REKLESS

Gidday guys,just wondering if there is any ideas on how to improve my hook up rate using bridled yakkas on a downrigger. I put up a piece on my efforts last saturday when fishing with my brother and we had three fish up to the boat for 15 hooked in total.Not all those three were landed either!!. . It is early days yet and this is the first time that it has worked for us using a downrigger ,we were using smallish yakkas and were bridling them up with 7/0 suicide hooks with rubber bands through the sockets.We were also fishing with the drag set to prevent line being pulled off the reel from water pressure.Short of sitting there with the thumb on the spool waiting for the bump does any one have any ideas?.I am going to change the hook style to some 9175 mustads in a larger size but some observations from those of you who successfully use these things would be appreciated. The realease clip is one that looks like a clothes peg with rubber clamps. Simon

After reading about how there is a plefora of kings in the harbour I thought my brother dan and myself might get out and get some,put in at rosebay at 500 and went to the easterley wedding cake and loaded up on some yakkas ,then spent the next hour fruitlessley trying for squid around lady jane beach.We headed out and sussed out a new spot and using the downrigger spent the next few hours getting blown away by kings,we did land two and lost about twelve .Dans fish was about 66cm andmade a good account for itself ,blooded both rods for dan and christened my downrigger to boot. I did encounter some problems with the realease mechanism on the rigger ,fish were crushing the bait but failing to hookup ,I was using smallish yakkas and 7/0 suicide style hooks and rubber bands.Next time out I will go for a lighter setting on the clip and use some 9175 mustads.Does anyone have any good ideas on how to increase the hookup rate using liveys on a rigger?.The realease clip is one that looks like a HD clothes peg. Here is a photo of dan at rosebay

Gidday Sea jay,I might be able to help you a little.I would suggest that you go and buy a little voltmeter like the one in the picture (they cost about $15.00) at dick smith's.Then go and by a two pole isolator switch (that has a red key in it.)Make sure that it has a rubber boot that fits over it when the key is out..You will also need to do a bit of soldering to do the job properly. The first picture shows the isolator switch,all it does is interrupt the positive feed out from the battery,this will arrest any battery voltage leaks into the boat that can create wonderfull things like holes in boats.All you do is simply cut the cable at a good place and solder on some lugs that suit the switch and the cable.I have stuck my switch on a piece of plywood that was painted white . In the secound photo Using the current measuring bit on the meter will tell you if any electrity is travelling down the wire,if you see where the cables go into the voltmeter the position has changed to measure the amps travelling through the wire.If everything is good ,it should read zero.If it doesnt you should be able to use the meter to identify the source of earth leakage . In the third photo I am measuring the voltage across the battery,13.80 indicates that it is good.If your battery reads at 12 volts ,I might suggest that you get a new one. Incidentally,I also use a battery charger that is automatic.This thing charges the battery and when it has reached full charge it automatically switches to a few milli amps (trickle charge) ,It has paid for itself about 5 times so far ,well worth the investment. Also check out the charge that is coming from the engine,sometimes they do a cheap fix on the engine electrics and it only provides a pissy amount of current that will charge a dolphin battery.Take it to an engine specia;ist and ask him to check it .

Gidday aaron. ABU's really dont need all that much to get them working again.You need the schematics diagram from a 5000 series ABU.Any good tackle shop will help.The tools are basic,A small adjustable spanner ,a small bladed screwdriver and that is it.When you go to the tackle shop get him to order in the drag washers to suit that model (2) .Make sure you quote the number stamped on the reel seat.While there you might want a spare anti reverse pawl and a levelwind guiding pin.Usually the drag plate has corroded and has welded on to the leather washer and the wrong bit is providing the friction .If the plate is pitted you can get some glass and wet and dry sandpaper and grind it smooth.I reckon just replace it is probably a better alternative. Use a smidge of grease on the gears and use sewing machine oil on the levelwind and casting bits.Less is better. You can impregnate the washers in oil if you want which has the advantage of corrosion protection. If you still have problems send it in to abu in sydney and they will fix it so it is like new . Simon

