martymonsta

Just got back from Port Douglas and went on a charter. Highly recommended. PM me if you want details. Marty

I found Fishing Australia with Paul Mecurios dad (Gus Mecurio) atrocious. Bought on special and quickly put up for sale on eBay. Marty

Hi mate, I've had success with catching kingies on the Halco Roosta 105 poppers (can also use the 135 model for larger fish) in the pilchard and bonito colours. See the manufacturers link for lure details and colours. Halco Awesome fun watching kingies climbing all over each other trying to get at the lure Marty

Nice, tough and light rod but I too have broken the reel seat on a 6'6" 10-15kg Crystal Blue rod. Got it replaced under warranty though no questions asked, didn't have to show a receipt, the guy at the tackle shop said no probs and the next time the Silstar rep was out they exchanged it for a new one. I had the original one matched up to a Baitrunner 4500 for kingies but then had a go with my Penn 750SSM and the reel seat didn't last too long in the 1st session I had hooking into rat kings. I haven't tried the Penn in the replacement rod yet but something to consider mate. The baitrunner fits in the nicely but the Penn maybe too chunky for the reel seat? They are lighter than a standard glass rod though. Hoping the replacement rod holds up next time I want to use it with the Penn. I'm going up to Port Douglas next month so might take it along for a test. Marty

Are we allowed to post a link up to the Fishing DVD website which lists all the stories in each of their DVDs? Not sure if this is against policy or not... Marty

Could they have possibly been the frigates I've been hearing about in the harbour? Or definitely XOS slimeys?

Check out some pics from the 2009 Japan International sportfishing Show. Some sweet looking gear there too http://www.tackletour.com/reviewjts2009.html

Silstar Crystal Blues have such a rod in their range - 7' 10-15kg Tough but also lighter than full glass. Should come in at the $120 - $150 range I'm guessing. Check out link below: http://www.silstar.com.au/home/silstar/pro...e%20Power%20Tip Marty

Archer fish are good fun too as they spit out water at insects and the like. As one of the other raiders mentioned the silver perch are very aggressive. A mate once bought a $1.50 silver perch that hammered the crap out of his expensive Saratoga so much it died soon after. Bass are cool without being too aggressive. Tandanus catfish can actually be quite aggressive too so watch out for those. I've had golden perch which start off black in colour and aren't too aggressive. Rainbows are nice and colourful especially in a breeding pair and have also seen juvenile mangrove jacks for sale but $$$. Maybe investigate ordering fingerlings from interstate? I had a big sleepy cod too which was kinda like a flathead as well as a purple spotted gudgeon. Natives are interesting fish though and you can spend hours just watching their activity. Quite calming actually. Let us know what you get. Marty

I sometimes fish out of a kayak off shore and remember the sea sickness I experienced off Long Reef in 2-3 metre swells, talk about washing machine effect! The worst part was when you have to re-tie rigs in your lap with the kayak bobbing all over the place like a cork. Couldn't stop throwing up and pedaling (I have a Hobie pedal kayak) back a couple of k's to shore was hard work feeling drained and dehydrated. Bit dangerous actually. I find Travelcalm tablets (1 about an hour before launch) help but also make me feel drowsy and have a bit of a dry mouth from it as well. Switching from coffee to Red Bull during the early morning starts I found has helped a bit. Might try the half tablet the night before and the other half in the morning trick to see if that improves the drowsy side effect of Travelcalm as well. Marty

The middle one is a Killalure Pak Rat 45 in Tiger Orange. I've got the same one. Good lure for bream and dives down to about 3 metres. See http://www.bassermillyard.com.au/ShowColou...FileName=64.jpg Can't help with the others sorry. Marty

Hi Nick, Check your airline's oversized luggage policy. I recently carried a 6'6" rod tube to Fiji and back with Pacific Blue and had no issues. I've done this once in the past domestically with Qantas about 5 years ago without drama either. Get yourself a PVC tube and pack it with newspaper and bubble wrap around your rod and you shouldn't have a drama. From memory the Pacific Blue maximum length for oversized baggage was 2.04 metres. Marty

I haven't tried the Stradic but I do own a TDA 3500 that I fish 15lb and 20lb (spare spool) braid with. Very nice reel with drag rated to 8kg. Have just ordered a TDA 2500 from the states for one of my lighter outfits (8lb braid). The 2500 has 7kg of drag. Very happy Daiwa Advantage owner but I don't think you'd go wrong with either reel. Good luck with the purchase. Marty

Go Roberta !

