livo

pics of rig without swivels at this point. small suicides (3/0) on 30lb Wasabi at top (3 made so far) KL5/0 on 40lb Black Magic Leader below. ( 4 made so far) Finished rigs so far = 7. Tied hooks so far = 30 so I've got my $50.00 worth already.

Didn't go out to test run today but perfect afternoon to tie a few up. Here's a pic of the first batch. Decided to make some up using standard Suicide hooks in 6/0 and some Red Suicides in 4/0. The hooks in the middle row are the Black Magic KL5/0 in Red Gold. Next step is to tie them onto Leader / droppers. Here's another pic.

I couldn't help myself so off to the shop or two actually and for under $50.00 I bought enough gear to make 12 two hook Snapper Snatcher copies in size 5/0 so thats about $4.00 a rig. There is actually enough 40lb Black Magic leader to build 50 at 2 metres per rig in a 100m coil for $16.95 and the packet of DNA Holofusion fly tying material has enough for at least 40 hooks or 20 rigs for $6.95 so you could buy a couple of colors if you wanted. I used Navy Blue. The shops I went to didn't have the actual item in question but they did have the 2 different Mustad versions, the BIG RED (on Big Red hooks) and the LONG RED (on Red Tarpon hooks). They also carried the Surecatch version as well. These are slightly cheaper than the Black Magic at about $8.50 per rig and obviously use the different hooks. By the way the Mustad rigs are 3 hook Paternoster rigs. The Black Magic KL hooks cost me $9.95 for a pack of 12 5/0. The same cost for 7 at 6/0 or 7/0 and 5 at 8/0. These are a circle hook so a bit different to the Mustad Big Red and Tarpon style. The cost of a Swivel, Lumo Beads and binding is negligable for me as I already had them. The first rig is complete in under an hour with a bit of drying time and it's in the tackle cupboard under tension to straighten the knots out. I rushed the first one a bit just to build the test piece and I'm sure the next ones will be better now that I've worked out the spacings and knot positions. I forgot to put the lumo beads above the hooks so I'll have to remember that in future. I was interupted by having to pick the tin lids up from school. I'll now do them production line style by doing multiple units in stages rather than one unit at a time but I may be going out tomorrow so I wanted one to test. So there you go. DIY is cheaper as you would expect but the money you pay for pre-made is fair for the time it takes. Now I just have to find some obliging Snapper to volunteer as testers and possibly tomorrows dinner.

I've never used them, but watching the show they appear to do the job from boat and beach. I have to laugh though when the guy is showing us all how easy they are to use and after lots of fumbling and a few near tangles he finally gets the rig off the holder and onto his rod. Reminds me of watching "Mechanical Tips with Fletch". A bit of clever video editing would have done the trick in fooling everybody but at least it's honest. These rigs do look the goods though and if they are made from quality tackle and line, which they would be, $10.00 is not a lot of money to pay. Have a look at some 2 hook skirted lure rigs and you'll see that the price gets up there. My main criticism of what I've seen on Tele is that these rigs appear to be very long and my experience is that long rigs are difficult to handle on shorter boat rods. I now tie my pat rigs about 900mm to a metre total for a two dropper rig. Personally I'd never buy pre-made rigs as I love tying my own and playing with the tackle is part of the pleasure for me but I know that many people just don't have the ability to tie good gear so they have their place in the industry. I love the episode where he gets dragged around by the huge kingy near the big power station somewhere in SA I think. Magic stuff.

I agree on both counts. I love Trevally. One of the best fish to cook on the barbecue and they smoke up Ok too. I can't belive so many people wont eat them. As for Sweep????? The cleaning table is a ripper. Compare that to the primitive setup at the Haven Terrigal ( the jewel in the crown of Gosford City) and you have the old Chalk and Cheese. You even have taps with water and correct me if I'm wrong but those hoses appear to be attached or are they yours?

Shovel Nose fillets were $16.99 / kg at Newcastle Coop yesterday. Many people love them but I don't think baked is the way to go. Better to fry them in a batter to prevent the dryness.

What's an unused corner??? I've never come across one.

I have to disagree with you saying that it has to be very bulky / heavy and the stiffness is easily attainable. There are several very strong rolled sections of aluminium available that are quite compact and probably weigh less than the centre seat in total once the job is done. I actually have two lengths in my shed that would do the job no problem. The difference in structural integrity of the boat need not be comprimised if the job is done properly.

I'd be leaving the seat in, although if you were prepared to go to the trouble you could install side stiffening benches between the other two seats to provide the support to the gunwhales if you do remove the middle one. These dont have to be very wide as long as they remove any outward flexing of the sides. I once owned a tinny that had this side seating configuration and it was great. It was a deHaviland 14' with front and rear seats and seats down each side in between. A word of caution. Be very carefull of actually resting the timber floor on any part of the hull. Yours is a single skin boat and aluminium is soft. I've seen timber floor panels wear holes right through hulls in surprisingly short time due to the vibration caused by the outboard motor. Try to support the floor from the seats or ribs where possible and if it must rest on the hull make sure that you provide good thick padding with a synthetic carpet glued in place. No nails or screws.

I'll tell you a story from a month ago concerning those pelicans in the photo. As you know the fresh water at the cleaning table on Terrigal Ramp is turned off due to council imposed water restrictions. We usually have a bucket on hand to get some sea water to clean fish. On our last outing my fishing mate walked to the waters edge with the whole catch (flatties, morwong, nannygai, bream and blertas) of ten fish in the box. Within seconds those pelicans had all but 2 fish down their throats. A couple of them had fish lodged in thier throats as they swam back out into the haven. The morwong was a big fish, one of the flatties went 40 cm and one of the nannygai was the largest one I've seen. The look on my buddies face was unforgetable. I'd say they are getting a bit hungry with many people driving away without cleaning so they've resorted to ambush attacks on the unwary customer. I would have loved to capture the scene on video. It would win funniest home videos hands down. Obviously I didn't post a report about the days catch. Lucky I cleaned the Leatherjackets at sea.

