noelm

January 17

It’s not that I don’t care about my lawn, I look after it and keep it good looking, it’s just mowing that I don’t like, don’t know why, it’s just one of those jobs…….

January 17

1 minute ago, Green Hornet said:

Good luck with the sale mate, I hope it all goes well for you.

Do you mind if I take a look at your home on one of the real estate sites? I spent the last 8 years of my working life as a real estate photographer of similar properties and would just like to see the pics.

Not at all, the house is on the website now.

January 17

58 minutes ago, BaitDropper said:

A mate has just down sized and moved to Brisbane area, having had an acre for the last 25 plus years, the standard self propelled mower and ride on were staple for use.

He now has a small block, dunno the exact size, haven't visited yet, but got a call from him after he bought one of these eleckie mowers and he was super impressed. Said he has about 20 minutes of mow time now, barely, and he had nothing but praise for the job it did and how powerful the elecky mowers are.

So for that smallish lawn, it sounds like the way to go.

A battery mower is on the cards, as long as I can test one first, they seem very small! My mower and whipper snipper is still fine, it’s just something I am considering. Mowing is a job I despise, don’t know why, it just pees me off, sometimes my wife does it, because she enjoys it, I whipper snip and empty the catcher though.

January 17

47 minutes ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

Did you sell yours yet Noel?

No, officially on the market today, had lots of interest straight away, it is/was a risk, but a calculated risk (I hope) the agents and a few developer friends are very confident of a sale in a couple of weeks, but as they say “talk is cheap” it goes to auction 18th Feb if not sold before.

January 17

On 1/15/2024 at 8:20 PM, Little_Flatty said:

I was about to google that, but figured it wouldn't end well 🤣

Adding to the taxman list, pelicans also feature on my fish thief list.

Funny, tourist love Pelicans, but…….the first time one sitting around looking cute for photos gulps down you Flathead fillets, they tend to lose their appeal! A few years ago my mate and I were getting Blackfish off “flat rock” at the front of Barrack Point, there is a great pool we use to keep our fish in before cleaning, there was a Pelican sitting very casually while we were adding fish to the pool, I happened to look around just as he gulped down another Blackfish, racing over to the pool, it soon became apparent that our near bag limit catch was now zero! Hate Pelicans!

January 16

13 minutes ago, NewToFishing said:

Bloody oath mate, I could imagine your feeling when you landed it, unforgettable, and those live slimy are amazing even though I've only used them once haha. May I ask what knot you prefer for game fishing, I mean the knot for the hook, I usually use a uni knot for that. I've seen some people use crimping but not sure if that's needed.

Always used the uni knot, been doing so for decades, if tied properly it’s fine. Most of my leaders are only small diameter, so crimping is not needed, my usual Kingfish line is just 24KG straight to the hook, or a swivel and sinker above if there is a need to “force” the down deeper.

January 16

Just now, NewToFishing said:

Bloody awesome kingfish there mate, I didn't know they could grow that big! Hoping to catch one even half the size of that in time. If you remember, how long was the fight? I'm assuming it was on live bait?

Yep, live Slimy, 15KG line, Kingfish don’t fight for a long time, they are very tough, but not long distance, Yellowfin on the other hand can (and do) take hours for a big one, that one was 39KG cleaned, so intact well over 40, (it had lots of guts) possibly even the magic 45 to make the old 100 pound mark?

January 15

The metal spin on filter with the clear bowl on the bottom are pretty common, but, they tend to be much longer in size and often won’t fit on some boats, but the replacement filter is cheap (Easterner branded) those “all in one” are reasonably small by comparison.

January 15

Buy one that’s plastic, not metal because it will corrode and look like crap in no time. The Easterner brand is at best OK, some of their filters are a bit sus, some seem fine, I have used them a couple of times but prefer a known brand.

January 14

I was just mulling this over….during my (too many) decades of fishing, I have caught some very memorable fish, but, some of the best times are the funny things that happen along the way (members like FrankS will know what I mean) just to relate an example, way back in the wild days of fishing “the Banks” my mate and I were setting up to anchor, I was the “anchor boy” at the time, up front and looking forward to direct him where I wanted to go. I was pointing and yelling “left….left” but he wasn’t turning, I started shouting, but we were just veering off course, I turned around to give him a mouthful, but he wasn’t there…….he was a dot off the stern, drifting with the raging current. Turns out, he leaned over to wash his hands and went in head first, boat still in gear, I pooped my pants and got to the controls as fast as I could and went to pick him up! Now it’s one of our best memories, the 39KG Kingfish in my profile was caught on that day, but….its him falling overboard that stole the show! The biggest Kingfish I have ever caught doesn’t even rate a mention when we talk about that day.

January 14

Something that comes after years of fishing, the most fish is not necessarily what it’s all about, keeping enough for a feed or to give to someone who doesn’t fish is perfectly fine, but, keeping everything you catch, then tossing a lot away because you caught something better, is not (to me) why I go fishing. Sunrise on a beach, a perfect cast, a laugh with mates, showing a kid how to fish, seeing “things” others don’t is what fishing is to me now, sometimes the simplest thing can make a life long memory, sure a trophy fish is the goal, but to me, fishing is a “long game” a single fish along the way tops it off.

January 13

Just another “add on” being garden type people, we will be getting my mate in with his excavator to remove everything (almost) to start again in our style, there’s lots of plants that are a pest long term, Yuccas, Golden Cane Palms and a Gum tree right on the fence line, and a Hibiscus where I want to reverse the boat. Even thought about a battery mower, anyone know much about them?

January 13

6 minutes ago, Green Hornet said:

Very nice Noel and seems like a great price for a location like that. I’m sure you’ll be happy there and a nice easy lawn to mow is a bonus.

