PaddyT

Simple rule in boating - you cant beat weight and length for a smooth ride. plate boats are a fair bit lighter than glass and will tend to ride harder no matter the hull shape or deadrise (within reason). I run a 5.4 TABS which has a 4mm hull. Into the sea it bangs a bit-full stop- but never feels unsafe. I can run down sea in the right conditions at around 20 knots and virtually take my hands off the wheel. But my boat is an allrounder not a pure offshore boat- and I can troll for marlin for 10 hours and cover 130km out at sea and use about 75lt of fuel . Horses for courses.

How often have you lost fish because of a short leader? When braid first appeared everyone said you couldnt use it for rockfishing because it abrades easily. I fiddled around with it on spin sticks for LBG for a few years - including using twisted leader system, long leaders, short leaders, albrights, double unis, wind ons all sorts of complicated ways of rigging. In the end i went back to a 50 turn bimini of about 20cm and a 40-60lb mono leader (depending on what i was chasing) . I dont recall at anytime catching less fish than those around me and I dont recall being smoked by any kings that wouldnt of smoked me anyway ! (and ive been smoked more times than I care to remember) . I still get back to my point that even if you tie a very good FG knot after its been wound through the guides a few dozen times its going to start to weaken, perhaps not as fast as an albright going out on a cast but the same factors come into play , if you dont have to wind the knot through , then dont. I do use long leaders in some situations- like blackfishing, trolling for trout and flathead but with light tackle I can count on the fingers of my hands the times ive lost a fish/lure due to leader knot failure AND every one was because the knot was getting old or I hadnt tied it properly. There are no magic bullets in knotology except for this ,KISS! The less complicated the less chance of an error.

65 lb braid to 80lb leader-person im referring to also caught a 38kg king in NZ last year - still used the mod albright. I accept that the FG doesnt crash into the guides like an albright but I dont accept that its any stronger- and because its a more complicated knot their is more chance of it going wrong. My solution for long casting is to use a shorter leader and not wind it through the guides- the FG knot will fatigue through casting damage anyway. Nothing is perfect in the fishing world!

There is a website run by a guy in Newcastle-he has lots of testing equipment and tests knots/lines etc Paulus Fishing its called-interesting how he compares knot strength-its a bit eyeopening- and one of the reasons I can be bothered with FG's and PR's , nothing like data in my mind

Personally I think the albright is fine for just about all line classes- when you are doing lots of casting lures just use a shorter leader . One of Sydneys best kingfish guides doesnt bother with the FG even on heavy gear and he catches plenty. Other alternative if you have to use a long leader then just retie every couple of hours.

Yep- if it jumped i'll place a bet on a longtom

the last rod i got for light beach/rock spinning was a Synder (i think its wilson now) Magspin that I lengthened with a butt extension to 10ft long. I paired it with a 4000 size spin reel and 20lb braid- it flicks with very little effort a 40 gm lure into the next postcode. Its caught everything under the sun up to small spannies, longtails- its not a great lifting rod as the tip folds away but its my go to for a beach/rock spin session. It will lift a 3-4 kg fish without that much hassle but i do it carefully.

You could at a pinch but honestly put it up on the wall- old gear like that can be pretty fragile and if it has sentimental value for you then dont take the risk of it breaking. Modern gear is lighter,stronger and more versatile. The length is probabaly a bit short for a "proper blackfish rod".

I reckon Mackeral Beach is fine- you can see very clearly there- agree with lots of other parts of the Hawkesbury being full of sharks - seen a few this year already- all in Cowan

There are a couple of paysites-Fishtrack and Ripcharts , not sure on this sites rules but I do use Ripcharts and find it pretty good for the basic subscription ($99 USD)- other folk find the other sites good too

Do want freebies or do you want to pay?

Back in my ANSA days caught a few on 2kg mono (not braid), tried on 1kg but could never set the hooks- they yoyo up and down a few times and thrash around a bit beside the boat- so you are right- they fight a BIT harder than a plastic bag!

