jgrant666

Thanks mate, it's a ~25 yr old Johnson 70hp 2 stroke, I'll try the wire tomorrow but I think I'd feel safer getting it looked at anyway, especially since we were hoping to get outside a bit in Merimbula. I'll take the strap off tomorrow and get some pics for youSent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Any tips for reattaching the winch strap properly? Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Thanks mate, just did a bit of googling and thought the same thing, no silicone, but either some marine Tex or a gel coat patch kit. Hopefully the motor isn't too pricey Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

That's awesome! Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

G'day raiders! A brilliant day out on the water has just finished as a total nightmare. Took the family down to the basin for the day and had a lovely time, but the wind started to pick up so we decided to call it a day. I had beached the boat but kept the motor well up and thought nothing of it. About halfway back she starts losing power then smoke and it cuts out [emoji35] wouldn't kick over again though the starter motor was working fine. At this point we're drifting about 500m north of Scotland Island. Thinking maybe the intakes were blocked I jumped over the side, not realising how strong the current was! A few hairy moments but managed to catch up to the boat and could not see anything obviously wrong, so got back in and gave it 5 with the cowling off to cool down but still no luck so rang marine rescue. They turned up about 10 mins later which was great and towed us back to bayview. By the time we got back though the wind was up to about 35 knots and of course the pontoon was full [emoji35] the marine rescue blokes did their best to try and get us onto their pontoon but the wind was too strong and we ended up blowing into the walkway to the main pontoon. My son wasn't quick enough with the forward cabin window which was open whilst we were being towed so crunch, bye bye perspex window! At least we now had the boat relatively secure but in the process of getting everyone off we banged the walkway and pylons pretty hard a fee times and I've got some small cracks in the gelcoat now. Finally with 2 ropes and the help of the rescue boys managed to walk the boat round to the ramp without any further problems. Went to hook up the strap to pull the boat in though and somehow the pin must have sheared off! So had to back the trailer in much deeper then manhandle the boat on to the rollers and secure it with the safety chain and sloooooowly drive it out. Luckily it settled onto the rollers properly! In the end managed to tie a bunch of knots in the main strap and could fully winch it up and get the trailer stays on. Then a steady as she goes slow trip home. Got home and luckily the engine did start so I managed to flush it, but the tell tale was way weaker than usual so I'm guessing either the impeller is on the way out or we managed to get sand or something in the intakes. Final damage is one impeller, one window, fix the winch strap and a couple of deepish gashes through the gelcoat. My question to people more experienced than I - how much should it cost for the impeller issue with the motor? Also below are some pics of the 2 dings, not sure if you can see but the glass is definitely exposed even though they're not that big. I'll need to get them looked at but is there some sort of bog or something I can bodgy them up with for now as we're supposed to be going to Merimbula then Coffs harbour after Christmas and I'll be gutted if the boat has to stay at home!!! Thanks for reading and thanks to The marine rescue guys who were fantastic - definitely a good donation going their way after Christmas! Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

I've seen plenty of bustups in Broken bay on the way out to lion island, and watched a couple of videos that mention it as a gun spot

Will Bonnies only take lures or could you spin for them say with pieces of pilly or squid?

Nice report! Always happy with a good feed of flatties How deep was it where you picked up the flatties? did you have the pilly on a float or just unweighted?

Yep, I think I'm convinced! 30lb braid all round and I'll just vary leaders/rigs to suit where I'm fishing Thanks Mate, I wasn't aware those reels had so little drag strength! I'm not targetting Kings specifically but of course anything is possible and I wouldn't mind if one decided tohave a crack at me! I'd love to upgrade all our reels but I think that'll be a long term project to slowly add better stuff....... Might have to drop a few hints to the fam when my birthday comes round....... Thanks mate and Good advice. Charter we were on they were using 50lb and same sinker weight. I'll need to get my confidence with boat handling up a bit more I think though before I take the kids out into that kind of depth, so for starters I reckon 30lb should cover us. I know Fleabay stuff isn't ideal but the charter guys we went with were using a brand called spectra dyneema braid and seemed really happy with it, and it was $40 for 1000m from China. anyone else had any experience with this stuff? It seemed ok to me but of course that was the first time I'd used braid so have nothing to go off Haha you're not wrong there Scratchie! Spent 4k on the boat and probably 1/4 of that already just on gear and fishing stuff. Might have to send the kids out to work so they can pay me board and I can buy more fishing gear Cheers - i'm gonna try and get to this talk at Camden tomorrow that a friend of one of the site admins is hosting, and knots are high on the agenda. I think I've read as well that you can't put braid straight onto your spools, so needs a bit of Mono there first for it to grab onto? If that's right it sounds like the FG knot is what you'd need for that?

