zmk1962

Hey @kingie chaser it was at gaff length but went ballistic before any gaff strike. We didn’t have livies but threw pillies and various SPs (some with s factor scent some without) when on the drift. We also burleyed to keep them around. Kept changing it up till we ran out of ideas. We could see them swim up to the bait or SP and then flick away. They just didn’t want to play. I’ve also heard that a dropped mahi can spook the school ... and we dropped two .... but in this case the school wasn’t spooked ... just educated! cheers Zoran

Awesome report. You certainly have those kings worked out @Pickles ! The consistent thread I’ve noticed is spending time to get the bait. cheers Zoran

Hey @GordoRetired that jindabyne comment is worthy of its own forum post mate ! cheers Zoran

I’m late to this top report Dieter! Awesome Kingie and such good luck (skill?) to get it out of the snag ! cheers Zoran

Hey Raiders, After all the atrocious weather, the promising forecast for Tuesday inspired me reach out to Wayno and by a stroke of luck he was free as well. The plan was quickly hatched to go stock up on some flatties at our favourite grounds off Barrenjoey. An early 430am departure saw us already on the mark by 610am ... .....and two top fish in the ice water by 617am (the white crate is 64cm). Water temp 19C and the conditions as forecast. There was a little slow easterly drift but after striking these two, we dropped anchor and swung on the rode... picking up some similar models and a horse of a yakka (which was quickly repurposed for fresh bait).. By 930am we had landed 4 banjoes (all released) and a total of 10 flatties on ice ... it looked like we would bag out, but the sun had come out, the conditions calmed right down till there was no drift at all, and sure enough - no run no fun - the bite was dead. We moved to deeper water and spent 30min bobbing around with tiddler bites and just another yakka and a squid to show for it ... Well we had a feed in the bag, so the pressure was off... it was bright and sunny and too early to head back so an easy decision to head out and check if there was any action at the North Sydney FAD. Good decision ! The water temp kept rising, 21C as we approached the NS FAD... surprisingly there was another FAD 200m to NE - I'd never heard of another deployed there. We broke out the trolling gear (pakula and bullet head skirts etc) and started a run past the NS FAD for nothing.... kept going to the NE FAD and whoa there were mahi-mahi of about 1m length jumping around it !!!!! EEEEWWWW ! Noticed the water temp was now 22.5C ... it was looking hot ! First run past NE FAD we had a strike and a short run ... but it was off. Bugger. So we looped around for a run to NS FAD. 2nd run past NE FAD had another strike, solid hookup ... we were on. Played the 1m mahi-mahi to the side of the boat ONLY TO HAVE IT HEAD SHAKE AND SPIT THE BULLET HEAD SKIRT...dropped at the boat ... double bugger. The next 4 hours we had the FAD to ourselves, and we tried everything !!! Trolled skirts, hard bodies, surface, mid and deep divers, threw metals, jigged, drifted past the FAD - we could see the mahi-mahi -- threw SPs, pillies on gangs, right in their faces ..... if we had the kitchen sink, that would have been rigged and gone over as well ... but nothing. They would not take a bait or lure. A sample of what we threw at them .... Our track marks... .. painted the sea yellow !!! In the end .. we had to face it .... we were TRUMPED by the mahi-mahi .... and so we left them there for another day. Get out there chaps ... the warm currents are definitely here. The highest temp I saw was 23C, current was running about 2km/h North to South. Cheers Zoran

Looks simple and effective - thanks for sharing. cheers Zoran

Great report and photos @dlvbw ! Very good eating size flatties. When the drift is running that fast and you want to stay connected to the bottom to target species like flatties then you basically have following choices ... go heavier (sinkers and rods), go sea anchor, go lock spot (either an electric or your outboard in reverse) or go deploy an anchor and swing on the rode. There's good flattie grounds off Barrenjoey for sure. Cheers Zoran

Good stuff Yowie. Nice eating there. The weather has kept me in but now you have me inspired to take the next reasonable day and head out. cheers Zoran

And of course there is absolutely NO FishRaider rivalry on this site .... bahaha 😂 cheers Zoran

Wow. Now that’s a graduation present. 👍. Well done and congrats. Better speak to Mrs Swordie regarding a name change “landlubberless”. cheers Zoran

Good stuff Gordo. Can’t complain about some quality time on water and a feed to boot. Personally I’ve stopped being inspired to go wet a line by solunar forecasts - I prefer to just go and treat it as a challenge to bring a feed home no matter the solunar forecast. Cheers Zoran

Hi Jerry, I wasn't sure which unit was installed in Pickle's boat at the time but understood it was for a 90HP ... I have the OBKIT1 which is rated to 300HP and is overkill... but did a quick google on my phone before posting my original reply ... there are HyDrive complete kits around the $1000 mark ... Commander series from both Bias and Whitworths.... @Pickles, I'm posting this just as possible options for you to consider. Cheers Zoran

