Andy Loops

OUCH! Any chance at an insurance claim???

That is brilliant!!

LittleNoah has inspired me to book a place on Bar Point for the long weekend coming up in late Jan so we will be up there from the 24th till the 28th. Some great looking places on that STAYZ link and reasonably priced too. I saw Jewgaffer's and others highly informative posts to Little Noah's post in fishing chat titled Hawkesbury Flathead drifts - bar point - any more info for the area would be appreciated!! I have only been around to Peats Bight once but from memory there were some deep holes and some very shallow sandy sections.. Should I focus on flatties and blue swimmers while up there?? I will have a 2 and 4 year old with me so looking for kid friendly activities and any tips on little bays/beaches that I can get my boat into would also be appreciated. Cheers, Andy

Hey Raiders, I have seen springers on a couple of other boats and was wondering - where can you buy the springers? OR is there a simple workshop solution? I was thinking of something like a plastic rod fixed to a piece of timbre that then slots into a rod holder.. It would be best if I could keep the rod holders free for rods though! Any ideas? Cheers Andy

Great looking boat and looks well set up - congrats and heres to good fishing!

Great report and brilliant capture - well done guys! What a day to remember!!!

Thats awesome - havent seen one like that in Sydney before! Bloody funnel webs in my area probably eat them... See the paper this morning the little buggers are out mating in the middle of the night - keep your shoes inside!

Looks like depth in feet to me - see top of sounder 12ft looks like depth and the bottom fish has a 12 above it.... Dont know the unit purely speculating...

Nice capture on the flying fish - great to see one up close! We covered the Northen Beaches yesterday fishing 21 degree water right in on the rocks. Does this sound right or is my sensor playing up?? - I got 24 degree water in near Cottage Point on the way back in?? Saw a large shark lazing in the sun just out the back of the breakers at Palm Beach in 10m of water. Would have been about 6 or 7 foot - we drifted right up next to him but then he was gone with a swish of his tail. I think probably a bull or whaler but not sure. Also saw 20 or 30 of these flying fish scooting all over the place - unbelievable how far they can fly and they poise themselves like a bird when flying between the waves. Quiet day on the fish front though although a little surprised to see guys picking up rat kings at the bait reef at west head - and not putting them back in the water?!

You guys are right into it! Bout time we had some pics of Slinky out there doing what he does best as Captain of his vessell!! First report of many I am sure - looking forward to the reports of 09!~ Glad to see you settling in well up there Slink bet the youngsters are very happy that they are still getting into some YF Sashimi for breakfast!

This is so true!! Thanks Byron for all the insight into the beautiful Hawkesbury waterway and those elusive Jewies! Cheers Andy

Last week I did a rejuggle of all my jigheads from the 'old' storage method of having them all thrown into a single snaplock bag that then accompanied me everywhere - to the 'new' method of sorting by weight and hook size in a plano box.. I really didnt want the mix of old and new jigheads rusting together so I boiled a pot of freshwater and soaked the old jigheads in there giving them the odd mix.. after a couple of pots I figured most of the salt must have dissolved.. Then laid out the jigs on a few bits of newspaper and silicon sprayed the lot (lightly). 1 week later and no rust spots and no real trace of the silicon spray. Now that I am a bit more organised I make sure that any lures/jigheads that come into contact with the salty stuff get thrown in a seperate plastic container and when home get washed with hot water and lightly touched up with silicon spray. Boating is expensive but its another thing completely to waste money by throwing perfectly good jig heads away after each fishing trip..

All sorted - if your out on the harbour on sat say gday!

Hey raiders - hoping someone has a spare spot this weekend (saturday?) - have own gear and will help cover costs. Happy to fish bait or plastics.. Would love to head wide with conditions looking good on Sat and fish being caught but also happy to fish inside as well! Cheers Andy

reckon its from trawlers - when coming back from port stephens last time we passed a couple trawlers sorting their catch - a slick of twitching leatherjackets and puffer fish for a good 500m or so left behind each boat. We scooped afew up and used them as bait...

One of the best fishing spots in Oz.. I am a West Ozzie and one of my school buddies works for fisheries in Exmouth - lets just say he gets into a few fish .... Can PM you with more info if you like?

yakkas arent on the list?? they go hard for their size!! lol

I would buy it - was surprised they arent selling it seperately...

I agree - having used the S factor on some firebaits up in Port Stephens recently off Broughton - have to say the S-factor (on gold squidgies and blue/silver firebaits) was lethal with everything wanting a piece from big snapper to red rock cod - I even caught an octopus on a soft plastic smeared with the stuff - thought I was snagged until I tried to pop the leader and managed to rip him outta his hole...

Sweet thanks for that!

Definitely intend to be there - have the dates been confirmed yet?

That sounds like a ridiculously great trip - would love to see some pics!!!!!! An old highschool buddy lives in Exmouth and works for fisheries there - he has a little tinny and has caught all sorts from very large coral trout to a 100kg+ black marlin - those sandgropers have some great fishing.

This really is a very sad story - read it early this morning as well.. As a father of two boys 18 months and 3.5 years my heart really goes out to the family.

That was amazing - watched it with my 4 year old - its crazy to think that in his lifetime this kind of travel may well be possible and affordable...

Living the dream - congrats on a great capture on SP. The little ones love it when Daddy comes home with a big fish hey!!! Daddy Daddy Biiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!