yockman

That's a blast from the past! I was a member in about 1969 as a teenager. There were some great characters and it was a terrific club. It rooms were in Kent St, Sydney. Very fond memories of the old AFA. One thing that used to impress me every week was a taxidermied bream on the wall. From memory, the tag said it weighed 20 pounds!

Before handing over your hard-earned, if it's not too late, you'd do well to tap all over the transom and floor with a solid object eg screwdriver handle, small hammer and listen. If it's in good shape, you'll get a hollow knock. If there's rot, you'll get more of a dull thud. Knock good, thud bad. Know how to use a multimeter? If so, take one with you. The boat will almost certainly have ski hooks on the transom. Set the multimeter to measure resistance at a low level, then put the one probe on a ski hook and the other on an engine bolt. "0" (full resistance) is good. Any other number is bad. It means there's water in the transom which either already is, or will become, a problem. Do this both sides of the engine. Good luck. If the boat, motor and trailer check out, you'll get a lot of pleasure out of it.

Nice looking boat, similar styling to the legendary haines v17l. Hull is the same as the Savage Pacific from memory so any info you can find about them will apply to the Astra.

G'day Brian, 500 feet is no problem for that sounder - they're a good bit of gear. I have one in my boat and it was reading 1800 feet jut last week. Screen full of noise sounds like you've hit the frequency button and put it on to low frequency, which really only works at very low speeds. Turning it back to high frequency will tell you if that's the problem. Or maybe the tab that holds the tranny down has unclicked - check yr tranny to see if it's swinging free. Or could be the gain is on too high? For mine, I usually have it at about 5 while trolling around the shelf. Good luck Steve

Lucky chap to be heading off round the block. I did this a couple of years ago, and couldn't limit myself to one outfit. I eneded up with a few in the bus but the two that got most use were the 4kg and 10kg reels on 8' spin sticks, Happy trails Yocky

Best write up on this I've seen - top stuff. "Smack it like you'd smack Bin Ladens head"

Hi guys, The common cause of seeing things glow in the dark (apart from illegal substances) is a phytoplankton called Noctaluca . Occurs in huge red slicks sometimes in my neck of the woods. Local fishfarmers hate it - it gets stuck in the gillrakers of farmed salmon, dies and kills the fish. I think it gives off ammonia when it's dead, but someone smarter than me will prolly know more about that Yocky

Hi all, Coming to Sydney from Tas for a few days over the weekend - if anyone has a spare spot - harbour, the bay or offshore, I'd jump at it. Happy to share costs, can back trailer etc (have own boat down here, can reciprocate with australia's best tuna fishing if you ever visit) Cheers, Yocky

Hello Brett, Just read your post looking for crew. I don't live anywhere near Campbelltown - in fact I live in Tas. (My in-laws live near Camden though). Anyway, I have 25 years experience offshore fishing in my own boat in big seas off southern TAS, can back any size trailer through a needle's eye, never get seasick, never drink on the water. And I will be in Sydney this coming w'end (August 15th) and also a couple of weeks later Sept 6-20th. Can fish some of that time if you need a crew. I'll be staying in Randwick, not far from Botany Bay or the harbour. Will have no gear with me next w'end, but will have some in September. Can also take you tuna fishing in Tas if you ever visit! If you have a spot, I'm more than happy to help out. Steve

Blueye eat them!

Nice sounder shot there - is that a 1kw transducer?

Go for it! Did this at my local ramp real quick at low tide when noone was looking , lasted about 18 months

Hi guys, Will be visiting sydney for a few days and will be free from sunday 7th on - would jump at a chance to fish the harbour for kings, offshore jigging or browns for yft. Have lots of experience (own my own boat) and can take you fishing offshore in Tas if you ever visit. Please pm me if you have a spare bit of deck... Cheers, Yocky

I wouldn't have thought it but striped tuna is excellent - very smooth texture and good flavour

Definitely worth replacing those springs. The big drama that can happen, apart from the axle banging on the frame, is that one of the leafs breaks, falls out, a couple more follow, and then the axle is floppin' round on the remaining springs. Speaking from experience, this isn't pretty at about 15kph, so can't imagine what it would be like at 100kph. Cheers, Yock

This one's good too... http://www.bloodydecks.com/forums/fishing-reel-tutorials/

Those gurnard are top tucker. But you Do Not want to be hit by those spines! No no no no no!

They are the scum of the earth, worse than pufferfish leatherjackets and barracouta all rolled into one. Can be dangerous too, as warnie says

Good spot but mad things happen there. One day during a hot bonnie bite, there were some XXXXX near me flicking 1/2x14/s round in a frenzy. I heard a blood curdling scream. One had jagged his mate in the throat while his rod was at full stretch during a cast. Another day, I saw an XXXXX guy with a big old penn senator, standing livebaiting with his rod attached to himself via harness. He must have had the drag cranked up cause when the inevitable happened, and a big king took his bait, it stared dragging him toward the edge. In his panic, he didn't think to back off the drag. He got scarily close to the edge before one of his mates grabbed him. The worst for me was one Sunday arvo, I was fishing alone and minding my own business when a bunch of bogan XXXXX teens came up and wanted a fight, for no reason. . Took some time to dissuade them, think I just moved to a lower plattform where they were gonna have to get wet if they wanted to pursue it Yock

Blueeye, then striped trumpeter, then gemfish for me

The father of all dollies there! What a beast

Thanks guys, they sure go hard and keep on going. After 1 1/2 hours it was still swimming strongly, and i was knackered. Couldn't put the harness on cos it would have stopped me getting back and forth to the helm. Have done a lo of solo fishing for tuna before so I know the routine ok, but this time i was outgunned. BTW Rabs, if you read this, it was on the TTS outfit I bought from you at Christmas. Excellent gear. Yock

Hi guys Headed out from the harbour today after a marlin. Started trolling about a mile inside the shelf, didn't really look that promising. Water was 21.8 and an ordinary colour. Picked up some slimies about lunchtime and put them on. About 2, one got hit and was on briefly. Soon after that, I saw more on the sounder so put the jig back down. Got a couple and moved on. While I was getting the new one ready, the other one that was till in took off, big time! The fish started jumping and it was a good size. It peeled a heap mor line and started jumping, this time about 200m from the boat. Seeing as I was on my own, I knew I had my work cut out. Anyway, cutting a long story short, 1 hour 20 mins later, it was into its 5th set of jumps, though they weren't as aggro as earlier. I never felt in control for a moment, jut had to chase. 10 mins later, I had the double on, for the fourth time and the trace was in the guides but I just could not lift this fish. At last I had a couple of wraps of the wind-on on the reel and I was thinking what to do next. A quick flick of the tail and pop, on the skeg . Oh well, it was good to sit down. One thing I've learnt is that billfishing is definitely a team sport. With someone else driving, the outcome would probably have been different. Anyway, it was my frst sydney marlin from my own boat so that was good. No pics, unfortunately, my brother borrowed my camera. Cheers, Yock

nice work! good high sides on that boat, he won't be falling o'board anytime soon

just out of interest, what brand of aerial is this?