noelm

Yep agree, it makes a huge difference to the texture of the flesh and the taste, fish like (say) Kingfish and Tuna benefit greatly from icing ASAP, more common table fish like Flathead, Bream and Snapper return a much firmer flesh than ones just left in a bucket, cleaning and so on is also easier.

Freezing plastic bottles of water is a good idea, they don't melt and make a mess, and there's always the possibility of emergency drinking water. I just use square ice cream containers, or square buckets to make ice, when crabbing, a 10l bucket of ice, plus a bag from the servo keeps crabs fresh until the boat is washed and put away and the cooker is ready to go, the crabs are ready to cook being in the ice. You only have to look at photos to see fish sitting in a no ice esky, or a bucket of sea water on the deck.

Something that has always puzzled me, is why people don't take ice to keep fish fresh in the esky/kill tank? Fish in an esky with no ice do not keep cool, in fact, during summer they will simply get warmer, just like using seawater to keep your catch, water temps are still above 20 degrees, let's say you fish for a few hours, would you leave your fish in the sun for hours? A bag or two of ice is probably the cheapest part of fishing, if you're that tight, make your own, the quality of the catch will improve considerably if looked after when captured.....rant over!

Sorry, misunderstood your post.

Both those species are possible from a 'yak, time, persistence and more time will see you sus out Bream, Kingfish might be a bit harder, but certainly possible, not too sure about out west though.....

I guess in a way, it's quite complicated, yet quite simple at the same time. A lot depends on species and location, no use fishing for (say) Drummer around the rocks with 2kg line, just as it's not advisable to fish for Blackfish in a river with 10kg line. It's all about maximising a bite in the first place, against the chance of landing the fish.

There's a couple of reasons why light line gets more bites, one is the fish can't "see" the line and things look more normal, second lures/bait present more natural, rather that be restricted by heavy line and so on. Bream right in close to shore around snags in very shallow water can be quite picky, and lighter line casts better.

The Blue Eye is superior by a long way, Gemfish are OK, but not in the same class (in my opinion)

The Yamaha 70 is a great lightweight engine, same HP (well 75 actually) engine in a Mercury weighs a ton! I have been a part of changing 3 old Evinrude/Johnson 70s to that same Yamaha motor and the Yamaha out performs the old 3 cylinder 2 strokes in every way, especially fuel economy, all have near exact same top speed and lost nothing in towing water "toys"

Did you get a Yamaha?

It's funny how people are worried about a 4 Stoke not being as powerful as their old 2 stroke...until they change over, then all their fears just disappear in a cloud of 2 stroke noise and smoke.

I guess just for kicks, you could place an add on a free site, for considerably more than you really want and see if you get a buyer, you just never know.....

If you feel like it, just wash it with fresh water, it's not going to hurt anything.

I guess what it amounts to is simple, if the price is right, and the item is OK, then it will sell. Facebook is free, but open to low ball offers and tyre kickers, in these times, people will buy because there is short supply of good used boats.

Depends on the time of year, sometimes they are full of crabs and prawns, other times funny looking Worms and small shellfish.

I always fillet and skin Drummer, so the black belly lining gets cut away, but when we used to spear them and cook them on the rocks years ago, we would only gut them, never really noticed any bad taste.

Pretty hard to beat a good sized Drummer on the plate, filleted, skinned and just rolled in flour.......

Royal Reds are my go to bait, because lots of other species eat them, Bream, Blackfish, Trevally, all sorts of by catch are on offer. Cungi is good, because you can get it right where you fish (observe restrictions and methods) bread is convenient and works a treat too.

Drummer can be caught almost anywhere, but as a rule, harder to get to spots fish better (naturally) peeled Royal Red Prawns, bread and Cungi tend to be the best bait, about a number 1 hook and a tiny sinker, or better still no sinker at all.

No need for fancy snelled rigs or flashers, Bonito will take just about anything, other Tuna tend to go for live bait, but can be taken on Pilchards.

Bonito have teeth, but not "cutting" teeth, more holding teeth, but, they can bite pretty good when they're cranky......

I think if I was a newcomer, I would get out and talk to other owners at ramps and places rather than just buying blind from a "salesman" that way you get real life info on what works, what's needed and what's not.

Best to call the airline for real restrictions, they vary according to aircraft, and on some, anything longer than a certain length is not going, I think it's the A320 that has a very tight restriction, on the check in counter there is two little fins sticking up, if your rod tube doesn't fit through them, it's staying home, no exceptions, trust me on how I know this........you can guess and hope, but, talking to the airline is your only real method.

Might pay to say where this place is?

Depending on how urgent it is, the boat show is on soon! (not that I think there's any real specials) but at least you might see a few different brands.