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I have been told by Maritime Police that it is only offshore and last weekend a Fishing Officer doing promo and training at the ramp told me 2 nm offshore. Do people carry oars? Has anyone been fined for having no oars?

This would be a practical explanation but the rules are you only need them when 2 Nm offshore. I would not get very far with oars in my boat. We would be puckered out after 15 min trying to move it. I think Flathead are right up there in the ugly fish range, they sure are ugly.

Hapuka is devine. Similar to Blue Nose. I like Morwong but find you have to add flavour to the meat. We always do a Cajun Rub on it and it is good.

Hi all, Thought I would point out an observation I have made. Moved to Aussie nearly 4 years ago. I was very confused about a few things when I got into the fishing scene. One was how Aussies go mad about this fish called Luderick. People specialise in catching this fish and rave about it's deliciousness. In storms I see old boys in full wet weather gear fishing for them in atrocious conditions. Madness!! Being a Kiwi this is just mystifying. In NZ we have the same fish and we call it Parore. It is very prolific and very easy to catch. Just go to a mariner and send down a pea on a hook. Great fish to get the kids onto. Sometimes they take squid. If you catch a Parore you bring it up, take the hook out and send it back. If you have any onlookers they will all remind you that it is a shit fish and best to get rid of it. Or you will be advised to cut the black gut lining out quick smart. But even then it is sneered at. We used to get ET fishing escapes and we would all be puzzled at he and his mates getting excited about Luderick...Parore. They would anchor dangerously close to wash all in order to catch this shit fish. Amazing. We never understood why he got excited about Bream and I still don't understand the fascination. I do however completely understand the magic of the Jew Fish. On the flip side, we love our Kahawai (Salmon) We smoke it and love it. You can buy whole Smoked Salmon in many supermarkets in NZ. But here people think I am strange when I tell them how Lush Salmon is. The other big surprise for me was Flathead. we don't have them. You have no idea how strange it is to see the worlds most ugliest fish being so sort after. I understand now. they are simply devine. So each to there own I guess. Just a funny thing. One country has a culture where this fish is held in high regard and the other does not rate it, and I mean does not rate it as all!]. I have tried a Luderick when I got one as an accident. I was not that impressed with it. I still consider it to be a shit fish. But I am happy to try it again or take advice on how I can make it decent. I found it to be a very muddy meat. Oh one other thing that still mystifies me. In the Boat Code (Is that what we call it) You must have a set of oars if under 6m. What on earth are a set of oars going to do in a boat larger then 5.5m. How will these help? I have more control of the boat with a Drogue and a second Anchor rope and Chain. I have asked Maritime Police at the shows and they agree with me but say if I don't have them I will get fined. One even presented me with some small 3 foot plastic oars and said that is all I need. WHAT!! I don't want to carry useless crap. No one seems to understand why this is law but it is. Just an observation. Pic on left is Luderick and on right is a Parore

You can buy Sardines from the Seafood shop in Paddies Markets. I believe they are the same thing or at least as good as each other.

I anchor up 99% over reefs with Reef Anchor on Chain. Never not been able to get it back. I have lost three Anchor and Chain. All three have been when a Sand Anchor went to Reef. You will hold much better with Chain and it will also be much more comfy as the chain acts as a shock absorber. If just a rope then all the action will be transferred to you and the boat. Also much more likely that you will slip and will be harder to get a hold if current running hard. Chain helps you lay it out.

I brought mine over from NZ. Got my trailer from Water Sports. Very good to deal with. I had a Suzuki fitted a couple of months ago and chose Hunts Marine Wollongong. Also good guys. Was very tempted to get the Merc CT from Anthony at WSM but too far to drive for service and follow up.

Very good boats, very happy with mine. Having a Merc you must have got it from Water Sports Marine. Good guys there.

Yes, well I think we proved this theory today. Big Red is in close too. We had a couple of big takes. The ones where you can't get your rod out of the holder. Strained faces, jerky movements, you know the ones. But both times they came off. Found the snapper were generally soft biting today. We had to set the hooks rather than the usual Wham!! Was such a shame to go to work after a session like this. But despite this I am going to get into this pre work concept. Might be onto something.

