Captain Spanner

shaune, I'm not sure what particular whistle is on your lifejackets but I've heard (not from maritime and have not seen it written anywhere) that it has to be a "pealess" whistle. Which means that it can't have the little rattly ball like the paper boy's whistle. I have a couple of "nautical whistles" in my boat glove box that are just little orange plastic things that cost about 2 bucks each from a boating store.

rickb, We have found that in situations at sea, where the BLONDE has begun to misfire you must act quickly. Immediately deploy the emergency stash of Red Bull, beer (Corona most effective), chocolate bicuits or assorted glucose lollies (the brighter the colour the better). If this is done successfully before the whining sound starts, the fishing trip can still be saved. Failure to deploy these essential safety items in the required time can lead to overheating and in more serious cases, end of fishing due to a blown head gasket and a broken rod. Framed Trash, I had trouble downloading the maritime pdf file but I believe you are meant to have a hardcopy of the chart of the area where you are as well, GPS doesn't count. I think you can get these charts from most major boating stores and probably some fishing stores and it would probably be a good idea to somehow protect it from water. eg plastic coating or at least a water tight bag. The stuff i'm about to mention is not necessarily part of any laws but it is stuff i take anyway and somehow fit it in a 15ft halfcab with all my fishing gear. I also take all of the compulsory stuff as mentioned in this thread. I always take a full spare set of clothes, thermals, jumper, shorts, shirt, towell etc. and no matter what the conditions are i always take full wet weathers because conditions can change and also in case someone gets soaking wet or cold for whatever reason. I keep this stuff in a bag, up in the cabin so it stays dry. I now also always carry a pair of wetsuit booties for unpleasant situations like pushing the boat off sand bars or oyster covered rocks etc. Other items include Mask and Snorkel, Gloves and a pair of boardies so i dont need to get my fishing clothes wet. Different sized cable ties, gaffa tape and duct tape, spare torch batteries, cigarette lighters, whistle, rechargeable air horn, mannual bilge pump, spare anchors, extra anchor rope, spare shackles, sea anchor, Inox, Spare Oil and small Jerry can with fuel. My mates used to ask me why i always take so much junk and my reply is always "one day we might need it" and since then unfortunately we have used every single random item mentioned in my post due to different incidents over the years. So now they let me take whatever i want. Good luck

Divers like the smaller X-raps and sluggos on the top. When trolling sluggos, if you hook up on one of the other lines leave the sluggo out even with the boat stopped and it will often get grabbed by one of the other fish in the school. It will just waft down into the school if its unweighted or just weighted lightly. Make sure they are rigged dead straight or they will spin and twist your line. Sluggos generally like speeds from 0 to 5 knots.

I reckon it's a type of goat fish.

Looks like a blind shark to me and they are generally pretty friendly. As far as i know they are not part of the wobbegong family and i couldn't find anywhere that mentions them being protected but you could ring fisheries to be sure. Here is a thread that has mentioned blind sharks. I dont know anyone who has eaten one.

A Shimano 6500 Baitrunner would tick all those boxes. That's what i use. As with any reel and beach fishing make sure you wash all the sand out afterwards. Shimano also have extremely good after sales service.

I agree with Jewgaffer with the fish being a problem and stealing your prawn, but if you want to try to replicate a squid jig i would rig it the other way around so it swims head first. You may need a small amount of lead/weight (wire or sheet or split shot) at the front so it presents/sinks flat and doesn't sink tail first. sink rate may also be a problem if its shallow. It's all worth a shot but. Good luck

From memory the warmer water starts to lick in around the start of october depending on currents and king reports in the harbour and bay seem to thicken up as November comes along and the water temps hit 19-20 and beyond through til about April/May when it starts to drop. I'm sure one of the more experienced anglers on here can give you a better idea of dates and patterns. As far as giving it a go is concerned i'd put a line in the water whenever you can. People have been catching fish all winter.

If you didn't have any other livebaits to use and you had the gear to put him on, it wouldn't have hurt to send out a big bopper. There is always the outside chance of a big fella cruising around. You may even be in with a shot at a big squid or cuttly sitting under that school that might take a fancy to the big bait.

