Smasher

Ha. My mate failed twice even after studying the book, just one question wrong in the section where you cannot get any wrong. You get to re-sit it straight away, they charge you $30 each time (though they waived it for him the third time). This is at the RMS so there's nobody there to give you tips. IMO you need three boats. 1. Tinny to be able to launch it yourself, take into shallow estuaries, and be able to drag it up onto sandbars. 2. 5 - 7m trailer boat to fish comfortably with a couple of mates in bays and offshore on good days 3. 10m+ moored flybridge to spend weekends, have parties with all of your extended friends, take far offshore for game fishing. But unless you have unlimited money, go for 1 or 2.

I always thought it was best to use mono for trolling/downrigging. With the stretch in mono there's less chance of it ripping the hook straight out of the mouth of whatever grabs it.

The problem I had with a kayak was that I found it difficult to find parking at the waters edge anywhere around Sydney. Especially on weekends in afternoons. I don't want to lug the kayak and all of my gear a few hundreds meters if I can avoid it. Unless there's secret spots I don't know about? Rarely use it now that I've got a boat but it would still be good to be able to go out in on my own (for the exercise and the solitude) occasionally.

Down the bottom of the cliffs at Diamond Bay reserve Dover Heights is a good spot. Bit tricky to get down though. Ladders is another good spot. EDIT: Just saw your preference for middle harbour. Not sure sorry.

Do they drop the FADS at the same location each year? ie: will the waypoint marks I have from previous years still be good for this year? The DPI website doesn't make this clear...

Good tips. They also make great fishcakes, even ones caught offshore from Sydney. I finally know how to catch them now when they school up and surface feed on anchovies...

I'm heading to Myall Lakes for a camping trip in a couple of weeks time... I have 4WD and 5m boat. Any idea what the beach fishing is like around Mungo Brush? I've read that the Myall river between Broadwater and Tea gardens takes 3.5 hours to traverse being 4kts most of the way. I was hoping to nip down into Port Stephens for a fish, but not sure I want to be spending 7 hours travelling.... (although it is said to be a nice trip). Anyone done this before?

I've got a Raymarine Dragonfly with the navionics gold cartography charts. Before that I only had an old black and white screen Hummingbird so nothing really to compare it with (other than what my mates have). But I'm pretty happy with it.. I thought the user interface was a bit clunky at first but once you get the hang of it its easy to navigate your way around. Of the models on offer from what I found the more you pay the more screen size you get. (some options like GPS and downvision are not on the cheaper models) I'm having an issue importing .GPX waypoint files that I got from here, and I'm waiting to hear back from their tech support for that. When I have all of my lights on at night the sonar & downvision doesnt work it says "low power error" - but that's just my battery obviously isn't supplying enough current. Easy enough to just turn off my halogen headlights while I'm needing to sound around. One feature I would have liked is if it had a USB port on it to allow me to plug it directly into my PC and then use the navigator software to organize my waypoints and routes in the comfort of home (like I can with my car satnav) rather than having to do it all in the boat using the on screen keyboard. Can be a bit time consuming. Not sure if other finders offer this feature or if its even an issue for you? but thats my 2 cents.

I just hope the southerlies over the weekend fizzle out.

Have you got a sounder? Helps if you do... Go about 100 - 200m off Manly point (its the peninsula with the white cylindrical apartment building at the end). Good for yakkas and slimeys. Squid can be found off Camp Cove beach. I'm sure there's other good spots, but that's where I go.

One washed up on the rocks at Bondi last week. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/city-east/bondi-lifeguards-haul-dead-marlin-out-to-sea-despite-marine-experts-warning-it-could-attract-sharks/story-fngr8h22-1227595191016

If you have time up your sleeve; Hit up the local bowlo / RSL and inquire about their fishing club. Almost all coastal town clubs have one, they go out once a month or fortnight in summer months and are always open to new comers / non-members to make up numbers. You'll go out with local old blokes and pay half of what a fishing charter for tourists will charge you.

I almost exclusively use bait jigs. The ones with the little yellow glow bits work best when its still dark. They work without bait, but better with little chunks of pilly as mentioned above. The only thing is they are 'use once'. As once you're done with them I find I can never roll them in such a way that doesnt end in a tangled mess. But at $4 bucks a pop I'm OK with that. As for where in botany bay, all the fisho's seem to head to the wall at the end of the port but I've never had much luck there. Around the corner towards browns rock is OK, but only after a good berley up.

