Captain Spanner

We had that problem a few times with our old '96 Evinrude. It was one of the Trim swtiches that would die or have a bad connection. They were little black cubes about an inch wide. They were on the outboard inside the cowling. sometimes if there was a bad connection they just needed a wiggle. One day my motor trimmed up and i couldn't get it down to drive home so i pulled out the "up" switch and put it in the "down" switch socket, tilted the motor down and then swapped them back. From then on i carried spares in the glove box. Im not sure of the setup in a new Suzuki, i haven't had the problem in mine yet.

Try to get someone who understands how water and air move under a boat hull at different speeds to figure out the best place to mount your tranny on your particular hull. This might push you to either a transom mount or through hull. Having a fancy sounder and transducer can be a waste if you can't get the tranny somewhere it is not badly effected by an air stream under the hull at speed.

Thanks for the report Finin. I'm assuming they were mostly yellow? Do you know what type of bait they were hanging with?

Different brands and models/styles of braid not only have different diameters but the cross sectional shape for the same rated breaking strain, which will also affect how much line fits on.

I know this sounds like a lazy answer but it's the truth. Everything seems fine. Just keep persisting and trying different retrieves/different spots. Things will start to get easier as the weather and water warms up. Try structures that cast shadows and fish both sides of the shadow line, bream don't like getting sun burnt all the time. Continue to focus on structure, the tackle shop man will love you for it.

Definitely worth giving it a crack and see how it goes. Have you got at least 20lb on it? It should be fine for most of the small fellas that you are more likely to come across and that outfit will be much more comfortable than a heavier, longer setup for fishing with and fighting fish. Worst case is you'll end up connected to something out of your league and get spooled. But this is always on the cards no matter how geared up you are and half the fun. If you decide you like it but need something different after a few trips then you can consider a shopping trip then. There are a couple of other recent beach rod threads on here if you start looking.

When I say small ones I'm talking 4 foot and under for general whalers and schoolies. We normally make short work of these guys and they are back in the drink pretty quickly. When I'm talking about big ones I'm not sure how big they are sorry because I've never actually seen one of them. I just grab the spool when it gets to the last layer of braid before my couple of metres of mono backing that joins it to the spool. I agree with jon on the amount of pressure that you are actually effectively putting through the rod and the drag pressures. It is a great idea to actually try that so you realise how little pressure you are actually putting in the fish compared to what it feels like on your end. It's a bit of an eye opener to get a mate to grab the leader (no hooks) and pull the line and walk/run away and you try to pull back with the rod and then swap. You'll be surprised.

For the little fellas Any reel that holds 300m of either 50lb mono or 40-80lb braid. I use 65lb whiplash braid for my beach fishing for jewies, which are my main target, I only catch the Sharks if they beat the jewies to the bait. Which happens more often than not The reason I use 65lb is because I like to use 60lb jinkai for my rod length leader for abrasion amd a bit of stretch and 50lb fluoro Carbon trace to the hooks for jewies and when I get spooled by big Rays and sharks I like the line to snap at the hook end so I get all my braid back. Both for my sake and the fishes. So I use The old B series shimano bait runners size 6500. They only put out about a max of 6-7kg drag when upgraded but they are sturdy and smooth. And have the bait runner function of you have big baits and want to let the fish run. I also have a 12000D bait runner which has been a good reel but I have had a few issues that have been sorted out under warranty.bboth of those reels hold about 300m of 65lb whiplash. If you don't need a bait runner then any reel size 10000 and up will work. I use a 10000 Saragossa for a kingfish jigging reel that would also be fine for the beach application for the little fellas. A 14000 or 18000 will have more drag and more line capacity but will be slightly heavier to hold all night if that's what you do. I have used my 14000 Saragossa off port mac breakwall and it is fine to hold for periods of time. A mate has a penn spinfisher that is fine for that. It also holds heaps of line. If you want to eventually fish for bigger sharks and Rays, keeping in mind you don't have a lot of control over what picks up you bait, then you will soon want a bigger, stronger reel so might as well go the 18000 in a Saragossa or spheros type reel depending on budget. I have 80lb braid on my 14000. Keep in mind that you need a rod strong enough to put up with the increased drag pressures. A longer stiffer rod can out a lot more hurt on you than the fish of the action isnt suited to you. I have the extra heavy daiwa sensor surf 15' to cast huge baits but the long butt is awkward as I havent cut it down. I have a home made belt that has a little pvc end cap that hangs between my knees to lower the pivot point of the rod when I fight fish with it. So in short if you intend having a shot at a larger shark or Ray that might take your bait I would go an 18000 Saragossa or spheros type reel with 65 or 80lb braid on a 10-13 foot 10-20kg rod ( I would use a 12 or 13 footer) that can cast heavy weights (over 200g rating). I'm pretty sure the 18000 and 14000 size reels are the same reel by the 18000 spool holds more line. These reels may now come in larger sizes. Good luck.

