XD351

Ok , first you need to establish what bearings you have - either Holden or ford and the numbers on the bearings will tell you that- my bet is Holden . So first step is to get those numbers and search online , then you can buy hubs with bearings but there is a catch - you can have hubs with Holden bearings and ford pattern wheel studs and visa versa - this was done to give trailer manufacturers a choice depending on what wheels they could source - they used to us second hand rims to keep costs down . You will want 13 or 14 inch rims , 13s are old Holden pattern HG back and everything else is HQ onward thru commodore, ford is different stud size . 13 inch tyres are available but be careful to get either light truck or there is a dedicated trailer tyre available - doesn’t have the drive tyre rating so you can’t use it on a car - I got caught and ended up with tyres that were not rated for the weight I was carrying and had to change them , that being said 14inch are more common now and more available at all tyre shops . You are more than likely going to have to change the guards so you might need someone to do some welding. I can’t name suppliers on here but one starts with super , the other with road or you could look on that popular bay site . so in summary: get hubs with bearings that fit your axle and with a stud pattern that fits your rims , watch out what tyres you buy as some are not suitable - I got mine from a tyre mob called Bob something and make sure everything is galvanised- alloy rims look nice but will cause you grief in the long run . If searching for bearing numbers will cause you grief I will do it for you just let me know the numbers

In my case I have to factor in a journey from the Penrith area to somewhere to collect bait, with the exception of catching poddies , squid , yakkas or collecting weed ( if you can find any ) Sydney harbour is out of the question ( intertidal zone is protected ) so I have to go further a field for nippers and blood/ squirt worms . Pipis on Sydney beaches are hit and miss at best and usually small size , I dare say beach worms will be likewise- anlso very timid and any nipper beds that can be reached by foot cop a flogging . Sometimes it is cheaper to buy it and definitely less hassle . I’m currently sorting out a worm farm and a blackfish weed growing tank so I can go out the back and dig up a few worms to use to catch freshwater mullet ( good bait for flathead and bream ) and carp( for fun ) in the Nepean , I’m hoping the blackfish weed thing works because a 2 hour round trip to the ocean rocks to collect it doesn’t please me !

Putting a (still)frozen pea on a hook - now there’s a task I would look forward to! Would be like trying to thread a ball bearing in to a hook 🤣🤣🤣

You Don’t need much Derek ! An old stocking foot with some pillies in it and tie that closed with a bit of cord that is a few feet long - this serves as both the stinky and hand bait - that’s it ! If you had to buy all that it would only set you back $10-$15 at the most but you could scrounge around and get that down to a couple of bucks if you have a local fish market that sells sardines - usually around $12 a kilo and you only want 250g at most . Forget the pliers - better off not starting out learning bad habits . Probably the two best tutorials I have seen were by Alex Bellissimo and Roger Osborne ( he made multi part tutorial but you had to buy it ) when I get home I will have a look for it . Probably the biggest expense is paying for the parking at the beach - it’s highway robbery! Thank you for unlocking this thread Donna ! I think there is still a lot that can be added to it .

I noticed on a FB page I look at there was a brown caught in the Nepean last week , I also heard they were going to release water from the dam early last week ( you may be able to confirm this on Sydney water site? ) . Plenty of streams out west - cox, fish , duckmaloi and Turon rivers and I think there was a dam at wallarawang ( possibly thompsons creek dam that was fly or fly and lure only . Also Oberon dam and wyangla dam for trout . Can’t vouch for the fishing at any of these as it has been years since I fished them , I have seen a few decent trout come out of the upper Turon near Turon gates but it was a while ago and I can’t remember who posted it on Fishraider .

🤔 I wonder if I can convert my yammie to air cooled and use my polycraft for that 🤣🤣🤣 🤔 maybe a dragon boat would be more fun 🤣🤣 If that was in Sydney you can guarantee there would be a pack of clowns on jet skis going down there.🤣🤣🤣

I should have known 🤣🤣🤣

Stiff water 🤣🤣🤣 you’re a classic 🤣🤣 I dare you to paddle a kayak through there ! That’ll get your biceps pumping!

Yep!

This sounds eerily like the council meeting they had to try and get Mona vale basin turned into a marine sanctuary zone - in the end it was decided that the council didn’t have the power to implement anything because it is a DPI controlled region . Best they can do is ask for a case study in which case they will probably have to pay for it, these studies can take years and cost a lot of money . There are other issues at play here as well like people catching undersized fish and cutting these up to hand feed these groper- if it is illegal for me to cut up an undersized tailor for bait how can it be legal for them to do it ? I think an overhaul of the spear fishing / skin diving regulations and a way better education program are in urgent order . Now I’m obviously not a spear fisher so not certain on this but if I have to pay a fishing fee to line fish why shouldn’t the spear fishers also be made to pay the same fee? Do they pay an fee?Also do you have to register a spear gun ? Do you need a licence for one ? I don’t want to debate the last two as I don’t think this forum is the place to argue the intricacies of spear guns / weapons or their ownership- just a simple yes or no answer is all I want .

