[Leccie Battery And Charger Advice]

50amp fuse sounds a bit big.

given that I got mine at a great price and it was the last one in the store I couldnt argue when it didnt come with a manual. Did your paper work recommend a 50A fuse?

Dave

I cant remember, Ive had mine for about 3 years now but I just checked the instructons and they dont actually say anything about using a fuse

Although it does say that it will approximately draw 1amp per pound of thrust on full power. I would have used this as a guide and put in a 50amp.

[Botany And Beyond]

Nice.... We got into a few salmon aswell but on the Saturday. Looks good on the plate too.

[Braid Tests]

Hey guys....

some time ago you may remember that i ran some tests on different types of braid and some were good and others were bad....

after all the tests i ran i came to the conclusion that most of the heavier stuff was crap except for the PE 8 weave braids......

SO after reading up on Jap jigging sites researching the best braids, 3 brands were on the list to spool up my heavy kingy outfit.

1. YFK Jigman PE 8 weave

2. Daiwa Sensor braid SW

3. VARIVAS AVANI GT

All these brands were raved about but the VARIVAS AVANI GT was said to be the best by far but at well over $300 for a spool overseas it seemed like over kill so i went with the Jigman mainly because it came in 600 metre spools as opposed to the Daiwa sensor which only came in 300 metres.

When i first got my Jigman 70lb braid i rigged it up and tested its breaking strain..........

I ran a plaited doubled then use an improved allbright to 60lb leader......

tested it and it rated past 25kg without breaking which was awesome....

anyways since then i have use the outfit ten or so times......

Yesterday Sal was over and he said lets run some more tests on your braid......

we tried it again with the same plait and allbright and guess what.....broke at 14kg

Tied another plaited double and 14 kg again..........it was breaking on the single line mm's before the plait....

we did this many times and it broke at 14kg everytime without fail...so obviously as the jigman got exposed to saltwater it weakened somehow......

we tried singles to mono....straight braid to swivel...you name it we tried it and it all failed at 14kg...

With all faith lost in my braid i took the whole lot off the spool and now im braidless on my outfit.....

I then called Kelvin and got his thoughts and he said that he hasnt got faith in the Jigman either and that he uses Daiwa sensor braid SW only and it serves him well.....

so i called Crazy JOhn who has a Stella 20000 with Daiwa Sensor braid 60lb and i asked him to bring it over to run tests......

His 60ld braid was breaking at 19kg....much better then my Jigman but still not perfect.....we did a few different rigs and his outfit always broke at 19kg......

So the issues of braid breaking below its rating still continues on the top brands also.......

Now i know people are gonna say "my braid is good" but if you would like to bring it past i can show you how good it is......chck and recheck your braid so you truly know how much you can lock up your outfits....

from what i can see the older/thicker braids are good its the newer thinner stuff that is no good....

just to let you know i have now gone with the VARIVAS AVANI GT in 100lb..........cost me more then a new twinpower though so the is gonna go crazy

OHHH shiit man. Just when i bought the PE7 Jigman. I havnt even used it yet.

You know I would use Squidgy braid (Rapala) every time as Ive found this to be the strongest out of all the braids. Try and test the 60 or 80Lb.

Only problem is its thick. Thats why I dont want to use it on the 20000 because I want to fit atleast 500m of line.

[Leccie Battery And Charger Advice]

Is it better for a battery's life to re-charge with a full blown battery charger or simply keep it topped up with a trickle charger.

I am a sparky but it has been a bloody long time since i went to tech.

Also does anyone know what size fuse to install with a 44lb watersnake?

Dave

Hey mate. I have a 55Lb Minn Kota and it uses a 50Amp fuse. This should be fine for your Watersnake.

I dont think it makes a lot of difference to the life of the battery which way you charge it as long as you dont go too high on the amps. For a 100Amp/h battery charge at no more than 10amps. For 90Amp/h- 9amps and so on. You can trickle charge aswell but this will take forever on a half flat battery.

