GregL

Hi Carl When fishing plastics, specially on the the flats, there are alot of small fish that love grabbing tails but are to small to eat the hook. These you feel as the tap taps on the end of your line, usual suspects on the flats are the little bream, snappers, little whitting, little tailor and toadies. Not much you can do about them and not really worth catching as they just bugger plastics up. Flats fishing is sometimes just sorting through a lot of little ones to nail a few big ones. If you think they are bigger fish holding onto the tails, products like scents, like s factor could help or maybe even a change of tail shape, ie go from a wiggler style to a minnow style, the faster drop rate could help. Maybe even jig head weight, a slower or faster sink rate could be the trigger.... Greg

Here are the gun lures over that way. ASWB lures, hand made n painted in WA. Outfished my Nomads, carpenters, fishermans and orians, all over double to quadruple the price of an ASWB! They were that good I searched them down the day I got back, here is my first shipment. Best stick swim bait I have found so far, so easy to work!

I hope for your family's sake that you don't get smoked on it, then you'll have to buy a 80lb outfit to match! LOL from one tackle junkie to another!

My condolences.... Theres not much to say.....

Nice work Rob Rewarded for your efforts. Awesome out of the yak! I got nothing off the lounge today..... Greg

Happy New Year Raiders! What a year 2011 was for me and my fishing! It all started coming off a mojo loss in 2010, with crappy fishing and I just couldn't get my head right from personal reasons. January we had a bit of a moment saving a guy that had fallen off the rocks fishing, grabbing his hand as he went under doing the full Bay Watch action on Next. Febuary, like light switch, things changed. Go out and break in to virgins in a day marlin fishing....Joe Yee's smashed em. March Went out and bought a yak to fish out the back of my units, catching bream and flatties around the moorings and marinas. April. Saw me up in Gladstone, one of my best fishing experiences to date catching 27 barras averaging over a metre in 3 days. New pb of 118cm from 99cm that haunted me for 5 trips...Leant a new technique, fishing Transams. May First real crack at trouts. Scores a new species in a Rainbow. Caught on a Squidgie wriggler. Many trips have followed with numorous captures but the browns have evaded me! June. Started cracking the jew pattern on transams in the Parra....Also went up for a return trip to barras, fished the blue water as well. Pretty cool the barra thing works on jews. July. Bermagui Bluefin tunas. New species. Never seen tuna so thick! Catch em on anything, truely amazing with tuna climbing onto the swim platform to grab cubes. Popped, jigged and cubed them. Lost count..... August saw me chasing Reds down southern Sydney off National Park also scored a new PB jew on a lure of 14kgs out of the Hawkesbury. Got him on a 4.8 Keitech swing impact fat in Sexy shad. A new lure. October. New PB Jew out of Hawkesbury, 18kgs on a Keitech. Plus a few more good snapper from south. November Sails, new PB for birthday. Also first trip to WA. Caught GT's Macks and watched the turtles lay eggs, cool sh1t! December, What a fitting way to finish off such a good year but to get a fish that I had to work hard for. Many trips, Km's driven to and from plus the km's walked to get a new species and a decent specimen to boot. Last Friday Rich and I wanted to give the dams one more shot for the year. With windy conditions predicted for the coast it was a easy call to make. 3am out of bed and out to Riches around 4:15 then TCD car park by 6:15 back of dam working our chosen stretch by 7:30. We had some nice cloud cover to start off with and a few casts later in a shallow bay next to some sunken trees I'm on! The fish steamed off around some branch sticking out of the water, I could feel my 4lb braid rubbing so I flicked the bail arm. The fish stops, turns around and starts heading back into clear water but as soon as I click the bail back, took up the slack, the fish powers off now on the oppisite bank running for more trees! My 3lb leader did not hold.... Re rig with another 3" bass minnow it wasn't long for another bite and smoking. NO make that 3 smoking and 2 pulled hooks! Reason, sticky drags, my fault bad reel maintanence...... This time I moved to 4lb leader to get some better cushioning and lengthen it to 7ft. In the mean time Richard battles a monster to his feet but fish wins... Around mid day still fishing the bass minnow I get hit on the drop by a fish the runs deep and doesn't jump. With many heart in mouth moments RIch finally sercures my first brown trout on the bank! After a few pix back in the water it went and swum away strong. A few more fish followed during the evening hatch and a very long drive back home. Door to door, 21hrs! Beautiful sun set over TCD and a great way to finish off my 2011 season! Bring on 2012, Happy new year to you all!