There are some guys that have put out a good dvd as a beginners guide to sharking. Its based on the mid north coast and is mainly land based for bull sharks in the river. They are on Facie as Yep I'm On Fishing. They are getting some nice sharks but you probably don't need to aim that big first off if you just want to catch any shark at all. If you fish off any of the main Sydney beaches after dark with a fish flesh bait like a strip or chunk of mullet, tailor, yakka, salmon and you should find little whalers and gummies. You can just fish with a two hook snell rig (Circle Hooks) on a 2 foot coated light wire trace like Supaweld with a rod length of at least 50lb or heavier mono leader above it. Then you can fish a running sinker rig (similar format to what your bream rig would look like) with a star sinker on a running sinker clip like an Ezy Rig. So basically starting at your rod; if you have braid then connect a rod length of 60lb mono leader using an albright or similar, if fishing mono just run 50lb as your leader. On your leader you slide on a sinker clip like an Ezy Rig, then your swivel, then a 2 foot length of coated wire with 2 circle hooks snelled on. I find 60lb Supa weld is fine for the little fellas on the beach and you only need a cigarette lighter to join it so no need for crimps. Alternatively a knottable nylon coated wire. You will be able to cast this rig into a deep gutter close to the shore. So no need for paddling surfboards or kayaks into the dark to drop off your bait like the serious guys. You will also get some big rays and a chance at a jewie. Make sure you have something like side cutters to cut the hook of close to his mouth if you're letting him go and aren't able to get the hook out. Important but often forgotten point. They do bite.

Thank you. I'm leaning very closely towards the Ci4+

Thanks for your input guys. Jon, I'm assuming you ownlu mean the stradic is looking a little more wiser for wear from a cosmetic point of view only? Nothing has got sloppy, sticky or clunky?

Hi guys can i please get some opinions on these three reels. It is extremely unlikely i will get a reel that is not a shimano. I'm looking at getting a new 3000 spin reel for a 2-4kg spin rod (4 piece Crucis) that has alot of grunt for its rating it is not super light hand but is still nice. I'll probably fish 10-12lb braid for squid through to school jewies but it will also be used for bonnie and rat kings. I am looking at the new 2016 Stradic Ci4+ vs the Stradic FK and Sustain FG. I have read that the 2016 Ci4 has upgraded gears compared to older models so i'm not too worried about comparisons with the old Ci4s. I currently have a Ci4 4000 and have been very happy with it, I think it has magnumlite so is probably the new one. Quick run down, all similar retrieve ration from what i can see all three have Hagane Gearing. 2016 Ci4+ - 190g, 6+1 bearings, 9kg drag, magnumlite, Core protect - $329 FK stradic - about 230g, 6+1 bearings, 9kg drag, Core protect - $259 FG sustain - about 238g, 8+1 bearings, 8kg drag, magnumlite - $269 I'm not too concerned about the price differences as a deciding factor as my FB stradics are still going strong after more than 10 years (with a few bits replaced as you would expect). I don't really care about cosmetics just function. Thanks guys

