Fishing Club
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2 March 2016 saw the fishing group off on their first boat trip of the year, 10 men went along so 2 boats were required.
We arrived at the Marina around 6:15am, breakfast the first order of the day, Breakfast was Bacon, sausage in tomato and onion gravy, which went down real well some having seconds.
We knew our boats were Humpty and Dumpty so we loaded the gear onto them and waited for the owners to show up, so we could pay the days hirer, then off we went to what we thought was the best fishing spot.
The day was perfect, sun shining water as flat as glass, and a slight breeze blowing, to keep the day. Yes for once we did catch some take home fish, even UWE, had one commit suicide, but it was legal,
I should not be the one to poke fun at anyone else, having caught a Flathead close to 700mm. long, getting it to the surface them finding I had left the landing net at home, well that's the one that got away.
For those of you that fish the Hawkesbury River, be warned that Fisheries were extremely active, and one of our boats was boarded, they checked the catch, Pension cards, or licence.
Make sure that you don't have any undersize fish and have your pension card or licence which ever applies.
There are no excuses you will be Fined if caught.
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Wednesday the 18th November, saw the fishing group set off on the year's last fishing day. Leaving home at 5 am the drive was uneventful, arriving at Brooklyn around 6 am we had breakfast of curried mince, which went down real well thanks to John Barlow's cooking skills.
That done we waited for the staff to arrive so we could get the boats and be on our way.
Off we went, our boat named Humpty and Fitzie's was Dumpty, well named, by the end of the day I know I felt like a boiled egg.
The day was hot to say the least, with a hot wind blowing and a bit of chop on the water, but we soldiered on; we all fished hard; but the fish were not playing. For the days effort our boat caught four throw-backs but to show his skill Ron Kelly caught the only legal fish on the boat and I believe it was the best fish of the day; a bream of 27 centimetres …... of course it was the bloke on the net that really landed it.
With no fish about, we left for home a little earlier, we thought we would miss the traffic on Pennant Hills Road. Well an accident on the M2 turned a normally one hour trip ended up for me just over two hours, I got home and could not get enough water in. I felt like a 5 day camel in an 8 day desert.
The next fishing day will be the 3rd February 2016. All are welcome - if you intend to come fishing would you please let me know the Monday before, for catering preposes.
To all, have a Happy and Safe Christmas, hope to see all of you at the Train next year.
Stationmaster
Reno.
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Clarke Point Reserve was the fishing destination for May; 8 men venturing along to battle that elusive monster of the deep, the fish.
As always breakfast was the first order of the day - bacon, sausages and tomato gravy toast and coffee, and the usual UN Meeting, before fishing starts.
Then off we went to fish; Tony Fryer was walking around with a blanket around his shoulders looked like an old American Indian - ended up being called Pock a Penis.
For the most part fishing was slow with not too much being caught; the exception to the rule again was Phil Parsons with a reasonable catch of Leather Jackets.
It's a good thing we take all our food with us, otherwise we would all go hungry, except for Phil. Even doing the 'loaves and fishes' bit, we still would have come up short.
Still a good day was had by all, and after lunch we packed up and headed for home before the work traffic started.
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April's trip was to Clarke Point Reserve, and there was a good roll up; the weather was good but the wind was bitter; it kept blowing and was quite cold.
As usual, the first order of the day was breakfast - a real good bacon and egg roll and coffee solves all the problems of the world until the sun was well and truly up.
We then went to what we call our spot; men dispersed all around the harbour foreshore, to do their utmost to catch fish; I for one was hard pressed to catch a cold let alone anything living. It was one of those days when a good time was had by all, but the fish were the winners; they were well feed and not too many were caught - certainly none that were legal.
After lunch we packed up and headed for home before the traffic started.
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March was our first boat trip on the Hawkesbury River, 13 men went along and 2 boats were required.
Breakfast of a curry and mince was the first order of the day, then on to the boats and off to do battle the monsters of the deep.
The day was perfect; water conditions were good, just what was needed to catch a boat load of fish, now if that's all that was needed they would call it catching not fishing, but never the less some good legal fish were caught, and on our boat Greg Cant caught a beautiful Flathead, Uwe also caught a bigger one than Greg, but tried to lift it, it just gave a shake of its head and goodbye Uwe.
A lot of just under size Snapper were caught and put back. Ron Kelley was the only one on our boat to land a legal Jewfish; for those of you that fish I believe that the legal size of Jewy has increased from 450mm to 700mm.
It would pay all who fish to get onto the fisheries website and check all changes to bag limits and sizes
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The fisho's had their first fishing trip for 2015 on Wednesday the 4th February - we went to Clarke Point Reserve, nine men attending.
