Marlin01

Henry, I have filled my 30WLRSA's with 50lb braid (spiderwire) and a 100m 60lb penn 10x nylon top shot joined with a spliced loop connection as per wind on leader. This gives me 800+ metres and the 100m of nylon is plenty for a shock absorber. I then run a spliced loop wind on (150lb)to a sampo and use short leaders (2-2.5m). I have caught a few stripes and blacks on this system and it works well with the only draw back being maintainace of the dacron loops. Cheers Dave

Certainly plenty of luck used up no doubt Also keeping the boat on one side of the fish helps. Neither fish really smoked off so we were guessing species even after landing the first. Marlin

Had a coupla days up the North coast a few weeks back with a mate who had already fished the week there Day 1 was at Grassy chasing mackeral, managed 13 spotties and 2 spanish Next day shot to Coffs for a quick hit at North solitary chasing wahoo, no go on the 'hoo but the bycatch was good only one red of any size 5.5Kg bluefin trevally then hit a couple of strange fish that shot out to sea after 10 minutes the first one hit the deck at 12Kgs followed 10minutes later by a stuborn silver missile of 21Kgs Great fish on light tackle and proof of what a good quality snapper spinning outfit can stop. A very long but rewarding day at Coffs Cheers Marlin01

Pics coming Marlin

Just back from two days north Tuesday fished Grassy for 3 Spanish and 12 spotties. Spanish 9-14Kgs spotties 3.5-6Kg Shot to Coffs Wed to fish Nth Solitary. No Wahoo so fished soft plastics for a few small reds and one 5.5Kg model. Poke the boat into a wash for a double hookup on strange fighting fish. The first one surfaced after 5 min, a 12Kg spanish of all things. Safely in the boat continued to fight the other fish. A 15minute tug of war had us fairly convinced we had a nice cobia but once we got colour that went out the window and on board came a 21KG spanish . A pair of outstanding captures on 20lb line and leader and soft plastic lures. Resumed trolling livebaits for a couple of mack tuna, 3 x 5Kg yellowfin and two kings 4Kg and 10Kg. How much better is the fishing just 3.5hrs north Home this morning 4 hrs vacuum sealing the proceeds and a call from a mate who went up this morning. He started fishing at 7am and was back at camp washed up, fish cleaned at 12. He got 10 spotties but did say they were notably smaller with a 3.5 Kg average. He also got checked by fisheries at the ramp. See there are still a couple of officers left in NSW. Heading back next Thursday. Hope they are still there Marlin01

Off topic a little I used to work at a houseboat factory on the mid north coast and some of the fleet ran twin 9.9hp yammie four strokes, this was back around 1989-90 I guess. Anyway the four strokes were a bit of a rarity back then. During a repower one of the guys at the factory bought one of the motors for his tinnie. He was a fisho and as such we became mates and I still catch up with him a couple of times a year. Twenty odd years on he is retired and using the motor min of once a week and he used it frequently prior to retirement also. He has replaced a gearbox (lower leg) after a collission at speed with a sunken object and otherwise it has only required routine maintainance, impellors, plugs ect. He reckons it runs as well as it ever did and he cant see any point in replacing it at present. So not quite 30 years but probably the oldest 4 stroke I know of. Anthony, I empathise with your wish for reliable hassle free boating and hence a upgrade. I would liken it to upgrading motor cars. We all wish for reliable and comfortable motoring and hence we upgrade vehicles when required and within budget (otherwise we would all be driving our first cars and mine would be getting bloody hard to find parts for ). I would point out that I only care how the motor runs for the first 10 years of it life as, budget permitting, it will be upgraded to new and better tech. after that. Like with fishing tackle, I think you should aim to use the best gear you can justify when approved. Again good luck with your selection. Cheers Marlin01

Anthony, I have had a 60HP Yammie 4 stroke on my little Haines for 5 years (335 hrs) and I must say I am very happy with its performance, economy and reliability. Unfortunately most people will always support whatever brand they currently own or sell. I have had several brands of outboards on this Haines but must say that the two yammies have been the pick of the crop. These products also aligned with advances in technology and represented the best value and most well fitted to my fishing styles, which are both very important considerations for motor choice. I fished on an old sailfish fitted with early E-Tecs and it was a shocker with smoking probs and very inefficient on fuel. These probs have certainly been rectified by all reports and these outboards are now at the cutting edge whilst the four stroke manafacturers appear to have been resting on their laurels to an extentin the mid size category (50-80hp) for a period. I also am due to repower my 445F and the 70hp yammie ticks the boxes re weight and power but I am dubious as to how stressed a block would be supplying 70HP that was originally designed for 50 & 60 HP. The choice gets harder every year so my advice is to go and ask for a test drive realising of course it wont be on your boat but would still give a good indication of performance. Read up on reviews (independant are nearly always better than owners or manafacturers) and finally spend a day at a busy boat ramp and ask a few owners what aspects they like most of their near new outboards. Cheers Marlin01

