Mike Armour

I dived there a few weeks back and saw 3 lying together. Heres a pic of the big female. Sorry about the reflection as its a pic with my phone off my monitor. This was approx 900-100cm

Brittle star

Nice blue Josh, Well done especially on light gear.

If your going to roll it then you should look at the International Perfection paint range. Its a retail product and comes with all the instructions. I've seen some excellent results from it. Mike

Fantastic Pics. I can't wait to swim with some marlin while were out. The hardest thing will be to stop the crew from chucking out a livey before I get some shots.

Hey Daniel son its rare to get a rainbow runner this far south. they make great skip baits for marlin. We saw a manta ray off Sydney on the week end too. Mike

Thanks guys, Sorry i messed up a little down loading them on. I managed 8 dives over there in the 5 days I had and had a ball. I was going to go fishing there on a 34 blackwatch when I saw the gameboat come in full of flags until I asked what they caught. Mostly striped tuna and baracuda. I wasn't relly interested in catching bait so I did a few more dives. Cheers, Mike Hey snag your profile pic of the yellow fin is at the Shang ra la where I stayed. heres a better photo of the Lion Fish

Hi Guys, Just came back from a trip to Fiji. Thought some people might like the diving photos as there were'nt many fishing ones. Cowry More photos

Aah well its time again to start hitting my local river the Nepean. I went out on Sunday morning for a few hours for a flick to see what was around. Hit the water at 430 and wasn't long before the bass were smashing the surface lures. All around 30-35. Once the sun came up everything went quiet until this one scoffed my surface lure down. Went 46cm. Great day out well worth getting up on a Sunday at 4 for.

Looks like the slimey was attacked by a squid. They often go for the gut area.

100% Perfect example of a Stripe. Its been a bit quiet round Sydney so you did well.

Hi xib, We were fishing out of Jervis on the weekend and found although there were quite a few fish around the bait was scattered and had to work hard to catch fish. Your leader is relative to the line clss that your usig. 300lbs would be ok if you were using 37kg like alot of boats we saw. A good sounder is important when bait fishing as you will get far more hookups whe fishing over the top of a productive bait school. When the bait is deep as it was Sunday you can also try breakaway sinkers or stop the boat and let the slimies swim down towards the bait school. You can intice a bite by jigging up a full string of slimies. You will increase your hookup rate usig a good circle like an eagleclaw, and as warnie has said there is no rush take your time and go easy. No need for any striking. If you don't quite understand how a circle works try put a rigged one in a bucket and pull it out fast in the opposite direction. Then try it slowly. Good luck with it on yoiur next trip.

Etch primers have low volume solids. That means that the solvent content is very high. This is why they will cause another paint to blister. The paint thats on there is probably an enamel alkid type paint and could contain lead so a respirator should be used when sanding. If you strip the paint back first with paint stripper, sand lightly, prepsol then apply the etch and whatever top coat you like. I have heaps of colours of two pack left over from jobs in the Penrith area and I'm willing to sell it for $10 per litre plus hardener. Mike

Caught three in total on jigs. Don't let the jigs sit still as we lost about 4 to the dreaded jackets and my lucanas jigs got torn to shreads. Tackle shops must love these fish

We went out for a fish yesterday out from Botany. The 20 knot forecast didn't eventuate so headed offshore with our first stop at the peak. After sounding out some fish our first drop resulted in two nice kings going a metre and one just under. Not long after I gave it a go on a new T curve 3-6 snapper rod and sol 4000 and hooked up solid again with a 1m king coming onboard after a good battle. Things went quiet about an hour after the tide change so headed out to 12 mile in perfect conditions. Couldn't find any kings there ut did spot some finicky dollies under a fish trap. Wouldn't take any cubes and we didn't stop to pick up any livies. Sign of good things to come. Spotted some surface activity o the way back in in 40 fathoms with a large school of slimies in a pocket of 23.5 degree water so I wouldn't be surprised to here someone saw a marlin on the weekend or very soon. The weather man got the southerly forecast and it his fast. Din't make mouch difference to us in a 7m boat but we saw it coming after we were invaded with a plague of thousands of insects offshore. We suggested to a 4m tiller steer that he should head in as he was about 3km north of the heads but he seemed to think he knows better. Never saw him get back in but I wouldn't like to be in his boat. Water looks great out there and shouldn't be too long before we hit the water for some marlin. Cheers , Mike

Hi Miller, There are plenty of people that have been fishing the Nepean for years and not pulled out the elusive 50cm fish including myself. Well done mate on a very special fish. Matty, you see the odd person cleaning a bass here or there but in my opinion there are much better eating fish around. I believe the bag limit is 2 also so not much of a feed. Mike

Great Catches Greg, I spent a week in port stephens last week and spent one morning chasing reds at Broughton Island for zip. I was told the water was too warm. Is temperature a major contributor to catching snapper? and how do you determine when is good time to fish this way? Thanks, mike

