offtap1

Yesterday while out at browns i heard Coastal Patrol Sydney speaking to a boat who had called in a Mayday, i could only hear Coastal Patrol so assumed the boat in distress was a long way from me, i heard that another boat in there vicinity was first on scene then the marine Police, but also heard that Police Rescue and a chopper had been called for people washed on to rocks. Does anyone know the full story, i hope the people involved are ok.

Hi Adam i personally use a small electric reel on rod but believe after using a deep sea winch "Alvey Reef Queen" loaded with much larger braid ie. 200lb believe you get much better hook up rate as you generally hand line (with gloves of course) while line on bottom for a much better direct feel for hits. Also holding the rod while retrieving a big weighted fish and 3kg sinker becomes unbearable with excessive back strain after short time even with harness, we are talking about retrieving in excess of 500mts of line. I will be looking into a Reef Queen or King soon my self. Cheers Dave

Geeze those photos you took make it look far calmer than the swell actually was yesterday. That was the first time we have kept in contact with other raiders on the water and hopefully not the last. Thanks again offtap and well done on the catch!!!! Craig Hi Craig nice to catch up on radio, im out most Saturdays so give us a call when your out next, good to keep in touch while out covering different areas, PS. the pics of Caige holding fish were taken back in bay, ill add an off shore pic. Anytime Dave, great to have u aboard, hopefully next time in some better conditions, and maybe get to use that Wattos trap bait next time for a YFT or 3. Now you will have to register with FR maybe as "Chucky2" and Ray might have to change to "Travel Calm Junkie" and dont forget to register for "The Back to the Bay Social Sep 16th". Cheers Dave

With bureau predicting easing winds later in day and turning Easterly we decided Browns would be the go, Me,Outdodad,On Edge and buddy Dave hit Botany for livie fish for several quick Yakkas and a Slimie before venturing outside, caught up with Brett and crew on TunOFun at bait grounds, went out in quite sloppy conditions with no sign of easing but pushed on hoping predictions would come through, but all we got was conditions worsening.Kept in touch via radio to Fishlexic who was trying his luck with a spread out(Cheers Buddy) Found 18.9 deg at shelf and spotted a surface swimming Beakie that wouldnt come to the party, im sure that was odd for this time of year. Found 19.2 deg at browns and decided that cube was out of the question as drift and sea conditions were less than desirable so Bottom bash was the go, first drop and Dave hooks up with a nice Gemmie and nanagie, the Nanagie had taken a live Yakka almost the same size as him, back in with the Nanagie and the Gemmie went in the kill tank to bleed, next drop was Caige and instant hook up to double Gemmies , me next and again another double on Gems, changed location and after the fourth drop with no hook up i dropped and waited all of about a minute before hooking a Blue Eye to 8kg which gave a good showing all the way to top, conditions even worsened by now so decided on slow bash back in. Great company and a good feed, Caige and Dave broke there virginity on Gemmies while Ray slept off an OD of Travel Calm. Back inside with Caige all smiles. A table fit for a king

Only a few boats out today , very sloppy conditions, 19.2 deg at browns , too crap to cube so just bottom bounced before conditions worsened and headed back, not sure if any fin caught , though i did spot Marlin on surface just east of shelf in 18.9, but wouldnt play.

Super late reply Iain but absolutely tottally enjoyed day and company, thanks buddy as usual, great feed the Gemmies like you said, Blue eye went down well also, i have revised my rig set up care of Wattos and am hoping weather Gods are on my side tommorrow for a few more before sitting back for cube trail and some pelagic action (heres hoping) Cheers Dave

Tommorrows plan is to be on water at 7am, Botany for livie fish then out to do some bottom bashing browns then look for some decent water to start a cube trail with ON EDGE, OUTDODAD and buddy Dave on board all weather pending of course, we will be on AM 94 and Scanning 16 and 81 on the FM, call sign OFFTAP, Good luck all and give us a yell, hoping to be back late with esky full and smiles all round. Cheers Dave

Thats a mad haul Mick, they should cook up nice with a few spices and pan fried.

Good work on such a poor weather wise day Ross , at least u put some smiles on the dials of your crew and thats all that counts, Keep up the good work. Cheers Dave

LOCATION:Tunks Park Northbridge Brothers Avenue Northbridge CONDITION OF RAMP/ACCESS: A little bit of a narrow windie road but still accessible with my 7m boat. Ramp 3 lanes wide. Centre of ramp extends back much further than sides,So centre of ramp to be used on big boats or low tide. otherwise great steep ramp. Grooved Concrete. Parking for at least 30 Cars with Trailers with other parking for cars, but be early.. PARKING/FACILITIES: Running water at wash table Long pontoon No Beaching area so Pontoon Drop off or pick up only. Middle Harbour Direct Access and Approximately 2ks to spit and about 10ks off Heads. Access Via Strathallen Av

Hi Buddy and welcome, not sure where your traveling from but Tunks Park at NorthBridge has a great ramp that is in Middle Harbour, and you wont have to worry about crossing harbour. Forget the name of road that leads you down there but look up UBD , access off Miller Street Northbridge. Cheers Dave

XD100 oil is a full synthetic 2 stroke oil manufactured by Evinrude. It costs about $65 for 5 litres. Ross I Think you will find thats 3.7lts Ross, but should be 5 lts i reckon

Please add me , oudodad, and daughter,(4) looks like being a huge one.

Excellant Work Rabs and great first report especially since the YFT have been hard to come by the last few days. By the way how fast was the drift , it was pushing me 2.7knots an hour on Tuesday arvo. Cheers Dave

How good is this, even offering GPS marks, how friendly are the Guys and Gals on this site. FISHRAIDER Kicking is Arse,

For bottom bashing, Braid is a must but will limit you to other acivities, Black Magic have a mad smaller reel, bullet proof and Tica have a wide range which are also an excellant product, Wattos has them Cheers Dave

Hey Stumpy the boat u are referring to as "Reel Adiction" was actually my mate Ray(On Edge) a raider, very similar boat, as in same colour that is, geez you must have had a few cans , congrats to all, and another great report Stumps, Cheers Dave

A Table fit for a king, great effort, and on your Pat Malone to awsome, Cheers Dave

Will there be enough room for the esky and 20kg Trap Bait Pillies, at least it hasnt got a radio, if Claudia goes with u.

Just heard from a couple of mates Ray(OnEdge) and Steve (Sailfish) picked up a few more Hairies tonite, Ray got 16 with his buddy and Steve got 9 with his buddy, sounded like there were quite a few Raiders down there braving the elements, i think most were caught before and just after dark.

I look like being out Tuesday arvo for late one, if work load goes the way i hope, Cheers Dave

Parsley Bay Broklyn is the closest by boat to jerusalem Bay. Cheers Dave

Its not just noise your talking about, it is absolute agony to the ears, last week it brought tears to my eyes, couldnt sleep a wink, but then again didnt mind staying up drinking all night, oh yeh and fishing.

As long as he has his Radio turned off , if your going

Hi buddy we gave the floats away after we scored the first few fish down deep, we caught all on unweighted pillies or squid(pillies worked best) fish different depths from mid water to a couple of metres off bottom, but keep an eye on rod as they are a bugger to hook, try jerusalem bay up near shallows. Cheers Dave