Daniel Frost

What a great report ! and really good pics too . Just awsome to have a great days fishing when you take out the whole family , what a ball you must have had .\ Well done !

If only I was there, it could have been the THREE AMIGOS Well done men what a great session , and thanks JH it was great to be sitting here in Sydney with rain so hard and constant I was just starting to build an ARK and to then get a call from you explaining the super session you were having on the Spanish and the great wheather which just topped off an awsome morings fishing . Seriously I hope to have the ARK finished by sunday , because if it dosn't stop raining by then I will need it come monday !!! Great photo's , great story and well done again fella's . Go the BANANA !!! Bubba

Great FISH , a quality Brown , hopefully you can out do your brother next time ! Quite a few years ago I lost a beast of a brown with Jewhunter , it makes me want to grab a box of tissues just thinking about it . Before I hooked it I think Jewhunter thought I was a starting to get seriously affected by the freezing cold conditions as I was throwing a Gold Bomber [a barra lure] I had painted with white spots and put red dots in the middle ,a three treble Trout lure . Well done great fish and good pics mate .

G'Day Poddy Trapper , Glad to hear it worked for you on the Bream we pick up the odd flattie and whiting too while doing that. Showed my mate that technique in Forster at christmas time and have been doing it ever since , got a bag of 5 in the lake Mac Comp in the final hour using that method ,to finish 11th after not getting any fish in my fav spots earlier in the day . Some good flatties there mate, they definatley would make your day ! Well Done

Nice fish , and great to see another Angler using the Elephant Gun and 20lb , unless you have done it then it's just hard to comprehend . Most people think your just going over the top with that sort of heavy leader but as you know if you hook a kilo plus fish then it's the only way to give yourself a chance of turning its head , if you can't get there head out of the water in some of those racks then it's by by in a split second. My favourite spot in Forster I call DEATH , as you have to cast over 3 sets of rusty old barnacle encrusted racks that are only 5 to 10cm under water and try and pull the fish out over the top of them . It's real heart in mouth fishing and can often result in getting your im glad to see you are getting some crackers Congrats Roberta Cheers Bubba

Thats a great story to hear , im sure he will be telling all his mates and remeber it for a long time to come . Many blokes never catch a jew or very rarely get one , it's great to see him on the scoreboard already . Congratulations Bubba

Need more info or picture of your boat , how heavy is it? In general yes , any electric is better then none and after owning one I would find it hard to try and go lure casting at structure without it , but it also needs to be practical , so some info on your boat would help a lot . The tiller models are generally not as powerful hence wont push as big a boat as the bow mount models . Bubba

One of the best reels ever made, I would also think that there are more ABU 7000's in australia then any other reel , due to it's verstility and high build quailty . I use mine now off the beach for jew , i've caught some decent sharks up to 6 foot on it as well. Don't worry if the drag washers are buggered they are readily available and you can aslo get Erskine sets for them and you could turn it into a Beast. When you hear blokes mention having a reel for 20 years or more , they would be reguarly talking about the ABU 7000 it's the HILUX off the reel world . KEEP IT , LOVE IT AND CATCH SOMETHING HUGE ON IT !!!!! Bubba

Depending on how old the model is you should able to get one from any tackle store that sell shimano gear . The easiest way if you are on a first name basis with the gus at the store , would be to call them and get them to order you one in , then you just have to pick one up when it arrives . Otherwise just drop in to the store and order one , they should be able to get one within 5 to 10 days , probably 50 to 60 bucks if i remeber correctly , we used to order them in for plenty of people in your situation when I worked at tackleworld. Bubba

Nice to see you getting into the racks Roberta , dont worry too much about the scratches look at my old mans boat. Covered in BATTLE SCARS. Also it's great as when I borrow it i don't worry about adding to his already formidable collection!!!! Some good fish in your photo's . Well Done Bubba

Nice photo mate , gives me the urge to get outside myself and have a crack , anyway after looking at that snapper im getting hungry .mmmmmmmmmmm snappppeeerrrr Bubba

