martoiscool

Travel calm works for me... And I go outside in a tinny so it is usually always rough!! I take one the night before and two in the morning before I go out. I always eat breakfast (but no milk) and drink water. I chuck in a can of coke in my esky just in case I'm tying knots and start to feel I'll. Fixes ya right up

Thanks swordy, Yeah I was stoked with the jack glad I crossed it off my list to. Should be a good season up here for em hopefully!! The muddied are starting to appear again to....mmm chilli mud crab....

Hmmm let me think about that....no... Haha my misses would swap though. All her family is in sydney. Should retire early mate, real estate market is really down at the moment, perfect for buyin!!

Here's the photos.....

Hey raiders been reading the post on giving more information about catches and i agree with sharing more info and having a set format. The spots i go to are usually boat only and fish do move around plus i live in the far north coast of nsw where there arent to many raiders..(i think!!) Went for a fish this morning so here goes.. FISH: targeting jewfish and flathead. Fish caught, mangrove jack. TIME: in water 6.00am out water 11.00am. Fish caught about 9.10am PLACE: Wardell bridge and about 2km north in the river near a concrete drain. GEAR: samuki zecton 4lb-8lb Spin stick matched with a Stradic ci4 2500. 8lb braid 10lb leader with a short 20cm length of 20lb used as a bite leader. Squidgy blood worm wriggler 100mm with a little bit of s factor. STORY: my mate and I decided last night to head down for a fish. He wanted to try some new tactics for Jews using jackal transoms and mask vibes. Anyway we launched the boat round 6 and started drifting in between the pylons jigging the jackals just off the bottom. Tide was running a little quick still.. We misread the tide chart... So after a little while we decided to try a spot me mate new of which produces good flatties. We moved up river bout two kays on the eastern bank near a concrete pipe. He said we just drift by the bank about 30m either side and should get fish. For the first drift he was still using the jackals while I tied on the squidgy. He dropped two good fish and by the time I was ready we had to start the drift again. I had two casts and was wondering if the jig head was to light as I was having trouble keeping contact with plastic when the line went slack in the water. I thought this was strange so I wound a little and the line was going in the opposite direction to the current so I struck and I was on!! Straight away it hard a hard run back up stream then away from the bank (luckily) my mate and I picked it for a school Jew and I thought this may have been right but it just felt different. Anyway a few more good runs had me confused and I was excited to get it into the boat. My mate grabbed the net as I carefully lifted it in the water and to both our surprised faces. The below beautiful jack layed on its side before shooting off for another run. I was really excited now and soon after with some ecellent net work by my mate we landed her.. Couldn't believe it.. My first jack and what a jack!!! Also it was the first fish for my new combo and it handled it fine. After a few photos and a quick measure it was released to fight another day. The photos arent that great but anyone who has one of those fish size stickers that are free from tackle stores you can tell by the wahoo and amberjack that it was around 49-50cm. Not a first place raider record but not far off.. Anyway continued drifting that spot a little bit more with nothing signifficant caught. Headed back down to the bridge as tide had slowed right down and again tried for Jews and flatties with only one cod and a good sized bream caught. We both were gettin hungry so decided to call it a day. I know there are jacks around near ballina buy haven't heard of them being that've up stream. I hope the above format is okay. Thought I'd try something different. Cheers, sam.

Hey mate I own the mercury 30hp two stroke. I know it's double ur size but i bought it last year so it prob is in comparison.. It starts first or second time every time and runs fairly damn good. Fuel consumption is good when cruising or putting around. Flat out it chews it!! It can be a little rough when trying to slow troll and it blows a little smoke at this speed but other than that I love it!!

Haha that's always the way... The place where there I heaps of fish is off limits!!!

Yeah sorry mate didn't mean it to sound like I was having a go at ya. I do agree that the zones should be increased. It would solve alot of problems..

Royts, Mate reading the other post I got the opinion you were inside the zone. If you were east of the line the yes you were "legally" in the right... But and it's a big but... The water police may have recieved complaints or something and if they deem that you were causing an obstruction.. Or posing a potential danger to others... Then they do have the power to move you on regardless... I hope that helps a little bit..

Oi and I forgot to say that my mate has a 3000 ci4 that he uses for land based spinning on a fairly long 2 piece diawa rod. It casts a bloody mile and he doesn't have any issues with line running out etc...

