bombora

Hiya Veck mate the best bit of advice I was ever given about trapping poddies was not to do with what you use (commercial traps, modified two litre juice bottles etc etc etc all work) but where you put em. Many many people place the trap too deep, he said. Old digger told us to place the trap where only a centimetre or two of water is above the top of the trap. The shallower the better was this old boy's advice. It has worked for us. Cheers Bombie

Thanks Red! Mate I think you may have swayed my mind; the boat I'll be on has game gear so I may ditch the overhead idea, and instead put together a mega-heavy spinning outfit as generl duties beastie rod and then I can also slip in the 2-3kg spinning gear for the bonefish which allegedly inhabit the atoll flats . Thanks Bombie

Hiya fishless; if we are talking from a boat, then I reckon there isn't a sambo on earth which can't be landed in five minutes or so on 2kg Fireline. Just keep the rod high and get em to jump heaps to knacker em quick!!! Lures wise, the usual; bass minnows, sluggos, plus the smallest River2Sea slug in the white/pearl colour, homemade bucktail jigs in white and also home made dowell poppers about 3 inches long in white or Qantas colours. Favor jigs these days cause of the single hooks; dont like tearing up their faces with trebles. Oh yeah plus a few home made eyes flies for putting behind a popping cork for when they are really fussy. Best rod I've used in past few years was an orphan yankee-made Daiwa rod; 8 ft long, 12 inch rear grip, perfect for 2kg Fireline and amazing how much longer it casts than the standard 6 to 7ft rod. Cheers bombie

4.2m used sensibly and in the right weather i no sweat to fish outside; plenty of guys (including a mate) run small tinnies out of Brownies ramp to the Long Reef wave ider in summer for the dollies! One thing maybe to consider whih this mate does is to get a tiller extension so you can be centred in the boat. Much better than being at the stern in swell/chop. cheers Bombie (he picked his up from a private sale at narrabeen for $3000 with trailer and 30hp yammie )

Hita Pedro mucho thanks for the PM, have emailed the bloke and will see if he takes a ridiculous offer

Thanks Bash. Will keep hunting. Might even go an Avet like everyone else!!! Rod has to be an alrounder so don't mind if it ain't the perfect jig rod. Bombie

Hiya all; pleading for some help for some outfits for a dream trip I'm going to in december. It's primarily a surf adventure in the Tuomotu Islands about 1000 kays east of Tahiti. Anyway a guy going on the trip just got back from the same area on an exploratory trip (yes hye's a chashed up dude). He ain't fisho but sent me some pix of what they (no one on board was a fisho!) caught; included a sailfish at least eight feet long _ a masive sail it was, YFTs to 40kg, and a trio of Dollies each of which was about 10-12kg. SO I need help with a few outfits that could handle what's a frontier place with BIG critters. Have decided on a Saltist 30 reel with 40-50lb braid for general stuff but what rod? Hey Bash you mentioned one at 99 bucks in another post? Looked at the trigger dripped heavy Berkley rod (?) part of their dropshot range and also only 99 bucks but was warned they break. Any other ideas for a chep but gutsy rod (Saltist also very small like the Avet in another post). Also anyone got any ideas for a cheap-ish medium heavy spin outfit. Most of my dosh going on some new boards for the trip so have not got masses of money to spend. Two piece _ or under 6 to 6'6" ft rods _ needed cause of light plane restrictions. PS Bash I think I read another site where you went with a Shimano after looking at the Saltist _ can I ask what swayed you. Cheers Bombie

Hey Pogo, to Laurie Anderson. O Superman still one of my fav songs ever!!!! Bombie

same; born a jewie, dies a jewie. I also dislike all this crapolla about different names for snapper as they grow (maybe with the exception of cockney bream, like the name and does nyone know it's origins?) Cheers Bombie

Hiya; mate last summer I saw NO trev bust-ups. Admittedly work was hellish and didn't have as many opportunities to get there, but still would have popped down on average 2-3 times a week at least. Have almost given up on it too! Heard through the grapevine that a couple of yokels ripped out some brilliant fish on live prawns on floats fished on kelly rigs . Cheers Bombie

Interesting stuff Swoffa, what about a very small waterway like some of the coastal lagoons? I know one in particular where I've had a shocker the past 6-8 months. Basically went from a killer year at the goon to a shocker year where I've struggled on each visit. Then again I may be searching for an excuse for crap angling skills or the goon may be having one of its off years!!!! Sounds like something the Aussie bass lake fishos will have to take into consideration though. Hiya H-tuna that sounds like a great read. Will pick up a Marlin mag on the weekend and devour! Cheers Bombie

Hiya all, have been reading a bit lately about how quickly the bass in Japanese lakes learn about certain plastics and that is the reason "the next big thing" lure is so important to Japanese fishos. Basically they are forced to constantly find new lures cause the "old ones" stop producing very quickly. Wonder if the sainted bass minnow will go the same way here seeing as everyman and his dog uses em? As an example I have a mate at work whork is luckily enough to live in a waterfront home in the Hawkesbury area. He has the usual wharf at the front. Now this guy was telling me that on weekends he can have anywhere up to 30 boats cast lures under his wharf in a full day. He actually counted something like 28 "visits" one day last autumn. So how many lures have the bream which live under his wharf seen? Bad luck if you are Fisho Number 10 or 20 or whatever. These fish must see a damn lot of lures and wonder if, as my mate says, he rarely sees anyone actually score a fish or even a strike. Something to think about ayway. cheers Bombie

Hey B-Cod I should make a fine casting target _ tall and skinny dude so I'll present a nice challange. Better bring the flax jacket, cricket pads, box and bike helmet; should be a good look; might ad some Cancer Council sunnies for the complete geek outfit! PS I've got a 10 weight rod and reel _ don't worry it's a mates I've been minding for about 3 years! _ would this help in having enough fly outfits? Or is it too heavy for learners? Bombie

