apple

Thanks mate that's actaully a good little article. Answers heaps of my questions. A lingering question now is sinker treatment. Would the sinker the placed at the swivel where the leader and hook begins, or at the bottom with the leader coming off a swivel like a Paternoster?

Hi all, I'm looking for info on the best setup for bottom bashing Browns Mountain for Blue Eye and Gemfish. Any info would be appreciated from electric vs manual, to what type of line (eg braid- what strength) and finally the set-up of the terminal tackle including sinker position, sinker weight, hook (circle?- and size) and the best bait. I heard about using lights or glowing squid plastics. Thanks in advance Mark

Hey Andrew I was out there today too. Got everything undersize at sow and pigs before moving just off south head in 25m water. Anyway I hooked onto something amazing, but it spat the hook about a metre under he surface. Awesome thumping fight, about 5 min or so, lots of line stripping runs. I had a prawn on the hook. My question to you, since you caught some kings today, do you think there is any chance a kingy would take a prawn, off the bottom? I just want a clue about what the monster was likely to be. I'm not familiar with how kings fight because so far I've been too lazy to go after them... Live baits, down riggers etc. I should stop sitting on my hands if today's fight is any indication! Thanks- Mark

This is just awesome. The greatest prize of all. Good one, great video.

Thanks a lot fellas. Sounds like a no-brainer. Any negative opinions out there? Mark

Just considering whether or not to install a Permatrim. I have a Quintrex 570 with stern drive which is a bit bum heavy and I've been told the Permatrim will get me on the plane faster and generally help to keep the nose down at lower revs. Can any of you blokes offer any feedback from your own experience? Thanks, Mark

Hi Raiders, I've posted on fishing chat but never posted a report so here goes. Launched at 5am from Drummoyne and headed out carefully in the dark. Took ages to get to Long Reef because it was so still dark and then swelly and choppy. Chop was breaking over itself. Anyway drifted (fast) at Long Reef about 2 miles out. Not much showing on the sounder so we only picked up whatever is always on the bottom. Highlights were 1 snapper of almost a kg (had a bit of a bump starting so proper snapper) and a rubber lip morwong a little larger. Both will be very tasty crumbed and fried. Otherwise a couple of big Sargeant Bakers (back in, too boney) and lots and lots of wrasse (make lovely eating, white fillets). Couple of red rock cods- fantastic eating too. Lots of pinkies to throw back. Amazingly, zero sweep. Left a few bucks worth of terminal tackle on the reef. Eventually re-rigging in the rough conditions gave me the worst seasickness I have ever had witch resulted in losing my breakfast over the side, twice. That was enough reason to leave Long Reef and head in. Trolled a skirt at 4-8 knots around North and South heads but no luck. Looking for Bonito which is supposed to be everywhere now (except in my boat). Quick stop at Sow and Pigs for a bit of fun before heading back. Highlight of the day was seeing a flying fish glide at least 20m against the wind, from one swell to another. Never seen that before, so bizarre! Cheers Mark

Thanks man, I'll check that out. Always good to see what works for others. Yeah I worked out the moon phase using a regualr calendar. Is it pretty much useless fishing a couple of days either side of full moon, or does it depend what you are going after?

Hi Raiders I'm sure most of you check out the info provided by Manly Hydraulic Labs- the table with tides, sunrise, sunset and moon information. There seems to be a legend at the bottom to indicate moon phases, but no actual information on the table about phases- just rise and set info. It's like a false promise. Am I missing something? Thanks Mark

Also my understanding is that the effects of eating dioxins is not immediate in that you definitely won't feel sick from eating the fish. You will however silently build up dioxins in your system which apparently helps you die of cancer later. My feeling is that if you live in a big city your system is getting loaded with all kinds of nasty stuff that will lead to the same outcome. But, it doesn't make sense to add more into yourself than is already going in. So my advice is catch and release and I agree with the other posts, pick your species. I think realistically we are dealing with trace amounts so not worh stressing too much but I guess the government has a responsibility to issue warnings when they get bad information from research. Anyway that's my opinion only. Cheers- Mark

Hello Raiders I have always been a "traditional" fisherman and where there is bait around I will tend to use it instead of anything artificial, since I figure my fishing time is limited and I don't want to risk wasting any of it as I have not built up the necessary trust in lures as I have with bait. Anyway this week I had plenty of boat and fishing time so I thought I would give it a go with soft plastics. I was almost in a state do disbelief when I was getting bites and I hooked up to a fish on something that was not edible. How could it be? I needed to build up my own proof that these things work. So... Drum roll... My first fish was on SPs was... A 6 inch puffer fish!! Bugger. Anyway as the days went on I caught plenty of other decent species (although mainly bream and pinkies) so the voodoo has ended and I'm a fan now. I thought of something though as the SPs were often coming up with chunks bitten out of them... How do fish digest that stuff? Does it clog in their guts, surely? Are we killing fish slowly with these things? Just a thought. Anybody got an opinion on that? Happy New Year to all. Mark

Actually just reading again and checking the pics, I can see you were trolling. Anyway, still looking for tips!! Thanks... Mark

Thanks for the entertaining report! I'm dying to get my own first legal king. Looks like you were outside Sydney. Can you just tell me whether you were using live bait or dead bait or jigs or trolling? Those rock cods are fantastic in Italian style tomato-base soup. The firmest whitest flesh. Thanks for any assistance! Cheers Mark

Sounds like a great day out. I reckon pound for pound, there aren't many better fish to catch than trevally. They fight like the blazes. So much fun, but somehow underrated as an eating fish. They fry up nice.

Thanks fellas for taking the trouble to reply in such detail. I will no doubt use every bit of that advice. Regarding anchoring, no I just drift when offshore, slowing it down with a drogue. Keeping baits above the boulders makes a lot of sense. I will definitely try a soft plastic on the second hook and see what gets most the hook-ups. You guys have outdone yourselves, thanks again. Mark

Hi everyone, I was at Long Reef today and donated 4 or 5 rigs to the sea floor. Can anybody suggest the best rig for reef fishing in 40-70m of water, to avoid snagging? Does anybody know about sacrificial sinkers? I was using a wire pre-rigged paternoster thing which you just clip hooks and sinkers onto- 2 hooks, one snapper lead on bottom. Very easy but does anybody think the wire trace would deter certain fish from munching on my bait? By the way I hooked onto somthing really, really good until the line went limp half way up. The knot failed. What do you guys reckon is the safest knot for the main line onto the swivels? I am using mono not braid. There's a whole other discussion. Thanks in advance to anybody offering advice. Cheers Mark

Awesome Rod, thanks for the advice. Luckily I am dealing with a flat, even concrete surface (how lucky am I?!) but the load is 1500Kg and I am getting sick of kicking the jockey wheel into the right direction to allow me to do the next manouver, and then having to break the back to get the thing to move into a tight spot. I think it will be good for me. Appreciate the advice all the same, thanks for taking the trouble Rod. Mark

Thanks Geoff that's great. They have one in stock, I'm going down there to have it fitted. Cheers- Mark

Hi all, I am new to the site, love reading the reports. Will post some of my own when I have something interesting enough to tell. In the mean time I have a question that you guys might be able to help with. I have a Lowrance Elite 5 sounder and for the life of me, I can't figure out how to manually enter GPS coordinates. Does anybody have any clues? Also while I am asking questions, can anybody recommend ratchet jockey wheels to make moving the trailer easier? Thnaks, Mark