Roosterman, I bought the GME with the GPS inbuilt (MT403G) simply because the search area is dramatically reduced if operated. Its a lot of extra cash but I figure our safety is worth it and over the expectant working life (10+ years) the initial $200 extra isnt much of an extra spend. Having been involved in several rescues at sea I can appreciate how a reduced search are is an obvious advantage (5kms square (MT403) compared with 100m square (MT403G) and if I ever set it off (TOUCH WOOD) I will be in need of assistance ASAP and the decreased search zone will reduce response times. Thats my reasoning and even the bank supported that decision, whilst not being so supportive of the new jig rod, shimano torsa, tiagra ect ect. Cheers Marlin

I also got a request from my insurer of 21 years to supply pics of my 27YO 445F. I sent pics and expenditure sheet for last 6 years (28k) and had a renewal offer in under an hour so I suggest a policy change has come to fore after theyve been bit with over insured ark claims in recent times. Cheers Marlin

Hey James, I have been holidaying and fishing at Harrington for the past 5 years (I prefer SWR but she gets more family time at Harro). I am up there in Jan (9th-23rd) this year also. Drift fishing is very productive off Crowdy for flatties, snapper and pearlies, normally can achieve bag limits for flatties. The coast guard maps are a good start and a decent chart plotter will also identify a lot of good ground. I am going to do a bit more fishing at anchor this year using livies also. Anyhow if interested PM your number or Email and I can give you a couple of marks up there. Better still Ill give 'em to ya over a beer up there Cheers Dave

Nice fish and very unique reel!! I dont think any fish will not benifit from immediate bleeding and icing down. We bleed all fish to be kept and within minutes ice them down. Cheers Marlin01

Nice fish Moe, definite striped marlin approx75-85kgs. Sounds like a top day out and some great chewin to boot (blue eye, YUM)!! Why couldnt you gaff the fish? Anyway good on ya Cheers Marlin01

The best teaser reels we found were Penn senators in 9/0 or 6/0. Built like the proverbial outhouse and good powerful gear ratio. You will probably want a bit more than 100m as that disapears pretty quick on an unseen lineburner. Ilike 130lb also as its pretty hard to bust. Nothing more fun than switch baiting and no not the cronulla sharks type Marlin

Ritchie, One of the best 4m rigs around was the haines hunter sea wasp. A glass boat with a great ride and I would say fairly close to your max tow weight. I noticed a couple for sale recently but you might require a little budget s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g. Cheers Marlin

Choice set up and a pretty nice piece if coast to boot, fish are a bonus (a tasty bonus though). Cheers Marlin

We just got back from SWR yesterday, weather was great but the water is ordinary and getting worse (they just opened the flood gates to ley a bit more mud out). First day we went south and finished with 10 reds from 40-70cm, pick pulled and we could get to the same spot. the three of us copped some monumental bust offs on some big reds on pretty heavy gear (10kg stella being the heaviest). Mackerel fished for day 2, only one spotty (6.5kg) and a few small reds to 45cms. Water was worse at Grassy than Fish rock. Day 3 we went up towards Coffs, found a nice bit of bottom and scored two 4-4.5Kg reds first casts with plastics, threw the pick and in 2minutes had two 20Kg kings in the cubes along with two 1.5 Kg reds. Hooked one king on a livie about 1m off the boat, what a sight. Finished with shredded line and no king as expected in shallow water. Reset a livie to catch a 10KG cobe in 5 minutes, meanwhile big fish have moved into the cubes resulting in a HEAP more monumental bust offs and reds to 5 Kgs along with samberjacks (I am still not sure which they were) around the 5 kgs mark. Cobe number 2 is landed on a dead bait (12Kgs) and good reddies keep coming. I put a livie on the deck after the floaters went a bit quite and scored a 20Kg cobe quickly followed by a 5 kg red. Action went quite and we went home at 28 knots eating prawns and relaxing. I didnt mention it was raining for the whole day and I was the only one with a raincoat but no one seemed to care . Back at the ramp a couple of ramp rats told us that it was the best catch of fish that they had seen in over 6 months and that they dont miss anything that happens at the ramp. Day 4 We headed back north, current had turned up hill and was running quite fast making cubing difficult and the water had also got dirtier, long story short we got bugger all for 2 1/2 hrs then as we decided to move got a mackerel strike on the back livie that looked like a spanish. Decided to slow troll livies whilst prospecting we went 500m and I had a massive surface take from a spanish over 20kgs, line screamed off for 300m then stopped. I wound in to find a failed albright the culprit, I was pretty dirty as I havent caught a spanish and knot failure is certainly not an acceptable avenue. Anyway we resumed trolling to catch a spotty around 5 kgs which was a bit anti climatic after the spanish. That was it for the final trip and shows how fickle fish can be, same spot from aquarium to desert in 24 hrs because of a current change. Even in paradise the fishin' gets tough . Put some pictures up a bit later. Cheers Marlin

