frankS

Speaking of A B U's I have a left handed ABU 5601c4 which has a stripped handle shaft that needs replacing and I just have not got the ambition to repair. Anybody interested in it ?. I believe it is pretty rare ?. Original made in Sweden, perfect condition other than the handle shaft. Frank

Can't help to think that rod may be more suited to overhead reel but probably just the angle. Frank

Blackfish. Yes mate it is, very strong and reliable swivel . Frank

Paddy. Don't know the lures you are referring to. I developed these ones myself after test after test till I came up with what I thought was the right weight and shape. I had a mate was a diver and he would go down about 30 feet and watch the lure sink and make notes of how they fluttered down on a blackboard, spent many hours dropping all different weights till I came up with these. The flatter type are 145 grams and the thinner/higher type are 175 grams depending how you rigged them is how they reacted and of coarse the acting you used had a great effect on the results. I did have a lighter version 90 grams but all those are long gone. I developed and made these around 1974 till about 78. made from car headlight surrounds and door handles and trim, most cars them days and older had a lot of ZINC in them and I was lucky enough to have connections in a wrecking yard. Frank

One of dozens of kona heads I made back in the day, excuse the poor condition it hasn't seen daylight for about 30 years. Couldn't see the point in paying $100 for a lure so made my own and they worked. Who can remember these ? Sea Martin 11 one hell of an awkward looking reel but one of the best, 1/2 way between a Alvey and a eggbeater, great reel off the beach OR Boat. I still have 3 , 2x bakeolite spools and 1 wooden spool and heaps of spare parts. Frank

Found the single moulds and an example of the jigs. Can't find my old coffins but will have another look today. Frank

Those top 3 left first photo look very similar to jigs I used to make, made of Zinc and I used to sell them to boats out at the peak when they ran out of jigs OR just wanted to top up on supplies, also sold a few to a few local tackle stores. I still have single moulds of them and my mate has the production moulds down at Bermagui. Old fashioned now but I bet they would still catch fish. I have about 50 blanks not painted or drilled down in one of the sheds. Frank

Noel. Before I bought a boat I would hire one from tom ugly's boat shed, It was wooden about 14 feet and had a 1 cylinder LISTER motor in it. Had a huge flywheel ( I remember it was RED ) and you had to advance the spark and turn the flywheel by hand, once the motor chugged over you set the spark to GO and throw the shift lever into gear and away you would chug, many a days fun had in them old boats. Frank

Just for the sake of it and something to add. I am 72 years old and been fishing since a young boy and had sea going boats since the age of 17. Have caught all species pretty well that is available on the east coast below Brissy and I have only been to Browns once in my life and that was just because a mate wanted to see whet it was like out there. Why ? Because I never needed to go out that far, The Peak was my hunting grounds and that was generally as far as I went, in later years when I started fishing the south coast I would venture out as far as the 12 mile and shelf to pick up Tassie trumpeter and Hapuka and the like, but that has only been since the turn of the century. I remember one day going out to the peak ( or so I thought ) and looked for the chimney to line up and it was nowhere in sight, so I fished blind, I later found out that the chimney was demolished a week prior to my pretty well last trip out to the peak. Think it was about 1984 or there abouts Wasa might be able to set a date when it came down , since then I have concentrated on the south coast Bermi etc. And I think around 1990 GPS was made available to the fishing public and the modern age of fishing begun. Frank

In my younger days I was a keen shooter and gun collector would go into town ( as it was called then ) and spend an hour or two in Smiths gun shop then go down the road to Hobbyco to spend some more time, then onto Mick Simmons and drool over their displays, they had a great variety of bows and equipment and I would walk out of their flat broke. Frank

I bought my first boat from Nock and Kirbys Liverpool think it was 12 foot Savage tinnie with 4hp Johnson, made the trailer myself, I was 16 years old. my brother in law would drive us down to the ramp set us kids fishing and pick us up when we were ready to come home as I was too young to drive . I used to buy most of my fishing gear from Guards sports store in Liverpool. I moved to Liverpool when I was about 16 before that I lived at Enfield/Strathfield, can't remember where I used to get my gear before Liverpool, probably the south Strathfield barber shop. Frank

