Monday 25th January 2016

Tackle specials and angling politics

from Downrigger Shop

 Greg Wall back from Tairua with a tale to tell:

 

​

 

Andrew, had a blast in New Zealand. Booked three days chasing Kings (3rd day cancelled because of bad weather)  and three days chasing Snapper with a day in between (ended up fishing off the rocks). Beat my PB Kingie on day 1, then bettered it again on day 2. My best kingie over the two days went 125cm to the tip

 

Beautiful fish my friend and super glad you shared it with us. Cheznie switching to light jigging, for reds:

 

​

 

Just tried a bit of jigging on the snapper here in Adelaide after being a die hard soft plastic fisher and I am hooked!

 

I can see why! Apple Isle swordfish specialist Leo Miller says bluefin tuna have arrived already. But not just the tuna biting:

 

​

 

Got up at 2am, drove to the bottom of Tas and launched at Catamaran ramp. Then 60+km on the water round to Mewstone (google it). The boys put 1 lure in and bang, tuna smashed it instantly but the line must have been round the tip or something because it busted the lot, S#*T happens. Then we get 3 in and get a triple strike but the seals that are normally not an issue there decide they want a feed. 2 more sets of gear busted off and the other hook pulls…. Lots of Tuna but VERY frustrating. So we put out only 2 lures, double strike in 30 secs.

 

​

 

Seals arrive again despite driving away a bit, one hook pulled and 1 mauled fish landed. Now we run 1 lure only. Instant hook up but another mauled fish landed. Landed 1 more damaged and 1 other untouched (just) and managed to tag 1. Fish from 15 to 30kg. We left the tuna biting, middle finger at the seals and went look for striped trumpeter.

 

​

 

They’d been slow there the last few times but after several drops and a lot of sounding we found them on the lee side of the current as expected. A small tight school but we boated fish every drift and bagged out (16 over 55cm) in under an hr. These are BRILLIANT eating.

 

So as it was only 11am we drove another 30+km out to the shelf and deep dropped for more table fish. They weren’t doing as much as we’d have liked but we got 4 nice gemfish while we cleaned the rest.

 

​

 

At 5pm we calculated 75km back to the ramp… long trip home then another 2hrs + in the car; finally got to bed about 11pm then had to be up at 4 to take my Mum to the airport (Struggling today!).

 

I’ll bet you are! I got tired just reading that report, cobber. Leo had one more update to come proving what an adventure hot spot Tasmania is – if we didn’t know that already:

 

​

 

A mate caught a nice Mako and upon cleaning proved that they do eat Dolphins!

 

Fascinating stuff champ, as we’ve come to expect from you. Just by the way Leo has put together a how-to, for swordfishing. That’s just what we need: Here

 

Holidays are the time when you get on the water with the family. Fitz writes:

 

​

 

My sister with a nice flattie caught in middle harbour

 

Oi! That’s my sneaky spot. J Thanks, Fitz. Proud dad Serk out with his son and heir on Sunday:

 

​

 

This morning my boys on a roll

 

He certainly is mate that’s a nice bookend to the kingie he caught last week. Greg Costello on Monday. Gee this one would have gone hard on 4 pound line:

 

​

 

Nice little golden trevally caught on 4lb at Mooloolaba this morning

 

Who knows why but for some reason this has been a shocker week for disasters. Darryl at Port Botany boat ramp:

 

​

 

Yes that is a Quintrex 570. Thanks to Glen Cadoo and Dave Tweedie, who both sent this one in. Don’t know the backstory. And, don’t want to know

 

​

 

But saddest of all being two fishos who lost their lives when their boat hit Dampier island at high speed:

 

​

 

Be careful out there, lads. News Of The Weird and tackle shopaholic sends pics of his recent finds:

 

​

 

Haven’t decided whether this one’s funky – or creepy:

 

​

 

To tackle, and there’s always been fishos who think electric reels are unsporting. They’d be pretty surprised at the number of blokes who are not up to manual winding in deepwater. Old football injuries. Rotator cuff problems. Bad backs. And when that happens even winding up in shallow water can be very difficult.  Which is when the Tanacom Bull 500 can be a good option. It’s the one on the right, 750 size is to the left and 1000 size behind:

 

