nanman

Nice haul of fish there.. Well done! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Paikea, I'm planing to go there tomorrow with few mates & thought of trying for some squid to start off but it seems it's best to avoid kurnel for now Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi All, Just saw an article on SMH on an oil spill. Just wondering how bad it is and whether any areas should be avoided for fishing. I was planning a trip there this weekend so would appreciate some advice please. Nans Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is simply awesome!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks guys for all the replies & feedback I really appreciate it. Nans

I went and got myself 10lb black magic leader.. do you think that's enough?

I think they were around the 70cm mark & that is huge by my standards

Hi Raiders, I wish I could have posted about my trip last Sunday much sooner but things got in the way. After my first post "Christening The Boat & Drama" I had to wait until last Sunday to take the boat out again & although I invited few mates to join me, none were available for various reasons. So, I thought what the heck I'm going on my own. Wife thought I was nuts given this only my 2nd time I've handled a boat but I figured I would be doing this sooner or later. So, sooner the better. The destination this time was Botany Bay & I knew this would be a busier place so I was slightly nervous at the start. Busy it was when I got to the foreshore boat ramp at 6.30am with boats queuing up to get in the water and a young security guard getting impatient with some for taking too long. So, I thought great he's going to go off at me as well. All went smooth though reversed in one go! (practiced with tips from fellow raiders - thanks again!) Tied up the boat & went to park the car & reversed the trailer again with no drama at all.. Sweet! On the water about 7.15am, passed the 3rd runway & then it dawned on me I have no idea where I want to go. So I looked at the Lowrance and thought I head towards Kernel. There were few boats there so thought It would be a good place to start. Staying well clear of other guys so not to annoy them I baited up with a prawn and put it on he rod holder to bait up the next rod. As I was baiting up the 2nd rod the 1st rod buckled over peeling drag. It wasn't even a minute to hook up so I was very excited to get the first fish ever on the boat. It was a snapper about 27cm so took a quick pic and threw it back. Soon after the 2nd rod went off & again it was a snapper of similar size. With all the excitement I didn't realise I had drifted so close the big ship & very close to the restricted zone so went back to the same area again and stared drifting. Not too long after there was a bend on the rod again. This time a 43cm flattie a keeper, great! A short while after I was on again, this time not so heavy so thought something small but to seen a size flounder. Started the motor again and started drifting again, sat down to pour a coffee the Mrs had kindly made for me at 4am but before I get a chance the rod buckles over again & this time much heavier but not pulling any drag so thinking it was a snag I wind up without too much care but to see a massive flattie rising ever so calmly. Realising there is no way I could lift it in with my 6lb leader I reach for the net. Just this second the flattie wakes up, shakes its head & bites of the line.. Damn!! Gutted & still in shock somewhat I go up to the area again and start drifting a few times but no action for a while but then rod buckles over again. This time again it's heavy & not pulling drag or head shakes BUT this time I was hoping for a flattie again. Sure enough it was another massive flattie & it could have been the same one again as it was identical in size. Anyway, hoping this one follow the same fate I quickly reach for the net, flattie sees the boat, gets a chance to turn its head and takes off like a rocket peeling drag like crazy and then SNAP.. bite through the line again! Gutted for a while but surprisingly got over it quick. I think I was just happy to witness such a thing. The sight of a large fish coming up the water column from the deep clear water is such an awesome site that I've never experienced until this trip and now I've witnessed it twice within 20mins. Everyday since this trip I've seen flashes of this sight in my head over and over again and I'm dying to get back to witness it again. I'm totally hooked!I decided to try explore around the bay after a while so I thought I would head west towards Dolls Point area but on my way I saw more boats fishing near weed patches & so I thought I'd give it a go myself. No luck for a while apart from few very small flatties. The tide had changed by this point and I was drifting towards Towra. Keeping a close eye on the GPS so would fish in the legal area I kept on drifting with a prawn on on the hook and flicking a softplastic on the other. After a while while my mate is on the phone I had left to soft plastic to drift as well and the rod goes off. I thought it was snagged on the weeds again but knowing I could be on again I wind in to see a decent flattie around 55cm on the end of the line which I managed to net without dramas this time and into the esky it went.After drifting some more I caught a small pike foul hooked on its tail on my soft plastic. Few more drifts after as I was thinking of wrapping up I was on again and this time on a decent bream. Got in into the net without a problem and into the esky it went. The wind was picking up and the sails were out.. jeez those things fly across the water! Quite satisfied with the day and with a tail to tell of the two that got away I headed back to the ramp & home. I wish I had a GoPro stuck on my head to capture those two giants that got away but never mind! Btw, reading some of the other posts it seems like I was just lucky to be at the right places as most guys didn't have much luck over the weekend or on the other hand maybe it doesn't take much to make me happy. Cheers, Nans

Hi, Good to know impeller is ok. What is tell tail? Sorry I'm still learning all this.

