 |
|
|
|
||||
|
 |
Pittwater Fishing Pittwater With Peter Le Blang Report 10/12/08
Hello everyone
Firstly I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and I hope that the big feller in the bright red suit stuffs your Christmas stocking full of fishing gear.
The fishing in Pittwater over the last week has been a little patchy and this is mainly due to the fluctuating water temperatures. Kingfish have been caught on most charters but some charters have been hard work. The fish seem to be there but triggering them to feed has been rather time consuming.
The areas that we have been finding the better fish are along the western foreshores of the river. A feeding frenzy can sometimes be spotted first thing in the morning between Scotland Island and Longnose Point as the sun rises.
Although these fish are very active at the start of the day they are still very fixated on the small prey. Your best chance at tackling one of these excited Kingfish is to either cast soft plastic lures or metal lures to the edge of the feeding frenzy.
Poppers can be very successful in the smaller sizes as well. It is also a good idea to have either a live bait or a squid head pinned three or four metres under your boat. By doing this you have two chances at catching a following fish. If the following fish does not hook up on your lure you still have a bait in the water that he might prefer.
As the sun rises the fish go deeper and become harder to find and tempt. When the fish go deeper they can be tempted with live squid and sometimes yellowtail. It has been crucial to drop you live bait at the depth that the baitfish are being harassed at.
We have also been catching Kingfish at Long Reef and along the coast on the way back to Broken Bay. Although most fish at Long Reef had been undersized there are still quite a few large fish to be caught as young Saxon Welsh proved just the other day.
Paul, Saxon's father, booked in a charter and we proceeded to Long Reef to try our luck.
Upon arrival it was evident that its was going to be a great day. There was baitfish all over the surface being balled up and systematically smashed.
Our first bait in the water was cleaned up on our first pass and Saxon was onto his first kingfish for the day. The fish was a perfect size for him to start with and when he landed his 60cm fish he was over the moon. In that one area Saxon hauled in 8 smaller fish before we moved to another area in deeper water.
After circling the balled up baitfish for fifteen minutes the soft plastic got monstered by another throwback kingfish. Whilst Saxon was playing his fish I sent out our biggest livie to see if a bigger fish was about.
As Saxon’s fish was being hoisted aboard the livie rod started howling. Saxon was all over this fish and he played it like a pro. We knew we were onto a much larger fish as poor Saxon struggled to hold onto the brute.
Saxon is pleased with his capture of this hard fighting brute
After a 5 minute battle Saxon finally got the upper hand and a fish of 76cm was bought on board. We managed to keep the action going constantly for some 4 hours before we ran out of live baits and time because of an approaching storm.
Saxon’s tally was 21 but he said he lost count once and his Dad didn’t even bother to count his cricket score of fish either.
Two fish were kept for the table and Saxon got a huge kick out of letting each fish go.
Did I mention that Saxon is only 9 years old!
Great work Saxon and thank you Paul for joining me out on the water. We also recently filmed another segment with Dave Butfield for is Hooked program. Dave wanted some footage of catching bread and butter species, as it was due to be shown at Christmas and New Year.
Although we were limited to our time on the water we did ok. We caught squid at our second spot and with 6 in the tank we headed of to catch some yakkas.
The next stage was to catch some flathead, so we headed to the 50m depth and caught some flathead and leatherjackets. Whilst we were out here we saw a massive school of Aussie salmon working and decided to catch a few whilst we were out there. They were big salmon, as you will see by the footage.
The last 10 minutes that we had left we run over Supermarket area and whilst setting up the downriggers we got our first fish. He was a tiddler and really should have been left hooked up to the downrigger for something bigger to eat it. The next ten minutes saw us loose two baits and then we had to head back.
Thanks Dave for your support over the years and was great to see you on the boat again and look forward to our next outing.
The offshore reef fishing is starting to pick up again after a bit of a quiet period. The drifting reef grounds of Long Reef has been the most productive area with mowong, nannygai, small snapper, trevally and tiger flathead all making it to the boat.
A beautifully coloured up mowong from the drifting grounds off Long Reef. The warmer water has hit the FADs but there have been no fish on them yet. The water temperature when we were out there recently was 22 degrees, which is certainly warm enough to keep them around once they arrive.
We found that the closer the water temperature got to 24 degrees last year the more fish were there and the bigger fish started to come out to play.
Remember that the FADs are there to attract fish to the area not just the float. The fish as last year will normally be down current of the buoy and we caught our biggest fish some 150m away from the FAD.
The better method to use is to troll live baits about 200m up current of the buoy and then across the back of the buoy when going with the current. There will be fish on the rope of the buoy but from what we witnessed last year on our downrigger camera, the better fish are down current of the system.
I hope that in the coming month that you will be able to get out on the water and really enjoy the festive season with friends and loved ones.
We are booking fast and now only have spots left to book mid Jan and beyond. With a great looking season ahead this year you could do worse that come out chasing some of the oceans harder fighting and great tasting fish. To book I can be contacted on 0410 633 351 or though my email address of plfishfingers@bigpond.com
Best wishes
No Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters
** Hello Everyone The last month on Pittwater has seen some pretty good fishing for those that were in the know. The last 2 weeks has seen some pretty hard fishing though. The water temperature dropped 3 degrees in as many days and really shut down the system. Kingfish have been chasing lures and live baits but getting a hook up has been nearly impossible. Even drifting over the top of the wrecks in Pittwater, which is usually a very successful tactic, has been failing due to the lethargy of the kingies as well as all the pickers that set upon the dead baits. The better way to catch kingfish at the moment seems to be by anchoring at a drop off and burlying. The best areas are those that have current such as Stokes Point or Soldiers Point. The trick is to send down the trail unweighted prawns or squid pieces on small hooks. The kingfish seem to be filter feeding through the burly and by placing small offerings with hooks in them gives you a real chance. Kingfish have been making a nuisance of themselves at West Head whilst trying to catch yellowtail. My best advice here is to rig up and place out the first yellowtail caught onto tackle of at least 10kg incase one of these larger fish decide to eat your well placed livie. The other place we have been finding kingfish has been at Barrenjoey Head but these fish are there one day and gone the next. Most of the fish are around the Bommie on the rising tide. Squid for some reason has not been very successful at this spot over the last 2 weeks but garfish and live slimy mackeral and yellowtail have worked a treat.
One of the many kingfish that are hunting in Broken Bay When we fish this area we will troll with our downriggers and have customers casting big poppers and soft plastics to try and cause as much splash and action as possible. Quite often the kingfish will come from the rougher areas and chase your lure all the way to the boat, before sliding off to the depths, where they are confronted by two yummy looking live baits. This technique is very successful and once the schools of fish have been aroused they will normally smash the available soft plastics and poppers. The squid are becoming more difficult as the month progresses but there are still quite a few about the bays close to the mouth of Pittwater. Palm Beach Wharf area has seen quite a few bigger squid caught and the smaller calamari squid are coming from West Head Beach. The colour at the moment seems to be green with orange on the odd day picking up the stragglers. Now all of you are aware of the effectiveness of catching kingfish with downriggers and squid, but have any of you tried to target other prized species with the same set up. For instance, snapper and jewfish are starting to come onto the bite at a lot of areas that can be targeted by the small trailer boats. To target snapper and jewfish with a downrigger is very easy. Firstly you need an adjustable release clip and a round heavy 10lb or bigger cannonball. The set up is the same as for kingfish with one exception and that is you place your cannonball at a depth that it bounces on the sea floor. Obviously you don’t use this technique over rough ground or reef but at the edges of the reef over the gravel or sand it is extremely effective. We troll dead garfish, pilchards, slimies and squid heads at one knot with the current and providing we use a burly cage off the downrigger wire we normally find a willing snapper. The key is to have drop back off your rod tip and an easy release tension on your clip so the snapper can hit the bait, swallow it and is hooked when he charges off. When fishing this technique the angler must set the hooks into the fish otherwise the snapper will spit the bait out when tension is felt. Jewfish can be caught in exactly the same way. The difference is that we often will apply more tension to the release clip and we don’t load the rod but we don’t have drop back either. For jewfish we fish the rod at fighting drag with one of my adjustable two hook rigs that took fifteen years to develop. By using the above method you will over the coming months catch a great variety of fish including flathead, sharks and any other bottom feeder that loves to eat fish or squid for a living. So before you put your downrigger away until next summer try catching some other prized table fish such as snapper, jewies as well as mowies etc. Well the offshore dollies are starting to slow and would not be surprised if they disappear in the next two weeks. The water temp has dropped to 20 degrees and instead of catching the usual 20 or 30 fish a day the numbers have dropped to 8 to 10 for the day. The best way to still catch one is to troll live yellowtail or slimies and on more occasions than not the fish will be found up to 300m away from the FAD. When the fishing turns quiet we pull out the downriggers and proceed to catch fish from the 55 feet mark. By doing this style of fishing we can basically keep the baits in front of the ever-hungry dollies and therefore rack up big numbers each trip. Our last trip out to the FADS was with a group of friends and we had a blast. Dave Fox had his father visiting from the US and wanted to see if we could put him onto a big fish. Dianne (Dave’s better half) joined us for the day as well and informed me on the way out to the FADS, that Dave’s father had never caught a fish big enough to take home and we had to change this. Upon arrival at the FAD, we deployed two live baits and before I could put the rods in the rod holders, we were on. The whole morning was like this and with fish of 70cm gleefully eating the live baits Dave and his Dad were having a ball. Dianne decided that it was her turn and would show “The Lads” how it was done. I don’t know what it is that women have in their favor when fishing, but as normal, Dianne pulled the biggest fish of the day and honestly, made it look so easy. The boys were jealous but they tried not to show it as they were congratulating Dianne on her fine catch.
Dianne Fox the best fish of the day, a 6kg mahi mahi.