Went for as fish at devlins on saturday. Got on the water at 4.30 and paddled down streem only to find that thick floating weed completely across the river for as far as the eye could see. My brother and I are ex canoe and kayak paddlers up to a national level but we couldn't get through it. Got a few before the weed but it was hard going. Hopefully the weed eater gets out there soon. Mike

Left home at 4am to put in a big day Monday. Drove to Kiama. Fished wide and soon had 5 on the deck. Swapped to 8kg and tagged the another 10 fish. Great day out but I need another day off to recover.Home at 930pm. With everything happening cleaning the deck tagging catching fish. Heavy down pours of rain I didn't get any shots. The fish were smallish 25 to 35kg but good sport on 8. Mike

Looks like a stripe. Either way its good to here a few fish are still being caught. Nice one.

The only thing I wouldn't do on Inhlanzi's list is N0 3 remove the safety chain before going down the ramp. Depends on your boat and trailer but I would leave it on whenever the trailer is going in or out.

Here is the Liberal policy regarding fisheries. So far the Labor party has kept very quiet about theirs. Why? Because they have made deals with the Greens which we will find out if they are elected. The greens think fishing and hunting are barbaric and will never give up on the rec fisho. b]Strengthening and protecting Australia’s fisheries [/b] The Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation, Senator Eric Abetz, today announced that a re-elected Coalition Government will put in place a comprehensive plan to strengthen and protect Australia’s valuable commercial and recreational fishing sectors. In addition, a re-elected Coalition Government will continue to build on our current highly successful approach to combating illegal foreign fishing. “Australia’s fisheries are some of our most valuable natural assets,” Senator Abetz said. “Our seafood industry generates more than $2.2 billion annually at the point of first sale, and supports tens of thousands of jobs, particularly in regional areas. “And the health benefits of eating seafood are becoming increasingly apparent.” A re-elected Coalition Government will further strengthen our seafood industry by: • Developing a $10 million National Aquaculture Development Strategy to boost the value of aquaculture in Australia; • Establishing a $4 million Environmental Recognition Fund to assist the Australian seafood industry to capitalise on its premium environmental performance; • Expanding fuel tax credits to provide for a 100 per cent credit for petrol used in eligible commercial fishing and fish farming activities from 1 July 2008, and a 50 per cent credit for previously ineligible activities such as processing and refrigeration of seafood onshore (with a full tax credit to apply for these activities from 1 July 2012); • Establishing a Productivity Commission Inquiry into the regulation of Australia’s wild catch fisheries to ensure the regulatory frameworks across all States and Territories and the Commonwealth allow Australian seafood businesses to compete in the current economic environment while at the same time ensuring sustainability of fish stocks and the marine environment; • Developing a National Climate Change Adaptation Plan for Fisheries; • Changing Commonwealth fishing laws to improve the security of statutory fishing rights and streamline allocation processes; • Providing funding of $7.9 million for a full buyout of non-islander licences in the Torres Strait fin fishery to provide for full islander ownership of licences in the fishery; • Providing funding of $7.9 million to increase islanders’ share of the Torres Strait Tropical Rock Lobster Fishery while also managing Australia’s obligations to Papua New Guinea under the Torres Strait Treaty; and • Providing up to $600,000 over three years to encourage the development of a broad based and inclusive national seafood industry peak body. “Recreational fishing is one of Australia’s favourite pastimes, with more than three million people wetting a line at least once a year,” Senator Abetz said. “It’s also an important – and often underrated – contributor to regional economies.” To further enhance the recreational fishing experience, a re-elected Coalition Government will: • Provide an additional $15 million to extend the highly successful Recreational Fishing Community Grants Programme for a further three years; • Update the National Recreational Fishing Policy to ensure it provides contemporary, practical guidance on issues important to the recreational fishing community; • Provide up to $600,000 over three years to Recfish Australia – Australia’s peak recreational fishing body – to support its important role of providing high quality advice on recreational fishing issues to the Australian Government; and • Oppose a levy on recreational fishing, or “tackle tax”. “Since committing an additional $603.8 million to tackle illegal foreign fishing in Australia’s northern waters, sightings of foreign fishing vessels have declined by a massive 90 percent,” Senator Abetz said.

It's a big jump to go from a few miles off shore to going to Browns. You should have a VHF radio to get regular weather updates from the coast guard/Patrol. A few years back we were at Browns fishing for yellowfin in our 6.5 metre boat when the weather went from a 10-15 knot wind to a 40 knot westerly. We didn't have our VHF turned on and the coast guard was trying to contact us to warn us of the weather change. It took 4 hours to get back in 3 metre waves breaking over the front of the boat every 10 seconds. Alot of boats got caught out that day and a few went down. I just hope with the popularity of bluewater fishing increases that people don't become complacent. I think you should go out a few times with someone competent and ask lots of questions or book a ride with Ross or Glen. If your not confident then I don't think its fair to put the lives of your crew in danger for a fish. My 2 cents worth. Mike

Now this is a dollie