quintrex

Has the walkway to the pontoon near the ramp been reinstated? Last time I was there it had been removed.

Hi Wacko, Many thanks for taking the time to educate us with your productive techniques. Quintrex

Does anyone know the planned schedule for reinstating the walkway to the pontoon east of the boat ramp?

I rang North Sydney Council today and they expect the work to be completed in another 2 weeks.

Can anyone advise the current situation at Tunks Ramp?

Hi Scienceman, What baits do you take with you for catching drummer? What is the success rate when the sea is flat and westerlies present? How close to the rock face do you need to have the boat? Hi Scienceman, What baits do you take with you for catching drummer? What is the success rate when the sea is flat and westerlies present? How close to the rock face do you need to have the boat?

How large do Aussie cuttlefish grow? I caught one recently off Dobroyd Reef in Sydney Harbour that would have been 1 metre long overall! I had caught 3 YT at Balmoral but had to stop when a persistent great cormorant made it clear that I would be feeding him or her and certainly not my live bait tank. My fishing endeavour was limited to a bonito caught on a Rapala CD7 500 metres north of Bluefish Point, a dozen SB's quickly returned to the sea (one 600 long) , 3 FH and 2 Red Bream also returned being slightly under legal size. Since the north western wind soon became unmanageable I returned to the harbour where the cuttlefish was my only catch. It was too astonishingly beautiful to kill but fortunately I was able to cut the hook away without causing much damage to the tentacle. The cuttlefish had taken a live YT cut off cleanely like a knife immediately behind the head but the bridled hook then impaled on a tentacle. I apologise for the lack of photos and have learnt a lesson that a camera should always be onboard to record oddities like massive cuttlefish.

According to Council , Design work has commenced on the proposal for a new pontoon and should be completed in August. It is expected that the construction work will be done early next year.

I emailed North Sydney Council concerning Tunks Park ramp and they replied on 18/6 appologising for their failure to remove the 2008 sign. They indicated that there were no current plans to do any work at the ramp in the forseeable future. If so, this is at odds with some of the earlier contributions to this thread.

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE, GOOD OR BAD , WITH USING TICA DRAG GREASE ON THEIR REEL DRAG WASHERS?

Hi livebait, Yes, I caught 2 KF ( 59cm each) on the one line after having caught 3 62-64 cm KF at the same spot near Clifton Gardens Wharf a short time before the legal length was inceased. Unfortunately I have caught none since. Quintrex

thanks a lot Sammy! I'll be fishing about 2 k's off North Manly. Does anyone know the current there at the moment? Does it run different from the general offshore current?

Is there any site available that will inform us of the direction and speed of offshore and inshore currents?

I have bottom bashed over many years from off The Entrance to south of Cronulla but have never been bothered by leatherjackets until july 2004. Since then I have given up trying to catch flathead in 50m water because of the loss of rigs. Is there anywhere within 2 nautical miles of the Sydney shoreline which is relatively free of these pests? Do you think that we will always have them in plague proportions? Why the sudden increase in leatherjacket numbers?

Having launched at Tunks at 6.30am on Wed 14th I tried 3 spots for squid without success and then anchored 50metres NE of the white can at the Clifton Gardens naval facility. Out with the burley and down with lightly leaded line with a strip of frozen squid (caught 4 weeks ago). Within 15 minutes the reel (25 year old Penn Jigmaster) screams and my first Sydney Harbour kingfish is struggling for it's life. 2 more followed within 30 minutes all of which measured 61 cm so into the live fish tank. Later on after a struggle I brought to the surface not one but 2 kingies. The second was caught on the rig's stinger hook, so a double header! Unfortunately they only reached 58 cm so overboard they went to grow bigger. Things went quiet for some time until the reel screamed again but instead of the rat king I expected a trevally of 38cm emerged. It tasted great for dinner. The fish tank of my topender kept the 3 KF and the trev alive until I reached the ramp after which they were despatched cleaned and ice boxed. I don't understand why this area fishes so well for KF. There is no structure! Perhaps someone can enlighten me.

Can trevally be usefully frozen for future consumption or as with tailor is trevally just not suitable for freezing?

Hi gbrown1, Have you tried salting nippers in either butcher's salt or saline solution first? Would you recommend this to toughen the nippers as is done with tuna fillets for bait? Thanks Quintrex

Thanks for your reply guys. K1ingf1isher: I definitely meant prawns for bait. Sorry, I wasn't clear enough!

I have a question concerning the salting of prawns. Must they be green or is there also benefit in thawing frozen prawns, deheading and peeling them, followed by salting and refreezing? Is it desirable to mix some sugar with the salt?

About 4 years ago I was heading out from Botany Bay and sighted an enormous shark fin. I wasn't game enough to get really close but the shark could well have been over 4.5 metres.

Thanks, guys, I'll keep our comments in mind. I certainly don't fish marginal conditions and I no longer venture far from port. Quintrex

Thanks Swordfisherman, how well does the AP work at sea? I would expect it to "hunt" excessively but of course I have no experience. Does the motor overspeed when out of the water? If not then I guess the only problem is loss of boat speed. Thanks, Quintrex

I am considering installing a Minn Kota (55lb) on a Quintrex 450 Topender. Has anyone fitted a bow mounted MK AP onto a topender style boat with the front seating platform 400mm lower than the foredeck? The foredeck is 600mm long. Has anyone used a bow mounted leccy at sea for trolling? Is this really practical with the driver's weight at the pedestal seat in the bow when steering? Could a bow mounted leccy provide a viable emergency back up for a failed main motor by locking the leccy in forward position and steering the boat from the rear using the skeg of the failed motor? Thanks, Quintrex

Hi, After 2 years of faultless performance my F40 BET has developed an intermittent electrical fault. After starting first turn of the ignition key and running for 30+ minutes with numerous stops and perfect restarts I would turn the key to restart only to find complete loss of voltage to instruments and starter motor. The first time this happened I put it down to a slightly loose battery connection but the second time was soon after the motor's 50 hour service. Needless to say the terminal connections were jammed tight. On both occasions I tried the key again after 5 to 10 minutes and inexplicably full voltage was restored without any action on my part. The first time I was 2 miles offshore. The second time I had my 10 year old grandson on board for the first time and we had a breeze blowing us towards a sandbank with breaking waves. Up to know I have had complete faith in Yamaha products so I don't have a second motor. To say that the incidents were disturbing is a gross understatement. I'm not willing to risk a permanent loss of voltage which conceivably might occur next time. On both occasions the remote control lever was in neutral. Connections to the battery terminals and all motor connections are fully tight. The battery indicator shows fully charged. Would anyone please be able to throw any light on the problem. I don't feel confident to dismantle the remote control unit to check the electrical connections or the ignition switch. Many thanks, Qunitrex

Hi Laurie, I've only been to the Georges River once but would like to fish for Jewfish if they can be caught in the mornings. Are they really only a night proposition in the Georges? Where can I catch yakkas, poddies and squid in the upper Georges? Thanks, Peter