stricko4

Raiders, Having just gotten interested in lure fishing I need some advice. I need to replace a trebble on an SX40 that has broken. What is the recommneded replacement & how difficult is it to remove the old & fit the new. With my very limited experience at this with larger metal lures I think I'll be struggling. Paul

I don't post here often but 2 reports in 2 days is a first for me. Like Bluebottle18 said in my last post I did go back to the same spot the next day. Tides were even better & there was almost no wind. Out with the same SX40 & holly cow first cast again snags a undersize flattie. This lure fishing is bloody adictive. Back he goes & 5 casts later & a 15cm bream hammers the little lure. This is another great start to what was going to be a 30 minute break in the trip home. Well my luck seemed to have deserted me. 30 minutes later though & I've got another first for me. A whitting of around 20cm. By now I've been at my new favorite spot for 40 minutes & I start to head back to the car stopping every 20 or 30 metres for a cast & then moving on. Half way back I stop again & cast the the mullet lookalike out & it is hit on the first wind after a pause. 6lb line is zinging off the 1000 Diawa & a guy walking past comments that I've hooked a decent fish there. I knew that for sure with the light Strudwick Sic Stik Pro showing a very nice bend & more line zinging away. I worked this fish for about 5 minutes to get in close & was not disappointed when I pulled a 27cm bream from the water. How good does a drive home after a crappy day in the office get. Yesterday a pb flattie & today another pb this time a bream & a new species on a hb a whitting. This arvo I'll be fishing down the harbour somewhere with a few mates but I can tell you I will be stopping on my way home more often & tieing on a lure of some description. Paul

Just a quick report. Yesterday evening the trip home from work was a shocker. Worse than usual Sydney traffic. By the time I made it to Concord Road I was over it & I pulled into Brays Bay Reserve for a flick & let the traffic clear a bit. I tied on a SX40 & very first cast hook a little flattie of about 15cm. Now this is better than sitting in traffic. About 10 casts latter I hook another. This one being around 20cm. With that sort of strike rate I was getting ready to head home when I hadn't picked up anything else for 15 minutes. I said to myself another 5 minutes & I'm off when with 4 of those 5 minutes left line starts to zing off the little Diawa reel. Now this is better fish I think & I was right. Without a net & only 6lb leader I was a bit worried about loosing my brand new $18 lure so I carefully work it to the shore & lift it to the grass with congratulations from a family having a fish & chips dinner nearby. My pb flattie on a hard body it went 35cm. After a quick showing to the family back it goes & I quite happily pack up & head back into the traffic. I wish every trip home could be like this. Paul

Is it worth it? That would depend on what you want from it. No doubt a good combo & I honesly don't know about the value but my thought is unless it is really what you are looking for it's not. I can tell you that if it's not what you want you won't use it so it deffinitely isn't a good buy. For that sort of price I'm sure you can pick up a pretty good combo. Say a nice Penn Spinnfisher rod & reel set up in the size that you want. You should check with Gofish as I'm sure Pete will do a good deal on something for you. Just remember spend what you can afford & get the most suitable outfit for your chosen purpose. Paul

G'day Dave, I can recommend the ET stuff from Bova at Carringbah. My brother & a mate both tried it as a last resort after nothing else working including Kwells & Travelcalm & they both had a 10 hour charter on Glenn Hunters boat Billfisher without looking even the slightest bit green. My mate did get a bit drowsy but after contacting Bova they said they'd fine tune the mix to lessen that. So on the basis of first hand experience with 2 guys who can get sick in a bath I'd recommend the ET mix from Bova Pharmacy in Carringbah. And if you can't get down there give them a call & they will post some out overnight. Can't do better than that I recon. Paul

Great report. I grew up in that area & my Dad would take my bro & me to the creek at Carramar rail brigge 45 years ago. Believe it or not the water is much cleaner now that it ever was back then. We used to catch plenty of mullet on bread & an occassional eel on old hand lines but that was it. Fantastic to see that it's cleaned up weel enough to have good schools of bream & even better to see the EP's & bass around. I might have to go for a flick & see if I can do as well as you blokes did. Paul

I saw couple of guys in Botany Bay last summer at different times. Looked pretty difficult although 1 bloke was trolling & had been picking up tailor without any trouble.

Guys, I'm looking at fitting some rod holders for trolling & bait fishing to my Stacer 4.6m Sunmaster runabout. I've got 4 flush mounted in the gunwalls but was thinking of some that put the rod in a less upright position. Has anyone used the Snap Loc holders & what are the thoughts on them. The other style I was thinking of was the snapper style so popular in Vic. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Paul

I think if you bleed them straight away they wouldn't get that amonia taste

Thanks Slinky, My told me that the bottom one was a large scalled parma. Seems she know how to research these things much better than me. Paul

Hi guys. Caught these 2 in Botany last week & have no idea what either of them are. The greenish one was about 18 cm while the orange one was only about 10 cm. Can anoyone shed any light on what they might be? Paul

If I were you I'd be looking for a Snyder Mag Bream. Fantastic light beach rod. 11" if I remeber correctly. Match it to a Shimano Sedona 4000 & you have a great breaming/whitting beach outfit.

