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zmk1962

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Posts posted by zmk1962

    Dollies at Sunrise Sydney N FAD 11.03.2024

    in Saltwater Fishing Reports

    Posted

    1 hour ago, XD351 said:

    Epic report Zoran ! Great photos also ! Looks like you got a good day to head out and got a few feeds - never seen smoked bonito before !

    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

    • Like 1

    Dollies at Sunrise Sydney N FAD 11.03.2024

    in Saltwater Fishing Reports

    Posted · Edited by zmk1962

    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 !   

    image.thumb.png.dba374775363abc4edbf13b8bf95e908.pngimage.thumb.png.997c0201f1cfc719dd372c35af56cd92.png

    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.

    image.thumb.png.63ef01fbc7af763c9231c03b61891c8c.png

    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.  

    image.thumb.png.d0ae2c8b0d3d1a1648c9361de165f74d.png

    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.

    image.thumb.png.5381e7d25f6dd949d626934c2b627d0a.png

    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 !

    image.thumb.png.6bf439141b6c8de04a0c37571b934ba5.png

    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 !

    image.thumb.png.64f617c8e5752e5dc2295ccbd5288cca.png

    I am also partial to Smoked bonnie ... Maria and I have enjoyed a couple of cold lunches already.

    image.thumb.png.844fb5da3715ed838b8ac270a548a097.pngimage.thumb.png.32ea45aa93114b22dfb7090f14f3d41e.png

     

     

    • Like 22

    Lower Hawkesbury - long hard day at the office.

    in Saltwater Fishing Reports

    Posted

    52 minutes ago, XD351 said:

    One really bizarre thing happened - when I launched I could see this massive really bright light down towards Juno - it was that bright it blurred out the area under it so I couldn’t tell what it was . As I started motoring towards Cowan it seemed to get closer until I got to Gunyah beach and it started moving out towards broken bay . It eventually disappeared over the horizon . Anyhow later that day two big boats came in that were identical, each having two giant grey things on each side of a mast - they were like half of a medicine capsule in shape with the rounded end pointing up - a bit like below but dark grey.

    was the light from a survey ship ? I dunno!

    IMG_0632.jpeg.8670440f483c481a5fb20448d827e016.jpeg

    I guess that qualifies as a UFO - unidentified floating object 🧐 

    • Haha 3

    Port Hacking

    in Saltwater Fishing Reports

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Yowie said:

    Thank you Donna. I guessed that from trial and error. It will help others, and alleviate Zoran's concerns (not that he worries about too much, except me catching more fish than him)

    Well 🤔  it appears you guessed wrong - coz you were one that referred to me as @zoran 🤪 ... but you are correct  - I don't worry about many things - especially comparing fish by  quantity ... when it's QUALITY that really counts. 

    Have you got better yet ... or are you dragging your feet again??

    Cheers Zoran

    • Haha 1

    Gummy Shark NSW

    in Saltwater Fishing Chat

    Posted

    I have not caught any off Sydney - Wollongong beaches .. but have caught them in 30-60m offshore fishing for flatties. So they are around but not something I have personally caught off a beach. 
    cheers Zoran 

    Post for Jimmy 75

    in Swap & Sell

    Posted

    18 hours ago, Jimmy 75 said:

    Hi Zoran, yes it is Sarca 

    L48cm x W29cm xH20cm

    I’m trying to sell everything you see in the photos for $300 plus a bit more stuff 

     

    Thanks @Jimmy 75,

    I was just interested in the Sarca but as it turns out it's too small for my rig.

    Best of luck with the items.

    Cheers Zoran

    Post for Jimmy 75

    in Swap & Sell

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Jimmy 75 said:

    IMG_4949.jpeg

    Hi @Jimmy 75, is this a Sarca? Just wondering about the dimensions (length / weight) to see if its suitable as a spare for my rig.

    Also what do you want for it and where would pick up be?

    Cheers Zoran

    Port Hacking

    in Saltwater Fishing Reports

    Posted

    47 minutes ago, frankS said:

    Zoran. I had a similar situation. When I joined this site I wanted to use my old nick name  that I have had since I was about 20 years of age and used it on several fishing sites over the years. That name was " Nimrod " but the name was taken by a user that had never posted, so I had to choose another user name " FrankS ".

    Frank

    PS the F is in lower case .

    We will just have to remember to call you Nimrod going forward ! 

    Take care Nimrod.

    Cheers Z

    Port Hacking

    in Saltwater Fishing Reports

    Posted

    11 minutes ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

    We can't have that can we!!

