kingie chaser

Got to the ramp a bit later than I'd hoped, about 6.15am & the car park was about 1/2 full. High tide was 7.30 so still managed the last bit of the run in & a couple of hours of the run out, I try to do 2hrs each side of a tide change where possible. Most people were already out so the ramp was quite relaxed. The plan was to try & target kings to start so headed to Cook reserve where there was about 10 boats all with the same idea. Gave it a go for about 30 minutes without success & didnt see anyone else pull any in either so decided to move on, I had some frozen squid so thought thats going to have to do. Tried the east side of the Kurnel wharf for a while with no luck so moved to the west side, was flicking one of my skutes while I had whole large squid on the bottom, about 10 minuts in had a nice take on the squid & thought here we go my luck has changed, but wasnt a great fight & as I got it up it turned out to be a spotted wobbegong going about 90cm. I brought it in with the net to try & unhook it bit it has swolled it all well & truly so I cut the leader, as I cut the leader(with scissors!) it decided to chomp down on my net like a hungry pitbull & wouldnt let go. I tried putting it back in the water with the net & swim it, not good, not wanting to kill it(or hurt it) I tried about everything so I just had to bring it into the boat. Went to my next spot, just drifting for flatties & let in just sit in the boat thinking it will let go in a minute. So I eventually pry this thing of my net after about 30minutes in total, drop it back in the water & it swims away. Dont think I will bring one of those in again! On the way back to the ramp a guy waved me down, he was achored at the last port bouy near the 3rd runway so I went over, he said he was out of fuel & did I have any. I was trying to use the last 10ltrs in my main tank but had a fresh 10ltr jerry can of 50/1 2 strike mix(he had a 4 stroke) in the boat just in case I ran it out. Anyway he said can I have 5 ltrs to get me back to the ramp which is only about 500mtrs away, sure I said, anyway he basically nearly emptied the whole 10ltrs into his tank(about 1 ltr left), threw the near empty container to me & said thanks then pushed me off. No offer to give me any money or anything. I mean it it just me or does anyone else think thats pretty rude, not even to offer?? I was happy to give him 5ltrs but not 10 😑 I mean who goes fishing & doesnt take enough fuel or back up fuel. The recons he's been there all night to, and this is about 10am now. All sounds a bit weird to me? Anyway I guess its all about Karma, I had some good karma pasted onto me the other day so I guess it was my turn to pass it foward to. End of story 1 flathead to take home but on bait not on the skutes. Im not giving up on the skutes, they actually looked really good in the water! Just need to find the fish 😉

Nice bag yowie.

Nice work, what materials are you using for your flies?

Never knew K/A was doing them but guarantee you thats a Road chef oven just rebadged! Im sure there would be other brands with the same oven, it would be a generic unit like lots of things that come out of china that are rebranded, air compressors, winches, lots of stuff! Event the holes on the sides are the same. Nice price though, looks about $30 cheaper than the road chef!

Thats all well & good as long as the Australian made product is up to as goos as if not better than any other similar product no matter where it is from. I mean after recent events I'dlike to boycott all chinese products but The 2 units above are virtually the same price, to me the build quality of the chinese made product vs the Aussie made product is there to see for yourself. At the end of the day I just want the best product for my money. I actually emailed the company that makes the travel buddy ovens 12 months ago to ask why they didnt use a better latch or an insulated door, which to me is safer & improves performance especially when your talking 12V, I didnt even mention the wiring & other items as in the video. They responded by saying our product is our product, take it or leave it & we have no intensions of making any changes which I took that they were not willing to keep up with a competitor that is making a better product & just bank on the fact they put them together in Victoria but mind you from mostly foriegn parts. I was a bit floored by the attitude I must admit!! I'll be buying the Road chef! Edit: ok & no anderson plug is another factor, easy enough to change but why would you use a ciggy lighter fitting on an item like that anyway?? Its going to either melt the plug or your wiring!

Just one fish makes the effort all worth while. Nice work. Looks like you loving the tinny!

Let you know tomorrow, I figure although its still school holidays a lot more people/parents will be back at work next week(has to more than this week anyway?) having used their annual leave, meaning less boats on the water midweek. Sounds good in theory right 🤔. I imagine night time midweek would be way better than day as well. Weekends, well I just dont go there anymore. If the car park is crowded at 5.45am then I will just turn around.

The latest ones work very well, as I am a 4x4 camper I will be getting one for that reason. When I get a bigger boat it will be used for both reasons. There are a few around using different types of heating. Im looking at either the travel buddy which is Aussie made from local & foreign parts & the road chef which is Chinese made. The problem I have with the travel buddy is the door is not insulated & the latch is a but flimsy. Both can be changed with aftermarket parts at extra cost. Here is a comparison You have to make sure you have a dual battery system as these chew through the juice. Of course you can also just throw in a $25 suitcase butane burner & a frypan/pan & just do stuff suited to that. When I go camping, depending on the length of trip I do a combination of fresh cooked meals but also my own premade meals which are can be anything from Italian meals like chicken cacciatore or chicken bosciola to a good old fashioned Aussie beef stew, put into vacuum sealed bags & simmered in water for 20-30 minutes. Still an oven would be good for pies & similar items or even reheating a Sunday roast.

Just my opinion but the trailer is worth nothing. The motor doesn't look like it's 60's but even if it is with a full service history & functioning it's still not worth a great deal. Not familiar with the make of hull. Don't spend much, the less you spend the bigger the budget on the upgrades. As Dave has said, is it all registered & does the boat have a HIN?

