PaddyT

Ok some hook facts- straight line circles will hook fish on set lines in the corner of the jaw , they were originally designed for the longline fleet and essentially work by coming back out of the fishes stomach as it swims AWAY from the point of tension and then "hinging" into the corner of the fishes jaw. Offset circles will still gut hook fish at almost as high a rate as normal offset hooks- this is why they are not allowed in gamefishing comps/clubs etc. Differences between brands of hooks are minimal- the guage of the hook is what counts in 99% of situations . When fishing for kings/jews fish with the reel in gear with normal fighting drag on, if the hook points are exposed the fish will be hooked everytime, fish dont have hands- if the bait is in its mouth you can hook it! I have two mates who are well known fishing guides, one who specialises in kings , the other in jew-both fish reel in gear , snelled 2 hook rigs for jew and for squid baits, nose hooked livies for kings. Both these species swallow baitfish head first , they both SMASH squid.

EP's are salt/brackish water only , bass migrate between the two, concave head is a give away for the EP

Agree 100% a rebuild after just 500 hrs is a bit sus in my eyes

Been using a Lowrance for the last 5 years- no probs-whatever you do get a DSI model hooked up to your GPS- one flick of the switch and help is on its way in a Mayday situation

If there are boats already drifting when you get there- dont start trolling through, head up current and drift down on the FAD, chuck lures , dead baits , live bait in that order- most days the dollies will start the day eating anything and get a bit more refined as the day goes on - having said that the last couple of years I have done really well on floating stick baits , even outfishing the live baits some days. If you want to get fish for sure be the first boat on the FAD BEFORE SUN UP! Even better see if you can find someones private FAD out wider or hit the fish trap fields on some of the reefs off Longie or the waverider- all have less boats and more /better fish.

Rebuilt after only 500 hrs- thats a bit funny

Mate - i see one essential problem with your trolling spread- no pink lures- this time of the year is my best flattie trolling- Sept- Nov

Hey Scratchie, I do a fair bit of flattie trolling- its a nice lazy and productive way to fish,my home ground for doing it is Berowra Creek . I normally look for water 4-6 ft deep and my go to lures are PINK Micro Mullets, next best option is Berkeley Flicker shads which are very cheap and the Zerek Tango shads seem to work well. I dont like short fat lures anywhere as much as those listed. the Micro mullets are very weed proof too, give them a hard flick if weeded and they come free. I get best results holding the rod in my hand and giving the tip a few flicks as I trundle along. I have a mate who does well in deeper water but its a bit more complicated and when i go flattie fishing its for relaxation and a feed

That reel holds about 130 meters of 8kg mono max. So when you are casting you are throwing a big percentage of the line off the reel even with a 30meter cast. the more line off the spool the harder it becomes for more line to leave it- if you get my drift. personally I would be fishing 4kg mono off a reel that size- or much better- tightly pack it with 15 lb braid and use 6/8 kg leaders, they will bust first anyway, dont worry too much about the knotolgy stuff- learn one good leader knot and tie it well- for 99% of fishing situations an albright is fine and simple to tie- just practice at home. The reel should be fine for light weight beach/rock fishing- if I can be bothered going shorebased these days I use a 4000 size reel 90% of the time off the beach and for small pelagic spinning

Agree 100% go up and collect from up there, take a weeks holiday and run the motor in on Moreton Bay (some good fishing up there too) and book it in for the 10 hr lookover with the dealer on the last day of your holiday , any issues can be sorted then and there- good luck with the new boat

Kingies dont care about warm blue water

Bream spawn in the ocean in winter, they would just be very cagey in shallow clear water , try a live prawn that usually changes everything

For kings and jew I fish in gear , full drag , if the fish misses I will open the bail arm and drop the bait back but usually for a 2 seconds at the most. Trolling livies I just use a rubber band to the reel handle to keep the livie flat in the water, same when hanging a livie from a set rod in a holder. The 30 cm's of slack that the rubber band creates is more than enough, 90 5 of my kings are hooked in the jaw even with J-hooks, circles not worth the trouble for downrigging

Should be Ok at this time of the year-vandalism is no better or worse that anywhere else up and down the coast. If you want to hit it in marlin season I suggest you go and watch first before entering into the whole caper , too much of a !@#$ fight in my eyes but some amazing fish do come off there. I was more of a north coast LBG'er in my time, these days prefer the solitude of a boat!

Yeah agree but wasnt the 4120 mag an early graphite composite- my FSU 4120 is still alive and kicking 26 years later , I gave it to my brother who is a very occasional fisher a few years ago after I flogged it for nearly 20 years

If you are fishing for pigs a lot then stay away from graphite , graphite is much tougher these days but doesnt like impacts on the wall of the blank which unfortunatley does happen a bit when rockhopping. A reaaly tough good light weight rod is the old FSU 4120 .

Im calling Brassy but im also calling it a fair bit less than 24kg- sorry I know you aint meant to do that but look at the way its being held- also 100cm trev of any species is going to weigh about 15-20 lbs not kgs

slaty bream - mother in law -rubberlips- best guess from me

I run a two screen system-HDS8 and HDS7 - cant live without it!! Constantly marking with the GPS so i can run back over bait, reef edges, trolling runs in the estuary and offshore etc etc. Once ive marked a reef edge I turn the sounder off and just come back over using the GPS marks- not sure if the "pinging" turns fish off but it works for me!

nice!!

Yep used to fish of the CC a lot, catch more and bigger off Sydney these days, to be honest the structure is not as good off the CC in general - no equivalent of Longie or the peak or even the 12, some of the wider reefs fish really well but are very current dependant- unfishable a lot of the tim

Depends on the situation. Surface feeding pelagics are generally more likely to bite if you match the hatch, retirieves can vary greatly and again can depend on the way the fish are feeding, Quite often deadsticking is more effective than just about any form of retrieve - use a worm hook and no weight especially on kings. Scungies (mack tuna) will prefer a fast retirive in most situations but matching the hatch is the most important, kings can be really fussy some days, other days they eat you out of the boat- I really like Sluggo style stickbaits for kings. Salmon - depends on the time of the year i find- Spring they tend to eating "eyes" which are actually crab larvae and can be really hard to tempt- Powerbait Casper clears are your best option on a really light jighead or worm hook, hardest part is casting the really light weight, other times of the year they eat anything. Jews are not really in the same equation as they rarely surface feed , most of mine have come on a two hop retrieve using a paddle tail softie 4-6 inches. What youve asked is very general and needs to be broken up a bit more

Mate I lifted the floor on my boat after about 3 months from new, I found used welding sticks,screws , bolts and about $4 in coinage and NONE of it was mine- phoned the factork and had a dig (TABS) they reckoned one of their guys had a hole in his pocket which may of explained the coins but I still wasnt impressed. its worth getting the floor up thats for sure. The Osprey hull is quite a nice hull, rides well for a tinny especially downhill used to fish in a mates

YEP

If you are used to the harbour then you should be fine outside, the harbour tends to be the bumpiest part of my run to the sea (i launch at Roseville most times). Get the RMS information on the gear you need for offshore, learn how to use a marine radio properly and log on with Marine Rescue. Dont go outside the heads without the right safety gear- I have a mate who was checked while outside and the RMS didnt believe him that he didnt go wider than 2Nm- they booked him, not to mention brown stuff happens even close to shore! As for spots google a few reefs- Long Reef, The Peak, The colours, Mugs, the whale, they all hold, fish at times-it depends on what you are targetting