GreyNurse

Hi Krause, It's not the wind that's going to be your problem. It's going to be tidal flow. However, all is not lost. If you're looking to just get used to the new craft, launch a couple of hours before the turn of the tide and paddle and drift with the flow. At the turn of the tide, you could beach and have a snack and take care of your personals, and / or have a fish. Then relaunch and paddle back with the flow to where you put in. Best spots to do this in the Hacking are Wally's Wharf, or Swallow Rock. As Scratchie suggested, Cowan Creek is very good as there is little tidal flow, and is protected from most winds. So is Deep Creek at Narrabeen Lake. There's a nice little reserve there where you can park, offload the yak and carry or roll it all of 15 meters to the water's edge. Very still and very quiet and you're never more than 20 meters from the shore. There's even some nice little EP's and flathead in there to chuck a lure at for an hour or so. I'm off all next week, so if you want a buddy to help out and keep you company, give me a yell. I don't usually take the yak out in winter, but for a fellow Raider, I'm prepared to bend the rule.

Ah, Yes. Good ol' Xaviera Tras top scored. First time in any test match as well. Well done Xavier. But to put a few things in perspective. Nottingham had rain for a few days preceding this test, including a timely shower the evening before the start. The morning was overcast and humid. Perfect conditions to bowl a Duke ball, especially if you're a Pom. Then throw that ball to arguably England's most in form bowler who's playing on his home ground. You'd have to be Geoff Boycott to survive against that. At the same time, Australia's batting was inexplicable. They were pushing well forward to Broad's deliveries without much footwork. And not just one or two, but at least 7 wickets fell with that manner of batting. Not good enough. Personally I think that after Smith departed the rest of them were convinced that the pitch was a minefield. Then out come England and Mr. Root gave Australia a masterclass in batting technique. Finally, at least one Aussie bowler twigged to how it should be done and Mitch Starc has gone on to take a 6fer. A performance like Australia's cannot be put down to the players alone. (Although Clarke has gone. Should have been gone last November) Where are the batting bowling coaches? What are they instructing our players? With the length that Broad,(and Finn, et al) are bowling, what about reminding batsmen to stand forward, outside the crease, to upset the bowler. And that's just something I've picked up watching the lunch break on 9! As Cargo05 has suggested, something is not quite right behind the scenes.

A good starter combo for can be found at the big stores like Kmart, BCF and the like. Also have a look at your local tackle store to get a comparison. For a simple rod stand, just go to a hardware store and buy a 3M length of orange 60mm PVC pipe. Cut it into 1M lengths and cut one end of each at a 45 degree angle to drive into the sand. Measure the distance between the butt end of the rod and the leg of the reel. Drill a hole about 2-4cm less than that measurement through each pipe from the top. Whack a brass bolt and nut through the holes to stop the leg of the reel resting on the top of the pipe.You now have three functional rod stands reasonably cheap.

Yep, I've been reading up on that. Glad I decided to go with WFF. I've made the purchase from an on line seller who throws in a free leader. I can always sink that with some very small lead weights if needed. As I said, I'm going to have a crack at tying some flies, but there's some nice ones out there to buy.

To all on Fishraider who have read my posts, or who have helped me out, even if you don't know it. It's only a reminder, but consider this my little way of saying thanks; Eat at least two meals of oily fish or seafood a week, barring allergies. It helps reduce excess weight, helps reduce the chance of a stroke and is good for the heart, no argument. Thanks for reading.

Thanks Luderick-angler, I was eyeing off the Rio. It is a good line. However, I'll probably get something a little less hard on the wallet to start with. Call it a practice line, if you will. WF7 will be my choice. Just have to decide on whether it will be a floating or sinking line. I'm thinking floating, to target flats fish. I've not done a lot of sight casting, so the fly experience will help me there. Hookerbruce, I will take you up on that offer. Have a good hol in the meantime.

Looks like I can get up for an early Friday morning fish, as, for us cricket tragics, I can pack it in and get some sleep. Is there any point in hoping that Australia can recover from an all out for 60 innings before lunch on the first day of the 4th Test? Maybe someone can extend Michael Clarke an invite to join Fishraiders, 'cause he ain't going to playing a lot of cricket this summer. He'd have to score better on the water.

It's certainly very different, Craig. However, I'm more than happy with my little 18lb electric I use on my cheap and cheerful. But if I won Lotto, I'd get one. Just to sh%t stir the boaties at the local ramps.

Luderick -angler, It's a Fenwick FF857 Fly rod, given to me by a now deceased mate, about 15 years ago. That's all I knew for sure, until now. Found this at http://fiberglass-fly-rods.pbworks.com/w/page/5182977/Fenwick; FF857 - 8½ foot, 2 piece, 3¾ or 3⅞ oz., 7 weight. Will work fine with a 7 or 8 weight line. These blanks were made from E-glass with the Feralite ferrule. And this from DB Cooper at http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/fly-rods/295636-casting-one-fenwick-aficionados.html; The Fenwick FF857 was definitely one of their more popular/common models. I have 3 of them of varying generations and all three are listed at different line weights and overall weights. A 6,7,8 and sometimes 9 are right in the wheelhouse for these super versatile rods. Fenwick was kind of famous for constantly changing or tweaking their tapers, which is why you see such a variation in this rod model. Its a great rod and i hope you enjoy it. The M serial number prefix denotes year of manufacture was 1974.

Traditionally, I've always used Mustad for worm (long shank), baitholder and suicide hooks, But for circle hooks I'm using Gamakatsu. No complaints.

