fishingrod

I just did a bit of a google trying too look for a photo of one ... im at work and havent got time for a good look right now .... i might try again tonight if i remember to look on my slow dial up at home !

I think you can get those big blue acid type containers of about 50 litres with a screw on lid. Not sure where to get them though. I dont think you want a fully air tight lid. You probably want a "reasonably watertight" lid. You will probably have to drill some holes somewhere to get your aerator tube in anyway. cheers Rod

Sounds good mate....I just saw your FAD and 3000rpm report. Its good to see someone re-powering with a carby 2 stroke. Everyone is talking hi-tech or 4s etc. If i had to repower I would still seriously consider a old-tech motor. They run a lot nicer than they did in the 1980s ! Ive spent a lot of time running rigs with 4s Yammys and Optimax. They are nice. But a healthy old-tech runs pretty nice too cheers Rod

Have you been able to get out yet? Is it any noticably quicker...... or too early for it to loosen up. It would be interesting to hear if the extra 15hp actually makes any difference.

I think seeing a fish arch is a bit of an "ideal" Ill get nice clear horizontal shaped looking fish regularly, and small blobs too + large bait balls. I very rarely see arches and ive got a Raymarine colour DS600x which is meant to be a good sounder (came with my boat when i bought it 2nd hand) I cant comment on your unit, i've never used a 4100 myself, except pressed buttons in demo mode in the shop. cheers Rod

Its hard doing stuff on a budget. Its alway good to buy the best you can afford at the time. What about a near new Shimano TLD20 or 25 ? I saw a Raider down Wollongong way had a very new one for sale a little while ago just under $200. Or look around for internet specials. I saw a Abu roller tip 24kg game rod for about $80 brand new at a shop near me !!!! I got no idea what it would be like at that price ? There has been some reasonable 10-15kg rods forsale on this site recently too. Patience sux i know ! But you will be able to get some good gear. If your after big kings (say 90cm+) you need a good reel. If your planning on getting big fish get a big reel that is designed for it long term. Not one that "will never be the same" after a few big fights. If you went the Baitrunner 6500 style you could always use it for other purposes down the track if you found it wasnt up to the task. Rod

Those Force engines were the basic no frills version of by Mercury. Im not sure what spare parts availability is like any more. I dont know if they still make them (could be something to do with emmission standards?) Ive heard mixed reports on other forums (meaning some happy owners and some people having all sorts of problems) They are definatly NOT the prefered motor for most boaties, so re-sale value will suffer. For you, it might be good as you can purchase the package at a lower price. If the motor ever plays up you may have saved a few dollers to help replace it that way. And if it keeps on going, well you are in front. Just be prepared to get less when you go to sell it. The SeaAl/Brooker are at the budget end of the tinnie market, but they have been in business for at least 15 years under various owners. (we owned a SeaAl in 1982) Re going outside. My humble opinion says you might be able to hang around the heads on a good day. If you wanted to venture much further make sure its one of those mirror flat days and make sure that there is a few other boats around incase you run into trouble. The enterance to Broken Bay, Sydney Harbour and Botany can get dangerously messy, all in their own unique way. How far you go aften depends on confidence. Rod

Thats people used to do years ago (and still do mind you) There is nothing worng with them at all. Its the most simple and economical way, but relies a bit on you remembering to switch between batteries at different stages of the trip. IE: BOTH on the way out to charge both up, then back to 1 or 2 when stopped so you dont drain the other battery with pumps etc, and then back to BOTH on the way home. (that what i consider the ideal way) These are getting more and more common in marine applications. There is a VSR (voltage sensitive relay or voltage switching relay) with 4 position battery combo/package available. They are about $180 at the chanderlies. With these you switch to use BOTH, 1 or 2. When on BOTH you are using both batteries at the same time and theVSR really does nothing. When you are on 1, everything runs off battery 1, as this battery gets close to being fully charged, (say 13.8v) the VSR kicks in and some of the charge is diverted to battery 2. So both batteries get charged when your engine is running. When you switch off your engine, the VSR cuts out and isolates battery 2. Then all your electronics run off battery 1. But you have piece of mind that battery 2 has been topped up as you were driving along. (and it all works vice-versa too) Its good if you have a bad memory and forget to switch the old fashioned $30 switch over during the day. When i need to upgrade switches i will definatly be using a VSR style set up like this. Some people talk about having a house battery to run accessories and a dedicated starting battery for the engine. If one dies or goes flat, you can "jumper" or link across between them to start the motor or run accessories. In my opinion this is good on a overnighting cruiser that might have 3 batteries and 2 different battery switches. It also works well if you have an electric trolling motor as these draw a fair bit of juice and need a dedicated deep cycle house battery. But for a typical trailer boat (without an electric motor) the $30 switch and/or VSR is the way to go. (mated with two reasonable size starting grade batteries) With the price of copper now, you will be suprised how much the good thick starting grade cables are per meter. Try to get them with tinned (silver coloured) copper. Its less likely to corrode than the normal copper stuff in a marine enviornment. Dont skimp and go too thin to save money. You end up with voltage loss and extra heat during extended cranking. Its easy to do yourself, but if you are paying someone to do it, make sure up front they are going to use good quality components and that all the connections are sealed/protected in some way. cheers Rod

