Crossfire63

Short Stroker generally refers 5 or 6 foot game rod

Yes it is the best knot to use to connect braid to a leader except for no knot. I only use an FG on rigs when I'm casting lures, where no swivel is required. Every knot you put in the system is another week link. I would be looking at what causing the braid to break and my first thought would be a running star sinker striking the knot at the swivel. A simple solution would be to run an Ezi Rig on the main line with a soft plastic bead between the the Ezi Rig and the swivel to absorb the shock. Alternatively you could learn to tie a bimini twist and run a short double to a cats paw knot at the swivel. I use both these rigs and never have a problem with braid breaking Corb

No they aren't. Plaig bearings are made in China. I'd still be heading to Boca and paying a little extra

MateJu Just throw the rusty bits away. Its a waste of time trying to clean them In future wash them down in fresh water and let them dry before you pack them away. Hooks should be replaced after a couple of trips anyway unless you know how to sharpen hooks because they wont have a decent point left on them

Plenty of blokes still catch heaps of fish out of Brisbane Waters

R there any beaches left around Newcastle........not many down here in Sydney of Wollongong

The bait runner is a great reel if you look after it. A little confusing as to why you'd buy a baitrunner for casting as its not the best of casting reels and is designed for fishing baits both slab and live, hence, the bait runner feature which allows the fish to run without feeling any pressure. The guy in the tackle shop was correct in saying that stiffer rods are better for casting off the beach when looking for distance. The Penn Prevails are a good rod, although not very stiff. In in experienced hands and can cast over 100m when used correctly. Corb

Mate I can 8 and 10 oz grapnel sinkers, not little number 4 star sinkers, and I wouldn't even think about going anywhere near a beach today. King tide or not.

Sam Your kidding aren't you You'd need to be throwing a sinker the size of a house brick to keep the bait on the bottom with a swell like that. Just about every beach I know will be full of weed after the strong winds and big seas. Best of luck.........I think I'll be staying at home Corb

As usual it will be the one your not at. No beaches in Sydney fires consistently from day to day let alone week to week. They could be there one day and gone the next, and even then they may only be there for a short period of the day

Yep we're serious. They're not much good for anything else. We are talking about serious fish here, Not schoolies

He who takes on this type of weather needs serious help.

Steve Have fun. But I reckon your going to get awfully wet Ava a good weekend Corb

Your just going to catch bigger Jewies

No it wont. just rig it on a short 30 to 45cm leader and a 50lb Jewie will swallow it like a Jelly bean

This time of year they make a great Jewie Bait. You can use them as a fillet (slab bait) but if you can find a few around the 30 to 40cm mark they make a great live bait as long as they haven't been gut hooked

Looks like a good weekend to catch up on reel services. Hope the new bearing blaster arrives from Hong Kong this week Corb

You might be a bit late as the water is starting to cool now

Try Collaroy/Narrabeen up behind The Sands Hotel. Reports are good that they have been absolutely caning the salmon and tailor Corb

Im with Swordy 10 Different Surf outfits 3 Barra out fits 4 Rigs for mucking around with soft plastics 2 Jig/Spin set ups 3 Dedicated Surf Casting Tournament rods and reels 4 Jack Erkine Custom Made Game rods set up with either an Everol x 2 or Penn International x 2 to fish anywhere from 60lb to 120lb So its a bit to define a dream outfit but I don't think I need any more.

Hmmm.. That one looks like it hasn't done a lot of work. I'd be getting onto that other web site as a guide and I'd be stripping the whole thing down, cleaning it out and re greasing it before I used it. There's a good chance that the grease has gone off inside. While you've got it a part you may as well put some carbon fibre drag washers in it and give it a decent drag

They were built as a cheaper version of the Penn Sqidder The plastic spool was provided to make the reel more castable. If your a novice at this type of reel I would suggest that you pull the left hand side plate off and clean the spool bearings and grease them with a marine grease. This will have the effect of slowing the reel down making it easier to cast . Once you get the hand of casting it you can clean the grease out and replace it with light oil the reel will cast further with less backlash. If its a black one its a run of the mill Surfmaster. If you've got a maroon one very few were made and it may be worth cleaning it up as a collectors item. I've also sent you a link which will help you out. There are all sorts of goodies available for these reels to pimp them up. Corb

North end of Warilla beach near the spit that leads out to the island

Hi Brian If you don't have access to a spooling machine here's a link on how to do it properly so that you don't impart line twist into your line when you spool it up. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzk3RjyD4Ho Corb

Commonly called "Bogan Batter". Works well on Aussie Salmon as well. I wouldn't be buggering up flathead with it