Now to catch my kingfish. cheers Zoran

I have a hydrive obkt1 bullhorn which has been in service 20yrs+. the whole kit is around $1000 (helm, cylinder, pressure tubing, fittings, fluid) replacement helm around $700 replacement cylinder around $500 etc Almost makes you want to buy the whole kit and eBay the bits you don’t need!!!! cheers Zoran

Great stuff Dieter! Some sweet eating there. Knowing you I bet you found a way to repay the fisho kindness. Cheers Zoran

Awesome ... simple fix... hope the motor gremlins are all behind you. Now re ORANGES or LEMONS .... Don't you dare bring any citrus oil anywhere near my bait board, fishing gear or onboard when fishing ..... clear enuff? 😡 🤯 🤬 😤 Cheers Zoran

Yes... the gas is ethylene - produced by the conversion of sugars and starches. Ethylene is also highly flammable and and can cause a number of symptoms if breathed in - which supports the crew got sick statement as well. So in essence .... we do not recommend taking a crate of bananas on the boat - especially if you are a smoker. But one or two in the lunchbox are aok .... and if you run out of bait - Rick has a way to rig them as bait ! FR does it again. What fruit or veg do we discuss next? Cheers Zoran

There it is ! I knew I read it somewhere - must have been one of your posts Rick. cheers Z

It has some basis of truth ... but by and large is a myth. Many on FR swear by NO bananas on boat, others (me included) have no issue ... some have even gone to the point of trolling a banana skin and hooking up to prove their point of view. So each to his own..... Now for the truth part - as I understand it: Apparently in the days of sailing and steam boats (when cross ocean journeys could take weeks or months depending on prevailing winds and currents), bananas like today were a lucrative and sought after commodity. However, bananas were also highly perishable - they were the first to ripen and in the process would set of the rest of the valuable cargo. So many merchants chose to transport this highly perishable good separately to the rest of their main cargo - and because the transport it self was risky the bananas were often loaded onto cheaper cargo vessels - ie second rate, worse for wear, beyond use by date. Being less seaworthy, these boats were more likely to succumb to the perils of any ocean crossing ... but when a ship disappeared, the first question asked was what was the cargo (BANANAS !) and no one bothered to ask about the sea worthiness of the boat... hence the much maligned banana became the nautical symbol for bad luck, because according to statistics boats carrying bananas were more likely to go down. Cheers Zoran PS - sorry to hear you had boat issues !!!! and glad it was purring for a while. Consider it a teething problem.

Great stuff. .. we live in a magic city. Hey .... we may have passed each other ... Cheers Zoran

Agree 100% - I'll borrow @wrxhoon1's saying : "you gotta feed the horses" ....and add... "to go fishing" ! ... 🥇 🤣 I've gone to some detail on my Merc for two reasons. a) knowing the consumption stats gives me a lot of confidence in planning trips (range, duration etc) under different conditions (I am limited to 240L fuel onboard), and b) this is the type of data that is gold when someone is planning a repower. I wish I could have laid my hands on it when I was searching. As the motor gets fully run in, (and the water warms up) my posts will lean more toward the fishy topics. Cheers Zoran

Well done .... you set out with a plan and executed .... you can now learn of the successes and refocus on where you missed plan. Regarding cleaning boat and gear - since it needs to happen every time... my suggestion is to find a way to enjoy - it will make it so much less of a chore ! Maybe crank up the music and crack open a cold one .... Cheers Zoran

I have an ally marlin board which is very similar in concept to @frankSstep. Mine also has a simple fold down ladder which could be easily retrofitted to Frank’s design. The ladder swings up and I secure it with an occy strap. An additional benefit is I also use this platform to hold my live bait tank and free up deck space in the boat. Just sharing ideas. Hope it helps. cheers Zoran

Love the excitement and anticipation of a planned trip. Hope you got some sleep and best of luck 🤞 tight lines Zoran

Awesome @back cruncher ! The 675 Haines with the Merc 250 v8 would be like a destroyer- slicing through the seas. Just on the rough stats you gave that’s about 1km/L or 1L/km .... pretty amazing eh. Opens up so much range and so many options for fishing. One of the problems I now face is which fishing gear do I NOT take along. The bottom bash gear, spinning gear, trolling gear, deep drop gear, down rigger gear.... they could all be used on a trip. Makes the boat look like a a shop store as @kingie chaserand @61 crushercan verify. Like you I do not drive for economy - max for the conditions and nature of boating - anything else would detract from the fun. cheers Zoran btw - your smart craft gauges would give you all the stats at the press of a button