big Neil

Welcome to the forum Triman023. Trust you will find the fishing pretty good once you get your bearings around Sydney. Good luck with your studies too. bn

An average day by your standards Yowie. Can be a bit disappointing when you know the potential for a particular area, but that's fishing. Lovely Flounder...delicious on the plate and one of my favs. bn

Almost a NEAP tide Bob. Supposedly not ideal for fishing, according to one particular charter operator in SA. He had no explanation for how we managed to get some massive Snapper on board, but we did. What's your experience with NEAP tides Bob? Good, bad, or no different? bn

Hope that you're doing alright James. bn

I'm no expert on saltwater fishing Faker but I believe they would be feeding on what saltwater anglers call EYES. Apparently, a very small fish that most of the pelagics eat to supplement their diet. They are very small and, apart from a fly, hard to replicate by the angler. I believe this information to be correct, but I am open to being corrected if somebody has a different opinion. bn

Well done, a worthwhile trip South for you guys. I love the photo of the catch, all lined up on the brag mat. I'd never seen a Pearly before. Good solid-looking fish that should be delicious on the plate. bn

Who would have thought that Steve, such an accomplished angler, had never caught a squid? Hopefully, he has now! Not a brilliant day, by your standards Bob, but at least you managed a few fish for the table. I wonder who pays these meteorologists? Obviously, they are not getting paid on the basis of their accurate predictions or they would all be in the poor house. I'll just keep using the stone on a bit of string for my fishing weather predictions. Good to see that the Kingfish were about, might be a good omen for the Summer. Cheers, bn

Definitely one of them Zoran...me (aka JONAH). bn

We spent some time trying to get livies but were unsuccessful...not a single one. The decision made to use the squid and local prawns possibly determined the catch of smaller Jewies. We did hook something worthwhile but my inexperience caused it to escape. I'll let Bob answer the question about Mullet (specifically) as he usually berleys up Yakkas. bn

Wow, what a super fish, and a great recount of the capture. How will you prepare it for the table? Steaks or filleted? How do you cook it? I don't recall ever tasting it, certainly never caught one. bn

Thanks for that advice Donna. I took it apart after reading that different models have different batteries. It takes the CR 2032 so I shall get a pack of 3 next time I'm in the supermarket and put them in the glove box. Cheers for the heads up, bn

Hi Just James. A bit of a rarity having your nearly 80 yr old Dad VERY Techno savvy. How I envy that capability. Having said that progress is moving faster and faster, much of it way too fast. However, I embrace the things I can do and try to steer clear of what I struggle with. There are many wonderful mod cons that I use regularly. Internet, emails, Facebook, Fishraider, Instagram, YouTube, to mention but a few. I look at the COW as a challenge and make it my goal to attempt to master something every time I drive it. Cheers, bn

No excess to pay for the new windscreen. No straightforward job changing windscreens these days. The windscreen has a camera that helps with the "staying in lane" capability of the COW. AAMI have their windscreen repair/replacement arranged with Windscreens O'Brien but the nearest is 150 kms away so I've arranged for my usual guy to come from Narrandera to replace it. May cost me a little but better than wasting a day in Wagga Wagga. I'll look forward to catching up again Bob and in the meantime, we can read each others' reports. Cheers, bn

I fish for Murray Cod using the number then oh 3 0 worms, shrimp 4 0 cubes of cheese 5 0 yabbies or chicken pieces bn

Can you give me some details of the kit please Dave? bn

Always good to catch up with any Raiders Donna. All helpful, full of knowledge and passion for the sport. So looking forward to bringing home some fresh fish...no such thing where I live. At best it would be 4 days old. I seldom kill Murray Cod cos they are such magnificent creatures. I have the windscreen replacement cover along with hire car, towing, and accommodation factored into my insurance. I even got a full-size spare mag wheel and tyre as the cow has a space-saver spare. The cow was great to drive, with plenty of acceleration to get around all the trucks and caravans. Every day feels like a victory as I work out how something else works. The party has just begun. Cheers, bn

