Go before sunup, no one on the roads, no one at the ramp, clean up and you will be retrieving as everyone starts launchin. Inshore dhus go back in their cave when the suns up and the pinkies piss off to deeper water and out come the wrass. Mushed up mulies or a tuna log in a scaler bag on the surface works good, few baits in the burley trail and flick a placcy around. When it blows up and the water gets stirred up, the pinkies come in real close, Iv gotn them at a spot about a kay offshore just on sunrise. Just got to suss out safe areas in regards to swell etc. In winter the skippy are fun on the light gear after sunup and even more fun are the jumbo sambos that hunt them

I do exactly as tim-o says. My advice would be to start by concentrating on snapper. You'll still get other species. I've found anchoring upcurrent/uptide of a substantial piece of structure is more effective than right on top of it. Let your burley float down onto the structure and bring the fish to you. You'll be staggered at the quality of fish that are within 10kms of the mainland.

Well you see them getting caught landbased which indicates they head right in when theres food for them, couldnt say how far out the may go, its just a theory as they would be vulnerable to sharks in shallow water during dalight, but may hang around when the water is stirred up and dirty. Iv launched at 3 one morning and a couple of fellas came back from their session overnight, just gota be ready, burleyin up and baits in for when they come through. Dont need to be on a lump as such either. Im still learning about it all, but when the conditions are good, its bloody nice to be out there and theres good fish to be caught

 Tim-o always has top advice :-)

 Yep i'm a big believer of having a good berley trail going when fishing inshore or landbased. People can't believe the monster Skippy i get off the beach where I go. But it's all about the chum. I always fish the bottom there as it's only shallow and there's a plethora of different fish that swim through that area.

 As others have said,sunrise or sunset...I have been getting my bag of snapper everytime i go out for the last month out of my kayak ( AV 55-65cm fish)and Im fishing under 1km out.Have got fish up to 7kg...My experience with snapper is you have roughly 20mins around sunset and sunrise where they actively feed in the shallows and thats the best chance to get them..Im normally only fishing for 30min to 1hr then you might aswell head in as they shut down.As for burley i usually use premium berley pellets and cubed mulies.

The best haul ive had was 35km out off mindarie where we got 2 dhuies to the combined weight of 25kgs, and nothing else has really come close, weve always got something there, thats why we tend to head out that far.

cheers for the input guys, much appreciated, im picking up a little everytime.

Next time ill try get out in the water around 3-4 AM, up current from the reef, and dangle a heshin bag (for least an hour) of fish carca's, mulies and tuna oil soaked chicken pellets.

what do ya rekon??

 I would be willing to bet if you do that over good ground, you will have your bag of legal snapper before 9am.

 Also, if you get to your spot very early, don't fall for the mistake of getting impatient and moving during peak times. If you are early, take your time. Set up your burely and a float bait, then have a cuppa. Make sure you fish hard (jig/sp's) during peak time. Back your method in.

Yep, I dont leave if theres a change of tide,also, I wouldnt use dhu or snapper frames as burley if u want to catch them lol. I think dhus are residential, tagging programs may prove me wrong, and youd be hard pressed to catch a blimp inshore but there are legal ones around, and being shallow, they release well too.

well by being on good ground, you mean any where just up current from the reef?? anywhere up along the reef yeh..

well the first few times ill stick to baits untill i get a better feel for it then ill kick off the plastics.

thanks again guys, ill let yous know how i go.

do any of you guys have pics of some of your catches in close??

 By good ground, I mean structure and channels through the reef. Bombies, pinnacles all that stuff. Personally, I like sand channels through the reef.

I wouldn't use bait only. Some days, they only take plastics. You don't have to spend much money either. Just get yourself a pack of Berkley Gulp 5" jerk baits in pink shine and some 1/4oz 4/0 jigheads. That will give you a good starter kit. If you are not sure of the action to use, ask for a demo at the shop, I use a bit of all different techniques, but find the lures get taken as they sink more often than not.

excelent... great ... ill give it a go

cheers

On the same topic, where or how far out for the above techniques would be good if heading out from Woodmans Point.

Cheers

Joycey

 The same techniques have been effective at FFB. 

 Sorry to bump an old thread, but was cruising through the search menu and found it. 

Was wondering if anyone had anymore to offer on fishing the inshore reefs?.... I've been out a few times now (have 4.75 bayhunter) and have predominantly come back empty handed. This thread is a good find as I launch from hillarys as well. I generally head straight through the gap in the reef out of hillarys and continue slightly until I get into the lumps in 15m of water but have been struggling. I did have a pretty good session (for my standards) at one of my spots a while ago which included a few skippy, a sambo, a wobi shark and an underside dhu, but I really haven't been able to replicate it. I'm starting to think ppl are laughing at my fishing attempts when I come back empty handed all the time, haha. 

Was wondering if anyone can reccomend alternative fishing ground for the inshore... Not after anyone's spots but just general suggestions. Also what time do you guys consider as too late for the metro reefs? 

I have been considering pushing out to the 30m contour line and following it until I find some ground as I'm starting to get desperate to land a decent fish. Would love to bag a size snapper!! 

Any help is greatly appreciated 

Cheers, Steve

As most of the fellahs have covered already - find yourself a reef 10 - 20 metres, nice broken up ground, burley up on chunks of mulie or whatever you have, drift or anchor depending on how fast your drifting.

always managed to get a load of stuff while on the reef i love fishing there, nothing better than watching your unweighted mulie on 4/0 gangs get mashed and rod bent over...

