11-02-2006, 09:58 AM
[font "Times New Roman"]My Brother-in-Law, Ray invited me to go “Fishing the Murk” with him. Never having heard the term before I said what you mean? He explained; the Murk is the ocean outfall below the sewerage treatment plant located on North Head which is at the entrance to Port Jackson also known as Sydney Harbour in Sydney Australia. It is where all the untreated sewerage north of the harbour flows into the sea. His reports of the fishing to be had there was stupendous.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]We set off at 2am travelling by car to the suburb of Manly and parked in land adjacent to the “Metropolitan Water and Sewerage and Drainage Board’s” installations atop the sandstone cliffs at North Head.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]It was pitch black at 4am and Ray explained we had to climb down the face of the cliff hand over hand with no ladders or ropes to assist us. Every so often there was a ledge which enabled the climber to stand and catch his breath while receiving rods and back packs passed down from above. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Off he went over the side of the cliff alternately finding hand holds and foot holds in the fretted sandstone only aided by the faint illumination provided by stars peeking through a sky mottled with occasional clouds. Hearing a shout from below I passed down the back packs which were lashed to the butt of the two one piece rods.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Then it was my turn and over the side I went climbing down in a similar fashion until I stood beside him on the narrow ledge. This process was repeated several times until we eventually found our selves standing 130 feet below the cliff.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]By now faint rays of the sun were evident in the eastern sky and assisted us in negotiating our way across a relatively flat expanse of shore ledge littered with large boulders that had fallen from above in the distant past.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]We set up camp on the ledge about eight feet above the sea and parked our backpacks on a large rock nearby to ensure they would not be washed away by the occasional freak wave.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]We were using peeled cooked prawns (Shrimp) for bait and the fishing was spectacular with 6 ½ pound Trevally and 5 pound Sea Bream being taken every few minutes, however due to the nature of the “Burlie” being discharged into the sea directly beneath our feet the fish were immediately tossed straight back into the water. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]The Murk extended for about half a mile off shore before the colour turns from a murky grey brown to the normal blue. Fins of sharks and Orca Killer Whales were seen cruising in the area. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Professional Fishermen trawled the blue water just beyond the murk so the lint and paper in the water didn’t foul their nets. Their catch went straight to the Sydney Fish markets at Ultimo and those who bought it probably thought it tasted OK. You just don’t know what you are eating, do you? [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]From time to time we had the company of other fishermen and the ledge was becoming over crowded. The occasional wave washed over our ankles and we were wearing steel notched plates bolted underneath our shoes to bite through the slippery green weed and grip the rock in order to keep our footing. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]The fishing spot was what I would describe as comfortable although the rubbish in the water was a nuisance. Ray and I were forever cleaning shredded “Chux Super Wipes” lint from our lines.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]One of the other fishermen was using an overhead reel and in casting he got a ”Bird’s nest” and he had to strip a quantity of line off the reel in order to fix his problem. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]A wave washed over the ledge and unbeknown to me swept his line in my direction. My legs became immobilized, hobbled by the nylon line tangled around my rock plates and the next wave knocked me flat on my back.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]I was winded and found myself in the wash of the wave unable to take hold of the rock because of the slippery green weed and sliding towards the edge of the ledge and in danger of falling into the sea.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Ray immediately thrust his rod in my direction and I seized the butt. I managed to scramble to my feet after a few seconds and gave the other fisherman a salty mouthful of abuse. He was most apologetic. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Further along the ledge were what was referred to back in those days as a “Nigger Fishermen” catching "Black Fish" which are referred to these days as Luderick for politically correct reasons.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]They were plying their “art form” using ultra lite “nigger rods’ and echidna quill floats fitted with miniscule hooks baited with “Birds Eye Peas”.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]The 2 to 3 pound Luderick Girella tricuspidata had grown used to there being a vast quantity of peas which are flushed down houshold sinks accompanying the sewerage flowing into the sea and preferred them to their natural foods the green weed and cabbage that grows on coastal rocks that are constantly being deluged with sea spray. I consider them pound for pound the toughest fighing fish I have ever caught.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Although the fishing was unbelievable very few fish are taken home due to the contaminants microbial and industrial known to be in the water and the physical constraints of having to haul the fish back up the cliff face. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]So saying, there were rumours that occasionally fish retrieved by the use of long ropes found itself onto [/font][font "Times New Roman"]”Meat Trays” being raffled at Clubs, Pubs and Bowling Greens.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Sadly the Murk no longer exists. The government in its wisdom had deep sea outfalls built several years ago. There are now a network of tunnels that carry the sewage (still untreated) deep below the sea bed a distance of about three miles off shore where it exits out of concrete nozzles located above the sea bed spraying it out into the passing current. This ensures that world famous beaches like Bondi , Coogie and Tamarama are no longer polluted. [/font]