Its about time that they addressed the dioxin levels present in the prawns in sydney.I think that as time goes by and the true scale of what was going on at the union carbide site comes out we will be seeing fish restrictions going further down the river.Either way the shit is accumulative and it is a matter of time before the legal eagles get a wind of potential legal fees from diseases linked to it. I also beleive that it is one of the main reasons as to why they bought out all the pro licenses in botany bay.What with the crap coming out of the Orica site and let alone the heavy metals in the cooks river there were some very long term issues with accumulating toxins. I still remember when one company put in a tender to mine the heavy metals in the cooks.That one was fizzer ,thats for sure!!. Simon

I will be heading up to SWR for the marlin this season insearch of some bigger fishys,the bar is sure as hell an issue,I was listening in on Laurie mac commenting on how there had been 1m of water at low tide in the "channel". He was saying that he had an "A frame " on his boat that allowed him to hit bottom without damaging legs and skegs.He was saying that it can get a bit unnerving at times when it hits !!. There was a good piece about the bar at SWR on another website that changa was able to supply info on that made for a hell of a good yarn. This information was given in good faith but saying that it would still be prudent to go and ask at the tackle shop or the likes to see if there has been any developments on the bar that are relevent.I am sure that come summer this issue will be a good one.....how long? 7 days.

Hi Veck,I might suggest that if you have the right gear to go and visit a place called the "Mattens". It is a ledge that is to the North of Rosa gully,there is a sheer cliff climb involved but the thing is that it offers the deepest water available on the eastern suburbs.When the currents are right the place fires,lots of rock hopping options available but the best thing is that the only guys down there are serious fishos that are familiar with rockfishing etiqutte. It has been a while but if you do a recce around christison park at macquarie light house you can see it. si

Gidday all, well I got out on my mate Grants boat on sunday along with a mate called steve,hit the sonic boom as we crossed botany as it was glassed out at 700 and went down to shark island to get a load of slimeys for trolling with. We came across two schools of salmon on the way,one just under the light house and the other just in front of boat harbour at kurnell. Had a few casts and hooked four fish before pulling the pin and getting to the island for........no baitfish what so ever!,temp at 16.2c ,very green soupy and icky looking.We were not even able to scrare up a sweep!. Went out to the Southern Fad where we started trolling as the water had gone to 20.1 and headed south east to the canyons,apart from a few birds the only fish we came across was those that we heard on the radio that were at browns mountain or around it anyway!. We persevered and I decided that a move further east to find some better water was in order,came across several pods of dolphins and some sauries when we came across two acres of rippling stripeys that were feeding .They were quite happy to go on feeding as we played indians for about 1/2 an hour then had a change of plan and spun one up on a chrome slice and promptly bridled it up .This went out on a down rigger and we went out looking for another for the top, after idling around for another 1/2 hr the school sounded and dissapeared. Put the stripey on ice and started trolling again with the swell and headed back to botany via the canyons again ,the only action we saw was from stripeys and a school of very enthusiastic frigates. Came back in really close and picked up 6 flathead to show to the wife and called it a day. A bit dissapointing as we had travelled 90km and had found some good bait ,only trouble was there did not appear to be anything else there!!,still I read about what happened out at Browns and we were getting reports of dolphin fish over 10kg's and one boat reported loosing a Blue???,that was estimated at 200kg,ahh well thats fishing I guess. Next time! si I just realised the date should have been the 13th

Treat them just like you would a squid as far as rigging them up , the kings luv em,kingy lollipops!!

Going to fish out wide on sunady for Tuna and Marlin,will be heading out from Botany bay and have loaded up with all the gear and two hairy mates. Will be checking out the FAD at Botany sth and will be giving the new Penn downrigger a bit of a working over teaching slimeys to swim at great depths!!