Mate thats a huge difference in $'s your talking about there. $400 to $1000. A that rate you're going to get a thousand different options & more possible responses. My view is set you $ range & really examine what is availble in that range. If you're not happy with whats there see what you need to spend to get what you REALLY want. No doubt all the units you show have pros & cons & it just comes down to what YOU want & what you can afford. I have a Furuno FCV620 which I'm more than happy with. Good luck on your search but I think you really have to narrow your options before asking a question like you did.

Steve, Don't discount a Strudwick. I've got a 7'6" Sic Stik Pro 1-3 lb I think matched with a Diawa Advantage 1500 & it's a great combo. Well withing your budget too. Paul

Nice bag there Peter. We went down on Billfisher & were about an hour behind Rosco on Broadbill. It was my first outside trip & couldn't have been a better initiation although the thousand slimmies did wear thin. Paul

Marty, They worked a treat. My brother can get sick sitting in a bath I recon. He's been outside over 20 times & tried everything he could get his hands on but these are the ONLY ones that have worked for him. If you call the BOVA Pharmacy in Carringbah they will make them up for you & you can pick them up or have them posted to you via registered mail. Just ask for the ET seasick remedy. Not exactly cheap but well worth the investment if they work. Paul

It's been a long time since I posted a fishing report so here goes. After 4 postponements due to weather, yesterday we (wife, brother, mate & nephew) finally got out with the guys from Broadbill Charters. Glen was our skipper for the day with Chris as deckie. We departed at the gentlemanly hour of 7am headed for The Hump on a smooth sea with little breeze. Hopes were high for a big day after reading so many reports of stripped tuna & bonito on the way down & sizeable hauls of snapper up to 3.5kgs. None of us had ever landed a snapper so expectations were pretty high. The day started great. Just as we cruised past the south head at Botany we were confronted by a couple of whales only a hundred meters away. We'd never seen that before so a first within the foirst 10 minutes. Rosco was an hour ahead of us on Broadbill & reports were that the pelagics had deserted us today. Not one strike for Broady on the way down. That didn't deter us & out went the lures. But alas we never had a hit either. About 1/2 way down & the radio call is Broadbill, Billfisher.... Rosco had arrived at the mark & in the first 15 minutes had picked up 3 reds already. Not huge but a solid start. Prospects looked good. We arrive shortly after & commenced our fist drift. Huge balls of bait fish were sounding so the hope was that the snapper were holding under them. Within 2 minutes of bait hitting the water the slimmies started to come aboard. Bugger. Then my nephews rod bends sharply & he's onto something substantial. Call quickly comes from Glen.... shark. Now that got our attention & after a quick tussle the Maiko gained its freedom when it leapt from the water & shook it's head & busted the light leader. Very spectacular even if it was only 1.5 mt long. On our second drift, after boating 5 or 6 slimmies my rod bends sharply & line starts to run freely as whatever I'd hooked took off. Glen again called shark but I saw the rod tip boucing with headshake & called it for our fist snapper. A short but interesting fight finished with Chris netting my first ever snapper. It went 57cm. Not huge bt as it turnred out the biggest snapper of the day. The next hour or 2 saw us boat the usual mix of reef fish & LOTS of slimmies. Around lunchtime my bro Steves is onto what is obviously another reasonable snapper & has it almost boatside when a maiko races at it & takes a mouthfull. Bugger. The 2nd biggest snapper of the day is now 10 or 15 cm smaller. Glenn says thats it he's gone & rigs up another rod with a float suspending a big slimmie fillet on 100lb line. We'll get him he say & he was true to his word. Not too long after my wife Nicky land her first maiko.which is very quickly dispatched. Things were slow from then on with only a 50cm morwong (another first for me) being worthwhile. One slimmie did come onboard with obvious teeth marks on it & the call from Chris was he'd seen a small yellow fin chasing it close to the boat. It was getting on & the weather wasn't looking great so the call was to head home. Everyone was smilling & satisfied with a great day even if the hoped for snapper didn't arrive. Count for the day was 4 kepper snapper, 1 morwong, several leatherjackes, 3 or 4 pigfish, Sgt Bakers, nannygai & a thousand slimmies. Nicky still hasn't caught her big snapper which was the aim of this trip but that just means we'll have to go again soon. Oh yeah... the whales turned it on for us on the way home too breaching & tail slapping as we cruised up the coast. A big thanks to Glen & Rosco from Broadbill Charters & Chris the deckie for a great day. btw a big thumbs up to the ET sea sickness remedy. Steve is a cronic spewer in offshore conditions & he felt great all day. pics to follow once we work ou the new camera.

