BLACKFISH CLASSES 2025
Regular readers will know that, last winter, we were running blackfish classes. And they were a huge success. Lots of people joining, and lots of blackfish caught:
It all began when I decided to restart luderick fishing myself. They’re common in Sydney Harbour, fight like cats on PCP, and taste great on the plate. But fishing on public wharves and jetties was a real eye opener. Heaps of blokes using crazy heavy gear, and using giant lumps of Coles chicken breast for bait:
Meantime I would ask if I could squeeze in. I’d get the burley going, bait up, and cast my float in. That worked fine, time after time:
I guess you could catch something on a fist sized chunk of chicken cast way out into the channel? But I never saw it happen. When I was a school kid, fishing mate Ken and I used to catch the bus down to the road bridge at Narrabeen Lakes. Good spot for blackfish, and a lot of old hands fishing there. They helped me a lot! Maybe it’s time for me to give a bit of help now. If you’re interested, here’s how it works.
Sydney Harbour, north and east of the Bridge. We have six regular spots. Where we go depends on:
Safety – because parents bring their children
Wind direction – because casting into the wind is a nightmare
Weekends Saturday and Sunday. Usually in the morning
Time of day IMPORTANT because one morning last August we went early to Musgrave Street Wharf. Cold morning, deep shadow, we were all freezing. But some nice fish caught there. This one went 42cm:
Tide – absolutely crucial. Most – not all – blackfish, prefer a bit of run in the water. A drift also makes it easier for your float to cover ground.
How it all went – GREAT! Class only goes for a few hours and one morning we caught 25 keepers. Another morning we had three fishos queued to get their fish netted:
I ask that one member of your family buys our $120 blackfish combo. I'll bring it along on the day. Here’s what’s included:
8 foot 2 piece graphite blackfish rod
3000 size reel with carbontex drags and full size handle
Spooled with 100 metres of 6 kilo coloured change braid
The last 5 metres treated with floatant so line between your rod and float doesn’t sink
4 metres of quality 6 pound mono joined with an FG knot, sinkers and hook rigged and ready to go
Hand made float, the best one I’ve ever used. Each one balanced in a water tank:
Because a lot of thought and effort has gone into making this perfect blackfish combo
Because I spend a lot of time collecting bait, burley, and prepping
So you have the right gear on the day to give you the best chance
But mainly
Because I don’t have the time on the day to be rigging up your gear
Received some nice texts last year:
Text, email, or send me a message on Facebook? All updates are posted there:
Thanks for reading
Andrew Hestelow
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