Dangas

Hi Musty, my boat is a 4m tinny, maybe it looks bigger in the pic but its quite light. Do you think i need to go to a more powerful motor? i just dont want to have to run 2 extra batteries

Hi Raiders I am currently looking at purchasing a bow mount electric motor for my SeaJay tinny. Probably something like a 54lb JW Watersnake. The problem is that my boat has bow rails and im not sure how its gonna fit on with the rails. Has anyone here ever encountered this problem and what are my options? heres a pic of my boat

Hi Penguin Your reports are always enjoyable to read, this one is no exception. Love the pics, and your kids mustve been happy with the results. You got me thinking now that everytime i make a trip out of the bay that im going past some good fish that i could be catching. i might have to organise a day in the bay this week... and dont worry ill keep spot x a secret

You are truly a tackle junkie mate... i think you got more squid jigs at your place than there are squids in the ocean. We should have a little squidding rematch when you get back here.

That looks like a Red Gurnard ... and yes they are a very nice eating fish. Very good looking fish but not a common catch.

Congrats mate, you must be very happy. Good effort landing that size kingy on 15lb. You cant count yourself very lucky indeed... most people first kingys are usually rats. Cant wait to see the pic.

Lol ... Im sure youre very familiar with this spot Groper its really no secret... its more like an alley than a hole. MB is a nickname ... but with kids reading this forum i cant say what it actually stands for hahaha

Hi Raiders The plan today was to head out to botany bay with my friend MB for a bit of relaxing estuary fishing. He has been hassling me to take him out for ages now. With winter well and truly here, i figured it was time to pack all the light gear on the boat and chase some trevallies. Within moments from anchoring the boat we were hooked up to some hard fighting trevs. This took the pressure off my shoulders. As the captain youre always under pressure to produce the goods. Anyway, we went on to catch countless trevs over the next couple hours, with a few snapper and a flatty thrown in the mix. Caught a squid that followed a pilchard bait up to the boat and kept it in the bait tank with the intention of having it for dinner. Now, i always have a habit of bringing some heavy tackle just in case, and this time was no exception. The 6500 reel/outfit was staring me in the face when it occured to me to put the squid that was meant to be dinner on the hooks and drop him down. I am so glad i did because within minutes MB was onto his first ever king!!! High fives and smiles all round. That should stop him whingeing for a while about never catching big fish, What a surprise ... didnt really expect to catch a king in the bay this time of year. Although only a rat (67cm) surprises are always good. happy

Congrats on the boat Steze, its not mandatory to get insurance on the boat but it would probably be a good idea, just in case you are ever liable for damaging someone elses property on the water or even damaging your own boat. Boat insurance is generally a lot cheaper than car insurance due to there being less boating incidents than motoring, so just shop around for a good price.

Hi Gorms We double dunked two travacalms on the drive to the ramp and probably had another 2 more on the water LOL So i dunno if there would have been any cure. I think i just need to HARDEN up hahaha

Thanks for the heads up on the rod guys... ill just have to take it easy on the drag...shame coz the reel can crank out 15kg drag. Framedtrash has put me onto these Jigging Master rods from Taiwan and judging from videos they look very light and super strong but cost an arm and leg. Might have to snap my braid concept rod on purpose to give me an excuse to get one of these JM rods coz i really want one.

nice solid king ... dogtooth

Hi Raiders Went offshore sydney on the Wednesday with good mate Little Hooker being our captain in search of some winter kings. Ive been hanging to try out my new Rapala Braid Concept jig rod and test it out in real world conditions. We went to our mark and dropped our jigs down and after a few jigs up came this one... 85cm king and weighing a bit over 5kg I was hammered after copping a fight with deepwater king and battling rough swell. Me and Little Hooker were spewing over the side while we were jigging LOL. Both our arms were gone and our faces were green and after losing a couple jigs to pesky leatherjackets we decided to call it a day and head back in. Damn Jackets were everywhere. Sometimes they were so thick that you would jag one on the jig as you were winding it up.

