adventureman

is anybody using down imaging in the ocean? i feel that the pitching of the boat might give a distorted picture. dose down imaging help in identifying fish or is it just a better look at the bottom?

ok raiders what do we think is the best sounder/gps on the market? I'm using it offshore and feel sidescan is a waste due to boat movement and distance, also want to put a good map card in and would like your thoughts on the best. I'm currently running a navman sounder and it has done its job but the temp gauge has given up and I'm chasing YFT this year and want to see the temp. cheers in advance

overheads are easier for me, i find the rotor on a spin reel flying around puts me off my rhythm. you also get a lot more reel for your money when you buy an overhead. this is a pic of my setup at the moment, i love her. her name is sally.

have a look at shimano torium 16, i jigged with one for years and found it to be up to the task at 12 mile. extend the handle (there are two positions for the handle) from the factory setting as this helps keep your rhythm. never had a problem with line lay, i did upgrade the drag with greased carbotex washers and there is very little starting inertia as the drag starts to work. star drags (torium) get you down faster than lever drags (fin nor marqueser) because the spool disengages completely however lever drags allow you to set your drag accurately at home before you hit the water. good luck

stop hi-sticking, ive landed 30kg kingfish on a 200g t-curve and monster mesh 220g. both rods are known for snapping when pushed past their limits, point it at the fish and grab the spool, won't break any that way. a jig rod is designed to impart action on the jig not pull the plug out of the ocean. also your "15kg" line is probably breaking well over 24kg, clip your jig to some scales and walk away (point the rod at the scales) until it breaks, this test has surprised me in the past. JM are the goods though you could have 4 t-curves for the same price.

I'm doing the same thing, got a Tcurve 802l stick bait rod for $168 delivered, its rated to 50lb and i have a twin power 10000 with pe5 sunline. combo feels great, pops well and big stick baits (190 orcas) swim well. feels a little long on the boat but it casts a mile. I'm lead to believe popping rods are stiffer than the Terez but you want an all rounder. what poppers do you have your eye on??

id keep the map in your pocket and refer to it all the time. i don't know of any nav cards with the boundaries on them and the zones have changed twice since I've lived in the area. lots of reef for your snapper fishing in close around coffs, ill try to get you some up to date info closer to the time. on a side note here is a photo of a kingfish i caught on my honeymoon at lord howe island a fortnight ago. it was the first drop for the morning and many more followed. apologies for the hijack kyle

get the app if you can, i drifted into a sanctuary zone for a $500 fine one day. the app has audible alarms when your too close. the ramps all good as the council has hired a little dredge to move some sand, the ramp will continue to suffer from surge and this can be dangerous. i like to fish south sol (has the lighthouse) and i collect my livies from park beach bommie, should appear on your chart just north of the harbour. berley may be needed to get them at times. fish the eastern side of south sol, drifting with gulp 7" jerk shad on 1/2 oz 5/0 dose a lot of damage there. live bait is sure to get some attention. drive east from the lighthouse and look out for the fish trap floats, the were holding mahi mahi and going for the 7" jerk shad. Scratchie is right the reef in front of split is goon too and saves fuel. happy to help if you've got any more q's. what are you targeting?? kyle

well done mate! I learnt to tighten my drag in the same spot. Are you willing to name and shame the hook?

any king off the rocks is cool! well done mate

my Bimini always breaks at the top of the twists leaving what appears to be an intact Bimini and a connection knot with leader connected to the scales. good luck and turn up that drag! the hoodlum is in the post!

test your knots on some scales. i use the same 50lb braid and 80lb mono and my knots fail at the Bimini on average 18kg, i fish a lever drag so its easy to set my drag to the max. Full sunset on my reel is set at 18kg, i have never pushed it all the way but i've been close and it almost pulled me out of the boat!! Once you have your average breaking point its time to set the drag. with your rod in the holder and the leader past the rod tip yank on those scales fiercely as the fish will pull violently too. 7kg of drag will skull drag 70cm fish in my opinion so unless your guessing on your 7kg of drag think about getting it serviced. Carbotex wet system is the way to go. On hooks pulling make sure your tying to the ring on the assist hook not the jig, it makes a big difference. i normally crimp an assist hook onto my leader and then put the jig on with a split ring when its time to drop (crimps improve the breaking strain IMO my uni knots average 60% while crimps 80%). join team "man drag" and go hard or go home!