My mates and i have a couple of 6500 baitrunners, love them. I can recommend a 7ft Silstar Crystal Blue 6-10kg and a US made 7ft 6" 6-10kg Ugly Stick (cant remember the model sorry but it's not a top of the line one) that i happily fish 30lb braid through. I reckon the 10-15kg Silstar Crystal Blue would fish 50lb braid ok but that might be getting heavy for snapper. I know the reel doesn't put out tonnes of drag (maybe 6-7kgs from memory) but with kings and groper close to structure you can end up in some short lived spool grabbing situations and you dont always have to fish the line to max capacity anyway. You could ask Jewgaffer about the Ugly Stick Tigers. These rods should all come in under budget at around $150 or less. Dont forget you could be up for $50 to $80 or more to put braid on the reel if that's what you decide on. From memory the rods mentioned are a bit softer in the tip than the live fibre rods so it will depend on what feel you like for whatever fishing you are doing.

The primary purpose of a Bung is to stop your ugg boots getting wet. If Bungs are remembered and used correctly prior to launching the boat there is often significantly less course language during the first half hour of the expedition than if they are remembered after launching the boat. Mate, basically most trailer boats have small holes at the back to let the water drain out after you take the boat out of the water. The "Bungs" are the little plugs that you put in these holes to stop the water getting in when you have the boat in the water. If you forget to put your bungs in, your boat normally fills up with water and can sink.

Landing them: You can just net them or swing them in if they are hooked well enough and your line is strong enough. I recommend into a bucket or esky but they should behave ink wise. A knife through the head between the eyes is the quickest but as mentioned above be aware of what's underneath. If you do want to wrestle them this is how i do it. Grab the occy between the tentacles and the head with one hand and hold on tight. The real men then bite the occy between the eyes to kill them but i haven't graduated to this yet. If you slip your fingers up in the back of his head (this hole is above the tentacles and not near the beak) you can turn his head inside out and pull all the bits out. If you are successful it will slow him down a bit but he will still appear alive and groggy for a while, if not he will be a bit crankier than before but just keep going until you get it. If you have trouble doing this and are only going to eat/use the tentacles anyway you can just cut the head off above the tentacles. The octopus will regrip on you if you aren't quick enough and usually does it one tentacle at a time so if you're scared of getting bitten just stay on top of the situation by repositioning the tentacles so the beak is pointing away from your hand as they regrab you. If someone does get there hands wrapped up by an occy just think for a moment before you panic and put a knife through the middle of everything, hands and all, and someone gets hurt (I've only mentioned this because someone almost did it to me one day when i got wrapped up). I couldn't find anything on the fisheries website regarding the humane slaughter of an octopus but if anyone has any info on this or disagree with anything i've said can you please post it up.

Good thread get-reel. I cut sheet lead to size and use that to repare my jigs but i keep them mainly as spares or when the squid aren't fussy. I've also got a few "customised" repair jobs with larger and smaller weights than standard for the jigs they are on. They obviously dont present as a brand new one but you get a 2nd life out of your jigs and sometimes squid dont play by the rules anyway. I keep a bit of sheet lead in my squid jig box and you can cut it with the little blue braid scissors. By folding it and squashing it with pliers you can taper the lead to the right thickness so it wedges in good and doesn't fall out, i think the rough toothy pattern left from the pliers doesn't hurt with the grip either. You can also shape the lead so it is less prone to catching on the bottom and collecting weed.

I think they are designed for smaller lures. The weight of the squid might effect how it tracks but if they are only cheap you could give it a go. It might be ok with squid strips that have less drag than a whole squid. I used to use a snapper lead attached to a sliding sinker clip with light line as a poor mans downrigger. The reason for the Snapper lead and light line is so it can break away if you hook up on the bottom which happens a bit if you get the boat speed to sinker size ratio wrong or if you slow the boat down for a hook up. Torpedo sinkers track better than snapper leads but increase your chance of losing the lot if you do crash it into the bottom. Some guys use knife jigs as the weight for extra attraction but i think this could get expensive if you start to lose a few of them.

