GreyNurse

Take a quick tour of the big stores, you should know who I'm referring to, and check the beach rods. You can pick up some good buys within the budget. Not anywhere near elite, but you should find a suitable update to your Penn. I wouldn't be using anything shorter than 10' for the rocks, but that's just me.

Being unemployed at the moment, not much. A few on line purchases, (blades and squid jigs are attractive), but "she who must be obeyed" will probably make sure most of it is used for good, not evil.

Raiders be advised, After receiving group certificates and a tax statement from my private health fund, I filed my tax return last Saturday. This morning I received an email from the health fund with an updated tax statement attached and a message to disregard the previous one. I've just faxed the necessary amendment form to the ATO. A PITA, but hopefully I've been quick enough and should not have any further problems. BTW, I am now $700 better off!. So if you complete your tax return and think that maybe you've come up a bit short, the problem may be your health fund's tax statement/ Not saying that the problem is endemic, but just be aware and, if in doubt, contact your health fund to ensure you've been given an accurate statement. For details on which health fund I'm referring to, just send a PM.

What about the Shimano Spheros 6000SW. A bit dearer than $200, but it's fully sealed. Alternatively if you're not worried about sealing, the Fin Nor Lethal 100 SP60 will give you a robust reel with plenty of change.

That'd be the go. If you fluff it, you've still got burley. If you do it right, you've salvaged the pillies and have it down pat for the next batch. I have a neighborhood cat problem as well. But I also have a second floor balcony that's cat proof. So long as the bloody cockatoos stay clear, I should have some nice pillies for the Hairtail Social.

Mate, what a great little weekend for you and the kids. They really looked like they were enjoying themselves. But the pooch and the occy made the report for me. I had a good giggle at that. I can't imagine what he must have been thinking about the occy. Probably thought it was some exotic chew toy at first. Hope to catch up with you at the Social, as well.

Ijit!

Aren't the little one just so cute!

You could use them that way, but I'd imagine other lures would be just as effective. It would be a case of matching the hatch.If the popper didn't look like suitable prey in a fast current situation, then strikes would be few and far between. However, if, say a minnow type lure is presented, matching the size and colour of local prey, then it would get slammed often. Same thing goes with dead sticking a soft plastic. As always, it's a case of keep trying until you come upon something that works.

Hi Arron, I found this article on line. It describes how to use the surf popper very well. http://www.fishingmonthly.com.au/Articles/Display/15795-Casting-lures-in-the-surf

There's a brand of amphibious boats called Sealegs, that's gaining market appeal. One has been bought as a police rescue boat up in Broome.

Sea Salt = any good brand of table salt. Read the label. Some swear by rock salt, others use table salt. Best to experiment and see for yourself, I suppose. The end result is pretty well much the same. Pillies are firmer, last longer, can go in the fridge for a week a least (check with the other half) and I haven't met a fish that doesn't like 'em.

You must be gutted to miss that big 'un. However, top effort and teamwork. You gave yourselves every chance by the sound of it. As Scratchie said, it's that kind of situation that keeps us coming back for more. Hey, it's better than returning without a bite!

No problems using the sneck hooks Bruce, Just learn to tie the old Snell knot and you're laughing.

Those old W hooks look interesting. Looks like each hook is a result of splitting one broader piece of wire. Interesting attachment point as well. Would have been used on lures like spoons and metal slabs. The 1/0 and 2/0 mustad sneck hooks are typically used for almost any estuary species. Flathead and tailor would be my target fish as they are long shanked. Nice pickup.

Earlier this month I unearthed my old peacock pocket warmer. If any of you are familiar with these and their Chinese knock offs, you will know that they work by catalytic heat exchange. For those of you who are not, but are interested, this is brought about by a filling the unit with lighter fluid. The unit is packed with cotton wool type batting which becomes obviously saturated when the unit is filled. Then holding a flame to a glass fibre pad resting in a platinum housing (the burner unit). After a few seconds the process begins, the pad glows a dull red, the housing starts to heat up and the lid goes on. The pocket warmer then heats up completely and is placed in a velveteen bag. It then goes into the pocket or wherever and lasts for hours. After a few unsuccessful attempts to get mine going, I sent away for a new burner unit as these can often cease to work as much from inactivity as they can from normal usage. The new unit arrived and I was pleased to find that I had been correct. Now one of the recommendations about these pocket warmers is to use the correct fuel. Lighter fluid such a Zippo and Ronsonol (sorry to name brands but it is important in the context of what I'm explaining) are instructed to be used. But I remember years ago when I first bought the thing that White Spirit and Dry Cleaning Fluid was mentioned as being safe to use. There are volatiles that are a definite no-no because they have a tendency to bring about an early demise to the glass fibre pad. So too will soaking the pad in any fluid or handing the pad with dirty fingers. Today's burners are supposed to be good for 5,000 hours So I decided to conduct a little experiment with lighter fluid and three other combustible fluids commonly found in the household, mineral turps, methylated spirit and kerosene. What I was looking for was how long a full filling would last and how warm the unit gets. Now my warmer is the large size. They come with a nifty filling cup. It takes five of these cups to fill the unit. It is advertised to last 30 hours on one filling. The standard running temp is stated as 70 degrees C, but it does not say whether that is measured through the bag or directly from the metal body. So here are the results. Lighter Fluid - 34 hrs - 50 degrees C, the limit of my thermometer. Mineral Turps - 50hrs - ditto Meth Spirit - 24 hrs - ditto for temp, but the smell from the fumes I do not recommend Kerosene - 24 hrs - 40 degrees C. I later found that kero is not recommended as it is to "heavy" a distillate and can cause the burner element to have a decreased life span. Not surprised. Also, because of the shorter burn time, I felt I had to remove the wool batting from the unit and dry it thoroughly, before using the unit again. So the verdict? Obviously lighter fluid as recommended. It lasted a little longer than the 30 hrs, which was good, and the unit reached a very good temperature. I was stunned by how long the Turps lasted, It ran the unit every bit a warm as the lighter fluid. Neither were too "fumey", but it depends on how sensitive your sense of smell is, I suppose. The Meth, while running the unit nice and hot actually gave me a headache after I had the unit in my shirt pocket for 15 minutes indoors, and it stinks. I wound up letting it do it's thing in the garage. Wouldn't surprise me to find a few dead insects in there. It also only lasted just on 24 hrs. Kero can damage the burner unit and it only just gets warm. No good on those icy nights. And a run time of 24hrss was disappointing, as well. I wouldn't recommend the last two at all. One last thing. I've ordered another pocket warmer because it's impractical to just have one unit. I don't know about you, but when I'm out and about in the cold, I like to keep both hands warm,

