Jaso

two beers and im on fire tonight

North of Terrigal? Just north.. Wamberal lagoon? I thought those houses are the ones on the hill at Wamberal?

Thanks guys - I think it all happenned a bit fast to be leatheries, and it was mid water (in potentially 5mtrs) so I dont know if it was toadfish also.. I hadnt let the lure hit the bottom before it was smashed.. hard to say, only that I saw all the bream school on the prior hookup and assumed it was them going ballistic. I dont think I will make the social on the weekend as I have been fishing past 2 weekend and 3 in a row is pushing my luck. For those going its definately worth a shot at the squid in the basin. As I said my jig stuffed.. but I've now been there a few times at different times of the day, different stages of the tide and the squid have been there each time.

The Skillion in the 2nd shot. I remember that from when I rolled down it as a kid and got a kickin from my mum cause of the grass stains.

Put in at the Bayview ramp this morning and headed out to the Joey - got there just on daybreak so put a rapala magnum (rh) and a team diawa hyperminnow out to see if there were any takers.. just passed the bommie and bobby bonito came out to play.. good fun.. After a couple of more passes and no more hits decided to head across to the Basin as I had seen squid there before.. Threw the jig around for a few casts with nothing, saw a few schools of fish so chased them.. Got heaps of hits on a bass minnow but no hookups, when I got it close to the boat I discovered it was a squid that was hitting it and still following! So out came the jig again but to my dissappointment when I cast it out it wouldnt sink. I thought that was a bit funny and when i pulled it in I discovered the lead had fallen out.. This wasnt a kmart special jarvis walker jig either - was a geniune Yo Zuri so I was a bit dark They say necessity is the mother of invention, and even tho I didnt think it would swim well I rigged the squid up 'texas style' with a bit of running lead above the lure. It seemed to swim ok and sure enough the squid came to play After that threw some plastics around the shoreline and amongst the moorings closer to the shore. I've not used plastics on bream that many times, and I think the hardest part for me has been actually knowing where the fishy spots are and how to present the differnt types of lures. It may sound odd but I am pleased to say yesterday I dropped a lot of fish. I was very happy I was finding fish and encouraging strikes from them. I did land a couple of legal size ones also which were great fun on the 3kg gear. I found pulling along side the moored boats I could not see many fish under them, but they were deeper under the boats out of sight. Putting the lure right beside the boat and allowing it to drift and flutter down with the current with a couple of flicks brought the most strikes. At one stage I saw a fish under a boat and I watched him follow the fluttering lure into the depths, and felt the hit, struck, had him on for a few seconds.. but he was not pinned well and I dropped him. I landed one from under this boat, and when I did pin him well I found loads of his mates were swimming around him going absolutely crazy! The next couple of casts to the same area drew heaps of hits, but amazingly no hookups. When I got the lure to the surface it was absolutely smashed to bits (see attached pic). The lures of choice were 2.5inch Zoom and Fin-S flukes... I got them when I was in the US in Jan. Similar profile to bass minnows, but slightly smaller. The colours that were working were the pale (albino and 'ice shad' colours) ones. Heres the pics. I've had bream eating the belly out of fish baits previously - I probably shouldnt have been surprised to see this happen to lures also. Is this common? The Zoom and Fin-S 2.5inch flukes. Can they be purchased in Australia? They proved the goods yesterday The lure at the top of the zoom pack is a hacked about 3inch watermelon bass minnow (for size and shape comparison)

Too true Bill... I bought a Matrix 37 in the US and it doesnt do metric. As standard the temp is in Farenheit and depth is in feet (or can be changed to fathoms). However for the $400 saving I made I dont mind having to do the conversions.

That looks like a great idea.. is there a way so that I can keep the cables out of the way also, or is that just having your cake and eating it too?

Guys, Need some help/simple suggestions for mounting a sounder screen in my open 4.2m tinny. Tinny config is a rear and front bench, with ribs down the side and its got a floor. I've made a litte platform at the front between the front bench and the bow. Ideally I would like to mount the sounder in the middle of the boat on the side somewhere so that I can swivel it so I can face it towards the rear and the front. Even tho I cut out and mounted the platform for the front, Im not confident about building a box against the side of the boat.. Cause the side of the boat is curved and I dont think I have the right tools or expertise to get it straight.. I do however have the plywood and extra carpet to do the job... dunno what else I need tho. Any suggestions? Cheers. J

Gday Mick, Is the mouth of the manning still open at the top end of Old Bar? Also - I heard a rumour that 'Tags' is under new management?

birdies the nudie beach isnt it? just watch where you're casting. You never know what you might foul hook..