​

 

Only 760 grams, holds 400m of 50-pound line, ideal for bar cod. The big plus being you can use them for fishing other than deep dropping, because they’re a great reel even without the electric function. Mo Tackle price $800+, our price $720. Darryn heading out to the Swains:

 

Hi Andrew Enjoy reading your reports on the Newcastle fishing forum. Going back out to the Coral sea in October and this time targeting reef fish,coral trout and hopefully big red emperor. Just wondering whether the snapper combo would hold.I have a Saragosa 10000 witha 80 lb terez but it gets a bit heavy after awhile and is too big for most fishing I do so looking for a compromise. Any suggestions

 

​

 

Snapper combo won’t suit for that trip because the rod is high modulus graphite composite designed for distance casting of light weights – for instance, SPs. I reckon for this trip you will need some deep down grunt and 24 kilo line. Two recommendations? If casting is required, or maybe floating a bait out for mackerel, our $170 Scorpion II rod the go. Two piece with foregrip join, not heavy but lots of power in reserve. Pic of Westy with a nice SBT caught on his:

 

​

 

For a comfortable and light rod for jigging and baiting, look no further than our 5 foot 6 inch Hercules jig rod. $125 and both these rods can be mailed, meaning cheap delivery. To the Wayback Machine and Cheryl Chamberlain was a biologist at NSW Fisheries forty years ago. Back when we were school boys in the mid 1970s, Ken M and I were obsessed with bass fishing. We would be on the upper Nepean casting Arbogasters from Ken’s Gladding inflatable whenever we could get a parent to drive us out there. Then someone had the bright idea of stocking the school dam with bass. After getting the headmaster’s approval we wrote a letter to NSW Fisheries and caught the train into their office near Darling Harbour to progress the plan.

 

​

 

Miss Chamberlain was the type of person no longer found at NSW Fisheries. Enthusiastic, energetic, keen to explore any ideas which might improve angling opportunities. She had a figure which would make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window too meaning it wasn’t easy for two teenagers to stay focused, during those meetings. Correct me if I’m wrong but from memory it was the first time bass had been stocked in this state. Maybe five or six years later we heard the school dam had silted up and was full of reeds. We called the headmaster to ask if we could go fishing. On arrival we were shocked to find the whole dam was completely reeded over, with no water visible. Just a small open patch in the middle, maybe the size of a kitchen table. We pushed through the reeds and I lobbed a cast in, hooking up instantly. Hell of a battle, with the reeds waving as he charged through them, but finally netted and weighed. A bit under five pounds as I recall, although note that was on our bodgy Mitchell spring balance. Gee those were good times. The reason for this trip down memory lane being while checking Google maps for something else, I saw the dam is still there! Gotta let Ken know:

 

​

 

Inquiry received from a holidaying fisho:

 

Hey andrew. Spoke to you about the down rigger and a few spots around port stephens. Would greatly appreciate this and will no doubt flog your down rigger to a few mates as well. Appreciated again

 

​

 

No problem! My suggestion (and I’m no expert) is to downrig livies on the run out tide along the rough reefy wall that runs east-west along the southern end of Little Island. Haven’t done it for a few years but when we did it was a kingfish on every pass. Don’t let the tide push you onto the reef because there are some nasty bombies in that area. There can also be XOS kings around the washers on the eastern side of Boondelbah Island. A run to the FAD a good option too but could be a bit chockers on the long weekend. Note the current lines showing in the pic above. Yours truly out on the water last week with day starting well when Adam caught a small kingfish on a stick bait while we were preparing to launch:

 

​

 

Rounding South Head with the plan being a short uprigging session from there down to Rosa Gully. That is, two spreader bars running off the downriggers with a swimming sauri set just behind, to imitate tail end Charlie in the school:

 

​

 

​

 

That technique delivered a small one at the same spot last time but no joy in this session. Very little good mark on the sounder so my guess is they just weren’t there. With the seas getting better the further east we went the thought was, let’s head out to Browns seamount.  Surprised to find, on arrival, only two boats fishing there.  Water temp crazy high at 27.1 C degrees but the colour a light blue, rather than cobalt. We set up with a twin hook rig on both electric reels, a pilchard on the bottom hook and a California squid on the top. Down they went to the bottom, 390 metres below:

