monk

hey tripper you can have my strudwick sicstik 7' 1-3kg for $40 pm me if you want. cheers, Byron

HOTRODS is right, they are mechanically exactly the same, all made in Thailand. the biggest difference is that the Kix comes in larger sixes, wheras the others only go up to size 3000, the kix goes up to 4000, and these larger models are made in Japan. cheers, Byron

thanks for the reply guys, I will definitely be doing my homework. cheers, monk

Hey CaineS, Thanks for the response, I think I might take a gamble, and try out a pack or two, they are pretty cheap and if they are any good I might buy some more. Just wanted to check what other people's experiences are like, importing SP's. Thanks again, monk

Hey Guys, I was looking at trying some new types of SP's from an ebay store in japan. I was wondering if it is possible to get soft plastics through customs, as I know there have been a couple of problems with getting GULP in from the US. Has anyone tried this? and is it possible or not? cheers, monk

yeah it will definitely be cheaper, and you will see alot of stuff there that is not available in Australia. Be careful though, because you may have warranty issues. In terms of reels, stick to Daiwa, because most the reels in Japan are available here, whereas shimano have alot of japan only spec reels. Japanese fishing shops are fantastic, the range of stuff they have is amazing. If it were me, I would be trying to get a rod there, as jap spec rods are a work of art, though it might be a little annoying for your dad to cart a rof tube along. Definitely check out some of their lures tho. look at a website like this: http://www.lure.jp/ and look at their range of HB's, write the ones you want on a piece of paper to give to your dad to give to the shop owner and he will get all the lures for you. With the current EXCELLENT exchange rate, you can some great lures (camions, chubbies, towards, mebapens...) all for about AUD$10-13. if you can organise a group buy gimme a PM anyway, enough rambling, hope that helps Monk

I too have got a Biomaster C3000 and it has performed flawlessly, top value for the money in my opinion, much better than the stradic. I have had it for a year now and havent had any problems with it. The only downfall would be warranty issues, since it is a Jap spec reel, it would be difficult to get it reparied under warranty. my two cents, monk

hey guys, just to clarify, is this the Saltiga Dorado A-rounder or the Dorado M-Over 80S? Cheers, Byron

haha yeah i just saw the intro for the story!!

Thanks everyone for their help, I will definietly give it a try coastfisher. They are very nice rods =)

Hey Guys, I am up for a session clifton on thursday, what time will you guys be going, give me a PM so we can organise something. I know there are some squid around there too might give them a shot if its quiet, which squid jigs should i buy? cheers, Byron

Hi guys, Just wondering if any of you other Daiwa Heartland-Z "Saegake" owners have a similar problem with the reel seat. Upon tightening the reel seat down, the foregrip section doesnt allign flush with the rest of the reel seat section. Its hard to explain so I took a photo. Here I have tried placing a shimano sedona 1500 sized reel on it, but I have tried a certate 2000, airity 2000, biomaster 2000 and Sol 2000 reels on it with the same result. Is there anyone else who is having a problem with it? Is there anything that can be done about it, or do I have to just cop it and use it as is? Any help would be appreciated. cheers, Byron (aka monk)

hrmm gee I wonder what that could be

Hey Kingsrule, I thought you looked familiar, though I was too shy to say hello, just in case i was wrong! Fishraider hats???~! WHERE?!!

Thanks for the kind comments guys!

Hey Guys, As you guys probably know, through reports from KingsRule and Hiramasa, Clifton Gardens is doing pretty well for small kingies. I headed there today at about 11am and was met with rain and strong on-shore winds, this wasnt going to be comfortable, but I thought since I made the effort to come, might as well give it a shot. Fished for 1.5hrs without much, the wind was being a pain and I was getting hungry. Had a chat with a couple of boys there, and heard that a couple of kingies and bonito were caught in the morning, unfortunately nothing much was happening on the end of my line. There were a couple of ppl there catching small trevs and bream on bait (anyone know what soft plastics to use on trevs?). However, on one occasion when a trev was pulled in, it was followed by a kingie. So I went over and chucked over the SP that I had on.... BANG it got smashed and it put a nice curve into my bream gear... relised no one had a net so I had to slowly fight it and bring it to the steps around the corner.. after a bit of a stuggle, I managed to land it with the help of a couple of onlookers. Took a couple of pics with the camera phone, which I wont bother posting (crappy quality) and gave it to one of the ppl that helped land it. All up it was 62cm, and it was my first kingfish on SP. It was taken on a 3" Gulp Minnow in Smelt, on 4lb fireline and 8lb leader. Thank you to those blokes out there that gave me a hand landing it. I was pretty stoked and am eager to try for another soon. The kingfish social is looking to be an awesome day, even for those LB. Byron (aka monk)

gee wizz, thanks so much crunch, you just listed a mamouth load of spots there, I am busy writing down notes and planning my day trips. That was very kind of you to share all that info, I'm sure that took a while to compile and type out so I really appreciate it mate, thanks again. And I have tried the fish n chips at Patonga and its a mighty fine feed. squidgie (love the name!), thanks for the surf cam link, looks nice out there, didnt know they had live feeding videos of beaches! cheers, Byron

Hey thanks guys, I will definitely check it out. I have a whole arsenal of SP's and HB's to chuck at those flatties. might keep some for the table too! thanks again, Byron

Hello fellow fishraiders, Just wondering if I could get some help with a couple of land-based spots for some SP spinning around the central coast. I will be staying next to avoca beach between xmas and new years and will be dying for a fish up there. I have heard some good things about Avoca lagoon, but was wondering how it has been lately (water levels etc). Any help would be great. cheers, Byron

thanks netic. I will definitely keep my eyes out for it then cheers, Byron

its a particular type of braid that I like called Power Pro, in 5lb, they have 8lb, 10lb, 15lb and heavier, but just cant get the 5lb here to Australia. the only place I saw 5lb in Aus is in a particular fishing store in Sydney for some rediculous price. i have the 10lb on my biomaster, and its superb. Byron

Hey Guys, Just wondering if you know of places that can purchase tackle only available in the US and post it over here. I know of a company that did that for computer parts, but it recently shut down. The reason being, is that there is a particular item that can only be delivered to US postcodes and I'm dying to get my hands on it. As I mentioned, probably a stoopid question, but just wondering anyway. cheers, Byron

thanks for the info kevvie, ill give it a go

thanks roberta, I have heard magical things about lake glenbawn, but i think its a lil far for me, 3.5hrs away mean 7hrs there and back..hrmm maybe a weekend away sounds good. cheers, Byron

thanks wettingaline, That spot sounds good, I might go for a bit of an exploration around that area tomorrow (weather permitting) cheers, Byron