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I don't have first hand experience with these but would not trust them. They look so likely to have sealing issues that they would cause more problems than they fix. I like the idea of bungs sealing the water out not getting me in trouble due to bits of debris keeping them open.

Thanks all, and thanks to Frogleys for sponsoring COTM, hopefully I won't have to wait so long for my next report.

Well done on getting the video done. I bet he was stoked

Bad luck Geoff, our boat pulled the pin at 4.30 this morning before leaving. Hopefully it improves before the Newcastle game comp next weekend

Thanks for sharing, that washed off washed on scenario is mad.

I think the drinking fishing approach needs a bit more testing before we can make any judgements

Around 2 years ago I was invited out to marlin fishing . Up untill that point I'd been a pretty dedicated reef basher and inshore boater. This first trip was to become a turning point in my fishing. I was instantly hooked (yes), on the beauty of the open water and the chance to catch something huge. We didn't catch a fish that day but I did catch a bug. Trip 2, 3 and more came and went with similar returns but the bug turning into an obsession. 2 years on, hundreds of hours on the water and more money than I care to remember saw me fishing the port Stephens Interclub My 3rd tournament this season. There's not much to say report wise, steady 27deg (hot) at 110f no signs of bird or life. After a couple of hours I put a Bibless in the middle of the spread thinking it might help for a dolly of the bills went on, 30 mins on there was a big belt on the Bibless then nothing. No vibrations on the rod tip so rolled in against no weight to find the leader sheered. As I'm showing the cut to the skipper the shotgun fires... A few seconds and I'm grabbing the rod waiting for it to drop. But it just keep stripping line. The next few minutes were mayhem. The reel just kept screaming whilst the rest of the crew pulled Teasers and cleared rods. I kept thinking is it going to stop? . The fish slowed eventualy and turned and suddenly I'm winding a 50w like a lunatic slowly getting enough pressure back on the fish for the drag to give again. It was like a gym session packed into 2 minutes. Fortunately for the family jewels the gamble went on and it was time to relax into the fight. I'd managed to get back all the stripped line so the next stage was much easier than it could have been. The skipper maneuvered the boat like a pro and before I knew it my mate had a wrap on the leader. Called For a spear fish it wasn't my marlin but a very welcome break to my Zeros. . We were fishing tag so in it went. But for all the speed of the capture ( maybe 10 or 15 mins,) it was a very green fish and as I stood behind the crew having not seen the fish I could only wait whilst they tried to get a grip on the fish knowing a photo was essential. ( yes yes but everyone deserves that rare photo) Finally a very angry electric blue fish was on board. It was in my lap and photos with the same speed and expertise that the deck had been cleared. What I thought was one photo was twenty quick shots fortunately cos it didn't want to be held but 1 or 2 caught the moment. Seconds later and she was back in the water and swimming away. High fives all round and we gave ourselves 5 mins to crack a beer before the spread went back out. The adrenalin genuinely took 30 minutes to slow dow Job done, she was big for a short bill and I was high on the achievement.. There's not much else to say except I now need the next one. If your thinking of game fishing a word of warning.. Its addictive. I'm back out tomorrow

We drowned the monkey mate

Long days, zero yesterday, result today, try again tomorrow.. Report to follow

Bad luck on the fish but your home safe to try again. I've not been out for 3 weeks but all packed for the port Stephens Interclub. Hopefully have a report after the weekend if I can get this monkey off my back....

Yea on reflection a better strategy but the boat I crewed won the comp last year, so we went for broke looking for a $25k fish... May give it another go next weekend in close.

There were good numbers of blacks caught this weekend off lake Mac and Newcastle, mostly just a few K out. Also a couple of blues caught out on the shelf with the odd short bill thrown in. Sadly it was doughnuts for us out wide.

Nice update Arielangler. Wow that's economic.... Next time eh!!

We are boat 3 on the sched Ric

Cheers guys, I'm fishing on Kurly

Good luck to anyone fishing the Lake Mac Big Fish Bonanza... See you out there.

Now there's a small world..

1 Gunther's Wrasse, Pseudolabrus guentheri 2 Eastern Striped Grunter, Pelates sexlineatus

Congratulations, it can be a very long wait trying to find the first one. Hopefully the next will be hot on its heels.

Sorry all my ref books are packed away and I can't locate the boxes

I'll check after work tonight unless I'm beaten to it. Adding Latin names earn extra points and save confusion.

When I lived in Cronulla one of my favourites was pulling small cd repalas 20 to 50 m off the rocks heading south of the hacking, you may get a legal king but mostly rats. Bonito and Mac tuna are easy and will also take a small Christmas tree. If your fishing alone make sure you head out a little when you get a take and make sure you leave your engine running, very easy to get washed into the rocks quickly.

Fished 5.30am to 6.30 pm ( though it's a long trip to the shelf) out of Swansea. Had 22 to 27!! Sod all bait or birds Managed a 1.1.0. Heard lots of tags for the blue water south of us. 12 on our local sched today. Not a singal marlin tagged. Very frustrating.