Pat Williams

Thanks for all the good responses everyone, a couple of good options there. Billfisher I've heard of the ugly stik one but never picked one up or seen one. Never actually seen anywhere that stocks them so I will have to look around online. Hooklineandsinker I just took a look at a couple of these on ebay, do you use one? If so how do you find it? I heard that they have stainless steel guides does it make them overly heavy? Frantic I know what you mean, when i fish spots like the hat I tend not to even livebait and stick with spinning, too much of a pain in the arse keeping your livey in the right spot! I have done a bit of livebaiting with 9'+ sticks and find that it kills the back when you get onto a good fish, that's why I was looking for something a little shorter this time but it's all a compromise between comfort and getting enough clearance I guess. Persistence person how long is the RLFTX09? cheers, Pat

Hey guys I just bought a TLD 25 to use for landbased livebaiting for bluefin for the upcoming NSW season. I need a 10-15kg overhead rod somewhere between 7 and 8 foot to match it to. I've had a look at the Wilson Live Fibre range and I don't mind the 7'6" 8-15kg model but I was just wondering if anyone knew of any other rods available off the rack that are worth looking at? I've spoken to a couple of rod builders and because it is a fairly specialised type of rod I'm happy to get it made up custom if necessary but for something like that you're looking at around $500 so I just want to find out what's available first. Cheers, Pat

Yeah as others have said the bonito's eating qualities are completely determined by how it is looked after - if you bleed it immediately after capture, keep it in an ice slurry, fillet, skin and remove bloodline with a sharp filleting knife and either prepare as sashimi, smoke it, or dust with flour and fry it in butter it is very good eating. Comparable to longtail tuna but less gamey if bled properly. If you buy old bonito from the fish shop or leave yours sitting in the sun all morning while you fish, wash it in fresh water and then leave it in the fridge for a couple of days before you cook it, it's guaranteed to taste like crap.

LungFai thanks for the link, plenty of good info there. Do you know which brand of housing your sister bought and if she's happy with it? Flattiefisher have you used the hero 2 with the dive housing? Does it eliminate the blurriness you get from just using the standard housing? I've got access to my mates hero 2 but have found it's only really useful in some situations due to the lack of viewfinder.

Hey just wondering if anyone has any experience with underwater photography and has some advice on a good camera and housing combo. I've used GoPros before and they're not adequate because of the lack of viewfinder as well as the blurry effect you get from the convex lens in the housing. Also tried some waterproof compact cameras which were ok but not what I'm after. I would rather not take my good SLR underwater, even with a quality housing, due to the risk of leakage, so was thinking of buying a separate, somewhat cheaper, camera for underwater use and matching it with a housing. I'm thinking of a high-end compact like a Canon g12 or g15 with an Ikelite housing. Has anyone got experience with this combo or something similar they could recommend? cheers Pat

great catch! I've just started fishing a few northern beaches spots for blackies, do you find they come on the bite more on a rising tide?