View Full Version : North Harbour any good?
armagh6
07-12-05, 09:33 AM
I've recently got myself a Sevylor Fish Hunter and on it's maiden voyage on Sunday I took it out to North Harbour near Manly. I caught 6 small snapper and a Sergeant Baker not far from Reef beach. Nothing I could take home. I was wondering if anyone could advise on whether this area is any good, or further on up near the boats at Forty Baskets? It's really snapper and bream I'm after. Any tips? Obviously don't want to stray too far with the inflatable.
By the way, I couldn't believe it when I looked down and saw a shoal of kingfish right near the boat. Would have been fun to pull in one of those!
I couldn't believe it when I looked down and saw a shoal of kingfish right near the boat. Would have been fun to pull in one of those!
Get some live yakka's of Manly Wharf and hit those Kings mate. You'll fish forever to try to get legal length bream and snapper in there...you've got a bette chance of a legal size king.
Some great flathead up in North Harbour. Over the years me and my old man (RIP) caught some big flatties around Forty Baskets. Flounder too...
Best fishing I did in there was years back when a school of frog mouth pilchards had soaked Forty Baskets. Was picking them up off the beach (Taylor were pushing them up) popping them on a hook and catching bream and flathead. Got some good keeper fish that day.
armagh6
07-12-05, 11:25 AM
Thanks werris for the good advice. Sounds like I've 2 options: either target flathead, or get yakkas and go for the kingies. Can you give me any tips on catching live yakkas. Do you mean the platform over at Oceanworld? I see folks catching squid there. How do I catch yakkas?
thanks
sean (very enthusiastic amateur)
Don't know too much about North Harbour Armagh, but at the bait grounds in the Hawkesbury, yakkas respond almost immediately to small dollops of grated potatoe for burley. You need a two to four pound line on a handline, a size 10 or 12 long shank hook and a size 2 or smaller split shot crimped about 18" from the hook. Add a tiny piece of potatoe, or, even better, squid and jig this a little in the burley trail and you should be able to get all the livies you need. Try to handle them as little as possible, better to flick them off into your bucket or live well than try to de-hook them.
Hope this helps
Cheers, Darryl
Sean just make up a mash of wet bread and I cap of tuna oil chuck a few handfulls in the water around some structure such as a wharf and then bait a tiny #12 long shank hook with a pea sinker about 25cm above, with some prawn or fish bait (even squid if it gets ripped of too quick) and if their there you will ususally see them swarming round your feet. At the moment there are not too many wharfs, reefs etc that dont have them.
Get a live bait kit from whitworths or similar to keep them alive (you can just change water in a bucket or even keep them in a sea cage but its hard work) and then pin one through the nose on a 7/0 (depending on the size of the yakkas) try different depths with both ballons and weighted baits and remember the kings are relient on structure so fish the markers or the moorings.
You will loose a lot but have a lot of fun too, burley heavily and fish as light as you can 7-10kg is about right but remember the point about loosing more than you land. Going heavier IMO reduces the amount of hook ups so its a fine line
Good luck and tell us all when you land one.
cheers Phil
armagh6
07-12-05, 01:22 PM
Thanks Phil and Darryl. It's great to see such support in these forums. Very encouraging indeed! The live bait kit sounds like an excellent idea. Are these big or heavy? (Storage is an issue in the wee boat). How long would they keep bait alive for? Also, does the time of day make any difference for catching yakkas, early morn or dusk best?
Thanks also for the tip on what to do with these when I finally catch them! Through the nose...that's a good one.
Finally, excuse me, but generally what size are these yakkas?
cheers
sean
When keeping yakkas i normally fill my esky with water and put them in there. Make sure you don't overcrowd them as they will die fairly quickly and keep changing the water every 20 to 30 minutes. A good size yakka is between 10 to 15cm long. Time of the day doesn't really matter, if they are around they will be feeding. If you are burleying and they haven't come in 15 or 20 minutes then they're not around, move to a different spot and try again.
Gday again mate,
Head to Manly Wharf if you can still fish of there...I don't think you can. I saw millions of yakka down there about 2 weeks back and there was a crowd saying that Kings had been raiding them and busting them up.