I haven't done it for many years and i'm not sure if i had it right then anyway. We would scale and gut the garfish (make sure you scrape out the black stomach lining stuff with your thumb nail or paper towel) and also fillet from the anus to the tail but only as deep as the spine, do not fillet all the way up to the dorsal fin (top of the fish), leave the two fillets attached from the spine up to the dorsal fin. Take its head off and you can cut the tail off at the wrist too. Lay it on its stomach (sitting upright) with the gut flaps/ stomach cavity opened out so it looks like a person lying on their stomach. Gently roll the bottle or rolling pin along its back with the bottle parallel to the bench (i'm pretty sure we used to run head to tail). This should separate the rib cage from the flesh of the stomach cavity without snapping the bones or breaking them off the spine (if you snap the rib bones or break the bones of the spine into the flesh just go and catch another fish). You should be able to grab the head end of the backbone with your finger and thumb nails and carefully separate it from the flesh by pulling the backbone with the ribs still attached out of the stomach cavity and keep working along all the way to the tail so the whole backbone with ribs still attached comes out of the fish as one piece. You should be left with a boneless butterflied fish. Once you have done it successfully once, expect to be frustrated by having six consecutive fails before your second successful attempt. If you google "butterflying garfish" you will get many different methods. This could be completely wrong but it the limited memory i have of it as a kid.

Something in the 5-8kg range and 12 foot matched with around a 5000 size reel with 30lb braid would be a good start for bait fishing and you could throw metals for tailor and salmon. This outfit will handle larger salmon and tailor along with small to medium jewies and not get too destroyed by the assortment of rays that are always around. It will be slight overkill for the bream and whiting. A 9 to 11 foot rod in a similar line class or a touch lighter with a 4000 or 5000 reel and 15-20lb braid would be more suited for the bream and whiting and while still managing with tailor and salmon. It will be more comfortable for continual lure fishing but might not have the same cast range or be as good at keeping your line above the shorebreak when bait fishing. It will also battle more with larger baits, sinkers and sting rays. The old series of Shimano Aerowave Graphite and Aerowave Composite rods were great value. Im not sure what the blanks in the new series are like but the new ones have K-series guides which is a massive plus. One of these rods or a rod out of the Penn Prevail range matched with a Shimano Sustain or stradic in the appropriate size would fit your budget. I would recommend one of these higher speed reels for beach fishing and spinning. If you want to go up a little bit in price for rods you could look at the Shimano Revolution Coastal Range or Daiwa Sensor Surf. I would suggest going to a shop that stocks these rods and talking to the shop assistant and seeing which one suits you better from an action and balance point of view

Does Lowrance have software for the computer that you can import your marks and edit or back them up? this would be good but i have no idea. Alternatively find some software that will allow you to modify compatible file formats. There is an extremely messy idea below but im not sure if it will work or not sorry. can you open the file in Excel or a similar program and delete the points you don't want. To do this you may have to export a file format that Microsoft Excel or similar can read (like a CSV file). If the duplicate points have a similar name or number you may be ok with it as it comes in and delete the chunks with the duplicate coordinates. If not you may have to do a "Custom Sort" of the data by the latitude or longitude (i'd pick latitude and you will have less double ups of points that have the same Lat but slighlty different Long). This will list all of the points from either north to south or south to north (doesn't matter) then scroll through and delete the chunks that have the same Lat AND Long leaving one point. Make sure if there is a -VE sign in front of your Latitude that you keep it there. Then you will need to export a file format that the Lowrance can read and import. ALWAYS save the original file as a new name so that you are not changing the format or data in the original in case something goes wrong (highly likely). Make sure the units for the Lat and Long are correct going in and out in the different formats. eg Decimal Degrees, Degrees and Decimal Minutes or Degrees, Minutes and Seconds. I'm pretty flat out with work and other things over the next few weeks but if you are still having dramas after then and want to email me the file i can attempt to muck around with it for you. I can't make any promises of success sorry.

I have done this too. We exported marks from my old HDS 5 onto an SD card, copied to a laptop, then copied onto a micro SD and imported them onto my mates new Dimrad. I now have a backup copy of my marks on a laptop (unfortunately i can't remember whose laptop). If you make a habit out of it you can get micro SD cards that come with an adapter (like the navionics one) so you can use the one SD card in either.