Hmmmm, even though I love stirring up rope throwers I might have to have a go at the black art. Even if just to have an extra weapon in the arsenal when the sambos only want eyes!!! PS guys October seems to be prime time for jumbo whiting in Narra Lake. My fishing diary shows most of my lure caught 40cms-plus poor man's bonefish have come from Narra (though further up the back) in spring. So if any raiders are gonna make a day of it might wanna bring some of those bloodworm flies for the whiting. Cheers Bombie

Are we talking one lure, literally, or one style of lure. If one lure only then anyone who picked a softie better hope no tailor about . My choice would be a bucktail jig _ 1/8th oz _ with darter shaped head painted in pale green-white lumo with epoxy eyes, red skirt binding and white or chartreuse (probably white) tail of bucktail with a few strands of silver flash with No2 shortish shank hook. Has caught everything from 10cm flounder to 13kg cobia. They last a lot longer than a plastic, have as much if not more movement and like any good jig NO lure is as versatile, from top water to dredging depths. cheers Bombie

G'day; mate went up there this time last year and asked same question; I put together a little party pack for him to go with the bream-weight spinning rod and 2kg fireline he took. In the little tackle box went half a dozen chrome slices (Raiders mostly) a trio of small poppers (the smaller skitter pops and a home made dowell popper three inches long), a dozen home made bucktail jigs up to quarter once, plus several packets of plastics (bass minnows, small Squidgy fish etc) and jigheads between a sixteenth and a quarter once. Plus some 6lb and 12lb leader and a couple of little wire leaders. Upon return he reported having a ball by simply slipping away from his cheese and kisses and casting along the shore and flats on high tide, treeting it as if he was in Sydney. Said he gots lots of little trevs of various species, flathead (?), whiting, small queenies if I remember and several whizz bang bustoffs. He said he loved fishing the small poppers more than anything else. Also said he did good near a boat ramp in town but no idea where that is. cheers Bombie

Ooops, sorry for the misquote digger, besides didn't think I had to define your customs by brand as Millers are all you get isn't it! And thanks for the info , now I'm not sure which to probably get. I hope Cabelas have their act together and provide an accurate rating for their rods; I hope the casting weights are accurate as I go for that more than line rating mostly anyway on light rods. chers Bombie

Hiya people; have been eyeing off some new rods in the Cabellas online store; their new top range own label spinning rods with recoil guides and great alloy reel seet and cork butt arrangement. Probably go for the 7 footer/4-10lb line/1/8-5/8th casting weights/64 million modulous graphite, as a new allrounder for plastics, small metals and minnows. Considering Swoffa was saying merely adding recoil guides to a custom rod here in Oz ads $100 to the price, for all up price of approx $234 oz dollars there look pretty good. Anyone had experience of Cabellas own label rods?

gars are brilliant; my best ever snapper session was casting whole gars on gangs caught the night before into a bommie somewhere near Port Stephens; 4 kg snapper go hard on baitcasters in 4 metres of water!!! If ganging slip a centimetre or so of clear plastic tubing up the line before tying on the ganged hooks (something like the tubing from an aerator). When you've put the gar on the gangs slip the tube over the gar's bill and it helps keeps the bait nice and straight. Cheers and good luck Bombie

Hiya Lawrie, just wanna say I'm thoroughly enjoying your jew masterclass!!! Keen for more installments! Cheers and thanks for the shared knowledge, Bombie

I don't seem to fish anymore thanks to damn work and a few other issues but anyway just some quick info for any raiders who might have tomorrow (Tues Aug 30) off and are gonna fish. About 9am this morning watched a nice ol' boil up going while I was driving over the Spit Bridge. The action was just west of the bridge and the gulls where giving it a good go so hopefully the baitfish getting hammered were/are big enough to match without too much trouble. chers Bombie

OK Here's my blurter recipe (though I'll make a quick plea to limit your catch on the ol' trevors as they are a very slow growing fish with a long life span like bream) As said bleed and gut upon capture and into an ice slurry (NOT straight onto ice). Cut flesh into chunks about the size of half a matchbox. Get a can of coconut cream. Soak the chunks in the coconut cream. Remove and let excess drip off. In a plastic bag mix breadcrumbs, a touch of flour, and a table spoon of Thai spices (or any spicy mix). Put the chunks a couple at a time into the plastic bag and shake til coated. After you've done all the chunks, put on plate and leave in fridge covered for an hour or so. Then simply deep or shallow fry in GOOD FRESH oil. The batter seals the flesh and it's oh so moist, while the coconut cream and Thai spices add a flavour that really seems to compliment the trevor. Great finger food or serve with rice and cucumber slices or a thai salad. Kids love em too. Cheers Bombie

Cangrat on your first kingie Narra! Well done! And goodstuff too Bluecod. Driving to work this morning there was a school of somethings working about 50-80 metres off Harboard Diggers club; birds were working fairly hard and could see splashes before I had to start looking at the road again . If there's no action off Manly or Queenie Bombie this little area off the northern tip of Harboard is worth the extra kay or two travelled, it has been good to us in the past for small pelagics. cheers Bombie

thanks guys, if I get the time might do an oped piece for monday cheers heaps!!!!!! Bombie

Hiya Raiders; might be getting up a story on the proposed new size/bag limits for NSW for Monday. As part of the story wanna access info on the GREAT STRIPED MARLIN CON OF NSW; this being a fairly recent report on the value of striped marlin as a rec only fish. The report, buried by state govt, is classic ammo for rec fishers. Just need direction to get the bare stats of the report on value of striped marlin to recs and to pros. chers if anyone can help. Bombie