'HEY! Where did my float go?'

Regular readers will know I’ve been out chasing blackfish around Sydney Harbour A LOT, in the last couple of weeks. Why not? They're everywhere, they fight and taste great, and if you know where to go – and how to do it - you can score a few nice ones in a couple of hours fishing:

But I haven’t been fishing on wharves and jetties for a long time. So it’s been pretty shocking watching and talking to fellow fishos. Every time I hook up they’re fascinated with what’s happening - but go back to throwing servo prawns way out into the mud straight after:

Two blokes at Balmoral Wharf said they fish there all the time ‘but they never catch anything.’ They were casting stale Z-grade servo prawns out into the wide blue yonder while at the same time 30cm plus blackfish were swimming around the wharf pylons.

At Bradleys Head jetty, three blokes were casting huge chunks of chicken breast out into the shipping channel – and getting nothing. When I asked them about blackfish, they said they didn’t know where to get green weed – but that a couple of blokes had bagged out on them a fortnight ago.

Thought about it for a week or so and decided to put up an offer on Facebook. I’m going all the time – usually for short intense sessions, close to home. Why not take a few new chums along and show them how easy it is?

We started yesterday (Saturday 3rd August.) I brought along blackfish combos for everyone. Venue was the park next to South Mosman public wharf. By no means a hot spot but usually holds a few. First job, check the water depth. The fish hold outside the kelp line and I like the baits to be around 2 feet off the bottom. Time to break out the iBobber:

This is a Bluetooth transducer which you cast out like a float and operate as a sounder on a phone app. Don’t really use it for finding fish. But it shows water depth well and for this exercise, that’s all I needed. In this phone screenshot, you can see the depth is eight feet just outside the kelp beds:

The response to the offer on the Facebook page in last weeks’ newsletter showed there was a lot more interest than I had expected! First in, first served and five people – or should I say friends – arrived on time. We had pre-rigged six of our new blackfish combos for the event. Floats perfectly weighted, braid with floatant applied, small 3000 reels with carbontex drags. Everything you need for success:

Got the burley going (minced up green cabbage weed mixed with wet sand) and showed the crew how to apply a cabbage leaf, to a size 8 sneck hook. Tony had the first fish on the grass less than ten minutes after we started:

That was a nice surprise because usually the bite is slow here. So, no surprise when it slowed down after early excitement. Maybe thirty minutes until I hear a classic line from Coralie: ‘Hey! Where did my float go?’ She was hooked up to an absolute cracker - 41cm, on the tape:

The plan was, just two hours, so we bailed mid-morning. I got some very nice thank you text messages.

Where to go? Between now and spring, anywhere up and down the NSW coast where river breakwalls lead to the sea. The breakwall at Nelson Bay in Port Stephens has been insane. For Sydneysiders, I’ve made up a map of hot spots in the Harbour I’ve either fished myself or had good reports about, from our clients:

1. Woolwich: east of the park and marina, along the long rock wall
2. Longnose Point: hard to get a car park but a good spot is the rock wall west of the ferry
3. Luna Park: Fish from the wooden walkway. Best if there is some tidal run in the water
4. Kirribilli: Great spot on a run out tide along the rock walls and jetties. Use heaps of chopped green weed mixed with wet sand and fish a few metres outside the kelp beds. Having said that, I fished it two weeks ago for a donut:

5. Cremorne Point, Harbour side: East of the ferry wharf, same tactics as for Kirribilli.
6.Musgrave Street, Mosman: South of the ferry wharf, same tactics as for Kirribilli. A favourite spot. Never had a hot bite there, it’s slow steady fishing:

7. Bradleys Head: Fish the runout tide towards the rocks. Weed usually available on the rocks. Scored some good ones there last week on the runout tide:

8. The Spit: Fish the western wall just north of the marina on the run in tide. The bigger the tide, the better the eddies and the fishing. Fish the northside on the runout tide. Introduced a young angler to blackfish there the Saturday before last:

9. Obelisk Rocks: Tough spot but can be good on its day. Let the small gutter on the left as you come down onto the platform with white water carry your float out. Fished very well last week on the high tide.
10. Sow & Pigs Reef: Obviously, fishing from a boat only. Moor upstream on the run out, and downstream on the run in. Good weed can usually be collected off mooring minders in Watsons Bay.
11. Bottle & Glass, Neilsen Park
12. Outer Middle Head: Leave car in the NPWS carpark, and walk along the track past the gun emplacements. You’ll have to climb down the cliff using old chains - which may put some blokes off.

13. Dobroyd Point: Basically an open ocean spot with a long walk in from Reef Beach. Great platform when you get there but take your rock fishing booties and life jacket.
14. Old Mans Hat: Same as for Dobroyd. Take a spinning rod too because it’s an excellent kingfish and tailor spot.
15. Fairy Bower: Walk down the gully and fish the deep part off the rock platform just to the south. The NSW State blackfish record was taken just south of here, underneath the Bluefish sewage plant. Take safety gear.

Last but most important, the tackle. We’ve assembled a fantastic combo and tested it not just in the hands of experts but with people who’ve never even seen a blackfish before. What’s special about the combo? Lots. Here’s some of the pluses:

Colour change braid, so you know how much line you’ve got out
with the last 30 metres treated with fly line floatant
This means that, when you strike, the line lifts cleanly off the TOP of the water
Mono line from the float to the hook ONLY

Handmade float
we couldn’t find the perfect float in tackle stores
So we commissioned Ray in Armidale to make the right one for us
Big improvement over the BCF cheapies we used to supply (on the right in pic above)

Only downside – each one has to be tested in a transparent vase full of water
They’re not all exactly the same weight or flotation
So we apply the correct split shot to get perfect balance, with stem only above water
Matching the correct size and number of split shot to each individual float
Hi vis orange stem
Guides correctly aligned, taped and epoxied
Ray’s floats weigh 8 grams so, longer casts

Compared to BCF floats:
Thinner non-gloss paint on stem – harder to see
Guides not aligned
No epoxy so the paint wears off fast
BCF floats only weigh 5 grams so, shorter casts
One small step for man
One giant leap for luderick hunters

Stronger rod We’ve been supplying an eight foot Daiwa Crossfire with our blackfish combo for years Great rod, and thousands of luderick have been caught on it BUT – it is a bit light for rough fishing spots I lost what would have been my PB blackie in Mosman Bay, def over 45cm Couldn’t hold him off an underwater shelf So we’re going with our 802 Blue Adding some grunt for when you need it Same reel Sticking with our Lesson 3000 reel for the new combo Full sized handle and carbontex drag washers make it just perfect for these tough little fighters $150 for the whole set up – and you do need the right gear, for blackfish. Out again next weekend with a new crew and they’ll be using this combo too. Drop me an email or give me a buzz if you’d like to order? Or, to come fishing. OR BEST OF ALL, both 😊 Thanks for reading
Andrew Hestelow

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