The day ended with about 25 fish caught and only a few taken home for a feed including Dianne’s 6kg dollie.
As mentioned the water temp has dropped and big numbers of dollies are moving north with the current so if you want to tangle with one of these magnificent fish, you had better get out there ASAP.
Narrabeen Wrecks are still producing some nice fish with kingfish and jewfish being the main targets and captures. Early starts are needed but it is worth the lack of sleep.
The 50m mark is still full of leatherjackets but are finally starting to thin out. The 50m at Long Reef is holding some nice blue spot flathead as well as marbled flathead for those of you that love to catch and eat these tasty fish.
For the bream fisho there are a few nice bream being landed at West Head on the Pittwater side on the rising tide. The best bait has been a fish fillet such as yellowtail when drifted down the burly trail.
Flathead are still along Pittwater with The Hill area producing some of the larger fish. The better bait has been mullet preferably live on a running sinker rig and fished along the drop off. The same area is also producing 45cm snapper on prawns or squid pieces.
Lastly there are some fish to be caught at the various wharves along the river. Most of the catches consist of squid, flathead, bream and leatherjackets. These are also a few big bull mullet cruising past amongst the bread burly and can be quite a handful on the lighter tackle. The wharves have also seen the odd bust off due to watsons leaping bonito and will eat metal lures, soft plastics as well as live yellowtail.
Amy Le Blang with one of the many leatherjackets that can be caught at any wharf on Pittwater.
If you are thinking of targeting BIG KINGFISH in winter then we are now booking our Jigging Charters for late May but the prime time is JUNE or July.
Don’t miss out as these charters are very rewarding and for those that are not that fit I have a few tricks up my sleeve that will see the even the very tired angler still in with a real chance. Snapper fishing is now available and we are targeting fish at Trawlies. Long Reef as well As Avalon Gutter just to mention a few areas.
To book please call 0410 633 351 or 9999 2574 as our email service has been playing up.
I hope to see you on board soon.
No Bananas!
Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters 0410 633 351 Report 14/01/08
Hello everyone
I hope that you all enjoyed the New Year festivities and are now ready to fish. The fishing offshore that I experienced with a few mates last week was amazing. My day off had been booked for ages and to be truthful I was looking forward to catching up on some sleep, but I had promised these guys to go fishing on the first available opportunity. In other words my day off became another 3am start instead of the 10am wake up. We started the day collecting live yellowtail and slimy mackeral at Broken Bay. The schools of baitfish were thick and within 10 minutes we were off to Longy to chase some dollies. The conditions were sloppy but the big new boat handled it with ease and at a speed of 18 knots we were at the FAD in quick time. Upon arriving I was pretty lazy and decided to have a run around with pushers to see if any fish could be found. The close by current line was our first target and on the first run we caught a 6kg dollie. The second run produced the same results so the livies were placed out. We moved no more than 50m before the first of many decent fish were caught. Alex was the first to catch a bigger model and by the 11am the guys had caught one fish that was a neat 10kg and another couple of fish that were just under the double figure mark. Alex with his first dollie for the season. The action lasted as long as the livies did and the guys landed 20 decent fish with only enough taken for an immediate feed. These bigger fish had even larger fish shadowing them all the way to the boat but refused to eat anything that was dangled in front of them. All the kept fish were females, which was a bit unusual and the bigger bulls that were following these fish were easily 15kg.
Paul had a ball catching these big dollies. These charters are available for you to now book for the end of February onwards. Our website of www.estuaryfishing.com.au has been updated and click on the prices button to view the many available charters and different styles of fishing available.
Back in Pittwater the fishing has been great one day but a shocker the next. The fishing has gotten to a point where it is better to fish Broken Bay at the moment. The fishing in Pittwater is patchy but the fishing around the various headlands of Broken Bay has seen more consistent captures. Barrenjoey Head has seen some great fish lost and quite a few smaller fish caught. We have been targeting the Lion Island area with better results. The better baits have been slimy mackeral or yellowtail and by using the downriggers the fish can normally be found. There have been a few kingfish also caught at Flint & Steel so this normally means that West Head will have a few fish to be caught until the mesh netters get them. In past years when kingfish have been caught at Flint & Steel it normally means that these fish are on the way into Cowan Creek to harass the many bait schools that are in the river. This is normally when fish can be caught at Cottage Point as well as Smiths Creek and the various points that have a fair amount of current. Live squid or yellowtail will catch decent kingfish in this system once they are located. The only problem with fishing Cowan Creek is that the waterway is so good for the fish. There are almost too many areas for these fish to hide. Back in Pittwater there are a few kingfish to be caught but these are spoilt fish and on most occasions refusing to eat anything. Last Wednesday saw kingfish found on both the cameras and the sounders and they refused live squid, dead fresh squid, squid guts, squid heads, yellowtail, slimy mackeral, garfish, soft plastics of all varieties as well as hard bodied and metal lures. We really threw everything at them but were unable to trigger a bite. When you hold over feeding fish and cant produce a bite you know that they are fixated on a specific prey and unless you match it you have no hope. The following day saw 15 of the same fish captured quite easily. I guess that’s fishing. Bream are in Pittwater and can be caught around the moorings at Bayview and Newport as well as Barrenjoey Head. Barrenjoey Head on the ocean side has seen local’s fish near the traps and on more occasions than not come home with their bag limit. The fish are from 28cm through to 35cm and are thick at the moment. The better baits to use have been oily fish like tuna or pilchards. Fresh yellowtail strips are also catching a fair amount of fish. Burly is required and a Burly Bomb is the best way to get these fish onto the chew. If fishing in Pittwater for bream try using live nippers as this may see you catching some big whiting that are also about. If you are thinking about getting into popper fishing for whiting in Pittwater, now may be your time. Towlers bay is the place to try as is Mackeral Beach and The Basin. Try using small poppers with cup faces in gold colours. Although this lure wont guarantee you a whiting, if used properly it will certainly see you in with a great chance. The flathead are starting to show themselves along and over the sand banks in Pittwater. These fish are responding well to drift fishing with live yellowtail and even pilchards. Soft plastics are also accounting for a few fish and can be a very effective way to catch a feed. The areas to try are Mackeral Beach as well as Palm Beach and right up at Bayview and Newport.
All the best.
No
Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters
Please Note. We are the original Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters and take no responsibility for other charters with a similar name to the above or our website name of Estuary Fishing Charters .com.au. Report 1/11/07 Hello everyone
Well since our last report we have been catching quite a few fish in Pittwater and Broken Bay.
The larger vessel is still tied up in paperwork at waterways but fingers crossed another 7 days should see it on the water for all our customers to enjoy. In the last couple of weeks we have caught kingfish as well as the first of the traveling pelagic fish. The traveling schools of shark and spotted mackeral seemed to travel the river for a few days and then have disappeared. There have been a few caught at Box Head but most of our fish were caught at Mackeral Beach and Sand Point.
The lure to use has been Rapala Cd9’s in blue and trolled at 5-6 knots whatever the lure allows. A fast troll will encourage the fish to hit the tails or rear treble giving you a real chance at them. These fish were shy of any lure that had any wire on them; even 5cm would make them shy away.
Fish to 80cm is common once the school has been found. The kingfish are a little hard to find but with patience some nice fish are there to be caught.
Last week Mathew McCartney joined us for a charter with his father, Wayne and father in-law Phil.
The day started with a school of 60cm kingfish smashing the surface, so it was our duty to feed them some squid heads and strips on the downrigger because they were diving as quick as they would surface.
The first pass saw an instant hook up and Wayne had the pleasure of catching the first fish of the morning. The fish was only 60cm and released to fight another day. On the second pass we had a double hook up to similar sized fish but this time the school rose with the hooked fish.
Matthew was handed the Wave-worm Anaconda lure that was attached to 5kg mono and was almost instantly hooked up on another kingfish. This hot bite lasted until we ran out of squid and when the fish would no longer chase or eat the popper or soft plastic.
It was then decided that we would catch some more squid to have a crack at some larger models in some deeper water. Two hours later and with only 2 big squid in the tank we headed of to see what we could find. The next two hours were pretty uneventful but at the change of the tide the bite started again.
This time Matthew was on the 30lb braid and his dad was locked onto another nice fish on the 20lb mono. These fish ran in opposite directions so playing them from a still boat was the best solution.
After a solid battle Wayne bought aboard a 76cm kingfish and Matthews’ fish was measured in at 80cm. Next pass it was Phil’s turn but these fish were now angry and in no mood to play. The fish that Phil hooked onto knew exactly where he wanted to go and unfortunately Phil was unable to stop the beast on the Charter Special that was loaded with 20lb mono. The 80lb trace had found some sharp edges and before you know it the fish was gone and only a frayed trace to show for it. The drag was set at 5kg and this still didn’t stop the fish.
Matthew, Wayne and Phil it was great to have you on board and I hope that we will see you again soon.
The following day we had one of our wonderful regular customers on board and again it ended up a great day.
Ron, Clayton and Kate arrived at the crack of dawn and left at 2pm with a very nice 84cm kingfish. This fish was caught at anchor near Soldiers point and ate a fresh squid head that happened to be towed for 3 hours unsuccessfully. We anchored and burlied for 10 minutes and before you knew it the 6500 bait runner was howling from the pressure of the hard running kingy. There were smiles all round and 20 minutes later Ron hooked up to a great fish that unfortunately got the better of the opportunity and escaped with the help of some nearby rough ground.
To Ron, Clayton and Kate thanks for your patience and it was great to finally catch your biggest Kingfish for Pittwater.
The squid are really a pain to catch at the moment but with much persistence they can tracked down. The jigs to use seem to be the smaller sized jigs of 1.8 to 2.5 in pink or orange.
