Assassin

Hi Tomahawk, The electric sounds like a good idea, i have never used an electric but slow trawling will work. The bomb size i use ranges from 10-12lb as i often downrig outside the heads. I have never spooled my downriggers up with wire as I am told the wire hums whilst on the move, also a little harder to use, so i am unsure of what happpens when it gets snagged. I reakon downrigging is great fun and improves your chances of a hook up that much more. Downrigging will be all the go in the next few weeks.. Cheers Adam

Hi Tomahawk, I guess everyone has their own ways of doing things, here is the way i downrig. If downrigging in 20 meters of water i usually set the bomb at the 10 meter mark, the bomb can usually be seen on the sounder so i adjust accoridingly to fish mid water. Or if i spot a school of fish on the sounder i will try to get the depth set at the school. I clip the line directly into the release clip - no need for rubber bands, and set the bait approx 5 meters behind the bomb, you dont want the bait to follow to far behind the bomb as it will start to float towards the surface. Make sure you have a little bit of slack between your rod and the bomb. As far as bait goes, i only downrig with squid as i have never had much sucess with yakkas or plastics. I run dacron instead of wire as i find it more user friendly, but each to their own. It is difficult to judge what the bottom is going to do, and if it rises from 20m to 5 meters in an unfamiliar area quickly then there isnt much you can do except wave good bye to the bomb. But this comes with experience and when you find your favourite downrigging areas you will soon learn the contours of the sea bed and adjust accordingly. 8lb bomb may be a little light, as this depends on your speed and the depth at which you want to downrig. Kingfish/cobia are usually the targeted species for downrigging i am not sure what the sucess rate of catching jews downrigging is- i personally have not hooked a jew downrigging. All the best with your new downrigger and i hope you pop its cherry with a hood. Regards Adam

Good conditions , i wish all the best to those die hard fisherman who are going to fish in 10ft+ seas in wet miserable choppy conditions for the possible chance of a hook up. Good luck

Sounds like your enjoying retirement Macka....and so you should after all those hard years of working. tight lines Adam

I think its simple, we are not gifted enough to predict what type or size of fish is going to woof down the bait, so running a larger class of line may one day help in landing that fish of a life time. I would personally prefer to be outfitted with a larger line class and have that option of winding my drag up should the dream fish pass by, rather than kicking myself after the fact and get spooled. Every rod reel combo has its line limitations, but with technology we can now up the anty with our line classes. This does not mean that i would skull drag every fish i catch to the boat, my drag is set accordingly to the species i am targeting. Cheers Adam

Nice catch well done, think we should invest in a deep sea reel.. why sort do you use and what would you recommend for browns. It would be cool to go home with a feed even when the pelagic species dont want to play. Adam

We stuck our heads outside the bay and decided against it, the time was about 11.00am with very limpy conditions. Did you guys hear the mayday distress call?, a trawler ran up onto the rocks between Sydney and botany. Im getting sick of these non attempts, over the last several weeks and 5 attempts we have only got out once.

If you have the money to spend then go the Saltiga 6000z and pair it up with a Monster Mesh or Saltist if money is no object then look at Seed or Smith Sticks - nothing under PE5. You do not need to pay $2000 + to step into this range, keep an eye out on the secondary market for a good buy. I recently picked up a as new Saltiga 6000z threadline loaded with brand new 50lb tuf braid for $600.00 and also grabbed a new Seed stick on special at $450.00.. thats an outfit valued at well over $2000.00 for half the price. Good deals are to be had just be patient. The above sticks are great all rounders fishing from boats, however they do match the jigging style of fishing more than anything else. Good luck

Gday Oz, I am also very interested in how you conduct your testing?, i should have some new braid very soon it would be great to put under the same testing standards as you have done for the daiwa and jigman. This will be a new product brought into Australia, i am confident that it will out perform the lines already tested. I will PM you.

We need to get those kiwis to point some fish in our direction, a world record Blue Fin was caught on stand up yesterday. A whopping 325kg Blue fin

WD Sam and Chris, nice catch.

I think it has been the same for everyone atm, the fish are just not to be seen in numbers. We jigged The Peak and also 12 Mile with nothing to be had. We spent conserable time sounding 12 mile reef to find an elusive school of kings but to no success. I also heard Reef Runner charters on the radio really frustrated with not much for the day. Looking at some reports from the fish raider yellow fin day, it was also very quiet out wide. I think the very slow currents and green chilly water conditions are why the fish are not firring. Anyway it was an absolute pleasure to be on the water yesterday, smooth seas lots of dolphins great weather and good company. We did end up with some mowong plus i got to try out my new jigging outfit The YTF season is not over yet so lets hope there are plenty more sunny calm days on the water before we hit October. Cheers Adam

If you bottom out with a down rigger than wave goodbye to the bomb, the idea of downrigging is to troll a bait mid water- if im fishing in 20 meters of water then i usually set the downrigger at 8 meters , kings will come up if they are feeding at a lower depth. Bite the bullet and buy a downrigger for whats its worth you will spend more time mucking around with the concept than what its worth. Keep your eye out for second hand downriggers if you cannot justify the purchase of a new one.

