Rick T

Thanks for the report Joe and goodluck today to the fishraiders, its only going to get tougher and tougher. Cross my fingers u and ross can find some thumpers today and tomorrow. That 4kg bag is a great kicker for the leaders, they were in the shootout last year and looks like they will be in the prize money again. Apparently Mick had a nasty day yesterday with everything that could go wrong did so. Puts them out of contention unfortunately but don't worry David I'll put some $$ on them getting their bag today with the nerves settled, hopefully a good bag aswell.

Hope they didn't put it on backwards MG, Mick and I had a very big night on the cans saturday night, I'm suprised he made it to work . Just kiddin' mate, that is some seriously good service

drill through your gunnel and bolt up all six. U will be putting alot of pressure on the side bolts by not doing them all. When we did mine it meant I had to remove some of the decking, drill out the pop rivets and remove the anchor mould. But on the good side no one can get in there to get to the 2 bolts to steal the thing. Do it properly the first time, I reckon short cuts will get u into bother.

no drama's Joe, I value my time on the water much more now that I am limited on how often I can get out. I have even been loving just dropping a bait instead of searching for fish all day, A few weeks ago I parked on a public mooring with a few mates at the spit for an avo, only scored a few choppers and a squid but had a good time anyway. must be gettin' old n cranky

mate it is a good place for thumpers, one time when I was getting a feed I spoke to a bloke sitting on the end of the pier with 6lb line and peeled prawns. Asked him how he was going and he had a keeper bag with 5 or 6 30+cm bream. I have seen fellas landbased on the other side of roselle bay that cast out to the edges/corners of the marinas then walk around on them and pick up good fish aswell.

yeah, a bit sick of the "secret spot" crap, I don't get to fish much anymore so I don't mind being detailed. Doubt the open guys will care much, I know last year we had our spots planned a month before the event. To change their game plan now would only put themselves under more pressure.

G’day Fishraiders Had to take bubs for shots at lunchtime yesterday so spent a few hours on the parra to take advantage of the peace during the prefish ban. For the first time in ages I almost had the river to myself, only one other bream boat on the water. They were sportsfish members so I stopped for a chat etc. The bottom end of the river fished poorly as has been the usual lately, a couple of bream mostly tackers were scored around the moored boats in brays bay/kissing point. I moved on to Pyrmont wharfs and the action started. Using TT HWS jigs and bass minnows I landed a very nice 34 fork length bream. Fishing pilons more towards the fish markets I got stitched up twice, the 7’ rod and 1000 size reel just wasn’t putting enough pressure (even with the stradic drag up very high) to stop the fish before they got to the pilons. I continued to land some nice fish around the markets and got done over again fishing the waterways base. Overall a nice morning on the water and it was fun to at least hook a few stonkers, think I’ll have to look at upgrading to a shorter rod with a longer rear grip cause I haven’t been dusted so many times in one session

A few things I might suggest for fishing the bottom with sp's (but doesn't necessarily mean the right thing to do). Firstly try dropping your leader size, maybe try a rod length of 4lb leader if your knots are good. Try a smaller sp. Try slowing down the lifts, firstly in the amount u lift the rod tip and the speed u do so. Leave a longer gap between lifts (5 full seconds maybe). That should entice shy fish a bit more. I have to say that if I miss a hit (pull the lure from the fish's mouth) I turn the bail arm over immediately to drop the lure right back into the fish's face and let it sit there for a few seconds. They will usually have another go at it.

haven't had much chance to use them on bream yet Nicko but they have been working seriously well on the nepean bass

Not much use making an opinionated comparison Dave. Mick R would be one of the only people I know that owns both, and rods are such a personal thing that what he thinks may not be the same as what u do. In direct comparison but not saying either rod is better Daiwas have better quality guides for the rods at the same value. Both are what u would expect for rods of the $400+ range. Its like comparing ferari to porche, u would be happy with both but different people like different aspects of the cars. Just made a little change as I am not sure which models u r refering to.

Better not tell swoff the price u paid for your breambusters Mick, may get jealous . good to see that Otto's were friendly and gave u an excellent discount I'll pick up the owner trebles for my Jackals soon.

nice fish fellas I have had plenty of tough fishing days on the dams. amazingly the next day they can be absolutely on fire, can never pick it. What lures were doing the damage? Are u fellas going to fish the ABT bass rounds this year?

sensational fish mate and excellent report

G'day Mitch Firstly decide what u want to do with the boat and secondly what u can afford to pay. Give us these details and it will help us to help u. If u wish to peek around the heads, the stacer or the high sided elegant would be the goods. I think they would be priced similar. Jethro has the elegant and Snag have the stacer so if u offer them some petrol money and ask nicely I am sure they would take u for a run. If it is estuary only but budget is an issue the poly would be an awsome option, stevo and dave w have one and I am sure in the same manner u could organise a run. If your budget extends then fibreglass tritons are the cream of the crop. I have been in all u have mentioned except the stacer but to give u an honest opinion we need more info about your major use for the boat and budget. Overall go for a run in them all and decide for yourself.

