SquidMarks

Great report mate and a great fish! this line had me in stitches for a good 10 minutes.

The weekend was interesting and frustrating. I fished nice and early (starting from before sunrise and fishing through the best of the morning) both Saturday and Sunday, both days were somewhat disappointing. My usual outside 'go to spots' seemed dead, the fish were there (I could see them all over the sounder) but I just couldn't get a bite out of them not matter what I tried Live baits, soft plastics, strip baits). In the end I managed a few blue spot flatties around the 40 cm mark, a good sized 65cm salmon a few rat kings and a keeper around the 80cm mark. The weather was great, but the fish seemed to have been shut down for me on the weekend.

i like it! the first one is quite ingenious, never thought of that one before with the wheel!

while i havent particularly hunted worms on the north shore, i can definitley say that you will find beachworms in coarser shelly beaches (i have a sport up north n the central coast where the beach is really shelly ad fairly steep, the worms you get out of there are all big buggers!)

we are all keen fisherman and we would all love to get out there and fish mate, but risking your life for a fish is not worth it. I am really keen to get outside and have a go this weekend, but i dont want to end up in the papers or on the news as it has been the case latley with people who just dont understand the forces involved here. Im not saying you dont know what your doing zanderman (or anyone else here for that matter), its just that murphys law tends to take on especially in these sorts of conditions.

i think we are dying to find out where you can catch squid in the enterace. We also have a holiday home up there and often when we go prawning you see small squid as well, but i never thought that the lake could hold actual large squid populations.

i dont think that beachworms are found in the same area as bloodworms, are you sure you pumped out a beachworm?

Throw away the pliers guys and do it the right way! Worming by hand means the buggers that you miss dont end up dying with crushed/snapped heads. The biggest tip i can give everyone who tries worming is to not try and outspeed the worm, he is quicker and will always beat you when you try and slam down on him (with fingers here, not with pliers which kill the worm). Instead, about a sec after he feels the bait and starts edging towards grabbing a good stronghold on the bait (with practise you will know when this happens, ie, about a sec or two before he rips a chunk of and buggers off back into the sand) A slow but steady movement occurs where you bury your fingers in the sand about 5mm from each side of the worm and continuously but purposefully continue squeezing your fingers together until they are very tightly held together (with hopefully, a worm inbetween them). then its just a matter of lifting up! DO NOT at ANY point make sudden jerky movements or try and beat him by speeding up in the last second when you almost touch him, just continuous slow and steady. (even when you begin feeling his body touching your fingers, remember continue squeezing at a slow steady pace, he is so preoccupied with the snack presented that he wont care if your touching him an slowly squeezing him, kinda like a lobster in a pot, cold water slowly heated and he doesent realise). Worming is like learning to ride a bicycle, after 3-4 worms your success increases exponentially!

nope mate, it doesent work like that. Beachworms are quite strong buggers which have a great hold onto the sand. I have been beach worming extensively for the last 10 years and the some of biggers ones you simply cant hold on to (as hard as you squeeze the fingers together they still manage to pull themselves back into the sand). Admittedly, i have never tried yabby pumping for them but i cant imagine it would wok. (try it and prove me wrong please)

Very nice! simple but effective! I think i might make one for myself. thanks!

Thank you very much for your generous offer Fab, im not looking to replace the floor just yet (that will be happening during the cold winter months) but i will definitley keep it in mind!

Along those lines, im guessing cesarstone would work just as well but in both cases we are weighing down the boat a fair bit too as weight is always a factor.

Is the glass cost effective fab? What standard do the sheets come in and how would we get it cut? Also, how much should a standard 1200 x 2400 sheet of 12 mm laminated glass set us back? Just getting a rough idea of prices and procedures for this sort of thing.

would the laminated glas crack when you encounter choppy conditions outside the bay (repeated banging over time), i understand the principle behind the laminate holding it together it just that the idea of glass chipping/crazing and cracking scares me a bit (again, im just guessing here and this is meant to be a discussion of options post). King starboard is basically the cutting board material (high density polyethylene), yeah its great stuff! just expensive! Carbo fiber sheets also look the goods but again, the price is the limiting factor.

I will be camping in Narooma starting from next week so im really keen to try out the beaches/ breakwall for some jew. Should i try the breakwall or am i more likley to grab on in the dep of the inlet?

