wise one

Its pretty much in the centre of Salamander Bay. Its marked on most charts as it has been there for 50 or so years. You can't really miss it on the sounder as it peaks at 5-6metres and the rest of the bay is flat and 12-13metres.

Went out for a day's lure trolling onboard a mates 34 foot blackwatch out of Broken Bay. Tried for a few livies around Barrenjoey but only managed 2 yellowtail a sweep and some sundry rock dwellers! Out to Broken Bay wide for a quick bottom bash but the leatherjackets were thick and demolished our rigs PDQ! So over to the FAD where we managed a couple of small dollies on the yellowtail then a more decent one (maybe 80cm) on the live sweep Maybe I'll start a trend - forget about yacka's and slimies use sweep and mado! No more live bait so off we shot to The Bait Station. Water was fairly average at 21-22.5 degrees although it was blue. No birds or bait noted. Anyway out when the lures and we all sat back and waited for a strike. Couple of hours later the rigger lure was hit and took maybe 50m of line, as we were clearing the other lures the line went slack I assume the fish had hold of the lure but was not hooked and simply dropped it when it felt the tension. Re-set the lures and probably had 1/2 hour or so to wait for the next strike. This time it was on the shotgun and the "crew" both saw the stripie following the lure for a few seconds before grabbing it in a side swipe and taking off. This time it was well hooked and set about turning the ocean surface to foam with a string of jumps before sounding and slugging it out deep for 20 minutes or so. Eventually we managed to get the marlin to the side of the boat for a few photos, a swim and release. Nice marlin on fairly light tackle (15kg). As we reset the lures the shotgun was again slammed but immediately went slack - we free spooled and worked the lure but the culprit didn't come back for another go. Oh well 3:2:1 aint bad on lures and we certainly had a great day out with nice sunny weather and pretty calm seas.

YES - caught the slimy (a nice fat 30cm model) out at Cabbage Tree Island then got the longtail at the Wreck in Salamander Bay.

We certainly enjoyed the sushi Saturday night and the grilled steaks Sunday night were great too. With all tuna, the key is "fresh" and either raw or, if cooked, use a high heat and leave it pink/raw in the centre. The other issues are to make sure it is well bled on capture and to get its temperature down quickly post killing (ie get it into an ice slurry). This is often hard with a large fish and may well lead to the "indifferent" comments from some people. I've eaten yellowfin and albacore and certainly rate the longtail right up there with yellowfin in the raw and grilled areas. In fact, converse to some I don't particularly rate albacore - I reckon its drier than yellowfin.

Managed my first longtail in NSW waters on Friday. Perfect end to a quiet week's fishing at Port Stephens. Fantastic weather, calm seas - very relaxing. Went circa 15KG (guestimate as I didn't weigh it). Nice sushi and BBQ steaks!

SOLAN (Celtic name for the Gannet - one of the best fish catcher at sea!) Scout 205 SF with everything!

Thanks guys As always - the members of Fishraider are friendly and helpful!

I'm installing a GPS on my new boat and can readily fit the antenna on top of the radio box on the T-top but under the canvas (as there is a 3cm gap between the top of the radio box and the canvas cover). I'm guessing that the GPS reception should be OK and not seriously affected by receiving through canvas - anyone got any comments on this?

Correct! See here for full spec: http://www.ford.com.au/servlet/ContentServ...e&c=DFYPage

I believe the manufacturers recommended max tow weight is 1,500KG (braked). In NSW at least, towing anything heavier than that would invalidate your insurance. I'd think long and hard before towing 6m+ boats..... Always reckon on having the tow vehicle heavier than the boat, that way the boat is far less likely to "push" the vehicle around. Also make sure you have good brakes on the trailer when you start towing a couple of tonnes!

But then Mercury Verado claim they are "best" too...... http://www.mercurymarine.com/look_deeper/h...57&Filter=3 Far to much "smoke and mirrors" and "lies, damn lies and statistics" for me At the end of the day, ALL of the modern DI 2 strokes and 4 strokes are great, fuel efficient, quiet and reliable engines. The way you use, look after and maintain the engine (and your fuel) will probably have more impact on its operation that any of these claims and counter-claims. My new boat will have a 175HP Suzuki on the back. Reasons: 1. Largest displacement in its class - low stress on the engine 2. Variable Valve Timing to improve torque over RPM range whilst maintaining fuel efficiency 3. Frightened of low CC supercharging - too much stress on the engine... 4. Total lack of 2-stroke smell even when trolling downwind (even the e-Tec has a "whiff" of oil) 5. It swings a large prop (through double reduction in gears) thereby improving economy 6. It's a nice colour

I had to replace the windscreen on my (now sold) 6.4M Centre Cabin. In the end, I contacted the manufacturer and got them to send me one - I then fitted it myself. Might be worth contacting the manufacturer???

