Trapper Tom

Come on Slinky Who are you kidding. That's a photoshop of ya toy boats in ya bathtub after eating a Indian vindaloo (with banana accompaniments of course). All fishraiders note the last photo, you can even see the wave washing against the side of the bathtub. Also evidenced in several other photo's No's 7,8 and 9, just look at the pretend horizon point. Slinky I must say however the details on your toy boats is excellent to say the least. Cheers Trapper Tom

Hey FR's So now, and all I am interested in, is how the hell do we get rid of Peter Garret I must say as a muso he/they (M Oil) absolutely nailed social and moral conscience issues, no aussie band was better at it. As a enviro pollie, absolutely unbelievably hopeless and weak. (Noted also Mako ban is now overturned.) Not to mention the insulation debacle which I will not go into as it is not a fish related politic matter. Hope Julia gets big Petee on the side and in the words of, Eddie Maguire:- "BONES" him. We can only hope. Cheers Trapper Tom

Hey Bob smith You nailed it mate. That is exactly what is needed!!!!!!!! Don't reckon it would be too hard to construct them either. Politically though, because they will need approval and therefore go through the required adjoining resident notification requirements, cannot see anything but objections being submitted by those notified. Ie noise, potential loss of privacy, and anything else they can think of. It is a damn good idea though. Maybe an approach to the Minister of PW might be in order. Cheers Trapper Tom

Hey Guys I gather you listen to the continuous call team. Any weekend when working in the garden, on goes the west/tigs jersey then 2GB at 12 and I am happy as larry. And yes the Big Marn is good. Cheers Trapper Tom PS yes anchors are still heavy underwater, have done the above myself, (when younger !!!!!)

Now that is a good feed Well worth the trip. Di you get photo's of the humpbacks? Cheers Trapper Tom

Hey Musty I am now offically an old fart, being 52. Any Cold is bloody cold for me now and all the numerous sporting injuries play up.(And I have had alot). Gone are the days of fishing/snorkling in june and up to november to do the lobster thing Glad I don't live down the Snowy though. As usual at this time of year I am going to escape to NT for a week as soon as I can. Gods country, Woo Hoo Cheers Trapper Tom

All fishraiders Today is the Winter Solstice Days now will get longer and start to get warmer. I'm trying to think positive here with the cold weather. Yeah and I know the August westerlies are yet to come. But another 2 months and Woo Hoo back to some survivable weather. As Peter S as said of himself, I'm now a fair weather fisherman, Bring on the daylight. Cheers Trapper Tom

Matt and a nice one ay that. 63/4 cm would have given you quite a good tussle. Cheers Trapper Tom

Hey Greg As you are a renowned fisho and one of the Gods of the site. Have you ever tried the softly softly on the GT's.??? Would be very very interested to know. Cheers Trapper Tom PS did note the bananas comment by Johnno about Slinky and was perplexed until I saw Slinkys June catch of the month. I was mortified :1yikes: Mods reckon he may have infected the whole FR system and 11,000 members with the dreaded "Banana" curse. No one potentially will catch fish now. This is a catastrophic and unprecedented event. Never have I seen a banana pictured on the site before, and rightly so. Strongly suggest a FR poll on Slinky for his terrible terrible and obviously premeditated indiscretion. 1. Should he be keel hauled. 2. Hung drawn and quartered. 3. Sentenced to fishing with banana's on his own boat for the next 3 months, and re-displaying his black cat avatar. 4. Any other punishment Mods or FR can creatively think of. Note this is just a fun comment and not serious Slinky, hope you do not take offence, would be very interesting though. Trapper T

Hey Slam and Camb. Can vouch for the garden worm thing. Works a treat in run-off areas for whiting and bream. Another tip for FR,s here. As kids and growing up, all tea leaves were disposed of in one spot in the garden. (dig a hole) The worms love it. Come home and need a fish no probs, scratch out a truck load of worms in 2 secs and off you go. Also have used them on whiting in non run off periods as well to good effect. Note that they do not last long and lose their colour quickly so they do need frequent replacing and are not as good as the esturine worms. Cheers Trapper Tom.

G'Day Slinkey. Wow I thought this was a forgotten art as I have not seen one reference to it in any reports. Started using it years and years ago after reading an article on it by Steve Starling (pretty sure). It was specific to kingies then. It was in the days when not too many people new about the kingies on Botany Bay. Paul Rumsey was teaching us guys about the bay and yeah we were losing more than we landed around the drums and pylons. And yes it is a real concept and really does work, as you have found out. And it has a bonus which I will elaborate on. One method was. 1. Using bottle squid(small bean sinker, almost a floater type arrangement) we would caste towards then drift past the pylon/drum ect. Once taken, very little force was used. Just feel the weight and retrieved the line very slowly. The fish more times than not will come reasonably meekly along till it realises what the hell. Then it bolts. The advantage is that you get the damn thing away it away from structure, as you know they are a very dirty fighters. Therefore stacks more time to play the fish instead of the mandatory 2 second bricking. Note hook was set with only very light force (if any). We even sometimes free spool the line if the fish bolts straight away. It would stop shortly after and just happily swim around being a kingfish again. Very light pressure after this soon saw it clear of the structure Whilst we generally fished 6lb line we always had/have a second rod with 25lb on it. Did not then or now notice any difference in captures for the different line classes. Therefore it is the technique itself. The bonus to this method is that a couple of their mates will happily swim along side it as it comes up as the fish is not spooked. Easy as, ya mate flicks out with a lure or other bait before its spooked and bingo instant double hook up. The same technique works with soft plastics very well. Just remember this technique is not initially a fight, its all about "Tricking" the fish to gain an advantage. Use is for inclose very hard structure, or getting bottom clearance with very large kingies. I hope I haven't hurt the kingy population in Sydney H and Bot Bay to much as I am sure other FR will now try this. But thats the the purpose of the report and this site, what good is knowledge unless you pass it along. All FR note took us about a year to get reliability into the method A couple of also's here while I'm at it. Slinkey Do you know the bucket of water trick?. If not pm me and will divulge I'm sure it will help with your style of fishing. Thought 2. For Roberta and Dan Bubba who do the bream tournies. Might be worth a think on this for you, especially Roberta fishing the racks at foster. Many times I have stood on a little sandy beach in the hacking having lunch and throwing left over chicken out to the waiting hordes of smaller bream and then larger ones. Noted they dash in grab and dart out again, BUT only for a metre or two away. I have never actually done softly softly on bream before but the above "behavior" smacks of some potential for the racks. Hope same helps with the big blue noses. Oh by the way after every chicken lunch on a beach in the hacking, line goes out to deeper water, bingo never fails their a sucker for it. Cheers all Trapper Tom