cool, thanks guys, Swordfisherman how dose one submit fish for a record?

ok Raiders what have we got here??? its about 35cm and if you say Elegant Wrase i say note the forked tail.

cheers Raiders,

yep, good spot but a little quiet today.

Hey Scratchie tried Split and the lighthouse but we got him 2nm east of the harbour, 113cm 13kg. drop me a line when you up hear next, good luck as moderator mate well done. my rod went off at the same time but it missed the hook. no bother, lots of sashimi to go around!

Hi all Took two mates out (Coffs Harbour) today to look for some kings. Weather was perfect, seas were polite and the bait tank was full in under half an hour with a mix of slimies and yakkas. Off we went, this shoal that reef, another lump that sometimes hold fish but all we could manage were just legals. baits were getting low and getting sharked a few times meant we only had one more live bait each. With nothing for our dinner we made the call to head in close and and try for a snapper. the last yakkas went down while we drifted some pilchards down a burley trail. Beers back at the fishing club were looking like a good option when it happened, Nathan took this hoodlum on a Saragosa 10,000 with 30lb braid and 40lb leader!! Its his first nice king and the smiles say it all. Great day out and we still had those beers!

sounds like your at anchor, have you tried drifting your spot? the current, relative to you/boat will be nil (no wind needed to achieve this) while drifting. casting up-current while at anchor will help you get down too however staying in contact with you lure requires good technique and careful observation. i too like your deep diver idea though i feel that lures going against the current get hit less often, just a feeling. now to really blow your skirt up, faced with this situation while land based i rigged a soft plastic on a worm hook (no lead jig head and the hook point sits flush/weedless against the SP) i then attached a split ring to the eye of the worm hook and the split ring to the back of a Lazer/Raider style lure with the treble removed. this Frankenstein rig did not look or feel right at all but it worked! good luck and tight lines AM

DeanFish, yes i refer to the tn 60 and i like the white and silver colour schemes. Thats an attempt to match the hatch so to speak as the predominant bait in my river are the small herring more commonly found north of sydney. I might add that i pull small jew on Jackal tn 60 in the dark so the colour might be more effective on the fisherman rather than the fish.

love the Jackal 60 though its not cheap, the yozuri seems just as effective on fish but snags more.

just started the vibe thing, finding it hard to stop!! no crocs were harmed.

pm sent

gday Raiders I have been tying a great braid to mono connection that i learnt in Darwin for years now and i can't find anything like it online. i had told other fishos that i tie the reverse Albright however all youtube vids with that title are not my knot. its hard to explain without a demo but ill give it a go. start with a Biminni in the braid, with tension on the braid separate the two strands of braid (two fingers in the loop while keeping the tension) then double the mono over. Bring the loop of mono up through the braid double and hold the mono between the two fingers that are separating the braid. then "weave" the mono loop into the braid by going over one strand of braid and back to the middle then over the other strand of braid and back to the middle. this "weave" is done six times (three times around each stand of braid). at this stage the mono tag end and leader (held between your two fingers) needs to pass through the loop of mono that is above the "weave". pull the tag and leader through the mono loop above the "weave" and work the braid up tight, trim mono tag, your done. Did anybody follow that?? Any ideas on possible names for this knot?? Albright knot uses wraps rather than weave. I have tested this knot extensively and it is better than all others i have tried. when i rig for kings i use 50lb power pro and 80lb black magic mono and the knot breaks at the bimmini on average 19kg (90% of the power pro breaking strain) any suggestions welcome cheers

I caught a Sampson fish in MH and when i asked around i was told others had caught Cobia!! Never seen your fish..