Try this Live Bait topic .... might help http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/inde...showtopic=18490

Not the ones on my boat ! Ive got newish, but basic ones with conventional LED displays.

It doesnt really matter what side. If you have a low boat and always go into high wharfs on one side, you might want to mount it on the opposite side so it doesnt break if you get slightly "under" the wharf when docking. You might not want it waving around in front of your face either. Thats personal choice. Ive found that my nav lights and anchor light reflect very slightly off the white heatshink covering. So i normally fold the antennas back at 45 deg when im traveling at night. (as this gets them out of my line of sight) I like the smallest amount reflections to give max night vision. Ive also got my instrument and compass backlighting on a switch to kill them. Some of the GME radios have have a very bright display that could get annoying at night. So bear that in mind when installing the radio (if you go out at night a lot) cheers Rod

No worries .... good to see your running again I had a 12-14 year old 120hp Evinrude that was running no thermostats .... it was just open. It didnt idle real good i think coz it was too cold ..... but with the thermostats in it would overheat ! I think it had some kind of internal blockage that we never fixed, but with open thermostats ran fine. Took a bit of fiddling around and water tests and trips back to the mechanic to sort it out. The mechanic was good to me and didnt charge for any of the extra work. I ran it for another 6 years like that and it eventually died of old age. I think a ring let go inside. It was 20 years old so i got rid of it.

Probably too risky to say that for sure. I normally dont fiddle all that much with motors, but know enough to get by. You could try pulling the thermostat out and having a quick run. However you really need to get it in the river for a run up to normal load ..... or at least in a test tank where you can load the motor up by spinning the prop in some water. Ive never really done much fiddling, but Thermostats are normally pretty easy to do. You might need some new gaskets or some gasket goo.... im not too sure. If the tell tale pressure is normal, it doesnt mean you dont have a blockage inside. The motor has a while series of "galleries" which are water chambers running around the cylinders. These can get blocked with salt and salt and other gunk. This will happen over time, even if the motor is flushed with fresh water every trip. You can use a "infra red thermometer" (one of those point and shoot non contact types) and have run and test the outside temp of the engine block on both side of all the cylinders. You might find that one is running hotter and that might indicate where the problem is. MIGHT is the word ! Another thought .... if it was a hot day, had your tankwater been heated up ... to say 25-35 deg C in the sun ? Normal garden taps have pipes underground and would normally be 15-25 deg C. Or you have a long hose that water had heated up inside it.

If your worried get it checked. Especially if it has "changed" from what it normally is. There was a bit of discussion (non agreement) on another forum on what the tell tale temp should be. My 2000 model 115hp Merc is just above warm. My 1999 model 15hp Merc is very warm-bordering hot. They cycle slightly with the thermostat, but thats how they normally run i have found. cheers Rod

Quite often I see this type of question asked in the (free) "Afloat" magazine ....... they have a web site too. If you are keen you can write/email them a letter and they will most probably publish it and see if a reader replies.

I dont want to confirm or deny anyones claims here. But high speeds are possible in 'Cats. This boat with twin 175's will do a (GPS indicated) 45knots easy in the calm, and hit 48- 50knots (92.5km/h) with a bit of trimming. Thats with nearly 500 litres of fuel on board. Its a 1988ish 23 foot SharkCat

Some of them have a grease nipple with a lock nut on the inside. That might have vibrated and worked its way loose. You might be able to carefully pull the bearing buddy off and see if the nut is on the inside. The ones i used to have the nut was big enough to not get caught up in the bearing rollers, but you prob still dont want it floating around inside. A clean up and a spot of super glue or locktite on the thread should be enough to stop the nut coming off again. If you can clearly see its snapped, just ignore my comments above. Years ago i had the "Genuine" Bearing Buddies. Anything else I have used has never been as good.

