Slawman

That is awesome, its stories like this that keep me fishing......thank you!

Interesting, I have a few boat wiper motors that might do the trick.....

Hi All, I have a few game reels sitting around gathering dust and have started to research how I might use them for deep dropping by putting a motor onto one or two. All I have found so far is a maddly expensive setup from Hooker Electric: https://hookerelectric.com/product/penn-international-50-detachable/ And a more reasonably priced (but still US) one here: https://www.fishwinch.com/electric-fishing-reels Has anyone any knowledge of this modification and in particular if there are any Australian suppliers? I have half a mind to rig something up myself in the garage, not much to loose!

That was a sweet by-catch mate!

The jackets are great for the kids. I am amazed at how voracious they are. A number 6 sabiki works pretty well if you want to pull in a few at a time but they end up eating the swivels...... I will keep the gummy idea in mind the next time we are out, thanks!

Great catch Berrero, What bait were you using? Do you use Berley?

We were swinging at Kingies today however I have hooked all sorts of stuff at Colours. Last week we got a Barracuda and a Sargent Baker. You can also get onto squid when they are there.

Hit the water around 5.30 this morning after some debate whether the wind was too strong. Usual run to our livey spot was uneventful and it wasn't long before we had a tank full of nice little yakkas. Interesting they seemed a lot easier this morning than they have for the last month, no idea why as we are doing the exact same thing. We headed straight to the colours and dropped a couple of baits, there was nothing interesting on the sounder except what looked like a decent bait ball on the first pass. We thought it may be squid as the yakka was gone on retrieval and my son thought he felt the tell-tale sign of squid pulling every now and again. On the next pass we put down a squid spike but still nothing (but yakka gone).... Tried one more pass for nothing then went across to the artificial where the boats were however still nothing on the sounder... two drifts across the structure for nothing and with the wind a little strong and no one with any action that we could tell it was off to hunt for some Kingies in the harbour. Tried all the usual spots.......nothing except hoards of leather jacket. I have never seen anything strip a soft plastic or live bait so fast, it was like swarms of piranha. They would even have a chew at the knots on the tackle. So that was it for today, officially a dud for fishing but there is no other way I would rather spend a Sunday morning. Tight lines all!

Do the fish still hang out there for a while when the FAD comes in?

Well I have had another 15 or 20 hours up with these pedestals and probably at the point where I have almost forgotten what the fixed seats were like. Out to 12 mile, a few round trips to long reef and Whale. We are now running 5 knots faster in mild seas (1m swell/1m chop) which is just because it is now more comfortable. They work over a pretty wide weight range, I had my brother in law out the other day and he is around 100kg and they work well with my son and he is about 70kg. I am in the middle. They are a distinct upgrade on a little ally boat in my opinion and well worth considering if you like a softer ride and head offshore every now and then.

I have been using a Lowrance G2 HDS 8 for chart, sounder and side-scan for the last few years. After looking at an upgrade for a short while. I have recently started to use an iPad with the Navionics app for my chart to give me more screen real-estate for the chart and sounder. So far (3 months), this is a good combo for me. The app needs to have a few more features (Heads-up lock, trace always on) but aside from that the chart is better on the iPad with easier interface and much better screen resolution. As long as Navionics keeps listening to feedback and evolving their app/s (which they seem to be doing atm) I probably won't be looking back. I am keeping my eye out for the first practical CCTV fish finder where we can see the fish swimming and how they are interacting (or not) with our baits.....

For me it depends on what I am doing with the boat and the complexity of the engine. If I was only staying local and puttering about ie. a breakdown is something that is unlikely to put me or the crew at risk, I might have a go at servicing myself (and have in the past). I am currently spending a lot of my time offshore and sometimes coming in just before weather closes in. An engine failure could turn out to be a major (safety) issue for me so I would want to minimise the chances of that happening by using a qualified mechanic. For example, at my last service the mechanic picked up a failing starter which would have stopped the engine running. I would not have picked that up....

Something like this. Just make sure it has no metal shaft or if it does it is stainless (can't tell from the promo). https://www.bunnings.com.au/aquapro-ap750lv-water-feature-pump_p2810056 There's also a Pondmax Evo 11 Series Low Voltage Pump which should work. Eheim and Tunze make them also but they are more expensive (but very reliable). These are generally not self priming but are very quiet....

Perhaps consider a silent pump. You only need around 10x circulation ie. 500lph and there are a few 12v options which are virtually silent (submersible aquarium pumps for saltwater). Mounting the pump on anything which will reverberate should be avoided. I have done both and much prefer flicking a switch to using a bailer over a session however the bailer will surely work.

Well just to close off on this, I ended up going with a Seaspension setup as I wanted to keep the pedestal setup and not go to a box. I am very happy with the improvement and it has made a positive difference to the ride. Still using the legs on occasion however it is now more comfortable to sit under most situations.

Some great feedback there thanks Guys. I must say I was surprised to see so little discussion on this particular item on forums in Australia. The concept seems to be a lot more widely discussed on US forums and quite a few purpose built solutions available over there. There are a few local solutions like the Relaxn base, waverider post and "Wave Master" but very little user experience or qualitative feedback on whether these systems stack up. I imagine it is the sort of thing that could easily only partially work and therefore be a giant waste of money ie. if the system bottoms out a lot as fish2relax has said, that would probably wreck it for me and I would just end up standing up. It certainly sounds like a concept, if it works, that I would be prepared to throw a few bob at. At the moment the only time I am riding in a 22 foot fiberglass enclosed is late at night in my dreams....

Hi all, I am posting here to see if there are any experiences in the forum on seating suspension systems. I have been researching this over the last few weeks and there seem to be very little Australian experience (that I can find) with these systems. I have been looking at Seaspension, Shockwave, Shark, Relaxn and a few others. There certainly seems to be a lot to chose from and not easy to determine what might be suitable from local experience. I run a 550 Formosa (aluminium) and find the thought of smoothing out a 2 meter chop very appealing....:) Do any members have these fitted or have experience using them? Many thanks in advance for your consideration.

Hi all, It looks like i may get some time to hit the harbour later this week. Just wondering if the usual squid spots still produce in Winter? I was thinking of giving them a go maybe just a bit deeper? I am in a boat.

Anything on the sounder?