Caught all types of fish - sharks, dhuies, snapper, Sambos, Black ass, Tuna, eels, rays, cuttlefish, skippy, Tailor - you just never know what you will get out there thats half the enjoyment.

best times are obviously morning and afternoon evening.

 Cheers dant... 

Generally when on the 3mile I've just anchored...

Normally run a paternoster with a set of gangs for a mulie and then a 5/0 circle with occy or squid...

i would try to go a bit further up north along the reef, something that hasnt been quite as fished. the reef goes all the way up the coast.

IMO i would stay of the bottom - you will only get Wrasse, just float a couple of unweighted mulies into the burley trail, if nothing you will get a sambo for sure.

keep the chunks going in regularly though.

 Yea I've been told to head up to mindarie on a few occasions but I've been a little reluctant... May have to just give it a shot. 

I also took unweighted mulie rigs with me last time but unfortunately didn't get to use them because I had to head back in due to a crook decky

Yep! Bloody wrasse... I've tried a couple of times in closer to get some KG's but always end up getting smashed by wrasse, I don't think the baits even get to hit the bottom 

Cheers again dant

broken ground off the reef , moons and weather also play an important role keep a diary you'll soon work out when their inclose and on the bite

When I first started boating I had a bayhunter and used to fish behind the reefs from ocean reef-mindarie anchoring up and burlying and had relatively good succcess amongst the wrasse.  picked up heaps of skippy, breaksea cod, KG's and a few sambos and sharks.  heaps of burly if you get the trail right so its drifting inshore you wont have a problem.

Cheers for the help fellas!

Rig, if you don't mind me asking, how far out did you end up venturing with the bayhunter? And what sort of conditions did you find were its limit?... I'm not looking to push my luck but I'm just curious to know if its suitable to head into the 30's/40's or maybe direction bank... I'm still getting used to the boat and want to chuck in a second battery before I do that though. 

Thanks

Steve

 On good days I used to get out 25nm.  Not everyone's cup of tea in a boat that size but so long as you pick your weather not a problem.  A few times I did cop bad weather it just meant a very slow trip home.  I had a 40 Johnson on mine and I preferred it with just myself and a deckie on board.  I had a 70l tank  and I would use about 50l getting out there and back.  I fished it with 3 blokes out of port Gregory quite a few times and it got a bit interesting at times with he extra weight and sloppy conditions but you just have to keep your eye on the weather.  You will get to direction bank on a good day no worries. Just cruise out slowly and you should find some broken ground and just go out bit by bit if your unsure.  Unfortunately it's getting into the windy season but anything over 12 knots no matter what direction won't be too comfortable in the bay hunter.

ehat your doing is the right thing get used to your boat and the weather around the 3 mile first because if it gets sloppy it's only a short trip back in.  Just watch your depth and breaking swells

Cheers for that info Rig, I agree with the one deckie for any serious fishing. Mine has a 40 merc and tops out just a touch over 20 knots.

Yea the breaking swells are the reason I keep going back to hillarys, I'm hoping to familiarise myself with the area so I know where's safe etc... But i'm thinking I may just do the same further north.

And yea, think im going to get a diary for the boat so I can fill out conditions etc to get an idea of when's the likely time to catch some fish.

Cheers for the help fellas, appreciate it!

Had alot of success lately just drifting along the back of staggies. When its too windy i just anchor up current, burley with pollard and tuna oil and float baits down with no weight. You will get raped by wrasse for a while but the skippy always come. Remember to keep the burley up to keep them around as i've had them come and go a few times in one trip.

Landed some size snapper and dhuies at the first reef with this method. If your after squid for bait or feed then just head north out of the marina to the 3 rock groins and drift about in 6m over the weedbeds. Always been something there for me when times are tough.

My boats only 14ft with a 55hp and i find swell 1.5m or bigger to be too uncomfortable. Went out a while back without really checking the weather and nearly got swamped by a breaking wave. Had to cut my anchor line and charge head on into it to get over safely. The three of us on board didn't say anything for a good 20 mintues after haha.

Now only head out when its less than 15 knots, and swell less than 1.5m. Also found Easterly winds to be the better for me as it's a bit easier to get about and stay dry. 

If you don't mind the drive then cockburn sound is an option when the swell is up

 Thanks Naitanui!!

Are you refering to the mindarie marina?... I've even struggled with squid around little island as of late. The same day we had good action at the 3mile we went in and got a dozen squid around little island... Since then I've realllllly struggled, 1 or 2 tops. 

Cheers for the info 

 Yep Mindarie. Haven't been out of Hillary's as yet

For Hillarys launching, head south from the marina to the south cardinal marker, there is plenty of good ground south of the marker and safe from breakers, the lights on the coatsal road give you enough visibility when there is no moon. I headed down once with a 3m swell running, the trip down was a little bumpy as the swell gets broken up by the 3 mile but once at the marker, they just roll through, bit of a.pain on anchor tho. Do a trip during daylight, basically straight out the nav markers from the marina and head directly to the south marker, plot a track, that way you just follow the track on the plotter when you head out in the dark. Remember to set your plotter on night mode (less backlight).

Cheers guys,

Yea Tim-o, I know what you mean by it being lumpy before the reef. I've got a little combo unit with navionics so I've got a plot marked through the hole in the wall which is where I've got a couple of spots marked. But heading south for some new ground sounds like a good idea. If you want me to PM you the series of waypoints I have marked for the gap in the reef let me know and ill get them from my sounder. I've watched your reports for a while because I think you got your boat just a bit before me, seems as though you've been doing quite well as of late. 

Cheers for the advice guys!