We have had a few discussions on types of plywood and sealing methods for boat flooring, but we have not really explored other boat flooring options, My floor is due to be replaced (the plywood is getting soggy/soft after 8 years now) and im looking at more permanent alternatives to plywood (that could be just as cost effective) So far i have come up with: 1. Expanded polystyere sheets (im talking about the dense sheets here which are used in sign making and as pontoon floatation, not the crumbly polystyrene we think of generally), i have had some 20mm submerged in water for a while (weeks) with no observable effects. Solvents could be an issue which MIGHt eat away at the polystyrene so i have exposed some sheet to petrol, it seems to have had no immediate effect (no visible reaction as you would see with other traditional polystyrene foam). 2. White cutting board material (high density polyethylene sheets) ultimate stuff! a little on the heavy side and i believe the costs will be high 3. Aluminium decking, relatively cheap material which should last, the downside is the heat absorbed (and then released on your bare feet!) , but if we were sticking marine carpet or regupol over it then theres no problem right? What other options/ suggestions do others have for this ongoing problem?

i cant imagine that it would be too hard to make (rather than going to the effort of importing). Even a wine cork extractor could probably do the same job (with a nice twisty action just in case you miss the sweet spot ) all jokes aside, if you are looking for an alternative then google or ebay "awl" or "leatherwork awl", you should find something there that takes your fancy

I didnt go for the pflueger spin or the daiwa wicked weasel because the bloke i deal with did not have them in stock. (he always takes care of me and gave me the veritas and tcurve for a price i couldnt refuse)

Thanks for all your opinions guys, i ended up with a 3-6kg Veritas spin and a 5-10kg tcurve offshore. The offshore seems to have plenty of guts and the veritas has some great action which gave me 40-50m casts of a 15g slug out there yesterday

Hi Yowie, were you fishing just on dawn close to the cardinal marker next to the deep off lilli pilli? Im always on the lookout for you (never have met you but im looking for a tinnie with a bloke handlining). The action didnt seem that hot today in the bay compared to the last week or so where you could have almost bagged out on tailor if you were keen so you have done very well indeed!

yeah, the wicked weasel and the vertias are mentioned a lot by others too, i will have a look at both, thanks guys! Any clue on rod number 2?

Im looking at replacing 2 of my old (and now broken) rods and since i have not been into the rod scene for a few years im really at a loss. Im hoping i could get some sensible advice from fellow raiders. Rod 1: This used to be my estuary/breaming rod (line class 2-4kg). It was matched to a Rarenium 2500 ci4. This rod was my 'all rounder' estuary rod (i know i know, no such thing as an all rounder but hear me out). It was broken when i decided to have some fun chasing kingfish on 6lb braid (~60cm) and then, finally, on the last fish yesterday, the rod tip managed to get tangled into the landing net, the fish flapped and the rod snapped (pardon the rhyming). The new rod will be used to mainly baitfish (i know, go for a cheapo rod), but im also partial to flicking some soft plastics and 15g metals around estuaries and in washes, it will be used off the boat 95% of the time and needs to at least handle some legal kings (im not expecting the rod to handle 1m+ monsters here though, im trying to be realistic, and when i say handle, i mean not fall apart on me when one jumps on a chrom destined for tailor). I will mainly be using it to target bream and whiting/ flathead as well as chase bonito and tailor with some small metal slugs. Rod 2: This used to be my snapper rod (a T curve revolution vertical, for some reason i didnt mind the med taper action). It was matched to a Stradic 4000 ci4. This rod was my snapper and flathead drifting rod. It was mainly used for sending pilly floaters out for snapper, doing the flathead drift and throwing some poppers/lures outside for kingies/salmon. It was broken when the other half clipped in the hook to the bottom guide and overtightened the line leaving a substantial bend. A choppy ride and a bouncing sinker did the rest and the rod is missing its top quarter (poor wife was only trying to help, she felt so bad as this was her favorite rod). The new rod will be used in much the same was as the old. I would be running 20lb braid on the stradic but the drag is rarely ever tightened past 12lb). I would like to stick to a price point around $150 per each rod but that price point is flexible. Im not into flashy blank colours or fancy trim parts which 'bling up the rod'. I would rather the rods value be in the parts where it counts (a quality blank and quality guides). ANy advice or personal experiences would be apreciated!

i know im not hitting the month ballpark but spring is always the worst for me and autumn is always the best.

Well im back and i can clearly see that today did not turn out as expected. The swell was too rough for any outside fishing in my tinnie so i had to be content with fishing inside the bay. There are plenty of tailor about though.

hoping to be out sat and sun morning, out of the hacking and heading south