Good Point about being able to flush at ramps Roylo. Thanks! I did actually move it around fair bit to see if it worked as well & it did work previously so not sure what happened. I'm thinking the bubbles coming from the hose perhaps prevented water getting pumped up whereas in a bucket the volume of water is air free. Just my thoughts I'm not too sure. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great news guys, I tried what Big Neil suggested this afternoon and water is coming out of the pilot hole with plenty of pressure. I ran it until the water felt warm which didn't take too long. Now, is it safe to assume all is ok? I would be certainly keeping a close eye on this on the next few trips. Thank you all for your advice. I have learned a lot out of my very first post and this is indeed an awesome forum which I look forward to be a part of for a long time to come. I think I will be using a large bucket of water rather than ear muffs from now on just to be safe. Sounds like cleaning the engine with Inox is the way to go as well and yes, plenty of practice reversing using the tips provided to master the skill. Thanks again all!

Hi, shouldn't the impeller work in neutral as well? I'm certain it worked in neutral when I tried before. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Big Neil, I'll give this a try this afternoon and tell you how it goes. I would still like to get it checked though even if it works to be safe Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks mike2153 & Fab1 for your advice as well. I've also seen this tip on iFish.. Works well but still need to practice. mike2153, I did have the tap running on all occasions & water was actually leaking out of the muffs so there would have been enough supply to go through. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Haha.. I thought that didn't sound right but a novice like me wasn't going to questions it. Thanks for correcting it before I took it out again for some practice. "bum steer" - nice choice of words! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks very much for your very helpful replies Big Neil & Paikea. It's much appreciated and I will take them onboard & practice them. Oh yea I've heard lot of stories of things getting nasty at ramps. Hope I never encounter any of these people. Just curious, does putting the engine in a large bin of water do anything different to flushing with ear muffs? I guess water would have to get sucked up rather than pushed up with pressure & also allows additives like saltaway to be introduced? Also, does anyone know where to get hold of a service manual for a Yamaha 40VTOL? I have couple of mechanic friends who is willing to have a look at it but they don't have any experience with boat engines. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Raiders, Like many others before me, I thought I'd share my special experience on this awesome forum. After around 20 years of dreaming to have my own boat finally it happened. Last month I bought a second hand Quintrex estuary angler 420 from an owner who had hardly used it and had looked after it immaculately. The paint work is as good as new, no scratches & the 40hp Yamaha was top condition. I just wish I could maintain it in the same way but fear I may not be able to because I have no boating experience what so ever. In fact the reason for getting this boat was for me to get used to things so I can go for a bigger one later. Anyway, I fitted it with a Lowrance Elite 7 as my primary aim is to fish in it but its was getting to almost a month sitting outside my house without getting a chance to put it in water. Finally though this Sunday I got my chance and so decided to take it to the Haweksbury for a test run with my family joining me on the maiden voyage. The main aim was to get to know the boat and get some practice at reversing, launching and loading back on to the trailer as well as to play round the Elite 7 and figure out how to use it effectively. I was hoping the ramp would be not so busy so I could take my time but not to be it was quite busy. Fortunately though the people were quite patient and friendly so I was not too tense. After few attempts driving back and forward with my wife on the UHF guiding me, I managed to get it in the water. Then came the next challenge, finding parking and reversing on my own while wife & kids waited at the boat. The car park was full but luckily there was one spot left so I had several goes at reversing but it just didn't go right so I decide to do a circle to get the trailer straight but to see when I came back another guy reversing into my spot! Luckily I found another spot on the side of the road away from the ramp without having to reverse! Left the ramp as soon as possible to let those very patient and polite people to have their turn and we were away. We cruised around for about 2.5hrs doing a circle around Danger Island and then back under the bridge and headed toward Milson Island before heading back to the ramp. The Elite 7 was working well, spotted lot of bait fish around and some large arches in deep holes. As much as I wanted to drop a line it wasn't going to be possible with my very impatient 2 year old. So I marked the spots to come another day. The ramp was rather busy coming back so we had to circle around for a while to get our turn to come in. The pressure was on to not stuff up and embarrass myself in front of all the people so I was bit tense. Never the less, managed to come in slow and steady with my wife doing a great job as a first time deck hand securing the boat with a rope. A nice gentleman came to offer help but wife had done the work in a flash so it was all sorted quickly. Getting it back on the trailer wasn't too bad apart from reversing it again! Once the trailer was on the water I guided the boat on to it with a rope tied to the nose and then winched it on and we were way from the ramp quite relieved and pleased with the efforts and the fact that the kids had a great time really made it all worth while. I had some of drama though when we got home and this is perhaps something I could get some advice from the members here. I flushed the engine with ear muffs attached and made sure it ran for about 5mins and checked that the water is coming out warm from the pilot hole. After that was sorted I let the engine cool for a while and decided to give the engine a bit a of a clean so took off the cowling and ran a very gentle trickle of water avoiding the plugs etc. I started the engine again thinking when it warms up it would get rid of any moisture but that's when I spotted trouble. Water was no longer coming out of the pilot hole. I let it run for about a minute still no water was coming out of the pilot hole and then the alarm started beeping for over heating alert so I quickly shut the engine off. I could feel it was quite warm so let it cool down for a while and tried again and no luck so I shut off the engine straightaway this time. I really hope it hasn't overheated and caused any permanent damage and I'm not sure why the water stopped pumping through. I guess the impeller stopped working but why? Could it be because of water getting into any circuitry when washing? I cant think of any other reason for it to fail all of a sudden but thankfully it didn't happen when we were on the water on day one. Any thoughts and advise are welcome. Nans