Thanks Ed, Guys, I'm getting excited. I figure I'll be on the water and flailing in no time. I'll let you know when I go so you can stay clear and not have to hit the deck when I'm casting.

Thanks Stewie, I knew you'd be one of the first to reply. Actually, I'm going to incur the wrath of the boss and spend $30 on a reel that has a carbon fibre drag. I think that's justified. But, as you say, the reel is mainly for holding line. OK, now to look at lines. Just one question, I've noticed that recommended backing is dacron. Would braid be a suitable substitute?

HI Raiders, With a new job in the offing, I've decided it's time I finally assemble a fly fishing combo. About 15 years ago, I was given a Fenwick FF857 fly rod. It's specs are as follows: 2 piece Labelled 8'6", 3 3/8 oz (? cast weight), AFTMA Fly Line No. 7 9 stainless runners, the bottom 2 on the butt section have standard circular ring guides. The other 7 on the tip section have spiral ring guides. Plus the tip. A bronzed anodised aluminum reel seat on a cork grip. It even has a serial number; M 21597 I give you these details in case any of this info helps with what I need, which is a fly reel and line. I have tippets and flies, so that's OK. If I was brought up fly fishing I would probably use this for fresh water species, but I would like to target salt water fish as well, if that's possible. Now, here's the rub. Not being overly financial, I was planning to do a bit of on line shopping and keep the price of the reel below $25.00. I know that sounds sacrilegious, but consider that I don't want to overly commit at this stage, in if case I decide that fur and feather is not my preferred discipline. Is there anything that I can specifically look for or, more importantly, absolutely avoid, in that price range. Please don't suggest that "for a few dollars more you could have blah blah blah". I just want to suck it and see, so to speak and allow for the fact that cheap stuff will not allow me the luxury of best practice. For instance, I found a Forsyth 5/6 weight graphite reel for $16. Yes? No? And I would like a suggestion on the fly line weights I could use and the taper for possibly both salt and fresh water.

Could the yak be then refinished with a polyurethane protective coat? There's a company in Revesby that can do both. Just thought I would ask for Huy, as it might be what I want to do someday.

Wow. I'm not a blue water fisherman, but I can, at least, appreciate the workmanship. Most excellent!

I went for an predawn session at Wally's Wharf yesterday. Same wind conditions. A couple of boats launched to head down to Belambi for some snapper. Meanwhile, back at the wharf, I was berleying up some really good looking bream, blackfish and a few I couldn't ID, but you think that they would take an unweighted piece of pillie, or fisho? Not a chance. Left at 10.30 with a 15-20 knot wind blowing my lines everywhere and boat traffic starting to get busy.

As long as you keep away from oyster covered rocks, you should be OK. From the reading I've been doing, they are a nice little option, but I'd place more stock in my cheap and cheerful kayak.

Rear view mirror is fine. I use the offset in those circumstances. But I wind up having to hold my hand up between my eyes and the driver's side mirror until the dude passes. I know all vehicles don't have the angle beam switch, but I bet that there's a heap that do, and don't bother reading the manual to realise that it's their for the other motorist.

Those little fuel cap holders on the inside of the fuel door are indeed a great idea. When I left school back in '70, in the days of the free floating petrol cap, I pumped petrol for 6 months, in between engine washes (remember those). and, I'll admit, occasionally, I'd forget to replace a cap or three. But when self service came in, our local servo had a bag of petrol caps waiting to be collected by the owners, that he had salvaged in 1 month! Now you rarely see fuel caps left behind. However, I did see one the other day sitting atop a bowser at the local 7-11. It was a locking cap, to boot. Ouch! Hope the driver got it back.

I wonder what the poor people were doing that day? Oh, I know, I was was one of them. Great report. Now my missus wants to hire a HB (in the warmer weather) and have an adventure. Hope she takes me. Haha. She thanks you for a good idea.

Member 16363, not counting any double entries. I leave that task to the admins, thanks.

The little arrow thing has been around for a while. I first noticed it on my '92 Camry wagon. Great idea for the person new to the vehicle. I wonder if drivers know that their is a little wheel on the dash of many recent vehicle, like 4WD's and people movers, whose purpose isn't to dim the dash board lights.The function may not be obvious, but it's used to adjust headlight beam angle. I'm sure a lot of drivers don't use it, because I'm almost blinded by people movers coming up behind me at night in the city. When they come past, sure enough, their headlight beam, while not on high beam, is angled way too high. Anyone else notice this?

I tend to agree with papafish. Given that most of us practice catch and release, the few times we would keep a fish like a nice flathead or whiting and eat it, should not endanger our health. I wouldn't eat fish regularly from the upper Georges ( west of Tom Ugly's ) or west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, for that matter. That's playing with fire. If you want to fish a system for fish to eat regularly, look for working oyster leases, as a rule of thumb. Nice work on the whiting and trevally papafish. Bad luck about the dropped fish. Still, it sounded like a nice day on the water for you and your mates.

I hear you Adamski. And don't blame the beers.Not all of us can go through life tying the more complex knots by hand. Especially when the old carpal joints start to stiffen and become achy with age. I've had the Knot Assist 2.0 bookmarked in my browser since I saw it a few weeks ago. Very clever looking tool. And at 4500 Yen, looks like a bargain! I'm going to convince Santa to get me one for Christmas, I think. In the meantime, I'll keep practicing. Perhaps I'll do better when the weather warms up a bit.

I've been to Lord Howe and I'm sure it's not there. Nor Norfolk Is., either. I'm sure all will be revealed in time.