Gidday tun, I will be heading out as fish finder on my mates boat on Sunday,we will be heading out from botany bay at or near 630 from kyemah ramp.Call sign "fin and Tonic" on 94 or 16 VHF. Simon

I think that hairtail are rated so well as the things are just pretty freaky to look at. Fangs like a doberman , silver like a bumper bar, they put up a wiggle thats for sure but you can catch the things on 1kg . They are also measured in feet ,not by the kg or lb as they just wouldnt rate,from memory the ANSA method of point scoring had st some where near a flounder as far as fighting . Si

Knapers,browns is a 40km one way trip from Botany,I anticipate that the distances we will be trolling/livebaiting will not be all that dissimilar to that expected on an average trip out to browns .saying that ,we will be going down current so it is a fairly hard one to judge.we are taking a Jerry can as a safety margin maker ,although I suspect that it will not be used.(95%).From what I can gather ,the canyons are out on the 100ftm line off stanwell park which makes it around 10 miles south of botany bay. There has been quite a few boats that fished the point score for the GFC's out there and they had an hell of a day , numerous multiple hookups (triples and the likes),some fish were estimated at or near the 40kg mark,there was a few bigger fish that were lost due to pulled hooks and the like. should be good,hope the weather is up for it,I suspect that we may need some "Changa" weather to get the fish inspired. 30 knots of Sou easter?.............luv it. si

Gidday Phild, I used to have a suction cup on my old eagle sounder.I had to cobble it out of bits that I was able to scab/beg/borrow from mates and suppliers. I can say now that it is not a good idea and if I was to do it again -I wouldnt. I had some problems with maintaining suction on the aluminium over time and it would also flex back to far in high currents and give out false readings. Go to Bias ,pick up a stainless steel sliding transducer bracket , you might have to make an adjustment to make the sliding removable but I think that you will end up with something that will not let you down . I have one on my tinny and it works a treat for beach launching as you just have to uno the thumb screw and pull it up out of harms way,simple Simon BIAS is at the corner of longueville rd and pacific highway,lane cove 9428 3222

[quote Sharky, no rela tion to the barefoot bushman but I was in so much pain by the end of the day, as there were those tiny little shells all over the rocks. Nik Hi Nik,that was the second thing I spotted when I saw the shark you had.I might suggest that you invest in some expensive volleys or the like next time you fish at that spot!!.Good to see you had some fun at least . ps Simon

Hi guys ,looks like I will be going as "fish director" out on my mates Bar Crusher on Sunday the 13th.Whats a "fish director" I hear you type?, Its when some guy who is a keen fisho ,listens to Ross hunter on sunday morning telling a yarn about coming across some hapless pillies being pulped by some middling sized yellowfin . (he also pulled out a striped marlin incidentally). Thats it says I,and sure enough we are going out trolling the next sunday.Plan so far is to load up on some slimeys at shark island at bullshit o'clock,then get out to the 80 ftm line (thats where the shelf starts off botany) and then troll south east to the canyons that are off stanwell park. Tide change is at 1203 and with a little luck should have found some bait to work over with the downrigger. As the tassie sea can get pretty lonely I was wondering if there was anyone keen/mad out there to tag along as a buddy boat?,or show the way perhaps. Cheers Simon

I cant believe this,in less then two weeks we have Two new posts from new members , having a go at other people. I enjoy a good discussion as well as the next man but all I ask is that you go and spread your opinons/written diarrhoea on some other friggin website.There sure as hell is enough of them that are more then willing to accomodate any angler with the sort of witless arguments that you fellas are willing to voice. Simon

Hey crabbin,I see that you are using a witches hat net on the female there (looks almost 2kg !!), was that what you were using up the hawkesbury?

