Swoffing Sydney harbour

[bananafly]

Hi all,

When people mention Sydney harbor, thoughts immediately focus on the iconic opera house, the ferries and that coat hanger looking bridge.

What people, anglers in particular, fail to see is the multitude of species available for us to pursue.

Just to give you a rough idea, I've put up some of the possibilities I have encountered on both the fly and on conventional gear in the span of 3 trips to the salt. all locations here are within 1 hr of each other!



enjoy

[wisp]

Yup, I remember those spots. I believe the wharf is closing down soon if I'm not wrong.

Somehow that fish looks like a gao..but I could be wrong.

Haven't been doing much swoffing here, due to the lack of fish and I haven't had the time yet to go overseas. Plus there is no lack of rangers chasing my ass in my favourite freshwater watering hole, but we still get fish so all's good.

I may head down to new zealand or sydney mid next year, will let you know then

Regards, TY Tan

[bananafly]

I am not really familiar with the local fishy names. what fish did you call a 'gao'.

The warf cannot be closing down. have you never noticed the heritage listed signs all over the place?

The snapper fishing there is awsome in the morning on fly. most of the other pics are from my new salt place. Been fishing it most of last year to some success.

I might be heading to NT or PNG if I can get a slot in the schedule. I wouldn't recomend NZ at the moment unless you're going for trout.

but that's just me.
always looking for something that will send me to the chriopractor.

all the best in your local swoffing.

BTW I've moved closer to the OCean. I have my new salt spot 5 minutes walk from home now. ;D

[wisp]

Lucky you. Nah from what I heard they may be closing it for temporary renovations for more shops etc.

Gao = grouper.

well, unfortunately going to NT or PNG is out at the moment (if it's not cash..it's definately leave. Singapore's amount of leave is pathetic), but by next year I should be alright. If the guys are going maldives next year maybe I'll hop along instead, but that depends on the season. Still keeping my options open.

By the way, you're planning on a guided trip? Henry and company are going to exmouth/ningaloo reef in april for an expedition, but reports from guys who went ahead first aren't encouraging (in short, no fish). I'm sitting this one out to see what they've figured out of the place.

I'm doing more freshwater than salt now, but I still try to get on a boat to rompin once in a while. Some of the guys have tried sailfish/mahi mahi on fly with moderate success.



Good on you. I'm 5 mins away from the ocean too but there sure as hell isn't any fish there LOL...

Meanwhile, not as big as yours, but its better than nothing!

[bananafly]

Cute little Grouper you got there.

exmounth and nigaloo... hmm. Rather go PNG still.

rompin is old news la. They are now advertising it in magazines over here 9what does that tell you?)

anyway I will go to christmas island for bones cause big pete is only charging about 2.3K including flights guide and accom for a week.

if you want to go to nigaloo speak to JD he's the man. The boys at angler just came back from there not too long ago. they had a good report. maybe it's just luck and the fact that we have the luxuary of just flying up whenever we want.

Why not wepia? you can tough it out for less than 400 a week if you've got a group of 4.

what's your leave allowance like?

we've got about 30 odd days here excluding sickies.

[bananafly]

nice clouser by the way.

What did you use for the wing? did you go au natural or was it a mix of synts and naturals?

try heavier lead eyes. you'll hit more of those rock dwellers. By the way walsh is designated protected building site now. the shops you spoke of have already gone up.

And my average is a 10 wt there now thanks to the amberjacks and kings that give me my morning work outs!

[wisp]

It's just bucktail and some orange flash. I do carry tungsten eyes but the water is quite shallow. The fish is taken at around the southern islands, about the only area that's still fishable at the moment.

2.3k at christmas island? d**n that's cheap! The nearest I could find here with guide goes for about $4k. Big Pete is starting up a mini resort or something? I heard about DIY in weipa as well and that's under consideration. Would have to find out the seasons too

Right now my leave is just 14 days excluding sickies, but it should go up by next year.

[bananafly]

yup you heard me.

2.3k Christmas island. that's only slightly lower than the average. if I can free up some time from the office I might Go.


By the way we've been having a shark run here in sydney. Whalers hammerheads, bulls even one white. but many bull sharks have been caught and/sighted.

hopefully I can get one on fly and post it here. Last one I got was a blind off the rocks. This time round I'm trying for the more predatory species.

[Qwek]

Hi guys,

Nice catch there, at least the salties are still getting attention.

Cheers

Qwek

[bananafly]

Many Thanks Qwek.

I will try my best to fit some fishing in at my new place so that This board will get to see more salties being tamed by the long wand.

By the way, If the knowledge is available to you, would you say that Rompin is now becoming a tourist trap? I see it very heavily advertised in the fishing media over here. It will be very disheartening if the great sails of Rompin come under greater pressure.

Best regards and tight lines

[wisp]

Personally, I don't think so at the current moment as the number of boats available for rompin is pretty much controlled, or from what I heard from the captains.

Plus there's a management/conservation programme in place to monitor the anglers impact on fish stocks (hopefully it isn't just a facade).

Do come by here if you managed to drag yourself from that part of the world. Meanwhile, we're trying our best here to change things in the next few years.

[Qwek]

Whoa, guys let back up a bit. 2.3K for Xmas Island. It Kirabati you're are talking about. Is it a package from Sydney and does it include guide or diy. Interesting. Please tell me more about it. Thanks

Rompin sails? There's a conservation program in place all right. Monitoring, I don't know. Every time we travel along the east coast you can see bolster size gunny sacks of kerapok paste being road hauled. What a waste of sailfish.

Any highlights of fishing spots in local or foreign magazines will eventually be over fished.

Hope to get a change to hook a sail before they are being dipped in chilli sauce.

Cheers

Qwek

[wisp]

Wait a minute rueb,

it's 2.3k for 7 days fishing right? Then that fits in the figure. The $4k quotation I got is for 14 days.

Uncle Q, you still need to add in around $1k to reach sydney and back to sing in order to fly over unless we can find a direct flight.

Cheers, TY Tan

[bananafly]

Hi Q

Yep. 2.3K is all inclusive for the land of special K. I got quoted the price recently. Could be friend price?

I'm quite friendly with the shop fellas as it is quite near my office and I use their roof top for lunch time casting sessions.

If I can find a full group I can push the price down further, negotiate extra days etc.


Is that where keropok paste comes from!!!
I'm swearing off them now. Same as bloody canned tuna.

I can emphatize with you. Catching a fish of that magnitude is a truly awsome experience from what I gather when talking to the guides and others who have had that priviledge.

Bloody Keropok industry.... making me choose between my stomache and my passion....

[bluecod]

Hey Bananafly, Would you mind me asking which agent gave you those prices ? and does it involve going through Fiji or Hawaii

I was all set to book for this June but heard in October 08 that Air Pacific was no longer flying into CXI - that is also on the Air Pacific website.

I do know there is a Lear jet flying in from Hawaii but muchos $$$$ US and makes it uneconomical flying from Sydney.

If your bloke has a way of getting there [and back] for those $$ I'd certainly be interested.