Grab a small hanful of mince, a handline, some tiny split shot sinkers and no 12 hooks as suggested. One word of advice...maybe organise a good way to keep them alive i.e. something from a tackle store including aerator etc or even grab your own bucket and set it up with an aerator. Will save you a lot of time.
Keep an eye on the condition of your yakkas. A strong healthy fish is a light brown/tan colour. When they start to go off due to overcrowding or poor water quality they go dark bluish grey and prominant cross barring starts to show across the top of the fish. Time to change the water quick smart when this happens otherwise its butterflied yakkas for you instead of livies.
Cheers, Darryl
armagh6
08-12-05, 08:36 AM
Hey guys I landed my first yakka last night! Wasn't easy though. I took your advice, left work early and called into Fish Outta Water. Got some 12 hooks and a hand line with 9lb (I know that's heavier than what you recommended but the guy in the shop said it should be OK). Also got a bag of that Ultrabite berley mix. Went down to the platform at Oceanworld, threw in the berley and could see plenty of yakkas, some squid and plenty of those annoying toadfish. After fiddling with the handline for quite a while, with and without a small sinker, finally managed to get the hook in the water! It took me over an hour though before I pulled up a nice yellowtail. (This was only for practice before I hit the harbour on Sat morn). I was using tiny bits of frozen pillies, as I already had some at home.
Anyway, is there a technique in doing this? I don't want to waste a couple of hours on sat morn to catch a few yakkas. What was I doing wrong. I saw plenty of yakkas but they tended to swim around the hook and not jump on it.
p.s. saw a massive stingray there. very impressive.
cheers
sean
Sean did you keep the berley up? The mix from fish outta water is a great idea. Keep the size of the bait very small and watch it carefully they will take the bait without you even feeling it espicailly with the line you are using, light is best. Keep tension on the line by SSSSLLLOOOOWWWLYY retriving it. They can be very frustrating to catch and from my observations the best techniquies seem to come from old european gentlemen and children see if any one else is catching them and copy what they do. Spending a few hours catching yakkas will be well worth it when you land a king beleive me
Don't much around with yakkas once hooked either. They are good at getting off the hook.
Keep the berley up and once they are on the chew you should be able to fill the tank. Remember take only what you need.
Once they are really biting I use a tiny piece of squid as bait as you don't have to keep changing it all the time as you do with prawn.
Yakkas are a bit flighty too. One day there's a gazillion and the next there's none. Move around if none turn up after 20 minutes of berleying.
armagh6
09-12-05, 07:36 AM
Sean did you keep the berley up?
sure did Phil. Maybe I need a bit more practice! Thanks for the tips.
I was also wondering about live bait kits...I've seen this new product on ebay, a collapsible bag that comes with an aerator. Here is the link (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/LIVE-BAIT-FISHING-BUCKET-TRANSPORT-AQUARIUM-FISH-NEW_W0QQitemZ7202177228QQcategoryZ23822QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem) (or search on 'live bait bucket' if the link doesn't work). Do you think this would be any good?
Thanks
Sean
It would do the job sean, its not perfect but it would do. Ideally you need a plumbed live well with reticulating water, that set up only airates the water. Blokes have very sufisticated set ups so theres probably not enough space to tell you how to do it. Again I suggest looking at someones set up and copying it
Totally off the subject....
Can i recommed all of you who have helped out an amature fisho (like myself). The advice and knowledge bestowed in a couple of replies is top notch - give y'all selves a schooner!!!!
This site will be the site of all sites with help/advice like this :mrgreen:
i agree crow... there is always someone willing to help...and i always want more knowledge.... so keep it up!! :lol: :lol:
scottnoskis
10-12-05, 04:27 PM
Regarding a live bait set up with minimum space.I used to run a live bait bucket with an airator in a Kayak.As long as you change your water regularly (the acidity in the water increases with their crap and spew)you can keep the yakkas and squid alive for quite a long time
armagh6
12-12-05, 08:33 AM
well lads, just as an update, went to wharf near Oceanworld yesterday morning, threw in the Ultrabite berley and pulled in 6 yakkas in no time. There were hundreds of them. I then paddled out to North Harbour, near Reef Beach again for 4 hours and got bugger all. One of the yellowtail was chomped in half, but the others weren't touched. I kept the berley up too. Getting back to the subject of this post, I feel there has to be better locations than this. I'm thinking of Quarantine beach area next. Keep in mind I only have the Sevlor Fish Hunter inflatable so can't stray too far. Can you give me any advice on the Quarantine area, or recommend any other spots? thanks
Try the yellow marker bouy infront of Quarantine beach. There is a farily deep hole where the fish can hold up. It's also protected from swell and an east to southerly wind. I would also troll through Spring Cove and Little Manly area. There's bound to be some kingies patrolling around there. Remember there is a penguin colony in there and there are restrictions on fishing when breeding season is on. Go to the following link and that will give you a clearer picture.