I would love to help you out with an area or two to catch some but honestly they are so scarce it has been taking 2-3 hours to catch enough for the charter. Flathead are starting to move into Pittwater with a few nice fish being caught near Mackeral Beach and between Lion Island and Box Head. Big soft plastics are working, as are the usual baits of pilchards or yellowtail. Some big bream are starting to show up at the moorings at Bayview and along McCarrs Creek.
If you are thinking of booking a charter then can I suggest you do it now? The fishing will be on the improve over the next month and sitting at home watching TV wont help catching that fish of a lifetime.
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted bad weather.
All the best.
No
Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters Report 24/08/07
Hello everyone
The great news is that I have finally found another vessel for our charter business. The new vessel is a 7.9m Fisher and has been operating in QLD under a 2C survey and in about 10 weeks will have hopefully passed the NSW survey process. This large alloy boat has full cover protection for those hot days and drop clears to keep the spray out when the winds pick up. We will still be keeping our estuary fishing prices about the same but it will give our customers more room and enable them to invite more mates. Once the vessel is in NSW survey we will be targeting mahi mahi and other reef and game fish offshore opening up a wider fishing option for all of our valued customers. So in short look out dollies and kings cause I’m coming to get you. The fishing in Pittwater over the last week has been pretty good but the weather has been crap. The 2 days that we have been on the water this week have seen captures of squid, trevally to 42cm, leatherjackets as well as bream and a very lonely kingfish. We have caught heaps of small flathead at the mouth of Pittwater but these fish are only 30cm. The areas to try for flathead at the moment seem to be the drift from Lion Island through to Box Head. The bait to use to tempt a larger fish has been a slimy mackerel or yellowtail whilst drifting. The bigger flathead have been about 50cm. A word of warning, the seas have been rough in Broken Bay so be careful. Inside Pittwater The West Head area and Barrenjoey area has been the place to track down some squid. The jig size has not been important, as most of the squid are quite large with hood lengths of 25+cm. The trevally have been hanging around the various points along Pittwater that has structure. Most of the better fish are being caught at Soldiers Point and near Mackeral Beach. The trevally have been eating squid pieces, peeled prawns as well as whitebait. Burly has been a must to attract and to keep these fish in the area. Leatherjackets are starting to show on a few of the wrecks along the river. These blighters destroy trolled live baits and can make a real mess of your tackle. The easiest way to catch one has been to use a paternoster rig at Botham’s Reef. The kingfish are still cruising in Pittwater with the odd day feeding on the surface. The kingies have been on the surface a few times over the last month around a school of feeding tailor. Soft plastics and hard bodied lures are accounting for their fair share. The other thing that has worked is to cast a fresh squid head at the edge of the action and hope a kingfish hits it before the tailor smash it. Luderick are still in Pittwater and are not being very shy. Most of the blackfish have been caught at Church Point Wharf and Bayview Wharf. Local weed has not been too important although it will catch you more fish. If you want to learn more about Pittwater then you may want to book a seat at the talk being held at Narrabeen Bait & Tackle. Mark Turnen will be talking about catching Jewfish along the Northern Beaches and I will continue the talk about jewies in Pittwater. We will also be answering questions on downrigging and also any other type of fishing in Pittwater/ Northern Beaches. Book a seat on 9970 6204 with Mark. Date of Talk – 10th Sept 07.
If you are thinking of booking a charter then can I suggest you do it now? The fishing will be on the improve over the next month and sitting at home watching TV wont help catching that fish of a lifetime.
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted bad weather.
All the best.
No Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters
Report 27/07/07 The other thing I should mention and that is we are now conducting Hairtail Charters. The charters will start at 2.30pm and you will be dropped off between 9-9.30pm. The charters will start by catching live bait and then either head up into Cowan Creek or visit a few local spots on Pittwater. If you wish to participate on one of these charters please call now because bookings are filling fast and we are only conducting these charters for a short while.
You will need to bring along with you a headlamp with new batteries and of course warm wind and waterproof clothing. If you want to go fishing without freezing your butt off, we are still holding our normal daytime charters as well.
Just a quick report to get you onto some fish for the weekend.
There are heaps of trevally in the river at the moment and they are eating peeled prawns as well as whitebait and squid pieces. A fair amount of burly is required to attract these hard fighting blurters but once in the trail they are feeding freely. Bream are around Mackeral Beach as well as Palm Beach wharf. The bream are a little hard to tempt in the middle of the day but are feeding well during the last hour of sunlight and the first 3 hours after sunrise. The best bait has been live nippers.
Kingfish are in the river still and are eating a variety of baits. Areas to try are Longnose Point through to Soldiers Point, The Kingfish Highway and at Barrenjoey Head. These fish are pretty hard to tempt on the odd day so don’t give up, just fish harder.
Tip
Small squid and cuttlefish of about 8cm are the gun baits at the moment. Also small yellowtail have been getting smashed if used with Glowbait around a balled up school of baitfish.
Salmon and tailor are about at Barrenjoey Head but are not rising to the surface. Trolling soft plastics or live yellowtail should see you catch a couple. The best time has been first thing before all the boats arrive.
Flathead are also being caught in Broken Bay near West Head. Most fish are only 40cm but are great for those that want a feed of fish. There are still bigger flathead being caught near the mouth of Pittwater but there is slimy winter weed (brown algae) building up making it hard to find a drift.
Luderick are still in Pittwater with the hot bite at Woody Point just yesterday. Local angler Pat caught a bag of 10 good fish and released many more during his morning fish.
As earlier mentioned we are still catching kingfish and jewfish in the cold dirty water in Pittwater so if you want to tangle with some decent fish give me a call. I can be contacted on 0410 633 351 or through our bookings page on our web site.
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted bad weather.
All the best.
Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters
Please Note. We are the original Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters and take no responsibility for other charters with a similar name to the above or our website name of Estuary Fishing Charters .com.au. These other charter operators are in no way connected to us so please don’t call us to complain. Best wishes. Peter
Report 17/07/07
Hello everyone
Before starting into a report I wish to let you all know that our WINTER SPECIALS are on. The charter is for $330 for 1,2 or 3 people. The special lasts until 31st August 2007.
Over the last couple of weeks we have had a few brave souls that have taken advantage of our winter special and joined us for a day on Pittwater. The cold morning temperatures really liven you up just before your face freezes and your fingers start to ache. For this reason we have been starting our charters later in the day to avoid the frostbite and early morning westerly winds.
The charters have been quite successful as well for a variety of species, which is pleasant for this time of the year.
We have caught over the last two weeks trevally, bream. flathead, jewfish and kingfish.
The water temperature is 14 degrees and the fish can be harder to tempt but if you cant catch your target species simply move on and target a different species.
Our kingfish charters have on most occasions been successful with 2 kingies of 65-70cm being the normal.
We have been catching most of our fish either downrigging or drifting with suspended baits over structure. It has been important to hit the fish on the nose with the baits when drifting or downrigging. When traveling over the structure the first time keep an eye on your sounder to find the depths that the fish are. The next pass, make sure that your baits are at that depth and persist until the fish hit or disappear.
Over the last week the squid have been a real task to get. We have spent up to two hours trying only to catch one and if very lucky maybe two. The areas to try have been around the Mouth Of Pittwater along the kelp weed in close to the headlands.
Yellowtail on the other hand have been in good supply along both West Head and Barrenjoey Head because other than dolphins they seem to have the areas to themselves.
Over the past two weeks all of the kingfish that have been caught have had very small cuttlefish in their bellies. This of course means that these fish are now haunting the rocky areas of Pittwater that have a supply of very small kingfish M&M’s (i.e. small cuttlefish because they have a crunchy outer shell that wont melt in your hands).
Areas such as Longnose Point through to Soldiers Point should see a hot bite at some stage of the day. The older wrecks of Pittwater like Botham’s Reef and Jacks, should also start to produce some decent captures. The secret of course will be to use small cuttlefish or squid.
When I state small I actually mean tiny. If you can catch ones that are about 6cm long they are like feeding lollies to kids once fish have been tracked down.
As stated we have caught jewfish as well as kingfish. These prized table fish have been of around 65cm and have eaten everything that has been used to try and capture other species.
To give you an idea of what I mean, we have caught jewfish on whitebait whilst targeting bream, on peeled prawns when targeting trevally, on squid when downrigging for kingfish and live yellowtail when targeting john dory. So as you can see these fish are not real fussy on what they eat at the moment.
The key has been to use oily burly that is finely mashed topped up with a healthy dose of tuna oil and chicken pellets. The best method is to use it with a burly bucket that is left in the water to slowly disperse its contents.
Trevally have been caught around the drop off at The Basin and a lot of burly has been needed to attract them. Once the trevally arrive back off on the burly a little but still have a constant supply flowing. Floating unweighted peeled prawns down the burly trail has accounted for quite a few good fish. Most of the trevally are only around the 25cm mark but every now and then a 40cm fish will be caught.
Flathead of decent size are still being caught in Pittwater with the better catches coming from the Mackeral Beach area. Small live yellowtail have caught most but every now and then a decent fish will swallow a prawn or whitebait. In this same area flathead can be caught on soft plastic lures. The gold and black fish profiles often work at this time of the year, as do Wave-worm Tikki Shads on heavier jig heads.
Bream are sparse in Pittwater at the moment but if you are lucky there are some nice bream being caught at Palm Beach and Mackeral Beach area. The better fish have eaten live nippers and the best tide has been the last hour of the rising tide and the first hour of the run out tide. Once again burly is needed as is little or no weight and long traces of up to 1.5m.
For those nocturnal fisherman there apparently has been a hot bream bite at Careel Bay Wharf and the most successful bait is bread.
I hope this report gets you onto some great fish or see you venture onto our vessel to take advantage of our winter specials.
If you want to target some of these bigger kingfish and or jewies then can I suggest you call NOW!
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted bad weather.
All the best.
Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters Report 27/06/07
Hello everyone
Before starting into a report I wish to let you all know that our WINTER SPECIALS are on. The charter is for $330 for 1,2 or 3 people. The special lasts until 31st August 2007.