Hey Raiders Last trip over to Exmouth I used a new lure that I have never heard of before. They are a hand built stick bait from a company called ASWB. They worked a treat and outfished a lot of big branded Jap lures that are worth 3-4 times the amount! I have paid upto $200 for a unrigged sticky before, these outfished them and I didn't have to work as hard to get the lure to swim! Got back home and chased them down..... Here is a little selection from a 90gm to the big 200gm. They come in many colors but a big factor is they swim and swim easy! You can just slow roll them and they wobble side to side. Give it the walk the dog treatment, they dart side to side beautfully. If your after a new sticky to chase kings locally I recon these would be worth a shot! It's good to find a local out there giving it a go and to produce something better than the Jap lure masters is a great achievment! Greg

I was running a 28fter and looking to upsize... There arent to many smaller multi's than 5.5m and compared to the charter boat it's small As they say, "it's all in how you use it!" 5.5m on a flat deck boat with casting platforms and rails would make a perfect harbour inshore boat but would suck taking it to the Peak or further. I more was talking ride than anything else. Me, I like speed so mono is my cup of tea.

Only have been in one tin one, a Marlin Broadbill charter boat out of Sydney.... Didn't like the consistant hull slapping all day, even at rest..... Seems the tunnel isnt high enough in it, drove me mad! Very stable tho. I have fished out of a little glass multi, a Ocean Whaler 5.5m Cracker boat for inside and light sports fishing out the front. Something I would consider buying if I had a garge suitable. Would love it for my harbour/ hawkesbury fishing. Greg

Congrates Chris! Cool fish on fly mate, can't wait to head up there again. Last trip I had one of them out the middle belly floppers try eat my Dog X on the second cast of the morning, freaked the crap out of me but missed the hooks.... Now I have my new 5wt outfit, just waiting for some new waders to arrive before the next trip up! G

Well done Jack, thats awesome fishing but to have it in the harbour makes it even better! Keep up the fishing bro! G

LOL Pete! would be awesome marlin fishing, the bubble trail out the back is huge!

Hey guys Here is a link to a few more pix from the trip off my cameras. http://www.facebook....=1&l=b1d20955f5

What I use when fishing at the moment, weather apps, rain radar, wind conditions, navonics maps, tides, google maps, sea surface temps. Would love inland fisheries, what's in them, access infomation and water level info. For salt, tidal info up rivers(delayed times) don't know if there is such a thing about water clarity... GPS info for photos, mose well link it as it's there already. Would be cool if when you take a fish pic it asks you to enter details of fish when you take it. A Shazam style fish ID, take a pic and then it tells you what it is. TBC.... G

Looked like it's been redone. Looked nice and shiney and very light in the back. I called it for no motors in her atm.

They are great eating! Nice firm white flesh, great for steaming! I caught them both on a 4" pogy in Fire tiger colour, my usual northern beaches snapper plastic. G

A few years back when I first got "Next" (the boat) I went out fishing Longy and scored a Goat fish as my first fish on the boat. (Current FR lure record) A couple of weeks back on the last trip out on her I scored another goat as the last fish on the the boat! Freaky! Should have measured it as it was bigger than the first one! doh Greg

Was out fishing on Saturday and saw this going past and had to get the camera out LOL

Hehe My bestest year fishing...... So far and a great way to end it. Even got a few jews this morning out on the parra to 80 odd cm but nothing worthy of posting here.... Iceman them sails lit up were awesome, chasing the birds and reading their body language was something I learnt more about this trip. Cool watching the bait balls get smashed by hungry fish. The charter had great gear using Millerods game spins with Saltiga 6500 loaded with 40lb braid. On a double hook up at one stage I had over half a spool out, some 350+m with the sail going nuts across the surface, very cool sh1t! I wish I had my snapper Jew rod/Branzino tho..... Steve the sails were in 18-20m of water and only a 20min run from the ramp, plenty of 4.5m tinnies out there getting into them on the nice days. Stewy that Contender is the charter boat we had, the rest of the guys fishing are all contenders owners to, little owners club trip away. Felt like fishing at home but somewhere else. Weird but very cool. Still nothing done on a new boat front as yet..... My never ending story continues:mad3: but just gives me more time to save up for the next one! G

Had the pleasure of spending my birthday over in WA fishing Exmouth. TArgets were GT's and sails but also caught goldens, mackerel, snappers, queenies, little trout and rankin cod, missed out on the blue marlin but kept entertained with sizable dollies out near the riggs in 500m of water. Switch baiting for sails was a highlight with a new PB for me. realease Caught some nice GT's popping the bommies and reef edges A double Good sized mackerel loved a sticky casted in the same areas. We also had an opportunity to go see the turtles coming on the beaches doing the egg laying thing. Poor pic but didnt want to disturb them... Driving is dangerous! Got T boned by a kangaroo! this is the smudge mark where he kissed the side window were I was sitting. Lucky the window wasn't down! You also have to watch out for the emu's walking down the streets! That was my few days fishing in Exmouth. Totally recomend! GregL

Good stuff matey! Now you have popped the cherry they will become more easy! Nice fish to open the account with to! Greg