Sydney Harbour 02/10 + 08/10

The Fisherwoman with the Crested Horn Shark

October 2, 2011
Rising tide 9am-midday
1.56m high tide at 1.15pm
Strong southerly 15-25 knots

Awkward gusty conditions made fishing - even land-based fishing -  difficult but we still managed some fish.

The outstanding catch was a Crested Horn Shark by the Fisherwoman.

This is the first we've seen for at least eight years up the northern end of the harbour.

Crested Horn shark

They used to be quite common but disappeared as the water quality diminished and the harbour was commercially fished out but like many species they are making a comeback now commercial fishing has been banned and the water quality has improved aft the dioxing problems.

Note the shark's colour in the photos. Perfectly camouflaged for the weedy rocky bottom.

We also caught a couple of large parrotfish around the 0.75-1kg mark and a large rock cod - ugly as all he'll with large gaping mouth but said to be good eating.


October 8, 2011
Rising tide 4pm-7pm
1.47 high tide around 6.52pm
Light flimsy winds

Plenty of fish, most of them very small to small. Baby snapper galore, most with appetites bigger than their bodies. A couple weren't even hooked - just grimly hanging onto  prawn flesh.

Eastern rock cod

At one stage 4 eels were feeding on discarded prawn heads.
Caught a couple of the large parrotfish, a medium-sized rock cod, the Fisherwoman added a leatherjacket, we also brought in some wrasse of various species.

About 6pm, I hooked into something very big that immediately tied me up in the weed bed. Twice I got it out; twice it tied me up again. Eventually after a 10 minute battle it bit me off. Had strong head shakes to it whenever it left the safety of the weeds but didn't behave like a large black bream and just scoot off.

The Fisherwoman then hooked what she described as the biggest fish she's had on a handline in years (she prefers a handline - even onshore when she can get away with it). It was getting dark when she got it nearly close enough to see - at which point it bit her off. She spent the next three hours cursing about the one that got away.

Bait on both days: green prawns - peeled and sliced into 2 or 3 pieces, Hawkesbury prawns used whole, squid strips, yellowtail cubes.