[Very Good Day At Botany Bay]

Last Saturday me, my good mate and cousin decided to go at Botany Bay even it was still raining a bit. But with the right weather predictions, the rain stopped at the time we luanched the boat near foreshore drv. We started to head down to trevally alley and saw at least 8 boats anchored in there. so we decided to go to the oil wharf coz we never went zero over there. We anchored and took out the burley at 6am and my two deckhands were goin impatient just after 15 mins. I told them just wait another 5-10 mins and i promised them that it will bite soon. So I went for a snooze and little did u know I heard the loud oiii!!!. I tought somebody fell overboard. I got up my mate and my cousin were holding two rods each and no hand to reel the fish in. so I quickly helped to bring the fish in. As we caught up with the bitting fish, threw some more burley, load up the hooks with bait while the other two catch fish. so if one catch the fish, I put the fish in the esky while they cast the loaded rod to catch more fish. TEAM WORK. OVERALL we caught 56 trevally and nine slimy macks and possibly another 25 trevally its either undersized or it just simply got away. average size was 30.5 cm from snout to the v of the tail.

Hmmmm? I was anchored at Molineaux on Sat at 6am and I can tell you I was the only boat there on the whole area. We did manage 1 Trev there but there were a stack of Yellow Tail so we moved to the oil wharf aswell. We scored a nice feed there but not as many as you (81).

Sounds like a great catch man, good on you

[Boat Motor Won't Start Sometimes.]

If never done the engine would benefit from spraying power tune or the like in the carby. letting it soak for a good 24 hours and than giving it a good hard run in the water, but make sure the above things are looked at first.

If you have any questions please feel fre to ask,

Cheers,

Huey.

What does this Power Tune stuff do mate? I assume it will give a good clean out and get rid of gum and deposits? Ive got an 88' 60HP Yamaha thats never been done.

[Boat Motor Won't Start Sometimes.]

It does sound like a fuel problem. Probably too much. Are you pumping the fuel bulb at all?

I would make sure the plugs are fairly new or get new ones. Also check you have decent spark on each plug and check the gaps.

[Catch Heaps Of Fish Never Fail Jewfish Tricks Guaranteed & More !]

Jewgaffer....all this info is great but sometimes too much info bcomes more confusing rather then helpful....

I personally have caught fish in all conditions, all tides, all moon phases, all barometric pressure readings........although conditions do matter they are not everything.....and you can catch fish in all conditions.....too much knowledge isnt always a good thing.....sometimes it can be detramental........most people like myself just love being out there and not looking into the little things too much like all the readings etc.....

Thats my opinion........

I agree Netic. Ive had good days fishing in all different types of senarios and I do study and take note of things but dont get overly technical.

I dont really think you can ever perfect a technique and catch fish all the time. You can do all the studying you like and follow it all, and there will still be unexplainable days when you dont get the fish you thought you were 'supposed' to get.

[Food Shops On Botany Bay]

Just wondering if anyone knows of any hot food/take away type shops that are close to the water on Botany Bay. Somewhere you can stop on the boat and get lunch?

Some days I cant be stuffed packing a lunch. There is enough organising, packing and unpacking of gear , cleaning etc when running a boat to have to worry about food aswell. Also, hot chips and the like taste soooooo much better when your out on the water

[Bigmomma]

Righto, so it goes a little something like this…

We start the day out at hot water (botany bay) casting a few metals to see if any tailor about, 20mins later, still nothing.. Move on to trevalley Alley, Scotty Anchors up, sets the burlie trail and the 5 other anglers start pulling nice sized trevally Hand over Fist.. I’m getting nothing apart from a whole lot of shit from the guys who were…I told em I here fr the big fella’s …

caught a couple but certainly wasn’t bringing much to the table in comparison.. up the front of the boat I stayed…

Next go dragging some lures in search of some Aus Salmon, no luck, but managed a Stripy Bonito we kept as bait for later..