 

​

 

Double hook up on both rods first drop, and it was a good feeling to be on the board. Starboard side, a blue eye and a gemfish:

 

​

 

Port side, a small blue eye and an alfonsino. With the esky filling nicely the pressure was off. I wanted to miss the crazy traffic between the boat ramp and home in late afternoon so we headed back into the Peak for a quick drop before we pulled the pin. Sounder marks too regular and evenly spread to indicate kingfish present but the sheer volume of marks plus the fact we did well here last week meant there had to be the odd one around. And so it proved. Fitz hooked up on a live bait:

 

​

 

The fish small but over legal size, so into the esky he went. A good way to finish the day:

 

​

 

Last but not least, I was hella impressed with the pic Fitz sent through showing how his fish had been packed and sorted. Nice work:

 

​

 

 

To politics, and Randall ripped off by Sydney’s Canada Bay Council. He wants to know why. The answer’s simple, my friend. The elites who rule us hold us in contempt. No one at Canada Bay Council or NSW Maritime cares about boater’s interests. Council charged you $15 to park for six hours because they see you as an ATM. NSW Maritime Minister Duncan Pay has only one interest in boatowners – how to squeeze more fines, registrations, mooring fees etc out of us. And the only way that’s going to change is when boatowners get so fed up they stop voting for the two big parties. Thanks so much for writing and sorry this happened.

 

​

 

Hello Andrew, I’ve attached two photos that are under pinned by blood boiling frustration.

 

Photo 001  is of a newly installed boom gate at the end of Burwood Rd at Bayview Park Canada Bay / Concord area. This area falls into the Canada Bay Council area. Photo 002  is of the parking ticket you have to pay for once inside the boat ramp complex.

 

Why I am so annoyed is that over the last 5 years I have been using this boat ramp to access Sydney Harbour.  But what happened on Sunday 6-12-2015 was just wrong and what I believe to be discrimination.

 

On the Sunday 6-12-2015 myself , wife and two boys traveled from Narellan , a 45mins drive to this boat ramp which we have done for the last 5 years , but to arrive at 6.30am to find us locked out by a boom gate made my blood boil. What gives the Canada Bay Council the right to install the boom gate preventing public accessing a public boat ramp and wharf ?

 

​

 

There is a sign at the boom gate advising that it will open automatically at 7am , which is far to late for this time of year. Daylight saving hours when the sun is up by 5am when fisherman want to be on the water by 6am. While I was at the gate I phoned the number on the sign 9911-6555 Canada Bay Council  , which at 6.30am had staff from an after hours service talk to me. I advised them of the situation and that while talking with them four other boat trailers had arrived which are now blocking the street. As the frustrated fisherman gathered at the gate we got talking. Two men from Blacktown , two more from Erskine Park which both sets have driven 40-50 minutes.

 

The last time I visited this boat ramp was the last week end in March 2015 and no boom gate, just the parking metres which you have to pay for parking at the boat ramp. If metres have to be there to help towards maintenance costs then ok but council do not lock us out by boom gate.

 

​

 

I phoned 9911-6555 Canada Bay Council next day Mon 7-12-2015 and spoke with Michelle in customer service.  I explained the whole situation and even put forward a simple request to have the boom gate open at 6am rather than 7am during Daylight saving hours October through to end of March.

Michelle from council also explained that local rate payers can get a swipe card for an annual fee of $33 to access the boat ramp. Those outside the local area have to pay a massive amount which again is discrimination.

 

That’s exactly what it is, Randall. Can I make a suggestion? The career politicians responsible don’t give a stuff about anyone except themselves. That’s why the prejudices of one snarky cat lady who lives near the ramp were deemed more important than the hundreds of boatowners who use and pay for the ramp. She lobbied Council who know that one voter their electorate can do them more damage than a hundred outside the council area. But that works both ways. I would send these pics and maybe a pic of your family along with the story to the TV current affairs shows and talk radio hosts plus maybe a couple of columnists at the Daily Telegraph. If any of those start calling councilors for a response, you can be pretty sure the decision will be reviewed tout suite.  And it goes without saying if I can be of any help whatsoever just let me know. Thanks to our readers and especially our contributors,

 