Sorry for the delay in reports but as you can all imagine the weather has been crappy to put it lightly.
Pittwater coped a hammering during the last three weeks with many boats sinking due to the strong winds, bucketing rain and big waves in Pittwater. The winds were that strong that boats that were tied to wharves acted like kites before flipping over. These boats were 5.5m front steer Quintrex’s etc, not small tinnies.
The handrails along the public wharf had waves breaking over them that ripped up planks at the height of the storm. It was both awesome and scary to watch but the rain was at least appreciated by those that needed it.
On a brighter note though the winter weed or brown slimy algae has all been flushed out of Pittwater. Unfortunately the issue with The Caulerpa Weed is still present.
We have been lucky enough to get in a couple of days fishing this week and Pittwater is still fishing fairly well.
Yesterday we took out a
group of three and although it was too rough to safely travel in and out
of The Hawkesbury River we opted to fish Pittwater instead.
Today I went out for a play around in the over cast conditions and in 3 hours managed to catch 2 kingfish to 70cm and 3 jewfish with the largest measuring in at 65cm. All of these fish were released in good health.
The rain has certainly stirred up the fish but with the lack of numbers of boats on the water you wouldn’t know it.
A few people have cancelled charters recently thinking that all this fresh water makes it so you cant catch any fish, I beg to differ.
It has taken about 10 years to bucket down in a decent quantity and now that it’s here, no one is fishing it.
The quiet waterway and no one else around has made it pretty easy to fish so I am not complaining, just disappointed there aren’t others out there enjoying it too.
The trick is still to locate structure and sound for baitfish. Disregard the water temperature (15 degrees today), burly and be patient. The next thing is to fish the deeper holes with fresh baits or better still live bait. The change of the tide is usually the best time to tangle with a better fish.
Squid as mentioned have been very hard to get over the last few days but with some luck they can be found near West Head and Barrenjoey Head. Big jigs are accounting for big squid with one measuring in at 45cm hood length.
Bream are around the Mackeral Beach area through to West Head. There are some big blue-nosed bream amongst the captures. Most fish are around the 27cm mark with the odd 45cm monster keeping everyone honest.
The best bait has been a live nipper but fresh prawns should see you go home with a feed.
Trevally are coming from the same area and are responding well to burly and floating a peeled prawn down the trail.
As earlier mentioned we are still catching kingfish and jewfish in the cold dirty water in Pittwater so if you want to tangle with some decent fish give me a call. I can be contacted on 0410 633 351 or through our bookings page on our web site.
If you want to target some of these bigger kingfish and or jewies then can I suggest you call NOW!
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted bad weather.
All the best.
No Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters
Please Note. We are the original Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters and take no responsibility for other charters with a similar name to the above or our website name of Estuary Fishing Charters com.au. These other charter operators are in no way connected to us so please don’t call us to complain. Best wishes. Peter May 10th
Fishing Report
We have caught over the last 2 weeks two 20lb kingfish and at Easter yours truly cracked a 35lb kingfish.
My fish ate a squid off the downrigger and gave me a merry old time on the 60lb braid.
I must apologise to all those that were trying to sleep in, as I know my hollering and hooting would have woken you. To all those that saw the victory dance I must apologise for that as well.
It took 15 minutes of slogging it out with this beast and it was released to fight another day in good health.
The last 20lb fish was caught very recently at West Head and it engulfed a small cuttlefish. This fish ate the cuttlefish right in front of the camera. Jason (the customer) had never caught a kingfish before and he had a great introduction with his first.
The fish was pulling 5kg of drag off the 6500 bait-runner as though it was in free spool and pulling Jason around the boat as well. We were very lucky that this fish ran towards New Zealand because he was away from the rough terrain that we had hooked him over.
After a torrid battle on the 15kg mono the fish was bought aboard and Jason was relieved, as he didn’t know how much longer he could have held on for.
Great work Jason and hope that we will see you again.
The kingies over the last couple of days have gone into shut down mode. We are seeing kingfish on the Walker Strikevision Camera system but they are refusing to eat most things.
An example was only two days ago when trolling the Longnose Point area. We were seeing kingfish rise to the bait but wouldn’t eat it. We used live squid, cuttlefish, yellowtail, garfish and finally squid strips and soft plastics. Not a touch for 3 hours and then, BANG. Every rod that was in the water started screaming and kingfish all ran in different directions. We only lost one fish on the initial assault and landed the other two fish of 74cm. We trolled this area for the next 2 hours and were mauled by some 20 more kingfish. Then all of a sudden they went back to being seen but wouldn’t eat.
Without this camera system I would have honestly more than likely kept on moving and would have never racked up the charter that we did.
The water temp in Pittwater before last nights rain was a very pleasant 21 degrees. The warm water has kept a few species active in Pittwater but the season is ending.
We have bonito and still the odd frigate mackerel cruising the river on most days. These fish will take metal lures cast at them but they seem to be hunting in water of only 40cm in depth chasing whitebait. The best size lure has been 14g when accurately cast in front of the frigates.
The bonito seem to be eating live yellowtail meant for kingfish. These bonnies are also smashing trolled Rapalas in the green colours. The best size has been CD9’s but I am sure that any brand green diving minnow will see a few caught.
Flathead are still being caught at the mouth of Pittwater using small live yellowtail whilst on the drift. The West Head side of the mouth is the more productive side at the moment. There are a lot of very small flathead in this area and we have been using bigger baits and lures to tempt the bigger ones. Mullet is also great bait at the moment.
Big bream are around Pittwater at the moment with fish of 50cm being seen on quite a few occasions. These bigger bruisers are hanging around the moorings near the marinas. These big bream wont eat just anything and are wary fish. The best attack plan for these big fish is to float unweighted baits down a fine burly trail at night. Using bread for bait and burly is normally the best but live nippers can also do some damage. I suggest you fish in water depths of less than 6m of a night, as this seems to be where all the action is. Smaller bream to 40cm can be caught on the Pittwater side of West Head and burly is a must here.
A few big jewfish have shown up along The Hawkesbury River over the last couple of weeks. These bigger jewies are eating squid and mullet. The bite is not hot but it is good to hear that the usual areas of Flint & Steel, Juno, Gunya, Bar Point and The Railway Bridges are producing some good fish.
Over the coming weeks we will be starting to target Jewies in The Hawkesbury with downriggers (both trolling and anchored) and kingies on the way back into Pittwater.
If you want to target some of these bigger kingfish and or jewies then can I suggest you call NOW!
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted strong winds or rain.
All the best.
No Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters
Please Note. We are the original Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters and take no responsibility for other charters with a similar name to the above or our website name of Estuary Fishing Charters .com.au. These other charter operators are in no way connected to us so please don’t call us to complain. Best wishes. Peter Report 25/04/07
Hello everyone
I hope that everyone was able to pay their respects to all those that have fought to make our country the wonderful place that it is today. To those that are left a big thank you to you all.
The fishing over the last couple of weeks has seen some wonderful fishing. We have been catching kingfish in decent numbers and have been smashed by a couple of larger fish.
One of our customers Pierre Olson and his lovely missus Theresa came out last week during a hot bite.
We collected our live baits and started hunting. We trolled for literally hours but I knew that we were getting the bite late in the afternoon.
Sure enough at 4pm the 30lb braid outfits starts screaming as though we had hooked a torpedo. Pierre did a great job trying to subdue the rampaging fish but it had a decent head start on us. Before we knew it the big fish had stripped 50m plus and was going to stop for anything. This fish cut the 100lb leader on the rough terrain to gain its freedom. The next pass saw a fish of equal size hook up and then escape.
(This was our worst charter for 8 days, sorry Pierre) Unfortunately there were no more fish for that afternoon but I can bet that Pierre has still got the sounder of the screaming reel in his head. Bad luck Pierre and Theresa on missing that monster but it will be still there for your next upcoming charter.
The following day Dave Kelly managed to grab two mates to have a go at a few afternoon kingfish.
Once again after finding enough livies we started on our merry way to find baitfish huddled near structure so we could start trolling. It didn’t take too long before we found balled up baitfish with good-sized arches around the school.
We first deployed live yellowtail on two rods and a live squid on the other. I thought that we would have been smashed straight away but it did take 30min before a strike could be registered.
Once the kingfish came onto the bite we were catching them on Wave-worm Anaconda’s in white with a 1/2oz weighted Title Shot jig heads. All fish were in the 67cm-75cm ranges. Between the 3 people they caught 20 kingfish and lost a few as well.
Well done guys and I had a ball, as I know you all did.
We have had big hits and decent fish pulling at the other end of the line but stopping them can be another thing altogether.
If you wish to tangle with some larger kingfish then I suggest you start hunting now. The place to start is West Head or Barrenjoey Head. There is a lot of water between fish so patience is needed.
If you don’t know the Pittwater area then can I suggest you grab 2 mates and jump aboard for a charter?
Our strike rate in the last couple of weeks has been great but we need people that are prepared to wait for that bigger fish and be lucky enough to muscle big fish from rough terrain.
The squid are a little tricky to catch at the moment but they can be found before first light at Palm Beach Wharf and the surrounding weed beds. The colour to use has been orange or pink in the smaller sizes. There are quite a few bigger squid around at the moment in this area so take a couple of larger jigs as well.
Other areas to try for squid have been West Head and Barrenjoey Head amongst the kelp weed. These squid have been smaller than those inside Pittwater and are really “Kingfish Tim Tams”.
Other fish to target in Pittwater are big bream amongst the shallow moorings. Unweighted nippers have been the downfall of many of the fish.
In these skinny water areas you need to fish with locked up drags. If the bream get a head start they will do you in on the mooring chains and drag their mates away with them.
The deeper water areas can be trolled for bream if you use the downrigger. Smaller hard bodied lures trolled closed to structure will see the odd larger bream caught.