On arrival we were greeted with new parking laws, and for your information it is $3 for one hour, $9 for the whole day. For holders of a Mobility Parking Scheme Permit parking is free but the Permit must be displayed. There is free parking on the road as you turn into the dock area.
The weather threatened rain, but for once God did love the Train washers. We fished till home time without a problem and the cloud cover made the day very pleasant.
For all who scoff at the fishing group, this time fish were caught.
At least 16 big leather jackets were taken home, and I can tell
you the two that I cooked for tea that night tasted great.
Phil Parsons was fisherman of the month with a bag tally of eight.
After a good day's fishing we had a BBQ lunch and headed home before the work traffic started.
Fishing is on the first Wednesday of the month and all are welcome, the cost is $10 - you get Breakfast, morning tea and lunch. If you wish to come along could you please let Reno know (0409 819 041) for catering. The boat trips are a different setup - just ask and you will be told. We leave from home at 5 in the morning.
The only rule that the fishing group has is that no alcohol is allowed. Coffee and tea is supplied - if you want anything other than that you have to bring it yourself.
Station Master.
Reno
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The fishing group held its last fishing trip for 2012 on Wednesday the 7th of November.
For all those that say we don't catch fish, I say you should have been there on Wednesday.
As always the last trip of the year is a boat trip on the Hawkesbury river.
We could not have asked for a better day the weather was warm but slightly clouded, which made
being in an open boat more bearable.
After a hearty breakfast we set out for the day's fishing, the boat I was in headed to a spot that we have had success before and we did again, Stumpy catching the first Flathead of the day a beauty of around 550 mm. More fish were caught on the drift by all of us, not all were keepers. All on board caught Jew fish, no legal ones were landed but they kept us interested. The water must have warmed up for we kept catching fish on every drift we did, when the tide changed and we drifted the other way at least two legal Flathead were caught on each drift. The Flathead were on big time, and if you have a boat you could do worse than go to the Hawkesbury armed with Hawkesbury prawns and spend a day fishing. Fisherman of the month will have to be shared between Terry (Stumpy) Burn and John Fitzgibbon who both had flathead at around 550mm; to close to call.
A great day was had by all. At the end we all had feed of fish to take home.
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This month's fishing outing was to Clarke Point. The day was a little cool early in the morning, but it showed promise of turning out beautifully, after a great breakfast we all headed to our respective fishing spots.
The day was absolute by 9-00am. and Reno was down to shorts and t-shirt. When you are standing on the shores of Sydney Harbour, and its a perfect day, you can see why people are trying to live here, even with no fish. I couldn't think of a better place to be.
Terry Blackburn did his impression of Free Willy (see photo); Bob Incorvill snared a 'huge' Leatherjacket, which was perfect in every way except for size (see photo). It was decided to make Bob Fisherman of the month for his catch - we are still wondering how he hooked it.
After lunch with not much action, we headed home.
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We once again went to Clarke Point Reserve, which has grown popular with a lot of the men, what with the view of the Bridge, the city and just being on the best harbour in the world, plus it's one of the places we have caught take home fish.
Some 14 men went along to test their skill, and under a very grey sky started the day with a hearty breakfast of Barlow's 'Cooking around Sydney' - doing a great job as usual.
The weather stayed overcast but this did not worry anyone, all fishing with a vengeance, but to no avail. By morning tea time only one legal fish was caught, and that did not change by the time we went home, which made Phil Parsons Fisherman of the month. Ross Person who had the drag on his reel locked up, lost a good fish, which snapped his line when it hooked up.
By 10:45 the sun was well and truly up, and some of us were thinking "is this winter?". While the day got better the fishing stayed the same, so after a BBQ lunch we all packed our gear and headed home.
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What a great sunny, winter's day we had (after the forecast had threatened winds up to 110kph). The usual fish story though – not much to write home about, however Phil & John have stumbled on a productive pocket of leatherjacket. All-in-all, the tasty curry mince on toast for breakfast, a morning tea conversation and a hearty BBQ lunch all made the trip worthwhile for the eleven who braved the elements.
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Clarkes Point (again) on Wednesday 4th May was another magic day … albeit a little cool in the breeze when it arrived. Around 14 hearty fishermen stumbled in at about 0600hrs (Phil had slept there overnight I'm sure!), to a magnificent BB (that's Barlow Breakfast) of egg & bacon rolls, freshly prepared with loving fingers, and served on a freshly made Coles bread roll – lightly buttered of course.
Not too much activity early on, but as the morning went on, momentum developed. The Blackfish were on … but alas not for us – two interlopers struck gold there. Not to be defeated, our 'team' responded with reasonable volume, if not by way of size - except for Stumpy's super-magnificent effort with a flathead that won the day (see photo).