I lost an anchor in Botany this year as well. I was told by the guys at Whitworths (when I was buying a replacement) that a lot of ships used to (or still do?) dump their big heavy chains in the bay between the port and the entrance. If you get your anchor snagged in a link of a chain there's no hope of getting in back. Only thing you can try is to turn sharp and slowly reverse back. The boat will eventually swing around to other side of it and hopefully it will dislodge that way. Otherwise cut your losses. EDIT; Just re-read the OP.... Or don't forget to tie it on

Correct! If you're catching them in the harbour, I would say that you won't need to flush them. I was catching them in a muddy freshwater creek... It was either them or carp. I don't think I would go out of my way in catching them now... Don't think the missus would be happy about eels in the bathtub either LOL Have a read of this article: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/a-very-fast-drain-to-the-south-pacific-20111105-1n11j.html Seems unbelievable doesn't it!

Thats what I came here to say. I used to catch them when I was a teenager. Night time, wire trace, chunk of raw steak on a small strong hook. They tend to wrap themselves around logs or go down holes when they're hooked up so you often get snagged. From memory the ones under 1 meter long tasted better. If where you're catching them from is muddy, you can put them in a bathtub of fresh water for a day they will spew out heaps of mud and they'll taste less like 'dam water'. The meat is quite rich, you'll find you cant eat a lot of it. I used to feed the rest to the dog.

I was chasing them around for half of the day yesterday. They are 2.5 - 3.5kg salmon. At one point we had a football field sized ball on either side of the boat, it was going off! Very hard to catch though, we caught 2 on 20g lures and got 1 30cm bonito on a pilly tail (dunno what he was doing there!). Anyway put the bonito on a big hook and sent him straight back in the water. Not 5 minutes later something big chomped the whole thing, left just the head behind - with the hook in it. Damn! Used one of the salmons as bait, caught a couple of 50cm rats, a snapper big enough for dinner and a few other species that werent keepers. The other salmon made tasty fish cakes. Had to come in by 11 as it was getting too hot. Im thinking about installing a sprinkler system for days like yesterday, something that shoots mist into the air.

Nice! Where were you fishing?

Hi guys, Sorry to bump an old thread, but what sort of reel would you suggest for this? I've got a T-curve deep jigging spin 200, but I put an existing 4000 reel on it which is a fair bit under powered. I was recommended a Saragosa 8000. But I was kinda hoping to spend not much more than $250 odd at the most. Any suggestions or is it worth it to bite the bullet?

I have a similar sort of question. I have a 16ft 1991 model boat, but cannot find anywhere on the hull a stamp with the HP rating. Only the max persons rating. Is there anywhere else I can go to find out what the HP rating is?

Do you guys eat anything that is caught west of the harbour bridge? Personally, I wouldn't.

I had them sashimi style the other day and TBH we thought they were a bit tasteless. All I could taste was the salt that I put on to accompany. Filleted, egged, dipped in rice flour and fried on butter though... delicious! We've been smashing them outside the harbour lately...

Im in the inner-west, have a half-cabin runabout with 60hp. Can go out to sea on calm day. Been fishing for 20 years but still a relative novice. Happy to take you out as mates arent too keen on going out in winter. I like going out before sunrise. PM if interested.

Thanks guys. Ive removed the links.... I'll give Huetts a call tomorrow!

G'day guys. Long time lurker, first time poster... I'm wanting a new finder for my boat, as my existing Hummingbird has given up the ghost. Firstly, I have a 4.85m half cabin runabout. Mainly fish in river entrances, bays and just out at sea if the weather is suitable. Trolling & jigging etc My budget is up to $400, and I see that I can get a combo with a chart plotter for that kind of money... I've narrowed down to two options: Lowrance Elite-4 CHIRP Colour Fishfinder Combo $399 ..... Raymarine 4.3'' Dragonfly 4 Pro Dual Channel CHIRP DownVision Sonar with Chartplotter $369 .... Has anyone here had experience with either of these two? I'm tending towards the Raymarine, mainly to save $30 bucks, but keen to hear opinions. I'm open to other suggestions too! I understand I will need to replace my existing transducer and re-run the cabling. Is this the sort of job I can do on my own or should I get a professional? If the latter, how much should I expect to pay for an installation? Cheers