Have a Suzuki DF115. Boat is a 5.5 Surtees. Flies along really well. 58k is Max Speed.

Well the big question is where are the snapper on South Coast Bellambi launch. Many told us to go wide and drop Inchikus or baits but we figured that they must be holding in close as well. We figured right. Not huge but 12 were welcomed aboard. We caught some Trevally and at one point were filled with Dread when Cuda's turned up. They were gone within 30 min so happy days. Early start, launched at 5.30am. Was very windy this morning, very Windy. No swell so the journey to the mark was pretty sweet. We anchored up and it was blowing hard. Boat was yawing and current was all wrong. Whipped out the Ezy Lay, set it on Anchor Rode and with a few adjustments it was perfect and we had the current out the back straight and all the hard yawing action was gone. What a difference!! Most of the action was from my mate, same rig same bait but he was getting all the action. When my rod did go over for a decent fish i was in the cabin and he got to reel it in . What can I say, he was on fire today and I was left wondering what was going on. It all shut down as the sun came up higher so we decided to try out wide in 50m. Was blowing hard again. Motor in reverse idle held us on spot but after 3 drops and a good bin we decided to call it. Blasted back to Bellambi and as we got close in it glassed out. Bugger all swell meant I could hammer down and we came in close to Woonona Beach blasting at 55k found a wee wave rise, slowed the boat, lined it up. Came up under it and powered down for a bit of flying action. Love it when your boat leaves the water. Smooth exit no Ramp Drama. Stunning day and plenty of Reds in the fridge 15m off a Northern Reef. Between Bulli and Coledale...That's all I am permitted to say. I may have said to much already

Your welcome. Normally you get confused looks. I noticed the word Drogue being used at the boat show which was nice to see. Aussies do love to abbreviate. When we first got here our mates offered us a Schnitty. We had no idea what they were on about.

I see the picture. But these are sales brochures from people selling boats to people buying boats of which many would not know what a Gunnel or Gunwale is. This does not mean that this is what they are called. This is Sales talk. I have never heard the term Side Decks and have come from a boating family....I even went to Sea Cadets!! Where ifwe used the wrong terminology we were punished!! i.e. I have heard the term 'packed to the Gunnels' but never 'packed to the side decks' Also I am a Kiwi and I have noticed in NZ we are more formal with our seafaring terms. i.e. On my boat we have a Drogue. All my Aussie mates when they first get on board don't know what I am talking about. They call it a Sea Anchor. I explain to them that this is not a Yacht and we don't have a Sea Anchor on board. Yes Gunnels will create additional rigidity no doubt. But they are awesome for can holders (Sinker and Lure Holders) Rod holders, Mounting Points, Standing on etc. They are great for extra surface area.

I have not heard of a side deck before either. In my vocab you would be standing on the Gunnel. Agree, Gunnels are nice to have. Good for can holders, Mounting rod holders and sitting on.

They are not a rod that casts very far and not that accurate. (Have not tried the overhead version) These rods are best for slow jigs, flutter jigs or for pulsing plastics. Generally in water which is directly under the boat. If you can catch Barra like that then they may be an option. I can say for sure that the Blue or Black models would handle any Barra. They are insane in regards to how much you can load them up. Watching someone fight a big fish on one looks crazy. They do the business.

Nice set up. Pretty sweet first boat. Looks like a Lure fishermens paradise. My first boat was a 6m wooden boat. Got very sick very quickly of discovering new jobs, sanding and epoxy work. Sold it quick smart and went new. Agree, nothing like the comfortable smug feeling of a brand new boat. Well done.

I just installed a Lonestar Drum Winch this weekend on my Surtees. Was not too bad. Common sense. I don't have a Crimping tool for the 3B&S cable (Thick battery Cable) so I had to use a Vice with an Alan key return running parallel to the lug and tighten, then to be sure I melted solder into the crimp with a gas torch. If you have the correct tools it is easy. I would recommend getting a proper crimping tool. Not having one is a pain and adds a huge amount of time to the job. I am happy with the drum. My research was that they are much more trouble free than a windlass. I was quoted $700 to install a Drum Winch. And decided I would do myself. Big surprise was the cost of the cables. JCar sell for $16pm for 2B&S. I went to CES in Taren Point and got it for about $7 per meter. In total materials and stuff cost me $200. So saved $500. Lost a most of the weekend to it though. If you have a mind for installing stuff, can measure and cut then do it yourself. You have to make sure you have enough bracing where you will install the winch. Surtees are onto it, I discovered a plate welded to the anchor well for mounting a winch onto. Very pleased to find this. Easy days ahead.

