martymonsta

Thredbo river next time for me! Thredbo Diggings is a decent camping spot and has access to some good sections of the Thredbo river. Marty

Yeah that could have been me and my mate wading past the crossing. Were you at the river crossing directly off the main road from Thredbo or the one further down past Keebles hut? Yeah there weren't many trout around this year. Low water levels and warmer water I think contributed to the poor fishing. We were camped right next to Keeble's Hut and fished a few km's down stream. Was hard work catching that one trout. Left camp at around 7:30am and didn't make it back until about 4pm that afternoon. Walking in waders over those damn smooth and uneven rocks certainly takes it's toll. Was pretty sore after that. Can't beat the serenity though! Marty

Hi everyone, I fished the Geehi area over Easter with spinners and Rapala minnows and managed this beautiful brown at around 11am on the Saturday. My mate had a few casts into the same pool with his celta without a touch but my first cast got slammed and after a great fight in some snaggy country was able to grab this nice brown. Didn't have a tape measure with me but the fish felt at least 1.5kg. Fought well on my Berkley Dropshot 7ft 2-4kg rod loaded with 6lb fireline and 8lb Vanish on the Tierra 2500. Caught a few other small browns over the weekend (ranging from 10cm to 20cm) but this was the only nice fish caught. Tasted great out of the smoker. Cheers Marty Nice colours on trout The lure that did the damage The log-encrusted pool she came out of

Make sure you have soaked the log properly to leech out all the black stuff that comes out of it otherwise the water will go dark real quick. You gotta give him a name too mate! I used to keep a bass years ago that I named Sherman. Sherman the bass! They're awesome fish. Cheers Marty

Kingies at night eh! Thought they were mainly a day-time target. Congrats on the fine captures. Marty

G'day everyone, Over the weekend I was after a rod to match up to my Daiwa Advantage 3500A reel to spin 15lb and 20lb line classes. Was tempted to get the matching 7' 10lb-17lb Daiwa Advantage rod but in the end decided on a 7-12kg 7' Okuma Trinus rod that the bloke in the shop showed me. Nice and light and hopefully with the low-down power to stop a decent kingie. Looks and feels good just couldn't find any info about them on the net. Has anyone heard of them or got any experience with them? Will post some pics when I get a chance. Cheers Marty

Thanks for the info guys, will head out once the water settles down a bit. Cheers Marty

Hey guys and gals, I have recently purchased a Hobie fishing kayak which has been a lot of fun in the estuaries for the bread and butter species (bream, flathead, whiting) but now with all the reports of kingies caught in the harbour I'd love to try and have a good at landing a few from the kayak. I have the gear and the determination just don't know where in the harbour I could go to target them. I've read about channel markers throughout the harbour but are there any spots that consistently hold the kingies? I don't mind paddling (or pedaling on the Hobie) a few k's to get to the fish just not sure where I could launch and head to find them. Any ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks guys Marty

I'll be spending a week up at South West Rocks with the gf. Picking up a Hobie kayak tomorrow which I'll be trying out up there in the river, can't wait! Tight lines and a merry xmas everyone. Marty

Awesome kings guys! Whereabouts can you launch a boat in Pittwater? I'll be picking up a new Hobie kayak next weekend and can't wait to test it out on some Kingies. Would just like to know where I can launch from and then paddle/pedal over to find some Kingies. Thanks in advance Marty

Hey guys, Even though it's rated for 14lb line, does anyone have any experience with the Daiwa Tierra 4000 for fishing 15lb - 20lb braid for kings and and the like? I saw them catching kingies on these in the Fishing DVD # 8. I have the Tierra 2500 for the lighter stuff which I am very happy with but want something a bit bigger to try and target kings out of a kayak I will be picking up next week. I have seen the Tierra 4000 for sale for $200 and would like to invest in a combo around $300 for the kings. Cheers Marty

Hey Raiders, Sorry to rave on but this was one of my more memorable captures. Read on... My girlfriend and I decided to try our hand at kayaking at Berowra Waters on Sunday. The plan was to spend about 4 hours having a leisurely paddle along the Hawkesbury. I wasn't even going to go fishing but decided to throw my old spinning outfit (15yr old Shimano sidestab reel, a cheapo 2-4kg Shimano Fishquest rod and 6lb Daiwa Sealine mono) and a handful of lures in the boot. Our hired kayaks hit the water at 10am and the incoming tide made the paddle upstream an easier affair. With the rod resting between my legs (no rod holders unfortunately), and after I felt steady and balanced enough to fire out a cast, I stopped paddling and lobbed my black and gold laser pro hardbody about 10 metres from the yak and roughly 2 metres from the shore. What happened next will stay with me for a long time. As the lure splashed down on the surface I managed to make one turn of the reel before the lure was absolutely slammed and line began peeling from the reel with the old but trusty drag singing away. 1st cast - couldn't believe it! The drag had been set tighter then usual but this didn't stop the fish taking line at an alarming rate and coming dangerously close to the bank. I managed to turn it's head and drag it towards me and with shouts of 'Babe I'm on' got it closer and closer to my yak. The girlfriend paddled towards me to see what all the fuss was about but the fish wasn't done yet. I hadn't sighted it yet but felt some big head shakes. Was guessing a flattie but the fish was moving faster than the usual flattie fight. At last I sighted a bright silver flash with my polarised sunnies but it took off again this time straight underneath my kayak with the drag still humming away. What a fight! The kayak started to turn in the water as the fish swam away again but I could feel it tiring. By now I was just wishing that the knots and line would hold out. Just as my girlfriend got closer the fish appeared on the surface with my lure firmly stuck in it's mouth. 'Hold please hold' I said to myself as I scooped the fish up out of the water. Now I've caught plenty of bream in my time with a few mid-30cm models to my name but never one this big. I had no idea how big it was yet but knew it was big. With big thick lips and a bronzie tinge on it's flanks this was one of those bruisers I'd read about and seen pics of. The fish was beaten but I wasn't sure of what to do with it. There was a hatch on the kayak behind me but it's diameter wasn't long enough to fit the bream through. I didn't even have a knife on me so I just threw it inside the kayak between my legs and just couldn't believe my luck on my 1st cast. We paddled on until we reached a sand bank where I wanted to take some pics. The bream had died by then but we had a small esky with some ice packs in it so swapped the sandwiches and drinks for the fish and were able to keep it cold enough for the day. As we had planned to kayak and explore the beautiful Hawkesbury river rather than spend the day fishing (save that for next time ) that was it for me. On the paddle back downstream I just trolled the lure behind me and managed to pick up a 40cm flathead which was also kept for the table. Here are the pics including the end result for my chunky 40cm PB bream which tasted delicious baked with roasted garlic and cherry tomatoes and some verdelho wine. I'm now hooked on kayak lure fishing and can't wait to try it again! Tight lines Marty