Andrew Hestelow

Managing Director

 

 Greg Wall back from Tairua with a tale to tell:

 

​

 

Andrew, had a blast in New Zealand. Booked three days chasing Kings (3rd day cancelled because of bad weather)  and three days chasing Snapper with a day in between (ended up fishing off the rocks). Beat my PB Kingie on day 1, then bettered it again on day 2. My best kingie over the two days went 125cm to the tip

 

Beautiful fish my friend and super glad you shared it with us. Cheznie switching to light jigging, for reds:

 

​

 

Just tried a bit of jigging on the snapper here in Adelaide after being a die hard soft plastic fisher and I am hooked!

 

I can see why! Apple Isle swordfish specialist Leo Miller says bluefin tuna have arrived already. But not just the tuna biting:

 

​

 

Got up at 2am, drove to the bottom of Tas and launched at Catamaran ramp. Then 60+km on the water round to Mewstone (google it). The boys put 1 lure in and bang, tuna smashed it instantly but the line must have been round the tip or something because it busted the lot, S#*T happens. Then we get 3 in and get a triple strike but the seals that are normally not an issue there decide they want a feed. 2 more sets of gear busted off and the other hook pulls…. Lots of Tuna but VERY frustrating. So we put out only 2 lures, double strike in 30 secs.

 

​

 

Seals arrive again despite driving away a bit, one hook pulled and 1 mauled fish landed. Now we run 1 lure only. Instant hook up but another mauled fish landed. Landed 1 more damaged and 1 other untouched (just) and managed to tag 1. Fish from 15 to 30kg. We left the tuna biting, middle finger at the seals and went look for striped trumpeter.

 

​

 

They’d been slow there the last few times but after several drops and a lot of sounding we found them on the lee side of the current as expected. A small tight school but we boated fish every drift and bagged out (16 over 55cm) in under an hr. These are BRILLIANT eating.

 

So as it was only 11am we drove another 30+km out to the shelf and deep dropped for more table fish. They weren’t doing as much as we’d have liked but we got 4 nice gemfish while we cleaned the rest.

 

​

 

At 5pm we calculated 75km back to the ramp… long trip home then another 2hrs + in the car; finally got to bed about 11pm then had to be up at 4 to take my Mum to the airport (Struggling today!).

 

I’ll bet you are! I got tired just reading that report, cobber. Leo had one more update to come proving what an adventure hot spot Tasmania is – if we didn’t know that already:

 

​

 

A mate caught a nice Mako and upon cleaning proved that they do eat Dolphins!

 

Fascinating stuff champ, as we’ve come to expect from you. Just by the way Leo has put together a how-to, for swordfishing. That’s just what we need: Here

 

Holidays are the time when you get on the water with the family. Fitz writes:

 

​

 

My sister with a nice flattie caught in middle harbour

 

Oi! That’s my sneaky spot. J Thanks, Fitz. Proud dad Serk out with his son and heir on Sunday:

 

​

 

This morning my boys on a roll

 

He certainly is mate that’s a nice bookend to the kingie he caught last week. Greg Costello on Monday. Gee this one would have gone hard on 4 pound line:

 

​

 

Nice little golden trevally caught on 4lb at Mooloolaba this morning

 

Who knows why but for some reason this has been a shocker week for disasters. Darryl at Port Botany boat ramp:

 

​

 

Yes that is a Quintrex 570. Thanks to Glen Cadoo and Dave Tweedie, who both sent this one in. Don’t know the backstory. And, don’t want to know

 

​

 

But saddest of all being two fishos who lost their lives when their boat hit Dampier island at high speed:

 

​

 

Be careful out there, lads. News Of The Weird and tackle shopaholic sends pics of his recent finds:

 

​

 

Haven’t decided whether this one’s funky – or creepy:

 

​

 

To tackle, and there’s always been fishos who think electric reels are unsporting. They’d be pretty surprised at the number of blokes who are not up to manual winding in deepwater. Old football injuries. Rotator cuff problems. Bad backs. And when that happens even winding up in shallow water can be very difficult.  Which is when the Tanacom Bull 500 can be a good option. It’s the one on the right, 750 size is to the left and 1000 size behind:

 

​

 