The usual half-time break for morning tea was followed by a few more leather jacket … and the cool breeze. After a well-prepared lunch of sausage, rissole and salad, with apples & pears to finish, we all made our way back west.
Guess where we're going for June …. That's right … Clarkes Point. Let Reno know if you're coming.
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April's fishing trip was to Clarke Point; Clarke has gotten popular with the men for it is one of the places that we stand a chance of catching fish.
I was only expecting around 10 men to attend, as the weather was not looking good and we did get a few showers, but to my surprise we ended up with 16 including Carl, Burkies son who took it all in and thought we were all sick men I don't know what he told his mother when he got home, let's see if Burke is allowed to play next trip.
After breakfast of Lamb's Fry and Bacon, we all headed off to where we were going to fish. Tony Fryer, John Barlow, Phil Parsons and John Cross headed over to were Ron Kelly caught his leather jacket on a previous trip, and after a bit of searching found them, Phil taking home half a bucket of jackets his efforts on the day make him our fisherman of the month, and all this before lunch. There were some small fish caught on the day - the only other fish of note was Herbies Wrasse, but it just couldn't top Phill.
A good day was had by all, so after lunch, we packed up and headed home.
Reno
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Sixteen men went along to do battle once more. It was still dark when all arrived and sat down for breakfast. After the usual magnificent BBG (that's Barlow's Breakfast Gastronomy), at around 7-00 am we loaded the 3 boats and set out for a good day's fishing under overcast but dry skies.
Reno was on Captain Burke's submarine ... er, boat. What a day! We all caught fish. We must have caught 30 squire - alas all 2 or 3 centimetres to short - but there were also Jewfish (Soapies), Shovelnose shark, stingray, crabs and catfish caught. We had 3 ridges bitten off - that's a 3 hook ridge and 2 traces.
Greg Cant on another boat caught a couple of legal flathead, and they also caught a boat load of squire. On the third boat, Phil Parsons caught a legal Jewfish.
The catch of the day. goes to Bruce Margarity, who caught a flathead nearly as long as he is tall; it was monster; and it makes Bruce fisherman of the month.
It's good that he bragged and showed it to me, because who ever tied the keeper bag needs to go back to the Boy Scouts, they not only lost the fish that were caught; they also lost the keeper bag so Bruce's fish ended up as crab food.
We returned the boats at 5-00 pm and headed home, all having had a great day on the water, fishing. The old saying rings true:
My worst days fishing is better than my best day at work.
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Fishing Report for February 2011.
Our first fishing trip was to Clarke Point Reserve and was well attended, 13 men going off to try their luck.
The day could not have been better. Talk about good one day, perfect the next! With a gentle breeze coming off the water to keep the heat down, the temperature was at least 9 degrees less than at St Mary's.
On arriving toast was cooked and all tucked into breakfast, of Sausages and Bacon in tomato and onion sauce; all ate well.
Now to fishing, all spread out and did their level best to catch something. Many fish were caught, but the story never changes ... all to small and were all thrown back. Terry Burn caught a huge cat fish which he eventually threw back after Terry thought twice about eating it; I really couldn't see Mrs. Stumpy eating catfish.
The fisherman of the day and month was Ron Kelly with a good haul of Leather Jacket. When being told about the catch yours truly ventured down, and was able to catch two fish that were tea last night.
A good day was had by all and after lunch we carried all the gear back to the cars and made for home before the traffic got to bad.
Reno
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November's fishing trip was the last for 2010, and as usual it was our boat trip on the Hawkesbury River.
There were a lot of men away for this trip,so only two boat's were required,we had eleven men so six on the larger of the boats five on the other
Terry Blackburn piloting the small boat, Captain Bourke the other.
On arriving at the wharf, we had breakfast then boarded and set off for a on a day on the water.
The morning passed with very little action, Bourke caught a large catfish, but that was all that was brought on board on our boat until we moved around to the channel marker where we all started to catch fish on Bourkies boat - we must have caught between 30 and 35 Bream but all were thrown back because they were under size, the largest being 23 Centimetres. Ronny Miller's Bream was more than legal, but he lost it at the side of the boat. Four Blueswimmer crabs were caught but only 1 made it on board.
Around 12-00 we were looking for the other boat to have lunch. I believe that there was almost a mutiny on Terry's boat but all ended well, when we found each other, tied the boats and cooked and had lunch - a good feed calming the savage beasts. After lunch we went our way again; we headed to the same marker and again caught bream. As it was getting near time to return the boats, we did a couple of drifts where I was lucky enough to land a 55 centimetre Flathead, making me the fisherman of the month.
We returned the boats, packed the car and headed home, before the traffic built up. Fishing is on the first Wedensday of the month and all are welcome. If anyone wishes to come fishing please let me know for cattering purposes.
Reno
November 2010
