G'day.
The best thing about writing a fishing column is that you can get abused by other people.
Yes, Mr Correspondent, I very rarely mention exact fishing locations in Lake Macquarie and, you're right, FAD does not stand for Fish Attracting Device.
In my last column I simply wrote FAD and I guess one of our sub editors decided to explain what it was.
It actually stands for Fish Aggregating Device, which means the same thing, but makes boffins sound smarter when they say it.
There are 25 of these FADs along the NSW coast, and they're paid for by you and I and everyone else who pays for a licence to fish in this state.
They are basically a buoy with a chain attached and anchored to the ocean in about a hundred-odd meters of water.
They are placed in our coastal waters each year and basically they create their own ecosystem.
Weed and molluscs attach themselves to it and the things that feed on them attract bait fish, which attracts the pelagic species who follow the warm currents down the coast.
This in turn attracts us fishermen who are after a feed and a bit of fun.
My nearest FAD is out off Swansea, just swing right behind the first boat out from the breakwall.
Or, if you'd prefer to have a more exact location, visit fisheries.nsw.gov.au for precise co-ordinates of your nearest FAD.
The reasons for not giving precise locations on the lake are twofold.
Firstly, if an exact location was specified, you can guarantee that next Saturday morning there will be at least half a dozen boats on it.
Secondly, there's a good chance that it won't be holding any fish anyway.
As some smart bloke once said: "Catching fish is easy, finding them is the hard part".
