zmk1962

Not really a Men's Shed ..... but it keeps me occupied ... More a Man CAVE .... with rules !! Cheers Z

Thanks mate. It is a fair way out and conditions change. You’d be surprised at the boats I have seen out there over the years … but then some people just have a lot of ball(ast) and test their luck …. And others like @JonD have a lot of skill and experience to take a small vessel even wider - but the one he used was fg not ally. Thanks Mike. Hahaha yes last trip was 70-80s rock and Maria pulled up a bigger blue eye. This trip was my mixed playlist … maybe I shouldn’t have changed the list !!! Hmmmm Old Blue Eyes… now there’s a thought 🤔 … let me think about that. Any specific song you would recommend? Thanks BN. Blue Eyes are great on the chew. Lots of firm white flesh with no bones suitable for just about everything. It’s hard to cook them wrong. Some folks even roast the heads after basting with marinade as there is a lot of flesh in the cheeks etc. cheers Zoran

😱😱😱 that’s a more appropriate emoji !!!

What an awesome outcome James ... love the footage and effort you have gone to document and produce this. Just outstanding. From what I could see I think (know) I love your uncle's vessel as well ! Cheers Zoran

Well done Bob and Peter !! ... excellent result. Even the mowies ! Glad you found the yakkas we could not boat one on Monday. Cheers Zoran

Hey Raiders/Deckees, Finally had the opportunity to head out again with Warren @Fishingwazza2019 ... with Monday's calm forecast conditions holding we agreed to hit Brown's for some deep drop action. Sunday afternoon - devOcean all fuelled, packed and ready to go ! Monday, we left my place on time at 5am, and were launching at Ermo ramp at 545am - a very low tide added a bit of fun to the launch but we got the rig off and pretty soon were heading up the harbour. There was one other rig launching as we left, 3 lads heading offshore to chase Marlin. Stopped at Middle Head to join 3 other boats having a go at livies (yakkas) ... just in case there was action at 12mile ... but despite plenty of yakkas coming around the burley there was no enticing then to take pillies, squid or sabikis 😞. With no bait action seen on the other boats either, we pulled stumps around 7am and headed for Browns. Hit Browns just on 8am and positioned ourselves at my favourite Southern mark. Half a dozen other boats there to keep us company. Water temp a low 22.9 - 23.3C. The current running S - N and pretty slow judging by the angle of the lines (we were held in place with Fishpoint). First drop I managed to pull up a red deep sea cod but the action was slooooow after that - we persevered for about an hour then moved to my West mark. Bingo, I had a decent strike and up came one blue eye. As soon as it was dispatched into the kill tank, Wazza connected and up came the pidgeon pair blue eye. Great timing ! We kept at it, for a few more hours. A young chap came alongside for a chat and tried to show us his catch from earlier in the day - he bent down and was clearly struggling with the lift - all we could see over the gunnels was a massive bar cod head - what a fish ! With that encouragement Wazza quickly add another blue eye to the catch. But, sadly that was it for me for the day, I did have a very decent strike but whatever it was took my rig deep and fouled the rig on the mountain ... we could see the rod tip dancing with the fish (must have been on the top hook of the paternoster) but after 15min of driving around trying to free the snag the braid let go. Bummer. So final count for us was 1 red deep sea cod, and 3 blue eye. Can't complain about that: We struck back for Ermo around 2pm. The weather changed as forecast with the wind now NE, which placed it behind us and made for a comfortable and quick ride sitting on 45-50kmh. Back at the ramp we managed another challenge - low tide retrieval - requiring several drive on attempts but we got there in the end. We also met the Marlin lads - they arrived back as we were pulling out and reported a 3.0.0 day. Thanks for a great day Wazza.... here he is offloading the catch. Cheers and Tight Lines, Zoran

Nice report. At least you got a feed. Let’s hope third time lucky - no engine issues and no toads. Toads are a destructive nuisance, I think they are worse than jackets … at least jackets are good on the chew! cheers Zoran

Excellent outcome and report Tim. Would have given your heart palpitations for sure. Marcus sounds like a quick thinker and top crew. Congrats. cheers Zoran

Hey Raiders/DECKEEs ITEM: 23-25ft Boat Cover: Please PM if interested in this boat tarp. Its a lightweight fabric - has a tear as per the picture but there is plenty of material for a smaller boat or box trailer. Location: Castle Hill Price: Free Cheers Zoran

Also check the cable and connections. The screw on metal connectors are notorious for corrosion resulting in loss of signal. I use dielectric grease to try and minimize that. cheers Zoran

VHF can get a similar effect .. called "ducting" that increases the range but again it is more line of sight as you say .... the following might help explain:

Excellent summary @BaitDropper. A 3 year subscription to Marine Rescue will set you back $100 and as you say all your details (boat, motor, fuel type, tow vehicle, trailer, emergency contacts, picture of boat etc etc etc are stored on their database under your call sign). ... a no brainer if you are a regular offshore boatie. Cheers Zoran SY404 ("sierra yankee 4 - oh - 4" .... the SY stands for SYDNEY of course) PS - having an IT background I must admit I was slight worried when I was allocated the 404 call sign ... those that are IT literate or surf the web will sympathise that error - 404 is a page not found error !!! ... 😱 🧐 🤔

Thanks Rob ... hahaha so am I. At one stage it looked like I wouldn't be able to raise a crew ... I contacted 10 raiders before the calendars aligned ! Cheers Zoran

