troutboy

Hi folks, I am heading to Thailand for a couple of weeks and I will be staying in Phuket at Patong beach for the first week of the trip and am after any info on land based fishing in the area. I will have a 7' , 2 to 4 kg travel spin rod with me I am quite happy to travel 20 odd kays in either direction to get my fishing fix.I am happy to fish bait or lures .I have read all about several tourist orrientated fishing parks but most are quite a distance from where I will be based.I will commit to several day trips to visit some of these places but at the moment I am specifically looking for land based fishing in the Patong beach area. I am also after any recommendations regarding reputable offshore fishing charters, prefferably ones that use modern rods and reels equipped with braided line as opposed to 60+ lbs mono on old gear and hand lines.I have a preference for reef fishing but will consider bluewater fishing as well. Hoping some raiders have fished the area before and can offer any valid info. Looking forward to any replies.. cheers troutboy

Hi James , bins are only available on the park side of the lake, I usually have to pick up quite a bit of rubbish left behind by other fishos, its a real shame . cheers troutboy

Hi james , worst thing to ever happen to the lake.Some uneducated fool has translocated redfin, presumably from one of the dams west of the range into Wentworth falls lake and they have bred a couple of times now so there are several different sizes of fish there now. They have also gone over the dam wall and now infest Jamison creek which flows into warragamba dam. Next time they release water from warragamba dont be surprised to hear of cricket score catches of redfin in the nepean river. I have been pulling in fish to 35cm from the lake recently down to fish not much bigger than the soft plastic lures i have been throwing. They are in plague proporsions and will hit just about anything you care to throw at them. cheers troutboy

Hey greg, plenty of willing redfin in wenty falls lake and the odd rainbow to a kilo. cheers troutboy

Gday all, In these times of high fishing pressure and wiser fish I think any advantage even if only a perceptible advantage it ought to be utilized.Many people will not fish a soft plastic without applying scent believing that it makes a huge difference to the outcome and they therefore have confidence in using it. How many of us tie on a lure that we have caught fish on before , because we have confidence that the lure works and so we fish it with more purpose and another fish caught just reinforces that confidence. I personally find that flourcarbon has many positive benefits for the style of fishing that i do, being increased sensitivity when fishing plastics, better abrasion resistence when fishing in a snaggy environment, faster sink rate than equivalent diameter mono which is useful when fishing nymphs and wet flies. Also you will not find many tournament fishos using mono as a leader as these guys are looking for any advantage over a competitor to get that winning fish, lots will fish flouro straight through to the lure.Mono will never be obsolete but modern fishing techniques and materials are slowly taking over ,. I am not trying to convert anyone, if you fish with mono and have confidence in doing so you will still catch fish. I find I have confidence in using flouro in certain applications and will continue to use it. just my 2 bobs worth cheers troutboy

Hi all, firstly flourocarbon is more abrasion resistant than mono in an equivalent diameter. flourocarbon sinks quicker than mono and the refractive index of flourocarbon is closer to that of water , meaning it is slightly less visible. flourocarbon does not stretch as much as mono of an equivalent diameter so when using soft plastics as an example the sensitivity is much greater than mono all of the above are valid reasons to use flourocarbon. The only weakness if you can call it that is that flourocarbon has a slightly lower knot strength. cheers troutboy

HEY sarge, a cheap flyrod is just that,You would be better served by finding a friend who already has some gear that you can borrow to see if flyfishing is really for you before you spend the required dollars for a decent outfit. As some have said it can be a very expensive passion and top shelf gear starts around the 500$ mark and only goes up from there.If you are determined to by your own gear I would suggest a saltwater friendly 6wt is where I would start. Freshwater specific rods will corrode very quickly when used in the salt if your rod and reel maintenance is not undertaken after every session. A saltwater 6wt is fine to use in the streams and lakes for trout and will serve you well until the bug bites hard and then a 2/3wt will be wanted for small streams and creeks , a 5 wt for the larger creeks and rivers and a 7/9wt for saltwater use, as you can tell there is always something else to buy , hence the $$$.There are not too many rods I can recommend in your current price range but if you can muster up a few more dollars a sage flight series would be a good starting point. I would recommend you stay away from fast action rods during the learning phase until you are casting well and a lesson from an accredited flyfishing instructor will pay for itself by learning the correct casting techniques before you learn too many bad habbits by teaching yourself. A weight forward line such as a rio gold or scientific anglers gpx taper will be the best line for you to learn with as they are both half a weight heavier than their rating and really load the rod well.If purely fishing the salt a reel with a sealed drag is required otherwise corrosion will set in very quickly destroying the reel. Hopefully Swordy can organise a casting day and you can try many different rods and find something that suits your casting style, I for one would be happy to offer any help needed and it would be good to meet some fellow flyfishers from fishraider.I guarantee once you have caught your first fish on fly there will be no going back. cheers Jamie

hi Baldy, there have not been many reports from around the area for a while. I personally have left the trout alone so far this season due to the hot temps over the christmas period and low water in most of the local rivers.The few reports I have read tell of few fish being spotted and even fewer being caught. The recent rain will help but a substantial fall is needed badly to give some flow to the rivers. You might do best to concentrate on fishing the dams focussing on the cooler water around the thermocline. cheers Jamie

Nice catch BigNeil any particular cheese work better than the others? cheers troutboy

Just a reminder guys that all mono and flouro to a lesser extent degrades quite quickly with exposure to direct sunlight and UV rays,So to retain all the breaking strength of the line you have make sure it is stored somewhere dark and cool. Sometimes the spools of leader have been stored on a rack under constant flourescent light exposure for an extended period of time before purchase from the tackle shop so i try to use brands that have a higher turnover rate to lessen the degree of degradation during display or storage cheers troutboy