The coordinates for all of those marks (plus all up and down the coast) are readily available in a small book of GPS fishing coordinates available from all BIAS boating stores and probably most tackle stores. Perhaps the site sponsors have a copy for sale. A google search (Australia) for GPS Fishing will also give you links to other sites that publish those spots plus many more. These spots are no secret marks by any stretch of the imagination. Bare in mind though, that these marks are not always productive and we have had great and terrible days on all of them. You have to be prepared to move around to find the fish.

When fishing with Phos in the water I never caught much to speak of in running water. The disturbance of the line is enough to give the game up to smart fishies. This is not to say that I haven't been fooled into thinking that I had a 1 metre long whiting on the end of my line as they make a last startling run just below the boat. It has always been there for the 40 yrs that I've been fishing.

I think the webcam site servers are struggling a little bit. Now I've got it and yes she has definately moved. The camera is now looking well onto the Starboard side after weeks of looking at the Port.

Sounds like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Nerve conduction tests from a Neurologist will tell you. They don't hurt but are a little uncomfortable momentarily. Electrical pulses are sent down your arm nerves and the time is measured. I have the condition in both hands. It's treatable with steroid injections for mild cases and surgery for the more serious. Sometimes there will be a family history of the ailment, (my mother had it as well). Self test is to put your two hands together back to back with the wrists bent and press and hold for a short while. If this brings the symptoms on more seriously it pretty well confirms CTS but get the tests anyway to be sure. You'll need to follow the good advice above and see your GP for a referal.

With weather like this there are many places to log on in the bay. Slow down until the water clears up a bit or you may need a radio contact in a hurry.

Nothing wrong with that!

Boultons is straight out in front of Palm Beach basically. Easy to get to from Pittwater and Broken Bay which is why it cops a hammering. Last couple of trips though it has produced better than East or West Reefs which seem to pull dirtier water out of the river. On my last visit to Boultons a couple of weeks ago I was boat number 8 and more arrived after me. Didn't catch anything like Buster & co's bag though. Again, an impressive catch. Very, very jealous Buster.

Looking at eBayer feedback ratings is not the surest safeguard either. Last year there was a mob of users, or an individual, from Asia listing Garmin GPS equipment for bargain prices among other things. The feedback ratings were very good at first glance so I placed a low bid (lucky I didn't win). Overnight I recieved an ebay message from another user warning me about this seller and I emailed the winner to warn them not to send the money. When I went further into checking the feedback for this seller it appeared that there were a small number of ebay accounts (about 6) who bought and sold a large number of really cheap (cents only) rubbish items from each other over a short space of time to pump up there feedback scores. These items were probably never payed for or ever even existed. It didn't take long to realise that these accounts all started at the same time and the first transactions made were all inter-related and very cheap. Once there feedback ratings were up they start listing expensive gear that doesn't exist. I have never been burnt in any buy or sell transactions and I have purchased and sold quite a bit of gear online including some from overseas, ie USA, Canada and Hong Kong. I'd be reluctant to buy from some countries though.

A 1.7 kg red is a very nice fish indeed. You must have been pretty happy seeing it come over the side. Don't they feel good on the line?

Nice Reds Buster. Well done, but holding out for a bag like that before posting is cheating big time. and enjoy your posting. Look forward to more reports. Boultons must have liked the spell.

That's a shocker. Have a go at the lean on the planter box in the back of the picture compared to the front one, not just the chair. I think one of the flowers might be damaged as well.It also appears that the deck under that chair almost got completely wet. They must have had nearly 0.5 mm of rain there. It's worth paying the excess and losing the no-claim bonus for something like that.

Make up your mind. One minute your telling us you haven't found it and next thing your prepared to share it. I'll gladly swap you $5.00 for every $100.00 you have. Good work Netic on performing such a service and I know from reading your posts that your not secretive. The truth is that the said Spot X moves around a bit and so is not really a SPOT.

As an IPT teacher it's good to know that my class isn't the only one that wastes time and performs badly.

ps: if anyone has any cracker ideas on cooking Kingfish please let me know. I have a few but am open to change!! I have a book with a recipe that I use when I catch Kingies. Yummy!!! While it says to use Cutlets, which I have done, I have also used fillets or pieces cut from smaller fish. Kingfish with Prawns and Orange. You don't need the prawns if you don't want to spend the money. Juice a couple of oranges and grate a little of the rind (about a Tablespoon for a cup of juice). Add a small amount of ground ginger or freshly gated if you have it, plus 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar and a pinch of Cayenne. Marinade the fish and shelled green king prawns for about 1 hour. Cook the fish on foil under the grill and when nearly done cook the prawns as well. Heat the remaining marinade and pour over the lot to serve. The orange and brown sugar caramelise under the grill and the ginger and cayenne add a little zap. I love Kingies done this way and so have most of the people I've shared it with.

As a kid I used to fish for blackfish in the channels around Woy Woy, in the saltwater baths and under the Road / Rail Bridge from the shore and from the old unused rail bridge when it was still there. When the fish were a bit slow on the green weed I used a technique shown to me by an old Blackfish master. Using a small mesh scoop net I would scoop up a bunch of baby glass shrimp and gently pop one onto the weed baited hook point and then fish it as normal under the drifting float. These little shrimp were only about 1.5 - 2 cm long and I just pushed one on far enough for the barb to catch but not kill the shrimp. I caught my biggest blackies that way. It was a while ago but I guess it would still work if the shrimp are around.