The crab kings. Photo: Supplied by John Clarke.
Old Westy mending nets. Photo: Supplied by John Clarke. The crab kings. Photo: Supplied by John Clarke. Part 2 – The crab kings IT’S hard to believe, considering today’s value, that crabs were once a big problem. There were heaps of crabs but no known market, and they really were a pest. They would tangle […]
Young Westy at work. Photo: Supplied by John Clarke.
Young Westy at work. Photo: Supplied by John Clarke. Young Westy at work. Photo: Supplied by John Clarke. THERE were two fishermen by the name of “Westy Davis”. “Old Westy”, Alfred George, was born in Nelson Bay in 1890, enlisted in the First A.I.F in 1915 and was a member of the first group to […]
THERE are some very good recreational fishers in Port Stephens. Lemon Tree champ Wayne Coles is one of them. I have been asked: “What makes a champion recreational fisher?” To me it is all about the ability to find fish yourself and not rely on others to pass on information. Catching fish is simple. Finding […]
FISHING for luderick has always been a bit of a mystery to me. Sitting for hours, on a hard rock, staring at a float, wishing for it to disappear under the surface. Luderick fishers are a different breed. On one thing they all agree – Don’t tell anyone where you collect the bait of precious […]
Nelson’s Bay Wharf, as it was then known. Photo: Supplied by John Clarke.
BEING a fishing historian, I am always on the lookout for any information on how fishing was in the early days in and around Port Stephens. Can you imagine how good it would have been? Through my research I have uncovered many articles that give an insight into recreational and commercial fishing as far back […]
IT was back in 1974 when I arrived in Port Stephens to take up an appointment as PE Teacher at Nelson Bay High School the following year. Having no knowledge of the area I was fortunate in that I knew Ken McCray, a teacher at Anna Bay Public School. My wife Ella and I were […]
WHAT is it about snapper that makes catching the fish a high priority on our angling bucket-list? Could it be the magnificent fighting qualities of snapper, together with the quality of the fillets in the kitchen? Maybe the attractiveness of the fish itself, with the reds, crimsons and brilliant opal fleck that shines brightest as […]
I AM asked at times: “What is the biggest fish you have caught?” I immediately think of a thumping cobia I caught off the rocks off Cabarita headland some years ago. Kingfish, snapper and mulloway come to mind. Then I think of the monster I caught off Fingal. It was when I had Graham Duffy […]
What once was a typical catch of squid that could be caught in all the quiet bays from Broughton Island to Boat Harbour. Photo: Supplied by ‘Stinker’.
I WAS reading through some old articles I wrote years ago when I came across this story of squid. I can clearly recall when catching squid did not offer a challenge. Anywhere from Kiddies Corner in Fingal, south to Big Rocky, squid could be found in every protected bay. Simply by tossing out a squid […]
Battered and bruised, ‘Stinkpot’ comes home.
MY wife Ella and I arrived in Fingal Bay in 1975. My first impressions were how beautiful the beaches, conical mountains, islands and rocky headlands were. Coming from a fishing family in Tweed Heads, I weighed up the fishing opportunities inside the port, along the beaches and the offshore reefs. The reefs off Fingal come […]