I will have to say that I think that it is a little unfair that some of you guys here doubt the integrity of someone that they have never met,let alone someone who has put up a post showing us all ,what in anyones language is one hell of a catch. There is no doubt that ,that in the Hawkesbury river there would be ideal places that would provide crabs in these numbers,I guess the real question is where! ,I think it unlikely that "crabbin" will enlighten us to any great degree of where he caught them ,and rightly so-imagine what would happen if he was to tell us .....how many crabs would be there in six months time?. Stop the bullshit and start fishing is what I reckon. - my tip is mangroves = mudcrabs ,go look. Simon

Gidday all, Well I got to go out with my brand new next door neighbour,It was a kind of get to know you session that involved lots of beer,lots of bullshit and lots of fishing. He had been hanging out to go for a fish and threw the towel in and drove down to his holiday house in Jervis bay on friday night to pick it up and then drive straight back.He put in at Akuna bay in the morning and went out collecting bait.........lots of it. I arrived in the afternoon and found out that his boat was a brand new 6m aluminum centre console,and it had a 115 on the back ,I hopped in and after hitting the secound sonic boom (we topped 80km's) in this thing screamed over to a secret spot that was so secret that even the fish forgot where it was. No problemo ,we went and visited his uncle who has the jews wired.He asked us to pick him up from his boat that was moored in Brooklyn. We looked everywhere for the boat,trouble was there was this great big 38 ft fly bridge mariner in the way.Ohh says I when we realsied that was his "boat".Well sixty two and a half beers later we went out jew fishing,nothing,not a touch ,things were looking grim on the fish front when it started to rain....,we took the offer of a bed on the "boat" and had some more beers. Next morning we woke up at dawn and with a mouth that felt like something had crawled in there and died we had another crack at the bream,ended up picking up 6 small fish and with the rain continuosly coming down we pulled the pin at 8.00am. Wasv it worth it ?,you bet,I learnt about two new spots and I guess that even more importantly learnt how to fish them ,just got to get the timing right fot the jews and its show time. As a footnote,I did get a text from Max jonno who had some bad luck at a central coast beach,he had a Jew scoff a 1kg tailor ,and lost it 1 hr 45minutes later ,he was fishing with 25lb line and ended up pulling the hooks!!.He even mentioned that he did not want to guess the size of the fish! Simon

Blue cod,I used the ramp on the southern side ,it is near the large green square on the map.There is sand there as well (very friendly to boats).i might say though that it is a bit of a dog in a NE wind as it will blow the back of the boat around on you,the ramp is also a bit slimy and is death in thongs,saying that,in a southerley it would be a beauty.

I guess that I should also say that the king fish are back under the piers again at the bridges there.This year when we get blown away by the southerleys in sydney ,I am going up here to have a crack at the kings up there.

Gidday all,visited one of my favourite spots on sunday with some friends,the wife and my boy "Rek".We put in at the ramp near the caravan park on the southern side of the channel just as a heap of fishos were coming back in for a weigh in on a flathead competion. There was some truly outstanding fish that were weighed in ,with what appeared to be a 60/40 mix of live fish that were released to breed more flathead again.We had a picnic on one of the islands -this is a good browny point move by the way ( ).I also put out five traps that yielded four blue swimmers ,of which one was a berried up female that got to live again. There was the worlds supply of plastics being used there by almost every boat ,wouldnt you just love to have shares in with squidgys?.Water was 20.1c and as you can see was crystal clear.The crabs were picked up in 13ft of water ,about 500m south of the furtherest southern channel-on the edge of the weed beds.

It was $300 ,it came with swivel base and not much else. I had to buy a 10 lb bomb (I did not have the time ,nor the lead to create my own "VB" bomb),that little puppy incidentaly has been fixed,it turns out my next door neighbour is into plastic injection moulding.He has asked me if I knew of some where that had bombs to sell as he needed one for a mould ,as he was about to go and buy a Downrigger!! .,and he had to make his own bombs for it. I got some stacker clips from Compleat angler and have some rubber bands for bigger things ready to go.

Isnt the "Z" wing just a paravane made out of aluminium or something similar?,I fished in Fiji years ago (Between the two coupes) ,and while there I got to fish with a local,they were making paravanes out of wedges of wood,just like you would use as a doorstop.Anyway they were hell of an effective way to go ,they had a spoon about 3 foot behind this thing and they would be doing about 10 knots with this thing just humming along and the mackeral just could not resist.Very effective!