bcooper21003

Yes, quite fun on 10lb. The 6lb would have been really fun (given no structure around).

The little one and i picked up a nice little aussie salmon this morn as the tide was filling Wagonga Inlet. We caught him in about 0.5m of water on a live mullet and. Jig Head. Thanks to JonD for the tips recently.

i 2nd the underspooling comment. also though, I make sure there are no loops in the line I back on the spool (usually happens when you wind first turn of the handle after previous cast, or if winding on lots of slack line in previous retrieve), I make sure not to cast into the wind (if i do i cast low a fast to minimise drag, ie there is less wind closer to the water), and i started using stiffer line. i still have some trouble, but much less.

I saw this on ABC the other night. Very interesting.. http://endoftheline.com/

Thanks Jim77, but we tried bonito and prawn (on the bait jig hooks and separately) and still nothing, they just looked at it. That was the annoying part, I was watching them watching everything we put down, and nothing happened. Needed a big treble...

Hi Guys, I was recently out on the harbour in very clear water and had real trouble getting some yakkas. I wonder if anyone can give some advise? Essentially, I was doing what i normally do, berly up just off shark island, with bread and some fish flake soaked in a litle water and some tuna oil, and drop in a sabiki rig with a 6" shininy metal lure and a berly coil full of bread attached. Normally works a treat, but on this day, a clear day in terms of water and cloud we couldnt get the fish to bite. We thought the fact we could see so many of them around the hooks might be an issue, so we tried in deeper water. No great change, so we moved back. We tried at different depths. After hooking two (on seperate lines), and leaving them down there to motivate the others i thought we'd be in luck, but after 5 minutes still no action. Turns out one of these was foul hooked. We tried little bits of bonito and a little prawn, nada. So we eneded up with only two yakkas. Luckily one caught us a Kingy, off North Head, only 60cm though, so went back. Any ideas / advice? Thanks

Had a shot with the pancake sat night, I reckon less blowback, but not huge difference, doesn't swim a straight at low depth.

Will do, I have to say though, on my one successful day of downrigger fishing we only caught fish trolling at 1knot, 2 knots being too fast. At 1 knot there was close to zero blowback. At 5 knots blowback on the old ball was fairly huge, so will run a test with pancake...

Thanks Jim77 / gazza, I've ordered the 8 pancake, let's see what happens...

Guys, Does anyone have experience with different bombs on their sonder? Last weekend i lost my bomb to a 1m shark while it was hanging off the back of the boat. He took an interest in it, and in doing so he clipped the briad, sending the bomb to the bottom pretty swiftly. So, I have a Lowrance Mark 5x Pro, which has 83 & 200Hz. The bomb i had was relatively spherical, 8lb, with a fin at the back. It was easy to identify on the 83Hz sounder at most speeds, but when the water is dirty its hard. The bomb i want is the flat pancake style,also in 8lb. I wonder, will the pancake show up more or less on the sounder. It will have more depth, but be narrower from the sounders perspective. Any thoughts? Thanks

We picked up a bunch of bonito yesterday, clear standout is my cheapest bibbed lure in gold fleck 6", it a real eye sore. If we had two we'd have had twice as many fish.

Sounds like a great day Aqua Naut, i wonder though what were you using for burely, was it the Bonito? We picked up 6 Bonnies yesterday, burleyed them up as we caught them and picked up 4 Kings trolling lures, yakkas and (for the bigger two) skirted squid strip and skirted half squid head. What we weren't sure of is if the trail of bonito we were leaving (we were looping an area close to the rocks) was helping, or if it was a waste of time?

I made one for the 14ft rear steer tinny recently, it wasn't cheap, but that wasnt the point, i wanted one i could operate from the position i sit when driving (so I could go out by myself). The issue for me was that that downriggers on the market sit on the transom or somewhere similar and you have to face the back of the boat to operate. I needed to face the front. Mine is made from a 22mm stainless tube, 2m in length, onto which i glued and screwed a 24mm reel seat and affixed an 825BCV Alvey (now with a 925 handle). I used the alvey (with a drag) and the 100lb braid (lower strength than others use) as i didnt want to risk any hicups when snagging the bottom (in a not so heavy boat). The tube is fixed to the boat using heavy duty Bimini fixtures. The braid goes over a roller mounted about half way down the tube, thru two drill holes in the tube at that point, protrudes out the underside of the tube, goes over a second roller (on the bottom of the tube) and finally around one last roller at the end and into the water. All works well. As you can see in the video, i have it set up so i can watch the sounder and adjust the depth whilst driving (by my self that is). Attached an 8lb round bomb with a fin (I note the video is pre the reel seat and the 925 handle, which were later mods) Hope this helps...

Well all that makes me feel a little better, i was out on Sat ~7-8am morn with the new downrigger (Alvey on a StSt rod) and some live yakkas. I was initially hopefull, and when i saw some nice big arches on the sounder while passing some bouys in MH i ws even more hopefull. Nothing happened though?? I wonder, should i be trolling the live bait thru the arches, or above the arches? May it have been that they were looking for squid, or is it more likely that my yakka wasnt swimmng naturally? Or maybe my arches werent fish?

Thanks for the reply David 88 So the 40kg rod is partly my point. What's the point of putting say 80lb line on a rod rated at 25kg (or even lower in the case of some guys), there must be something I'm missing. To the lamen (me) it seems like the rod will either break before the line, or at least the rig won't be well balanced? Can someone help with the logic? Thanks...

Guys, Has this poll been closed? I got a message today saying I dont have permission to vote? Thanks PS Does anyone know a Aluminum welder, i need to extend my boat by 600mm

Hi Guys, I wonder if one of you can help me with a couple of questions. [ive read so much of this info on the site now, which is very helpful, thanks] So I have a Shimano Tekota 700, which is rated at 11kg drag (I have ordered Carbontex Washers ) Reading the web, i guess this is good for 44kg mono, or maybe 35-40kg braid, i.e. using the 4 times rule for the mon, and the 4 times less a bit for the braid. Also from the web, i read i should match this with a rod rated at 44kg if i was using mono, or say 40kg on braid. But where do you get a rod rated at 40kg? Even if you assume the rod is good for 20% more than the rating, it would have to be 33kg So Q1: If I really want to rig up with 80lb braid (which some of you reccomend), what sort of rod rating do you guys reccomend. Note: Catching a kingfish in the harbour with this setup is the idea. Q2: I currently have the reel spooled with a base of 50lb mono and 300m of 30lb braid on a rod rated 8-12kg (Which i fugure is about right). Do you guys really think i need a heavier rig to downrig for Kingfish in the harbour? Thanks

I was looking into the licence today (as i ordered a cool vhf handheld with gps) I read (on the web): 1) You have to have a radio if your operating more than 2 nautical miles offshore; and 2) Its an offence to use the a vhf radio without a MROVCP, unless its an emergency. Does that mean, if I only intend to use it in an emergency then I dont need the licence? Has anyone been fined for having one and not having the MROVCP? Thanks

Hi Guys, My first post, so thanks for all the posts I have read up to now on the sly. I had a read of the doc at: http://www.maritime.nsw.gov.au/docs/wh/Lifejacket_Reforms_Report.pdf It specifically states: "The lifejacket reforms detailed in this paper will take effect in NSW from 1 November 2010, with a 12 month advisory period." I think this means that its not law until 1 November 2011, i.e. after the 12 month advisory period ends, does anyone have any better information? Thanks