Water temp was 19.5 inside the shelf and up to 20.5 around and past Browns. Good colour with a fair few "sparklers" (plankton) drifting by. Looked good, although no birdlife. Actually a lot more life between 8 and 10 miles offshore than out past the shelf. I'm guessing it was only dolphins and striped tuna though.... These days its a brave man that starts cubing inside the shelf

Out to Browns yesterday. But first needed to get a few livies. This proved very difficult with the usual haunts around the Harbour green and lifeless. Eventually managed a few outside North Head. So we left for Browns at 10am with a nice 10-15knt Westerly pushing us along. Pulled up just short of Browns and commenced a cube trail. Put a couple of livies out in the trail and rigged the gelspun outfit with 2kg of lead for a drop to the depths... Drift was fast, but slowed a bit by the parachute anchor. Must have gone straight over the top of the mountain as we had 370m on the sounder - the shallowest I've ever measured at Browns. Anyway after feeling a couple of possible "bumps" on the bottom outfit, I commenced the arduous task of hauling in the 500m+ of line. After 20 minutes of pumping and winding we had the pleasure of "colour" rather than just the weight and empty hooks. Not blue eye but a couple of nice 4-5KG gemfish. A great start to the day. By now we had drifted off Browns into 500m+ of water so didn't bother with another drop and concentrated on cubing for the fin. An hour or so later, both rods went off but unfortunately only one hooked up and we pulled in a small yellowfin of approx 6-7KG. Out with a couple more livies and continued cubing. An hour or so later, we had tentative runs on both rods again, but no hookups. I think the fin were very small and struggling with the XOS yellowtail we were using for bait. They just came in a bit "crushed" and not very happy! One was taken 3 times and "dropped" as I tried to get the fin to really swallow it!!! Back to cubing and it went a bit quiet. Just as we put our last pillie cubes over the side, both rods went off again! This time one hooked up with good weight, but then the line went slack. Reeling it in revealed a neatly "snipped" leader - obviously a mako had grabbed the livie. Pulling in the other line revealed its leader also snipped. So presumably the shark had grabbed both livebaits. Heading back in we had dolphins everywhere and 3 separate whales jumping clear of the water! Wind picked up as we got within 8 miles of the coast and slowed us right down (wouldn't want to be in a trailerboat heading back into the 1-1.5m very steep, sharp chop). Back at the berth, knocked the fillets off the gemfish and tuna, washed the boat down and back home for a well earned drink and watch the NRL Grand Final. Great day on the water, pity Manly didn't do very well in the footy!

I'm going that way too... Love my gamefishing - but it only takes up 10% of my time on the water. The rest is fishing in and around the harbour / inlets for kingies, salmon, flatties etc. My boating "life-cycle" has gone: 17 foot stacer half cabin (purchased 2nd hand and owned for 4 years), sold and replaced with 21 foot Noble Sportsfish centre cabin (purchased new and owned for 6 years), sold and replaced with 26 foot Deep V flybridge on a berth (purchased new and owned for 2 years), now on the market, to be replaced with 20 foot Scout Centre Console Whilst the Deep V is a superb offshore boat and great at gamefishing, its actually ordinary for the 90% of the fishing I do in and around the harbour. I'm really looking forward to going back to a trailer boat and towing it to Bermi, SW Rocks, Port Stephens etc. So - I can really sympathise with those considering downsizing - bigger is not always better! ps anyone interested in a purchasing the Deep V 260 should look here http://www.boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale....aspx?R=2775759

My DeepV 260 with Volvo D4 inboard diesel and duoprop leg delivers approx 1 litre per nautical mile regardless of speed. At 10 knots, I'm burning 10 litres per hour, at 20 knots - 20 litres.

Question is - has ANYONE got any anectdotle stories on raising marlin whilst trolling with eTecs?

It was called Splash when I sold it then renamed Geronimo - so "YES" that was my old rig. She certainly was/is a great trailerable sportsfisher!

Lots of threads on 2-stroke v 4-stroke, eTec's etc. Interesting point re raising marlin. My old boat (a 6.4m Pacific Sports fish with twin Honda 90HP 4-strokes) certainly raised its fair share of marlin. My current boat with a diesel I/O also raises the fish. I too have heard Greenies stories on how his boat with (I think) a 150HP Honda is very "fishy". What is missing from the debate are all the DFI 2-stroke owners (eTec and Optimax) that go marlin fishing too - where are you guys? Do these engines raise marlin or not? Love to hear from you!

Have a look at Noble SuperVee too Pretty special hull on these.

Mmmm Lots of food for thought. I would be VERY INTERESTED in anyone that can give an idea of normal annual servicing costs of (say) a 150 e-Tec, 150 four stroke and 150 Verado. Its tough deciding between fuel efficiency, oil costs, service costs, longevity, etc.

Thanks everyone, definitely going to look at the eTec, also considering the Suzuki DF150 (2.8L block 4S) The boat I'm looking at is the Scout Abaco 262 http://www.sfba.com.au/scoutwa262a.html She's a real beauty and can do 50knots with 300HP on the back (not that I'd be doing that offshore ) I've currently got a DeepV 260 flybridge - great boat but a tad hard to fish two up and not easy to run to the bow to chuck a lure at feeding surface fish. The Abaco appears to offer a great cabin, but still give you an acceptable walkaround. I've had a test drive in the 242 (smaller version) and the walk around is fine without compramising the cabin. It had a 300HP Suzuki with electronic throttle - it was a BEAST I love the wavegate stern which means you can reach around the back of the outboards with a short stroker rod (something you can't do with most large offshore outboard powered craft). Roll on the boat show so I can compare and contrast both motors and alternative boats.

I'm considering trading boats and looking at a large walkaround with twin 150hp outboards. I would like outboards that are quiet, don't smell (like the old 2 strokes), troll well, are fuel efficient, don't cost too much to maintain (not asking too much?) Love the idea of the electronic throttle on the Verados, but think they may be too complex, thirsty and expensive to maintain (forcing pressure in the cylinders must put extra stress of the engine). eTecs sound good - 2 stroke simplicity with 4 stroke quiet. But - do you get the burnt oil smell like you do with old 2 strokes? Are they really as cheap to maintain as they say? 4 strokes - quiet, smooth, economical but a bit pricy to service given the (relative) complexity. Weight is not an issue.