Hi Steze i just got my Saltist 6500 the other day ... havent used it yet but damn its one sexy reel. got a very nice smooth feel about it, 15kg drag and can easily spool 300m 65lb braid. Got it on special at a tackle store in the area for a very good price, i think you might know (its the orange shop on the main road $269 Anyway ... im gonna get back to playing with my new toy

You could probably run 50lb to 100lb easily with the drag set at 10kg. The only thing is if you hook up to a hoodlum that starts peeling line off like no tomorrow... you get too easiliy tempted to turn up the drag which could potentially end up with a broken rod. It just seems like the rod is not up to scratch with the reel. To answer your original question: with a 12kg rod i would use 30-40lb line... with a 20kg drag reel i would use 50lb-100lb.... but not if it was matched with a 12kg rod, i would then use 30lb line and do what framedtrash suggested and put a strong leader on like Jinkai 80lb

Your reel at 20kg max drag is way too heavy for the rod. Although it would easily handle 100lb braid, it would snap the rod once you turn the drag up too high. You should get yourself a good quality graphite rod that is light and can handle heavy braid and high drag reels, the rod should be rated around 20kg-24kg ... maybe look at Shimano T-curve bluewater

you can really go as heavy as you like, more importantly, its about balancing the reel with the rod... so if you got a 12kg rod then match it with a reel with drag capacity that is less than 12kg drag say... 7-10kg max drag. So even if you turn the drag up fairly high it wont break the rod. Now you can then match the line with the reel. And thats up to you... it would depend on what your fishing, how much line you require to fit on spool, type of line etc.... Find a good balance between rod and reel and you are in the right direction and use common sense with the line.

WOW!!! thats a monster of a dolly!! whereabouts was that caught?

Bleed the fish when captured, put on ice straight away. Fillet, skin and rmove bloodline and bones. Marinade with soy and honey (or alternatively teriyaki sauce)and chilli flakes optional. Grill on the bbq but dont overcook, grill it so that the meat is still moist and medium to medium rare. Or u can eat it as sashimi with "sushi soy sauce" and wasabi. Either way its not bad. Most people tend to overcook the meat and thats when it starts to taste dry and fishy and generally crap.

The clarity and detail of the sounder was awesome. Just need to figure out how to use all the features properly. Im sure we didnt even touch the surface of its capabilities yesterday. Im sure there were more keepers in the bunch we caught if you were measuring from nose to tailtip instead of nose to fork.

Thanks Groper, might give Watts Reef a go and maybe around the container wall. But depends on the swell, reports say it might be a bit choppy and windy...

Hi guys Where can i catch good sized "jackets" in botany bay and surrounds ... gonna take the boat out on Sunday with some friends and help solve the problem. Maybe have a good bbq afterwards too if we manage to bag out on these guys

Whoops this post was coming from me... was using frens profile. sorry for the confusion.

It makes me so angry ... ive paid for this land and i should have the right to use it to at least park my boat on my yard. These strata houses are built with such small garages that you would only be able to barely fit a kayak let alone boat and trailer. Yet they expect people to keep their "Trailerable" vehicles in the garage. Anyway, im just gonna stick to my guns and find a solution with the strata committee. I know the culprit who made the complaint initially...just a jealous neighbour thats had it in for me from day one. Unfortunately they are on the executive committee ... so gonna be an uphill battle.

Hi Raiders I was wondering if anyone has gone through the complications caused by strata by laws on parking of a boat on their property? I currently am a home owner of a lot inside a community complex (picture those new Mirvac built communities) Being a strata complex with community area and facilities there are by-laws which home owners must abide by. Now under the by-laws boats cannot be parked on the driveway or on community area, and the only place for it is the garage which is too small. I was told by the previous strata management that i can park in front of the house, but now the new management has informed me that i cannot park it there. What can i do? i dont want to move out of my house or sell the boat. Has any other raider experienced this problem and is able to offer me with any advice? These bylaws are frustrating at the best of times. It makes me mad to know that a small group of people who control the bylaws can dictate what i can and cant do on my own land!!!