I would wait 3 weeks for the new Daiwa Monster Mesh to be released, apparently its an awesome rod and you get alot of bang for your buck. I am not sure whether it is suited for your needs though, i have never jigged from kayak - it sounds difficult. Anyway, some of the boys have used pre-release versions of the moster mesh and reports are all thumbs up. So anyone who is on the market for a jigging rod right now then i would sit tight. I am sure custom jigging rods like Tony,s are fine aswell, i just prefer to stick with big names as companies who specialise in these types of rods throw massive amounts of R&D dollars into getting the products spot on. Cheers Adam

No worries, you do make a good point though - it pays to cross reference several weather condition sites. It was a very last minute decision for us, however i did check coastal watch and sea breeze. Buoyweather is now added to my favourites. I need to be very fussy about conditions as i live a 40 minute drive from the coast, so not picking the best of days costs me alot of money and time. Cheers Assassin

Cheers Stumpy.... any sensible boatie would have done as you and i did and turned around. Its way too common to see undersized boats fishing areas that is beyond both the boats purpose and captains experience. We passed a small aluminium bowrider with 1 person on board heading out to browns at the 12 mile mark, i remember thinking "i hope he got back ok".

Which winds?, not 25 knots early morning. I take note of the sea breeze forcast and the only prediction was winds in the 15-17 knot range and easing.. 1 meter seas....0.9 meter swell. The winds we experienced also pushed the swell and seas up with it. A water craft warning was issued to all boats from coastal patrol not long after we arrived back at Cooks river.

Decided to hit browns yesterday morning sat 28/7, we loaded and launched from Cooks at 8.00am. The water conditions looked fantastic not an ounce of wind and with the sun sitting low it looked to be promising. Passed through the heads travelling at a speed of 24knots, approx 18 nautical miles out the water condions soon changed, a S/W breeze was noticeable and boat speed is approx 15 knots. Short sharp cresting chop increasing in size was pushing us from behind, the wind picked in bursts over the 20knot rate and my concerns started to grow. Boat speed now dropped to 10 knots I called coast guard for an update on conditions, they advised me of the increased wind speed update and also mentioned that wind speed and direction is not in line with there forecasts. At this stage we are approx 1.5 nauitcal miles west of browns i made the decision to turn imeadiately and head for home, it is dissapointing to travel so far get so close and turn, anyway shit happens. Bought her home travelling 10-13 knots at best punching into the swell, the ride home was like ridding a bull getting wet and smashed by the waves. Was glad to hit calmer waters 3 nautical miles out from the Bay. My boat is a 5.8 meter sharkcat which weighs over 2 tonne loaded, i couldnt imagine being out there in anything smaller. Its amazing how different conditions can be from the predicted forecasts. On previous trips to Browns ive seen some rather small craft, days like these makes one think why would people risk it. The fin will wait for another day. Anyone else do Browns on Saturday? Cheers Assassin

I had also planned a trip Tuesday and Wednesday, but the sea surface temps hovering in the 17 degree mark has put me off......save the fuel and bait for another day. We cant win..rough seas low pressure system after low pressure system, finally opportunity raises its head and we see low water temps....ohhhwell thats fishing i guess. Apparently even the pros are struggling atm. I am predicting water temps to jump a degree over the weekend, so Saturday/Sunday may be a better bet. Better luck next time guys.

Luke, im sure Chrisso believes what he has posted otherwise he would not have posted it. Both the Stella and the Saltiga are class reels and are both designed for serious action. I went fishing not so long ago jigging for Kings, every reel on the boat was a Saltiga and every reel on the day did its job in slaying the fish, i am sure should those reels had been Stellas instead the end result would have been the same. Saltiga for me, only because im a Diawa fan - I own a sealine 50 overhead and its a weapon, the diawa saltiga jigging rods in my opinion are a better selection than the Shimano T-curves. Flip a coin either way i would be happy. Assassin

cool, thanks netic ill pm namesay........thanks for the advice buddy, when so many dollars will be tied up with the final decision its great to get the feedback

I am also looking at a new threadline, from the research i have done the saltiga would be the best choice... i am looking at the saltiga expedition...i am getting into jigging ..so this reel is the best option for me. In my opinion daiwa are the leaders when it comes to heavy duty gear... but i guess its like the holden ford arguement. Remember Daiwa are very fussy who stocks their brand yet shimano seems to be stocked by just about every corner tackle shop...so take note of that when shopping around, and dont fall into the sales pitch of a Shimano only stockist. Good luck

Anyone interested in teaming up for a Mid week Browns bash?, Planning on leaving Cooks river around the 9.00am-10.00 am mark....cubing and trolling for Tuna. If any Boats would like to join in please post your interest. The swell and winds look to drop down so conditions are good, cloud cover is clearing so i sould get good clean images of temp breaks and plankton. Lets try and get a few boats together For those without a boat, sorry guys i have a full crew. Please PM or post Cheers Assassin

G,Day, Netic i will be chasing YFT as soon as the weather and work permits... i have had mininal fishing over the last 4 months, as with most boaties ive been limited by these consistant low pressure systems. It will be a long awaited change to hit the deep blue. Netic is correct, you dont need GPS co-ordinates work the deeper reefs and im sure they all hold kings on the right day, especially this time of year. As far as bait goes, not much beats a lolli pop size squid. P.S nice youtube Netic

Sorry ---got pics but they will not attach