stricko4

Sam, It was a lot easier than I would have ever expected considering our lack of success in the past. They seemed to be everywhere & were chasing baits & jigs. We didn't have any scents or anything like that on the jigs either. First capture was about 5:30 & they were still chasing baits when I left frozen at 7:15. One of the mates decided to stay & see if he could manage a few more as when packing up he reeled in the pillie he was using to attract them & had 2 munching on it & a 3rd chasing behind. Paul

Me & 2 mates were at Clifton again last friday. Clear water, clear skys, & full moon had us hoping for a decent catch in what was very very cold conditions. Reading other reports this morning though it seems we were not the only ones not to land a fish of any description. Not even the marauding little snapper that haunt the jetty were hooked. Not that that is a bad thing i suppose. However persistance in the freezing conditions didn't go completely unrewarded.... 11 squid was our reward for several hours of freezing our fingers off. Considering 2 of us had only ever caught 1 squid between us going home with 11 was a pretty good haul we thought. Paul

Nathan, I looked at the 2100 Walkaround a while ago. The Clearwater range is from the US business Whitley bought a few years back & is 100% US made & fully imported. The certainly look the goods for the $$"s & got very good reviews from the boating press when released out her about 2 years ago. They compared quite well with other boats in their class for features, fishability & finish. I thought they were very good value. But I've never seen one on the water to ask the owner about them. My next door neighbour had an older Australian built Whitley & he was very impressed with it. I'm sure others here will have some opinions on the brand & hopefully you will find someone who has experienced the walkaround first hand. Paul

I'd opt for the Snyder Bream Mag or Wilson Live Fibre. Both come in 10'6" 2 piece set up & are great light surf rods. Paul

Slinky, I've looked at those V system reels & thought if they work as well as they feel they will be damn good reels. I considerd the 45 as a harbour/bay kingy reel but opted for a Sol 3000. They sure look the part & I'd love to know how it performs in anger. Paul

William, My suggestion is go & compare. I looked at the Sol 3000 & the Shimano 4000 Twin Power side by side & they were amost identical in size & capacities. I opted for the Sol & matched it to a Nitro Viper rod. Loaded it with 20lb Suffix braid & it's worked out being a very nice combo. The Sol looks fantastic on the black Nitro. I think the Sol 4000 would be a great reel however I doubt you'd need the larger size. Paul

Slinky is 100% correct in what he says. Both are great reels & you should get whichever you like for whatever the reason. I own Shimano including a Stradic 2500, Diawa Advantage 2000 & Sol 3000, Penn & Okuma reels & have not been let don by any of them. If you listen to every one here you will come to the same conclusion as may others..... it really comes down to personal choice..... Holden or Ford.... Shimano or Diawa Paul

Slinky, That might explain why the 2500 I bought at ***** for $35 on special performs so well. Paul

NZ, Mate I have both Shimano & Diawa reels as well as a couple of Penn & Okuma. So as you see I have no strong alliances with any manufacturer. To me it comes down to what you want from your reel & how much money you are prepared to spend on it. I have a 2500 Stradic for plastics & 3000 Sol for chasing kings ect & now a 2000 Advantage. To me there is a split hair between them. All are fantastic reels & perfom their tasks exceptionally well. You need to weigh up what size you want/need for the task you want it to perform. How it feels on the rod you are going to put it on. And don't discount picking up what you want second hand either. You can get some really great deals if you are carefull. Paul

Mate if you want to brush up on your squidding skills there has been plenty there over the past few weeks. Apart from that unless you are after little reddies, yakka or some nice trevors & jackets you will be disappointed until the water warms up again. Though you will pick up some good sized bream through winter you just can't rely on them as being a regular catch. Good luck. Paul

Dino, Lots of great advice in this thread & you will find plenty more if you do some searching on particular subjects. And if the guys can organise the "take a novice fishing" I recomend you make every effort to go. Even though you regularly fish with a very experienced mate you can pick up heaps from being with someone different. Which brings me to another option not mentioned so far & that is paying to go on a charter or two. If beach or rock fishing is something you'd like to improve on I can highly recomend a guy based on the northern beaches who in a 1/2 day will show you more than most people could in a week. Everything from how to collect beach worms to his most successful rigs for whiting bream through to salmon, tailor & jewies. Also there are a few guys who run what they call "fishing schools". Gary Brown & Col Buckley are both members of Fishraider & I know Gary runs classes & Col who is North Shore based used to & may still. I've been on a couple of charters & most of these guys are very willing to give advice about how best to land that elusive first big fish. Also read as much as you can in forums like this & books & magazinse. And .... good luck. Paul

Hey Billy, I didn't take it I've put it on a rod I'll use mostly from the wharf or land based. It'll get its first run on Friday down at Clifton. We didn't throw any plastics around on Sunday. Maybe we should have, we might have had better luck. Paul

Stewy, Iknow it went 33cm but I don't know about the pic. I'll check with my bro & see if it's still on his phone & if he has a clue how to send it or save it on a pc.... wow I could have my first ever record hahahhaa Paul

I'm certain my can give you guys a run for your money with the first fish caugt from out boat on the weekend we took delivery. Paul

Stacer 4.6m runabout with 50hp Etec yesterday showed 33kt on the speedo at 5500rpm WOT. That was with 3 adults & fishing gear 1/2 tank of fuel. I'm looking forward to seeing if the new GPS says anything near that though.