Mate we were too busy Yahooing and giving high fives to measure it , we measure everything normally , mainly to help with upgrading , but it was so big we knew it wouldn't get upgraded , and you know that saying if theres smoke. So we got our lures back in the water ASAP and treid to see if he had any mates in the area . Would guess around the 40 mark , he was pretty fat . Cut loose Those watermelon minnows are great [my fav plastic] and I'm sure they would work well down there , BUT , if you are fishing somewhere new you need to fish faster then you do with a plastic so you can cover large areas and find the fish [ If you have ever seen Kevin Van Dam fish the Bassmasters,when fishing flats you would see him fish ultra fast with spinnerbaits to find them, then work the school over with plasics], I would start on the weedbeds and points early in the morning with shallow diving suspending lures , [mix up your retreive each cast opposite ,fast then slow ] until you hit the fish and work the area slower , then you can throw your plastics around these spots . When the sun gets up move into the deeper water and blade . Important When there is no wind get off the flats go into deeper water min 10 foot , when the wind is strong and you can't see into the water , move onto the flats as the bream will feel a lot more comfortable to feed in the shallows . Not everyone probably agrees with this but from my experience it is extremely important , and it's a good way to start .The most important thing to me is spooking the fish when your on the flats , keep the noise down and cast with the wind to get maximum distance. Use all the suspending lures you have and find yourself a favourite. The blokes who came second in the comp fished holes in the weed with plastics , this is also a great way to catch fish , but you need to find the holes and areas where the fish are so find them while your fishing your hardbodys . Jackal chubby's work well , the floaters if you keep a constant slow retreive and don't let em float up . I don't want to give away which lure is my fave as I have spent hundreds and hundres trying all different types to finally be shown one that is perfect for me and I think gives me an advantage. The colour does make a differnce I find as well , so if you buy someting that is not working paint it or put some metho on it and make it clear if possible. Once you have done a million casts in the shallows im sure you will find a handful that best suit your technique , your outfit and match the baitfish profile in the area your fishing. This info Im not saying this is the best way to catch fish , but it is the way I fish and has worked well for me , plenty of people have their own methods and this is just the methods that I find suits me. Fish will be caught in every tornament in a variety of ways , and thats part of the challenge , but if you start with some of these methods you will surely catch some fish and work out what methods you enjoy most and find more successful for you . Good Luck Mate Bubba

Hodgey , im not sure about that rod , it's JBjews and that was it's maiden voyage . But i think your right it's a SOL and he just bought it brand new so i'd say so , I don't know the Daiwa rod range that well . It had a fairly slow action , it cast the heavy hardbodys quite well and the blades, I wouldn't want to cast softies with a 1\40th or 1\20 jighead on it though . Bass catcher Ive only made 3 trips to the basin but it has never been busy , except on the comp day and even then there were plenty of spots you could fish and even with all the boats moving around plenty of good fish were caught . If i were you I would go down very soon as the fish are plentiful and the accomodation is cheap in winter . 96cm Tailor now thats a BEAST , I lost some very expensive lures in my 3 trips mainly to tailor , the buggers , good fun to catch though . Poddy trapper , the Fireblood is a great reel , so smooth , lamiglass rod . The Lamiglass rods are quite brittle , they snap like toothpicks , but in their defense they are the best bream rods I have ever laid my hands on . So sensative it's unbelievable. But it's a very expensive rod and is so because of the lack of resin in the blank , making them brittle but also super sensative if I had tons of money I would have a pile of them . The light Lamiglass rods 4 to 6lb i HAVE SNAPPED 3 IN 6 MONTHS, not fun , 2 on the cast and one a bumper against the sounder . The heavier 8lb to10lb and 10lb to 12lb have been awsome . While fishing I have never snapped another rod. Now I'm using 2 Sagaki's, a miller bream buster and G Loomis Dropshot rods[ and my 3 remaining heavier Lamiglass rods] Cheers Bubba

When pre fishing we caught quite a lot of bream but also plenty of bycatch and had a couple good feeds from the Basin. What a beautiful area and lovely waterway , I will be heading back down there again for sure . Taylor where plentiful and there was some big ones amongst them . JBjew Got in on the hot bream bite What a place to catch a whiting , we caught heaps of quality fish there and they were some of the most solid whiting iv'e seen outside of Forster , not many small ones were caught they were all over 30 and some around the 40 mark . Was a very enjoyable place to fish , plenty of flats points , an island surrounded by shallows , what more could you ask for . Had a ball and thanks JB for helping out on the prefish , really appreciated your help and enjoyed your company as always , Bubba

