shane87

As close to a good general purpose rod for the beach would be a good quality mt7144. You could go a touch heavier or lighter but the 7144 and 20lb line is a good starting point. Wilson or Snyder glass do great aussie made versions although now that Snyder no longer produces rods they are becoming a harder to get. Wilsons are currently in negotiations with snyder to buy the old mandrils so we could see the original Snyder blanks available again.. Cheers Shane.

The tld25 will handle marlin out of sydney but i would put 15kg on it. I don't think its designed to handle the drag pressures your after for long periods of time. If you wait another month or 2 then you should be able to pick up one of shimano's xmas specials. From memory they were doing tld50's on rods for 499 last year and this would be a much better option for running 24kg.

Live fibre blaid n tails in an ultralight or a light. They may be a tad more than 200 but when it comes to pulling power in a light rod nothing comes close. They are made here is oz with all fuji componentry and correct recipes and the dual helix blanks are just awesome. Cheers Shane.

Find the biggest collection of snags and work back from there. The fish will still be there but they might be a bit harder to tempt in colder water. This time of year your best bet would be a livie fished hard against a snag or rock wall and when the water heats up a bit and the fish get more aggresive then look at chasing them on lures. Cheers Shane.

thanks mate

I have a 3.9 sea jay nomad and want to have a full floor and casting deck put in and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction as to where i can have it done. I have previously had a crack at doing this in another old tinny and it went pear shaped so i would like to have this one done properly. Cheers Shane.

Frost fish or ribbon fish i think.

Don't sell yourself short on a rod as it will do all the work. Reels especially for beach fishing are pretty much just there to hold the line for you. A good 12ft 7144 for 20lb line and up to 3-4oz casts weights or an 8144 for 25-30lb line and up to 6oz casts weights will set you back around the 175-200 mark.

Endeavour or blue tail prawns. Can't beet em for pigs. Cheers Shane

As bream mad suggested ( windy's) are caused by small spooled reels being choked by small stripper guides on rods. If you are using a 1000 size reel then a size 20 stripper guide will do but 2000 or 2500 size reels require a 25 and at least 650mm-700mm from the reel seat too the first guide. Hence the reason a lot of loomis rods are being re-built these days as they are usually way out on guide spacings with stripper guides being as close as 550mm. Cheers Shane.

Its fairly quiet out the front at the moment mate however they a belting the albacore and fin around bermi so hopefully the southern current pushes up this way over the next few weeks and away we go. I'm sure you will get a bum on a seat when they show up its just that not many people are burning the fuel and pillies at the moment for the odd fish. Cheers Shane.

I love this time of year. For the last 2 years i have enjoyed playing with a great run of yellowfin offshore however they are a bit late in getting here this year due to that warmish water we still have out the front so i have gone back to one of my favourite types of fishing. Knock em down drag em out fishing for groper and drummer of the rocks. Having not done it for a couple of years i forgot just how hard these fish pull and how much fun it can be. Cheers Shane.

Live firbre rods are available in quite a few models that might suit you. 6'6 10-15kg 7' 8-15kg 7' 15-24kg. The 7ft 8-15 was the rod used in the jewfish dvd with greg joice in the hawkesbury and they never missed a beat. Aussie made built tough.

I have an 8144 low mount matched with an Alvey 650E5 and loaded with 25lb for my heavy pig outfit and as long as i remember to take my rod bucket its no problem to hang onto the outfit for long periods. The MT8144 blank is a true 10-12kg stick with the graph butt versions being able to handle 15kg comfortably.

Depending on your line class the fsu4120 spin for 10kg or the fsu5120 spin for 15kg. Both rods are made here in aus by Wilson. There are also models in the live fibre range but they are a little more than your budget. Cheers Shane.

This is a bit of a tricky one because it will depend on your drift speed and current as to how quickly you will go through your cubes. As Sand Grouper said a box of trap bait which is usually 15kg will do for the majority of days out there. It never hurts to have a few extra than you need because you can always keep them in an esky until used or take them home for the next trip. Cheers Shane.

The 1500 and 2500 reels were discontinued well before abu made the move out of sweden so i think you should be fine. There were a couple of colours released as i have seen them in red as well as the gold plated models. Are the ones you found the 1500c or 1500ciar.

I have had the digital 44 bow mount for 4 months now and the remote controls have never worked. I was sent another control and circuit board and it has made no difference so of to the repair man she goes. It is mounted on a 4m sea jay and pushes her along quite nicely ( with the foot control ) I am using an 85ah deep cycle battery and have had no problems. Coastbloke just a quick tip always store your battery on a block of timber if its not permanently in the boat or it will die very quickly. Cheers Shane.

The zmt4144 has specs very similar to a standard mt4144 but it has the carbon in the lower section for a bit faster taper and a touch more grunt. It really is a very heavy stick for a blackfish rod. The pick of blanks around at the moment is the Kilwell 1742C/2. It also has a carbon layer in the butt section and is quite light in weight with plenty of grunt to handle any blackfish you may encounter as well as the odd smaller drummer. I have built a dozen or so of these rods over the last year and if you would like a recipe or some more info gimme a buzz. Cheers Shane.

If you want to spin then go an fsu 4120 for 10kg or a 5120 for 15kg. Designed to punch out lures from 50-90gm. The mt6144 will be an absolute pig of a rod for spinning having to soft a tip and no real grunt.

Just the epoxy cracking and the glue under the reel seat. Wilson rods are available with fuji componentry from some stores and the live fibre are a combination of glass and graphite and are much more durable than you would assume. I have had an mt4126 live fibre for almost 10 years now and it has some of the deepest gauges in the blank yet still pulls plenty of fish from the rocks.

Have a look at the new samurai range. Nice blanks, good componentry and they are built with correct guide placement which is rare on a loomis.

There are some very nice blanks available from here in Aus. The new Samurai blanks are quite good Hastings have a couple of good options Kilwell make a couple of beauties in 7ft Pacific composites also have a couple in the right price bracket. There are heaps of blanks that are available from O/S and to be perfectly honest Loomis are not worth the extra you will pay for them. ( personal opinion ) If you are going to be building these rods for yourself then durability might not be high on your list of priorities but if you intend to build them for other people then it should be of the utmost importance. A good quality 7 ft spin stick with all the bells and whistles can get down around the 95-105gm complete.

The botany wide fad was there yesterday but was only holding small dollies. Pulled the hooks on a better fish hooked down deep but that was all. A 50+ foot cruiser sitting 20ft from the fad with the motors and thrusters running sure put an end to the bite early on. Cheers Shane.

Which direction was the current going? South or North. Cheers Shane.