    Member goneeeeeee 

    Thanks Donna ... out of curiosity is there a way to swap to @Zoran without losing connection to all my past posts ? 

    Cheers Z

    Port Hacking

    in Saltwater Fishing Reports

    Posted

    Tasty catch again Dave ... congrats ... hope everything goes well today. Cheers Z

    15 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

    I think this might've been the first time I've observed you using plastics. But maybe I haven't been paying attention! 🤣

    Don't let him fool ya ... he's just saying that to get in with the "cool kids". 🤘🤘

    12 hours ago, Yowie said:

    I have used plastics before, but not very often. Zoran has threatened me before with his plastic bonito, however, I keep my distance when he mentions it. 🤣

    I have the supersized SP bonnie rigged and ready - the slappin' is a-comin' !! 

    BTW several folks have referred to me as @Zoran but I have no idea who this @Zoran is ... appears he joined and never came back ... and he's taking up a valuable Deckee id !!! 

    Maybe I should talk to Donna about swapping to this id 🤔

     

    Cheers

    the real "Zoran"

     

    • Haha 5

    Cleaning Mildew off Vynalite PVC tube flooring

    in Boating

    Posted · Edited by zmk1962

    4 hours ago, riveRecon said:

    Hi everyone, I have a lot of problems with mildew up here in the humidity of Queensland, especially on my boat flooring. The last two times cleaning my boat flooring has been hard work scrubbing and trialling different approaches and cleaning products. I've trolled the internet looking and trying all sorts of things to clean mold and mildew off my PVC/Vinyl flooring. My particular brand of tube flooring is Vynalite, I really like it.

    I finally landed on a way that is easy and has done the best job. The latest expensive option was a dedicated mold removal product, it worked well but cost $15 per bottle and I'd need to use three to four bottles for the whole boat floor. I tried bleach at $2 a bottle and it worked better than the dedicated product! I've tried bleach before from a spray bottle but did not get great results.

    All I did was apply full strength bleach to the tubing while on the concrete floor outside with a broom. I didn't do it inside of the boat because I was worried about the chemicals causing corrosion. I just lightly brushed with the broom so it would foam up across the whole flooring. I let it sit on the floor for whatever length of time was convenient with everything else going on - sometimes 30 minutes, sometimes the whole day. It took five to six applications over a couple of days of this process to get the results pictured. I didn't wash it off bewtween applications.

    I'm beyond happy with the result and the ease of cleaning it this way, I thought I was going to have to throw out the flooring and replace it with new. Pictures attached of before and after and the expensive mold remover and the bleach I last tried.

    IMG_5842.jpg

    IMG_5843.jpg

    IMG_5845.jpg

    Not sure if you cleaned the flooring in the boat or took it out of the boat to clean. From memory you have an ally plate boat - the general guidance is you should not use bleach on aluminium - it will corrode and blacken the ally. Also, from my understanding bleach does not actually kill the mold/mildew spores - it does "bleach" the colour out of the mildew so gives the appearance of removing it.

    Hydrogen Peroxide 3% is a very effective mold/mildew killer. It actually breaks down the protein chains and when you spray it on mold/mildew you will see it bubbling as this reaction takes place.  It's quite cheap and available from the big online Amazing store. You don't need more than 3% strength so don't get carried away with buying the higher concentrations unless you plan to dilute it down.

    Cheers Zoran

    • Thanks 1

    Trying to understand swell

    in Saltwater Fishing Chat

    Posted

    @Burger mentioned “wind swell” on top of base swell. I think it’s important to add to that point…The rule of thumb for wind and swell is you get 1m of swell for every 10kts of wind, where the wind has been been blowing across the ocean for quite some distance. So a 20kt south easter will bring up a 2m SE swell on top of what ever else (tide, swell etc) is going on. So look at the wind speed and how long it’s been blowing in that direction as well. 
    cheers Zoran 

    • Like 3

    Not much doing in broken bay

    in Saltwater Fishing Reports

    Posted

    18 hours ago, Bryant fish said:

    I was out Saturday tried from 35 mtrs to 60 mtrs for 1 keeper i let go the whole system is quiet I haven’t bothered taking a feed home last few trips but i did score 2 octopus which i also let go on Saturday i think Ive lost my mojo 

    Thinking back it’s been like this with very few flatties since that minesweeper was conducting training mid 2023. That low freq sonar must really play havoc with fish stocks. 
    cheers Z

    • Like 1
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