Benjie

You wil get dollies off the fad. The trick is to be there first thing b/c the first person there generally gets the fish. They tend to be smaller at the fad. THe trick we've found in the past is the drive the lures right past the fad, and I mean RIGHT past it. If that doesnt work, dropping jiggs might net you some kingfish (hasn't worked for me) and live bait/dead strip baits with a single hook through the nose drifted deeper down has a better chance of getting the bigger fish. Good luck!

I run a 7.5mt boat with a set of 4.5 mt reelax poles on reelax gunnel mounts (they're removable). Put simply, they are too short for my boat. Black Bart once said that the riggers should be as long as the boat they are mounted on, and thats someyhing I would say is correct. I'm planing to upgrade to a set of NZ 'ocean blue' bases w/ a set of 6mt riggers (google them). They give reelax a run for their money price wise and seem to be quality stuff, but I'm yet to have any hands-on experience with them. In a larger sea the gunnel mounts have tended to be a bit tricky to un-lock and set at the desired runnnig angle. Other than that, my reelax poles have performed flawlessly. The screw-ups have been mine in the making (mounting them too low, not getting the right size...etc). Mounting them low was a major screw up, because it meant that the riggers were not at the right angle for running lures. But if you mount the gunnel mounts too high it is a real pain to shift them in a sea. Hope that helps!

I've found that a Williamson coyote in either evil or "lumo" works wonders from the long rigger. they took all my striped marlin this year (lost both of them, waiting for a couple to arrive) and most of them on previous seasons. it seems that coz it has a smaller head, they can suck it down a little easier. I've been running it with a single small-gauge hook, semi-stiff rigged with the barb all but crushed (and no, I've never had one fall out on me) then shove a tooth pick up it to keep the hook running upright. I've had almost zero success with other lures on strippies (cept for the sprocket with smaller hooks in it) But, shhh! it's a secret

Not sure if this is what you're after, but this is the best one i've seen, and one of the simplest. I've been using this set up for the last three years and never once has it even come close to failing on me. Peter Pakula showing 'his' method; < >Let us know how it goes.

The carpark is well known (google the GPS co-ords), its S.E about 38kn from the mouth of the bay. Can't miss it, it'll have about 30 boats sitting on it. We dropped three marlin on monday out there. Live baiting is best, pulling skippers if that fails. It's the old story, find the bait and the fish will be there. You can grab bonnies to use as skip bait on the headlands on the way out. Jig up for livies once you get there. You could also just head Est towards the shelf, its about 45km to the start of the drop. Two weeks ago we had six marlin up through the spread there. Best boat ramp is at soldiers point and it tends not to be as busy, but its a 10km run to the mouth from there, so if you can stand the crowds shoal bay is good. Luck with it!