Tuffy, I have a 50 ETEC on my 4.6m runabout. I honestly couldn't be happier. It is very economical, fume free & have bags of power everywhere. I understand your thoughts on liking 4 strokes but don't disregards DI 2 strokes off hand. They are a very viable option. Paul

Stylo, I have used 3 & 6lb crystal fireline for HB luring for a little while now. I'm only new at this HB business & had quite a bit of trouble in the beginning with leader knots breaking when using 6lb Vanish leader. I fixed that though by tieing a biminni twist in the 3lb Fireline. I might mention I did this against lots of advice I'd read in several forums. It solved my breakage problems though. I've also moved to 6lb Platypus Stealth Leader too without any problems. I've had no problems at all with the 6lb in single thickness though so don't bother with the biminni on it. My main line to leader knot is a double uni. Yes ... decisions decisions Regards Paul

Quaddy, I've just started some LB luring recently as well. My set up is a Strudwick 7' 1-3kg Sic stik Pro matched to a Diawa Advantge 1500. I've been using 3 & 6 lb Crystal Fireline with no wind knot problems at all. Lure size I've used range from 3 to 8 or 10 grams but mostly 3 to 5g diving lures. Reel choice shouldn't be a major issue although upsizing slightly will improve casting distance & give you bigger line capacity & MAY help with your current problem. More likely line choice is the issue here though. You haven't mentioned what line you've been using but the very thin & soft braided lines can be a problem when using very light braking strains & light lures. I also have used for a long time now 10lb Sufix braid. When I started with it I did have some problems with tangles but I think being more aware of retrieving under some load & checking there are no loops before commencing retieve has all but done away with those. Same with the ligher stuff. Before commencing retrieve make sure there are no loose loops anywhere near your reel. Regards Paul

Pete, I'm a bit like you I think having never had any bream catches on plastics so after seeing Stewies reports about hard bodies in the Parra river I thought I'd give it a go. Off to the tackle shop & a quick swap of $70 for 1/2 dozen lures & away I went. For my first ever effort with hb's I tried under the Figtree Bridge on Friday evening on a rising tide. After about an hour I hooked up on a nice 15cm bream & 10 miutes later a 20cm flattie. I was stoked to have landed 2 fish with my first try. There is a lot of guys on this site that give great advice & Swordie rates right at the top of that list giving advice & his time freely. Stick with it & I'm sure you'll improve on that first effort. You might want to try hb's too because if I can hook up anyone can. Paul

Hi Guys, Slimys treated that same way also come up very well & make good baits as well. Paul

adzzy I have found the only time I get tangles when casting braid is when I use light line 10lb or under & I've found that for me it is ALWAYS caused by me not winding line back on with enough tension. That allows loops, even tiny partial loops to form & withing a cast or 2 I've got a horrible tangle. Saying that I have also found cast tangles always seem to be easy to untangle too. Maybe thats just me. I've never had a problem with heavier line though. My suggestion is when you tie your leader knots (I use double uni) trim the tags very short & casting will be easier. And make sure you tention the line as you retrieve & hopefully you should minimse problems. Paul

LittleNoah, These days there is little to seperate them. I just finished reading an interesting article on this subject in one of the well know fishing mags. Conclusion was that 2 or multi piece rods work very well these days. I've got a number of 2 piece rods ranging from 13ft beach rods to 6' bream rods for convenience sake & have never had an instance of them coming apart while in use nor any issues with their action whilst hooked up. I think it's also a bit of you get what you pay for as well. Some very well respected makers now produce 2 to 5 or 6 piece rods of extremely high quality. The only reason I've bought 2 pices rods is that they easily fit into the car. If transport is not an issue for you then purchase whichever suits your needs. Cost isn't usually any different either. 2 piece Shimano Raiders for instance are exactly the same price as 1 piece. Paul

Well said Donna..... I have worn specs for 45 years... since I was 5 & I can tell you that prescription lenses need to be ground to suit the frames you buy & the size & shape of your head if you want clear trouble free sight. Having moved to multi focals about 6 years ago I was warned that the trasnition from single to multis might be a difficult one however thanks to great measure, grinding, & fitting I've had no probles whatsoever. I could not imagine the problems you might have by ordering lenses single or multis from overseas. False economy if you ask me. And yes you have to be very careful in the maintenance of plastic lenses or the scratch easily. But to me the pros far outweigh the cons. As for cost well my first pair of polariod multi focal lenses were fitted to $90 frames & still cost me just over $600. But they lasted me 6 years so that's not a big annual cost. As for loosing glasses overboard I've never even come close. Get the bloody things fitted properly & they should stay on your head. 45 years of wearing glasses & I've never had a pair FALL off. Well that's my 2 bob's worth on specs. Paul