michaelrdoyle@gmail.com

Gummy sharks are possible this far north - I've caught them Jervis Bay way. Often green tinge, spots, and of course - no teeth. Very very tasty. Mike

thanks all... yep, a truely awesome part of the world - better a day out then caught inside. My secret plan? Fish that region for the next 30 years whilst on holidays, building up an awesome knowledge base of the area - then retire to run charters around that region! Mike

Hi Jonno Welcome aboard. Red Rock Cod = Poor Man's Lobster. Delicious white flesh, I normally only keep the big ones. Wrasse are often thrown back, but I think the flesh is really nice - a delicate white flesh. Be gentle cooking them, as they fall apart really easily. I give them a coating of herbs, then lightly pan fry them. Mike

Was on holidays last week down the coast - staying at the usual haunt near Crookhaven heads - and hoping to duck away a few times for some fish. However - the weather and the events were more or less agaisnt us. I couldn't russel up a fishing companion on the Monday (which was a great Day) - and Wed - Fri had 40k winds which kept us in doors (which was actually quite nice relaxing - despite the "if only"). But on Tuesday - we did manage to head out. The weather was good - and my fishing companians were available. Initially, I had hoped to launch at Crookhaven Heads, and head out, checking out the gravel grounds for big snapper, then perhaps the Muds and Banks for Bonito, Snapper, and even some big kingies (still dreaming of the 1m+ winter king). But since we were a tad unsure of the weather - we decided to do the more conservative approach, and hit JB. Launching at Callala Bay at 6am, we were flying over the water towards the squid spot as it slowely got light - and what a beautiful day was given to us! Glorious! Quite quickly, we picked up half a dozen squid, and headed to Longnose point - known for its snapper, and the occasional large Kingie. Anchored up around the bommie, laid a burly trail, dropped the baits, and put a live squid out. Within 30seconds, the squid was hit hard - line running like I had hooked a monster. I had. Sammy the Seal soon surfaced with a cheeky grin, and thanked me for a nice breakfast. So - no live bait, and only small bait. Doesn't matter. There was heaps of small fry around - mainly sweep. We began picking up small snapper - about 1 in 5 being legal size. After a few hours - we decided to head off - perhaps the monter kingies were round the corner. We dropped an X-Rap lure and a large metal lug, and started trolling around Point Perpendicular. Pulled them out of the water until we hit crocodile head, put them back in, and trolled around to the drumsticks (so we avoided the no-fishing zone). There were fish about - but couldn't raise anything big (or at least anything willing to bite). As I normally head out crookhaven heads, I hadn't seen much of the west side of Beecroft Peninsular - a beautiful spot, known for big fish. Unfortuntely, either we didn't have the required knowledge of where and how - or we were just unlucky. Such is life. We did stop and drop some pilchards and fresh squid - but didn't pick up anything. Slightly disappointed - we headed to middle ground. Lots and lots of baitfish - and sammy the seal was no where to be found. So bottom bashed, and dropped out a live slimie and yellow tail. Though there was plenty of bait around - once again, nothing big. We then headed back to longnose point - and dropped in there. This time couldn't get any snapper, and left after 45minutes of little fry. Picked up a few squid on the way back (to keep the missus happy) and then went home. A great day - and a few fish for the table. No photos - as nothing special. Mike

Seriously? So I use my VHF radio to sign in to the VMR - and I may get fined? I never knew that! Better start thinking about getting certified - is it something that ever needs to be updated or renewed? Mike

well done. Some awesome footage - you don't have it any higher quality do you? Cause I will love to see it at higher quality! Mike

Part of the secret of being a great fisherman is spending the time discovering new territory. I hope to be a great fisherman one day. But until then - generally turn fish "ID" off - and learn to read the fishfinder yourself. FishID is OK - but in the long term, you will get more senstive information if you learn to read it yourself. Depth change is the other major thing to look for - it signals drop offs etc. Mike