A 42cm wild bass is bigun! Nice work ! Great report! Was watching a guy on YouTube catching Bream on a cicada lure down near Balmain a few days ago - seemed that they would only hit a surface lure for some reason.

That is why you must fish Weedless and even then you can still get snagged !

My beach worming exploits are pretty simple - I swipe a card over a machine and they magically appear in my bucket - I might walk out of that shop looking happy but I’m dying inside with disgust at myself for not being able to get my own - couldn’t catch a worm if you threw the bludger at me! 🤣🤣🤣

Yes Parramatta .

Great work Bob! One of the most addictive things on earth is a hot bass bite - especially when they’re smashing surface lures !

Some of the bullies would have given 45cm a serious nudge .

G’day Raiders, I lobbed down to Rydalmere for a quick after work flick , nothing specific in mind as to species to target - more a suck it and see approach. The water is filthy - even worse than last week but I thought nothing ventured nothing gained, the first 20 min yielded nothing - not even a touch on my lure - a Zman grubz 2.5 in black and a pink uv glow sinker 5g - Texas rig as usual . I got to the end of where I wanted to fish - a high sandstone wall ( visible under the bridge in the photo below) the channel cuts right in here and I have it a few casts . On the third cast the grub got smashed and knew immediately what it was - a flattie. I now had a problem though - I was standing on a high wall with a retaining wall in front of it ( it was underwater because of the 2m high tide) so I had to hoist this fish over the lot of this and then over a railing-all in one motion and I’m running 6lb trace ! Anyhow this fish decided it wanted to help me and launched itself out of the water straight at me and I managed to keep its momentum up enough to land it . I originally thought it was 47cm but when reviewing the photo I noticed the zero on the tape is a few cm short of the end of the tape which is what I used to align the tape so it was closer to 50cm - bonus ! I changed lure styles (critters , clone prawn and paddle tail shad in various colours)but only got them chomped by tiny tailor . Heaps of poddy and bully mullet down there atm but for some reason I can’t hook a bream to save my life down there ! Oh well , nice couple of hours out of the house ! One down side of this place is the imbecile’s that think the cycleway is a race track ! I had one fool go past me on an electric contraption and I reckon he was travelling faster than a postie bike would do !

Great report and fabulous fish - especially the big Lud!

I wonder how many people look at a solunar chart and see the time that they are able to fish is the low period and don’t bother going ? I don’t need a book to tell me when to fish - if my eyes are open and my heart still beating I’m going fishing 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Just got to somehow find a way of getting the BOM to get the weather prediction right - at least maybe 10%of the time and I will be digging it ! Great report Mike ! Keep chipping away at it- each trip is another part of the puzzle solved !

Each to their own .

I sent you a message Chris . The spots I mention are all common knowledge but do produce fish . Swansea bridge - usually has a pile of boats fishing for kings. The main channel - look for the deep holes , used to always get a feed of flathead there . There are smaller holes around the islands in the channel which are great for night fishing . The end of wangi point - used to get a few flathead there , motor out from the shore until it hits 5to6m depth and drift - good in very light sw and ne breeze . You can usually get a few decent whiting around the islands at the drop over . Just a word of warning - be careful in the lake in a decent southerly - I have seen wind swell almost big enough to surf in there and don’t swim in any of the deep water - there are some big sharks in there so keep any swimming to areas that are no more than waist deep and have good visibility, the shallow areas around the islands in the channel were a favourite of mine .

Epic report James ! You got some awesome fish there! Congratulations on the jack !

Niiice whiting!

You might want to watch some of Aaron’s videos before going for a paddle there especially if you’re thinking of down near Windsor ( Windsor bait and tackle YouTube channel ) - you are pretty much paddling in raw sewage down there every time it rains . I think upstream is a bit better but it definitely has me thinking twice about getting any of that water on me !

All depends on what these “pickers” are! If they are leatherjackets, toads , small snapper / bream ,tailor or even squid it won’t matter what you use as they can bite chunks out of any bait with ease . Have you tried using berley? A good berley mix will keep the pickers occupied and turn them into an attractant to bigger predators or even tried live bait ? It could be the area you are fishing also and sometimes you just have to move elsewhere or cast off to the sides of where the pickers are to get away from them , small fish will pile up in an area for a reason - usually either a food source or some form of structure that makes them feel safe and the bigger predators won’t be far away . I have used the berley method many times to feed the pickers so they don’t eat my hard earned nippers - nothing more frustrating than having the nippers that you have worked your butt off pumping destroyed by pickers 🤬