 meters of wall left when he hooked up again. Not a trevally this time but what is it? Well surprise, surprise! It's a first for Carl from the yak. It's an EP (Estuary Perch) and he's a healthy guy of about 38 cms. Woohoo! A few quick snaps and Carl sent him back to his lair under the structure.

Terry heads out. Smart move by him as he manages to get 4 Trevally, one bream and a great 70 cm flathead that he set free to keep breeding.

There'd been a few mutterings about good size tailor being caught in the Bay so the crack of dawn on Saturday saw Stewart, Terry and Carl pushing off to the Hot Water Outlet hoping to catch a few off guard. The conditions were ideal, with only a slight SW wind of 8-10 knots. The cold weather certainly keeps the traffic on the water down and we had the outlet to ourselves, except for a boat anchored 100 meters away.

While casting a few lures around at the HOT Water Outlet they managed to get a three way hook up on tailor. Stewart has also dropped his fish but is on again immediately and eventually lands a nice one that looks about 45 cms.

Carl’s popper is getting smacked across the surface non-stop and he landed 6 fish and lost 3 before the action stops. As is typical of tailor, they disappear not long after sun up, so it's essential to be on the water at the right time. If your twenty minutes late, it's no fish for you! We landed a couple of decent fish between 45 and 50 cms and we all lost some bigger ones that put on a great acrobatic display leaping clear of the water several times before gaining their freedom.

They also tried for some kings but didn't even get a touch and eventually wound up the day with a couple of bream that were found lurking underneath some moored boats and barges. Not a bad couple of hours in the middle of winter.

Scotty Lyons from Southern Sydney Fishing Tours http://www.fishingsydney.com.au/ reports that the weekend had us out and about on the water. A day at the Peak had us jigging but the bloody leatherjackets are back and we lost 6 jigs and 4 leads before heading off with only two Bonito.

Wide of the Bay there are loads of Sand Flathead, quite a few good ones and heaps of small ones but worth the effort, try 45 to 5ometres. In the Bay on Sunday had us target Jew Fish early at the Bridge and we landed a small fish and lost a bloody ripper. Out in the bat the trevally are about but they were a little fussy over the weekend.

WHATS COMING UP

*Now taking booking for the next Fishing School
September the 21st and day on the water is the 26th.

*Singles day 27th September spots open.
*FATHERS DAY GIFT VOUCHERS GIVE SCOTT A CALL*
Regards Scotty Lyons
Bookings 0418 169 439

Paul Martin from Rock Marine Bait and Tackle (rocksmarine@tsn.cc) reports that it was a much more positive week with some good fish brought back to the cleaning tables. There were Snapper on the bite off Grassy with a couple of locals picking up a 5 kilo plus specimen each. Big Morwong have been around with the odd Pearl Perch while Leather Jackets are out a little wider. The Gaol grounds produced a few small Snapper through the week. There has been a lot more live bait activity around this area now as the water temps slowly warm. Fish Rock gave up some nice kings with one crew getting busted up a number of times using metal Jigs. The current is still not ideal but the odd small Snapper has been pulled out of there. The boys are saying there are still any amounts of Leather Jackets past 30 or 40 meters.

There has been a mass of Blackfish just milling around the rock ledges off the Gaol and Lighthouse but it’s hard to get them excited. Salmon on the other hand are full on with pilchard bait sending them into a frenzy. North Smoky was producing some big Bream at the end of last week with one or two Tailor being caught taking Raiders and the ever reliable half by Quarter metal spinner. With all this bait around it shouldn’t be long before the Tuna arrive in close. For a bit of sport fishing head down to the Boulders and throw Pilchards at these thumper Salmon on light gear.

It has been hard to pull a fish out of our river over the last few weeks. With many reports from local fisherman of fish traps, which are plainly visible around popular Flathead and Bream locations and around from the Cut towards Stuarts Point being heavily netted last week, why would it surprise. No wonder we as recreational fishermen aggressively reject the greens and their marine park lock out agenda, who is really doing the damage here.

Paul Martin
rocksmarine@tsn.cc

Jason and Virginia Isaac from Ned Kelly’s Bait and Tackle jasned@ozemail.com.au reports that in the estuaries blackfish numbers remain only reasonable with the south wall and coal wall providing the bulk of the action for weed soakers, albeit inconsistently. Those fishing lightly weighted yabbies however, continue to achieve more consistent results on quality fish from Big Bay, the Back Channel and for that matter, pretty well any area of the estuary where weed beds are present. Bream numbers remain quite solid and should remain so for the next few weeks at least. The current dark should see a spike in night time results. For flattie lovers, there are enough active fish around to make a trip worthwhile, with the section of the river between Limeburners and the Dennis Bridge arguably seeing the better results. On the mulloway front, the recent full moon phase failed to produce any spectacular action in respect to quality fish, however the juvenile models remain prolific.

Off the beaches, these juvenile mulloway are just as prevalent, with all local stretches of sand now holding large numbers. Hopefully a fair proportion will survive the mandatory bag limit removal some adopt each outing, or the poor catch and release practices some anglers adopt. Just remember, juvenile mulloway are nowhere near as hardy as some ocean dwelling species, and care is needed when de hooking and releasing to ensure an optimum chance at survival. On the bream front, numbers remain relatively poor, however this time of the year often produces some bumper models, so there is hope yet in this regard. Tailor as well continue to disappoint, with very few choppers on offer although there is a sprinkling of greenbacks well above 2 kilos on most beaches. At least the salmon mass hasn’t reached the levels of past seasons, and given the time of year now, perhaps it won’t at all this year.

Off the rocks, drummer continue to be reasonable with most ledges now producing a few solid fish although not in great numbers. The key, as always, is to seek the more washed out ledges, particularly those with a good supply of cunjevoi and cabbage nearby, and a reasonable coverage of stirred up water. Tailor numbers remain down but the quality is still there, with Point Perpendicular in particular fishing well over the past week. For those keen on floating a bit of cabbage, good numbers of blackfish are around Miners locally, and Lewis’s at Dunbogan.
On the outside front, please disregard and recent comments I may have made regarding leather jackets thinning out. This past week they have been simply rampant between 40 and 80 meters all up and down the coast. If you can find a patch of water clear of them, or operate outside this depth range, pearl perch numbers have picked up a little, whilst snapper remain solid, particularly from the closer reefs. Wider out, those dropping livies or jigs have been finding good numbers of kingfish up to around 10 kilos, and alleging a few unsuccessful encounters with much larger models.