Dry also works Ok - if you soak them overnight, they sink fast enough, and break up into beautiful small pieces that do a lot of attracting. Mike

I'm just an amateur who has moved dozens (if not over 100) fridges up and down the coast. The reason why people suggest keeping a fridge upright is to keep the gas inside the compressor, because if the compressor starts without the gas inside it, it can overheat and die. In particular, this was a major problem for older fridges. Newer ones have much better compressors, components, and gas. The general rule is if you do lie the fridge/freezer down, keep it upright for several hours before turning it on again. The older the fridge, and the longer it was lain down, keep it turned off upright for longer. A long trip with an old fridge I would suggest 24hours to be safe. Anyway - I've moved heaps of fridges/freezers lieing down over 6 hours +, and never had a problem (always kept the upright and off for a long time afterward). The fridge/freezer is more likely to die from the bumps of the trip, which can break the compressor unit. Pelican is right - be careful of the compressor unit. Mike

There's one on the SMH article.... Mike

From SMH Fisherman on a trawler have caught a huge squid off Victoria's south-west coast. The crew of the vessel, called Zeehaan, caught the 5.5-metre-long squid about 40 kilometres south-west of Portland around 6pm last night. They captured the catch in a trawl net at a depth of 556 metres. The creature, which was still alive when caught, is thought to weigh about 250 kilograms. Mike

Thanks for the Vids Methodman Looks like you guys had heaps of fun - and you've spent a lot of time working on the videos. For those who want to jump straight to the action - the fishing starts in video 4. Of course - then you miss the intro, build up, etc etc etc :-) Mike

Really depends on your connection to the internet. It could take 10 minutes. It could take 30. Basically it's a case of suck it and see. Have a go and see how long it will take :-) Mike

To answer your questions: 1) You Tube will display video up to 480x360 pixels, 24 frames per second. That's fairly high quality ("Higher Quality". When viewing a video, YouTube may automatically drop the quality based on the users bandwidth and preferences. In other words - if you are using dialup, YouTube may give you a lower quality version of the video, unless you have "Always view Higher Quality" checked in your YouTube Preferences. How can I upload Higher Quality videos? 2) There is a limit of 10minutes length per video, and 100megs. The 10minute length is a hard limit (you can't change that). You can upload a video of up to 1gig if you use the YouTube Uploaded. Size Limits YouTube Uploader 3) There shouldn't be dramas with bad language etc. Youtube recognises most file formats - including AVI, MOV, MPEG, MPG, AVI etc For more info check out the YouTube Help Centre Make sure you post a link to your video's once you have them up. Mike

Hi Bunney10 It may work for you - but full stomach and lieing down is generally a disaster for people who come out with me! Empty (or close to empty) stomach.... And keep your eyes on a fixed point on the horizen, breath deeply, remove your coat (you respond better when your cold) Looking down is the worst thing you can do. Mike

Hi Joel Generally speaking - there is no magic tablet for seasickness - you just have to find something that works for you. I find they fall into three catagories: 1) Natural Solutions: Things including ginger pills, straps for wrists etc. Some people find they work. If they do for you, keep them. Side effects are minimal. Eating Sao Biscuits are known to soak up spare liquid, and help keep sea sickness to a minimum. 2) More "Serious" solutions: Something like Kwells works to "dry" you out - making it harder to throw up. Often side effects include dehydration. Some people have told me they make you feel worse then sick sickness. But as with all stuff - give it a go, and see how it works. Travelcalm (Original) takes a different track, and uses anti-histimine, which is known to reduce seasickness. Side effects include sleepiness, or just feeling "crap" when you return. 3) Prescription. Pills like Stemital. More serious, drug designed to stop body throwing up. See your doctor. Often, people will use a combination - perhaps ginger and saos, or saos and Travelcalm. I started with Ginger tablets, that worked for a while, but ended up not. I tried a whole bunch of other stuff, including stemital, but in all these, they ended up either not working, or making me feel really bad. So now on a bad day, I use TravelCalm Original, Saos, and drink Caffeine to keep me awake. When I get home, I'm normally stuffed until it wears off. Mike