Good call with the marlin boards Davoo(Bloody marlin boards.)They belong hangin up in the shed , most of the top boats dont run with them and there are many reasons for that. Better luck on the next one. Marlin01

Bender, 28 Berties are a bit of a benchmark and probably amonst the most seaworthy boats of their length. I have fished extensively on both diesel (165 volvo's) and petrol (350 merc/chev) shaft drives and found the performance of both at sea to be excellent. The petrols use to burn over 400lts a day when switchbaiting off Port Stephens (note day = 14+hrs) so represent a significant cost to run. The diesels lost a few knots on cruise speed obviously and still burnt an average of 200-250lts/day. Trolling live baits I believe the diesels gave a distinct advantage in fish attracting over the petrols. I dont believe this is as important when switchbaiting or draggin plastic around. I have only fished one day on a Yanmar (230HP) powered 28 and could well see the added expense justified in performance. A couple of mates fish regularly on 35's and refer to them as tractors of the sea. They do so in an affectionate fashion in reference to the hulls safe and predictable ride and obviously they pull their fair share of fish. Running costs for 35's do increase proportionately to hull size. I have a soft spot for the 28's as I believe it is well capable to play above its weight division. When I do buy one it will certainly be a shaft drive and will also be diesel powered simply to enhance fishability and comfort. Cheers Marlin

Finally got round to fitting a new SS prop on my Haines 445F and the difference across the board was suprising with an extra 600RPM @WOT and an extra 6MPH along with a whole boot load of grunt, bar crossings might be a little easier now, should have done it years ago. Cheers Dave

Troy Probably not your problem but a mate of mine fitted a foil to the leg of his honda powered Stacer (4.8) and it turned the boat into an absolute dog downsea with unpredictable but regular broaching (port and starboard). The foil was fitted as per manafacturers instructions and outboard hieght was correct. I fitted the same brand foil to my Haines 445F at the same time and it was magic, not affecting the up or downsea stability at all but giving a much lower planing speed (the desired result). Maybe worth a look if you have a foil unbolt it and give it a try. Cheers Dave

I installed hella LED's in my trailer rebuild 6years ago and they have been faultless. Pricey at the outset but years down the track you'll be glad of the extra expenditure. Cheers Marlin

Gday Klainz, It is a little piggy and they sure do pull for little fish. NSW size limits are 30cm and bag limit of 10 (last time I looked). You do tend to find smaller pigs in seperate areas (nurseries) to larger pigs. Pigs tend to replenish fairly quickly and also move around a bit. Stick with it and that big fella is on his way. (I like to fish with bread as you catch a lot less rubbish fish) Cheers Marlin01

VA911 Check out Fisher and Noble's in 5.8's and 6.4's. Custom layouts are tops for fishability. Both have great finish and exellent ride (Probably as good as tinnies get). Cheers

Looks great Tuffy, very neat & everything in place. Glad to see you went hydraulic, you wont look back. I reckon the fact your always standing when travelling in the CC makes the biggest difference in the ride. Happy fishing (looks like she's ready for SWR this summer Cheers Marlin

Tuffy, I love my centre console but admit tiller steers have advantages and disadvantages for certain types of fishing, obviously you have weighed these up. I would certainly go for the hydraulic steering if you can afford it as since I installed my hydrive system it has been faultless. The consideration for the cost of one of these steering systems must also include ongoing replacement costs for steering boxes and cables (for cable steering obviously) of which I was replacing one of each every two to three years, so if your going to keep the boat for 10yrs you may actually save money. Another option to consider would be a console mounted binnacle control which are smoother than a standard control box and have their own tilt and trim and also allow for free revving of the engine in neutral. Again since installing one on my little centre console I have found it faultless and again whilst initial purchase price is a little higher than a standard control box the ease of use more than warrants the expense and I also believe that because of the construction materials used in the binnacle control it will far outlast the cheaper substitutes. Cheers Marlin01