wttmrwolf

Lots to run with here. This is the current hypothetical spread I would run based of all the different comments Rapala Laser Pro - (corner) Smith Jig - (middle) Xmas tree - (middle) Rapala CD7 - (corner) With a couple of the more exotics as backup

Thanks for all the excellent ideas. I'm going to get a mix of all of these and try it out this weekend or next weekend. Keep the ideas coming if someone has more to add.

Is a Smiths Jig one of those knife jigs typically used on deep reefs vertically. I've got a few of these but never through if trolling one before. Has a single hook up front with an assist cord, is that right? I've got a 400g and a 250g

Hi Fisho's I'm on a mission to find some kings around Port Hacking. I was going to try tolling extensively Bate Bay and the cliffs infront of the national park. My tackle box is pretty extensive but not being one to troll its devoid of anything suitable for the job. Can anyone suggest a good 3 or 4 lure spread for catching kings? I heard Rapala Laser Pro series (baitfish colour) was a good start. Looking to hear what more experienced Trollers would put out the back. Also interested to hear if I should downrig a squid at the same time or will the troll speed be compromised? Ben

I used Norglass single pack and applied using a spray gun. wasn't too happy about me building a spray booth in the garage. Yesterday when I had a winge about foul nail polish smell she laughed and reminded me that our house stunk of paint for about 2 weeks The decks are made from standard ply wood (a friend donated). I double coated with bathroom waterproofing rubber paint. There are 2 sheets of ply glued together, the top sheet has slightly larger hatch openings to give me an edge to sit the hatch cover on. Still to go: Bait tank Battery and Electrics Rod Holders Bilge Install fish finder Find trailer Anyone have a old trailer hanging around that they don't need Ben

8 months later and serious progress has been made... The punt got stuck at the welders for at least a month and I lost motivation for a couple of months while I focused a spot of fishing. Here is what's been going on with the boat. Undercoated Norglass Primer 2x Topcoat Norglass Paint Installed Aluminium frame Wooden floor installed Now I'm in the process of carpeting the floors. Not much fun dealing with a 4L tin of super glue. I lost 2 paint scrapers and last night found them at the bottom of the glue tin Here are some photos I took last night.

I was out last night fishing on my favourite wharf in the Hacking where I sometimes catch Jew. The wind was blowing 30km/h making it rather unpleasant. Squid were few and far between (casting out some jigs while waiting for Jew). The wind stopped around 1am. Squid came on the bite, landed a 30cm big arrow. Then a blistering run on the beach rod baited with big frozen squid. ZZzzzzzzzzzzz..... stop.... nothing. Feels very Jewfish like.... patience. ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz.... pickup rod and strike... ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz. Long run which I slow with tight drag. Get it back near wharf and I see tail slap 20m away and ZZZZzzzzzzzzz... another long run this time out to the right. Something isn't right. Jews don't normally have this much stamina and why the hell it not down on the bottom. Get it back to the wharf. Bloody Hell its a shark, dorsal fin and real life snapping teeth. Turn out to be a school shark. 87cm! That has me wondering, could this be the reason small school Jew haven't been around lately. Someone on the wharf reported someone snapping 80lbs braid on what he thought was a Jew. Anyone have any info on School Shark, interested to here more about these cool looking beasts. another pic

Its not just you. I spent 4 hours trying to catch those timid squid in the hacking on Tue night. They would investigate most of my jigs but wouldn't strike. I did catch one at the start of the night but that was it. Fast retrieves did get a little more interest and some follows but not strikes. I'm going to put it down to the rail, my theory is they aren't hungry because they are well fed. Other nights they are so ravenous I can catch them on poppers in the same spot

make this rain and wind stop. It reminds me of Thredbo village in the spring. Driving rain that doesn't let up for days. Looks like most of the east coast is getting more than its fair share. Oh well the farmers must be loving it. I bet its playing havoc with the fishing. Thanks for the tips Roberta. I'll check out the keys tomorrow. Looks like our planned trip to 5 mile to chase kings is off due to lumpy seas Ben

Up near Forster for the xmas to nye break. Just tried Wallis Lake today. Drifted West of Wallis Island and Hell's Gate for lots of undersize bream and a couple of whiting. Also hooked a few tiny flatties. Roberta/Dan or other locals, any hot tips for locations firing at the moment. It would be nice to find some of the keeper fish Unfortunately outside temps seem cold and it looks a bit rough to fish ocean. Ben

There seems to be a lot of confusion between the 83 vs 50KHz transducers. The reality is very different to what people expect. For the record the 83KHz is very sensitive and only works in water less than 30m. I find it only works with clear water, any muck and its too noisy. The 83 beam is very wide, 120 degrees or something crazy. If I cast out soft plastics I can see them sinking on the sounder where the 200 beam won't even detect the lure. Even a prawn head will show up as a trail as it sinks to the bottom. When I berly I can see the peices of berly sinking down! Its interesting to see the extra info you get on the 83 sounder when in split screen. A lot of people would benefit from using the 83 in shallow water but take the approach that since the 50KHz is more expensive it must be better. If you are staying inshore then 83 is the way to go. However keep in mind it was originally for fresh water fishing so it can be very cluttered on screen when in sediment laden salt water. Its not marketed correctly in Australia because we don't have the big freshwater scene that they have in the USA. Also the 83/200 has a wider beam regardless of which frequency you are running. On the 50/200 the beam is narrow even if you don't use the 50KHz. Just my 2 cents.