Thanks PJ :-) But I can't blame my uncle - not only did he fully organise the trip (He's from Rocky) - his boat, his tent, his idea - I was his guest! As well as that - he's had many years experience. The thing to blame (I think) is the environet - this one may have been an early one - but it's a shocker! I almost bought one a few months ago - but glad I didn't. Even with the little fish it's extremely hard to use! Perhaps the later ones are different - but I'm now sworn off them! Mike

Hi All As I mentioned last week - I just headed off for a week at Armstrong Beach, MacKay - here's the report! I had been invited up to join my Queensland uncle fishing for a week at Armstrong beach. After getting some 90mm pipe for my fishing rods - I was off to MacKay, and then to Armstrong Beach. The trip up was - umm - difficult. Arrived at Sydney Airport to be told my flight to MacKay was cancelled. Was put on a flight to Brisbane, then was told to switch from Virgin to JetStar to complete my flight. On arrival in Brisbane, by rods turned up, then my clothes - but my fishing bag was no-where to be found. At least $800 worth of gear was missing - not happy jan! I caught the JetStar to MacKay - and arrived 4 hours after originally planned. Picked up my remaining gear, and on the way out of the airport - thought I might check the Virgin Baggage Carousal - just in case. And you know what? There was my bag! Awesome! (had a call from Virgin later that night saying they still hadn't found it - but was sure they would! I told them I got it already - relax!). Arrived at Armstrong beach - an awesome little caravan park, generally populated by some awesome grey nomads who were keen as mustard on fishing. Boat launching off Armstrong beach (hairy at times), and some serious fishing in Boundary Creek. An area known for it's crocs, big fish, and plenty of them. Unfortunately when I arrived, a 20-25k SE wind started, and it was the full moon. It meant big tides, and timid fish. A typical day started at 5am, a quick breakfast, then off to launch the boat from the beach (some hairy stuff!) at mid tide (low tide meaning the water was 1.5km from the beach!). We would fish 6 hrs until mid-tide again (through the high tide), and then come home. Wash the boat, clean the fish, quick sandwich for lunch, then grab the prawn net, and prawn the low tide. Get home, happy hour, quick dinner, bed. Repeat. As the tide got later each day - by the end of the week we were prawning at 5am, fishing, the prawning late afternoon. Fully hard core. Fully cool. To be honest, due to the rain and tide, fishing wasn't awesome. We caught a huge variety of fish, but mainly small. Species included Mud Crabs, Eels, Catfish (nasty little things), toads (very nasty things), Mangrove Stingray, Flathead, bream, blue salmon (awesome tasting fish), Queenies, Grunter (you'll never guess why they're called that!), king salmon (again, awesome tasting), perch, sliver jewfish, black jewfish, perch, Moses Rockcod and whiting. I think that's all - as you can see, a great assortment. Though the fishing was slow - the fish of the week came on the last day. After 7 days of slow fishing, it was starting to look up. We started with a bunch of huge bream - 40cm and up. Very cool. We then moved to the lee side of an island, and anchored up within 100m of 2 other boats that were out there. It's a very small comnunity there - and you all launch withing a 15minute window, helping each other out. in other words - those boats were friends. Those who know me, know I always go to extremes. I had my only two outfits there. A 6lb job for the river, and an 80lb outfit for outside (though we didn't get outside). All of a sudden, my 80lb outfit went off. After 7 days of patient fishing - this was it. I had a fish on - and it was huge. The fish went straight up from 8m depth, to 1m in the air - it jumped like no fish had jumped before. Time froze. There was the biggest blue salmon you have ever seen. I looked him in the eye. He looked back. And winked. He was at least 80cm - it was massive. Huge. A salmon the likes this river had never seen before, and would never see again. The other boats heard the commotion - and saw the fish jump. It was on for one and all. The Pepsi I had just opened was immediately spilt as I grabbed the rod. It peeled line off like it was 6lb - but it was 80. As my uncle cleared the other rods, and did some acrobatics around the rods. The fish did a slow curve around the back of the boat, as I slowly increased the drag, and reclaimed some line. All of a sudden - the fish made a massive dash for the mangroves - but it wasn't going to happen. I hadn't waited here for 7 days to go home empty handed. I stoped him, and again gained some line. As I got him closer, he made a desperate lunch towards the anchor. But I knew I had him beat, and called him into submission. At last I had him by the boat, and my uncle grabbed the enviro Net - and it was time to bring this baby home. He was mine. With the two other boats watching, I brought the massive salmon for it's first pass of the net. Missed. Second time lucky. I skillfully kept him from the side of the boat, and anchor, and brought him again to the net. This time he entered the net - but managed to escape with a flip of the tail - after all - his head hardly fit into the net! The tension was rising. My uncle was sweating - an entire week and hundreds of dollars rested on landing this fish. From one of the other boats was heard the call "Just net him ya useless bastard!". It echoed what was in my mind. I brought him around for the third time. This was it. It was to happen here, or not at all. As he came around, he entered the net. My uncle, with a huge effort went to lift the slow draining enviro-net out of the water - but with a heavy fish, and 2 gallons of water, it was proving difficult. The fish kicked. he slipped. ....... and PING............ the 60lb trace, worn through by a huge fight and the sharp teeth gave way. With a flick of it's head - the salmon was gone. My explicative rang out across the water. My uncle and I needed a few monents in silence to contemplate life. After 5 minutes - we could look at each other again. My rage suitably buried. My uncles shame likewise. It was several days before we could look each other in the eye again. To the credit of the other boats - as they pulled anchor and moved away, they each came and offered their condolences - "Don't worry mate - those Salmon you only land 1 in 6". But this was my salmon. So there is a huge salmon out there with my name on it. And I'm going back there next year to claim it. And that was my trip. Mike PS got some huge mudcrabs and brought them back home live - ate them the other night mmmmmmm. Very yum. Photo of some bream: And the photo of the one that got away: PPS I don't think I like Environets!

