JonD

Headed into the mountains, air temp -5'c, water temp 2.5'c. Firstly I hate the cold which is the main reason for leaving the UK, however I still like the occasional reminder of how cold it can be and we aren't even in winter yet.Target species were brown and rainbow trout which move upstream for the spawning this time of year. These fish are an introduced species first brought here by early European settlers.It can be a busy time of year with many anglers trying their luck. I had decided to put the effort into hiking well upstream away from the crowds which involved quite some effort climbing some rock sections. Two other families had decided to join the party and all the youngsters were keen on heading upstream after I told them what a good session I had last year at a water hole well upstream.Apart from really feeling my age on icy slippery rocks all went well and we all reached the magic spot!!!!!! I must admit feeling under pressure after talking the spot up around the campfire the evening before but the pressure soon faded away when we had a triple hookup on solid brown trout from the youngsters. I pretty much sat back and left it to them as they clocked up around 70 fish mostly in the 55-65cm size bracket. A truly magic session we will all remember, with even a large stag samba deer walking in on us and getting quite a shock.One of the young lads had been working hard landing (netting) all the fish so had missed out on the rod action himself which made him feel disappointed, not helped by the teasing from the other kids.Around the campfire that evening in freezing temps one of the parents was now keen to do the hike, which meant the lad who missed out had his chance.This day was even colder and my water bottle that I filled before I left camp had frozen before we got to the spot. My first nymph fly hit the water for a decent 60cm brown which I kept for the smoker. After that my gloves went on and I left it to the others, like I said I hate the cold!!!)The young lad hooked several fish before he actually landed one but once he did there was no stopping him. At least another 50 fish were caught this day before we headed back with smiles on our faces.While camping I sleep in my rooftop hardshell tent. This has a 12v electric blanket, led lighting and plenty of power points which are all run off my lithium battery and solar, I even have a DVD player for movies if it rains!!!! So cold but still comfortable.

Had a huge shock yesterday coming around the corner of Green Cape being confronted by huge NE swells which I have to say were the biggest sea's Ive been in a such a small boat. The crazy thing was that the forecast was stating 0.5, swell and 10-15kts of NW. Made for an incredibly slow run home.

Mostly China I believe.

It's very good, the owner also owned a formula among several other bigger commercial boats and is always saying this older Eden craft feels the safest boat he's ever owned. Im not as impressed with the new ones.

Yes I was a bit disappointed on how small the sea's looked in the photo to how it really felt onboard. I had tried taking a few images earlier but it was just to hard to and hold on at the same time!!!

Yes I do the track function with marine rescue which at least gives an idea of the heading I was on before dropping out of range.

Many people won't want to be sharing their location for obvious reasons but how does this work if you are outside of phone reception ? Ive been fishing around the Victorian boarder and phone reception is lost within the first 15-20km of leaving Eden, making the next 40km ghost land, would be much the same on wide offshore trips.

Very close to getting his foot which was in the water at the time.

No it wasn't something I ate!!!!! Been skippering a 6m Edencraft out of Eden down around the Vic border, 60km south. I have two divers on hooka (air supplied from the boat) where my job is keeping the boat from running over the air hoses, cleaning the abalone shells and packing them for live export. Weather turned grim yesterday with 36kts of southerly and rain making it very difficult to keep up!!!!! Still plenty of decent sized snapper following the divers around and steady run of humpbacks now moving up the coast. Also been catches of yellowfin by recreational anglers launching from the same ramp. Geen Cape lighthouse on the run home.

My daughter had a close encounter with a 5m great white last week at the fad off Narooma. My son was boatie at the time and dragged her from the water with the shark just metres from her. At the time I was skippering south of Eden where great whites are permanently a concern for the divers (and myself) I have in the water diving for abalone.

Yamaha aluminium props are very cheap, not worth getting it repaired when you can get a new one for around $120.