[signature]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]We set off at 2am travelling by car to the suburb of Manly and parked in land adjacent to the “Metropolitan Water and Sewerage and Drainage Board’s” installations atop the sandstone cliffs at North Head.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]It was pitch black at 4am and Ray explained we had to climb down the face of the cliff hand over hand with no ladders or ropes to assist us. Every so often there was a ledge which enabled the climber to stand and catch his breath while receiving rods and back packs passed down from above. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Off he went over the side of the cliff alternately finding hand holds and foot holds in the fretted sandstone only aided by the faint illumination provided by stars peeking through a sky mottled with occasional clouds. Hearing a shout from below I passed down the back packs which were lashed to the butt of the two one piece rods.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Then it was my turn and over the side I went climbing down in a similar fashion until I stood beside him on the narrow ledge. This process was repeated several times until we eventually found our selves standing 130 feet below the cliff.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]By now faint rays of the sun were evident in the eastern sky and assisted us in negotiating our way across a relatively flat expanse of shore ledge littered with large boulders that had fallen from above in the distant past.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]We set up camp on the ledge about eight feet above the sea and parked our backpacks on a large rock nearby to ensure they would not be washed away by the occasional freak wave.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]We were using peeled cooked prawns (Shrimp) for bait and the fishing was spectacular with 6 ½ pound Trevally and 5 pound Sea Bream being taken every few minutes, however due to the nature of the “Burlie” being discharged into the sea directly beneath our feet the fish were immediately tossed straight back into the water. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]The Murk extended for about half a mile off shore before the colour turns from a murky grey brown to the normal blue. Fins of sharks and Orca Killer Whales were seen cruising in the area. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Professional Fishermen trawled the blue water just beyond the murk so the lint and paper in the water didn’t foul their nets. Their catch went straight to the Sydney Fish markets at Ultimo and those who bought it probably thought it tasted OK. You just don’t know what you are eating, do you? [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]From time to time we had the company of other fishermen and the ledge was becoming over crowded. The occasional wave washed over our ankles and we were wearing steel notched plates bolted underneath our shoes to bite through the slippery green weed and grip the rock in order to keep our footing. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]The fishing spot was what I would describe as comfortable although the rubbish in the water was a nuisance. Ray and I were forever cleaning shredded “Chux Super Wipes” lint from our lines.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]One of the other fishermen was using an overhead reel and in casting he got a ”Bird’s nest” and he had to strip a quantity of line off the reel in order to fix his problem. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]A wave washed over the ledge and unbeknown to me swept his line in my direction. My legs became immobilized, hobbled by the nylon line tangled around my rock plates and the next wave knocked me flat on my back.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]I was winded and found myself in the wash of the wave unable to take hold of the rock because of the slippery green weed and sliding towards the edge of the ledge and in danger of falling into the sea.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Ray immediately thrust his rod in my direction and I seized the butt. I managed to scramble to my feet after a few seconds and gave the other fisherman a salty mouthful of abuse. He was most apologetic. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Further along the ledge were what was referred to back in those days as a “Nigger Fishermen” catching "Black Fish" which are referred to these days as Luderick for politically correct reasons.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]They were plying their “art form” using ultra lite “nigger rods’ and echidna quill floats fitted with miniscule hooks baited with “Birds Eye Peas”.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]The 2 to 3 pound Luderick Girella tricuspidata had grown used to there being a vast quantity of peas which are flushed down houshold sinks accompanying the sewerage flowing into the sea and preferred them to their natural foods the green weed and cabbage that grows on coastal rocks that are constantly being deluged with sea spray. I consider them pound for pound the toughest fighing fish I have ever caught.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Although the fishing was unbelievable very few fish are taken home due to the contaminants microbial and industrial known to be in the water and the physical constraints of having to haul the fish back up the cliff face. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]So saying, there were rumours that occasionally fish retrieved by the use of long ropes found itself onto [/font][font "Times New Roman"]”Meat Trays” being raffled at Clubs, Pubs and Bowling Greens.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Sadly the Murk no longer exists. The government in its wisdom had deep sea outfalls built several years ago. There are now a network of tunnels that carry the sewage (still untreated) deep below the sea bed a distance of about three miles off shore where it exits out of concrete nozzles located above the sea bed spraying it out into the passing current. This ensures that world famous beaches like Bondi , Coogie and Tamarama are no longer polluted. [/font]
[signature]
