pistolpete33

Thanks mate.

Thanks Scratchie. The memories are going straight to the pool room!!

lol...yeah it's pretty much organised chaos when you get a double hookup!! Looks like you got a couple of very decent fish and is that Bergy's bonce in the shot? Looking forward to reading about that one!!

Thanks James. I've had NZ on my bucket list for a while now, so when Mrs Pistol said pack your bags, I didn't need to be asked twice. We got some cheap flights to Auckland and hired a car. The drive to Whitianga is very enjoyable with sights to see along the way. Whitianga is a great little sea side town with plenty of places to grab a cold beer and reflect on the memories!!

Thanks Neil glad you enjoyed it!

Cheers Stunami. I think they deliberately withheld the gimble to make us feel the pain!! Yeah we only caught kings on the day (certainly not complaining!!!). We did drop a couple of strip baits but no snapper in sight.

Hey Raiders Been away in NZ and managed to get a bit of time off to go fishing. Spent a couple of days on the Coromandel Coast looking for kingies. Rather than post a report thought I might try something different and put together a video. Hope you enjoy the vid and thanks for reading. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhht9-YWv0I Cheers Pete

Hey josamill. I've fished the flatty grounds off barrenjoey quite a few times with good results. Simple paternoster rigs with pilly cubes will do but make sure you have enough weight to hold bottom. Never seen a dusky out that far but plenty of blue spot flattys. Good luck!! Cheers Pete

I'm with NRMA as I've got a few vehicles already with them. When I bought the boat they asked me to separate the amount insured for the boat and the trailer. I guess that way they limit your claim if anything happens to one or the other.

Thanks R&B. Hope you get a line in the water soon!

Cheers Krispy great having you on board!!

Thanks Neil!

the bream were caught on fresh prawns but more surprising is the kings were caught on pilly cubes. It was pretty clear the kings were finicky eaters and tended to swan in and out of the zone during our stay.

Evening Raiders Decided to head out on Sydney Harbour today and had the privilege of teaming up with fellow raider Krispy (aka Kareem). We met at Tunks Park at 7.30 and quickly launched the boat and got on our way. What an amazing morning on the harbour...sun was shining, no lawns to mow, no dog poop to scoop, no pools to clean, no wind in sight and amazing glassed out water. Hello Sunday!!!!! After exploring the bait grounds around Balmoral there wasn't much to report so we headed straight to Wedding Cake for a few drops. Big thanks to Krispy for bringing his salad spinner chock full of live bait!!!! It didn't take long to hook up some nice bream which put up a very worthwhile fight and were noticeably fat. After noticing Krispy landing a nice legal bream I immediately thought he had the lucky side of the boat. Rather than pull up anchor and turn the boat around I persevered and managed to hook up a nice bream that went straight to the ice slurry. Man cooler 2, bream 0. Several drops later Krispy hooks into a nice rat king that puts up a great fight before resembling a Kyrgios forehand and finding the bottom of the net. A quick measure reveals just under legal so back he/she goes to fight another day. As we approach high tide (and sitting on the unlucky side of the boat), I suddenly feel weight on my line so I load up and set the hook. Bang..it's a king...we're on!!!! With my 2-4kg rod and 8kg braid I feel a sense of apprehension mixed with a touch of WTF as my rod buckles over. After peeling off line, I managed to get back in control and slowly make up ground. The cagey king swims towards me and cons me into thinking it's a solid bream. Great...this should be in the net shortly! 1800-THINKAGAIN. The script changes when it catches sight of the boat and drops down a couple of cogs before heading off under the boat. I managed to navigate around the outboard and stay in the hunt, but things suddenly take a turn for the worse when Mr King sees the safe haven of timber structure in the distance. I become a mere passenger as he sails off into the sunset with several metres of my braid + tackle + ego. Pistol 0, Kings 1 Meanwhile, Krispy continues to graft away and keep the good guys ahead by hooking up a couple of rats which find their way to the measuring table. Again barely legal is the call so back they go. A hour goes by before Kripsy hooks up yet again but this time it's business. This has weight!!! The line peels off but Krispy keeps control and eventually wins the battle and bags a legal king!!!! You beauty...straight to the esky. Krispy 1 Kings 0 All in all an awesome day with plenty of action. A few keepers for the table and a lot released to fight another day. Thanks again to Krispy for a great day and supplying the killer bait! Hope everyone had a great weekend and thanks for reading! Cheers Pete

I'll second that one Neil! Cheers Pete

All I can say is WOW!!! Reminds me of a tale a few years ago...James Scott survives 43 days on a mars bar in the Himalayas. Is anyone thinking along the lines of Fish Maniac Battles Monster Jewie While Chomping On a Bounty?? 1800-HARRY-M-MILLER. Well done on an awesome fight and at least you had the chance to look into the eyes of the monster. Off to buy a box of Bounty bars! Cheers Pete

Hey krispy nice catch and an even better release!! BTW tried to send you a PM but says you can't receive any messages?

Heading over to Whitianga in March and hope to get amongst the kingies!

My guess would be close to idea conditions with a bit of swell. I'd be heading out if I wasn't going for a surf!

yeah I've still got the old one but it definitely needed replacing with the broken housing. I've known it was always dodgy so probably a good thing it shorted before failing when I need it!! I'm testing the bilge pump after every wash down to make sure it's working. Just run the garden hose into the bottom of the hull (with bung still in) before plugging in the ear muffs. Nice to see the pump kicking in and water coming out the waste.

Finally tracked the problem down to faulty wiring. Had to pull the battery out and trace the automatic line to the pump. Re-wired tested and all good!! Thanks for everyone's help. Cheers Pete

Hey Teddy. I went through this a while ago and asked myself the question...how much would I pay to get out of trouble if the battery is flat? If I'm inshore probably not a lot but...I'll need to drop anchor, flag someone down to tow back to the ramp, which will take a couple of hours but no harm done. If I'm offshore and close to the rocks and risk losing the boat (and all my gear) it's probably going to be more than the excess on my insurance policy. As I'm going offshore I went with a dual battery setup as I'd rather be safe than sorry. If you decide on a single battery, I would strongly recommend the following; 1. Buy a good quality charger and make sure the battery is topped up at all times. Also check fluid levels regularly. 2. Buy a battery pack (smart start charger) and take it with you whenever you go out (make sure there is quick access to the terminals if you need to jump start in a hurry). These are around the $150 mark and pretty good value (plus you can charge your phone, run speakers etc rather than drain the boat battery). Considering the cost of a second battery plus wiring is around $500, I think it's a pretty cheap insurance policy. Plus you've always got the option of running accessories like bait tanks, sounders etc. Hope this help and good luck with the boat. Cheers Pete

Cheers Antony much appreciated and makes perfect sense! Yeah that sounds like the way to trace the problem to either a wiring issue (suspected) or a faulty pump. I've taken the old pump out completely (had to turn myself inside out whilst doing a hand-stand to get to the bottom of the hull) but glad I did. The old mounting bracket had one release clip snapped off thru sloppy installation, so it would have been possible for the pump to be rolling around the hull. Not good if both the power wires break off. Now I've got the new rule mate I'll sika the base to the centre of the hull so that it can be removed without too much effort. Thanks again for your help and I'll let you know how the testing goes over the weekend.

Well done mate and great to see the young fella getting into spinning. I'm finding the same thing with son No. 1 who seems to bag everything. Lucky I'm good at good at getting lunch ready! Keep up the good work. Cheers Pete

Cheers Ric001. The wiring loom looks ok but I'll keep your suggestion in mind in case I can't trace the problem.