I dont have much experience in bluewater fishing in the tropics but i hope this helps. I took one of those bluewater classics (same colour) to the solomons last year and caught good coral trout, bluefin trevally and about a 4ft reef shark on it. The split rings straightened and trebles fell off as shark was secured boat side. I replaced the spilt rings and trebles and the very chomped up lure kept catching fish. Other guys got small spanish and doggies on them too. For some reason where i was the fish would only hit the lure if it was at least 50m behind the boat. I think ill get more for my upcoming fiji trip. Also used Halco laser pros and x-raps in various colours and depths, and large bibless minnows. Fished all our lures on a foot of 60lb single strand wire leader. One of the more experienced game guys might be able to help you with skirts.

Too good as bait to eat. I take mine out for bait and if i dont use it and it has thawed too much to be A-grade for a 2nd trip i eat it that weekend. There also may or may not have been a couple of instances over the years where squid tubes with hook holes from unsuccessful downrigging sessions have been served in the old Club Spanner. Still fresher than the shop.

The boat and trailer are lined up straight, he is only taking up one lane on the ramp and the boat looks ready to launch. I reckon he's leaps and bounds ahead of quite a few i come across down at the ramp.

I've never done it. You could try salting it to toughen it for bait but i dont know if the fish will still like it. or freezing it in a tub (ice cream container) of salt water to try to stop it from drying out and freezer burning.

I have a 2500 Stradic on a 3-5kg rack raider but i think these lines would fit on a 1000 reel without choking it. I use 10lb kokoda braid (probably equivalent to 6 or 8lb fireline in strength but softer) to a 4 to 6ft 10lb Sunline Rock FC Fluorocarbon Leader with a double uni. i find this a good balance for casting, shock absorption, catching squid and getting jigs back out of the weed. Some guys prefer mono because the stretch helps with shock absorption to stop pulling jigs and snapping tentacles. It could be in my head but i think i can give the jig or lure a better action and feel more with the braid. I just try to keep the rod loaded when a squid is on to help with the shock absorption.

I use a one piece 7' 6-10kg Silstar Crystal Blue and a one piece 7'6" 6-10kg Ugly Stick (one of the US ones) both with Shimano 6500 Baitrunners with either 20lb or 30lb mono or 30lb Braid Depending on where i'm fishing (I have spare spools). I find they cast the required weights quite well while still being sensitive enough for the take. They might be a little heavy for the smaller schoolies but give you more confidence with a better class of fish. I think the rods are around $120 to $150 from memory and the reels you can get for just under $200 if you look around. The Crystal Blue also comes in a 5-8kg and a 10-15kg (maybe a little heavy for the jews). Jewgaffer will probably recommend the US model Ugly Stick Tiger 10-50lb. I haven't seen one of these but from what he's said about them id probably give one a go if i had the opportunity. I think they are a mail order job but im sure if you PM him he'll be happy to point you in the right direction. If you need the whole setup I'd make the shimano baitrunner the priority as part of a 6-10kg combo as mentioned by musty. You should get a combo like that for just over $200 on special. Good Luck

They look like Blind Sharks to me. As far as sharks go those guys are pretty docile and friendly.

Ross and Glen are both in Sydney at the moment, they mainly fish out of Port Stephens for the Marlin Season. I saw Ross's boat hooked up on Bonito or Stripies on Saturday and if you read Ross's report from the weekend http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.ph...c=41411&hl= you'll see they did pretty well on the snapper as well so i'd be giving them a call.

I would use a double uni for both the mono to braid and braid to leader. If the braid is cutting through the mono or the leader when you tighten it then you can tie a double on your braid, i use a bimini. Or you can just double the braid over with no knot and tie the double uni with the doubled over bit. The doubling over sometimes helps stop the braid cutting throught the mono or leader.

See now she has seen all the possibilities she might settle for leaving it how it is.

Because there is a toilet taking up all the space. The toilet can be both a health hazard and drowning hazard for young kids. If you did what you were told and took that dirty thing out, then you could fit your tackle box and esky in there too. Or be able to have twice as many rods. Or while we're on the ideas train, how about a bait/burley freezer so she has more room for groceries in the kitchen one.