Haha so it was you that put on that party across from Wally. The fish in the area pretty much shut down. I'm blaming it on the noise. In fact everywhere I tried in the hacking that night was pretty slow. Lots of party boats and fireworks at Bundeena didn't help the cause. At least someone was getting some action even if it wasn't fish.

I have an Evinrude 90HP with oil injection VRO. Its only got 200 hours on the clock and well maintained, yearly service. After some trips there is about 50 to 100mm of oil that appears to leak out of the VRO oil pump and collect in the base of the cover then trickle down the outside of the main shaft. Sometimes there is a small pool on the ground after a couple of days (viscous oil takes some time to reach ground). Just wondering if this is normal. It doesn't happen after every trip out so I'm just wondering if its: 1) normal 2) related to the style of driving, ie trolling vs WOT cruzing Mechanic suggested replacing the VRO but I don't see why thats necessary with the motor appears to be running fine and there are no oil warnings. Starts first go every time and purrs like a tiger (2 -stroke style). Of course I'm getting it checked but seems excessive to replace one of the most expensive components on a hunch. Just wondering if other 2-stroke engine owners have seen this before. Maybe its normal 2 stroke behaviour. Any advise greatly appreciated. I'm pretty good at figuring this out if someone can point me in the right direction. Last problem turned out to be wrong model spark plugs being installed by mechanic. One thought is to totally disassemble the VRO and check all internals for cracks, damage. Plus check all hoses etc. I have full service manual. Wttmrwolf

If the surf is small you can get them at shark island. Another spot is between jibbon beach and bundeena wharf below the houses perched on the water. Weed beds and burley.

Had a heap of fun landbased fishing off the marina wall. Met lots of friendly fisho's. Its amazing to see how differently people fish up in Cairns. All the people I met were using cast nets to catch Longtoms, squid, gars, prawns and mullet. Then they put the live bait on 130lbs mono hand reels. Apparently fishing for Barra and mangrove Jack. I looked like a tourist using soft plastics 5" jerk shads. Didn't look so stupid when I landed the only fish. 40cm Jewfish. First Jewie on a SP, yay. Hopefully the first of many. I handed around some spare jig heads and SP's for the locals to try. They all wanted to give it a shot. Then they taught me a lesson. Got a big hit and when I stuck PING. 20lbs leader is no match for big fish. Sliced through my leader like a knife. No idea what it was but not uncommon hence the heavy mono the locals swear by.

I'm heading up to Cairns for 3 days next week and I'm just wondering if I'm allowed to fish off the marina. map link Alternatively is there anywhere landbased a short stroll from the Shangri-La Events Centre? I am planning on taking a bag of soft plastics and a flick stick.

My mate put a couple of squid in his marine tank to use the next morning for live bait. Went out for a few hours and on his return could smell the stench before he even opened his front door. The squid had died and the power heads and pumps had turned the tank into a squid foam bath. Squid foam all over the carpet with stench to match.

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. Its amazing these creatures are literally under our noses on major beaches and in the harbours around Sydney. To have a yakka smashed in less than 1 meter of water makes you wonder where else these things are hiding. I have a big family so need to catch fish like this to feed all the hungry mouths. On Sunday we cooked it Billy Kwong style, ginger and shallots steamed, fed 9 people. On Monday Italian style, crumbed with chilli, fed 7 people. Put 2kg in the freezer for another day. Photo attached of the italian dish. Happy fishing.

I am completely buzzing. Its 4am and I've just taken every shelf out of the fridge to fit in a 14kg 110cm Jew fish. Had to stand it on its head. You can imagine my wife's WTF when I woke her at 3am holding a monster Jew in our bedroom. She didn't actually know I had gone out fishing so she was extra startled. I think she literally shouted What the F%$k is That! Special thanks goes to the people on this forum that helped me put the first few pieces of the puzzle together. tide'n'knots and Jewgaffer get special mention. Here are some of the little facts that played lesser or greater part in me hooking then landing the Jew. Mainline: 14lbs braid Leader: 20lbs fluoro Hooks: Snelled 6/0 Octopus circle then 6/0 Octopus (both were hooked deep in mouth) Reel: 4500 Bait runner Drag: Set to fighting drag before hookup Tide: Rising Location: A beach near a gutter Barometer: 1020 Bait: Butterfly yakka And finally: just felt very fishy tonight It was great fun especially with gear stretched to the limit. There were some big fast runs and solid head shakes. For some time I wasn't sure if I wasn't going to get it back to the beach. Took lots of line off the spool and she had lots of stamina. Have a great Sunday at the social everyone. I'll try and drop past so I can put some names to faces. Goodnight. Ben

I'd like to join this Spot X plus more club. Hats of to you sir.

any bites?

Here are a few tips: * With the cold weather poddies will last a couple of nights in a large bucket. * The best gutter I saw a few weeks back was out the front of the Wanda surf club. * Try Gymea baths before the light turns off at 9pm for squid * Yakka's are around the wharfs in the hacking at the moment, fresh bait on #12 hook no sinker No idea if the Jews are about on the beaches but have to be in it to win it. Report back if you get any hits. Ben

I'm not sure Watsons Bay 2030 NSW is returning the correct barometric pressure. I see 1020 when the barometer is closer to 1010. Are you sure its picking up the location correct? Ben

How did you guys get the barometer to work? Which widget and settings work for Sydney?

You could install a NMEA 2000 network and use remote sensors and digital gauges. The digital gauges give you the option to setup alarms. Not cheap but fun to setup none the less. I installed fuel flow and fuel level sensors and hooked up to a Lowrance HDS 5x.