Wind picked up near the 3rd runway so we moved over to Brighton just of the beach.. Scotty hooked me and my mate up with some Bonito strips, and gave the others soft plastics…after a while a couple of the International Irish guests were really starting to doubt the old soft plastic, so I offered up my strip to one of them, and took a soft plastic out to sea.. seconds later my mate and another fella both get hooked up.. the other fella pulls his in first.. a 30cm baby… yeh whatever ( I can say now)…..my mate lands a 60cm monster… we all watch with envy as he brings the big girl in.. Bloody nice fish, but I give him shit about not using soft plastics, and warned that I was about show him how it was done by landing its grandmother.. Yeh all talk Toby they say… I head back to my end of the Boat to be by myself…. Then BANG!!!!! I’m on…, “He guys I’m on!” I say.. No one gives a shit…. There all talking about Pete’s big 65 Cm female…. SO I bring this Flatheadius Monsterous to the surface alone and the guy next to me goes,, Shiiiiiitttttttt.. better get the net!” She’s taking line out… and I’m letting her.. Oh it was glorious… By this stage the boat caught on to the fact that I may have caught something a little bigger than my previous attempts, and they pull over to side in time to see us struggling to get the head in the net…. Is this my fishing career over I thought? Have I peaked too early?

We get her on the boat, have some quick happy snaps, measure her up (Ruler only went to 60cm, and she wasnt happy with us checking out here stats- so all specs are "under"estimates!! ;-)), and back to the see she went.. “Breed on sweet girl” I said..

Scotty gives me the plastic, which I tied back on at his surprise, and hooked up another 64cm 10mins later.. that was me for the day..Unreal!!

Thanks for all your comments.. I'll be back here soon..

Good on you man for putting it back to live. Wish there were more people like you.

I always put my big ones back aswell.

[New Spinning Outfit]

Mate its more then just preferences...the Jap STella has a crap load more Drag...its a better reel overall...

My STella 20000FA which is the same as the aussie model i purchased from Japan.....Saved over $250 on the price so i will continue to but in Japan......I like to buy Aussie stuff but i like saving $250 more.....

DOn't forget roylo.....doesnt matter if you buy it from here or O/S they are all made in Japan...same factory

I bought my Aussie spec Stella from Japan aswell to save money.

I mean I like buying the Aussie released models rather than the Jap ones.

I know some of the Jap ones are better. But say for example I was gonna buy an Aussie Stradic, but then the Jap one is better. The Jap one costs more aswell. If I wanted something better than the Aussie Stratic I would rather get the Aussie Twin Power than get the Jap Stratic. U know what I mean?

[Home Made Downriggers ?]

the plastic male fitting that the holder swivels on kind of spripped/sheared then the holder popped up a touch causing it to swivel. the rod flicked off in slow motion and then i watched it sink to the bottom swearing my head off.

They have a latch that goes across that would have stopped the rod flicking out. I always use it for that reason.

I also drilled a hole straight through the stem and put a small bolt through to stop the holder from swivling.

These holders arnt the best, but I cant find anything that has the same adjustments that is much stronger so I still use them.

Someone needs to make something in STEEL with the same adjustments as these holders. Then you will have a really good rod holder.

[New Spinning Outfit]

Mate they are not relased here as yet maybe released in the future........Overseas reels are generally more valuable then the aussie models.........The Stella 20000sw (Jap Model) is worth a fair bit more then the Stella 20000FA (Aus Model)......

This applie to nearly everything...i could have got the Aussie stradic 4000 for $150 but from the same guy i paid $210 for the Magnesuim one.......

Same applies with twinpowers etc....all the jap models are better.....

I just bought a 20000FA Aussie released Stella and its worth more to ME than the Jap Stella.

Yeah, its just my personal preference I suppose to liking the aussie models better.

If I lived in Japan then I would prefer to have their models tho....

[Home Made Downriggers ?]

How did the rod fall in?