The last week has seen 3 bream caught on big live squid whilst targeting kingfish and jewies. So trolling beam lures at there feeding area should produce the goods.
Flathead can still be caught at the mouth of Pittwater but they are in concentrated areas. Using live yellowtail on the drift has accounted for most of the larger fish. White bait has caught a mix of flounder, bream and small flathead. If you are thinking about a charter then can I suggest you call or email us now! The bigger fish are around for us to chase and for you to catch.
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted strong winds or rain.
All the best.
No
Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters
Please Note. We are the original Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters and take no responsibility for other charters with a similar name to the above or our website name of Estuary Fishing Charters .com.au. These other charter operators are in no way connected to us so please don’t call us to complain. Best wishes. Peter Report 27/03/07 Hello everyone The last couple of weeks have seen some very nice fish caught in Pittwater.The water temperature has hovered around the 25-degree mark before last nights rain. The rain was only enough to drop the temperature by half a degree at the start of the day. By the end of the day the water temperature was back up to 25. Pittwater over the last couple of weeks has been host to kingfish, frigate mackerel, striped tuna, bonito and some monster flathead.The kingfish seem to all be in the 70cm class at the moment with the odd 80cm fish being hooked close to baitfish schools.We have been trolling to find the kingies and most have opted for eating fresh squid heads. Once one is hooked the following fish have been eating whatever is available.The best lure by far has been the smaller Wave Worm Anacondas in white or green. The big Mister Twister style tail when cast and wound along the surface cuts a V in the surface, which seems to drive the kingies nuts.Hint: Have a live bait in the water already so any following kingfish can have a snack if they don’t wish to eat your soft plastic. Actually it is best to always have another bait in the water when catching kingfish as was proved 5 days ago when Dave Fox and Jade came aboard.Dave was hooked up and playing a kingfish in 16 feet of water that had in-hailed small live squid off the downrigger.Jade and I cleared the decks and placed a live yellowtail only a metre from the surface on the opposite side of the boat.
When Dave bought his kingfish to the boat Jade started shouting “I’m on, oh no I’m not, wait yes I am”.
After a short fight we had discovered that Jade had hooked a monster flathead. This flathead rose some 13 feet off the bottom to eat the yellowtail.
The flathead in Pittwater have been BIG with 4 monsters being caught over the last 10 days. All were caught on live yellowtail except one that, Luke from Pymble caught. He caught his on a prawn on bream tackle and he did very well to keep his cool. Luke’s fish measured in at a whopping 80cm and was by far the biggest fish he had ever caught. Well-done Luke.
These big flathead can be caught towards the entrance of Pittwater whilst on the drift if you don’t have a downrigger.
If you do have a downrigger then use big hard bodied lures like Rapala Cd14s. Big lures equates to bigger fish. Remember when trolling for flathead to troll with the current and make that lure puffs up sand to let the flatties know dinner is on the way.
The frigate mackerel are still cruising the river in small pods smashing small baitfish. To try and catch one is a bit of a task at times as they are only on the surface for brief moments. We have been lucky enough to catch a few and they have eaten 3 & 5g metal lures.
The striped tuna are a sporadic bite but most mornings they seem to be on the western side of the river.
Sharks are still a common thing in Pittwater with 6 bite offs during the week. It’s a frustrating thing to have your hard earned live baits being eaten without you even knowing. The sharks are cutting 100lb leader without breaking the rubber band connection.
Squid have been a little harder to catch of late but I am sure this is due to sharks and the fresh water from the rain. The most popular colour for squid has been orange with pink a close second. The size really doesn’t matter at the moment but a slower sink rate is. This can be achieved by trimming the lead weights on your larger jigs but be careful not to take too much off and make it into a floating jig.
Areas to try for squid have been Careel Bay and Mackeral Beach.
West Head has seen a run of bonito and these speedsters are attacking most trolled lures but Rapala CD9’s are coming up trumps on most occasions. These fish are also eating live yellowtail whilst at anchor.
The Downriggers Club is up and running and our first competition is organised for April. Heaps of prizes and it’s a Mystery Fishing Competition, which means everyone is in with a chance to win great prizes no matter what skill level you have. All our prizes have been kindly donated to our club by Flybridge.
The next two or three weeks should see a lot more large kingfish caught in Pittwater so why not come on board. We will not be reporting our big catches until after the fact so why not grab a mate to search for that kingfish that you dream about.
We are showing wrecks to our customers that we have not shown previously. Wrecks like Jill’s, Peter’s, The Ambush Zone, The Big One and The Little Tacker just to name a few. All are great kingfish areas.
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted strong winds or rain.
All the best.
No Bananas!
Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters
Please Note. We are the original Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters and take no responsibility for other charters with a similar name to the above or our website name of Estuary Fishing Charters .com.au. These other charter operators are in no way connect to us so please don’t call us to complain. Best wishes. Peter Report 9/03/07
Hello everyone
The last couple of weeks has seen some pretty crappy weather and in turn some tough days fishing.
We were able to come back at the end of the day with kingfish but the hunt was long. There are plenty of fish that show on the sounder but getting them to eat has been a little tricky.
Looking back on the last week we have caught more sharks inside Pittwater than any other year and I would say this is why the kingies have been a little shy. Most of the sharks have been bronze whalers that have eaten our live squid. We actually witnessed our hooked shark get air 3 times whilst being bought to the boat. These sharks are small with the largest only being about 95cm but they put up a great battle. We released a total of 6 bronze whalers and 2 hammerheads this week so if you are thinking about swimming in Pittwater, please use the swimming baths.
Most of the kingie action has occurred around the change of the tides. The action is short but sweet due to the shark populations.
Other amazing sightings during the week have been a Manta Ray following our camera; it was awesome to see something so big cruise so effortlessly through the shallows. The best was a marlin free jumping 100m off Barrenjoey Head. The beakie was in the 80kg class. This may signal the long awaited warmer water from up the coast has arrived. Hopefully there will be cobia, mackerel and more samsonfish. Fingers crossed.
Kingfish have been caught at Barrenjoey Head over the last few weeks but with rough seas and large swells it’s only for the larger boats.
We have a new section on our website called The Downriggers Club. Check it out!
Frigates are in Pittwater at the moment but they are only small schools or pods of fish that are refusing most offerings. Small metal lures and soft plastics are catching most of these fast moving fish. They are eating whitebait and small frogmouth pillies and most of the action has been happening first thing in the morning.
Bonnies have disappeared from Pittwater but still have been caught at West Head and Barrenjoey Head. These speedsters have been chewing a variety of lures on the troll but the trusted Rapalas are a great place to start. Both CD7’s and 9’s have worked on most days.
Squid are about as easy as they get at the moment with most bays holding a population of these tasty cephalopods. The colour really doesn’t seem to matter if you sweeten your jig with a scent. I use Halco Saltwater paste and the squid love it. We have bought squid into the boat without them being hooked. They love the taste so much they don’t notice they are being lifted out of the water. We have caught squid on size 1.8 through to size 3. They really aren’t that fussy.
Sorry for such a small report but I hear “Mike” the Marlin calling my name, gota go give him a close up hello & good-bye.
We are showing wrecks to our customers that we have not shown previously. Wrecks like Jill’s, Peter’s, The Ambush Zone, The Big One and The Little Tacker just to name a few. All are great kingfish areas.
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted strong winds or rain.
All the best.
No Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters
Please Note. We are the original Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters and take no responsibility for other charters with a similar name to the above or our website name of Estuary Fishing Charters .com.au. These other charter operators are in no way connect to us so please don’t call us to complain. Best wishes. Peter Report 25/02/07
Hello everyone
What a week we have had. We have been attacking our charters a little differently lately and some great results have occurred. We normally go for kingfish first thing in the morning but because of favourable tides and weather conditions we have been chasing BIG flathead and jewfish. We have been catching our live squid and heading up to the Hawkesbury River to track down our quarry. Now we haven’t caught that big jewie yet but we have unfortunately lost a couple of monsters to the rough terrain. When you cant stop a fish on fully locked up 60lb braid with 150lb leaders then you know you are onto a decent fish. Most of these monsters have hit whilst downrigging with live squid or mullet. Once the tide backs off we have been anchoring and live baiting as well as tossing out a prawn or two to tempt some bream. The last two charters have done well on the Big Flathead front. One of our favourite customers “Cyclone Steve” organised a charter for his brother in law, father in law and his nephew Jordan to come out to pursue some decent fish. We caught our squid and 6-year-old Jordan managed to catch one as well and he was so excited that the whole of Pittwater knew of his experience. After catching 6 squid, we headed off to The Hawkesbury in search of a fish that could make your arms hurt. We stopped at our first spot and carefully placed out the baits in the fast running current. As the tide slowed we managed to catch a couple of keeper fish and Jordan was getting more excited with each fish that came over the side of the boat. As the tide eased to a slow trickle the 4500 Shimano bait runner started to spring to life. This outfit was set up for a bream and when the rod loaded up from the weight of the fish it was apparent the young Jordan was onto a decent fish. With minimal help from his dad the two of them tussled with a massive flathead. Upon capture it was weighed, measured and photographed before being set free. Young Jordan had pulled in his best flathead to date and it measured in at 78cm and 3kg. Jordan said that his old best flathead was 73cm and he couldn’t wait to call Mum to tell her. We then proceeded back to Pittwater to track down some kingfish with the last remaining live squid that we had. It didn’t take long before Steve had a rat kingfish slapping on the floor of the boat awaiting its return to the water. Thanks go to Cyclone Steve for organizing the trip and for bringing his wonderful nephew Jordan along with them. It was a wonderful charter and it was great to meet you all and hope that we can do it again shortly. (Look for the photo of Jordan’s Flathead somewhere on this page.) This was the second big flathead that we had captured in two charters. The last flathead was caught the day before and she measured in at a whopping 85cm. I wonder how many more are down there waiting to eat what we have on offer for them. The kingfish in Pittwater are there to be caught by the persistent and patient. We have been catching kingfish on every charter since The New Moon has past. The kingfish are of decent size and watching them on our Walker Downrigger Camera is amazing. We can actually pick which fish will smash the bait because of the way they colour up. The kingfish are all over the river at the moment and are best tracked down by using a downrigger. The downriggers allow us to place the baits at the right level so they don’t have to rise to eat your bait. Spots to try are Soldiers Point, Longnose Point and West Head. Squid are not that difficult to find you just have find weed beds and then locate the schools of whitebait. The squid wont be far behind. Yesterday saw pink as the favoured colour for squid and blue ran a close second. If you cant find any squid then you can always try using yellowtail or slimy mackerel that can be caught at Barrenjoey Head and West Head. Bream, flathead and flounder can be caught at the mouth of the river on the drift when the conditions allow. For the soft plastics freaks, then head to the marinas along the river and fish around the crusty boats for some big bream. These fish are spread out so getting a bag limit from one area is a bit of a task. Try the run out tide for the best results. Whiting are still being caught at Towlers Bay and the channel in front of Mackeral Beach. Live nippers have been the best bait with bloodworms also catching a heap of fish.