Just thought i'd share some info on how we fished to get our first victory in a bream comp. Started off by going down twice to prefish ,once with my teammate Mick and the other with JBjew , we had opposite weather on both trips and this was very handy as we had experienced varying conditions . Both trips were successful and gave us confidence with our techniques and decision making . Comp day -First Spot We started off 500m from the start of the channel markers at the sussex end of the basin , I pushed the boat up into the weedflats until we were in about 1 -2 foot of water ,[ we were rigged up with suspending lures ] after telling my teammate this was a hotspot the night before I was a little nervous......... First cast, I gave it a couple rips then I got smashed on the pause , with the fish tearing off and in only 2 foot of water they go really hard ,after a good tussel I pulled in a thirty plus onto the deck with grin like a Cheshire cat, as Mick and I laughed about great start we could still see boats driving out the main channel , then only 2mins later on Micks 2nd cast he hooked up to another good fish again tearing off through the weed and fighting furiously in the shallow water,and this was 33 to the fork, and still boats were driving out of the channel and heading off to their first spots. You couldn't wipe the smiles off our ugly mugs .We were absolutely stoked and had realy high expectations . But that was it for the flats , it died off and after half an hour without a hit we knew it was time to move . Mick wanted to blade and I had to agree [ I love shallow water fishing] but as the sun was coming out and it wasn't windy enough for us to continue on the flats , we headed towards the islands on the northern end of the Basin .We started a drift along 10 to 15 foot of water on a weed edge,[this had been a spot we prefished and had some success] , after about 30mins of catching squire , couple good flatties and some hoonker whiting Mick got a hit ... All I heard was a drag suffering in extreme pain and Mick yelling DAN! DAN! DAN! DAN! .. and it just kept going like a bull out of the shute, with 3 or 4 big runs and some coarse lanuage ,the fish slowed down ,finally some head shakes ,he was on 4lb leader and we were hoping it wasn't a snapper , then it came into veiw , what a fish , after some tense moments around the boat waiting for it to tire and keeping it away from the motor I finally got a net shot and there was some cheering jumping and yaaaahoooing . The fish was biggest for the comp and weighed 1.4kg . With our livewell now looking a bit small due to the beast , we continued the drift keeping the boat on the weed edge and every half hour another good fish came in. Mick was on fire with the blade and had caught the last 3 fish so I was really wanting to get an upgrade in the boat but thats not always easy and especially when your smallest is 29cm,Finally a big fish hit me with a vengence and took off, I started to chase it on the minn kota but was to slow getting there and it wrapped me in the weed and swum free , at this time I was making up my own swear words as well as using some trusty old favourites. After running out of depth on the drift we decided to move into a new spot . By this time We knew we had a bloody good bag and the smallest fish was 29cm to the fork. We pulled up onto a point where the wind was blowing onto, kept out wide in about 18foot and started our drift in , after about 10 mins 1 had a cracking hit and called a good bream , the fish gave it everything but with nothing to bust me off on I just waited him out and held on until he tired and carefully brought him up after a couple mins and I had my upgrade, 33 to the fork and now our bag was full of quite respectable fish , and topped off with Micks Monster , the bloody thing was so big it made the others look like midgets . We had one last crack at the weedbeds on the way in with a bust off on an unknown fish , not sure if it was a bream or not but it was solid . That was our day on the water , great fun and a win to top off a great days fishing . Thanks Mick I had a ball fishing with you , as we usually do and all our effort is paying off. When we started this season we were hoping to finish in the top 20 by the end . Being consistent is more impotant then anything else , more important then a win , but i must say a win does make you feel bloody good , but what makes me really happy is to know that we have worked hard and been consistant , finishing 32nd in the first comp then 3rd in Syd and 11th in lake Mac and 1st in St Georges Basin. Well hope this info can help you in your fishing , or it may even spur you to get out there and have a crack at a comp . Cheers Bubba P.S Looking foward to the Softplastics and hard bodies clinic next month , hope to meet a heap of you fellow raiders and I will bring down the Skeeter and will take out a couple Raiders for a high speed run and hopefully a few fish.