[Home Made Downriggers ?]

sounds like a decent idea mate. the only problem i can think of is finding the correct depth to set the bomb on your downrigger + setting the downrigger rod horizontal. you might be able to put depth markers on the line if using an overhead reel. the bail arm would cause problems on a spin reel with this technique.

Use the braid that is coloured every ten meters. Or put your own marks on the line every meter with something. Cant be that hard.

The Berkley rod holders can adjust horizontal. Thats what i have on my boat.

I reckon, just put the reel into reverse and lower the line, same as a downrigger. Should work well. Plus you have a drag should it get caught instead of ripping everything apart...

[Yarra Bay 22/8 Nothing]

went to yarra bay today and got nothing... i thought i would try plastic lures today to target flathead... i walked up and down the entire beach with a worm jig and didnt get a bite... my brother says he got a big hit on his lure but he turned his line into grapes and eventually it all got stuck in the reef...

met up with another local friendly fisherman who says he got a salmon off the beach yesterday, but didnt get nothing today either... he was fishing with bait i think, so neither bait nor lure was working today...

think this friday to sunday will be good, tides around 6pm, so itll be on time with sunset...

thats all folks, hope you all have better luck!

Hey man, yeah the weather is looking good for this weekend.

Keep trying, theres got to be a few flathead in that area. Try chucking a few squid jigs around there aswell.

[New Spinning Outfit]

Mate the new stradics MgFA 's are awesome....magnesium frames...i have just ordered a 4000 model of it

Hey man, are these Stradics Aussie models?

I dont know why but if a reel is not an Aussie released model I stay away from them. I feel they are out of place or not worth as much here or something.

[Home Made Downriggers ?]

has anybody made downrigger? If so, do you think it is worth doing, or is it better to just buy one.

any tips on construction plus costs would be appreciated!

cheers everybody!

Ive had an idea for a while and Im gonna try it out this summer. I wouldnt mind other peoples opinions on this aswell.

I want to get an old rod and cut it down to about a meter, and put a small pulley on the end. Then get a large old eggbeater on it with 50LB braid and tie the bomb onto this. Then I will just put the rod into one of my rod holders and adjust it horizontally. Should work perfect and wont cost $400 plus. All I have to buy is the bomb.

The bonus with this is you have a drag system should the bomb get caught anywhere. By the way what happens to a normal dowrigger if it was to get caught somewhere? I dont know never used one but I think it would do some considerale damage to the downrigger and boat???

[Bigmomma]

FARK that thing is M A S S I V E.

[New Spinning Outfit]

Hmmm, i have decided to scrap the idea of a heavy landbased outfit as i will be spending more time on the boat this year. I have narrowed my reel preferances down to 3 choices

Daiwa Sol - 2500 or 3000

shimano twinpower - 2500

daiwa caldia kix - 2500

These 3 are similarly priced and have good reputations from what i have heard.

Does anyone have any pros or cons for any of these 3.

This reel will be to replace my current symetre 2500 which i absolutley flogged over summer, will be using it for everything from bream to kings to frigates.

Also , i saw an ad in a recent fishing mag for daiwa sol rods, are they availible anywhere and if so how much $$ am i looking at here?

Thanks

Rob

Hi Rob. Out of those three reels I would get the Twin Power for sure. I like the handle knob better on the Shimano. (better shape and non slip material) and I dont like the drag clicking system on the Daiwas.

But if I was buying a new reel myself in a 2500 I would get the Stradic over anything else because it is the highest quality reel in 6.0:1 ratio which is a big advantage in my opinion on a 2500.

Something to think about anyway dude

[Biggest Flathead Caught On My Boat]

Cool....Id love to have a little flatty like that at home in a tank.

