Heath

Hit the water nice & early. The run out tide was making the bar very interesting with a few big boys standing up. Once out, it was flat flat flat. Got to the local and couldn't sound up much. Basically we spent most of the morning scouting around looking for fish. My mate Willo managed a nice Jew and headed of home and we were thinking the same thing. We had one last throw of the dice. We were hardly moving and were floating unweighted baits down when the oldmans baitrunner screams off as I was giving the ol’ SPs a hit. I flicked the lever into gear and the rods loads up nicely. I do what any good son would do & ask the oldman to take care of the stupid SP rod I have in the water while I get down and dirty with the brute on the other end…hehe. After several hellish runs I finally tamed the beast and started to win back some line. After several minutes the other rod takes off and it’s a double hookup. Mitch is left in charge of getting the gaff and landing net ready ( lucky he’s been in training ), but the other rod goes limp…DOH! Finally I could see colour, “JEW” I yell, but wait…. Noooooooo….. it’s not long enough! Holey crap, it’s big I thought. Up it comes from the depths, holey shit it’s RED and it’s BIG! Get the F’n net, G E T T H E Fn N E T !!!!!!. 26lb of gleaming, GLOWING, RED monster Mangrove Jack is swung aboard and it was yahoo’s and high 5’s all round! Picture sort of doesn’t do it justice, but I can tell you, I had trouble getting my hand round the tail wrist! Great Day!!!!!

Was a Shimano Steve Starling Trinidad. Have 2 of them rods & this is the second one I've done. Was never happy with them as they would want to twist really bad. No such problem now!

Have got the rod building bug of late and have knocked up a few rods. All so far have been rebuilds of rods I've stripped back. What a big difference it makes building a rod correctly on the backbone and quality fittings make. Also am absolutely wrapped in the Spiral Wrap configuration. PIC 2 PIC3 PIC 4

I reckon it's probly just blocked. Your overheat alarm didn't go off I take it? Stick a bit of thin wire up there & see if you can clear it or give it a squirt from the air compressor.

I've got a Lowrance X136DF and find it an excellent sounder. Display << Sharp 5" (12.7 cm) diagonal high-contrast Film SuperTwist LCD 480V x 480H resolution Newly-advanced white LED backlit screen and keypad 16-level grayscale 4 background gray tone choices Performance Features << Depth penetration to 2,500 feet* (760 m) 4,000 W peak-to-peak power Dual frequency 200/50 kHz Skimmer® transducer with built-in temp/speed/distance readings FlashGraf™ LCD flasher+sonar graph with GRAYLINE® Adjustable ping speed automatically engages HyperScroll™ for locating fish targets at higher boat speeds FasTrack™ vertical flasher bar Overlay data Standard sonar features - Advanced Signal Processing (ASP™), GRAYLINE®, Advanced Fish Symbol I.D.™, FishTrack™, multi-zoom options, sonar alarms, backup memory, and more Plus << NMEA 2000® compatible for LowranceNET™ networking Back-up memory saves customized settings Protective screen cover Sealed and waterproof Full one-year warranty What did you pay for it - $400.00 AU Delivered Value for Money - Yes Easy to use- Yes In your opinion, does it find fish accurately - Yes In your opinion, does it some bait balls accurately - Yes In your opinion, does it read the bottom accurately -Yes Any extras worth mentioning - You can download an emulator for the sounder so you know how to use it, well before you put it in the boat! What are you able to do with your sounder - Find fish What can't you do with your sounder - Make a cuppachino Your (personal opinion) rating out of 10 overall - 9 Pic - See below. Snapper! BABY... YEAH!!!!!

Narrow barred - AKA - Spanish Mackerel. We refer to them as blues up here.

Hit the water at about 5am. Due to the swell building and the run out side the bar was like a washing machine. Some really big pressure waves were breaking making the crossing difficult. Once out the seas were nice and flat. Loaded up on livies, but they were only small My oldman decided he'd try and knock them out by throwing his rod at them, alas that didn't work & we watched the rod sink to the depths never to be seen again. We arrived at out spot and anchored up. Just as we did my mate in the boat next to us, has a screaming run and lands a nice blue. We set out lines and set in for the wait. It wasn't long before my bait on my Tiagra got hit, but missed the hooks...DOH!!! Baits were reset. Had a friendly dolphin swimming round the boat & my son Mitchel was feeding it. Then finally the Ti20 starts screaming. After a good fight, a nice blue of around 15kg was pulled into the boat. The wind had swung around by that stage to the S-SE & we got word that it was blowing 20 -30 at Evans head ( about 50km from us), so we pulled up stumps & headed for home. A good morning. The business end.

