tasksta

Great solo session, would have been a nice feeling coming home successful. Were you downrigging?

Cheers for the tips all. I was only quoting 18kg drag as this is the max for the reel. We fought on strike drag which i think is 8ish? After the first hour we clicked it up to get some line back but couldnt hang onto the rod and clicked it back down. As for the hooks pulling, upon closer inspection there was very little barb left otherwise all good. Looking at the other lures of same vintage they were starting to corrode. Lesson learnt. We had plans to 'plane' him up but hooks pulled before we got the chance. Was surprised to see just how much line was left out, easy 90m. Maybe you can swap the live bait tank for a game chair for next time johnny?? Man that southerly was fierce. Anyone else on here out sat? We passed a massive rig that was fighting a beauty.

Thats a good price. Fleabay?

Great thanks Gary i can defo hear it clicking. Didnt get out on my boat to test this weekend so just want to be confident there will be no issues with it next week. Cheers Paul

Well... had plans to hit Sydney harbour yesterday, howeverr got a late call from a mate Fri evening. Plan was to hit botany wide for some 'baby marlin' that is around at the moment, didnt have to ask me twice. We said the spread and trolled out for about 2 hours, hoping to be at spot X for the high tide. I love when a plan comes together. Bang on high tide the temps were looking very good and the 'Big' reel screams off. I think everyone knows the feeling after trolling for so long when it does finally happen there is a pause in shock. We looked at each other and than to the back of the boat to see..........MARLIN ON! Breached the water and was easy 2m+ estimating 100kg ish, im no expert. He pulled 300m of 24kg out of the 50W in around 45 seconds. Thank God he took the 50W! I reeled in the other 'small' rods and quickly got us heading toward him to gain some line back, so far so good. We both took turns as the cheap gimbal offered no back support and we were hurting. 15 minutes each and we were toasted, this was a big big fish for guys chasing flatties and kings any other weekend. After the first hour we got back to the wind on, ''only'' 100M to go... This is where we struggled and i look for advice from anyone who knows the drill as we did not. The fish went deep and we COULD NOT budge him, we are young fit guys and we were barely getting an inch or two back at a time. This continued for anoth 45 minutes until.......the hook pulled....D E V E S T A T E D. We both went silent and that was that, almost two hours and we were smashed. MARLIN 1 WEEKEND WARRIORS 0 Southerly was ripping up and we had to mack it hom quick. We spent the rest of the trip home thinking what should we have done? What could have been? We both aggree that marlin fishing is more to do with the skipper than the fisherman. Is this accurate? Should we have 'planed' him to the surface and played him that way? He was definitley spent after that first hour but I think because the fight was vertical we could not budge him. 24kg line + 18kg drag + 100kg fish = how the f**k do you land a fish like this? Anyway was great to have the experience and we will be back next week and the week after. (with new hooks) Keep in mind this is two guys in a 6m tinny who normally chase flatties and kings. I know people pay thousands for this kind of stuff. Sorry no pics of the fish, only action' shots of us ín pain and high fiving one another. Please, please if anyone can offer advice on how to land these magnificant fish it would be greatly appreciated. Trailerboat marlin WOO HOO!

Caught an 82cm king while fishing for yakkas..... In cowan creek in winter! Have a pic somewhere with a size 8 hook in its lip.

Have only switched it on for a minute at a time, guess ill find out saturday. Cheers

Hi all I have finally gotten around to installing my HDS 7, christmas present to myself. It all appears to work fine however the sonar reads a heap of vertical stripes. Is this a normal reading out of water? Obviously I dont expect it to mark fish in the garage but just curious if this is normal? Wont be in the water till Sat and would rather resolve any issues now. P.S. I have sleected the correct transducer. cheers Paul

I find my 30lb fins very coarse, will spool the power pro iup this weekend for a king sesh.

Just got 80lb power pro depth hunter 500yds for 60 from US. Not a big fan of fins braid.

Wow thats a horse not too many around at that size. What bait were you using?

20m+ holes on both sides, easy to sound up. Good luck!

Nice feed there, can i ask what depth you were in? Cheers Paul

4lb fireline is fine prob better as it breaks at well over that. I also use 14lb vanish leader for flatties, will be doing so in berowra tomorrow. No matter what size, if you use vanish all the way through and not braid you will pay for it with short casting which is counter priductive for sp fishing. Hope this helps, learn from my experience. On a side note i have NEVER broke fireline and this includes the odd cowan king!

Mate i have been down this road and quickly reverted back to braid. The difference in casting distance between the two is huge. I fish 6lb fireline exceed and 6lb vanish leader. Cheers Paul

+1 thought it was just me!

Unweighted chicken thigh is killer for bream, got my PB this way too! Burley with chicken pellets, use a Simple rig let it float down near banks, drop offs and structure and hang on.

1/16 for 80mm With 6lb fc leader 1/8 for 120mm with 14lb fc leader Always 6lb fireline exceed. I fish SP's land based mostly narrabeen lake and on the boat mainly hawkeabury and berowra. Berwra is great as its very flat and quite shallow, loads of structure so easy to find the fish. Good luck!

Do tou mark up the fish before you drop bait? Or do you find a 'fishy' spot and start burleying hard? Cheers

Mate you are the Sydney snapper king! You ever where a t-shirt?

Mate i would be spewing but atleast you found the fish!

All good it was a question rather than a comment. Just want to understand what im doing wrong. I dont have a lot of experience so have been using all the 'text book' locations and techniques. So far no good three weeks in a row, little disappointing. Happy to take someone out one Saturday to show me Where im going wrong? Im keen as mustard now i have a boat and just want to get stuck in!

Hi all The conditions look good for a thur evening jew sesh at gladesville area. It would be great to have a guide to help, as i have never targeted jew before. Have dead fresh squid, pike and there is a good source for more yakkas and squid nearby. I launch at drummoyne so only about a 500m trip! The boss works late thurdays so hopefully will be a regular mid week trip. Cheers Paul

I have some left over bait from the harbour yesterday, fresh squid and a pike. Are these any good for jew bait when dead? If so what the best method to present them? Will they be ok now that ive frozen them? Cheers Paul

Hi all Anyone having luck with harbour kings yet? Most reports i read are still offshore? Big day in the harbour yesterday: 7 inch shads at the markers Hard bodys up and down both heads Live squid and yakka at the markers, old mans hat, colours reef and spit bridge for nothing. Is my new boat cursed or are the kings yet to appear inside in numbers? Cheers Paul