My advice would be to try and get out with someone on their boat a few times so you can see the full process of ownership from others experiences. Do a bit of reversing and trying to find a parking spot once the boat is in the water. Be there for it all, from cleaning it and parking it securely away at the end of the day. You may know or be prepared to learn the boating regulations but once on the water you will be confronted by numerous boaters who don't seem to have a clue. Owning a boat is hard work, often after a tough day on the water all you want to do is walk away from it. However on a good day with clam sea's and dolphins riding the bow waves or gentle run up a river the not so good parts of boating are soon forgotten.

Yes that's a bit small, though I did used to take my little 385 quintrex explore offshore, which was rock steady when the kids hooked sharks.

Merimbula wharf and headland often has some very good fish this time of year, with plenty of salmon and kings of 20kg. Im currently working on an abalone boat out of Eden far to the south. My divers have been encountering dozens of snapper in 6-8m of water with an average size of 2.3-3kg. The boats coming in from the bay have been doing well on snapper and flathead and the fish hanging around the cleaning tables at Quarantine bay look to be in good numbers. I would try my luck right in front of those cleaning tables or off the close by rocks. also try a squid jig. The wharf floating wharf has a few muscles clumped together in places, which might be worth using for bream in front of this cleaning tables. Eden's not an area I fish very often as I'm 140km north of Eden in the Narooma area. Beaches in my area are fishing well for salmon, tailor and bream in the deep gutters and plenty of big teeth critters after dark. Water temps are still 19'c in the Narooma area but down to 16'c where we are fishing south of Eden.

Had the same with a 90hp 2003 mercury. A reputable mercury mechanic and good friend (now passed away) said it was be a common issue if the battery isolation switch is turned on and the outboard key is in the on position. The key needs to be fully in the off position when the battery isolation is turned on.

What size boat do you have ? marlin are often very close to shore like the one that was jumping just outside the bar. My own 15ft centre console is easier to work marlin to the boat with because of how easy it if to maneuver. A fair few tackle them down here in the same 445 boats single handed.

A few more pic's of the glowing fungus from a couple of nights ago.

Love seeing family adventures like these, the smiles are infectious.

First thing I see on the bigger black boat is the foil on the engine, which looks much like the se sport design, something Ive personally found to be extremely dangerous on three boats Ive owned on bar crossings. I've bought boats with them fitted and soon taken them off and changed to 4 blade props instead. Im not alone in regards to people having issues in very rough seas with these very wide fins. Ive found they can hold the boat side on where it would of normally right its self almost immediately without one. Ive had to do instant turns with the waves to stop my boat going over, boats such as Haines signature, cruise craft and quitrex. Doing these hard turns down the face of a wave can be extremely dangerous in the confined space crossing bars. Narooma Bar now has the reputation of the most dangerous on the east coast https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-19/narooma-bar-deadliest-crossing-in-nsw/102239844#:~:text=on east coast-,Data shows Narooma Bar on NSW Far South Coast,tidal crossing on east coast&text=New data has revealed the,crossing on Australia's east coast.

Often the brightness accidentally gets turned right down so dark that unless you realise this is the problem and how to brighten it back up you can think its an issue with the head unit, not saying this is the case but often it is. On big trips I tend to carry a handheld gps, also paper charts which I screen shot from online and laminate.

Never good being swept across rocks. I'd gotten away with it for years, however my experiences are from being swept from the water over rocks and had been something I considered fun having not suffered any injuries, however my luck ran out one day and I now try to avoid being in that situation. Glad you are still here to tell the tail.

We are starting to fill up around town down here in Narooma. Hopefully no more risks taken on the bar as the conditions are starting to look poor from here for the entire easter break.

Yes Im very close to 60 now and still messing out in little boats trying to keep the prop in the water for at least half the trip!!!!!....suffering today with my back and neck though.

We had a fair few cod on my last trip up north which all struggled to get back down (on the other two boats). I carry a venting needle which I bought from the USA which seemed to work well on our boat, they all seemed to take off back down well.

Fantastic trip. What depth was the cod in and do you think it went back down ok ? Its hard to believe how good the fishing is along the coast this year, even getting macks down here in the south as well as the marlin still firing up.