North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

These little battlers have turned up in good numbers in the Clarence. They have kept the winter holiday crowd entertained as well as the we drill aging crew who really know their stuff when it comes to catching them. It makes a pleasant change sitting back and watching a float instead of throwing lures.

never caught one....they nice to eat

Blackfish are the bomb and taste great if caught around the rocks and within the lower reaches of the rivers. Some of the oldies get their feathers ruffled when the younger kids start to out fish them too There is a bit of an art to catch them regularly but it doesnt take much if you are willing to practice and observe others. I was self taught and have caught hundreds over the years. My 2 blackfish rods are my pride and joy but they live in Port Macquarie for when I go home on holidays to see the oldies. One rod for the river and the other custom made for the rocks for when a dirty great big pig grabs your cabbage. You know your alive then. I LOVE watching that float zip down

Sorry... flashbacks

barra mick wrote:never caught one....they nice to eat

Yes Mick they are great eating but you have to handle them right. Keep them in a live net til your finished fishing or bleed and gut them straight away. They are weed eater and if left dead it will taint the flesh.
Lats, the oldies are great, some-times I go down just to listen to their bull- sh*t and arguing amongst them selves with out even fishing but you also learn by watching and occasionally they say some thing worth taking in

cheers....put it on the list to catch and eat one day

P.S Lats, that was the way I learned to fish as well as bread burley with doed up bread bait for those dirty drummer.

I was also taught the bread burley for drummer. You just have to be careful there isnt too much wash away from you or the fish will follow it and leave you with nothing. I never burley for drummer anymore. My favourite drummer hole must have a nest of green eels near by because if you put any amount of burley in the water they turn up. And if you catch one of them you might aswell pack up and move.

Plain old sand works for blackfish too. Better if you chop up weed into it aswell. I once asked an old fisherman years ago why the sand. He said "it gets in the fish's eyes and they run into the hook" I am guessing that they think something has stirred up the bottom and they look for food in it.

Blackies were thick again t/day + caught 3 nice bream on weed ,didnt know they would take weed

Max, in my experience you dont get many bream but from memory the ones that you do get can be absolute stonkers. A small piece of weed might look similar to some of those soft plastics they target them with or even a small prawn. I think bream taking weed is more from its appearance than the taste.

Max bream seem to be a common by-catch here. The weed looking like a plastic is a good theory but I have caught and seen to many caught on a very small piece of cabbage?? and this does not give the affect of weed but in saying this I have on more than just one occasion seen or heard of very large flathead taking weed and this I would put down to the looks like thing but with bream the excitement of burley could be the answer. Either way they are regularly caught on all types of baits meant for luderick and luderick are taking vibes and lures meant for bream. Go figure