Wow really! Didn't know we got kings this far up! Being migratory it's probably safe to eat too! Might have to have a bit of a troll round the river then...... No worries please do pop over and say hi if you see me about :-) Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Nice work on the Pb kingy! What area were you fishing? Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Thanks mate. Would 20lb braid stand up to the weight of both the fish and those big snapper sinkers you need to get offshore though? In 70m the charter I was on had HUGE sinkers to get down. Maybe 30lb is a better compromise, and I can always use a long lighter leader in the estuary before my rig so the fish don't see the heavier line?I'm new to braid so thanks for your tips and feedback [emoji2] Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

yeah mate I"m often knackered after a good day's fishing, and I'm only in my 30's! I reckon not drinking enough water is a big one as you get so carried away doing all the other little things. I also find my shoulders get pretty from holding the rod all day plus dealing with the anchor and steering the boat etc. Went out on a charter last week and we were reef fishing in 70+ m of water with these massive sinkers on, My arms were stuffed by the end of it just from all the weight and the winding! PS I could probably do to a get fitter though and cut down on some of the finer things in life that I tend to enjoy atm.....

Hi all, Just wondering if anyone knows a good place to find spare spools for some cheap reels we've got. I'm taking the family & boat down to merimbula over new year and want to switch from mono to braid as we'll hopefully be getting in some deeper water reef fishing out of twofold bay if the weather co-operates. I've been quite happy with the 15lb mono currently on our reels for estuary fishing (and also since after merimbula we'll be heading up coffs harbour way and will probably get some freshwater fishing in round copmanhurst), so would rather try and find some spare spools for our reels if I can. Seems a shame for all that mono to go to waste otherwise. The reels in question are only cheapies we picked up in combos a few years ago before we got the boat, and I'd prefer not to have to buy new reels given all the usual expenses with Xmas then family holidays The reels i question are: Shimano Alivio 4000 FB (I managed to find one site stocking spools for these but not the others) Shimano R2000 Shakespeare AXIOM 045 Any general suggestions appreciated or please PM me if you know specific shops/sites as per the site rules. I'm thinking 30lb braid would be about right as a good balance between strength and spool capacity, as we'd be mostly targetting your garden variety reef species like flatties, mowies & snapper, but could probably stand up to a kingy or something bigger that happened along if played correctly Any tips, pointers suggestions greatly appreciated as always - Thanks Raiders!

Shame the weather wouldn't let you get out past the heads! Still a feed of snapper is always welcome, as is a day out on the water with some good mates

Looks delicious - nothin' better than super fresh Sushi. Enjoy!

Whoa well done, didn't even know reds grew that big!! Looks like you had a ball :-) Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Are you experienced with offshore boat handling? Conditions don't look great to me for tomorrow I wouldn't be going outside, though my boat's only 4.6m so I do need to be a bit more cautious... Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Hehe lucky for me my better half is almost as keen as I am so shouldn't be too much of an issue [emoji2] Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

I agree. I've done a lot of reading on how many jobs and economic activity comes from recreational fishos in the hawkesbury vs the commercial fishermen and there's simply no comparison. Much tougher restrictions on commercial fishing if not an outright ban needed in the hawkesbury.... Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Thanks mate! It sure was a nice feeling not only to have fresh fish for dinner, but to have to decide which fish to eat and what to freeze! thanks Brando. The wife usually outfishes me so it was nice to trump her for once! Yep it sure was, gotta buy an epirb now and test my handheld VHF radio, not to mention go on a spending spree for braid & new leader, but that's fishing isn't it!

Thanks to Sean shadow aka yarraone! Hopefully all goes well with our trip now and no disasters :-) Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

Good couple of feeds there at least despite the slow day with your mate :-) Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

G'day raiders Just got back from an awesome day on a charter with the missus. I won't say who due to site rules but they're on scoopon atm. Spent the day drifting thomo's reef and what a haul! Between us we caught 4 legal flatties (including PBs for my wife and I at 45 and 54cms respectively), a 40cm morwong, 50cm black spot devil fish and 4 nyangai. Many more undersized were released. I also hooked what felt like a monster snapper but unfortunately dropped it close to the surface. The other punters on the boat all did pretty well as well although my wife and I had the biggest haul. The 2 big flatties we're caught just as we were told to wrap it up, first my wife's then I managed to outdo her with the 54cm one [emoji2] First time out fishing the offshore Sydney reefs and I'm converted! Can't wait to get back out there in my own boat! Also our first time using braid and that'll definitely be my next purchase..... If anyone wants the details of the charter feel free to Pm me, they were top blokes with great gear and I'd definitely go out with them again http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/08/93e1518c7d39b560d099af5decffb19b.jpg Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk

What wankers, glad you're ok at least!!! Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk