JET01

Mate if i was you i'd be giving shimano at Taren point a call to see if the Eva grip of the CI4 4000 fits the FI 4000. I just bought a Ci4 4000 and although i haven't used it yet, i reckon it's quick comfortable. Feels like a pretty sweet reel.

I'm pretty lucky in that respect. If fact some would say blessed. I was thinking about selling the boat after I bought my yak. The minister talked me out it because the yak only has one seat and she likes to fish with me. It's good to be the king

Pushed off in the Gravyak from Wally's Wharf this morning a few hours after the high tide. Having the future inlaws around for dinner tomorrow night so needed to bag a feed. Noticed a truck load of Luderick around the jetties in Burraneer Bay but none seem too interested in my any of plastics that i threw out there so i moved on. Trolled a blade for a while through some moored boats then headed over to an interested little hole I'd found on google maps. After about 20mins i'd dropped a few fish and put it down to my hook being too small. Upped to a 3.5g 1/0 with a squidgy lobby in wasabi. Great move. After about 3 casts the drag on my Stradic CI4 1000 was screaming. After a lengthy fight I pulled up a nice flatty. After a quick measurement, i put it in the live well on the yak and kept fishing. A few casts later i was on again... this time 55cm.... another great fish... I put that in the live well too. I couldn't believe it... I've never caught 2 fish over 50cm on the same day... By this time my poor lobby was looking pretty worse for wear, but i thought... "one more cast can't hurt". Bang on again... I thought this one was bigger... it ran harder and longer than the previous 2 and as i hadn't adjusted my drag since I caught the 65, i thought this was going to be a monster... the fight went for so long i had time to call a mate so he could hear the drag screaming ! To my surprise, it was only 60cm. But still a great fish... shortly after i picked up another 43cm flatty but had a really unco moment when trying to get it into the live well, resulting in him getting released to fight another day. It's normally my policy to release anything over 65cm, so i was pretty disappointed when i put it on the tape when i got home to realise i'd broken one of my golden rules. Either way very happy after a great day on the water, and hopefully everyone else has a quiet month so i can win the COTM for a change.

I ended up going with one of the Sonic Pro Spins 4-6 692. Great short handle for the yak, good solid construction and only $70, so if i drop it out of the yak then i'm going to be too upset about it. Once again, everyone. Thanks for your help.

Thanks Fezz, I didn't think to ask to swap rods. I figured those kinds of combos would be "not for individual sale". I emailed the shop to confirm the weight and figured he would've offered if it was ok. I have plenty of 1-4kg gear so definitely need something heavier.

I've found the combo for $100 but I'm not sure about the rod. It doesn't appear on the pure fishing website so I'm not sure whether it's the same quality. The rod is also 4-8kg. Reckon it might be a bit heavy for flicking 5-7 inch jerk shads around for Jews/kings? The shop selling it is about an hour away so not close. Anyone bought one if these rods. Seems like a bargain.

Mate i've been fishing the Hacking for a couple of years now and the biggest i've caught in the hacking was 62cm in a little channel not too far from a boat ramp. Other than that the Hacking can be a pretty hot or cold i find as someone has already said, it fishes way better in the summer when the water is warmer. there was a guy in a canoe on this site that caught a 1m shovel in the hacking so there are definately fish in there. My mate caught a decent 50cm trevally once, but I prefer botany bay personally as i catch more fish more often.

I've used 3lb fireline crystal and 6lb Sunline PE on a shimano ci4 1000 on the 661, with 1-6gm jigheads on 3-5 inch plastics depending on bream or flatty fishing. I love 3lb Fireline Crystal caught a rat kingie and a few decent 40+ trevally on it. Not sure what line you're using. I didn't have much time to figure out the Sunline PE before i left home for 4months so take my opinion with a pinch of salt. I didn't like using it when there was any wind because it seemed to tangle a lot easier than the fireline. The other good thing about these rods is that although they are nice and sensitive the tips aren't super fine like the lox rods etc. I'm not exactly the luckiest bloke in the world and so far i've been able to keep it in one piece.

661 1-4kg tcurve flight. Online for $189 delivered. Recoil guides. Does it all.