Thanks Rob ... the mahi fillets were shallow fried, the bonnie fillets were hot smoked. Finished the last bonnie fillet today for lunch. Crusty toasted sourdough, spread with mayo + wasabi , crumbled smoked bonnie, shredded lettuce 👌 Cheers Zoran

If the brushes have worn out you’ll get loss of power from the motor and sparks shooting out of the motor. There will also be a smell - like a short circuit electrical smell. Perhaps the bearings or bushes are starting to go. cheers Zoran

Well done Rob. Nice area there. Fished it in the late 80s. Oh and thanks for reminding me of what flatties look like. cheers Zoran

All good Jason. We ended up with a feed … the water temp didn’t go our way but that’s offshore fishing. The Dollie filleting was a new technique for me as well but as it turned out it was easy to master - and is definitely the way to go. Cheers till next time … Z

Thanks Chris. I tried the FAD in early Jan but ended with nothing to show but a 4ft mako and an undersized kingy (I have a video but didn’t bother posting a report), then I was away on “stiff water” for the rest of the season. Mahi coating, a 50:50 mixture of flour and cornflour with salt and cracked pepper to taste. Flash Fried in hot light olive oil with a couple of garlic cloves. The coating is light, holds a bit of flavour but doesn’t detract from the mahi. cheers Z

... around 24C or higher in my books ...

... sounds like an excellent result to me for any type of fishing BN ... well done. Beautiful pictures mate. I don't do much freshwater fishing but love the scenery. Cheers Zoran

Nice catch Dave ... well done. I've been hearing that trag have been popping up but could not find any on Monday. Shoulder healed up? Cheers Zoran

Thanks Ian ... yes the forecast was spot on for wind and swell but sadly not for temperature !!! .... or a cold eddy had somehow formed ... we could not find a warm stream 22.3C at heads and only 22.8C out wide. Smoked bonnie 🤘👌 ... cherrywood ... you gotta try it. It's very much like chicken or ham. Crumbled on crispy toast with lettuce, or over a warm wasabi and dill potato salad, or check the kitchen for other ideas - like the fennel/apple salad ... hahaha (I target bonnies just for that!) Cheers Z

Excellent result @Tarik ... you did way better than we did at SydN FAD on Monday... interesting re the water temp ... we could not find any water warmer than 22.8C on Monday ... go figure. Cheers Zoran

Wrong Monday 🤪 ! Report is up.....

Hey Raiders/Deckees, It's taken a bit longer than expected to post this report. Finally managed to get out last Monday 11.03.2024 with Jason @Welster. We had discussed an offshore trip since 2019 and the calendars finally lined up ... The warm water shown on the BOM chart was enticing and with the conditions looking good for a run out to the Sydney N FAD we hatched a plan to leave my place at 4am, launch from Parsley Ramp at 5am, load up with yakkas at West Head and be on the FAD by 6.45-7.00am SUNRISE ! We were first boat launching at the ramp and pulling away as the other rigs started to enter the water - all going to plan. The trip to West Head was very slow with a thick mist significantly reducing visibility all the way to Juno point. It was also very humid and there was a lot of condensation forming on the inside of the boat windscreen further restricting vision (I've since purchased a 12V windscreen heater that I will keep on board). Anyway, once at West Head, burley went out and the yakkas showed up - a strange mix of horses and lollipop size - and pretty soon we had 30 in the tank. The forecast indicated it was going to be a bumpy ride out to the FAD with the NE wind facing the 1M E swell.... and it was. We found there was one other boat already at the FAD and the water Temp was 22.8C which was a lot lower than the BOM charts. The conditions were very calm - again as predicted. We spun devOcean around, reversed up downstream of the FAD, activated Fishpoint and sent out the first yakkas .... I got an immediate hit but no hook up. Out goes another yakka and bam ... a hit and hookup and the first dollie comes onboard - a keeper. By now the other boat had moved on to the wider FAD about 300m away so we had it to ourselves. I threw out a strip bait from a yakka that didn't make the trip which resulted in another hookup followed by a short tussle .. a juvenile dollie released to fight another day. And so it went for the next two hours, lots of hits but alas they were mostly juveniles. The day was still looking promising as the dollies were hanging around, and by now we had managed to put 3 keepers on board so there was the possibility of others. But then the yacht we had passed on the way out showed up and started to drift back and forth upstream of the FAD. With each drift the bite quietened and eventually there were no dollies to be seen. We called it and raced back to the flathead grounds. 60m nothing. 50m Jason gets a hit on the paternoster .. and pulls up a juvenile dollie ... I reckon it followed us from the FAD ! But no flathead ... tried 40m again for zero flathead ... I must admit I have not idea where the flathead are this season ... or sadly I have lost my mojo !!!!!! Here's a video of the slow action at the FAD ... By now it was getting close to noon and the wind had picked up, so we decided to run to Bangalley head and slow troll some livies - but the swell had also picked up (as forecast) making it difficult to slow troll so we wound them in and put out some hardbodies. Second pass and Jason hooked up on a chumpy bonito which gave a very good account of itself. So with the bonnie in the tank we called it a day and headed back to the ramp. 3 keeper dollies and a chumpy bonnie - enough for a couple of feeds. Thanks for a great day offshore Jason @Welster ... we'll have to do it again. Cheers Zoran PS: Mahi is delicious ... esp with a touch of wasabi ! I am also partial to Smoked bonnie ... Maria and I have enjoyed a couple of cold lunches already.