It's been ages since I've had anything at all to write about & when the opportunity came up this weekend to have a fish with my brother & my wife it couldn't be passed up. Things conspired turning what was supposed to be an early start on Sunday into a 8am start on the water launching at Kyeemagh. The parking area was about 1/2 full & the ramp was empty making for an easy start to the day. As we motored out throught the entrance of the Cooks River with at the helm it became apparent that we had perfect weather. Glassy seas & little or no breeze & the Bay looked ready for a great days fishing. After anchoring up beside the runway we started the burly trail & were quickly onto plenty of the little snapper that make the Bay home. Well after coupel of hours & a change of tide & still no trevally or beam we moved on. But watching other boats come & go & move around it became apparent we weren't the only ones missing something today. Next spot we tried was over near the channel markers out near Moulie Pt & we were very quickly onto a school of slimmies & they were soon joined by some sizable yakka. On the light gear we were using it was at least a bit of fun & after loading up the bait tank with all we needed we were starting to throw them back. By now the current was ripping along & we'd tired a bit of this we left the school still feeding under us. As it was so flat we decided to take a run out around the corner to Cape Solander to see what was going on out there. This was my first ever trip "outside" & I was just a little nervous as I took the helm for the run out. Seems my jitters were unwarrented as it was very calm & I really enjoyed seeing the headland from the sea for the first time. There must have been 30 cars & many more people lining the headland whale watching which surprised me. Anyway we cut the motor at my bro's suggetion & he & the dropped a line in to see if anything was bitting. The sounder was showing nothing at all & a flat bottom but they quickly got some solid bites. Not one to miss out I too dropped a chunk of slimmie over the side only to have a very solid take within 1 minute. The little Ugly Stick lite had a very nice bend in it & the Shimano reel had line peeling off so a slight upping of the drag & some pump & wind quickly had a nice solid fish netted. Now I'm not sure what it was but looking in the Fishraider Records we concluded it was a drummer..... could that be correct or have we got it wrong? I quickly rebaited with more slimmie & again within a minute I was on again. Same type of fish just a bit smaller. Rebaited & as I dropped my line in my bro was onto a nice specimen of the same fiesty variety. Just as he dehooked & dropped his catch back into the water I was on again....... this "outside" fishing is bloody good I thought why weren't we out here earlier. Only missed out. A quicky 20 minute session had 4 good solid fish boated & by now the sun was glowing orange & it was time to head back to Kyeemagh. Again I took the helm & motored back to the ramp at record speed. We found out that the little 4.6m Stacer with 50hp Etec would wind out to 5500rpm & a nice 33kt cruise. Something we have never dome before either. The ramp was not busy & after a fantastic day on the water 3 tired occasional fisho's were heading home very pleased with their days fishing even if we didn't hook the big bream & trevalley we were hoping for. Paul

Mate for the weight lines you are using a double uni is fine just increase the number of wraps you do in the braid side of things. I had the same problem when starting out & the extra wraps in the braid fixed the problem no worries at all Paul

Grant, Which would you suggest as being the best method?? Paul

Gary, From what I've heard the best way to hook the sambo's is to replace the trebbles with single hooks & this results in a much better hook up rate & less dropped fish. But in saying this i haven't tried it myself. Young Robbie who fishes/fished regularly at Clifton gave me this advice a while ago. Paul

Guys, Something to keep in mind .... you still need to comply with the 30cm legal size even when using for bait.

There is an excelent boating book shop at Crows Nest. They sell all manner of charts & maps as well as tons of books on all sorts of boating Paul

Saw one lost while some bloke was attempting to gaff it only a few weeks ago at Clifton at the end of the Jetty. Would have been over 1 metre easily. I smilled as it slowly swam to it's freedom

Thanks Stewy, Will do as I'd much prefer to use Tony if the service is available. He's a good bloke. Paul

Ceph, Reading a fishing mag this morning & noticed something that would be perfect for you. Okuma have just released a range of kayak rods.... maybe not what you'd normally consider except THEY FLOAT.... and the write up said even with a heavy reel they will stay afloat.. The perfect thing for sinking Stella's Paul

Hi Raiders, On the way to work today i saw something I've not come across before. A van with signage up advertising a mobile tackle & bait delivery service. Now I know we have a couple of great bait & tackle suppliers as sponsors but I'm not sure they have door to door delivery of live bait as this guy was advertising. I was wondering if anyone has used him & what's the quality of his bait? I know at times I've been caught short of a work day with little or no bait in the work freezer (yuk who put those sardines in the freezer) & woudn't mind a delivery of live nippers for a post work arvo session every now & then. Can anyone help? Paul