I must be one of the few people on here who DOES NOT own a downrigger and fishes for Kings !! I normally drift in 10-20m of water over reef with Yakkas 1/3 - 2/3 down. Rod in the rodholder on lowish to medium drag. Sit back, watch the rod tip, when it starts to jiggle, stand up so im ready, wait for it to run (like a freight train), give it 2-5 seconds and then tighten up the drag to stop getitng reefed and the fight is on. I dont actually "strike" the fish by pulling on the rod. I land >80% of hits using this method. cheers Rod

That price for the Stacer sounds ok on paper as long as the trailer is reasonable. Id assume the boat is mid 80's vintage. They were pretty big boat for their size at the time. The motor is probably the "CV" series, consumer/customer value range. They were a bit more basic without oil injection and a couple of other small things. Less to go wrong, but a but less user freindly. You need to mix your own oil, which can cause the petrol to "go off" if not used regualrly. If it is the Enduro series, this was the commercial range. I would be questioning the history of the motor regardless. 1994 is not old old, but hardly late model either. Many owners have no idea of the history. The price seems OK. If you dont like it, and there is nothing worng with it, you should be able to move it with little loss. Ive never bought a second hand boat from a dealer in Sydney. Just get the "Trailer Boat" magazine. This is full of used and new boats with photo classifieds and articles. They have a web site too, but if your new to boating the magazine may be better as you can flick thru pages and see the photos right there. Some newsagents have a magazine called "Second Hand Boat Secrets" (by Jeff Webster i think) This is highly recommended for a new comer. It covers the basic checks and has reviews on a few older boats. cheers Rod

Ive always used GME and Uniden radios and never had a problem. They are just the run-of-the-mill brands in my opinion. There isnt really much in it. Any of the common brand names at the main marine chandlerys will be fine. Ive read a lot of "mixed" feedback on the Navmans on other forums and would not buy one myself. Having said that I do have a Navman Antenna and it works really good. My next radio will prob be a GME or Icom. Radio wise approx $200 - $380 Some are "splash proof" and some have a IP immersion rating. I read your post about taking a wave over the bow, so maybe you need more than splashproof in a semi open boat. (edit: I would go Icom in the case) Antenna $65-80 Get a 1.8 - 2.5 metre long antenna if you can. You will find it will generally work better. Especially on a low boat. Some brands (the longer GME ones) do not unscrew and only fold down. The Navman antennas unscrew, but the plastic thread is a pain if you take it off often. Just make sure you can a good connection to your battery or buss bar. (clean, tight and reasonable thickness wire). They draw a medium amount of power (4-6 amps) on high power and any poor connection will cause a voltage drop. Meaning a drop in signal output power. cheers, good luck Rod

Good advice from Flightmanager there. My motors have been over 115hp and i typically run at least 45mins each way from the ramp, so the batteries normally get a reasonable charge both ways. When its warm i go out every 1-3 weeks and have never needed to charge my battery between trips. Admittadly over the last 10 years I may have put the charger on over night a max of a dozen times, but thats only if im been planning a night fishing trip and havent been out for a month previously. My last 2 batteries lasted 5-7 years using this method. Thats running 2 radios, nav lights and a bait tank pump. Each to their own. Maybe Ive had a lucky run. I know a lot of people like to charge up the night before. Just make sure you disconnect your motor from the battery before connecting the charger. There is a small chance that you might blow the regulator or something inside if its still connected. PS, dont forget to check the fluid level in the battery at least quarterly. Make sure it is covering the plates if not 5-10mm over. I think you need to get out in the boat a bit more ? I keep reading your Cliffton Gardens Wharf reports ! cheers Rod

Sorry mate .... sorry i dont know much else !

I had a 1986 120hp Evinrude which is basically the same motor as far as i know The tilt and trim has relays for up and down. These might be sick ? If the hydraulic motor is chattering on and off, or simply fails to tilt up or down occasionally it might just be a sick relay, failing to switch. (or a simple wiring fault between you switch and the motor) The relays are basically a automotive type. Just check they have the right pin configuration on the bottom. They are similar to what you get in some car driving/spot light packs. About $10 from any automotive retail outlet, auto electrician etc. Much cheaper than any OEM Johnson relay for what appears to be the same product. There is 2 relays. One each for up and down. If you have decided your hydraulic motor has packed it in, just ignore my comments above

Well done ! Thanks for the update. You got mainly yellow tail i assume ? Rod

To be honest I dont know ! Somewhere where its part protected, with a supply of tiny food for the fish to eat. Around moorings and wharfs can be good too. They offer protection and also a food source. I mainly get my Yakas near the shore in 3-10metres of water ....say max 40m out from rocks. There is some weed and rock and sand mixed in .... a bit of everything really. Im relating to the Cowan Creek and Broken Bay area. If you go on a charter boat (Eg Foster) we got Yakas and Slimeys on some near shore reefs max 1 mile out. Best to ask your local tackle shop where the key locations are in your area (mid north coast i assume)