Great way to finishing out the year

I definately think its one of the more challenging ways to fish which makes it all th more rewarding when it does come together. @DavidMoxhe Thought you would get something out of these- https://www.fishraider.com.au/search/?&q=topwater&search_and_or=or&sortby=relevancy

I thought @frankS put some side rod storage into his brooker when he was doing some mods?? If it wasnt franks it was someone else but I did see someone on here do it. What is it you want to store?? Personally I would be touching the seat, if I was to put in storage I think I would be using from the front seat into the bow area. The other option would be to put in a false bottom deck & then build some storage on either side. Remembering of course the weight distribution whould need to be pretty ever. This ia a picture off the net. I made 2 decks in my old Quintrex becase I wanted a better casting platform, they are removable, I could make some storage compartments for the sides like or the same thing in the deck in front but to me I would rather have the freedom to move things around Pretty much the only thing I really want to put in is some rod holders. I do intend to do what I was suggesting earlier & put in a hatch storage area from the front of the front seat into the bow. Also you need to remember if you are going to make a perminant floor you would need to fit a bilge pump as well. Good luck with it

Whiting can be caught anywhere along the the beach from Kyeemagh to Captain cook bridge I'd be starting at the sand flats near the St.george sailing club around to Sandringham & Doll's point

My suggestion is to use the search tab & have a look for similar threads, I found these threads in the same area this one is posted in-

Great result, good to hear there are some decent ones about

Exactly why I tagged you in on this. I dont thing there is another person on FR who can explain these technical things so eloquently & well detailed 😉

Could also be time to make some banana bread as well, they look ripe enough 😁 Nice fishing for the Kings as usual

Well new laws have been passed about social media harrasment & I would think the usual harrasment & defamation laws are still in place. We have been down this path before & won because we had enough support. I dont think people realise just how much both fishing & hunting for that matter inject into the Australian economy per annum! Recreational fishing & associated spending brings approx 4 billion dollars into the nation economy economy, maybe more. Its been reported that in W.A alone it injected as much as 2.4 billion in 2019- https://recfishwest.org.au/media-release/western-australias-2-4-billion-lifestyle/ Just imagine what it would be here in NSW. Recreational hunting isnt far behind either, reportedly worth 2.4 billion in 2019 to the aussie economy. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-24/hunting-contributes-more-than-2-billion-dollars-to-economy/11539746#:~:text=Australia's hunters and shooters contributed,by the Department of Health. Cut both & there would be a lot of hurt in both regional & city areas & the knock on effect through associated businesses would be massive. And while I agree that there needs to be a balance where species are not depleted or breeding grounds affected. I dont think direct lockouts do anything but affect local economies. If you were to severely restrict fishing in NSW coastal towns imo it would turn them into ghost towns! Then again with the increasing yearly population(pre covid) where most new immigation ends up in the cities there are more people leaving the cities for regional areas so I guess they will always grow? Sorry all, a bit off topic but then again its all related!

So just an update, I havent been fishing lately mostly due to the weather. In saying that I looked at going yesterday thinking there would be a window in the morning before the rain & thunderstorms roll in, he fishing didnt eventuate but those storms sure did hit with a thud, winds reached 97kph in Botany bay apparently. Anyway I have been continuing to make the skute in anticipation of getting out soon, the 4 on the left I am calling my practice run, the 4 on the right were the last 4 I did & I am starting to get the hang of it(I think anyway). I bought some reflective glue on eyes which I will use on the normal jigheads but I also bought som TT Big Eye jigheads as well to try, never used them before so used some of then for the skutes & some I will throw some plastics on as well. They arent cheap though @ $4 each, they do have another one called DemonZ that are a bit cheaper but dont look as nice Hopefully later this week the weather will turn more favourable so I can give them a run & see if I can get some flatties on them.

Great post Brendan, sounds like there was a lot of excitement & action. Shame about the one that wasnt able to be released but that's fishing & as long as it's gone to good use that's the main thing. Just don't eat to much though, I'm sure you know why. Thanks for sharing the trip

You must have been posted this while I was writing up my post. To many "Karens" in the world today! He definately kepts his cool a lot better than I would have been able to!

I saw this on @nbdshroom's youtube page the other day & though he handled himself very well. I can imagine what I think I would have said when the women asked me for my fishing licence I think I would have called the police for harrasment myself. I have seen the majority of his posts on here & watched most of Shroom's vids on youtube & he is pretty much only catch & release & always strives to get the fish back into the water alive & well. What can you say, some people just have NFI! Its people like this that would like to see your right's to fish at all be disallowed, futher more before they open their mouth they should actually look up fishing rules so they actually know what they are talking about. https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/balmain-karen-threatens-fisherman-with-police/news-story/cd65c028037ce731b87fa88ba0678d3d

@zmk1962 is someone on here that has a very good understanding of props but there are some old threads on here you could search for to get info from. Comes down to a few factors which you would need to know the info for your vessel & would be hard for someone to give you an exact answer without that info But this is video is a good summary of determining your corret pitch.

Looks like a terrific day out there & you got a fish, great bonus Nice report but just 2 things, using 7 inch rods & also no leader??

I feel your pain Jim, I got my close to a metre flathead into the enviro net(well the 3rd that would fit in) before it fell out & while I was bringing it around for another go it spat the SP & she sailed back to the bottom. That's the perils of fishing solo although not I take my larger net with me as well. At least I got to see her even though I didn't boat her.