Any good fishing places in Sydney Northern Beaches?

[Dlai]

Hey everyone. Just wanted to ask if there are any good fishing places in the Northern Beaches, especially around Dee Why, or Manly. I go with my freinds occassionally to "Little Manly"; although there are alot of fish there, most of them are too small to be kept or eaten. So I was just wonderin if anyone knows any good places (espescially for snappers and whitings) in Northern Beaches, just for shore fishing, or wharf fishing, since we dont have a boat.

Thanks

[imnotafish]

Dlai,
There are plenty of places to fish on the northern beaches, including little manly (where you need bigger baits to get bigger fish!)
Off the beaches at the moment there are good sized whiting, especially at collaroy. You may however struggle to find good sized snapper off land up that way, but there are big bream also off the beaches.
Try Old Mans Hat inside north head also for big bream and other species.
Or just fish one of the many rock platforms from manly to palmy with big baits or spin with metal slices or poppers, for salmon tailor kings and bonito!

[neilm]

Dee Why, Long Reef, Collaroy are all good for whiting & bream. Live worms at dawn or dusk (especially if it coincides with a high tide) are the key.
There are also good whiting to be had on the incoming tide near the ocean st. bridge over Narrabeen lake at North Narrabeen. Now that school holidays are over the fish will be under less pressure. Let us know how you go.
Cheers,
neil

[Dlai]

Hey thanks for the replys, I will try some of those places. Another problem Ive had is I cant find bait! Before, we went to petrol stations, but now there doesn't seem to be many that acutally sell bait...so we have to go to woollies an buy the cheapest prawns they sell, which is still exepensive. What would be the best type of bait for say..snappers and breams and where can I get those? And where can I get worms?

Another question, out of curiosity, Ive been told that fishing during high tide the best time, is that true for all fish or just specific ones?

Thanks

[TomMc]

i beleive time is mor eimportant then tides, early morning and the afternoon works best for baits fresh or live are best
:beerchug:
Tom

[son of joe]

Clifton Gardens Wharf is also worth a try for kings.

[imnotafish]

Lots of bait at Fish Outta Water (yeah well i have to say that), plenty of it fresh inc beach worms and tube worms, but 4 live worms try at north narrabeen b&t

[dkfisher]

nice plug there stef :appl: :rolling laughter:

[imnotafish]

i should be on commission :rolling laughter:

[Dlai]

Hey, thanks for advice. I went fishin again yesterday at little manly, but unfortunatly no decent fish, my friends caught 2 small snappers that we threw back, but after that, there wasn't even any bites :( We went 1 hour before high tide and stayed for about 4 hours with few bites..and then gave up. Is it actually better to fish during high tides? and why?

[Dory]

To answer the question one has to know where you are talking about. Often it is better to fish near to the bottom or top of the tide ie when there is less run in the tide. Also I agree with the person who said that time is also very important. More fish are caught at dawn and dusk with a few notable exceptions - quality of bait and bait appropriate to the species targetted is vital. Presentation of the bait and appropriate use of berley are also important factors in successful fishing.
Tight lines

[imnotafish]

Dlai,
As Dory said every spot you fish has a different situation. For example mangrove flats often fish well for Bream on the high tide, as bream are forage feeders that will come in over the flats to score a feed. Flathead will also sun themselves on the flats at times, but on the other hand will sit on drop offs on the top half of a run out tide and as the water starts to run out they will ambush their dinner, grabbing little fish etc as they escape with the water from the inter tidal areas. There are many other examples for many other situations but the only way to work it out is to fish an area over many tides and at many times to work out how it fishes. (and to start thinking like a fish!!)
Fish also feed more when the sun is at 30 degrees or less to the horizon, so early mornings and late evenings are the better times. At these times shade also offers fish room to move more (esp. in shallow water) and still stay hidden from above.

[Dlai]

Thanks for the replys, it makes things a little more clearer now. So, fishing at high tide will not neccesarily produce a better outcome, because it depends on where you are and what you are fishing. I always thought that high tide would bring the fish closer to shore so you have more chance of catching them....

Do fish sleep at night? If they do, maybe thats why there so few bites. :tongue:

Btw Dory, I was referring to Manly, and more specifically - Little Manly.

[Dory]

Do fish sleep at night? If they do, maybe thats why there so few bites. :tongue:

Maybe some are less active but many species are hunting for food at night eg jewfish, tailor, snapper. I dont think whiting are hunting much after dark instead I they are probably trying hard to not become a meal for larger predators.


Btw Dory, I was referring to Manly, and more specifically - Little Manly.

I fished Little Manly years ago from a boat for tailor, bream and John Dory but havent wet a line there for ages.
Cheers
David aka Dory

[imnotafish]

Dlai,
North harbour in general has been pretty quiet so far this season, but the gasworks at little manly has produced some very nice fish over the years, including pretty big jewies and trevally, flatties, john dory and more. Both day and night.

[arrow]

MATE!!!!! scrap little manly just forget it seriously get a beach rod 10foot 12 foot i prefer an ALVEY but egg beater will do the job, get some little yellow tail hooks i think size 6 or 8 and must be chemicaly sharped hooks from fishoutterwater , imnotafish is an expert ask him on sizes seriously, then go to manly wharf when no one is there with mince or sausage mice the FAT ones and some bread for burley and catch yellows tail the either use a airrater to keep them alive or just throw them in your bucket the head for manly beach in the corner where the surf club is on high tide cut some fillets off the fresh yellow tails cast a line out you will get flathead for sure and possible tailer, salmon ,bream,......go hard or go home :hellyeah:

[Dlai]

I havent got any experience in beach fishing though...I will try it soon, but I just want to have some sucess first at little manly. I keep hearing thats its a great place, and everytime I go, I see alot of people there, so there HAS to be good fish right ?:icon_smile_big:
We went at around 6 and stayed til 9, and it was dusk and high tide as well, so I thought it would be the perfect conditions for fishing. But we only ended up with a small throw away snapper, and around a 20cm bream. We used dead squid as bait. Are there any specific baits, hooks, sinkers, or techniques that can improve our chances of catching something? I keep thinking we're doing somethin wrong. Any advice?

Btw, we fish on the wharf.