Productive Pittwater

Hey Dudes,

I have mentioned a few times now Autumn is my gun time of year. While summer was dissappointing Autumn is still living up to it's enviable reputation as the 'prime time'...thankfully!

Most recently the boys have have been catching a stack on fish in Pittwater, a catchment of Sydney's famous Hawkesbury River. Since my father has moved out of the west and parked himself right on the doorstep of this pristine waterway, it's opened up a brand new option for us. While we have fished the system for over 40 years Pittwater was one area that was neglected...until now.

Pittwater is most famous for it's XOS kings. While they are still around that is not the main target. The species that raises the eyebrows about now is snapper. Some juicy specimens have been caught too. The most recent outing by my uncles Andy and Angelo saw over 20 snapper landed to 3kgs. Yes...it's not a typo either. 3kgs! Just goes to show you don't need to head to the horizon to catch quality snapper. They found a patch of good fish (somewhere???)around some weedbeds. That's all the info i can divulge without being lynched.

The boys jigged up some nice squid and used fresh strips as bait. Next time though I've challenged them to leave the bait at home and persist with plastix. I'm quietly confident they will have equal success and just maybe surpas that 3kg mark.

The John Dory are starting to make an appearence around the moorings too. Be careful though, if you use live yakkas for bait expect to get slammed by one of those over-sized kings. Upgrade your gear just in case. Usually the moorings in the deeper sections are the best.

Big bream are still quite abundant around the mouth of Pittwater. My old man has been having a field day on his hobie catching kilo sized bream. He's getting them on both lures and live nippers. They seem to in the shallower water and on the move. If your anchored a light berley may keep them in the area, but so too the dreaded leatheries.

The flatties are still as inconsistant as ever. One day you will bag out the next day they have vanished. Obviously plastics are the best method for catching them. Try all the shallower areas as the flatties will be sunning themselves in skinnier water with the dropping temps.

If you haven't tried Pittwater and you are a sydney-sider give it a go. You will be surprised what lies on your doorstep.