Yep, the lawns were a downsize, when we add a pool it will be even less,( mind you, we don’t have a huge lawn now) then a big undercover entertaining area, a couple of bathroom modifications, change the colour scheme and it’s all our style. The bathroom will be tricky, the ensuite bathroom has the vanity removed for wheel chair access, and it has hand rails, so when they are removed, 3 tiles will need to be replaced (there is spares) but when regrouted it might stand out? and the plumbing for the vanity is tiled over, so that will be “interesting” at least it backs on to the walk in robe, so cutting a hole will not be a disaster as such, but I will look into that before we contact the Plumber.

January 13

5 hours ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

That is massive and cheap at that price!
We could almost hold a raider social there Noel

Hey, any time, for a Raider social, plenty of room to launch “yaks” easy fly fishing, decent rock fishing and good beach fishing, all within walking distance, and boat launching in Lake Illawarra 10 minutes, Shellharbour 5 minutes, plus a park with BBQ and so on, one house away.. For us, it’s a “downsize” in many ways, it’s not perfect, but pretty close to it for us right now. We know the owners well, the husband has unfortunately got MS and they are moving to a ground floor “assisted” living unit fairly close by. Most houses on Barrack Point rarely go on the market, most go to the kids and they build units to live in, or know someone who wants to buy. It’s kind of funny, but when the grandkids were in primary school, I would take them to the park before school for a swim and cook breakfast on the BBQ or take cereal and milk, they loved it.

January 13

Just to add for the fly fishers here, that little bridge over the water is where I fly fish, at low tide it’s dry and there is green weed covered small rocks scattered around, with crabs and small prawn things under them, at high tide is waist deep and provides great fishing (at times) all the way past the bridge to the ocean is sand flat and a channel to “prospect” When a high tide coincides with daylight or dark, Nippers (pumped behind my house) fished there are deadly for Whiting and Blackfish. During summer (now) it gets packed with families swimming and picnickers in the park you can see. From the overhead shot, if you follow the street up towards the ocean, you will see a left fork with some Pine trees, (hate those trees) my house is just beyond those Pines, if you zoom in you can see my boat on the foot path. So as you can see, fishing and swimming is really no different, the view is nothing compared to what I have now, but…….its time

January 13

It’s a done deal, moving late March. Our house is ready to go now, officially for sale Monday, hoping it sells quick. Then adding personal touches to the new place, a bit of a change in colour scheme and so on. Here is a link to the new place.

https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-barrack+point-143811212

January 13

Squid in Kiama Harbour, Flathead in Minnamurra.

January 12

35HP is way too small, something like a 60 would be way better, a 35 is only ever going to be ploughing along, not up on a clean plane.

January 12

Scaled, filleted, rolled in flour, cooked until skin crispy, a few chips and salad, all done. Nothing beats Whiting, Blackfish and Bream, fresh and cooked simply.

January 12

While the above it true, sometimes a “soft” approach will get fish where attempted brute force will fail, caught literally thousands of Kingfish over the years, including shallow water and off the rocks, in shallow water a low drag will almost certainly beat a “pliers tight” every time, people need to stop watching fishing movies.

January 11

I kind of agree, there’s heaps around there, just small-ish 1.5m or so, see one almost every time I dive there, especially on the Ocean side away from the Blowhole.

January 10

Lots of Kingfish there, but it’s rough bottom and shallow-ish water, landing them is difficult (as you found out), lots of Sharks there too, so the possibilities are a Shark as well, dived there hundreds of times.

January 10

Probably the only time I am aiming for “whatever is there” is when I an drifting waiting for my crab traps, I just drift anywhere near the traps, a bean sinker running to a swivel, 8-10lb line, a long shank hook and a packet of frozen Prawns. Most times we end up with a Flathead or two, maybe a Whiting or legal Bream, but fishing is not the goal, crabbing is, drifting just fills in time.

January 9

Just now, Fab1 said:

You have it all planned out.

I find with fishing you’re likely to catch anything with anything even in the same spot as I’ve proven to myself many times or nothing at all.

Remember the old wall in the lake where the fishing platform is now? We use to fish there for “anything” using different baits and have caught flathead, bream, tailor, whiting, blackfish,flounder, at various times sitting in the same spot using the same bait.Other times fishing the same spot and baits we haven’t even had a nibble.

This has happened to us everywhere we’ve been fishing so it tells me if the fish are there you will catch them fishing anywhere from any spot.Maybe I have it all wrong I don’t know that’s what I’ve found anyway.

Yes, I agree fully….up to a point, these days if I am going spinning for (say) Flathead, the method, location and gear is opposite to if I am after Whiting, of course there’s times when you catch a variety of fish on all sorts of gear, but (to me) to be consistently successful you need to “specialise” and fish accordingly. Beach fishing to me is a Whiting only affair (with maybe a Tailor session now and then) so all I take is long shank hooks, Beach Worms and a light rod, if I was to (say) use Squid or Pilchards on ganged hooks for bait, my Whiting chances are at best minimal, if you see where I’m coming from? If Flathead spinning, I am fishing to totally different location to where Whiting will be, not saying they are not swimming around, but the lure size and “zone” I target is polar opposite.

January 9

I think once you become used to fishing the same spot for the same species, it’s easy to simplify/downsize, I have been fishing for Bream off the rocks with nothing but my rod and trusty bucket, and another couple of fishermen turn up, weighed down with tackle boxes, an armful of rods, back packs and all sorts of gear. They always ask how I’m going and what am I catching, I say “Bream” they usually reply that they are going to catch anything around! That to me indicates a “cast and hope” type with no real plan or species in mind, and invariably, they will be going home empty handed or with a bag of rubbish fish (in my opinion)

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