http://www.manly.nsw.gov.au/Page.asp?z=5&c=79&p=696
Cheers
Blacky
armagh6
12-12-05, 10:54 AM
Thanks Blacky. Last thing I want to do is hook a little penguin! Looking at that link, it's difficult to say if the yellow marker bouy infront of Quarantine beach is included as critical habitat. It mentions the beaches there, but I'm unsure how far out that stretches?
Also, is it OK to tie the inflatable to the marker with a rope?
No Sean its illegal to tie up to any marker in the harbour (no need to anyway fish will be found around the marker not always under it) and yes the yellow marker of quartintenne is fine to fish off / around. Remember that Rome wasnt built in a day, it took me a whole year to land my first King. You need to have a lot of missus before you score a hit a bit like a game of battleship.
Phil, i too would like a lot of missus......
but in all honestly one is enuff......LoL :lol:
armagh6
14-12-05, 07:15 PM
(no need to anyway fish will be found around the marker not always under it)
Cheers Phil. My reason for asking though, was more to do with the fact that if I hook a kingie in the inflatable, I'd probably get pulled to Tasmania! (or worse still, back to Ireland :lol: ). Also, wind factor can be a problem.
Sean
Sean,
For something a bit more sedate in that area, particularly on a windy day, I have caught flatties and bream on the edge of the flats adjacent to North Harbour reserve, trolling small hardbodies from my yak. There are also bream among the moorings and the marina.
armagh6
17-12-05, 12:42 PM
Sean,
For something a bit more sedate in that area, particularly on a windy day, I have caught flatties and bream on the edge of the flats adjacent to North Harbour reserve, trolling small hardbodies from my yak. There are also bream among the moorings and the marina.
G'day Peril
I've heard this term 'flats' used often but not sure exactly what it means. Where exactly are you referring to? Is it the area in front of Reef beach and Forty Baskets (and close up to the beach)?
Thanks
Sean
Sean you dont have to travel all the way to quarintenee theres some awsome fish in N.H the flats that peril talks of are up the end of the bay and in the boat morings leading to them you will find great fish at times, inc the kings, jew, salmon, tailor , sharks you name it. It dosent have to be sedate
Sean,
Flats are found at the end of many bays. They are expanses of flat areas, often exposed at low tide. Areas that aren't exposed may have weedbeds. The edges of weedbeds are a good place to prospect for fish. Also the dropoff, where there is an appreciable slope from the flats to deeper water, attracts a few fish, particularly on an outgoing tide. Channels in the flats are another place to prospect as they can concentrate the fish
armagh6
18-12-05, 10:01 AM
Thanks Phil and Dave
That helps. I know exactly what you mean by flats, and where you are referring to. I have fished off the rocks there too and caught bream and whiting. Never anything to write home about though!
I'm not long back from a disaster of a morning...was out catching yakkas this morning at 6.00 then drove over to Little Manly when the wind started up. Won't be rushing back there. 'Sedate' would have been most welcome this morning! I think my next venture will be up near Clontarf and Fisher Bay.
By the way, having great fun catching the yakkas.
cheers
Sean
Those yakkas make a top bait! Take a heavier rod with you, and send it out under a baloon float. Never know....May get yourself something BIG! :wink:
there's a lot of solid tailor around at the moment, I'd be sending one of them back out with a hook in it if I was targeting kings. The frigates shouldn't be far away either, they'll make good kingie baits when slow trolled.
There seems to be heaps of rats in the 60-70cm range this year, so I think a big live bait is the only way to get past them to a good kingie.
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