Aero

Well Done Gents

Crossing the bridge in peak hour traffic and I look over to the left and see you blokes making the most of an awesome morning, while im heading to work Good little session, well done ! Chris

Inspirational stuff Silvo, Top job for everyone involved, and for turning a pipe dream into a reality within 5 hours of being on the water Just so you know, I will one day have that red button under my name Love your work ! Chris

Jeff, I totally agree, and have raised my concerns directly with the site supervisor as to why the gentlemen on board the patrol vessels are not aware of the correct regulations. After my last run in with them it seems - they are aware of the regulations, but prefer to exagerate the distances to recreational boaters to make their perimiter patrols easier carry out, or carried out less frequently. Of course that's not good enough for me.

Finin, Your correct, but in this instance the site is using the yellow marker to create a perimeter around the works.'these are roughly 100m away and give recreational boaters a good indication on how close the can be. Chris

Hi Guys, I Thought I would post some information in regards the the Barge/Dredge working between Kurnell and La Perouse. This only really relevant to people that fish Watts Reef, the Middle grounds and Bare Island. Anyone thats been on the bay recently will have seen the barge, the yellow marker bouys surrounding it and of course the 2 construction (hired water taxi's) vessels that patrol the perimer of the barge. Now I've had numerous run ins with these construction vessels while fishing/navigating around the perimter of the barge. The Marine notice realating to the area can be found here : http://www.maritime.nsw.gov.au/marin...s/botany4.html Now the issue I've come across with my run-ins with these construction vessels is they like to exaggerate the distance you acctually need to be away from the barge. No doubt by having us recreational boaters 500 metres from the barge instead of required 100 metres makes their jobs a whole lot easier and at the same time takes alot of legally fishable ground (especially around kurnell) away from recreational fishermen. Two weeks ago I raised this issue directly with Sydney electricity project manager and I've also been in contact with the onsite Supervisor who had told me that these issues have been now been addressed, and all staff manning the boats are well aware of the Marine notice issued, what it states, and proper manner of approaching vessels and speaking to recreational boaters. Unfortunatley This morning I had another run-in with an Ill-informed worker that was manning the construction vessel, again stating I needed to be 500m from the barge. I informed him that I was well aware of where I needed to be and he should check with his superiors. He then commenced back peddling and conceeded I was legally allowed to be 100m from the Barge. I've chased this up with his superior (Who again said he'll chase it up for me) and informed him that I will be making this information as available as I possibly can to other recreational boaters, as these areas are and will be heavily fished over the coming months. The regulations for the construction area taken from the link obove : GENERAL Persons operating vessels in the vicinity of the Special Event Area/Construction Zone are reminded of their obligation to: keep at least 30m from vessels and plant associated with the works; not cause wash which impacts on the works; maintain vessel speed at no more than 4 knots within 100 metres of floating plant or work in progress; and keep a proper lookout at all times. If anyone has issues with these guys over the coming months, feel free to contact Peter Leate on 1800 214 193, who will only be too happy to help. Its quite clear you can from the notice you can legally be 100m from the barge, if you are told otherwise please let Peter know. Sorry for the long winded write up, but these events can really put a downer on your day. Chris

Arman knows my lack of love for those hooks. I still have a dozen or so sitting in my glove box for him. Unlucky guys, murphy's law sucks ! Chris

Nsw north coast out wide

Im also a fan of purples, most of our fish have come of the colour called "stripy" including some monsters. Anything from 5 inches to 9 inches for bigger fish will do the job. This fish came on a stripy mouse in january this year :

Happy birthday Mate Chris

Nice job Steve Chris

Guys, Heading to Port Douglas in a couple of weeks and an looking for landbased lure casting options from anyone thats been to the area? Prefer to fish for species not so plentiful down south so anthing half exotic will be just fine. All suggestions welcomed. Chris

Well done John, Very solid fish ! Chris

Good job Mate, Metre jobs arnt too far away now ! Chris

Cheers guys fingers crossed this calibre of fish stick around a little big longer this year. Captin, large squid fished 15-20m around the bait schools in the middle of the bay will definatley increase your success rate. Mike, let me know when you wanna sell it back to me ! fishing hasnt been the same without it on board. Its acctually quite slender for its length. I've caught fish shorter than this that have weighed 3kg heavier. This one weighed 13kg. Chris

Hey Guys, Steve (Rodholder) and myself have been giving botany abit of a flogging trying to get ourselfs onto some better kings this season. Drifting live squid around the various congregations of bait throughout the bay has produced a handful of fish over the metre mark over the last few weeks. Our best fish so far comes in at 123cm and was literally fought by both of us. After Steve was pulled to his knees by the this fish on locked up 80lb I had no choice but to, A- stop steve from letting go of the rod with my Stella attached and B - help get this fish onboard. After some rod work by me, and some winding and spool holding by Steve the gaff was sunk and fish was beat. I also managed to hit it in a vital area to really do some damage to steves carpet We're both looking forward to now cracking a king over 130cm, and no doubt we'll make it happen Cheers Chris

Grant, I'm well aware of the site rules, and as my post stipulated I wanted confirmation on a report I recieved about the tournament. Nothing more nothing less. Chris

Well done to all the T&R teams, great jobs guys ! On another note, can anyone confirm the amount beaks weighed in? I've heard reports of 32 marlin weighed for the tourney, with one boat axing 4 in one day ? I can only hope its not true ! Chris

First, Cantab, sorry for taking your thread on a tangent, Jack's just raised some concerns I've never really come across before. Jack, Surley the operators of these big jigging/popping ventures, like the one visited recently by Swordfisherman, the ones up in north queensland, Fiji and New Cal who have to cater for 100 odd clients a year a not fishing with inferior gear? All I've ever seen on these top knotch operations is Stellas and Saltigas. With a 10 year warranty, and the claimed capabilties, these reels can be thrown back in the manufacturers face the moment it does not live up to is capabilties. In how shorter period was your 20000SW damaged? What went wrong? Its sill well within warranty period so what did shimano say about it ? What drag pressure do you consider heavy? Cheers Chris

Hi Jack, I was just curious as to what reel you would deem better than the two main contenders. I have heard similar stories about the diablo's as SZ1, and considering how few of these reels are out there (Compared to stella's and Saltiga's) it doesnt rate very high on my list. Only got knows many Stella's and Saltiga's are out there. We've just upgraded out baitcatching reel to a 20000SW Stella, we'll use this to jig slimies in 80-100fthms as well as pitch baits at Marlin, cube for tuna etc. What model 20000 do you have and what are the issues you've encountered? Chris

I use T-curves, and usually suggest them to others though if I was asked for a slightly cheaper rod that is more than capable and almost up there with the T-Curves I would suggest The Daiwa Ninja Powerlifters. I beleive theses retail for around 300 (or just under) and come with a full set of aftco rollers, or around 200 with just a roller tip. They are line class perfect in my opinion, and are stiff enough to really set hooks whilist trolling. I dont use windons, but if your backbone didnt have issues, these wont either. Regards Chris

Hey Jack, If you feel a Stella or a Saltiga isnt up to the task, can you suggest a reel you feel is capable ? Chris

Very Solid ! Im pretty sure ALL the lure records on fishraider have come from the same location. Chris

There was a little something that made me smile Red Pete, I think its time I have you on board, I owe you more trips that I have fingers ! Chris

Thanks guys After a crappy morning, Im taking the arvo off to hit the bay ! Chris