Mick

We had our chances to get the Hawkesbury and Sydney Harbour when the rfa submissions were requested a few years back but as always most fisho's do a lot of talking and not much responding. Considering Sydney harbour is the most fished water way in Australia and the hakesbury would be right up there to, with 100's of thousands of anglers using these water ways yearly I thought we would have walked this one in. But to those who dont know guess how many submission were received by fisheries from all these fisho's and there friends and family. 50'000 maybe, but wait a minute, what about all the people who visit Sydney for a fish on their holiday, their votes should have kicked the number up to about 100'000. Well if you were guessing some thing close to these numbers you were a little out. Fishing has the biggest population of participants in any sport and I'm sure that if we were able to calculate the number who have wet a line, the numbers would be astronomical. But here's the part that cracks me up, of all these people, only a total of 443 submissions were received supporting a full or partial pro closure of Region 6 which was Sydney Harbour and the Hawkesbury. and my family put in 6. The pro's won the vote with 898 votes supporting commercial fishing in these areas. All people had to do was to ask for a submission form fill it in and post it back. The pro's obviously wanted it more then the fisho's and they got it. All I can say is good on them.

I'm with NRMA and more then happy with them, I've been through the plastic bag on intake motor explode scenario and they were great. I was able to talk to the assessor through the whole process and he was great. He is not an nrma employee but is contracted by them to look at boats, he went out of his way to look at my motor a few days earlier then expected and got the whole process underway and completed very quickly. I have to agree none of the people you speak to on the phone know much about boats, except the acutal assessor, but it doesnt really surprise me as they are not meant to, as they are sales people dealing with all types of insurance. What does matter is when the they come through with the goods and offer quick reliable service. Every thing on the boat is covered on the one policy, sounders, radio and any thing else which is attached to the boat is classed as the hull. So all you do is incorporate their value in to the value of the hull. An electric value is incorporated in to the motor value with the main engine. Very simple stuff.

The MK have a compass in them, but it is not a compass that recognises exact points such as N,S,E,W. It will hold course where ever you point it, so it doesnt matter what continent you happen to be on, you point it a point in the distance and it will hold that course.

I replace mine every 6 months, it is not a difficult or expensive excersise about $20 a wheel for parts. I had a set collapse after 6 months on a brand new trailer so I dont trust them any more. On longer trips I also carry a spare hub with a set of greased bearings installed ready to go, so if a bearing goes it is as easy as changing a wheel. A new hub and bearing kit costs less then $50 and gives peace of mind when travelling long distances especially at night.

It will certainly hoot with the optimax hanging off the back :yikes:

Great stuff Snag :ohyeh: . What colour did you end up going with

Ken, Why did they need your old deck/anchor hatch for a template. Surely these are standard items which they could ship to you the next day, once approved under warranty.

I didn't read the submission but had a quick look at the Byron proposal map and there is a lot of area classed as "Sanctuay Zone." All types of fishing is prohibited in a sanctuary zone.

I would probably drop it down a few mm so it is sitting in the channel and is grabbing clean water, you will be surprised how much better the reading will be. It looks to be a fair distance from your keel so your boat should be able to run aground without the transducer getting knocked. Even if it does get hit it should only flip up. If your mounting doesn't aloow the transducer to flip up then it would be a good idea to grab one that does. I have belted my tranducer hundreds of times and it still works fine (touch wood)

Dales, right about the email upgrades, I got an X37 a few weeks back off ebay ($400 :naughty: delivered) and I registered it with huuminbird USA and have seen received upgrade emails.

I'm in the market for a similar rod as well to go with a calcutta 100, primarily to be used with 1/4-1/2 ounce spinnerbaits. I haven't started looking yet as I am still trying to work out a couple of bream sticks as well which take priority at this stage. Decisions decisions :confusuion:

There's nothing like fishing with your kids. The little bloke loves his bream spinning, hasn't got the casting bit yet, but once the lure is in the water, he can retrieve it with out a problem. The below picture is a gold coast bream he caught last year. After I cast the lure, I handed the rod to him and he did the rest :thumbsup:

Below is part of an article on super trawlers which shows just how effective these floating factories are. They have pillaged european waters, third world country waters, so it looks like they are working their way around the globe like a disease. Super trawler joins fleet of floating fish factories by Eddie Cassidy, Marine Correspondent A FATHER and son are set to launch one of the world’s most ambitious fishing projects later this year when their £50 million trawler takes to the waters off South Africa. Equivalent in size to Croke Park stadium, the vessel will be targeting fisheries outside EU waters and will initially operate in seas off Third World countries. The Atlantic Dawn will join an elite fleet of super trawlers which, despite representing less than 2% of the world’s 3.5 million fishing boats, have the capacity to seize almost 60% of the global catch. The vessel, built by the Kevin McHugh shipyard in Killybeggs, is so large it will be capable of landing enough stock every day to feed 14 million people. Believed to be the world’s longest fishing vessel, the ship has a 24 metre beam and main engines with 20,000hp to propel a gross weight of 13,500 tonnes. With the first phase now complete at the Umoe Sterkoder shipyard in Norway, the new superboat will employ about 100 people onboard, including engineers and processing workers. Achill Island born McHugh is already internationally established as the owner of Ireland’s only other factory ship, the 100 metre long Veronica

I think Brent was with him, I heard a few stories about his boat treatment... :confusuion: That''s not Jesse''s old boat, his was a browny tan colour and I think the company owner is currently using it in the comps. To the boat builders credit, from what I heard it had a very hard life but is still going strong. I heard some scary crunches as it was run up on to a rocky Glenbawn shore during the ABT comp earlier this year

The only place that has got one at the moment is Huett Marine at Cowan. They have a drive away price of just under $30,000 with a 75 etec (which is a good motor choice).

Hi Buz 470 pro tournament elite Mick

QUINTREX 435 HORNET TROPHY (2002 model) Factory Paint (Green) Side pocket Bilge Pump Navigation Lights Switch panel Saftey Gear (PFD’s, Anchor, paddle,etc) Lowrance X51 (2003 model) 180 Amp Deep Cycle Battery under front casting deck for electric. Minnkota 55AP Riptide Electric motor with quick release bracket (Still under warranty) Honda 50HP ( Late 2003 model) tiller steer fully serviced. Key start PTT (Still under warranty) The Honda is the same as the current model with the warning gauges on the handle. Custom colour coded boat cover (green). Cost $500 Dunbier 4.7 wideloader drive on trailer 13 inch wheels, white plastic guards (2003 model)

Mick,I''m looking at a Stacer, I''m sure you can recommend them . I''m a bit reluctant to get rid of the hornet though, as it got me to the Bream GF last year and the final five of the Sydney Open this year, so she has served me well. Byron, I''ll send you a PM, when I''m going to sell, if you have''nt picked up one before hand. Mick

I know where you may be able to pick up a nice little green 435 Trophy in a few weeks