I have no experience with inflatables so i can't comment on whether these options are better or worse for your needs but i can chuck in my two cents from my experience growing up. We have had a Haines for Twenty years and love it but grew up banging different boats around as a kid. An alluminium boat is less stressful to bang into the trailer, jetty, ramp, occasionally rocks and drag up the beach for a first time boat. All of these things WILL happen throughout your boating learning curve abd most likely forever. With your budget you could look at the Quintrex Freedom Sport range around the 530-540 mark, second hand (2010 and newer). I would suggest a four stroke if you can get one. They are much quieter and more fuel efficient than a two stroke unless you are talking about fancy new injected two-strokes like E-tecs which are similar to the 4 strokes on noise and consumption. Do your research on what will suit your needs. The Freedom sports don,t come with a cabin but do have a walkthrough windscreen and have binimi covers to suit. They are a bit like a bowrider to fit people in different spots if it's not rough. My mate had a 540 which was great and could fish a couple of guys (3) easy enough. Any cuddy/half cabin boat in that size range will struggle to fish 2 to three adults AND a few kids because you can only fish out of the back half of the boat. The Freedom Sport style of boat gives you a few more options. They are a bit slappy punching into chop or swell but great with a following sea. They don't suit my requirements so i dont have one but they may suit yours. Second hand boats, even with only a few years on them tend not to depreciate too much if you keep them in similar condition to when you bought them. So if you get an aluminium one and are confident driving and handling it and think you would like a glass boat or different boat hoping it might have a different or better ride you probably aren't looking at losing as much money as buying and selling new cars. So buying a boat you think is a good learner or starter and upgrading or sidegrading if your needs and wants change is often not that big a deal. Check out different age and model second hand boats to get an idea of what i'm talking about.

Navionics are right. Get a seperate card. I'm not sure about downloading the sonar logs but I have downloaded all my waypoints from my hds5 to an sd card so we could transfer them to my mates new Simrad sounder. It's just a matter of making sure you export the correct file format for whatever software you intend on importing it into. Check what type of files you can import into your GIS software and see if you have an option to export that file type directly from your plotter to try to minimise any post processing or file transformations that can be annoying.

Sorry to hear about the rigs and line. We were in a 6.5 Haines so life would have been a little easier for us backing in to the slop to keep the line straight. We still lost 2 sinkers and got caught up on someone's old braid which damaged our rig and leader but we got all of our hooks back.

It's my understanding that you should never run your sounder (with the transducer on) out of th water. The pinging generated heat and it can burn out without the water cooling it. It will give a differen reading out of the water depending on a lot of things like the height of the tranny above the ground, the angle of the boat in the trailer and the ground, the angle of the ground under and behind the tranny and what the ground is made of. Mine reads 2m when out of the water on the trailer driving up the ramp, my mates reads 4.3m sitting dry on the grass out the front. But both read correct in the water. So basically, test it in the water before making a decision and don't run this or any other sounder out of the water. If you want to play with your sounder, punch in gps waypoints etc at home then unplug the transducer cable from the back of the sounder head unit.

I'm always glad we go. Some days are just harder going than others. We had fun. I wouldn't have wanted to be in a smaller it open boat but. That would have been uncomfortable.

Just a quick report. We fished Browns today and it was pretty rough on the way out, lumpy out there and rough on the way home. We got 3 good gemmies and 1 small one. We got home a bit after lunch. Sorry no pics, I don't have any on my phone. Heard scattered reports of tuna a bit wider over the radio but no details or confirmed fish.

Thanks for that mate. It was very informative and your video was great.

Nice work again mate. Can i ask if there is a theory to attaching the hooks to the rear of the jig and trailing quite a distance from the rear of the jig? I noticed it was like that in your gemmie pictures as well. Is it because the you think the fish hit the jig on the drop and with the jig being tail weighted, the hooks will be sitting along the jig on the drop. We normally fish with the hook attached to the front of the jig for kings, generally with the assist hook cord long enough that the hook is sitting somewhere in the top third for knife jigs and anywhere mid or lower for flutter jigs. But we generally fish a much more aggressive action for kings and i know they often hit baits head on and we often get them on the way up, not as much on the drop. Obviously what you do works very well.

I agree. I think the rendering had a long way to go with the 3D mode as far as looking fancy. I don't think the 3D is as necessary if you can read a contour map as your understanding of a contour map with the sonar charts resolution will give you a better idea of the bottom than the 3D mode