recurve

Thanks, it's always the whacky outings you seem to get the most enjoyment or experience from.

You know that feeling when you are the only boat heading out while boats are coming in? We launched from Bellambi at around 2pm yesterday. Rain was intermittent and we thought it would be a drizzle at best. Headed up North and as soon as we go to the mark it bucketed down. We have a hard top but you can't fish from under the hardtop. The 9 year old called it and wanted to go back. His mum was out shopping and could not do a boat ramp pick up so he was told to harden up and given a phone to watch You Tube on, into the cabin he went and lay down on the comfy squabs. I don't bottom bash with baits unless out with kids. Son was retired so I grabbed the bottom bouncer. Quickly picked up a Red of around 44 cm . Then along came a clear patch of weather and a seal who decided to hang with us. We yelled at him and tapped him on the bum but he was not worried and seemed to be taunting us. Then what I feared happened. I got onto a good fish......oh shit. I was using a Back Bone Elite 6 foot 8 - 12kg rod and a 6000 Baitrunner. I cranked up the drag and skull dragged this thing up. When near the surface the seal dove down to get my Snapper and I cranked it! Seriously cranked it. Had a 50cm Snapper launch out of the water and hit me square in the chest gave me a hell of a fright. But I had a whole Snapper!! Caught two more snapper around 40 cm and managed to beat the seal without having them smash into me. We moved off from the drift to get away from the Seal. The rain came back big time. Caught a good sized Mowie and called it as the rain was pelting. Came back in the pouring rain with poor viz, was very pretty and quite surreal. My crew were freezing cold and bit miserable. I was fine as have a proper Sailing Jacket which lets no water or wind through. I will now never cancel a trip due to rain. I will however ensure that crew must wear the right gear for the conditions. Had a great time, what a difference being warm makes. Total tally was 4 Snapper and 1 Mowie. Could have been more but we called it early. No photos as the boy had the phone watching You Tube the whole time.

Thanks guys, looks like the Daiwa Lexa 300 is the reel for a lefty wanting to micro jig. At this point I am looking to get this. Can't wait.

I purchased a 120amp battery from Battery World and was happy with the price. I was not up for paying huge money for a 10amp Ctek so purchased this. http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/SCA-Battery-Charger-7-Stage-12-Volt-10-Amp/343263Very happy with it. Been using it for about a year now and had no issues. I charge the battery the night before I go out. $159.00!! No complaints never had an issue. To get a 10amp Ctek is twice the price. Best to get a 10amp charger for a 100amp battery.

Hi all, Kingfish Season is coming up fast. I am still loving snapper but looking forward to Kingy time. This year I have decided to do away with bait, live baits, down riggers etc. I am going to try a year of discipline and only target Kingfish using Jigging Techniques, in particular Slow Jigging. Maybe I will use livies now and again?? I am not that disciplined. But I gave up smoking so I have hope. The Rod I have chosen (Yet to buy) is the Gomoku Black which is a PE 2-4 I have a Blue paired with a Stradic Ci4 4000 and love it but don't feel it is strong enough to chase Kings over reef and pinnacles. So I had my heart set on a Overhead set up. Never fished overhead before. But alas, I am a right handed left winder. All the Overheads come in right wind.Well all the overheads from Daiwa and Shimano that a) Fit on the Gomoku, Have the right 6:1 Ratio c) Have the 12kg + Drag I am looking for. I was taught from a young chap that as a right hander my power is in my right arm so I should wind with my left. Been doing it this way since I was knee hi so I can't go back. Right hand reels for me are messed up. So now I am thinking I have to go for a Spin set up. Looking at the Stradic 5000 or the Saragosa 5000. Neither have the drag I am looking for but I don't want to go too heavy as want to keep the balance nice. Leaning towards the Stradic as light and has 11kg of drag as opposed to the Saragosa which is similar spec but very heavy. Anyone know of any lightweight overheads that come in left wind that would be good for kings or a better option than the Stradic 5000. Appreciate your insight.

I think it all depends on what side of the boat you like to pull up to the jetty for picking and dropping off crew. Don't want to smack it into Jettys. Repeated knocks are not good for it.

Awesome. Thank you Captain, looking forward to having Garfish with no bones. Can't wait to try this. Great detail.

Hi all, I have heard that you can get the back bone out of Garfish very easily. Something about rolling a rolling pin or jar over the fish and it pops out. When I have tried I ended up with a squashed fish with a back bone. Does anyone know how this is done?

Slimy Mackerel is also a very good fish for Curries. When we get them we Masala them. Oily fish and has a good flavour for Curry. Don't knock em till you try em. They are excellent in Curries.

You can do by yourself. Just turn off car and engage in 1st gear or if an auto engage in Park.

For those who want to use plastics but don't trust in the "Black Magic" Put bait on your Soft Plastic. Squid Tentacles, Thick pieces of the tube cut into plastics looking shapes etc. Slide the hook about 2 cm down and then come out, Push up into base of jig then go through once or twice to hold. make sure you have a flick bit hanging out like a plastic and work this. If you have issues with it falling off or sliding get some bait string and wrap around the top. Great middle zone for the bait guy who can't believe in the Dark Side or plastics. Highly effective.

Gotta be happy with that. Waiting for a new boat has to one of the hardest things a man can be put through. Enjoy!!