Harbord tackle was pretty big in it's day, Ian miller started off from there I think. they used to put out a catalog each year that was like reading a short novel I got one each year, don't know what happened to them all, I used to read them and compare gear and prices from the new one to 5-10 years ago . Frank

Fish, birds and anything else swallow the fish head first so that the fins lay down, if they swallowed it tail first the fins would stop the meal from going down the throat. Frank

No markings anywhere on it. It's Brass except for the stem that holds the wind knob and that is steel. I would love to see it restored but I have neither the skills required or the inclination to do so. If I could make a ID I would probably donate it to some fishing museum . Frank

Can someone ID this old thing ?. Frank

Some great memories from this thread, I will try and find some of my old gear. Have given most things away over the years but think I still have some old stuff laying around somewhere. Frank

It was great to meet up with some raiders and the amount of hard work that Scratchie put into the meet up was appreciated. Bit of a shame those that didn't show up didn't have the decency to notify Jeff that they were not going to make it. I know a few did let him know but there was a lot that didn't bother typing a couple of lines to say they couldn't make it. The conditions were not great but you can't predict the weather ahead of time but it would have been nice to know who was coming and who wasn't. Thanks for all that was there and next time we will all get out and catch some of those huge Snapper. Frank

Well that's a pretty impressive video and huge displays, shame we didn't see any fishing gear. But just remember it's customers money that pays for all that display and space along with some sponsoring so how much profit do they make on their items ?. I personally don't buy much gear these days but have several sheds full of stuff I have bought over 60 years of fishing hunting and camping, even came across some old arrows I used to use back in the 70's while browsing through one of the sheds the other week. Frank

Neil. I know you can't through circumstances. But it would be good IF you could drive up to Sydney stay with me Thursday night then accompany me up to Port Stevens, have spare bed in the unit I have booked !! and jump on somebody's boat for Saturday fish. Frank

I may be speaking out of turn here but I think the place is off limits to fishing and boat activity, I could be wrong. Back in my youth I used to sneak into the waters of Cateract dam and fish for Crayfish, they were monsters and I would sell them at the pub. Many patrons would want to put in a pre order so they didn't miss out on the next batch. Things you do when you are young and perhaps a little stupid or inconsiderate. My guess is the crays would also be in Coalcliff Dam. But you didn't hear that from me. Frank

There is one place on the central coast above all the rest for me for Snapper, and that is the appropriately named place " Snapper Point " south of Catherine hill bay , pretty easy to get to and generally safe to fish, there is some undercut caves and flat ledges and a small beach. Good luck and let us all know how you go. Frank

About 20 years ago I converted 2x reels into electric by using wiper motors from cars, they looked pretty ugly but worked fine. Both were stolen along with about $8000 worth of game and sports gear. No photos as I have renewed computers a couple of times since and not saved photos. Frank

Geoff. Thanks for the great read mate. I thought about chucking fishing in once, ONCE!!! but soon came to my senses have had those periods where nothing seems to be going right and you feel " what's the point " but there is always a point and that is it's fun!!. I must admit that I am slowing down drastically in my old age where everything is becoming a great effort and sometimes I would rather just sit on the shore and watch the boats go by than to actually fish. It was good the day eventuated and turned out to be a winner and I hope you keep what was learnt in your head so when we get together for the catch up we will have some sort of chance of success, as I have not a clue on any area up that way and it would be just water to me. No pressure mate just letting you know I don't know the area. Cheers Frank

Well back in the day. Bob Dyer would anchor up over a reef and just sit there with a slow burley slick, sometimes for hours after dark and not put a bait in the water, Till he saw colour, red colour and then he would start fishing for Snapper. He was very successful and would do it time after time. So I guess if you are prepared to spend the time on water after dark success can be had. Frank

Geoff. I think you are talking about the caliper bolt ?. If so they are a specialist type bolt and Bunnings won't have them, you will need to take a sample to a specialist bolt shop OR somewhere like Carasel trailers or similar. Worst comes to worst send me a photo of the broken bolt and I would probably have a replacement here I could send you. Tensile bolts have a number stamped on the flat part of the upper bolt. In case you have lost it my email is fastrailers@optusnet.com.au Frank