Hey Stinger That is one damn good jew Did you manage to get a lenght on it. I am sure your in the 1 metre club with this one. Cheers Trapper Tom

Hey Bucko Couldn't resist. Last time I looked keeping weed, especially at nambucca was a a offence. Yeah I know boring and expected reply, but had to be said.. Cheers Trapper Tom.

Hey Jew Chaser. And you can get really cheap ones at any of the outdoor/camping shops. All of the above but I just have to add. "Smoked duck breast". Note skin on! Absolutely mouthwateringly gorgeous. Roberta as a connoisseur of smoking reckon you should try this. Cheers Trapper Tom

Hey Cameldownunder and slinky. Yeah the solution is economically sound unfortunately. Just being my usual questioning enviro(non greenee, non tree hugger or anything else) self. What happens to all the old f Ext and flares. Where and how do you dispose of them??? If any fishraiders know please post so that all may know. Cheers Trapper Tom

Hey Guys At the end of the day reackon yarraone has got it right. I always do my safety checklist before I go out. It is a must for any and every boaty. That includes startng the engine etc etc. Then there is no need or question about starting your engine in or out of the water. You go, arrive at ramp, launch, and it works. Just "tailor" (eh eh) your checklist to your individual boats needs and quirks. Cheers Trapper Tom

Hey Fishon Magic stuff. Get to the photoshop, blow it up, frame it and stick it up ya wall. Got a similar one of my boy at that age that still hangs 20 years on. Can't beat it Cheers Trapper Tom

Hey Brettman Be careful here! Almost all coastal communities have their local resident billard table sized stingray. They are a local tourist attraction and much loved by the locals. Also these things are years and years old. If you do hook one then:- 1. There is the stress of a prolonged fight that could lead to the creatures death from exhaustion. 2. If you fail to catch then, its free with god knows how many metres of string still capable of entangling it. Potential death. 3. If you do land it then in all seriousness, one does not go near a leathal creature of that size, and the line would be cut leaving terminal tackle still embeded in the fish. 4. The locals will hang you. In the end these large stingrays are the seas "hoovers" and will eat any scrapes offered. They are not a fishing challenge as any man or his dog or 6 years old kid could hook these tame and pleasent creatures if they wanted to. ( PS do not go in the water with them they are really dangerous) Brag Mat rights on this equals 0 out of 10. Brettman, I am not a do gooder or tree hugger but you must respect the life of any creature that is that old and adapted and developed a close contact with humans and to trust in humans. Go catch yellowfin and get your arms stretched by putting in the hours of work and earning the right to do so. I usually say Cheers, but I will say this time, not so "Cheery" Trapper Tom

G'day Terror Absolutely a Trumpeter Ray R nailed it. Yes T dog, stacks of em in Lake Mac. As kids when you caught em you gave a couple of shakes up and down to make them grunt more. Laughs all round from the then kids in the boat. Never ate one though always released, were always a bit small for a good feed. Cheers Trapper Tom

Hey Guys For those interested, check out the BOM site radar. Truckloads of rain and over Warragamba to boot Cheers Trapper Tom

G'day Hayden Cut loose is right, more out at sea thing. But for the georges and Bot Bay you have the magnificent Dusky flathead. The biggest, the best tasting and the most sort after. Also sand flathead and a few other. There are a truck load of different flatheads around, ie dusky, sand, 3 bartailed etc etc. Do a google and research, my mate and me 20 years ago did a "catch as many different flathead species" comp between us for 1 year. Great little comp between friends and really tests your skills, particularly if you add line class bait or lure into the equation. And yes I lost that one. Go forth young man (with your mate) for the next year and "May Rod be with you" Note I have entered this date in my diary and expect a fishraider report in 1 years time with species and captures. Pm me and I will give some help (template for capture etc, species available) if you are up to the challenge. Cheers Trapper Tom

Hey Fish53 Great catch indeed. Even better is the monster 41cm. Its a big bugger!

Hey Slinky Spot on with the black gut lining! Luke suggest you check the records sect for tarwine. 42 is a massive fish. Cheers TRapper Tom

Hey Reggie Top jackets there! I reackon their the best eating of all the jackets, damn nice. And Keflapod is right they are dam sneaky buggers, I did the same thing myself as kid, except we chased em on Lake Mac. Cheers Trapper Tom

Stinks! And like it will really go to marine rescue. It'll just get swallowed into consolidated revenue and thats the last we will ever see of it. Cheers Trapper Tom