squizzytaylor

I had surgery for Carpal tunnel syndrome and was bass fishing 4 days later, albeit with the rod strapped in to my left hand. GT

The drop off is the exact point where Swansea channel becomes lake Macquarie, its is geographically between Marks point and Elizabeth Island and is sign posted by two large Port and Starboard markers. The bottom of the chanel when travelling into the lake meanders at around the 8-10 foot depth mark at the dropover it drops to 24 odd feet and then to the 30 mark within about 10 metres. cheers Geoff

This is a favorite subject of mine. Most of my fishing gear is low-mid priced gear primarily consisting of Shimano Symetre, stradics, TLD's and Abu reels, Rods are mostly Shimano raiders-T curves and a couple of live fibres and Ugly sticks. Not the bottom of the pecking order by a long shot but there are a lot better and dearer on the market. Price justification is a very personal thing and whilst I would love to own an arsenal of Stella/Steez/Certate reels and equivalent rods however my wife would probably get a little annoyed at having to live on toast and baked beans indefinitely as unimportant things like the mortgage, kids schooling and eating have to take precedence. I have been very lucky in the past though to have fished with others who own the top end gear though and I have to say that the quality, the overall feel and the confidence that using "nice" gear brings is something that has to be experienced to be appreciated. Does this gear help you catch fish? That really depends on the person using the gear, but when hooked up the control and the feel that a Loomis and up gives when combined with a well built precision reel is beautiful. Finally, yes there is still a chance that the guy 100 metres away with a $40.00 combo will catch a bigger fish! Cheers GT

Ive has a few eagles now and have been very very happy with the product and service (Navico). In one case I sent a unit (480 x 480 mono) in for repair under warranty, and as it was an old model they upgraded to a 640 pixel color unit at no charge to avoid me waiting for parts!! Thats a $500 upgrade!@! Geoff

I generally find bream where I find whiting when poppering, shallow waters from .5 to 2 metres heavy weed beds with the odd sand bed are the go (around moored boats and back towards the shore are the go). For a retrieve I basically just flick the rod tip about 6 inches at a time in a down ward motion from the 3 o'clock position (enough action to create a bow wave and a small (bloop) and if there is a chop about, I increase the action accordingly. And in the event of a strike, rather than pause I leave the popper there and basically shake the rod very fast but in small amounts to simulate a fish that has been hit and stunned, I almost always get a return hit very quickly. GT

RE is a whiting and bream killer. GT

Whilst Ive found the bubble pops great (35mm in particular) , a negative is the size leaves them susceptible to be snapped clean off by pike which are quite prevalent here in lake Macquarie. I have been using the 5cm strike pro (duro) rack popper sh002b in clear (red eye) pattern to good effect, just being that tad bigger than the r2s makes a huge difference, The retrieve I use are very short sharp stabs only moving the rod tip about 6 inches at a time in a downward motion from about the 4 o clock position and vary this depending on the water conditions (the more chop and wind the heavier the action). You are only really trying to make a bow wave with a little noise not a tsunami. I target weeded areas and ideally in anywhere from about 1 foot of water to about 8 feet of water. Light leaders are a must (hence the pike problem). Cheers Geoff

You'll get sambos when they are running Cory and perhaps tailor, whiting are caught regularly in the channel so there might be a chance of them too. Cheers Geoff

Roffo, I lost my job due to the "economic downturn" late November last year, and despite all the doom and gloom start in my new position tommorow. Keep your head up mate, something will come up and dont be afraid to alter your career course for a while. Geoff

Jon, ring merc and ask the question, when I fitted my Permatrim I rang tohatsu and the answer was "it may effect warranty on something like the pivot bushes as it increases the load on them but if for example the motor had an electrical failure, there would be no issue as the perma could not possibly be the cause of that issue". I have dealt with the merc guys before and found them to be most helpfull. Geoff

The rule as it stands only prohibits fishing on or around (within 100 metres by boat) the hot water outlets from dusk till dawn( 6.00pm-6.00am) from memory Harrishobbies, A quick call to DPI fisheries will clarify. GT

Kim is one of my 10 year old daughters main role-models (whos name is also Kim) and she follows Kims progress on the us circuit near obsessively, She is also a fantastic ambassador for both Australia and for fishing in general and has done fantastic things for promoting fishing to the ladies and young ladies. An aussie legend in the making. GT

Any in your price range should come totally complete wantingaboat. GT

Sure thing, assuming you have a battery on the boat its really as simple as: 1) connecting a negative and positive to the battery 2) Placing the transducer on the hull in a nice clear place where it assured of a clean flow of water when underway. 3) finding a good spot to mount the unit on the boat where it isnt going to get knocked and ideally is protected from incoming water splash etc. The Lowrance units have excellent instructions on mounting locations for both transducer and displays. The question is whether or not you are handy for this type of job, it is not a hard job for someone mechanically minded which understand we are all not. Or if you are local to newcastle I am happy to help, just pm me. Geoff

For what you want to spend I would look at the eagle/Lowrance line of mono sounders. For around the $400 mark you will get a good single frequency 480 x 480 pixel model with temp reading and an excellent level of user friendliness. The clarity of these sounders is excellent value for money and certainly a better buy than a low res colour unit. Cheers Geoff

Alcohol is the answer. Thats what all the museum specimens are kept in. GT

Chicken breast is lethal on bream as is skirt (backstrap) steak, I even know a couple of guys who salt their chicken and steak as it helps them deteriorate slower on the hook. Geoff

I might well be available winnings1, I live about 30minutes fron Newy on lake mac and am house broken (i dont spew and always contribute!). Gime me a hoy when you are closer to getting here and I will be happy to have a chat. Cheers Geoff

I cant work out how to bring them up. GT

As much as I would also suspect the primer bulb, there should still be enough fuel in the carbs to start the outboard. GT

Where do I start? Any of the foreshore area in town is half a chance for bream, flathead, tailor when running, Bonito have been known to make an appearance as well (and eels and very large rays), the old pilot station down towards nobbys beach is a local mecca for jew fishing with live yakkas, tailor or squid being the gun baits. Stockton is very family friendly with around 3km of foreshore area as well as floating pontoons, the 2 rockwalls previously mentioned and beach fishing all within 2 minutes of each other, jewy are also a possibility here as are all the other species mentioned. between the 2 rock walls in a very calm beach ideal for the kids to have a splash. Plenty of darkies around in season, I havent heard much on them for a while though. Hope this helps Geoff

Very cool outcome jewgaffer, fishing is a universal language I guess. Geoff

This should help. http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recrea.../lake-macquarie Cheers Geoff

Price $60 These are secured with stainless machine screws, they are rubber meshed, my daughter used two hands but there was a kilo and a bit of bass in there as well. By far the best I have owned. Geoff

The berkley nets are bloody brilliant, I picked one up before christmas and my 9 year old daughter thought it was the greatest thing ever. She used to struggle with the environets but had no drama with the berkley, dont be put off by the net depth as they stretch a long long way with a fish in. Geoff