Hey Tom, Mate I prefer the sustain.. I have pulled both the Stradic and the sustain apart and the sustains internals look tougher. It also has more bearings which may help. I have replaced the drag washers with carbon units and I do look after my reels. I use it for big plastics hard bodies etc on a 4-7 kilo t curve revolution inshore. I use it along side a Stradic 4000 when live baiting. The sustain was put through it's paces by a dirty big shark a few months back nearly 1mt long when I had a live mullet met for Jews. It handled it no worries without even a hint of giving up. Could of taken more punishment in my opinion. It just feels tougher... Mind you there is nothing wrong with a Stradic... Especially a ci4... Geez after all that bable I hope I have helped!!!

Sorry Kurt you were in the wrong buddy... I know quite a bit about the water rules. (brother in the cops). When I get propped by the authorities, even if I know I'm right, I don't argue... It only ends in tears and can be quite costly.... If you ever get spoken to for doing something wrong when your were in the right, just walk away and take it up with the bosses of the agency you dealt with or call the Nsw ombudsman. Thats what they are there for!!

Haha that's funny!!

Yeah mate stoked with it, so smooth. Had a little prob wit backlash but that was my fault for not taking my time to get used to it!! I don't know why I didn't get one sooner

Thanks bassboy. I settled on a 7' zecton phase 2 (sounds like it belongs on star trek or something!!) in the 4-8lb range. Matching it up with a 2500 Stradic ci4. One spool loaded with 8lb sunline braid and the other loaded with 4.4lb tournament exceede (bream spool only) I've used the sunline for roughly 6 months now and can't fault it. It's just so thin for it's rated weight. This set up will be my spare bass rod and alternant saltwater stick. will also be using it when heading out to pindari and copeton dams It's on order and should be here next week. I'll let ya know how it gos

Mate I have the live liner version an it's great.. It has it's on drag function and to strike you only have to wind the handle a little to switch back to the normal drag

Lilli pilli baths would be it I reckon. I lived near and fished the hacking for the last 4 years and it is the spot that has really deep water just off it. It has a sand bank on one side and drops off rather quick on the other. I have caught school Jew there and some half decent rat kings. There are also some stonking big flat head there to!! Good luck!!

Chasin bass on the Richmond river near casino out of a kayak

Good on ya mate, A few of my work mates and I just cancelled a trip we were planning to do at monduran. We heard the fishing was really tough... At least you have caught one!!

Hey mate sounding like ur havin some probs!!! First point: mate take your outfit down to a nearby beach or sand flat where you can practice casting over and over. Dont worry about trying to catch anything just practice. You should be able to cast way further than what you have stated. It could be to do with ur braid but I have never personally used the stuff you are. Second point: catching fish on plastics can take time!! I just moved away from the Sydney area and a few land based areas I could suggest are; any of the jetties in the port hacking. The big sand flat at mainbar that Is exposed at low tide. You can walk the edge of this an cast into the chanel for flatties. In my opinion these are the easiest fish to catch when learning to use plastics. You can use jig heads a little bigger for your rod recommendation, I do and it doesn't seem to hurt it. All my rids are graphite and I punish them fairly hard and haven't snapped one yet. The plastics you have mentioned are fine. Try some paddle tail style plastics as these require the least input from you to attract fish. Just a simple lift and wind. Usually when using a bigger jig head I up the plastic size. Mate this post could go on for years!! I hope I have been some help. If you would like to know more PM me. Good luck!!!!

Mate I use spotters. I have a weird shaped head!! And they make a perfect fit or me. Just try them all on as each model is shaped To fit different melons. I get the glass lens and I haven't scratched them yet. They do get a fair bit of punishment too.

Hey all, Looking at a new spin stick and came across the samaki range. They claim that the rod blanks are picked and designed by garry loomis. And they are reasonably cheap, bout 200 from an online shop. Has anyone owned or used one of these rods??

If dolphins turn up where I'm fishing I pull up stumps and leave... My theory is they are the biggest and smartest predator so all the other predators I'm trying to catch, bream, tailor, jewies etc disappear.. It doesn't matter how good the spot or weather or even how good the fish are biting. I'm outa there!!

Albright knot or a slim beauty knot. Tie them properly and you will have no problems

Mate ever thought about servicing the reel ya self?? I've started to do mine now an I do em once a year, or if I drop it in the sand/water. It's not that hard to do, I just use the schematics that comes with the reel as a guide.. Pull ya reel apart a few times and put it back together again and u will soon be asking ya self how can they justify the big price tag for a service!!