Thats a nice EP mate , well done . A fish like that can make your day . Bubba

The pink and purple skirts are a good choice in my opinion , but i would also run a different colour skirt , something that is fairly different blue yellow etc. and i would have a 4inch or 5 inch lure but also run a much larger lure ,[ 8 to 10 inch's] not only do they attrack the bigger fish but also act as a teaser to entice any fish in the area over for a look . Good luck & tight lines, Bubba.

Thanks everyone , and all the support is greatly appreciated . We had a great day and Hopefully I will have a couple pics or at least a run down of what we did by tommorrow . We weighed a bag in for 4.075 kg and didn't have a fish under 30 to the fork . We stuck to our 2 main techniques of fishing suspenders in 1m of water and then blades in 10 to 15 feet , the fish didn't come all at once but each half an hour or so as we persisted with a pattern of working the blades slowly on the weed edge's .Mick's fish is a downright PIG and I hope to get the photo of it up this week , It fought like a rampaging Bull Elephant and had a head to match . Will try to get a full report done this afternoon , latest tomorrow , Cheers Bubba

Well done fella's good on you for tuffing out the horrible wheather . Some nice fish there Slinky, it would have been great to have a Grant on the electric , especially when it's blowing that hard . Not alaways the most comfortable conditions to fish but often they can still produce good fish as you both have just demonstrated , congrats . Bubba.

There is a good feed there mate well done ! Have been done there a few times lately myself and was blown away at the variety of fish down there , I've got 2 taylor over 2kg,fairly decent sized jackets 1 of which we ate ,couple decent squire , few good flatty's and a fair few bream ,but none 0ver 34 to the fork. Im not sure how big the average is down there but most of the fish im getting are 28 to 29 to the fork. When I fished it a couple weeks back I ended up catching a Gernard [ not sure about the spelling ] on a blade in 12 foot or so of water . But what a wonderful part of the world to live in and fish in . Bubba

Hey Grant can you book me in with JJ for a pre fish session before the grandfinal this year ? Good to see the young gun smacking a few flatties Least you got out on the water and had a good time , my trim motor was just replaced so im back on the water this weekend after not getting out due to mothers day last weekend , im hangin for a fish. Cant remember how long it has been since I didn't fish at least 1 day in a weekend , must be over 6 months . Bubba.

What a great lure they are , did well in a comp up at Forster Tuncurry with them in January, i have been lucky though as none of mine have yet cracked , and they are a lot cheaper then other lures like sammy's etc , good luck with getting your money back , it's worth a try but these items are consumable items and bream can crack oysters so im sure if they hit the zappa in the right spot it has a good chance of cracking , also they are at a pretty cheap price so I would be surprised to see you get it replaced free of charge , but as they say , it never hurts to ask . P.s , My dad and I met up to fishing a while ago and when i got there he pulled out a bream head , that came off a fish around 1.1 to 1.2 kg and he had about 4 peices of oyster as well these well bitten clean in half ,they were 50cent sized each of them and are probably the biggest bits ive ever seen come from the breams gut .

Would have to agree , my old man was a rod builder for about thirty years or more , ive done a bit myself as well when working in his tackle store as a teenager , the heat gun is the fastest , safest and easiest way to do this . The trick is to keep rotating the winch or reel seat and make sure it is heated evenly , at the same time keep checking if the reel seat is starting to get any movement in it , once you have it starting to slip it should only take a little while longer with the heat gun before the reel seat comes straight off . even pressure on the reel seat is also important to get it off easily , good luck , you should be able to get it off quite easily and get into your rebuild.

Would have to agree with pmak, after using that rod it feels quite tip heavy and is definately suited to a 2000 to 2500 sized reel, and one with a bit of weight . The 1000 size reels are great but wouls usually light for that rod and personally I would prefer a stradic Ci4 2500 on the rod or another brand in the 2500 size. I have a 4 yr old certate 2000 it has some weight to it and would suit that rod well but im not shore if they have changed the weight of these reels in recent times. pmak hit the nail on the head , the heavier reel moves the balance point back down the rod . This in turn makes it feel more comfortable when casting. Enjoy your new rod , would probably be a good idea to take it into the store and put a few different size reels on it and see which one suits you the best , as it's your outfit and only you will know what feels right to you. Happy fishing.