Its my understanding that they cant quote a price exclusive of GST in a retail setting. For a business to business transaction it may be acceptable. Check with Fairtrading

Highly doubt that was a hairtail , they fight like wet plastic bags!

The legs are the bit that need to be really looked after- a much wiser man than me said dont touch a moored boat with legs, this might be different these days but I have heard heaps of stories of very high maintainence costs in this situation.Get a marine surveyors report

Its an interesting one- Ive always tried to support the local guys and one of my mates owns a tackle store. I went to him the other day about a couple of bits for my Scotty downrigger and am also looking at a second one. He basically told me to order it from the states as he makes 20-30 dollars on a 150 sale and about 100 on a 650 sale from the local distributor of Scotty. The same items retail (after conversion) for about 2/3 of the Aussie price. I also happened to find out another mate was going to the US for a conference this week and was staying not far from a BAss Pro shop- so I contacted them to see if they stock the items I was after at that store- Nope- the items concerned are shipped direct from Scotty and they wont ship Scotty stuff to anywhere outside of the USA. Back to square one at this point. While I was looking at the Basspro website though- other than a few things the prices didnt seem to be any lower than here- so I guess you can just keep your eye out and make sure you are not ripped off.

If your young bloke can cast then there should be a few frigates at Terrigal Haven- I used to take my boys there from pretty early on and I used to do the casting and they would do the winding- always a good look on their face when a frigate came screaming in and belted the lure

There is a reason why the area is so popular with Yachties- the damn wind never stops blowing!

Yeah the whole South and Eastern Creek bass fishery is actually pretty amazing. Aaron from Windsor B&T has spent a huge amount of time doing political campaigns to try and preserve those waterways from pollution and over the top development (but unfortunately seems to be fighting a losing fight). When you see guys catch bass under the M7 as far up the creek as Quakers Hill or from Chain of Ponds (now gettting smashed by development) up as far as Box Hill its a bit of an eyeopener. All those feeder creeks are a very important part of the river and they are rapidly getting filled in. As to your question about eating a fish that far up stream - most of the fish in the fresh are bass which most folk release , and carp which no one eats. in dry years bream,flatties and jewfish will be up as far as Windsor along with the bass and occasional EP .

Harbour is fishing better than when i was a kid, the water is cleaner, big bait schools, heaps of kingfish, no nets etc etc. The fishery is pretty unique being smack bang in the middle of a big city like Sydney. Since the removal of sewage outfalls back in the late 80's and the removal of nets it just gets better and better.The crowds are just part of the massive influx of people that Sydney has seen in the last 10 years while the Fed Govt lets around 200000 new migrants a year in most will gravitate towards the big cities of Sydney and Melbourne

Talk to the boys at Windsor Bait and Tackle- they have the areas sorted- both guys are bass/bream specialists

Good rule of thumb based on the "more you spend the better the unit" fact of life. Spend 10%of your boats value on electronics. If the boat is worth 10K then spend 1K on electronics. Always a good option is to wait until a manufacturer upgrades their models then you can get a superseeded option for up to half the price if you keep your eyes out. Lowrance are regularily doing that as do other manufacturers.

Sure do- can be very benign but can be a nasty piece of work too. Its not controlled by seawalls so the channels are always on the move. You can drive down to Mooloolaba and go out there but even that bar can get tricky

Just drift past it like everyone else- sitting on top of the FAD prevents anyone else setting up a decent drift. With dollies no need to bridle , cause I am usually catching a feed I just use a 6/0 suicide on 40-60lb leader- thinner gauge hooks up pretty well. They can get really competitive when you chuck a livie at them

There are a few other features-fin counts, gillrakers etc but if it has black dots its a Mack Tuna 100%. However Mack Tuna can also not have black dots but frigate mackeral never have black dots. Anything over about 2kg is going to be a mack tuna.