If you are right handed mount it on the starboard side, if left handed on the port side. Will make it easier for you when casting .

Make sure you solder every joint. Do not use those crimp joiners, they will cause you problems down the track. After soldering, cover the joint with reson filled heat shrink. This will give you a water proof connection. Use the heat shrink as well on your splade connectors as well. Ensure you solder these as well, before hand for a 100% connection. The heat shrink will protect the connector from salt air/water intrusion. If you run a bus from your battery, put a 15A fuse as close to the battery as possible. Most iso switches allow for this, this will protect you should you have a short somewhere. Any wiring that runs under the floor, stick it in that flexi hose to protect it from fatigue and rubbing through to the hull. Never ever use the hull as an earth return, this will cause big problems later. When ever you pass your wires through the hull, use something to isolate the wire from the hull ( gromet etc). Use tinned wire, dual core/double insulated. Think about what you need to do and how you plan to do it. If you sit back and have a think about it before starting you'll end up with a better result. For you trailer, the LED lights are perfect. There are several types on the market. Get the ones with the reson filled backs. They are the best IMO. There are several types that have some sort of plug or connector arrangement on the rear. You are asking for trouble if you get them. When wiring them wire each light independantly. By that I mean, don't go cutting into your loom for side markers or number plate lights etc. Take these back to a central point, such as a junction box up front of the trailer. Very reliable setup and is very easy to fault find on if needed, rather than having wiries peeling off half way down etc to feed other lights. Good luck with it & once completed you'll have the confidence that it is done right and if needed be know exactly how its run should a problem arise.

PML... YES!!!! My old man caught one in a cast net one night. Got him out ok, only to not grab it far enough towards the head. The thing swung around & proceeded to chomp up n down on my oldmans arm! LMAO, he come home bloodied with heaps of tiny needle teeth bites all over his arm...

Maybe look at a roof mounted option. I recently moved all my rods to a roof mounted roof rack. Free's up a heap of room in the garage and also gets them well away from prying eyes. Made from a bit of ally angle and some pine.

445F, About an hour south is Brunswick Heads. One of the best charters operates out of there, who consistantly catches mackerel, wahoo etc. No bottom bashing on this boat out of season. Mono's Fishing Charters is the name. Failing that, if the mackerel are on ( hopefully they will be chewing their heads off in April ) give me a yell. I head out chasing mackerel just about every chance I get this time of year.

Makes me cranky when I see new rigs and some of the things dealers do. They should have known that you will need a bigger outlet. They should have also had the hoses at the rear or side for a better asthetic look. One thing I would do & you can do it yourself is to put a bung in there to get rid of the rest of the water. When at home, when you clean the boat, see where the lowest point is for the tank and put it there. That way you can completely drain it. Also another tip, is to never ever use suds in your tank. Simply flush it with fresh water when you get home and leave the lid slightly open as well so the tank drys out fully. Get no mould growing in there then.

Make sure you berly. Makes ALL the difference.

Your car jack will be fine, however the height of the trailer might be a problem. Ensure you have a piece of wood or something you can sit under the jack to give it a firm base and also between the jack and the trailer to increase the surface area. ( Gives a safer working environment and spreads the load more)

Hope you Fishraiders enjoy! Fishing QLD Style http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...showtopic=18444 http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...showtopic=18454 http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...showtopic=18453 http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...showtopic=18451 http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...showtopic=18450 http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...showtopic=18449 http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...showtopic=18447 http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...showtopic=18446 http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...showtopic=18445

Went out there yesterday. Dead as a dodo...... Off chasing spaniards tomorrow

I'll let you know how many are out there off Palmy. I'll be out there tomorrow

Try round Clifton Gardens or middle harbour area. close to the shore...

Your missing out on the best part!.

Junior decky Mitch, 4/5yo at the time gives a bit of commentary and coaching to dad & pop.

Getting up at 3:00am & not being able to get out the bar due to the swell will do it to ya!

Only a baby...........

Bit of a story behind this one. My oldman used to go crook on me for wasting time taking pictures of sunrises & seascapes. Until I made a video of them. Then I had to make him one specially for him he liked them so much. But this I think is what fishing it is all about.............

Preview to the 2nd DVD I made. Vol3 is commin.......