noelm

OK, anchoring is different again, anchor on the hard stuff, but so you are fishing near the drop off onto sand/mud/rubble, a bit a searching will find the edges and what wind you can fish them in, use a tiny ball sinker, just big enough to drift to the bottom, running straight to the hook, and once again, about 6-8kg line. Use tiny bits of burley the same as you are using for bait, don’t use a burley pot and put great amounts in the water, a little bit in a steady stream is all you want. A bit of practice and you will find them, fish about 15-20m of water.

OK, you are drifting I guess (going by the paternoster rig) target the edges of reef, not right up on the rough stuff. Toss the Squid and use fish flesh bait, Stripey Tuna is the best. Use just enough lead to hold bottom, use a long sinker dropper so your bait is up off the bottom, don’t use the loop the hook on method, only a single line to hook, about 8-10kg line tops and about a 4/0 suicide hook. We live in a pretty populated area, so some effort is required to be successful. Very early morning or late evening will be more productive. Anchoring is a whole different kettle of fish.

Getting hit up the back is no picnic, it makes you very nervous for a long time. I hope there is no injuries to either party.

Going to your ankles in mud is pretty standard stuff, even near knee deep is considered OK, the issue is shells and Oysters that cut you as you “slide” down in the mud. You need to move “lightly” make your footsteps soft and maximum size, avoid putting all your weight on one foot.

Not too sure where Kiama Heights is, but, small Bonito and Slimies have been in plague proportions for a while now.

Blowing my own trumpet (again) but not only am I the Weber king, but also have the crown for seafood on the BBQ too…….seafood on the Barbie is quite tricky. My Swordfish is to die for, and any Greek folks would kill for my whole Bream over coals, somewhere along the track I lost my folding fish holder gizmo that I use for fish, must buy another one.

Are you planning on moving or a fly in fly out setup? A very good friend works up in Gladstone on a FIFO basis and he “likes” it, doesn’t love it, the money is good, and the time off is good, but, long hours, every day gets old real quick after a while. Do you have a truck license? I have a friend that has an excavation business and is constantly looking for good reliable drivers, money not like the mines, but it’s an opening if you get “stuck”

Pike Eel?? Yeeeww, hate them, would never eat one.

Everything mentioned is gold, making floats, finding secret weed spots, what type of weed they are feeding on this week, where and at what depth are all part of the “secret handshake” population that are Blackfish specialists.

While a centre pin reel is the optimum, thousands of Blackfish are caught on small spinning reels, so, unless (as mentioned) you intend to make them your “thing” I personally would continue using a small threadline for a while until you really start to get serious. A decent rod can be found relatively easily, even second hand I see them often.

You sure do crazy stuff when you’re young and silly……and fit!

Yep, know the exact spot, been there many times. We caught a bag of fish there once and carrying them out (in back packs, or “haversack” back then) and I can’t tell you how many times someone said “lets dump the fish”

Yep, carrying gear was bad enough, but a big fish on your back, going “uphill” is no picnic.

Fat chance…..😁 I’m an Aussie and like supermarket sausages! I know meat.

Just a bit of nostalgia from the old days (lots here will remember this stuff) back in the late 60s (or around then) a couple of Americans came out and in a lot of ways showed us how it was done, and revolutionised gear. We used to jig with sad old rods and Jigmaster reels or maybe Penn Senators, (I used a 4/0 wide Senator) game fishing off the rocks was Alveys, Policanskys (a lever drag reel of dubious quality) maybe an Everol (an Italian made reel that didn’t like water) and that was about it. The Americans came with “radical” action jig sticks, legendary jigs like irons and henchmen, and custom game rods with Penn international reels, which at the time were akin to owning a Rolls Royce…..I consider myself very lucky to not only meet these guys, but actually fished with them (I had a decent boat for camera work) These days you can buy a threadline reel (eggbeater) that would run rings around that old gear, but back then, it was cutting edge! Famous names like “short stroker” and super fast taper “jig sticks” brands like “iron glass” and Fenwick” were starting to become household names.

Yep, lots of big fish caught on Alveys, of course when game reels became affordable and more common, Alveys just died out in favour of lever drags and so on.

A small battery will run all that stuff you mention, and can be charged at home when not in use, for only casual use I wouldn’t bother buying any charging kits and fitting to your motor.

You can never have too many BBQs, cooking for a crowd, I use the Weber for a “chunk” of meat, the standard old Beefeater BBQ for mundane stuff like Sausages, and a small Weber Q type thing for Seafood. Then there is the BBQ that we take away for day trips, and a cheap copy Weber I found on the side of the road that I use for a smoker (sadly it’s gone to god now) it’s like fishing gear or golf clubs, they all do different things. Just on sausages, this is a never ending domestic argument at my place, I like supermarket sausages, no meat, just bread crumbs and sawdust in plastic skins, (I think there is a note on them “caution, may contain traces of meat”) my wife likes proper butchers sausages, full of blubber, fat a gristle in some kind of animal intestine, when you cook them you need to call the hazmat unit because of the stuff that comes out, then bursts into flames…….am I tempting anyone?

I see you use the “indirect” method in the Weber, heat beads either side, tray in the middle and meat over the tray. Seeing as I am the undisputed king of the Weber (well I like to think I am) I do that for Pork, 30 heat beads either side and you will get crackling that will have the guests (freeloaders) asking for more! For Lamb I use 22 beads either side. BBQ ribs I do in foil over a tray with some water in the bottom and sit them on a rack, then when done, remove foil, cook over direct coals and brush with your favourite sauce. I also see you like your meat cooked, not like the “new trend” of burning the outside and leaving the meat raw in the middle, I don’t mind medium, but I am not a huge fan of meat that can near be revived by a vet… Well done on the post and the cooking, we might have to hold a Raider Weber cook off?

Funny…but back in the “old days” Alveys were pretty common off the popular land based spots, those handles spinning around at whipper snipper speed were a real treat to try to slow down.

No, you should not (if you can avoid it) connect a dead battery to a good battery, we all do it at times, but, it’s not the optimum way to go about it.

A really simple one, and common scenario, you have a flat battery, you get the motor started on the other one, then switch back to charge the flat battery.

Are you referring to the place in Jervis Bay?

Just a tip….you do NOT need “headlights” when under way, better to have minimal required legal lighting only, when close to a dock/jetty maybe, but, that’s it, people with light bars mounted on their boats are creating a dangerous situation.

That’s not corrosion from lack of washing or anything like that, it’s poor prep when it was new, and dissimilar metals in contact with each other. Bare aluminium if the correct grade does not need to be painted.