We have a new section on our website called The Downriggers Club. Check it out!
We are showing wrecks to our customers that we have not shown previously. Wrecks like Jill’s, Peter’s, The Ambush Zone, The Big One and The Little Tacker just to name a few. All are great kingfish areas.
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted strong winds or rain.
All the best.
No
Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters
Please Note. We are the original Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters and take no responsibility for other charters with a similar name to the above or our website name of Estuary Fishing Charters .com.au. These other charter operators are in no way connect to us so please don’t call us to complain. Best wishes. Peter Report 20/02/07
Hello everyone
The last week has seen a few harder days unfortunately but on the brighter side there has been more days that have seen some great catches. The kingfish are in Pittwater at the moment but theses torpedoes are full of whitebait and can be hard to tempt.
Darren Thomas from Fishoutawater at Manly Vale said it best when he likened whitebait to meat pies and squid as ice cream. I quote: “When you are full of meat pies you cant fit any ice cream”
This has been spot on as a lot of the time on the Walker Strike Vision Camera has shown fish eager to play with their food instead of eating it. Its been a matter of sticking with the baitfish and following them. We have been done over on a couple of occasions this week by 8kg fish. These fish are not common but are worth targeting with larger baits. Yellowtail are producing the hit but on most occasions they have been released at the end of the charter.
Most of the kingfish schools seem to be in the deeper water and with warm water temperatures of 26 degrees in Pittwater I don’t blame them from traveling deeper. With the schools of fish spread throughout the river and holding deep using a downrigger is a real advantage.
The squid are around the weed beds at Palm Beach, and at West Head as well as Mackeral Beach. Small jigs in the 1.8 sizes have worked a treat with pink the best colour yesterday with blue their favourite colour the day before.
We still have tailor and bonito in Pittwater at the moment and the usual casting at the boil ups are the easiest way to tangle with one. We have had great success with 21g metal lures that resemble whitebait. Your standard Raiders are doing well but the whitebait copies are being mauled on every accurate cast.
Bonnies are also being caught at West Head on Rapala lures on the troll. Mackeral colours are working the best with blue coming in a close second. The size of lure they are hitting has been CD7’s through to CD12”s. If the fish are there it doesn’t take long to find out.
Bream are around the marinas at Newport and Bayview and the best burly to use has been bread. The most successful bait has been peeled prawns floated down the burly trail.
Flathead have been caught up at Bayview opposite The Arms. These fish are spread out in the different bays along the river with the most productive area being Towlers Bay and Woody Point near the reef.
Whiting have been caught in the deeper channels in front of the sand bank at Mackeral Beach. The best baits are nippers or bloodworms. Both these live baits are costly so make sure that you keep them cool and refresh the water often.
If you are thinking about a charter on Pittwater chasing the many fish that are on offer just give us a call and let us show you where the fish are.
Watch or tape kingfish and other species attacking and ultimately smashing your live squid before your eyes. That’s right if you have a video camera that has RCA in-put socket you can tape everything that the downrigger camera sees and take it home to watch as many times as you like.
The second Walker Camera Downrigger has arrived and when the new monitor arrives you will be able to watch a fish travel from one bait to another. These downriggers are truly awesome units and should be seen if you get the chance.
Just click on the link at the top of the page to use our website booking page or call me on 0410 633 351.
We have a new section on our website called The Downriggers Club. Check it out!
We are showing wrecks to our customers that we have not shown previously. Wrecks like Jill’s, Peter’s, The Ambush Zone, The Big One and The Little Tacker just to name a few. All are great kingfish areas.
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted strong winds or rain.
All the best.
No
Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters Report 09/02/07
Hello everyone
The last month has seen some great days on the water. Looking back over our diary we found that we caught mostly kingfish but other species such as salmon, Samsonfish, tailor and bonito were up on numbers compared to last year.
There are two reasons for this and the first is the amount of baitfish that is in the river. If you know where to look there is so much baitfish that it often blacks out the sounder. Actually the problem of too much bait is real as the kingies and bonnies that we have caught over the last month have all had full bellies.
The second reason is back in late November Pittwater received for 2 days blue warm water. During that time a mate of mine Justin from Palm Beach Barges caught and released a SHARK MACKEREL around Scotland Island on a Rapala lure. To say he was a happy puppy is a bit of an understatement, he had that silly grin on his face for a week and the photo is still on his phone.
Cobia were caught amongst burly trails at West Head and packs of hungry rat kingfish polluted Pittwater. Over the following months the size of the fish had increased and more baitfish arrived.
Over the Christmas period the coast has experienced cold water but Pittwater has hovered from 21 degrees through to 26 degrees. The warmer water in Pittwater has kept the predators happy with patches of baitfish everywhere.
For those that want to get amongst the surface action is has been better first thing in the morning. There are bust ups all over the river at these times and although the schools of bonnies are small there are a lot of big fish. Most bust ups have occurred just on sunrise but there are the odd working school showing themselves later in the day on the change of the tide.
Yesterday we caught five kingfish whilst on charter as well as bonito, tailor and had enough time to go up The Hawkesbury to chase down a jewie we lost the day before.
Speaking of jewfish we caught our 3rd jewfish for the season on the downrigger using live squid in Pittwater.
We actually saw the hook up on the downrigger camera, which was awesome. We were trolling the squid about a metre of the bottom trying to track down a samsonfish but as a by catch picked up a jewie instead. Not a bad by-catch!
The kingfish have been difficult to track down on the odd day but with persistence you will get your adrenalin kick when a kingfish monsters your bait.
The western side of Pittwater has seen a lot of kingfish caught but as earlier mentioned it may take a little time to find the main school. Once the main school has been located they have been smashing Wave Worm Anaconda soft plastics, live yellowtail and even squid strips. It is nothing to travel Pittwater for 4 hours when all of a sudden 30 minutes later you are out of energy because 10 kingfish have toyed with you.
Squid are not too difficult to find at the moment and the working colour seems to change from one day to the next. The areas to start are all the usual spots of Mackeral Beach, Sandy Point, Careel Bay and the ever-reliable West Head.
The best areas to tangle with a kingfish are Longnose Point through to Soldiers Point. Pick a bait school and stick with it for about 15 minutes before moving to the next. These bait schools are over rough ground and bust-ups are a common occurrence.
The Big One has been firing again this week with more samsonfish and kingfish. This area also has heaps of leatherjackets so checking your baits often is a must. If you would rather throw on a prawn or white bait and target bream or other bottom dwellers then get out there now.
On a drift near Scotland Island we caught a 44cm whiting, 1.3kg bream cleaned that measured in at 44cm, flathead to 50cm and some very large flounder. The best bait to use has been a live nipper but peeled prawns are catching quite a few fish.
Flathead are around the entrance to Pittwater and using pilchards or whitebait have seen a fair few caught.
Towlers Bay has been fishing well for whiting.
For those that want to chase something different surgeonfish are around the rocky areas of Taylors Point and Scotland Island. They are easy to spot but very hard to tempt. These fish are exceptional fighters but be careful when handling upon capture.
If you are thinking about a charter on Pittwater chasing the many fish that are on offer just give us a call and let us show you where the fish are.
Just click on the link at the top of the page to use our website booking page or call me on 0410 633 351.
We have a new section on our website called The Downriggers Club. Check it out!
We are showing wrecks to our customers that we have not shown previously. Wrecks like Jill’s, Peter’s, The Ambush Zone, The Big One and The Little Tacker just to name a few. All are great kingfish areas.
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted strong winds or rain.
All the best.
No
Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters
Report 31/1/07
Hello everyone
Over the past 2 weeks we have had some great fishing days and some pretty average ones as well. The wind at the moment is coming up at around 9am and normally by 11am it has reached 15 knots. This on occasions made it difficult to find hungry fish but on most charters we have located and caught our targeted species.
Our charters have consisted of catching squid before the sun rises and trolling them on the camera downrigger for samsonfish. The samsonfish are only small with the average size measuring in at 50cm but geez these fish pull hard. These dirty fighters have a tendency to fight deep whilst scanning the immediate area for something to bust you off on.
Samsonfish have been leaving larger baits alone and go off the bite after the first fish has been caught. We still see them on both the sounder as well as the camera on the downrigger but seemed more interested in playing with their food than eating it.
Only on one occasion in the last week we had the opportunity to catch a few more. On this particular day we were able to tempt them on small live yellowtail that was coated in Glow-Bait. Once again the bite didn’t last long but the guys were able to catch one each and knowing that these fish obtain a size of over 60kg they were released to fight another day. The kingfish have been around the same areas as the samsonfish and once again can be tricky to feed.