Kbark, Not sure about the 4-6kg rod yet but am going to limit myself to $150 max for a 2-4kg rod (somewhere in between 6'6 and 7'2). I've seen the Berkley Drop Shots and Starlo Stix (which look like a good match for the Tierra in bright blue I've heard the Shimano Rack Raiders are good too but not sure about any other rods for under $150. Anyone got any other ideas? Shore-based soft plastic and hard body luring will be the order of the day. Was it the 2-4kg rod you were asking about Kbark?

I'm just waiting for my Tierra 2500 to turn up from the states. Ordered it online and with 10lb Spider Stealth got it for AUD $160 inc. postage. Plan to spool with 6lb for soft plastics on a 2-4kg rod and use the other spool with 10lb braid on a 4-6kg rod for heavier lure and bait fishing. Seems like a top reel just can't wait till it arrives now! Good luck with the rod choice Kirkby. Cheers Marty

G'day Ceph, Do you think this reel would be oversized for a 6'6 - 7' 2-5kg spin stick (e.g. Drop Shot, Rack Raider etc) to flick light lures with for Bream, Flattties etc. Am tossing up whether to go for the Stradic 2500FI or the Daiwa Tierra 2000 and have one of the spools with 4-6lb for the light stuff, and around 10lb for some heavier bait and lure fishing. Both reels seem to be top of quality. Cheers Marty

Hi all, I'm keen to get a small spinning reel in the 6lb - 8lb line class for some land-based lure fishing and have been doing some searching on the internet. With the great exchange rate between the Aussie and US dollars at the moment it seems like a pretty good deal to buy from the states (certain amount of risk I know). Because I don't have too much to spend on fishing gear at the moment (want to spend up to $150 on a reel) I just wanted to know if anyone has any experience with these 2 reels or has compared them at some stage. I've read the comparo from the states at http://www.tackletour.com/reviewshootoutcapstrad.html which gave the nod to the Daiwa but have heard pretty good things about the Stradics as well. I'm not after the latest and greatest (as I don't get to fish that often) just something of decent quality that will last with some looking after. So whadyareckon, the Shimano or Daiwa??? Thanks in advance Marty

Looks like La Perouse but it has been about 15 years since I was last there....

Check your PM Marty

G'day Bream Mad, Was that you out on the flats at Crosslands the other day? I was out wading too with my mate for about an hour. Only scored a small bream and flatty on a RMG Scorpion in Orange/Gold but will be back to try my luck some other time. Cheers Marty

Well guys, I finally received the DVD and yep... it is that bad! I was born in 1975 and I was trying to figure out if this was made before or after I was born but I couldn't tell. Let's just say it's the worst fishing show I have ever seen. Oh well, it looked good on the cover! Tight lines everyone Marty

Not sure if I've posted in the correct forum but I've just placed an order for 550mins worth of Fishing Australia DVDs for the huge price of $6.92 from EzyDVD. Aust Post surface mail is $1.50 or free if total order is more than $20. Here is the link. http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/785913 Has anyone seen this series yet, and if so, any comments? Good bargain hunting guys and gals. Cheers Marty

I fished Woy Woy wharf about 10 years ago and that turned up a few squid too. Good luck

Thanks guys, really appreciate the feedback - Googling only goes so far.... This is a great website for helping others out with their queries. Thanks. Jeez, the Schneider (is this the same as SnyderGlas?) sound mighty tempting..... Cheers Marty

Hi there everyone, Am hoping someone can help me decide on the correct Alvey reel I should get for trying my hand at beach fishing for the likes of Salmon, tailor and (hopefully) jewies off the beaches around Sydney and the north coast of NSW. I'm thinking of getting one of the 650 size Alveys mated to a 12 foot 7 wrap rod (haven't decided on either a Wilson or Snyder but budget would be around $150 - $200 for the rod) and have seen both the lever drag models (650BC and 6500BCV) and the star drag 650BE1 Rock Hopper special. As I'm not a fan of the palm-drag method, can anyone please advise of any advantages/disadvantages of both reel styles. I will be fishing with 20-25lb mono and would like to try the occasional rock fishing session as well. Ease of maintenance and durability are the features I am after with the Alvey reels. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Many Thanks Marty

Guys and Gals, If ya wanna see some flying fish in action, check out this link - incredible!