Well just back from a break over the new years (10 days or so) staying at Umina. Managed to get out on my boat into BB, waded in Patonga creek, prawned from the boat in Patonga creek, and also managed a fish with Byron in his poly in the creek. Since this is the lure forum I just wanted to mention a couple of the more enjoyable lure highlights for me over the time away. First of all Patonga creek is a very large flathead nursery.. Each time I targeted flathead I caught multiple. A large number of them were undersize, but the quantities made it very enjoyable.. If anyone wanted to learn how to switch from bait to lures Patonga creek would be an ideal place to give it a go. The scenery is great also, and very peaceful during those early morning raids on the creek. I have read multiple posts in this forum previously which say "..trolled round the joey for zip". Well I gave that a shot also when I went out into BB and just as I was about to give up trolling round the joey, a decent salmon jumped on. Just east of the bommie round from where the reef breaks. On the same day I found schools of small tailor working and had some fun throwing hardbodies at them. Each fish I brought into the boat spewed up whitebait. I also went round to the Basin the same day and found its a haven for squid just at the dropoff directly in front of the shark net (where it goes from sand to weed). I only managed one squid as Im a novice when it comes to jigging for them. Managed to get a few prawns on Wed night in Patonga creek, and a few fish on the live prawns which was good also. I usually prawn at the Entrance so it was good to compare locations. The only problem with Patonga creek is navigating the channels at night, but its definately worth a shot for prawns. Brown underpants moment for the week was nearly stepping on a large ray whilst wading barefoot in Patonga creek. Theres a large amount of ribbon weed that moves with the current in the creek. I saw [what I thought was] a piece of weed on the sand about a foot in front of me and I thought it looked a bit odd. I traced my gaze to the end and looked closely and could just make out the shape of the head of the ray (covered in sand), then I saw the eyes sticking out of sand! Gave him a prod with the rod tip and sent him on his way.. but he didnt move a bit until I gave him a prod even though I was very very close.. amazing. Anyway - good times over the summer..

Wow "Go Go Gadget Watch"

Hi all.. I fitted my leckie yesterday. I'm just wondering does the shaft need to be braced or pinned to stop it moving around in transit while Im towing the boat around? Its 54inch shaft.. It seems pretty stable on there and the shaft has lifetime warranty... whats the experience of others that have bow mount leckies fitted? Does it need bracing for transportation? Cheers

it cant be.. its too clean and theres no eels or carp to be seen.

I know you are hangin for me to take a chunk out of my thwart.. I cant see it happenning though

Ok I've seen those 'sacrificial anodes'... do they fit on the powerdrive (freshwater) models also?

Also - wondering if anyone has bought a minn kota freshwater model with foot control, and how things have gone with corrosion? Ken kindly emailed me pics of the anode you can put on the shaft, but Im wondering how well sealed the foot controller and electronics are for use in saltwater on the minn kotas (non riptide)? Im looking at getting a riptide 55 in the US shortly (as I am travelling there), but Im finding they are harder to source than the freshwater models - so looking at alternatives. Also cost is a factor, and if I can get a better deal with on a freshwater model Im prepared to get one if it can be maintained. Cheers all.

thats a neat photo. How did you do that? does you cam have a setting for that?

Good ideas guys - thanks.

Whats the alternatives to a live bait tank that is not: - polyfilla bucket - jocools wooden box (although it is a cool alternative) - expensive 'proper' live bait tank from bias boating. I guess it needs to be small enough to fit in the space behind the rear bench of a tinny, and the plastic to be tough (more like otto bins style plastic) rather than brittle stuff.. Ideas? Cheers all.

that sounds the goods.. cheers.

...its $42 per linear metre (2m wide) at bias boating. Any ideas on where to get it cheaper?

Cheers for the help guys. Ozy - I'd like to set it up v similiar to how you have it so I will PM you.

So i've got myself a little boat again (4.2m tiller steer tinny) and thinking about putting a bow mount electric on it. Questions I have: - The boat is a deep v hull. What length of shaft would i need, and how powerful does it need to be for that boat? - The boat doesnt have a casting deck, but it has a flat floor in it. How long does the foot control cable reach? Im thinking that it would need to run over the top of the front bench seat and sit just behind it on the floor.. would that reach? - Is it possible to keep the battery down the back of the boat? Cheers.

Cheers all.. 2002 Stacer Seahorse.. should be picking it up today.