FishDrought

Thanks mate, I was thinking of very mild warming just to ease the side plates back into place but I might just give them a bit of softly softly with the mallet to start with & see if the start to shape up again. Cheers for the advice.. I want to go back out check that post too, see why there were no markers on it.

G'Day Raiders, Hoping someone could advise me on the best way straighten bent Aluminium? is it best to do it either cold or using some heat? I unfortunately had a run in with an unmarked post over the weekend that bent the anchor roller ( I think it is called the bow sprit? at the front of my tinny) it jammed the Anchor against the sides of the roller bending them out of shape. I am about to try & re-bend it but I was wanting to find some info before I attempt it. Any ideas ? Thanks in advance Jas

Hey Buddy, Glad to see all went well with the tow bar fitting, best of luck with the boating. Hope to see you at the ramps one day mate. Regards Jason

Hi Mike, Welcome to the club of fisho's who own a little toy car & still need "want" to tow a boat. I have a 2005 Astra which currently tows my 4.3m Brooker with a 40hp. The package sounds similar in weight to mine & so far (touch wood) Nothing has happened to the three boats I have had on the back. That being said you always have to be more aware then when towing with a standard large car, the yaris being light & front wheel drive will have a tendancy to be 'bounced & jolted" a bit when towing at speed on freeways & highways. Your stopping distance is dramatically increased so always drive with that in mind, utilise your gears for better towing response & most of all just use your own common sense at all times & you will be fine. I have towed my boat down to Croydon from Forster & often launch it from Parsley Bay,Cabaritta, Drummoyne, Tom Ugly's, Kyeemagh, Rose Bay & two ramps in Middle Harbour, so far without incident. I can only speak for myself so here are my essentials: Make sure your brakes are up to the job. Handbrake: Tyres - you really cannot afford to run worn tyres on a slippery boat ramp. A good quality tow bar. I should think you will have no problem towing the tinny, I should have asked if your Yaris was manual or auto? if auto can you fit an oil cooler to it ? As for tow bars I had mine fitted by a company at Strathfield, I am not sure if I can post their details so if you want it just send me a message. Best of luck mate & hope to see another small car on the ramp soon.

Good stuff. We will be in a white Brooker runabout with a blue bimini, with 3 people hanging foul trying to snag a fish. The boat is still un-named at the moment. One more question though where do you launch the boat at? are there many decent boat ramps. I think we will be staying around the souhthern end BB beach resort area

Thanks mate, That is incredibly helpful. Cheers & hope to see you out there maybe. Have a great weekend

G'Day Raider's. I am heading down to Batemans Bay this weekend & taking the tinny (4.3M) with me. I have never fished the area before & I will have my two nephews with me so I would like to put them onto some fish. Unfortunately I have no knowledge of the waterways down there so any general info would be great. Thanks in advance. Jas

Well done mate, A lovely feed there

Hi Raiders, If any members know of a bait and tackle shop at Rose Bay, opening hours etc, could you please pm me the details. A mate is looking to pick up some store bought bait for a run tomorrow. Any info would be great. Thanks

Mate sorry to hear about your loss. I doubt it will make you feel any better but my stupidity offered the fish gods of Botany a brand new Ugly combo on the weekend too. So accidents happen but hopefully a decent fisho may have found your lost rods & will get in contact with you. Best of luck.

Thanks Mate, It is all good now. Sounds like a great idea this comp.

Hi guy's, I just registered but I can't seem to login to pay on the website, is anyone having that problem? Jas

Stunning fish mate,

G'day Mike, Firstly congrats on the decision to buy a boat, I personally think you have to be guided by your budget & your own common sense. I agree with Netic about the build quality of the Stessco, having nearly purchased one last year, a Stessco Skipper 420. kitted out with 40 hp Suzi & on the water for $14k it was the best deal I could find. The Stessco welds I don't think last well if your boat is going to be treated to rough chop, Netic is the third person who I have heard mention the welds breaking. But , I would recommend you consider how far you can safely stretch your budget & what for /where you will be using the boat. I spoke to Huey when I was looking & mate I would have given my left nut for the boat/motor packages he had up there, but honestly my budget just wouldn't stretch that far & Huey doesn't accept bottle caps haha. Have you looked at the Brooker range ? again a cheap bare bones boat but the build quality I found to be better than the Stessco for not a big difference in price, then the Horizon series?. And whatever you choose make sure you shop around as I saw a huge difference between dealers in price & fittings. Cheers Jas

Great report mate. Sounds like a fantastic night

It is bloody nice to see some decent people looking after them.

Hi Michael, PM sent. Like I said not sure when the next trip will be, but if your interested & a spot is there I will let you know. Cheers Jas

Mate, that restoration is an absolute credit to you, congrats on a magnificent job. I hope to see her running about on the water. Cheers Jas

Mate awesome fish, Moving a bloody snake from your favourite spot... now that is what I call dedication.

Or when they drive over your bait lines & half a reel of $$$ braid get wound around their prop ( tragic) . But honestly I have only had two incidents like that most people are running their downriggers with care and are pretty observant of others. Do all riggers bolt/screw into the boat? or can you get ones that clamp on or say lock into a rod holder?

Afternoon All, Just thought I would see who else is heading out for a fish this evening or over the weekend. I might set out with a mate to try the Georges for a jewie & give the rats a bash early at the container wall. Hope to see a few of you guys out there. Have a safe weekend & good luck. Jas

Hi Mate, I recently installed the FF140 my second one over two boats, never had a problem with them....until recently. I did get the sonar failure issue, the only thing I could find wrong was the connection had not be screwed up correctly (my fault) & when entering the boat I had accidently kicked the transducer up. I don't know if that would help you mate, but turn the power off & unscrew it from the back of the finder unit you might want to give it a quick spray with contact cleaner if you want to be extra certain. then carefully screw it back together. I don't know if that will be of any use to you mate. Cheers Jas

Hi fellas, I was planning on taking a mate to the Georges tonight in the tinny, but he got scared & backed out so I might start planning a trip tomorrow night & an ealier run at the kings... I haven't busted my cherry with a legal king yet. Have good trips guy's .

Mate, that is a lovely boat. If I see her on the water you will see a little white tinny turn green with envy haha. Enjoy it. Jas

Sorry should have added, if you are buying bait (live worms from the servo's there) have a look before you buy as they are pretty lean little worms. grab a bunch of good sized worms from your garden before you go, they should make the trip. For trout a tiny bit of aniseed oil just touched on the blade of a selter spinning lure can do wonders for your catch rate. just remember that the Cudgegong is now a proclaimed trout river & as such is protected as a catch & release river during some breeding months. Good call Jewgaffer... I will pay that one . There are some big fish in that dam though. What I would give to be in a boat near the dam wall ... pity it is against the law as I am sure there would be monster size yellows & Cod there. Alas we can dream but I still have to track down a monster Jew first....