Marlin01

Good weather yesterday so shot out wide of Swansea (60kms) and had a bottom bash. No luck at all (even managed a little rain) until an hour before high tide when Nicho got a couple of gurnards and I got a nice bite and hooked up, held my fish just above the deck (460m below) until I got the second fish. They didnt fight very well so was surprised to see two nice hapuka float up next to the boat Bled the fish and headed up for another drift to get another couple. The plan worked and we got another five in two drifts. Time to go but I sneak my gear over for one quick drop, get him on lift up a couple of meters and manage the second fish. But when they hit the surface, like the sub from Red October, surprise its a triple header When they hit the deck my little boat looks even smaller, we could only fit 6 in the evakool so the others stayed on the deck under wet towels for the long ride home. A mammoth 2 hr cleaning session and another vacuum packing session this morning All in all a great day, perfect weather, saw sunfish, seals sunbaking on a ships rudder (until the prop started turning), dolphins and a few striped tuna in 100m on the way home, burnt 47lts for 140kms and got home on time to take the family for chinese and a couple of coldies :beer Cheers Marlin

Well deserved fish in very ordinary conditions congratulations Cheers Marlin

Geoff, The cav plate being too low will not cause the problems you have, in fact just the opposite it will improve turning control due to increased effective "rudder" area. The fact it is sitting lower than required may be slowing you down a little but will be assisting in preventing prop cavitation. Other options are to increase the tiller friction damping the effects of prop tourque which will feel as if the tiller is being pulled to one side whilst accelerating. Talk to your supplier about your problem and ask him for suggestions or solutions before getting him offside. Good luck Cheers Marlin01

Big boats are OK but nothing beats doing it in a little boat. Long live the GOPRO. Top footage.Thanks for sharing Cheers Marlin01

Decided to have a quick fish at Swansea to see if any little reds or flatties are about in the dirty water. First spot and water is cold (17.9) and dirty. First fish is a hairtail, not a great sign. Current swings to the East a bit and the first two reds come aboard Then the current swings some more and stregthens a bit. Seems to help as the fish get a bit bigger and bite a little better. Finished with 16 reds (most over 35cm) and a big mowie and the hairy. Time to go and see if any flatties are about for future reference. Two quick drifts for 1/2 dozen keepers (and lost a few hooks to the jackets). All in all a great day and a good feed to boot, gotta be happy with that. One of the better fish Cheers Marlin01

Inspiring report,got to love SWR, mmmmmm got a few days off next week, maybe a quick trip north is in order. Cheers Marlin01

Thanks Gary Ill give Giles ago. Marked a bit of bait there on the way home. Might give it a bit of berley on Friday morning for a red as I have caught a couple there b4. Cheers Marlin01

Had a quick fish with the F.I.L Water looks great up here but no current. No run no funas a result I couldnt find slimies or bonnies at mermaid. Lots of fish on my pearly/trag marks but no bites. Anyway off to the trusty flattie in the rain, by now wind squalls are15-20knts and the flatties are chewin OK Finished with 28 flatties 3 reds and a solitary trag. try aginn on Friday. Cheers Marlin01

Had a whiting fish in the lake today, finished with 34 whiting,2 bream, 1 luderick and a jacket. Top day and left them chewing

VHF is normally pretty good, heaps of commercial boat traffic in that area and nearly always a few other fisho's around. Re the moon, doesnt worry us much as I reckon the fishing is better on the dark and the moon doesnt help with underwater objects which is my major concern. Cheers Dave

w Any breeze predicted over 10knts and we stay close. Swell isnt such a concern for my boat as I fit between swells. Getting older I enjoy a comfortable ride (as does my old back) so if I cant comfortably sit on 18knts we dont go wide. Look at the synoptic charts regularly and figure out what they generally mean. From now (ie summer) on we will head out at midnight -0200hrs to start fishing at around 0300-0400 and head home 1000hrs to avoid the NEasters which will start to prevail soon. figure your fuel burn and take twice what you will need. Plenty of water and food. Most people that get caught in high winds havent done enough research. Never trust any one weather site,especially the BOM (its hopeless) and check the synoptic chart as a double check. I only run to the shelf half a dozen times a year because I wait for the weather to be close to perfect. Your 540F will eat it up. I would reckon if I can run at 16-20knts you could run at 20-25knts whick shaves a lump of time off the trip (round 60kms each way) Get out there, Dave

I always check the weather on Wind guru and sea breeze as I find the BOM site is very unreliable. I am fishing in my Haines 445F fitted with a 70hp yammie four stroke. This is a smallish hull but having owned it near 30 years I know exactly what it is capable of, I would much rather be out there in it than a lot of bigger poor performance hulls with ancient oil burners on the back. I take 110 litres of juice which is nearly twice what I normally need for the 130-140k round trip. Swansea bar is normally very innactive unless you have the end of a run out tide Easterly swell and NE breeze (ie summer time) Hawkesbass, no pics. They are the smallest Bass Groper I have seen ,normally 25kgs +.Just as tasty as the monsters though . Very important to note I have VHF and 27meg radios, all safety gear and I always leave a detailed description of where I am going (60ks east) ie co-ords and an ETR. Also I have a backup GPS and sounder. Your sounder is very important and must be capable in this depth (down to 450mts) My Furuno FCV620 marks fish clearly at this depth making it a lot easier to know when to drop baits. Cheers Marlin