Hey Bob. Thanks for making a massive effort to get the esky filled so that I could, once again, savour the taste of beautiful fresh fish. Alas, the best laid plans couldn't entice the 70cm plus one into the boat. Probably that one that I lost would have filled the criteria, we'll never know. Such beautiful looking fish those Jewies. After a nice pub meal with the daughter in Orange, and a bit of kip, I hit the road home at first light. South of Forbes the inevitable happened. I saw the stone hurtling toward me, courtesy of an approaching B double, and in the blink of an eye, the new COW has a star crack in the windscreen. Heading off to Narrandera this morning to see if it can be fixed. As always great to catch up, hi to Steve and Julie. Only another 28 days till Cod season opens for me...can't wait. At Bowls on Wednesday arvo one of the local "I don't worry about closed season" brigade announced yet another wonderful result with him and his son boating 28 Cod over 2 days. All by-catch (apparently) from 2 days of lure fishing. These clowns will never learn the importance of adhering to the rules. The worst thing is that there are very few anglers, in this region, who actually do the right thing. Maybe the Authorities need to put a total ban on fishing during the Cod breeding season. Glad that your injuries are healing up well. Good luck with the Summer fishing, hope that it improves for you. Pretty sure it will and I'm confident that you will be taking every opportunity to refill the freezer again. I will look forward to reading your posts till we catch up again. Cheers, bn

Good feed there Yowie, considering it was a tough session. bn

Many thanks for the replies from you experienced anglers. I am sort of starting to believe that my negativity towards this period is probably more responsible. Certainly, attitude has lots to do with fishing success. The confident angler will usually outfish the pessimistic one. After all one of the biggest benefits to successful angling is experience. Anglers who are negative about learning the ropes will always fail when compared to the ones who have a positive approach. bn

I hope that some of the very experienced anglers who frequent these pages will chip in here. I see from the "Fishing Chat" topic heading that we have two sub-sections (Freshwater and Saltwater). My question applies to both and I hope that answers may come from proponents of both areas. I have never been an angler who keeps detailed records of experiences, so my question stems from the annals of what I believe to be the case, at least in my experience. "Does the FULL MOON PERIOD impact the success/ results, differently from the remainder of the moon cycle?" My experiences are based (mainly) on Freshwater fishing when I say "it definitely does". My belief is that there is a negative impact on Fresh and Saltwater fishing over the period of the full moon. Is it real or a perception, does my negative belief impact the results when I fish these periods? Join the discussion, I'm open to the informed opinions of my peers. Thanks, bn

I'm eagerly awaiting Dr. Raymond's reply. Lots of experienced Fishraider anglers have presented their case on the topic. Suffice to say that there is agreement on the cost/quality of the tackle required. I have seldom fished for Flathead in the way Dr. Raymond stipulates but have landed a metre long Flathead (from a boat, fishing straight below) with my old Murray Cod gear. A 3-6kg rod, 4000 reel, and 20lb mono line, all cheap tackle. The point is that they are not metre long Kingfish, wherever they are caught. One thing that has sprung to mind, from reading the replies is that fishing tackle has come a very long way from the really heavy fibreglass rods, solid metal reels, and thick mono lines of yesteryear. More recent tackle is definitely more pleasant to use and provides the user with much-improved capabilities. bn

Well done. You are getting regular results now. Keep going, we never stop learning. bn

Thanks, I had better check what batteries they are. In all honesty, I don't think that relying on batteries for the fob and a mobile phone for nearly everything else is progress. I suppose one big benefit is CURRENT GPS through your phone app. My old car had 7 year old sat nav. It was very sus when driving in the cities. I could have upgraded it for $500 but didn't cos I seldom went to the cities. bn

Great report and photos BlackCC. You certainly lived the life on that trip... great fishing and great tucker. Love posts like this, bn

Can't help with your inquiry but a very warm welcome to the forum. Hope you get satisfactory feedback and end up catching some Trevally. Looking forward to reading your posts. bn