Rick T

I have a small collection of 12 but they have taken me 3 years to get all the rods that I really wanted . Nearly all Daiwa gear except for 1 GLX. 5 battlers, 3 old model Z's, 3 saltiga's all with titanium guides. I have an ishidai on order to replace the saltist reel I just sold to complete the outfits . Next will be a saltiga spin outfit then I'll probably call it a day to my wifes delight

Have a fav for all the types of fishing I do but my saltiga 60b with team daiwa luna or pixy ltd rod with pixy reel would be the ones I ogle at most often.

Done ok on breambos and ep's at Halvo's and Akuna marinas. moored boats in appletree and shoreline of cottage bay. Mouth of Smith's creek and drop offs of any bays on run out can produce some big flatties. The bays at the mouth of cowan where the water is a bit dirtier are better during the day. Overall it can be a fairly tough place to fish but it is a great place to just get away.

I have only been fishing pittwater for a few years now and although I can usually get a feed it seems to be harder and harder each year. harbour and botany seem to be getting better. I have had a few fishless trips this year in pittwater and am yet to have a fishless trip in the harbour. Even though it can be difficult at times I still prefer fishing there as the boat traffic is much smaller.

don't take too much stuff Joe, keep it simple. bream gear is fine, no need for heavy gear as the fish are aggressive but not that hard a fighter. Wouldn't usually bother with poppers yet as it only preduces an occasional fish, for ep's try sp's on outside river bends (especially with rock walls) or lipless crankbaits. They are not afraid of 1/4oz jigs so don't think you have to fish light as often as bream and the new gulp prawns have been producing some big mama's. HB's with a big wobble or rattle are good but a bettspin blade with a 1/8oz jig and a paddle/eyeball tail are probably the most productive shoreline/snag bass catchers. Use a leader around 10lb if you are not too accurate at casting as you will probably catch more branches than fish on your first few trips.

No good mate, hope the part gets to you soon. All motors have their probs but since my neighbour bought a new evinrude 2 years ago and the boat has been off the water 6 months in that time I personally don't trust them. Getting it fixed hasn't been his prob, just the parts needed both times it broke down took 3 months to arrive from the states.

Some nice fish there Joe. Although not 100% reliable it is pretty close to it, bass have a tinge of white on the edge of the bottom fins and ep's don't (not very easy to see on photo's but easy with fish infront). Here's a couple of fish from out there today Mick and I caught that may help to show the difference rather than dictionary. Mick's bass went 43cm fork and my perch 38cm fork. Top fish is perch.

awsome fish, that one fish would have made the trip worthwile

Great report almost a novel and great pics. The hawkesbury has a habit of looking like a sensational fishery but not producing the goods. That is real dedication to fish two different locations in one day and seeing the bass smashing the surface in winter would have been awsome. I would give my right arm to see some action like that over the past few weeks. I was in the fresh today without another angler or boat in sight . Not the numbers of fish you guys got unfortunately but size and fatness made up for it, shame the self timer stuffed up.

Check out ABA aswell. You can buy the lean seat, pole and base as separate items if it is prefered.

80lb sounds really heavy Bill and may be some of the reason it is blowing out, I run 10lb and 20lb max on larger rapalas. Is the lure tracking fine under 4.5knots? I think over that might be a bit fast for a cd7. Trolling speed for 7-9 is only supposed to be about 4.5knots. 7's are great for tailor and have found 9's much more effective on sambo's when they are down.

G'day Jethro I picked up a GLX 4-7kg king stick last year and have found the REC guides sensational. Only picked up some rats but no noise on the heavier stick using 10lb fireline and the total rod weighs in under 100g. Recently matched with 3000 Luvias it really packs a punch for an extremely light weight outfit.

I went with the trinidad purely cause shimano have a combo sale on at the moment with the 400 Tcurve rod. Think ABA had it at the show (some left over I am sure) around $700 for both. Saltiga and Stella are better but double the price. Another option to look at in the spin model is the Spheros 14000/Tcurve combo at around $450. Tough heavy duty spin reel and rod for the $$, sold a heap of them at the show.

Seen 2 getting cleaned last sunday when I went for a spin. Didn't bother reporting as the only nice fish I caught was a 64cm flatty on 4lb that gave me some stick. Other than that a few squire and a couple of choppers

another option is to work out your exact measurements for each piece needed and go to Mr Plywood and have it all precut. I did this for my live well installation and it made a crappy job a fair bit easier. Cost about $50 for the precut marine ply to create a 100ltr live well.