[Sounder Suggestions]

Personally I would go for the Lowrance depth sounder. they are the most user friendly I've known and owned. Good choice for the black and white, the colour doesn't show you any more and is $500 - $1000 more expensive.

Hmm I have always thought Eagle sounders came out of the same factory as Lowrance, they sure look the same

[Sounder Suggestions]

anyone ?

[Sounder Suggestions]

Hey raiders!

Just wanna start by clearing up a few things ... I do most of my fishing in Vanuatu, as my parents live over there and Iam here for school/uni. I will be headed back over there when I finish my studies . But! Iam taking this year off and have spent the past 7 months fishing from out of a 10ft Zodiac ... the much awaited upgrade into a bigger boat should be coming (once I fly back in 2 weeks time). This means something worthy of installing a sounder into . The vessel will be a 4.2 Meter Stabicraft & 30hp Yamaha 2st, its meant to be a dinghy but got altered by the factory to have a deck and console, at the request of the original owner.

Up until last month I wasn't totally clear of how deep the water I fished was, till I got invited on a fishing trip with a mate of a mate, Gary. Gary's boat had a commercial grade Furuno sounder, and it was showing the depths of the places I used to fish as going down to 400meters and other places 600-800m. Although we don't drop a line till we know the anchor hits bottom, the anchor rope is around 125-150meters, so its safe to say thats the avg depth I fish out of. Bare in mind this is only 3-4kilometers offshore (so I felt pretty safe in my rubber ducky), good thing about this is ... on some days with the right conditions you can see/hear schools of small-medium tuna (yellowfin!!! ... Gary has caught them there before) feeding on the surface.

So I have done some reading and searched around, heard the US was cheaper so thats where I started (thnx for the links Netic from the other thread). I've narrowed it down to these 2 in my budget.

Eagle FishElite 480 Sounder/GPS Combo $349 USD

According to Eagle's site this will get me readings down to 244m

or

Eagle SeaCharter 480DF Sounder/GPS Combo $399 USD

Its not shown on Eagles site, but it is the same model as the SeaFinder 480 DF (which is missing GPS feature), this gives me a reading down to 457m

Now I know I won't be dropping a line in that kind of depth ... and I can always just get the map readings from Gary for the seamounts and other structure which I may otherwise not see on the FishElite sounder.

So to sum up, Am I better off getting a sounder that will get me covered for an extra $50USD ($66AUD) with a deeper reading and Duel Frequency or will the Single Frequency shallower reading + the use of GPS marks be enough?

Sorry for the long post ... but I look forward to any comments you may have!

Cheers.

Ray

[What Are Your Fishing Goals]

Definately looking to get a new boat first! then its all cherry popping from there

1. Snapper

2. Dollie ... of any size

3. Yellowfin

4. Magrove jack over 2.4kg (My PB so far )

[Plano Rod Tubes]

I will be looking for a size to fit 5-6 rods, 6-7ft long, extendable would be ideal.

Sean

How many rods will they be able to hold, and what type of construction is it made from? fabricated tube or that solid looking plastic?

Reason being is that I know what the baggage handlers are like over there, so the sturdier the better

[Plano Rod Tubes]

The rod tubes by JW sold at the store that we dont mention are pretty good and not much more than the cost of components if you made it yourself.

One got my Loomis's to Darwin and back with no probs!!!

Hmm i'll look into that, even though its a bit of a drive up.

Any idea on how many rods they hold?

[Plano Rod Tubes]

I'll be taking a few rods back with me to Vanuatu and I will need some protection for them

So I've looked around and the Plano 4588 extendable Rod Tube seem to be what I'm looking for, matter is who stocks them in Sydney area and for how much (generally)?

Plano 4588 info

Then again I can always just get a peice of 4" pvc =\

[Weird Version Of Fr]

Was browsing through google on a reel related search and noticed a link for fishraider. i clicked on it, and it seems like the same website but a different layout.

http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/lofiversion/

Just a different way to look at FR

I think thats the Lo-Fi version, so that users on a 56k Modem conection can still enjoy the site

Edit: It sure came in handy for when I was browsing on 56k, kinda also how I first came across this site too

[Great Guitar Playing]

Just thought i would show you guys this

This is a amatuer self taught guitar player who put his vid on you tube and it became the most listened too peice on the net worldwide.

He now has a record deal, amazing stuff and great playing

I remembered seeing/downloading this around christmas time, and yet its still so cool to watch. This guy has really got some talent

Top find netic.

[How To Drive Microsoft]

You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.

heres another go at good ol Bill

[New Spinning Reel?]

Hi Kantong

I have the shimano sienna 2500 on my 7 foot pflueger rod, it also has 8lb fireline which you mentioned you wanted to get. As for perfromance i cant really comment since ive brought the outfit ive used it only for plastics and hardbodies, and being the novice that i am i havent caught anything with it so i dont know how it performs under load. However its cast line out pretty well and feels pretty smooth. One problem i do have though is that i find after i cast i have to manually click the bail arm back over, as opposed to it clicking back over itself when i turn the handle, not sure if thats a fault with my reel or if it wasnt designed to do that in the 1st place. Dont know your $$$ situation but in hindsight i probably would have gone for a symetre.

Cheers

My Sienna 4000FB seems to have the same problem, although sometimes when you give it a little bit more of a push it will click back into place. Have had it for 8 months now, besides from the odd scratches it is still in very good shape and still very smooth

[Matching Rod For Baitrunner 6500b]

Mate I am pretty sure I can do something in your budget. Contact me on 0422 315 058 and we'll talk about it

Cheers Rohit, I'll drop you a call when I'm back in the country, overseas visitng relatives atm.

Wirlez,

The rods that I have my baitrunners on are as follows;

3500B-Wilson Live Fibre 6-8kg blank, I cant remember the blank number

4500B- Silstar Powertip 701SWM & Ugly Stick GB1800

6500B- Silstar Powertip 701SWH

No top of the range stuff here, just good honest, well proven and well performing rods at a price that wont break the bank.

Thnx cap, I'll give those a bit of a look

Also just like to ask again if anyone has had any experience with the new Shimano Aero Baitrunners

Cheers.

[Matching Rod For Baitrunner 6500b]

I think he meant that he was budgeting $80-$120 for a rod to suit the Baitrunner

cap, that is correct.

But I guess dropping down to a 4500B would allow for more money to be spent on a rod.

Still .. I don't really want to stretch it any further then 160-180 =\

[Matching Rod For Baitrunner 6500b]

Hey fellas,

I'm new around these neck of the woods, so any comments/advice given will be very much appreciated

I've been reading around and finally decided on buying a Shimano Baitrunner. Probably the 6500B. I was hoping some raiders could help me with teaming this up with a rod. Budgeting around $80-$120

It will be used for various things ie. trolling/casting skirted lures around for small-to-medium sized tunas, reef bashing with baits, and the occasional jigging.

Also I had, had a quick look at the newer Baitrunners the Aero 5000,6000,8000 RE range, is there any significant difference between the 2? besides the alu spool? should I consider trying the new ones out or stick with whats known to work?

.. and just 1 more thing, what line should I be looking at spooling it with?

Cheers!