[Botany Bay Sunday Wet Wet And Windy]

Hi all

Out of bed at 3.15am pull up at bait shop 4.00am closed just as I suspected me and the bro in law were the only 2 dopes up that early. Lucky I bought a Squid along No-one at Cooks ramp so launched and shot off into the bay. Wet and windy and dark loved it. Went for some Squiddies around Yarra bay for an hour zilch. Our plan for the day was to troll lures up and down the coast line for some speedsters but after half hour of gettin pounded we come back inside. Saw Broady and billfisher disappear of the coast in a rain storm and wished the boys good fishin. We picked up a nice Snapper at 46cm just off the Bare Island Bommie but that was all. Had a fish around the drums for a while nothing happening there.

Had a zoom around for half hour in the wind rain and chop what a lot of fun that was. I thought what the hell, not to many boats around no one to bother so had a blast got soaked to the bone felt ten years younger. We saw a Seal hanging around the Red marker. The one near the Yellow marker at the Western end of Mol point.

I notice the green marker pole near Trevally alley has been replaced by a floating green buoy. Anyway early start cold wet windy day and loved every minute of it. Gee it's good to be an idiot every now and then.

Water temp on my sounder read 16 degrees throughout the bay.

Russ

You sure were keen mate on Sunday. Atleaset you enjoyed yourself thats the main thing.

I planned to go out on the Bay aswell. Got up in the morning, had a look at the rain outside and saw the weather reports and thought , oh well lets go anyway it will probably stop soon hehe.

My girlfriend was complaining all the way there, saying shes not going out in that rain (coming down on the windscreen) and i kept saying nah thats nothing its just a sprinkle, it will stop soon. Then it comes down harder and Im still goin to her, its just sprinkling thats nothing hahahahaha.

We get to the ramp at the Container wharf at 6.00am and its still raining and I can see the trees swaying all around the place so it wasnt looking good. The place was dead, the only people there were two blokes training their greyhounds in the water. (poor dogs I was thinkin)

I got out of the car, the cold wind and rain hit me, got back in the car and went home.

[Fishing Reels]

A friend of mine has two fishing reels he won as a prize. I haven’t actually seen them.

The only info I have is:

Force Ten - Career 80 - 4 ball bearings (he was told it was worth about $75)

Hemmingway 800 - 10 ball bearings (worth about $85)

I’m not familiar with either of them. Can anyone tell me whether they are any good?

What sort of fishing they would be suitable for and approximately what they really worth?

Should I make him an offer?

Thanks

Peter

They sound like cheap ass quality reels to me.

[Saltist High Speed Or Normal Speed]

Another thing you may want to take into consideration is the amount of effort needed to wind. With a huge King, Samson or Doggie you'd want to be using a lower gear ratio so you can winch the fish up. The speed ratio makes this a lot harder to do.

IFS

I would say that the only diference is the size of the gears inside the reel. I wouldnt think anything else is made 'tougher'.

I tend to get a higher ratio in my small reels and a slower ratio in my bigger reels for two reasons.

One you use a big reel for big fish so you need low ratio to wind them in. Secondly, a big reel has a big spool so will be fast even with a low ratio compared with a small reel.

[What Size Reel?]

Hi Raiders, do you think a 4000 size threadline is big enough for jews and kings. I don't mean monster kings, just those that you would find in Botany Bay throughout the summer. If so what strength line would you recommend? I am thinking about a Shimano Symetre or Sedona. Any comments on those reels?

Cheers,

Steve

Hi mate. I use a 4000 size Shimano with 14LB Rapala braid for luring kings and jews and find it just right for average fish that you seem to get on lure. If i was using baits i would definitly go bigger than a 4000 Shimano.

Just remember a 4000 Daiwa is a size bigger than a 4000 Shimano. I rekon a 4000 or 4500 Daiwa would be OK for baiting.

Me personally would stay away from a Symetre or Sedona in anything bigger than a 2500. In small sizes on small fish they feel alright, but you notice the play alot more in these cheaper reels in bigger sizes and they feel crap. I think from memory these two reels only have a 1 disk drag aswell which isnt that good. I generally get a better quality reel the bigger in size I go.