Thats top class aussie b I very much doubt u would cop shit on this site swoff but if it makes u feel uncomfortable then don't post as bill said. While u r single and have no dependants go for your life I reckon I had to submit my receipts to the insurance company this year for specified contents as my gear has got a bit out of control. In 3 years of fishing gear the receipts came to a little over $20000. This includes rods, reels, tackle, boating excessories but not including the boat. I know it is excessive but over the past couple of years money hasn't been a real issue and at least I have something to show for that money. Now with bubs I have really reduced spending to about $100 a month. Jethro if u can hold out a month I will be able to help u out with some exceptional quality and well taken care of gear at my usual exceptional prices. I have 2 very high quality bream sticks that I will be getting rid of to make way for the battlers aswell as a high quality 1000 size shimano reel with fireline. I will post them in the 4 sale area on fishraider as per normal.

thats the way fella's, shouldn't be long before we can send him for training at Dork.com.au swish boats mate, now just get your mrs to talk my mrs into buying one

Nice fish mate , some good eps have come from there lately. We were getting a morning snack from the fish markets and I asked Mick if he wanted to check it out for a few eps as it had been a while. When we arrived I think it was your boat and another plugging the same area so we steered clear.

You should know better than to try and play computers mate.

Joe I thought the 03 was 52000 yen mark. most of the other battlers are around 35000? not sure though, they r not on the platco catelogue and that is the only place I check them out. Hopefully they r better priced then I thought. Really who knows what will come, I contacted Jap about Kingbolts and they were out of stock even from Japan. All the recent saegake's etc have had chrome plated alconites put on by aussie Daiwa which is why I presume they are well priced. The older ones with TiSic guides were a little more pricey if my memory serves me right (not that often). I don't like the z's that much so I don't pay as much attention when the goss is passed on.

G'day Mick Mick R spoke to the boss of daiwa today regarding some new sponsorship reels and is looking to match them up with battlers for himself, I will also be chasing a few models so u can be sure he is on the job chasing them up. As with most responses from Daiwa about the import gear they r usually speculation, the type, price and date of arrival are not definate as yet and usually aren't until the items turn up on our shores. So far the spin rods "may" be Kingbolt, Python and sparrow or Tauras. No idea on the baitcasters. Doubt the 03 will ever make it at almost double the cost price. The price won't be set until the items are brought over and the cost price finalised. The reason I am guessing at $400-500 is because the latest import Daiwa rod, the pixie limited edition baitcaster (which the reps didn't even know about until they arrived here) cost me that much and yet the Yen price tag on the box is less than the Yen price tag on the python battler box. I know it is not mark up from ABA, I know someone who works there The pythons were brought over and were probably so cheap because they were excess Jap stock a couple years back, but with the new popularity and demand for battlers and the case of not just bringing over excess stock I doubt they will be the unbelievable price they once were. I would think if they are in the low $300 then they will have the australian chrome plated alconites as with the recent batch of seagakes, midge direction etcs that are around that price

G'day David I have 2 and they r sensational rods, the best of any rod that I have owned which is about every quality brand u can mention. One model is the python, I'll have to check what the other one is. Purchase was from ABA and price was $275 but they do not have anymore and when Daiwa bring the new ones out in Feb I am sure Daiwa will hike the price to the $400-500 range due to the demand of these rods.

G'day sami Price would be one thing I reckon. Punts seem to be about a few k cheaper for the same size (only comparing quinnies). Also I think there are more dedicated estuary only and lure only fisherman now who are not concerned about hitting the white water which is why they will opt for a larger v punt rather than a medium v hull. They are much more stable than the v hulls I have been in, carry more gear, doesn't get affected by the wind as much making it easier to control and put on the trailer by yourself and casting room for lure fisherman is greatly increased. As Ken mentioned with the standard hornets etc there is a fair bit of free board when not on the deck and the are definately sea worthy in seas up to about 1.5m. I have had mine out the heads countless times and on good days I'll scout the valient or boultons. U can't go fast but I am usually trolling at 4-6knots anyway, and even in my old boat (5.5m allision cubby cabin) the ride was still bumpy trying to go much faster. The fibreglass punts boats like the tritons have barely any freeboard but handle the chop much better than the punts. I am certain they will eventually take alot of business from the all hull boats. I wouldn't be brave enough to take them outside though. I must admit though if I was to buy a new boat I would probably go a fibreglass v hull centre consol like the attack boats to make travelling a little more comfortable. but they are about double the price of my little punt so it is out of reach.

Any of the reels mentioned have their probs occasionally. I have had problems with my sustain bearings but it was fixed immediately and at no cost by shimano so no sweat off my nose. If u r worried about problems buy locally and make use of the 10 year warranty, if not then importing from platco is definately cheaper so u will be able to get a better quality reel or save money. In any case the only 2500 size reel that has any sort of capability of stopping kings near structure may be the Daiwa custom certate but double your budget and I even have doubts about that reel doing the job as it is hard to stop them on overhead reels with heavy line. The 2500 stradic is an excellent value for money reel for the initial purpose u mentioned eg. general spinning for flatties, bream, salmon etc and will handle occasional rats in open country. The 1500 size luvias is unreal value at $330 but the line capacity might be pushing it chasing salmon and it doesn't come with a spare spool for changing your line stength which may be needed for the general fish range u r chasing. If u want to chase kings in close to rocks etc u r looking at the wrong type/size of reel. Who ever told u the drag washers warp are not using the reel for what it is designed for, general estuary fishing. Of course it will warp if u continually burn it out on hard running kings or doing the drag up so tight that it doesn't let line out when fishing for bream in the racks. Hope this helps, choose what u want the reel to do before making a choice on which one. Unfortunately one reel can't do all these things.

Nice fish Ross, sounds like a fun road trip to run in the boat n trailer

As Ken mentioned give Mick R a call at the australian bass angler. Recently they had a sale on reels that were on the shelf to clear stock and a shimano sustain (next model up from stradic) was 4sale around the low $300 mark. They can post tackle if u r not in the area. Wish they were that price when I purchased mine