Most of the kingfish in the school are around the 70cm mark and once one fish is hooked the other fish are responding to most baits. With one fish hooked up cast around small poppers and soft plastics. We have been using Wave Worm- Anaconda’s in white and their Tiki Shads also in white. The anacondas only need a slow retrieve as the tails movement attracts the hit especially if allowed to sink for 5 or 6 seconds first. The Tiki Shads are easily worked and the smaller sizes are tempting the kingfish that desires smaller prey.
Bonito are still in Pittwater but are waiting until the afternoon before they show on the surface. There are only small schools of fish but some of them are quite large. We have managed on a few charters to find a school of bonnies at Longnose Point through to Soldiers Point. These fish have been feeding deep and are eating Rapala CD7’s whilst trolling on the downrigger. Tailor seemed to have moved into Broken Bay and some large tailor have come from the washes of Barrenjoey Head. The guys were fishing in winter water temperatures so it makes sense that a heap of salmon was also caught in the same area.
We have been blessed in the last 2 weeks with warm water temperatures in Pittwater. The average temperature in the river has been 23 degrees, which has been a lot warmer than in Broken Bay.
Back inside Pittwater there are also bream around the moorings, whiting on the drift, dreaded leatherjackets around the weed beds and flathead at the mouth of the river.
Most of the just mentioned fish are eating live nippers like there is no tomorrow. Prawns will score you a feed of fish as will whitebait and even bread will catch you some bream if you can keep the seagulls away.
Just before writing this article I watched on the surface temperature map warm water hit Broken Bay and not far behind it is a big patch of 26-degree water. If the warmer water keeps flowing in the same direction we should receive some of it in Broken Bay and Pittwater. With it will hopefully be Cobia and mackerel and everything else that chase hapless baitfish.
The coming month will hopefully even out the catch rates as it is embarrassing to catch 26 kingies one day with the next only showing 2 or 3.
We have the Walker Strike Vision Camera working well and over the coming days the view will only improve, as does the water clarity. Bring your video camera if it has a video in RCA plug and you can tape the day and watch it on the telly when you get home. If you are thinking of booking a charter then can I suggest that you do it now!
Just click on the link at the top of the page to use our website booking page or call me on 0410 633 351. We have a new section on our website called The Downriggers Club. Check it out!
We are showing wrecks to our customers that we have not shown previously. Wrecks like Jill’s, Peter’s, The Ambush Zone, The Big One and The Little Tacker just to name a few. All are great kingfish areas.
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted strong winds or rain.
All the best.
No Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters
Report 16/01/07
Hello everyone
I hope my last report has seen you come up to Pittwater and tackle some of the pelagic fish that are on offer.
The last week has seen Bonito, Kingfish, Samsonfish and a couple of Amberjack caught in Pittwater whilst on charter.
There are a lot of rat Kingfish about Pittwater but with persistence some larger models can be tracked down.
The Kingfish have been eating any squid that can be caught whilst the Samsonfish and Amberjack are eating Yellowtail. Most of the fish are coming from the bays around the schools of baitfish.
The Bonito that are in the river at the moment are pouncing on cast 25g metal lures or Rapala CD7’s whilst trolling. The schools are small but the fish are up to 3kg. As usual watch for the working birds or splashes first thing in the morning.
Squid are in all the usual haunts but are thinning out a fair bit so some moving around maybe necessary. The colours that have worked this week are pink or green. The squid size is starting to increase and the 2.5 size jigs are working just as well as the 1.8 size. If you are going to use the 2.5 size, trim the lead on the jig to assure a slow sink rate.
For the Kingfish addict (like myself) the places to try first thing in the morning seem to be along the western foreshore. Schools of fish are rising to the surface for a brief time only so its all about being Johnny on the spot. These surface fish have been caught on poppers and lures of all descriptions but the fish that are being caught are just legal or just under. Some bigger fish have followed from under the schools if you can get your lure through frenzy down to them. Measure properly as Fisheries have been checking catches.
For those that want to soak a prawn then Towlers Bay seems to be the place to be. Flathead, Flounder and even whiting are waiting to be fed along the weed edges on a run out tide. The same area has also produced the odd Jewfish but they are pretty small at 50cm.
At the mouth of Pittwater there are small flathead but decent flounder. Try along the West Head side of the river for best results. Prawns or whitebait have been the baits to use.
The marina moorings around Newport are holding Bream and are eating live nippers with gusto. Light tackle with little or no weight has been needed for the wary fish. Use bread as burly.
The new Walker Strike Vision Camera has just landed in Australia and within the next week we will have the second. This will allow all our customers to watch the live action whilst on charter. It also allows the angler to watch for big fish that shy away at the last moment. By watching for these fish we are able to turn around and go back to see if he can be tempted by a second pass. We also can tape the day on your camera if it has a video in RCA socket. You get to watch it at home on your television at your leisure.
We have heaps of days left to book for the coming month so book now. There are fish to catch in the river that have your name on them so come on board and let me show you where they are.
We are showing wrecks to our customers that we have not shown previously. Wrecks like Jill’s, Peter’s, The Ambush Zone, The Big One and The Little Tacker just to name a few. All are great kingfish areas.
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted strong winds or rain.
All the best.
No Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters Report 02/01/07
Hello everyone
I hope you all had a wonderful
Christmas and a happy New Year. I hope your celebrations didn’t
dull your senses because there are some fish on the bite in Pittwater.
With the trawlers and mesh netters now out of the river for the next few months we should start to see the numbers of pelagic fish increase. Fish like tailor always seem to be in Pittwater or Broken Bay but now we hopefully will see more kingfish, cobia, amberjack and samsonfish.
We actually caught a small samsonfish only a few days ago with Dave Butfield. Dave picked me up and we had no problems with catching squid, just getting the fish to eat them was a problem. At about 8.30am we were hooked up and fighting the small samsonfish. After showing Dave’s son Lachlan, the fish was released back into the school to fight another day.
Dave, thanks for a great day out and will do it again soon. The kingies are starting to move in again but they have taken some tracking down. We have been able to track down fish on each charter but patience has been needed at times.
Last week kingfish started to finally eat yellowtail as well as squid. Normally I would be saying that it makes things easier but at the moment it is not the case. Squid are easy to catch and yellowtail at West Head are hard to track down and catch due to all the sweep and mados. I have found some day’s one bait works better than the other so you really need both if you can get them.
Once you have caught your livies the areas to start have been along the western shoreline of Pittwater and watch for the baitfish on your sounder. On more mornings than not, a school of kingfish will feed on the surface for a brief time giving the opportunity to cast soft plastics or lures. Most of these fish have been rats but a few larger fish have been caught working the lures deeper or downrigging.
Now, the water temperature before the heavy rain this morning was hovering at 23 degrees and this temperature of water will start to pick things up a gear or two over the next couple of weeks. Some people believe that kingfish don’t like the warmer water and that the warmer water puts them off the bite and makes them sluggish.
I believe that the kingfish are probably affected by the warmer water temperatures but we all must remember that we only measure the water SURFACE temperature. Places like Pittwater have a lot of shallower bays that do warm up and I find at these times that the kingfish are in the deeper water in the channels. The fish feed deeper in the colder water at about 8m and of course this is where a downrigger comes into its own.
On the subject of downriggers it looks as though we are now going to run 2 Walker Strike Vision Camera units for everyone to enjoy. By using 2 units we will be able to cover a lot more area visually and be able to watch our pelagic fish smash our live baits. As soon as it arrives from Canada it’s on the boat. The catch of the month for December was achieved by the Kelly family. Dave bought out his two young sons Aaron and Ben with high hopes of catching a kingfish or two.
The day started well with the squid being very co-operative and filling our live bait well in about 20 minutes. We headed straight for The Big One (sunken boat), as the fishing up that way had been great first thing in the morning. Upon arrival it was evident that there were some large fish on the chew as the scattering baitfish was bursting through the surface.
With live squid on the downriggers we were smashed on the first pass. The Big One had produced again and Aaron bought aboard the fish after a tough 5-minute fight. Aaron’s fish measured in at 80cm and he was absolutely stoked. For the next 5 hours we trolled The Little Tacker, The Ambush Zone as well as The Supermarket and The Wrecks with no success. Poor Ben was getting a little edgy but was still full of confidence. With the last pass called we headed to Jill’s and Peter’s Wrecks.
The first pass reveled some big fish hanging down deep close into the structure. The downrigger was lowered to the depth they were in and before you knew it we were on. This fish smashed the live squid that was hooked up on the Shimano 10kg mono outfit. This fish took us on a merry ride around the area trying to bury Ben into the rough ground and smash his dreams. With a lot of talent young Ben subdued the fish and after a solid 10-minute battle both fish and child were absolutely exhausted. Ben’s fish measured a lovely 86cm and weighed in at 13lbs neat.
A big well done to the Kelly family, it was a pleasure to have you on board and look forward to catching fish with you again soon.
Squid are as mentioned pretty easy to get at the moment. Most weed beds along both sides of the rivers have Kingfish Tim Tams available with the odd monster squid being caught as well. The favoured colour has been orange or brown with pink also working a treat. Small jigs of 1.8 sizes are the ones to use and the better quality jigs sure do make a difference. Brands like Yo-Zuri do catch more squid than the cheaper brands.
We have also been sweetening the jig by smearing Halco paste (2 scents available) and its amazing how the squid will keep on coming back to have another go at the worked squid jig. We have actually lifted squid out of the water without the barbs being anywhere near them. They have actually just been grabbing on and liked the taste so much they didn’t notice their changing environment.
For the avid bream and flattie fisherperson it has been a little too easy according to some locals. The flatties are on the chew between Flint & Steele and Lion Island eating yellowtail or pilchards. Flounder are being caught closer towards Patonga and are chewing on whitebait or prawns.