I,ll second the use of siglon and fc rock ,both quality products . Siglon is being discontinued so if you are a fan jump on it now. cheers troutboy

If you really want a good idea of what structure is around you could always get a cheap deep diving lure and take the hooks off, that way you can cast it out ,rip it down quickly to depth and then commence a very slow roll retrieve and bump into any structure without fear of fouling up. You will soon develope a mental picture of what is what. cheers troutboy

Hi Jezza, if you are using an alvey stick to low stretch mono of around 15lbs or so , but on anything else braibed line is the go. Contrary to what has been stated above braid will not be dragged around anywhere near as much as a mono line up to 5 times the diametre of the braid.There is usually little to no structure on a beach environment so heavy mono is not needed.I personally use a 6000 size shimano reel spooled up with 15lbs braid attached to a 2m flourocarbon leader around 20lbs and have never been undergunned even landing small sharks and rays.You can always drop down in leader size if you are chasing whiting or bream to something more appropriate around 10 to 15lbs. Braid will be easier to cast,cast further and be much more sensitive to the sometimes small bites you can miss if using mono. hope this helps cheers troutboy

gday Prawns, when you push the ferrules of a 2 piece rod together do not try to line the guides up on the first try ,simply push the two parts together with a bit of force and then twist the 2 sections to line up the guides, you may need to twist and pull apart at the same time to separate the pieces.when breaking down the rod. Tld,s and charter specials can be cast ,though it is not the best tool for the job.This can be made easier by rigging up the rod and tightening the cast control knob, disengage the clutch and slowly back off the pressure on the cast control knob until your rig descends to the ground smoothly with no backlash when the rig hits the ground. Dont try to cast over the horizon with this reel but instead use a slow smooth casting action with only very light thumb pressure to feather the spool to stop any overruns during the cast and clamp down tight as soon as the rig hits the water. Remember practise makes perfect cheers troutboy

Retrieve your lures with the tide,most fish expect to see their food drifting naturally with the current. cheers troutboy

Hi all, most whiting are caught well away from any structure,usually over a sandy bottom so lighten your leader to 4lbs maximum, you will get many more bites with lighter leader. When using baits whiting have a habbit of taking the bait and turning away so the use of small circle hooks is a great idea.A small red bead running directly above the hook is there to help the fish locate the bait and is a good idea if using nippers as they will try to burrow into the sand and the moving bead helps the fish notice the bait.Light mainlines and leaders ,the smallest sinker you can get away with and conceal your hook well and you should have a lot more success cheers troutboy

its worth quite a bit as scrap metal too cheers troutboy

Hi all, if the leader you already have tied on is long enough simply run the line through your lips,they are much more sensitive than your hands and if you detect any roughness or fraying replace the leader.As mentioned above flourocarbon can be quite expensive and for the average punter to be tying a new leader after every fish regardless of the condition of the line seems to be a waste of money to me.Flourocarbon has a few different properties compared to mono and one of the major benefits is better resistence to weakening due to exposure to ultra violet light. I have happily used flouro leaders that have been rigged for weeks at a time before changing them only because the usable length was too short to provide enough distance from the visible braid.Mono on the other hand degrades quickly with exposure to heat and sunlight and I would replace these leaders much more frequently. cheers troutboy

some uneducated clown has released redfin into Wentworth Falls Lake,what was once a pretty good trout fishing lake will soon be turned into a body of water filled to the brim with nothing but 10cm redfin.Now when the dam next spills over we will have redfin fry entering Warragamba dam/nepean river.Not a good outcome.

Hi all, flourocarbon does absorb water and although only minute quantities it is possible. cheers troutboy

Hi all, I used the lead acid battery charger and it seems to have worked somewhat.The battery charged to a reading of 13.2volts but has dropped to a level of 11.92 volts and seems to be holding charge after a few days. It was enough for me to test the electric motor so mission accomplished. I still plan to purchase a new battery and suitable smart charger and have just recently notice an ARK battery box with inbuilt 7 stage charger, has anyone had any experience with this product? cheers troutboy

Hi Jawno, the whiting in lake conjola can be easily spooked mainly due to christmas boat traffic and very clear water,in the past it was recommended to use a short stiff leader to help the popper to track straight but i have had much more success using finness fishing techniques and longer finer leaders in the 4lbs class.bassday sugar pens and nw pencils have been the topwater lures of choice and should be retrieved at a fair pace with no pauses,this is the key, you must keep the lure moving at all times, try to imitate a skipping prawn. Also try to fish with the sun in your face,not behind you as your sillouette will be very visible to the fish and fish your popper with the tide. all the best cheers troutboy

Hi all, as per luderick anglers post ,peter morse has a great whiting popper thats very effective, just make sure you keep it moving at all times .good luck cheers troutboy

Thanks testlab, thats the kind of info I was after ,will give it a go under close supervision,hopefully it can be recovered. cheers troutboy

Gday Raiders, I am after some advice on charging batteries. I currently have a 12 volt 30 amp /hour sonnenshein gel deep cycle battery that was given to me quite some time ago and after using the multimeter it is showing a charge of 3.10 volts.I would like to try to charge the battery to test a 44lb thrust watersnake electric that i have purchased, the problem being i only have a 3.5 amp battery charger suited to lead acid batteries.It is a 2 mode boost and float charger and is fairly modern model, can this charger be safely used to attempt to restore some charge to a gel battery? I do intend to purchase a larger capacity battery and ctek charger to suit in the future but it will not be for some time. Even if my current charger does some damage to the gel battery could it be used a few times just for the purposes of testing this motor? Looking forward to any replies , cheers troutboy.