Dunc333, I have had hydraulic steering for 6 years now (Admiral Hydrive from memory) in the bullhorn configuration (only one that would fit my steering well) and find it excellent especially compared to cable steering. I think the difference is that the bullhorn should A be narrower for the same turn radius and B have a mechanical advantage over the single arm. Cheers Marlin

Puregeek, Have had my A70D for a fair while now and am very happy with it. I only use it as a plotter as I have the Furuno FCV620 sounder which is a superior sounder but its good to have a back up. Cheers Marlin

Weather looked good so ducked out to the shelf off Swansea for a bottom bash. Water temp started at 16.3 went up to 19.6 from 80mts to 130mts and then dropped to 18 deg on the shelf, coldest Ive ever seen at this time of year. 60K\'s out and hooked a big fish first drop only to pull the hook on a big swell, lucky I took my mate as he contributed all big fish to the box being one 12kg hapuka and two bass groper @ 14 & 18kgs. Also a few perch but nothing from 1030-1530hrs (high tide). Marked a fair bit of bait very late in the arvo. No current after low tide no run-no fun! Ran home at 25knts to burn a total of 60lts for 132kms. Just finished vacuum packing 11 bags + dinner, yum Marlin

We used to use an old ironing board covered with nylon and fitted with a couple of washing tubs, one for first rinse one for final. cut a couple of slots for knives and your done, good on the beach too. Cheers Marlin

Looks good Andy, almost a shame to get blood all over it Cheers Dave

Fishon, I just ordered a new staino prop for my 70hp yammie 4 stroke this week. My previous donk was a 60hp yammie on my 445F haines. After fitting a staino prop (from Solas) I was rapt, it was like a new boat, higher revs, heaps more torque and top end speed. Well worth the expense in my books and they have a boat show special for a few more days yet. Cheers Marlin

Bruce, I only use the A70D as my plotter but it is aways handy to have a back up sounder and GPS. Size isnt everything but I must say it is heaps easier to use your plotter with a bigger screen when underway (my budget wouldnt stretch to a 10inch screen). I still back my marks up to my old hand held (Lowrance 12) which also is dash mounted. So with two sounders and two GPS's I feel much more confident when travelling away from home. As a matter of intrest how did the Regupal flooring finish up? Dave

Hi, I think you will find that is a A50D price because if you can buy a A70D with the correct transducer for $999 incl GST than jump on it because that is a fair bit under my bulk dealer buy price (that I would need to buy 5 units). Either it is a grey import or someone has made a mistake. The Raymarine A series are very impressive and for that price it would be unbeatable but I think you will find someone has stuffed up. Cheers, Huey. No price is accurate, I bought mine with no transducer for $1580 so I see what your saying. The price is from a fairly large marine retailer and is on the front cover of their latest cattledog. (Starts with a W). Having owned a lowrance unit(albeit a superceded model) I would have to say the Raymarine is a tad better and much easier to use than the HD series I have seen, with slightly better clarity which is important when underway in rough seas. The Lowrance price is very good however my local dealer did mention a high return rate on this HD series. Its very hard these days as a lot more lemons are sneaking through as consumers demand more bang for their buck. This same unit (A70D) was around the $2K mark when they first were released (18MTHS). Makes you wonder if your giving something away to get such a good price or is it indicative of the scale of markups from the manafacturers and wholesalers. I know the retailers cut/minimise their margins to be competitive. Food for thought Cheers Marlin

Bruce Raymarine A70D's are on special for $999 (incl transducer)and offer exceptionally good value for this price Also being a combo you will have a back up sounder. I have had mine for around 5 mths and am very impressed with the accuracy, ease of use and general quality of the picture. Cheers Marlin01

Caught on electric reels (BIT OF SARCASM RE THE SPORT ) and salted striped tuna for bait. Marlin

Managed a few Hapuka out of Swansea a week ago, best at 22Kgs Great eating and a bit of sport from 450M of water. biggest for the day My first Hapuka Cheers Marlin01

Tuffy, After fitting one of these cheaper T-Tops I finished up fabricating my own which was *much stronger *gave me more rod storage *gave me a better height platform for electronics mounting *got antenna's and outrigger bases off the gunwhales and out of the way *kept all elctronics dry (three radio's , sounder and GPS's) Also gave us something solid to hang on to when travelling. I would think it would be worth $5-800 to have fabricated. The shelter you achieve from these small canvas's is negligable (I know mine always cast a shadow where it was useless) and again was useless for rain protection. Worth a look Over the last ten years I have found this set up to be extremely practicat for inshore and offshore sport and gamefishing along with bottom bouncing and cant think of anything to make it more practical. Cheers Marlin

Furuno FCV-620 Used in 350-480m last weekend where it marked fish and bottom very well reading to 160m at 22knts after a little tweaking. Very Happy Also have a Raymarine A70D which is my primary Plotter (very good resolution) and secondary sounder, pales by comparison as a sounder.Also very happy Just upgraded to FCV585. These units are incredible for a 600w transducer in deep water. Getting a great picture of the bottom at 22knts (fast cruise) in up to 160mts. Easy to use and becoming very cheap to buy. Cheers Dave