Make that 'pedal power'! Love the Hobies and have a Revo myself. Shame about the lost big flatty though. Marty

I suppose it also depends on the size of reel you're talking about as well. I haven't tried a Stradic but do have a Tierra 2500 with one spool of 6lb fireline and the other spool running 10lb Spiderwire braid. I love this reel for my style of fishing and am very happy with it. Daiwa says this reel has 8.8lb of max drag pressure where as the Saros 2500 has a max drag load rating of 11lb and the Stradic 2500 at 15lb max drag pressure. I'm not sure what that equates to in the real world but the Shimanos seem to have a beefier drag for this particular reel size. The Tierra is nice and light however. Just my $0.02 Marty

Very nice fish there guys and an AWESOME kingie there Cid. Will have to get my Hobie down to Botany Bay one of these days. Great result! Marty

Hi Greg, What are these blade lures you're referring to? Thanks Marty

I have bought from Great American Outdoors and Basspro and have been more than happy with their service. Another source is http://reelfishingdeals.com who offer good deals. E.g. Baitrunner 4500B/Saros US $120 delivered or Stradic FIs for US$145 delivered. With the exchange rate the way it is you can't go wrong Marty

Awesome GT Damo, Which Island were you fishing at if you don't mind me asking? I'll be visiting Fiji for the 1st time in July (one of the Yasawa Islands) and am hoping to try the fishing there. Btw, is that a Kingfisher yak in your pic? Nice yak either way. Cheers Marty

Nice work Rob. Is that a Hobie hatch the bream is resting on? I fish the area a bit myself out of a Hobie. You don't mind eating the fish from the area? I've thrown back 40cm+ bream and a 55cm flattie recently (see pic) due to the dioxin issue around that part of Sydney. Might be heading out there sometime over the weekend. Cheers Marty

G'day Justin, What brand 3mm wetsuit bottoms do you have. I haven't seen any 2-piece wetsuits around but that sounds like something I could use in mine. Cheers Marty

Hi Jamie, Yep a good (and important question) re lighting on a kayak. I've got a Seattle Sports HydroStar MultiStrobe Light on mine that you can attach with it's suction cup base to your kayak and I reckon it's great. See link below. http://www.austinkayak.com/products/1036/S...robe-Light.html You can switch it from red/green nav lights, LED strobe light that flashes on and off (very effective) or just set it to full light. You can even detach it from it's magnetic base and use it as a standard torch. Very verstatile and waterproof too. Uses 4 x AAA batteries which last for ages. I'll PM you the details of where you can get them in Sydney. Regards Marty

Hi all, Hit the water at around 5pm yesterday. Launched my Hobie Revolution at the ramp near Gladesville bridge and proceeded to troll a couple of hard bodies underneath the bridge to the mouth of Tarban Creek. A fluro shad rap deep diver on my 2-4kg outfit and a bigger deeper diver (can't remember brand) on my heavier 3-6kg flick stick. Chopper tailor hit my lures from around 300m from the ramp and continued until the mouth of Tarban Creek. These were a pretty good size around 35-40cm and I scored around 4 of them in that time. Just past the western side of the bridge my heavier outfit got hit harder than usual and after a short but spirited fight pulled in a nice 35cm bream. While not an overly big specimen it hit the biggest lure I've ever nailed a bream on. While trolling near the mouth of Tarban Creek it was interesting to see all the bait fish fleeing the tailor (and possibly larger predators) in the vicinity. It was amazing to hear the baitfish first erupting out of the water (like hard rain hitting the water) before seeing the water churn and even the tailor jumping out of the water in hot pursuit. One of my favourite Rapala Shad Raps got bitten clear off while on the troll (bummer ) so I reckon there were some decent tailor among them. I pulled one in with 2 long gashes down one of it's flanks. On one occasion I saw the churning water approaching my kayak at speed (love the silent approach ) but the larger fish scattered as my kayak neared (I was trolling so in hindsight I should have just cast at the approaching fish). Was a nice calm evening on the water and pulled the pin at 7:30pm. All fish were returned (it is the Parramatta river after all) but I have a couple of questions for anyone who may know the area: 1) Would tailor (a fairly migratory and top water fish) be safe to eat (as opposed to a resident bream or muddy flatty); and 2) Apart from tailor, does anyone know of any other predatory fish in the area? (aussie salmon or possibly rat kings come to mind, I know the cobia caught there recently too) Can't wait to hit the area again and may even use one of the choppers as live bait next time Marty

I've got the Hobie Revo Roberta Shame it wasn't the type of water to take her to... Marty