That sucks suck sucks sucks. Have to be so careful, so easy to do. But hand brakes are not designed to take 1.5 + Tonne of boat on a 15 degree slope. I saw a new Ford Ranger go under. That was a surprise. Not the sort of vehicle you expect to be a Boat Ramp fatality. Nor is a Land Cruiser. I used to belong to a Out Board Boat Club with it's own facilities, ramps etc. This place was unreal and was sponsored Members only, oh I miss that facility. Anyway. As part of the induction they had a neat video of best practices and what to not do etc. One of the videos was cctv from the club of a guy retrieving a beautiful new 7m Fiberglass Boat. Did not put the chain on. Got to the top of the ramp and whoopsy!! off she went. He jumped out of his car but he was too late. Video did not show the final resting place of the boat but did show the anguish and the pure heart break. Poor bugger after it all sank in sat down on the ramp and buried himself in his arms and knees and appeared to just rock himself. Watching it made me sadder than a 10 year old girl watching Watership Down. Apparently he did serious damage and he was justified is his grief. Was not his boat either, was his brothers. Oh dear. This happened to me once. BUT!! I had the chain on. I was in the boat and my mate drove us up and i felt a wee 'Dink' and a sharp movement. When we got to the wash down area we realised what had happened. Thank my lucky stars I watched that video as have always been so paranoid about this since. Over the years the clicker was worn down due to various people (including me) winding it back over itself if you know what I mean. Dunbier sent me a new one for $25.00.Never ever trust the Clicker. ( I know it's not called a Clicker but I can't remember the parts name) So, so, so many ways to come unstuck boating. Pretty scary actually.

I think in some areas this is a good rule. In Sydney there are a lot of neighborhoods where parking is a Sh*t fight. I lived on a road that was like this for a few months in Drummoyne and had 3 boats parked on it that never seemed to move. It does agitate people. On the flip side Sydney is so freaking expensive for storage and services of that nature boat owners must be between a rock and a hard place. As more and more apartments go up in central Sydney it makes the problem a lot worse and boats sitting around taking up parks is agitating to people and agitated people harass MP's and Councillors. As a Boaty I would never buy a house that I could not park my car off the road. Had some major Sh*t fights with the wife when we last went house hunting. 3 of her favorite houses were not boat friendly. Happy wife happy life, for sure, but not at the expense of my boat!!!

Went out yesterday from Bellambi and were harassed by a whopper seal. Best thing to do when they come is pull the lines in and wait for them to bugger off. Only managed 4 snapper yesterday which was very very slow.

I think we have all had our moments. Maybe not as many in one trip. I have run aground in Lake Illawarra inside the channel and right at the drop off. Was 2m from the Blue water of the drop off. Eventually I managed to get out. Done the earmuffs trick, done the rod in the rod holder trick, left the tow flag on the motor trick, couple of weeks ago I did not screw the D shackle on super hard and it vibrated loose so lost my favourite anchor and brand new chain. . I have a live bait tank and we left the valve open when we launched. As we sped off in the darkness we felt water splashing on our calves. Turned around and Fark Me there was a shit load of water in the boat. Bit of stress but the bilge handled it . Lucky I have never done the rely solely on the hand brake while on the ramp trick. Have seen this trick done and it looks mighty expensive and heart breaking.

You must be launching at some pretty dodgy areas, I launch my boat next to a Housing Commission and no worries. Never had anyone ever even show any interest in my boat.

This looks pretty good. No worries with one of these.

Exactly, get a super roller trailer and a self catch latch and your away.

I have been looking at the 700 Surtees. Compared it to all the big brand Plate Boats and in my view it is hands down the best boat. Have not been on the water in them all of course. I would choose a Surtees over a BarCrusher hands down. Reasons are. Obvious difference in Build Quality Surtees is the original. BarCrusher totally dicked Surtees after they made them under license for Surtees, copied/stole the designs. If your emulating your not leading Surtees have re-designed the range, slightly longer, all new transoms etc. Surtees are boat designers not just boat makers. Customer Service at Surtees is excellent and the dealer in Sydney is also excellent. Guys at Surtees will let you customise your boats way more than most builders will let you. I am a Kiwi and incredibly one eyed. However my points are valid but my position is completely biased. I have to admit this. I was born in NSW so have the paperwork. The real litmus test is. All Blacks or Wallabies..........All Blacks of course. But I love Australia and I love and it's fishing.

Of all the brands that do plate boats for serious offshore you did not mention any of the best ones. My old man has a 7.4m Stabi Craft. I would go anywhere in that thing. Never ever doubted it or second guessed it. Been well offshore in nasty stuff fishing 350m for Hapuka. Best boat for true offshore work. Hard on the knees though. Senator same thing really as is KiwiKraft. If you want to go well offshore and feel safe then get a Kiwi Plate Pontoon Boat.

I brought a SuzukiDF115 and put it on a Surtees 5.5. When you raise the motor the bait board stops it going all the way up so I can't engage the locks. Dealer said it did not need them. Have always towed with engine up and a flag. Don't think any risk of failure or damage on plate boats as have a beefy bracket as part of the boat. My dealer is pretty knowledgeable and has a very good rep. He reckons no worries. So far no issue. I was told years ago that the locks are for mechanics when they dis-engage the hydraulics and not for travelling or stowing.

I would also use a Balloon. You can see where it is, see if it is getting spooked and you can hold it up and away from pylons. Get a Live Bait Hook and hook under the skin behind the eyes. See you tube. At about the 2min mark he hooks up the live bait.

Wow so there is confusion. The PDF linked above seems pretty straight forward. Confusion is probably due to it being a stupid rule. I have more control over my direction with a Drogue than with oars. Can't believe they wanted to fine you for it. Maybe I will go and get some short paddles which will offer me little to no benefit. Noticed that they don't list a sea anchor as a key piece of safety kit. Lets say I lost my motor offshore and the weather was bad. If I was offered either oars or a Drogue (Sea Anchor) I would lunge for the Drogue. At least I could control the direction my bow was pointing to.

Awesome!! Will be trying this. Do you have any pics?