I did it for me. Want to anchor at 35m and no bugger wants to do the anchor. If We change our mind or miss the spot no one wants to reset. Figured it will make things more productive. Finished install today. Was quoted $700 to install. Spent $130.00 in materials so saved $570.00. Thinking of putting up a post on how to do this in a Surtees Workmate. Was a bigger job than I thought and I don't have much experience with electrics. Would have been a big help if there was any information on how to install one of these. So stoked!! Can't wait to use it. This is a 1000W G2 Lonestar

I have a Surtees and it is a great boat. Toughest Alloy boat you can get. Very well laid out, and very good riding. Also went to the boat show with wife. She approved a Lonestar Winch . Installing myself tomorrow. Happy days.

Hold the reel and point the rod at the snag. Gently and slowly pull. This is your best chance of getting off as you can control the pressure. Repeat over until you work it loose. You sometimes just need to wear down what ever has caught you.

Discovered just how easy these are to break on the weekend. Been using this rod for a while and it had put up with all the roughness I dish out to gear. Caught a Port Jackson Shark on Sunday. Got lazy and brought it aboard without releasing the bail arm. In a flash. Ping. End of the rod snapped. Will be replacing before the weekend but will have a new found respect for how I handle it. Sad day. 5x worse than losing your favourite Squid Jig. Bugger!

For a 100ah Batter you would want at least a 10amp charger. Just get a good one.

I have never been in a Formosa but they look very beamy to me. Guess that makes a nice platform to fish from but imagine the ride would not be as good as the narrower boats on offer. Mclay boats are also very very nice, i mean very nice. Quite pricey as well. Stabicrafts are awesome, my old man has a 7m Super Cab. They are great when at rest but they take a hell of a toll on your knees when underway in slop. BANG!!! BANG!!! BANG!! They go hard, hit hard. Thats the price you pay for being able to fish a long way out in deep water in big weather and feel safe I guess. I have heard them reffered to as a young mans boat as you do cop hiding. Especially if captain only has one speed. I would not get one as I think the ride is too hard. Extreme boats are extreme in that they are fully decked. They are the absolute luxury plate boat. All the bells, all the toys. You can't down spec them from the factory. You can't choose no carpet or no Nylac etc. You have to be coined up to buy one. These are for the fisho who won the lottery. Check this video out to see what I mean Surtees and Barcrusher are very very similar boats. The Barcrusher crowd used to make the Surtees boats under license. Then there was some sort of fall out and Barcrusher took the designs and copied the boats. Even stole the name. The Barcrusher name was even a Surtees model, the audacity!!. They are different now as both have made changes to aesthetics and Surtees have added a lot of design features such as new transom designs and recently overhauled the designs of the whole fleet. Surtees also allow you to hold the water in the ballast chamber for a softer ride underway. If I was choosing between the two I would go with the designers of the boat rather than the emulators. Both great boats though. I wish I could buy another boat. Such a rush buying it. But such agony waiting for it to get made. I remember the daily struggle waiting.

Agreed, Great Reels. Easily handle a decent Due in an Estuary.

Shimano Bait Runner 4000 Reels are great all rounders. I have two. One with Mono and one with Braid. They are my go to reels for Bait fishing and I have done all right with them flinging plastics. I have caught snapper upto 70cm on a 4000 and had no trouble. Also caught Kings of 80cm with one. Also no trouble. Very reliable and very versatile. I have a 6000 as well but I don't use it much as prefer the smaller reel. If you want to fish for Kings over shallow reef then you would want to go to an 8000 of even a 12000. A 4000 won't stop a decent King or easily turn one but they do hold a good whack of line and over a sandy bottom you can play and land good fish. Bang for dollar they are excellent and take a beating.