Thanks All I went the 900mm PVC pipe option from Bunnings - including ends, it cost $25 all up, and a very cool, very hardy case - I can even put it on the roofracks! Fishing gear is all packed (in normal luggage). I'll update when I get home :-) Mike

Hey All About to fly North Wednesday for a weeks fishing in MacKay (woohoo!) Any advice for putting rods on Virgin Blue? In particular - I have a 7ft wippy rod that I'm keen to take. What's the best way to protect it? Package it? (and cheapest) thanks Mike

I'll be down at Orient Point (When you're on greenwell point wharf - look forward - and Orient Point is the point directly opposite you. Will be down with friends - and our new Bub. Hoping to head out at least one day - should be fun! Perhaps even some time in JB getting some squid. So I won't be in the comp. Just remember - Easter and Christmas around that area is chaos - keep your patience at the ramps, and have fun! I'll most likely launch at OP ramp for the river/sea, and Callala Bay ramp for JB. Quintrex boat, call sign SA722. Will be on 27, listen to chan 90 (standard VMR Shoalhaven chan) if we're out. Mike

wow. Awesome. A dream fish. Mike

Well done! Brilliant!

For the bay - what boat are you taking, and where are you staying/launching? What sort of gear do you have? Plenty of squid around recently - I've had success of Murrays Beach, and the beach just west of Honeymoon bay. Not sure if the kingies are still on - but middle ground is a good reef, as is long nose point (watch the bomb) Mike

yep - was the wedding tackle :-) Attached is a photo :-) Certainly a personal best - unfortunately I haven't wacked him up on the boast mat yet - I'll see if I can sneak it past the wife :-) Mike PS I wonder if catching a marlin is like this - it's awesome! Can't stop smiling.