Only 760 grams, holds 400m of 50-pound line, ideal for bar cod. The big plus being you can use them for fishing other than deep dropping, because they’re a great reel even without the electric function. Mo Tackle price $800+, our price $720. Darryn heading out to the Swains:

 

Hi Andrew Enjoy reading your reports on the Newcastle fishing forum. Going back out to the Coral sea in October and this time targeting reef fish,coral trout and hopefully big red emperor. Just wondering whether the snapper combo would hold.I have a Saragosa 10000 witha 80 lb terez but it gets a bit heavy after awhile and is too big for most fishing I do so looking for a compromise. Any suggestions

 

​

 

Snapper combo won’t suit for that trip because the rod is high modulus graphite composite designed for distance casting of light weights – for instance, SPs. I reckon for this trip you will need some deep down grunt and 24 kilo line. Two recommendations? If casting is required, or maybe floating a bait out for mackerel, our $170 Scorpion II rod the go. Two piece with foregrip join, not heavy but lots of power in reserve. Pic of Westy with a nice SBT caught on his:

 

​

 

For a comfortable and light rod for jigging and baiting, look no further than our 5 foot 6 inch Hercules jig rod. $125 and both these rods can be mailed, meaning cheap delivery. To the Wayback Machine and Cheryl Chamberlain was a biologist at NSW Fisheries forty years ago. Back when we were school boys in the mid 1970s, Ken M and I were obsessed with bass fishing. We would be on the upper Nepean casting Arbogasters from Ken’s Gladding inflatable whenever we could get a parent to drive us out there. Then someone had the bright idea of stocking the school dam with bass. After getting the headmaster’s approval we wrote a letter to NSW Fisheries and caught the train into their office near Darling Harbour to progress the plan.

 

​

 

Miss Chamberlain was the type of person no longer found at NSW Fisheries. Enthusiastic, energetic, keen to explore any ideas which might improve angling opportunities. She had a figure which would make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window too meaning it wasn’t easy for two teenagers to stay focused, during those meetings. Correct me if I’m wrong but from memory it was the first time bass had been stocked in this state. Maybe five or six years later we heard the school dam had silted up and was full of reeds. We called the headmaster to ask if we could go fishing. On arrival we were shocked to find the whole dam was completely reeded over, with no water visible. Just a small open patch in the middle, maybe the size of a kitchen table. We pushed through the reeds and I lobbed a cast in, hooking up instantly. Hell of a battle, with the reeds waving as he charged through them, but finally netted and weighed. A bit under five pounds as I recall, although note that was on our bodgy Mitchell spring balance. Gee those were good times. The reason for this trip down memory lane being while checking Google maps for something else, I saw the dam is still there! Gotta let Ken know:

 

​

 

Inquiry received from a holidaying fisho:

 

Hey andrew. Spoke to you about the down rigger and a few spots around port stephens. Would greatly appreciate this and will no doubt flog your down rigger to a few mates as well. Appreciated again

 

​

 

No problem! My suggestion (and I’m no expert) is to downrig livies on the run out tide along the rough reefy wall that runs east-west along the southern end of Little Island. Haven’t done it for a few years but when we did it was a kingfish on every pass. Don’t let the tide push you onto the reef because there are some nasty bombies in that area. There can also be XOS kings around the washers on the eastern side of Boondelbah Island. A run to the FAD a good option too but could be a bit chockers on the long weekend. Note the current lines showing in the pic above. Yours truly out on the water last week with day starting well when Adam caught a small kingfish on a stick bait while we were preparing to launch:

 

​

 

Rounding South Head with the plan being a short uprigging session from there down to Rosa Gully. That is, two spreader bars running off the downriggers with a swimming sauri set just behind, to imitate tail end Charlie in the school:

 

​

 

​

 

That technique delivered a small one at the same spot last time but no joy in this session. Very little good mark on the sounder so my guess is they just weren’t there. With the seas getting better the further east we went the thought was, let’s head out to Browns seamount.  Surprised to find, on arrival, only two boats fishing there.  Water temp crazy high at 27.1 C degrees but the colour a light blue, rather than cobalt. We set up with a twin hook rig on both electric reels, a pilchard on the bottom hook and a California squid on the top. Down they went to the bottom, 390 metres below:

 

​

 

Double hook up on both rods first drop, and it was a good feeling to be on the board. Starboard side, a blue eye and a gemfish:

 

​

 

Port side, a small blue eye and an alfonsino. With the esky filling nicely the pressure was off. I wanted to miss the crazy traffic between the boat ramp and home in late afternoon so we headed back into the Peak for a quick drop before we pulled the pin. Sounder marks too regular and evenly spread to indicate kingfish present but the sheer volume of marks plus the fact we did well here last week meant there had to be the odd one around. And so it proved. Fitz hooked up on a live bait:

 

​

 

The fish small but over legal size, so into the esky he went. A good way to finish the day:

 

​

 

Last but not least, I was hella impressed with the pic Fitz sent through showing how his fish had been packed and sorted. Nice work:

 

​

 

 

To politics, and Randall ripped off by Sydney’s Canada Bay Council. He wants to know why. The answer’s simple, my friend. The elites who rule us hold us in contempt. No one at Canada Bay Council or NSW Maritime cares about boater’s interests. Council charged you $15 to park for six hours because they see you as an ATM. NSW Maritime Minister Duncan Pay has only one interest in boatowners – how to squeeze more fines, registrations, mooring fees etc out of us. And the only way that’s going to change is when boatowners get so fed up they stop voting for the two big parties. Thanks so much for writing and sorry this happened.

 

​

 

Hello Andrew, I’ve attached two photos that are under pinned by blood boiling frustration.

 

Photo 001  is of a newly installed boom gate at the end of Burwood Rd at Bayview Park Canada Bay / Concord area. This area falls into the Canada Bay Council area. Photo 002  is of the parking ticket you have to pay for once inside the boat ramp complex.

 

Why I am so annoyed is that over the last 5 years I have been using this boat ramp to access Sydney Harbour.  But what happened on Sunday 6-12-2015 was just wrong and what I believe to be discrimination.

 

On the Sunday 6-12-2015 myself , wife and two boys traveled from Narellan , a 45mins drive to this boat ramp which we have done for the last 5 years , but to arrive at 6.30am to find us locked out by a boom gate made my blood boil. What gives the Canada Bay Council the right to install the boom gate preventing public accessing a public boat ramp and wharf ?

 

​

 

There is a sign at the boom gate advising that it will open automatically at 7am , which is far to late for this time of year. Daylight saving hours when the sun is up by 5am when fisherman want to be on the water by 6am. While I was at the gate I phoned the number on the sign 9911-6555 Canada Bay Council  , which at 6.30am had staff from an after hours service talk to me. I advised them of the situation and that while talking with them four other boat trailers had arrived which are now blocking the street. As the frustrated fisherman gathered at the gate we got talking. Two men from Blacktown , two more from Erskine Park which both sets have driven 40-50 minutes.

 

The last time I visited this boat ramp was the last week end in March 2015 and no boom gate, just the parking metres which you have to pay for parking at the boat ramp. If metres have to be there to help towards maintenance costs then ok but council do not lock us out by boom gate.

 

​

 

I phoned 9911-6555 Canada Bay Council next day Mon 7-12-2015 and spoke with Michelle in customer service.  I explained the whole situation and even put forward a simple request to have the boom gate open at 6am rather than 7am during Daylight saving hours October through to end of March.

Michelle from council also explained that local rate payers can get a swipe card for an annual fee of $33 to access the boat ramp. Those outside the local area have to pay a massive amount which again is discrimination.

 

That’s exactly what it is, Randall. Can I make a suggestion? The career politicians responsible don’t give a stuff about anyone except themselves. That’s why the prejudices of one snarky cat lady who lives near the ramp were deemed more important than the hundreds of boatowners who use and pay for the ramp. She lobbied Council who know that one voter their electorate can do them more damage than a hundred outside the council area. But that works both ways. I would send these pics and maybe a pic of your family along with the story to the TV current affairs shows and talk radio hosts plus maybe a couple of columnists at the Daily Telegraph. If any of those start calling councilors for a response, you can be pretty sure the decision will be reviewed tout suite.  And it goes without saying if I can be of any help whatsoever just let me know. Thanks to our readers and especially our contributors,

 

Andrew Hestelow

Managing Director