Chris Ghosn fishes Sydney Harbour and showcases what it has on offer.

Despite a thick fog blanketing the city, the early May morning was cool and pleasant. I was feeling pretty good about the day ahead while sitting on the deck of my good friend Dom’s boat.
We were waiting around for the fog to clear so we could safely navigate our way around. The darkness began to clear as it was pierced by burning streaks of the sun’s rays and within a few minutes we had the outboard fired up and roaring downstream. Before we had even travelled a few hundred metres we were stopped in our tracks by a school of fish busting up right in front of us. We motored past the school and slowly drifted towards them when we were presented with bait showering in all directions.
We grabbed the nearest rods and fired casts into the school. Within a few turns of the handle we had a triple hook up. Forget about tropical destinations for amazing surface action, Sydney Harbour has it all.

You never know what your going to hook next

The sound of screaming reels echoed in the early morning and the speed of these fish took me by surprise. Armed with our light bream outfits, we were hardly prepared, but nonetheless we made the best of what we had. Considering we were all hooked up, we were clearly doing something right.
After a few minutes we had colour and a feisty tailor came aboard, coughing up small baitfish that our soft plastics imitated perfectly. We managed to catch a few more before the school went deep. Welcome to Sydney, I thought. We couldn’t have asked for a more auspicious start.
Bream were our primary target and Dom was confident he knew a spot that held fish. We had to be there during the last hour of the run in tide so we couldn’t waste any time. We had the spot to ourselves and it looked perfect thanks to plenty of clean water from the making tide, as well as shadows across the surface. With that in mind we knew the bream would be pushing right up into shore and holding high in the water column.
Our first few casts were tentative, so as not to disturb any nearby fish. I changed from a soft plastic to a small baitfish profiled hardbody and virtually landed it on the bank before slowly working it back to the boat.
I watched the lure rise back up before starting my retrieve again when a silver swirl engulfed it. I managed to turn its head before it reached some crusty looking pylons and before long a solid bream hit the net. The boys followed suit by changing to hardbodies and a hot bite ensued. That was until the top of the tide came.
CHASING TIDES
Some days see everything align, and regardless of what you do, it doesn’t seem to matter as you can’t do wrong. This was one of those days. The good days certainly make up for the bad ones; therefore, when presented with perfect conditions and active fish, you really need to switch on and take it to the next level to maximise your results.
That’s exactly what we did. While the bite was hot and conditions remained calm we decided to chase the tide further upstream to try and replicate the action we had just encountered. We motored our way upstream along the Parramatta River to look for similar structure. We slowed the boat and it was obvious the tide hadn’t stopped as yet so we didn’t muck around in getting casts in underneath the wharves and old pylons.
My first cast got crunched by a 35 cm fish that mangled the hooks and scuffed up the leader. Rather than waste time and tie on a new lure, I put that rod away and picked up another which had a similar hardbody attached. Two casts later and I was on again. We managed to nail a few smaller bream and some by catch of chopper tailor, flathead and whiting all in the one spot.
RUN OUT BREAM
Once the tide was well and truly on its way out, we moved to a section of the river that held several moored boats. We used the electric to slowly motor up to the boats before casting soft plastics toward the base of the hulls. It wasn’t long before I saw a slight tick in my line upon which I struck and came up solid to a fish. Some fancy rod work combined with a few hard cranks of the handle saw the fish come out from beneath the hull and into the net.
In an effort to avoid increasing the weight of my jighead while the tide was rushing in, I decided to cast further upstream of the boat hulls to get it to drift to the bottom by the time it was in the strikezone. It took a few casts to get my drift right and again it was only the smallest movement in my hi vis braid that caused me to strike. I was into something big and fast.
I couldn’t do anything to stop it. All I could do was keep a bend in the rod, stay on top of it and regather line when I could. By this stage we had an audience gathered around us ,trying to see what the behemoth was attached to the end of my 6 lb leader. Talk among the boys ranged from mega bream to solid jew. Everyone was shocked to see a nice silver trevally come to the surface and Dom didn’t miss a trick with the net. That fish really punished me and pound for pound on the tackle I fought it on it was one of the more memorable fish I have caught.

Fishing close to and around boat hulls is a very productive way to catch bream

TACKLE SELECTION
There’s a vast array of species on offer in Sydney Harbour with bream to kingfish and everything in between all possible. To maximise your success you need to have a game plan or you’re going to be chasing your tail and wasting a lot of time on the water.
When chasing bream and other estuary species you can’t go wrong with 1 to 3 kg rods ranging from 6 to 7 ft teamed with a 1000 to 2500 size reel and 3 to 6 lb braid. Finish it off with a 2 to 8 lb fluorocarbon leader and you’re good to go.
Ultra-light finesse techniques are the name of the game as these fish are smart and wise up to fishing pressure. While using these outfits you can encounter other species including brawlers such as kingfish and jewfish. With quality tackle and well-tied knots you’re a chance of landing them.
It’s amazing how many Sydney bream anglers have picked up jews when using vibes. If you want to target the big hitters then gear up accordingly. When fishing Sydney Harbour I don’t try to cover every base but instead target a certain species.
GIVE IT A GO
The purpose of this article wasn’t to highlight any new ground breaking techniques or suggest I have discovered a new fishery but rather inspire new and seasoned anglers to get out around Sydney and get among some great sport fishing.
People should appreciate and be proud of what a great fishery Sydney Harbour is. When fishing Sydney have confidence in knowing that if you put the time and effort in you’re going to be rewarded and along the way you’re going to have some great days on the water.

Chris Ghosn is a dedicated fisho who is equally at home chasing fresh and saltwater species. He has a real passion for bass fishing and chasing big cod in wilderness country. A long time crusader for habitat restoration and conservation.