They use rare earth magnets in the anti reverse assembly in fishing reels. Would the hard drive magnets be suitable as spares?

Yeah Ed, I read the story as well and was a bit surprised that a basking shark was observed so far from "home". However, it's not the first caught in Australian waters. According to Wiki, their distribution is world wide. I'd love to know their migratory pattern. And apparently it was donated to the Victoria Museum, so kudos to the trawler skipper and crew.

Love your work guys. The system must be improving for salmon to start showing up. And a top morning, weather wise. Nice to see smiles all round. Must get down to the Cooks for a LB session. See what might be achievable.

I tend to agree. As long as the metal washers are flat, s/s or brass are an each way bet. I've read testimonials from people who have replaced their felt washers with Carbonex and they say that not only does the Carbonex make all the difference, but the improvement is HUGE! I've lapped all my stainless steel washers now and I can tell you that they all needed it. The drags are much better now, but I'm ordering a sheet of Carbonex and complete the process of upgrading the drags. Then, all I will need is a co-operative fish to test them out.

My new burner arrived yesterday. It's a bit different to the original burner in design inasmuch as you don't need to light the wick, as the original burner was designed to operate. So I tucked the wick down inside the warmer and poured in one measure of lighter fluid. (It takes 6 measures to fill it up). Placed a flame to the burner for 3 seconds and away it went for 4 and a half hours. So far, so good. I'm sure I used to run the thing on dry cleaning fluid in the past, so I'm conducting a few experiments. Currently, I'm running it a full load of mineral turps. I lit it at 1am, so far it's been running non stop for 20 hrs. The temperature of the unit inside it's velveteen bag against the hand is at least 50 degrees C. That's as high as the thermometer I used goes. And the unit was resting against the metal guard protecting the glass bulb! I wouldn't recommend using it without a similar cloth wrapping as the metal is too bloody hot to hold directly. The next few experiments will be with methylated spirit, then lighter fluid. It will be interesting to see how the running times and temperatures differ.

G'day raiders, I decided, with the Hairtail Social approaching, to start conditioning myself for some cold night fishing. I had a nice warm shower to start with, and then put on 4 layers of clothing topside, and 2 pair of track pants (1 nylon, 1 brushed cotton), Holeproof explorer socks and Dunlop Volleys. I didn’t bother with a beanie or gloves as I wasn’t planning a marathon. I also left behind my Peacock pocket hand warmer (with new wick, it now works again, yay!) and forgot a torch. I was originally planning to hit Wally’s wharf, but decided to head towards Yowie bay boat ramp as it has a streetlight over the pontoon to make up for lack of aforementioned torch. I arrived at the spot at about 8.00pm. There were three gents already fishing there. They each had a couple of rods and were casting straight out front. I tied on a squid jig and, not wanting to upset proceeding by fouling their lines, took up a position on the southern corner of the pontoon and cast out at about a 45 degree angle. Unfortunately for me, the squid did not want to play last night, but we were entertained by one of the guys regaling us with stories of fish he had caught in the Hacking system, as well as his thoughts on those he encountered who keep undersized fish. During this time he managed small snook which he quickly sent out as a livie. After about 45 minutes, his livie died and so he bid us a good night and left. The other two guys were quietly pulling in undersized tailor and pinkies and dutifully releasing them. I got talking with one of them and his love for fishing was plainly evident. He didn’t mind if they were undersized, he told me. They always go back because, as far as he was concerned, where there’s small fish, big ones aren’t far away. At 9.20, the streetlight on the pontoon turned off. (it’s on a timer, would you believe) The guys had a couple of LED lanterns, but watching the rod tips was difficult. A few more undersize catch and releases and we all decided that the calling of a warm house was too much, so we said our goodbye’s and good lucks and headed of back to our respective homes. While the night wasn’t a fishing success, it was still a pleasant one with good company. And if I took anything away from the evening, it was that Dunlop Volleys are probably not the best footwear for keeping the tootsies warm. I could have done with a pair of mittens, but I expected that to be the case. The rest of me was reasonably warm, with the multiple layers of clothing. I think I might head back down there tonight, weather permitting, and cast a few soft plastics. This time I will remember to take a torch!

Good stuff Scottyb, One is better than none. Slimy mackerel. eh? Did you manage to see what bait they were using. I wouldn't mind having a go for them myself. Was is very crowded?

Good luck with it Camo, It's always exciting to take out the new "toy" for the first time. Don't be too concerned if you don't see what you expect to see on the screen. It takes a few outings to learn to read the images, even on the more basic models. Once you get the hang of it, your fishfinder becomes a really useful tool.

In the case of the 100 series, there does not appear to be an auto standby mode. At least none that's documented. That being the case, just turn the unit off once you've located structure / fish until you want to move on.