I really appreciate everyone's input as there's a good chance it'll save me some money. Most of these questions regarding rod, reel and line size get asked pretty often so i can understand when the long-term members get frustrated by seemingly repetitive questions. It's great to know that the 3-6kg is going to be a good option. The 1-4kg rods i have just don't seem to handle the 3/8th jig heads with 5inch jerk shads that i've needed to use in deeper water around the bridges. Not surprising really. I've got some 5" crazy legs jerk shads that i'm going to give a crack when i first get home. Now looking at a few rods online: 3-6kg Pflueger Trion 702 3-6kg Shimano Jewel 702 4-7Kg Shimano T-curve Revolution Inshore 691 8-15lb Samaki Zing 702 I can't wait to get home and check all these rods out in the flesh. Not sure which way i'll go. I've read heaps of reviews of the Trions and after having a 2-4kg one myself i know they are great rods for the price. I've never had a Samaki though or EVA grips so might give something new a try. Does anyone know which one of these rods would be the lightest? Performance wise there's a good chance they're all similar, so as i'm going to be using a 4000 CI4 reel with it, i'll try to stay as light as possible weight wise.

Hey guys, great work on the jewies. I'm going to start targeting jewies from the yak shortly but i'm in under the impression my 2-4kg setup is too light? What rod, reel and line strengths are you using? ... I don't really have a lot of cash to be wasting on the wrong gear. I'm happy to waste my time and effort fishing in the wrong spots, but the cash i have to be careful with.

<BR><BR><BR>Thanks for that, I'll give it a go next time i go fishing... which isn't until September!! <IMG class=bbc_emoticon alt= src="http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/public/style_emoticons/default/thumbdown.gif">

Well done on the catch mate... would love a legal whiting let alone a horse like that. I fish a lot with soft plastics during the summer and winter and no matter how hard i try i can never bag a whiting. I still to this day have not caught a legal whiting. after 2 summers fishing the flats of the hacking and botany bay, i still am yet to bag a legal one. The first time i fished with a blade i pulled 2 undersized ones in literally on the first two casts... I was so excited i called the tackle shop i bought them from to tell them how good the lures were. but since then. Nothing... Any ideas?

I really like the look of the FJ. It would look pretty cool on one of the ABU Veritas rods... All white and pure looking. hahaha. I really look forward to Shimano Australia updating their website. It's probably the worst website i've come across when it comes to tackle companies. There's missing data and TBC's all over the place...

Nothing shorter than a 6'6 as i wouldn't be able to get it around the bow/stern and nothing longer than a 7ft because it gets too hard to manage in the yak if i have to re-rig

<BR><BR><BR>I've had a look at those yak rods, but I fish out of Hobie Revolution which is quite long. So in the event that the fish goes under the yak (which has happened before) then i need enough length in the rod to get the line around the bow or the stern without rubbing it on the side of the yak. I like the extra casting distance from longer rods too.

Thanks for that I like the look of the voodoo. But not the price tag. Hard to find a 3-5kg or similar shorter than 7ft.

I've got a couple of 1-4kg Shimano T-Curve flights (6'6 and 7') and a 2-4Kg Trion My reels are Shimano Stradic Ci4 in 1000 and 2500 sizes and a Shimano Sedona 2500. I'm away from home at the moment, but when I get back I want to start targeting Jews and Kings on soft plastics out of my yak more often. I did one early morning session (4am) just before I left and can't wait to get back out there. It turned into a bit of a marathon session (9 hours) and i can see myself doing a lot more of them. So i really want to get my tackle sorted so I don't come up short whilst on the water. At the moment i have a spare 3000 size spool for my ci4 with 6kg braid that I'm going to use for jews/kings, but i don't want to have to stuff around changing spools on the water just in case i drop it over the side!!! I normally fish Botany Bay around Towra and W'ware Bay for flatties and bream which is why i don't have anything heavier than 2-4kg rods. Except for a cheap boat set up that i have for the odd trawl or live bait session out of the boat. What rod and reel combo would you be using if you had around $500 to spend? I was thinking about a 3-6Kg Trion and a Stradic Ci4 4000? Would it be worth getting one of the Thunnus Ci4 4000 with the baitrunner function? What soft plastics rig would you use? I was flicking 5inch Nuclear Chicken Jerk Shads the last time I went out but don't remember what size/weight jig head. Been keeping an eye out on the net for specials so would like to have an idea of what i'm looking for just in case something comes up. Opinions most welcome.

I'm in exactly the same boat as Fishmaniac was... although i'll be there on the 30th July. Would love to get into some barra, but after having to spend $1500 on accomodation for 5 nights, I don't really want to have to spend another $600 on a charter. Those of you that PM's Fishmaniac, reckon you could cut and paste that into one for me? Cheers.

Mate good work on the kingy. I was lucky enough to get my first kingy on film... well most of the fight at least... It's on Youtube... do a search for jetlee1981.... I know how pumped you were, but i reckon my best mate was probably more excited than the both of us. P.s don't watch the clip if there's kids around, the language is a bit ordinary.

