djmac

last year fishing at port stephens i hooked an eagle ray that did exactly that. it was pretty crazy jumped about 4ft in the air. and circle around the boat a few times. great fight on 4lb line! heres a pic of it Col

Hey greg, thats a very good looking rig, ive read some good things about the albemarle range too. yanks have so many boats to choose from! you wouldnt go wrong with that. as you say the $ is pretty good at the moment but id be interested to see how much they would charge you to get her across?? theres alot of boats around the 6-8m range that sell soooo cheap over there that would make great trailerboat gamerigs. and at that size they would surely fit in a container. its quite depressing when you look at the u.s. market and whats available for your dollars there as opposed to here. but i reckon talk to a few of the lads at the game clubs they know there stuff, and some are lucky enough to have the $$ to look at some of the bigger and better machines out there. as with sgfc and bbgfc im sure if you go down to a general meeting ppl will be only happy to have a chat. usually a good informative night anyway. drop me an email mate djmac@netspace.net.au and ill flick you a couple of websites that would be worth posting the same question on. the mods here a bit sensitive about that sort of thing Col

hi greg, ive been on a luhrs 28ft express and i found they are a great boat but being so open they are a bit prone to getting a little more wet than other boats. they will differ from hull to hull i guess but the luhrs is a pretty great ride. have you seen the 34ft pirate sports fisher? an old boat brought back and now they are building them again. they have a great finish/layout. http://www.piratesportyachts.com.au/psf.php express version are pretty popular these days though, blackwatch,cabo etc etc all have an express model if you're a member of a game club get down and have a chat with a few of the guys i know in broken bay game theres a few express models floating around. in fact i think "trawler" a riviera express is for sale still. might be worth a look. its a nice boat. http://www.gameboats.com.au/brokerage/56/R...000-Trawler.htm thats the boat there. oic its been sold. nevermind Col

correct bft are definetly rare off syd big eyes are very rare as well as normally only targetted at night time like swordies. and normally the pros usually smash them pretty hard. just shows this pro license buy back seems to be helping.

ceph a good inshore spot is around the headland and wharfs on the wagstaff side plenty to be had there specially at night

James, As Steve has said mate. they can turn up anytime. but there can and usually are a lot of hours in between bites. 2 seasons ago we had a great run of blues off broken bay in mid january you couldnt get a lure past them! you are best off running a med spread as you will still get stripes and bigger blacks having a go too... med sprocket in evil is my pick Col

thanks claudia!!!! :)

an electric winch/reel if you want to get serious about it

Ross, it was definetly tough out there. listening to the sydney and broken bay skeds it was very quiet. we had a marlin bite in 50ftms off long reef. but was short lived. pulled it out of the rigger as i was setting the corners. then followed it. freespooled the lure down its gob and it lit up and ate it but didnt set the hooks well and spat it on the 3rd jump. probably a stripe the way it went about it all Col

lol harsh... can see why u guys stopped the yak on teh bank though with that horse in it. it would have sunk the thing

nice cod mate. but this is the real "frenzy"

i love it mate. have you thought of a title yet?? if not i though "ghost in the snow" was a good one

Dead fish is a lot harder... marlin have that airsac thing that runs across there lateral line that fills up with air. if they die deep theres no air/positive buyoancy in the fish so it sinks like a stone... alot of fish are lost if they die....

circles are great. ive used them for species from jews to marlin to blue eye cod. my hookup rate has definetly improved from using them. specially on marlin. and as we tag and release the hook is always in the corner of the mouth and makes for an easily release of a more healthy speciman. i have also found it very beneficial for snapper etc as they do hook themselves. a circle hook in a pillie floating down a burley trail is dynamite. main thing to remeber with circle hooks is never strike like you would normally u basically just freespool a bit for them to get hte bait down and up the pressure. u will find half the time with bottom bashing once you find you are getting a bite you are usually on!

a bag limit of 20 still applies even if its not listed. and hopefully common sense prevails anyway. mahi mahi are one of the fastest growing fish but doesnt help when people go nuts on them. good work on the dollie mate. wait till you pin a biggun

you dont even have to go that far. the front of the skillion and north avoca gets them regulary just watch the swell

shoulda got them to put the dollie back out with a nice piercing on that gear. unlucky mate. vanuatu usually goes off. just need to pick the time i guess ; )

was a bit tougher but apart from that was great. most ended up bait though.

thats correct mate. you basically want the end of your hook sitting near the back of the skirt or a bit towards the middle. if you're only doing headlands etc a couple of crimps or some rubber beads etc will help space this out for you.

shit i just beat that lol

lol something like that it would be a mini mal and the jaws of life i think!!

Hi there Jani. we in australia have quite a selection of quality rollered rods. if you are looking to get a serious rod then you will can look at a custom made rod. companies i would look at would be ian miller and possibly precision rods. you will pay a bit more for these. but trust me they are great rods. these are jsut a couple available. if you want to save some money and have a good "off the shelf" rod then i would look at the shimano T-curve rollered rods by ian miller. the 50lb one retails for around $369 aud i run 2 of these with shimano tiagra 50w, they are great combos. you need to make sure you do a bit of maintenance on the rollers, i.e. make sure they are well lubricated etc etc and you shouldnt have any issues. make sure after every use u give the rollers a wipe down with freshwater and then a bit of oil into the rollers. line damage wont be an issue on quality roller guides. if looking elsewhere. make sure you dont get any cheap rods off ebay etc. make sure they all have good fuji quality guides etc and a g ood rod blank. dont know if you have preference for a straight rod or bent butt. bent butt rods are great to get that extra leverage on a fish. hope the information is helpful mate. let me know if you have any other questions. cheers, Col

haha fair enough. as long as the kids enjoyed it mate. thats the main thing : )

http://www.jackerskine.com/ go there and order the smoothies drag washers for the abu 7000 and u will have a very good drag system. ive done mine and its great.

mate well done. but just a question. why not stick a livey down next to those bait balls? been quite a few marlin around of late. always worth a try