david88

6-12 lb or 6-12 kg? 6-12kg is pretty heavy for any kind of fish you would be targeting with 30lb braid on a 4000 reel. i suggest a barra or snapper stick, or if you want something amazing for throwing metals at schools, go a 8ft rod, like an egi rod.

had a lot of t-curves. think they are the most overrated overpriced rods around. check out the samurai reaction 302, there are plenty of other great snapper sticks out there for ya too. i reccon a good 20lb braid should be fine as long as you are good with an albright knot, and you want that casting distance for throwing unweighted stuggos into a bustup or wash. also consider spending up on the braid. a combo like that deserves a premium japanese braid, not fireline.

there is a certain tackle store in the city which is closing down, i know they have some saltists for very cheap.

a jighead and a bag of octopus tentacles from the fishmarkets.

whatever you go with just keep this in mind. i think the most important thing in a livie tank is the outlet. i have put ones twice the size of the reccomended (on the packet) and they have not been nearly enough. nothing more annoying than a small outlet, always overflowing, cant get enough water in to replenish, cant slow the water coming in enough.

sorry to throw a spanner into the works but the braid i use, diawa egi sensor white Si (egi is just because of the colour), is 10lb (so probably breaks at about 14), much thinner diameter than 4lb fireline, way softer, casts so much further than my fireline, and is looking like it will last me twice as long. fireline has so much memory and that little bit of distance through the coils between your rod rip and your lure when its sinking make a world of difference to sensitivity. go with a true PE line.

mate have a walk around on both and water test both, then you will know. they are both amazing boats and you will be happy with either. get the one with the nicest layout (assuming similar price) as they are both extremely seaworthy boats.

thanks for the reply, and yeah mate ill put up the cost as i work it out however that wont be for a while.

Hey guys, I have decided to organise a fishing trip with my old man and 1 or 2 other father son combos. I was thinking about maybe organising a houseboat in weipa as i like the idea of having a place to chillout, eat, drink and fish at night. So here goes with my list of questions that i couldnt answer off other posts. as far as weipa goes, how is the weather/fishing around september and october? are there better places this time of year? Can you anchor the houseboats in good fishing locations (black jew, reef species etc)? if i get a whole lot of maps/ descriptions of locations will i find it easy enough to find good fishing or is it best to have a guide for the first day to show us the ropes for the area? how much would a guide cost and can you follow them around in your own tender (dont expect to be able to fit 6 fishermen on the one boat). I know the barra and sportfish such as queenies are amazing around here and i know general places that you would find these but is it easy enough to find/ chase down the schools of tuna / pelagics? also how easy is it to find the reefs which produce the best eating fish(this is the type of fishing that i really love), and are these areas accessible by the houseboat? my old man has offered to pay my way for the trip but im sure he wont be willing to pay tackle, how much money worth of tackle do you guys normally take per person? Can it get rough in this area, i would hate for one of the guests to feel seasick for an extended period. Also any other tips to do with organising, companies or fishing tips would be extremely appreciated. Thanks to all the guys on fishraider who put up nice reports of there time here, that is what inspired me to pick this place. i look forward to doing one of my own. Thanke heaps Regards David Esber

i personally have never been in a situation in sydney where a bait jig has outfished a single hook with either tiny splitshot or glow beard. even if you do get multiple hookups it takes much longer to get them off, get them untagled, rebait etc than a single hook.

fishraider.

royce is a top bloke who knows a ton about blackys. every area i asked him about he knew a few spots. looking forward to having a fish wish him sometime soon.

thanks for your input guys. i will give it a go and hopefully find some. Dave.

Last two outings have filled the livebait tank with squid from the harbour. i struggled to ever do this in summer. be persistent there there, had a few massive ones bust us off in shallow water too. pls dont ask spots though.

hey guys, i want to have a go at some long reef snapper in the next few weeks but i have never fished this area. I understand its a pretty big patch of reef and was wondering if anyone could throw me a couple of locations (gps if possible) or techniques to help narrow down my search a little. Thanks heaps guys. dave

oh also does anybody know anywhere in sydneys inner-west that bores cylinders? i know of the many reputable places outside of this area but if anyone knows a place in the inner west it would be really handy. cheers

hey there, I am rebuilding my 70Hp johnson engine so that i can sell my boat with no worries of unhappy customers. but i have a bit of a querry. The top cylinder has a bit of light scorring and the big end bearing has completely welded solid and broken up. the head gasket was blown at the top. I thought about honing the cylinder slightly and realised that the top piston is already larger than the rest so i assume this was a problem that has happened before. The rest of the powerhead is in perfect condition apart from a bad salt buildup which i presume caused the problem with the gasket letting the water in originaly. My query is that apparently it is unusual for the top cylinder to go, and for this to happen twice (at least that i know of now)is there a possibility that there is some other problem that i dont know about. the piston fits snugly still so if i just honed the cylinder sleeve slightly, got new rings, new gasket kit, new big end bearing (and cleaned up crank surface til smooth) should this solve the problem for good?? also how do i find out the size of piston ring for a non standard piston? Thanks heaps guys. I just want to make sure that the future owner has no issues.

Hmm, sounds like you may get a lot of jewie by-catch.. maybe all those people targetting jewies and only catching rays should target rays instead haha...

1.85 kg bream!?!? thats a thumper!

yeah i have bought a few from here and a few from overseas, never had a problem. the company i bought from is very professional and we will see what their reply is tomorrow. I used to buy my tackle from a certain large tackle store in the inner west but i just got sick of getting home to find it 30-60% cheaper online. im about to sell some rods which are as new for half of what i paid for them (with discounts) just to compete with online prices.

yeah i have purchased reels online that were fine in the past, saving heaps of money. but i guess this is why we pay a bit extra from the tackle stores, to prevent problems like this. does anybody know if greasing or servicing the reel may solve this problem? how much would shimano charge to look at it?

hey guys, i just recieved my new 2011 twinpower 2500 that i ordered from ******* store. reel looks beautiful and feels solid however upon turning the handle it feels really rough, almost grindy. it feels about as smooth as my 3 year old stradic. because i bought from japan i know i have no warranty with shimano australia and i dont want to pay for shipping back to japan and back again for a replacement. I tried a couple of drops of grease in the service port but that hasnt helped anything. I dont like the idea of opening up a brand new reel to check for greasing. Have any raiders ever experienced a new reel feeling rough and what did you do about it? Thanks guys, Dave.

check out the JDM shimano range. My 2011 JDM twinpower arrives tomorrow

Hey guys, im tossing up whether to spool my new 2011 twinpower 2500 with either the new fireline exceed 4kg or sunline castaway 10lb. they are both similar diameter. will be used for bream, snapper, flathead, salmon and other pelagics. Also possibly thinking about daiwa egi sensor white too. your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

check your ground is screwed on nice and tight to the block