Bream are coming from the marina areas with quite a few bigger fish being caught in Refuge Bay. These fish are responding well to bread burly and are taking live nippers like there is no tomorrow.
The odd jewfish is being caught in Pittwater as well but most are of the smaller sizes. We have caught two on the downrigger over the last month with the largest measuring in at 68cm. Both these smaller fish took trolled live squid and were released after their ordeal.
We have days left to book in January and with the water warming up and the first of the roaming pelagic fish being caught its time to book if you are thinking of a charter.
We are showing wrecks to our customers that we have not shown previously. The other bonus is that with the clearer water the vision on the downrigger camera is improving all the time.
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted strong winds or rain.
All the best.
No Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters Report 07/11/06 Hello everyone The last week has seen pretty strong winds and has been pretty unfavorable for fishing. The good news is that there is plenty of surface action along the river and on most weekdays we have had working schools all to ourselves. (Greedy aren’t I) The schools consist of salmon, tailor and the odd very wary kingfish. On most occasions we have been throwing metals around for great success on 40cm tailor with the odd thumper salmon hooking up when worked through the feeding mass. The schools are only small and are pretty boat shy but with careful planning and a little luck they will be on the surface feeding long enough for you to hook up. The salmon are all around the 70cm mark that we have caught and a couple of hungry salmon have eaten our trolled live squid.
Hopefully this surface action will continue but in the near future they will do the same thing as they do each year and that is feed deeper as more boats and people use the waterway.
Try placing a hooked LEGAL sized tailor a metre off the bottom whilst around the working schools of fish in case a hungry jewfish or oversized flathead is on the prowl.
The water temperature was 20 degrees in Pittwater last time I ventured out (this morning) and still had some surface activity.
The squid situation has improved a little but they are small and can be frustrating to find. I have found no where that is holding any numbers of these tasty baits but with traveling to any of the numerous weed beds I am sure you will locate a few. This morning it only took 20 minutes to catch 4 “Kingfish Tim-Tams” but took some 2 hours to find a solitary kingfish. He had mates but they just wouldn’t fire up and take the other free-swimming squid. Only if I had more time to spare, as I am sure that I could have ended up with a hot bite. The kingfish was released after a good 5-minute battle on 10kg mono and a quick fork measurement had him at 79cm.
The kingfish are starting to comeback into Broken Bay but with all the bait around you have to be lucky to find a fish that is not that well fed. This is the time of the year when surface poppers can work as well as your soft plastics.
On the subject of soft plastics try a new product called an Anaconda. These 9-inch soft plastics are made by Wave Worms and are so easy to use it’s incredible. Just hook them up on a worm hook and cast and retrieve. The big long spiral tail attracts the attention of the kingies and no action is needed to be applied by the angler. It’s as simple as, cast and a slow retrieve that can have the kids catching big fish with no hassles.
Flathead are coming onto the chew around the mouth of Pittwater and between Juno Point and Lion Island. Fish baits like pilchards or yellowtail are producing some of the larger fish.
Flounder are also biting in close to West Head and Barrenjoey Head where the sand meets the weed beds. The flounder are eating whitebait and prawns whilst drifting.
Bream are showing up at Bayview and amongst the moorings at Salt Pan Bay. Both these areas require a fine burly mix, as there is little or no current to disperse it for you. If you throw out full pellets they will just fall to the bottom under your boat but if you throw out a broken down chicken pellets they will float with the small amount of current that is available and attract fish.
If you are thinking about coming out with us to tackle some of the present pelagic fish then can I suggest that you book now!
We are now booked on all weekends before the New Year but there are still weekday charters still available. With the warming water and amount of baitfish that are present in Broken Bay it won’t be long before the fishing picks up even more.
The worst thing that can happen to you is that you will learn new techniques, new areas and take with you knowledge that you can use for the rest of your life.
We supply everything that you need for an enjoyable day on the water including a home baked chicken, hot and cold drinks, munchies and of course all the fishing equipment that you will need to tackle Big Fish with Big Live Baits.
The only thing you need to bring with you is a hat, sunnies and a spray jacket incase of unpredicted strong winds or rain.
All the best.
No Bananas! Peter Le Blang Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters
Fishing
Pittwater Report 22/09/06 Hello everyone The last week after
the storms has seen the water temperature on the rise again. The On the kingfish front
it has been a little tricky. We are seeing kingfish on the We have found from
watching the kingies on the screen that they actually light up At a depth of 6m we
noticed that the fish that eats the bait has its yellow We have also watched
decent kingfish nipping at the very ends of the candles until For the devoted kingfisher
man it is a hard slog but with traveling and persistence
Live Squid or cuttlefish
have been a must as on each charter we have trolled live Our sponsors recently
supplied me with some Head Start rigging heads. These Reports have come
in from Cowan Creek where there are quite a few kingfish at He gloated that he
had caught 5 kingies to 90cm on soft plastics and couldn't stop 3 Squid are spread out
throughout the river but most of them are very small or Squid can take a couple
of hours or so to get but at the moment it is better to only Bream are starting
to appear amongst the moorings at Bayview and Newport. Burly is Salmon are still schooling
in Broken Bay with reports of fish around the 60cm mark a Kingfish are amongst
these schools with both salmon and kingfish eating a variety of We are starting to
catch some great fish and the charters dates are filling fast. If As well as watching
the screen to see fish eating your baits we also supply you with All you have to bring is a hat, sunnies and a rain jacket incase of unpredicted rains. If you would like
to learn new areas, new techniques and enjoy yourself then give us Now that we have the
technology to capture images of fish striking, all you need is No Bananas! All the best Peter Le Blang Report 08/09/06
Hello everyone
Well the last week of fishing has been a bit of a hit or miss affair. The start of the week saw some of the hottest fishing Pittwater could possibly offer.
Big schools of salmon were busting up all over the place. The schools were chasing decent sized baitfish and every cast with a 14g metal lure produced a salmon or tailor. The tailor were feeding amongst the salmon and around the edge of a big school were wary kingies. With a well-placed lure the kingfish were eating the same 14g metals and put up a great fight on the 6lb tackle.
This fishing lasted for 5 days and since we have only spotted small bust-ups spread out across the river since. The salmon have been reported in Broken Bay and Cowan Creek.
Stefan Hansson from this web site jumped aboard last week and got some great footage of a trolled live squid on the Strike Vision Downrigger. We captured clearly leatherjacket, a keeper snapper and finally kingfish all chasing the trolled squid.
The kingfish that actually ate the bait was only just in view and until we saw the footage on the telly we didn’t even know the smaller fish was there. The fish that had been shadowing the bait was estimated at around 80cm but the captured fish darted from the side to eat it before the bigger fish could. Thanks Stef for the footage and your time it’s awesome.
The following charters saw kingfish reacting to being squirted in the face with ink by panicking squid. On one charter, the squid got the first two squirts in before the kingie lit up and smashed it. It was great to watch on the LCD screen and I noticed that you actually get to see the fish hit the bait before the rod reacts. This is because of the rubber band that we use to load the fishing rod has to break before the rod sets the hook. I tested the strength of the bands last week and found that on average the breaking strength of was 17lbs. It just goes to show you how hard these fish actually smash their prey.
That snapper that Stef and I saw was caught a day later in the same area as it was spotted the day before. The snapper measured in at a lovely 35cm fork length and ate a trolled live squid that was meant for a kingie. I was astounded at how far inside Pittwater this fish actually was.
Before the strong winds and rain we have had water temps vary from 17 to 20 degrees. The water has been very clear though and this wild weather should see things stirred up a bit.
This stir up will see jewfish caught at places like The Basin area and McCarrs Creek. Fresh squid heads or mullet are usually the best baits after heavy rains. Normally you have to fish quickly after the bad weather as the commercial guys usually move in and get the spoils.
Bream should also be on the chew after things have settled down. The marina moorings at Bayview are always a great place to start if you are a soft plastics fisher or a bait dangler. Other areas to try are Towlers Bay and Salt Pan Bay. In these areas it is best to use prawns or nippers.
Squid are a little tricky to track down at the moment but with persistence West Head and nearby weedy areas have produced.
The key at the moment to catch a kingie seems to be use live squid. It may take an hour each squid but if you only need a few then you have plenty of time to track some fish down.
Longnose Point through to Mackeral Beach has been worth trolling for kingies but unfortunately tailor are about so check your baits often. Another thing to remember is to check your lines and traces for cuts or nicks. When schools of tailor move in and demolish a squid they often make a mess of the trace.
These same tailor have on the odd occasion bitten through the line of a hooked up kingie setting him free. Its heart breaking when you know it’s a good fish and you can only bite your tongue with disgust for fear of ranting like a mad man and screaming at the GODS.
Another area to try is the moorings around Sand Point. This area is a NO ANCHOR ZONE so trolling or lure fishing is the way to attack a kingfish.
At the moment we are discounting charters so if you are thinking of a fishing trip before the end of September give us a call. A charter for 3 people will only cost $110 each and everything is supplied for the charter.
As well as watching the screen to see fish eating your baits we also supply you with a home cooked chicken, water, tea & coffee, soft drinks, fruit juice and munchies. All tackle and licences are supplied and although we supply frozen bait we always prefer to catch it live on the day. All you have to bring is a hat, sunnies and a rain jacket incase of unpredicted rains.
If you would like to learn new areas, new techniques and enjoy yourself then give us a call as an enjoyable day on the water is guaranteed. Now that we have the technology to capture images of fish striking, all you need is a handy-cam and you can take home and watch the tape as often as you want. I can be contacted on 0410 633 351 or 02) 9999 2574 or by the links at the top of this page.
No
Bananas! All the best Harbour & Estuary Fishing Charters
|
FISHING
REPORT FROM
Peter Le
Blang Phone:
9999 2574 Email: plfishfingers@bigpond.com
|
|
