AndrewNR

Been to both. Accessing say darwin is a plane ride from sydney. Accessing nth qld is not so easy. Fishing at both areas are awesome. I say darwin and travel to the tiwi islands. cheers Andrew.

My link Thought it may be hard to comment so I added a link with some info. Thx Andrew

Was looking at shimano tyrnos 12 o/head reel for my tcurve. 15kg drag and a thin o/head with cranking power. Anyone used one and have any thoughts? Thanks Andrew.

Was wondering if anyone had any tips on possible thereabouts areas to catch some crabs in Sydney harbour. Anything is appreciated. Thanks Andrew.

I think the swell and wave are a bigger concern the wind can make it choppy but if the swell is down you will be ok.

I caught a speed boat while trolling and got spooled. 450m of 50lb braid hopefully all over the inconsiderate guys prop. At first I got super excited and thought I was onto the lochness monster but quickly realised I wasn't. Not happy Jan!

been on a charter after tuna and the guide had one of those tuff tackle reels out trolling for tuna! he had all the best gear, about 10 $3000 setups and he had one of the tuff tackle reels and swears by them. If I could afford I would have one.

Where abouts did you fish. Know a little for next time. Cheers Andrew

Pretty quiet at the moment. Sand flats are holding flatties and they seem to like pillies and nippers. Bream are a little quiet and timid and are hanging around structure. Some school jew around and have come on at low tide change and disappeared quick. Only a small window. Some Yakkas are coming back in so I am sure they will follow. I would probably fish the spit bridge, Grotto point or shark Island (east side) with fillets of yakkas or butterflied yakkas for the jew with your drag loose and the rod in the holder for the jew and wait for one to pick it up and run and tighten the drag and strike. Burleying the bottom with a bomb while anchored helps also as it will attract bream etc for you to catch while you wait for the jew (or not!) to turn up. This I find creates attention, brings in baitfish and the rest speaks for itself. Catch the yakkas before sunset and it will give you the best chance with fresh gun bait as they have been liking them over the dead squid but not the live and the yakkas are easier to catch. Also if you catch a small tailor get ready as they always seem to be caught just before I catch a jew. Caught a few now but not any of real substantial size but the few I have caught have all been in the same circumstances and around 65 to 70cm. Might get a few Port Jacksons as well for fun. Good luck Andrew.

I find low tide an just after the best in the harbour.

G'day people, Heading down to Greenwell point down south just off the shoalhaven river. Got a place for a couple of days with a jetty and plan to do a little boat fishing. Got gear for all sorts and would be happy with any sort of info so I might get my family into some fish. Anything goes and any help is appreciated. Thanks, Andrew.

I've got a tcurve 200 jig and a saltist spin 4500 with carbontex washers and a new handle and it can easy get kings around the magic 1m. Got 2 at 98cm and one at 82cm in the harbour in 14m of water with some bottom structure. Did it great. Your set up will bring in a 50kg tuna I reckon. I looked at that combo but it was an overkill for me. 37kg line rating and 30kg of drag which you probably would get pulled in at max drag was too much for me. Stripped the reel and is built extra tough and will cop a beating. I did a post a while back on this subject too and a few people gave some good ideas. It was tcurve/saltist combo in tackle talk forum still on the first page. I am happy with mine and would buy it again. Good luck Andrew.

Looks like you will catch some wind an some catfish lol. Good luck.

That sounds easy that way Dan. Will try that. Just need to figure out what Dacron for what leader. I saw some one on youtube with 300lb leader and was using 130lb Dacron. About one third the breaking strain of the leader the Dacron was. Does that sound right?

The advantage of the wind on leader is you can have a real long leader and can wind the hook or lure right up to tip of your rod as you don't need a swivel or crimp to join your line. As far as lasting longer it will last the same time as a normal leader. I use a Bimini twist in the main line and a cats paw to join the wind on to the mainline. I like it as the knot going through the guides is real smooth. I use them as it's easy to join the mainline and cheap off the shelf. Also to make them yourself you need special needles to double through the Dacron which are not cheap. Definatly worth using. Hope that helps. Andrew

Got the saltist spin 4500 recently and it's sweet. Would buy it again for sure. Metal body, 6 to 1 ratio, nice handle, smooth 13kg drag with carbotex washer's from a saliga 4500. Takes 300m of 50lb braid and lays the line spot on. The daiwa monster mesh and the shimano tcurve 15kg saltwater spin look and feel magic also. They too should keep you under 600 bucks and I think they are about 7ft long which is great for casting. But again an A+ for the reel for it's price. Pulled it apart and is greased ready to go and should last a lifetime. Cheers Andrew.

Like how you called it little.. For the area and the amount of kings around that's a great fish

Some trevally if you berley and they will turn up for sure. The bream have turned off and the odd Kingy seems to have disappeared. The flathead have been on in any sandy area. Some small amounts of Dory but hard to find and you need livies. Very quiet at the moment. I think the colours at the moment may be great as I caught Stacks of slimeys near there. (dont tell anyone hehe) One mate says the school jew are on the bite around the reef at shark island but that means long nights and cold weather. Good luck Andrew.

The daiwa saltist spin 6500 has 30kg drag and retails for $300. Have a look at it its sweet for me. Stops horses.

used it before for other purposes. It is made from recycled rubber. Will work a treat but unsure of the long term use as it may fall apart over time. If it works it will be good but I think I prefer the carpet. Cheers Andrew P.S I got it a bit thicker. 12mm I think. I will go through my invoices and find out where I got it and get back to you.

good luck guys. weather looks good too

On Monday they were just outside the harbour and were being caught 4 and 5 at a time on the sabiki rig. Heavy burley and dropped in the middle of the bait ball. Caught heaps but used 2 loaves of bread.

sabiki bait jigs with a tiny bit of squid on the hooks do the trick

last 2 I caught they had yakkas in them

Thanks for all the replies. I ended up getting the saltist 4500 and upgraded the drag with carbontex washers. I also got the shimano deep jig 400 as it is a 2 piece and is easier to take on the plane. I loaded it with 250m of 50lb braid, 20m of mono 50lb backing and have put on a 80lb wind on leader that is 10m long. It looks and feels like a great set up and will pull most fish. The only concern for me is the drag pressure which I tested and got 13kg pressure. Not as much as the saltist 6500's 30kg pressure but i liked having the smaller reel as jigging for ages can be tiring. Thanks again for the help. Cheers Andrew.