bung

slightly off topic but if the drag washers are anything like those in a TLD you can get away with getting the washers wet by rinsing the washers in metho or acetone, which displaces the water and evaporates alot easier too. hairdryer to dry and you're away... done this several times to my TLD20 (a veteran that has seen a few dunkings and swampings) and the drag is still good. i'm not saying dunk the spool and washers in water, just a way to fix the drag if your reel goes in. as for the internals, open up the reel ASAP, flush it with fresh water then flush the fresh water with INOW/WD40, then close it up and remove any excess from exterior with soapy rag.

we didn't really get that much in the northern suburbs, maybe 10-15mm max since monday. might be enough to muddy the water a little and stir the fish a bit, but twice that amount would really have been better. (i think the southern suburbs got a fair bit more rain, around 30mm)

not really advised as no. 2 and 3 spans from the north side are heavily navigated, and no. 3 is the main channel. no 4 also sees heaps of traffic, maybe no 5 (which is no. 2 from south side) is fishable.

my sister's BF actually picked one up in front of Harry's cafe de wheels a few yrs ago, sadly it was somewhat deformed.

rods will obviously have an optimum line class, although my 15kg sabre LBG rod will comfortably (and nicely) fish 10 and 24kg.

if you were fishn DY Bash probably came thru and cleaned em up before hand

best bet launched in the harbour and do the run around, as i have heard some horror stories about longie boat ramp. as for reds they will be in close if the water is murky after a decent swell (they'll also be out wide). if there is bugger all current in close go further out til you find a bit more current. you may have to go to the 60m grounds to find current. if the current is racing out wide try closer in. reds will be anywhere from 10m depth out to the 100m.

on the topic of marine parks there has been extensive discussion here: http://s8.invisionfree.com/Sportfish_Extre...hp?showforum=32 (sorry if the link is offensive Ken, far too much info to copy over). a group has been formed called $%^&* with the objective of banding together all the isolated local fisho groups along the NSW coast. it is still early days for this group, although things are slowly getting organised. the guy heading this is Rod Burston, he is working on this full time. if anyone wants his contact details let me know. the local Forster group from what I understand is being fairly active in lobbying against the MP. so are groups in Port Mac area.

i concur with macman

i used to have a grice and yooung...that was a great reel, i found it the perfect sized spool, unfortunately it fell into disrepair after years of abuse and neglect. replaced it with an alvey centrepin, bought 2nd hand for $30! which was a great buy but it has nothing on the old grice and young.

matt is it the GP3145G? graphite composite with glass tip. same as what i've got.

3x line class king

late arvos are heaps better than mornings, mainly cos you can find your marks properly around lunch then start berleying before the fish even think of coming on the bite. it is too much of a rush in the morning, trying to anchor up in the dark then when dawn comes you find you aren't in the right spot... if you want big reds use big strip baits, up to 6" or longer... oh and small to med live yakkas with their tails clipped off get smashed too

the ledge on the point is very dicey in a decent east to north east swell, the ledge is narrow and backed by a cliff/cave so there is nowhere to run if water comes over. bit better in a south swell as the waves tend to miss the point but still, be careful. watch out for the standard pilly tossers and pommy travellers casting from the top of the cliff behind you, over your livie...

couple of tips for following, but non-responsive squid: 1. downsize your jig 2. try suspending jig under a float. i found that some followers would only follow if the jig was retrieved, once suspended under a float the jig would get hit. 3. move on. squid often become jig shy after being %%%%%ed by a jig or dropped while being wound in.

i was told that one of the old nthn beaches guns, craig de brassic, used to berley for squid.

the berkley dropshot is a bargain of a rod at $100.

fibreglass is much more durable, graphite is lighter and more responsive. i'm a fan of glass/graphite composite rods as they give the benefit of durability with reduced weight, especially with the longer rods that i have. most of these have a composite butt section with a glass tip.

my rig consists of 2 x gammy occys, from 7/0 to 10/0 depending on bait size. for squid strips and tailor fillets and occy legs etc i do this: my 1/2 hitches usually go around the top of the hook shank. this keeps the bait flat and if properly done will not bunch up even after hours out in the water for jack sh!t for squid heads i keep them whole (too hard to bait up with a half head) with guts attached sew the bottom hook thru the guts and back of head, hook point should come out between eyes/above the beak. then in and out with the top hook (usually so hook points are in opp directions) and 2 x 1/2 hitch around the 2 semi-hard bits at the back of the head that attach to the inside of the hood. the heads are a lot more fragile and will come apart fairly easily in rough conds/ after repeated casting.

a lot of guys are using penn 10x these days, i think beersy uses that stuff.

you could also try chin rigging it with a small ball sinker to ballast it, this helps keep it upright. i tried it with dead slimeys up at swr last season and the dead baits looked better than the livies!!!

hey matt did you check out that weed spot i suggested? should have had a go at spit instead of blue pt, at least a little protection from the wind (and rain if it really belts down...straight under the bridge!) plus i heard there have been a few there.

i would say ross and glen focus on floater bait fishing for reds, at least that's what they get their clients to do, they do have a charter business to run.

too bloody cold for me plus no ceph in the freezer. might be time to stock up. early spring has never been too productive for me but if the inshore water warms up i'll fire up. got some reds 4 weeks ago, freakish accident involving a dorsal spine getting stuck and breaking off in my finger had to get it surgically removed an a week off work...LOL. oh, the fish were up to 5kegs. heard wayno's gonna head up your way for a night fish this weekend.