Sounds like a great day had by all. I've been a bit quiet on the forums lately as I've been away from home since mid May... I'll be home around the 1st Sept.... Can't wait to get the yak out in the water again, I only bought it a month before i left so only managed about 7 sessions (one of those were 9hours ) I'd be keen to head out on the Cooks/Botany with a few of you when i get back... Yakkers or boaties, i'm not fussed. I've only really been up there in the tinny when the bay was quiet. I spend most of my time around the towra area chasing flatties for the table. Never caught a Jewie, would be great to get onto one when i get home. By the looks of things i need to lurk around the boat ramp and wait for Stewy to put his big blue boat in and follow him closely.

Sorry mate i had to leave my post half way through and in the mean time you'd received a few answers already. I had bowrails on the nomad both sides of the bowsprit and roller. I didn't want to loose the ability to anchor so i had the rails cut and re-welded. I had a new gunnel rubber installed and it was all painted up. It looks like it was done in the factory! Great job. It was pricey though and from start to finish cost around $3000 as i didn't do any of it myself. I went through a fair bit of heartache to get it sorted, but in the end it was worth it. The Nomad ("Good Gravy") is now a Flatty bashing machine and is a pleasure to fish out of.

I fitted an electric motor to my stacer nomad 469 last year just before the october long weekend. Let me know what area you are in and what sort of boat you have, as i might have a few suggestions for you. Just remember that if you are going to pay someone to wire up your motor, make sure you supply them with the instructions, do yourself a favour and read them yourself. The bloke that installed my Watersnake had done "heaps before". I had some issues with the electrics on my boat which turned out to be some lose fuse holders. In the process I noticed that he had not installed an inline fuse that was required. There are a lot of guys in the marine industry that are very average and I find the customer service overall pretty poor. From Sales guys having no idea about their stock, to simple courtesy like calling back when they say they will. The problem with the good guys ( and there are some good ones ) is that good you might have to wait a few weeks to get your boat in. Trust me, it's going to be worth the wait. PM me if you have any questions.

Went fishing this morning... in search of my first Mulloway, and/or a feed Put the yak in at 4am at the Tom Uglies ramp... flicked a 5inch Nuclear Chicken Jerk Shad around the bridge, after about 10mins I put my rod in the holder for a second to adjust my seat and then ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ I grabbed the rod thinking "Surely it can't be this easy!" and sure enough, line went slack again... What ever it was (i'm telling myself it was a Mulloway) bit half my jerkshad off... What ever it was, it was large as i was fishing pretty tight drag and it took a good run before breaking the lure. With not much movement on the sounder and no other hits i decided to move over to Bald Face point where there's a drop off from 2 to 10 metres thinking I might be in with a chance there. Absolutely nothing. So peddled over to Woolaware Bay entrance for a flick around the Marker. Got onto a sub 40cm flatty which went back in. Once again, nothing around... then my sounder went flat, rest of the day i had to fish blind. Whilst in Woolaware Bay i decided to go for a bit of an exploration mission, I don't normally spend much time in Woolaware Bay in my boat because of all the old oyster racks. Caught another legal flatty over near the industrial area mangroves. Put it back in. Trolled a 1m hardbody most of the day, and caught 2 choppers, the lure's looking pretty second hand now. I hate tailor. The tide was almost high so i headed back over to the WB Markers... Got onto a 40cm Trev. I love how hard they fight. Nice healthy fish which received a quick knock to the head and straight in the kill tank. Next cast, on again, I called it for another trev, but bigger this time... Had a bit of fun with it seeing I already had a feed in the tank and it ended up busting my 10lb leader... That got me thinking it may have actually been a big flattie. After i retied, it all went quiet and the wind picked up. Headed back over to CC bridge for the change of tide. Flicked around a large squidgy silvery glitter fish that my mate left in my gulp jar last time we went fishing together. No good... Watched a guy pull in a Mulloway which looked around the 60cm mark. Full pillies. Looked like he was pretty heavy gear, therefore didn't look like much fun. There were plenty of high 5's in the boat though. Had to hide behind the pillons a few time due to morons that can't read the no wash zone signs. Name and shame "Sea King" moored over near the Sylvania Marina. Slow down mate, you're a goose. And the bloke that owns that big grey superyacht. More money than sense. Stopped in at Shipwrights Bay on the way back to ramp as i've never fished there before and it looked a litte promising... Nothing, not even a pesky tailor. Pulled the yak out at 1pm... I'm pretty tired. Did some KM's that's for sure. I don't have a gps with me... but if i did, the read out would look something like this. After all i was in the Gravyak for 9hours...

mate after i dropped my sedona in ithe drink i got them to service it. needed a bearing or two from memory. all up it was 30 bucks. my ci4 felt a little stiff out of the box. not grindy though.Gave the outside a bit of inox after every fish and it's now really smooth.