slinkymalinky

Sorry Shane, Not wanting to be niggly but Sarge, its actually VERY important to wind braid (unlike mono) onto a spool under a lot of tension. Braid needs to be packed down onto a spool hard, otherwise if you hook up then under tension, your line can easily bury itself in the line still on the spool... lost fish. You're dead right NOT to wind on mono under heavy tension because with the stretch in mono can put so much extra pressure on a spool that it can damage the spool. I reckon that it's probably a case of poor or misleading labeling of the line diameter (or maybe the spool capacity although that's unlikely with a know brand like Penn)

Crimp a snap swivel on the end then have your lures rigged on around 2m of trace (not too long or you lose the advantage of being able to wind the fish right in close to the boat) with a crimped loop with some sort of 'wear protection' (armour spring, etc). Just clip whichever lure you want to the end of your wind on and off you go.

Merry Christmas to everyone from the Slinky clan!!

On ya Swordie!! Just don't use up all your mojo before September Merry Christmas, Tony

That's a very serious looking stick mgj. What's the rig you're using? Cheers, Slinky

Hey Kev, The number of different opinions you get on good lures is only going to be limited by the number of people you ask... everyone has their favourites. As a good starting point though, get some 65 and 80mm squidgy wrigglers or some Gulp Minnow Grubs and maybe some 3" Atomic Prongs (my own personal favourite) and some 3" and 4" flick baits or bass minnows. Between them, that collection would cover most everything you're likely to find in the estuaries.... bream, flatties, school jew small kings, etc. Then for the heavier outfit get some bigger platics like 110 or even 145mm flick baits, some 100mm Squidgie fish, some 4" Atomic prongs, some 5" or 7" Gulp jerkshads. They'll cover you for specifically focusing on kings, jew, snapper and other bigger critters. The list of brands is endless but as long as you stick with the better known ones you can't really go wrong... Search the forums and you'll get lots of ideas... Cheers, Slinky

G'day Kevy, IN your original post you mentioned you had a 2500 Sienna matched to the 4-6kg rod. Did you mean to say 4000? Both reels would probably balance ok with the rod although the 4000 is probably a bigger reel than I would use on it. Its also way to big for light soft plastics work. I use 2500 size reels for everything from bream to Jacks to spanish mackerel. A 2-4kg rod is plenty to handle most of what you'll come across but if you wanted to up the ante a bit you could look at getting something special... but it will cost. A few manufacturers have ultra fast taper rods in the 3-5kg range that have super light tips but enormous reserve power in the butt. I have a Berkley Venom Copperhead (and before that I had a Lox 2-5 7'2") that are built like this. My Copperhead can cast 1/16oz heads comfortably and then still manage 1/2oz heads for snapper offshore. It's a bit like fishing with a rod that has the tip of a 2kg stick and the butt of 6kg stick. You can't pick up any old 3-5kg rod though and get this configuration. I have a 2-5kg T-curve for example and its a totally different rod, really only at home at the lighter end. You'll be able to handle most fish you'll come across with a light rod. It's all just a matter of a good drag setting and patience. You won't have the stopping power to prevent a king from bricking you but you shouldn't have too many problems with most other fish. Most of the people I fish with up here are surprised how light I go. A lot of fish that freak out when hooked on heavier gear won't panic so much on light stuff and so become easier to catch. My standard jack outfit is 10lb braid when a lot of guys fish with 50. As for the glass 2-4kg, sad to say that won't work for you either. One thing that's really a must for soft plastic fishing is you need the sensitivity of a carbon fibre rod. With the glass rod not only will you struggle with casting light weights but you won't really be able to feel what your plastic is doing... something that as you learn you'll realise is very important to consistent success. As I said earlier though, all is not lost. The 2500 size is a good reel that would suit the rod you have or a lighter one. Maybe keep an eye out for a lighter rod 2nd hand and if you have one spool up a spare spool for the Sienna and suddenly you have 2 outfits that would cover almost anything you could want to chase around estuaries. Cheers, Slinky

That's what happens when a Jack chokes to death on an oversized bait. In all seriousness though, that's a cracker fish and one you've put in the effort to get. Just try not to rely too heavily on the 'Jewhunter Improved Albright' for future trips. Cheers, Slinky

G'day Kev, To get into soft plastics and give yourself the best chance of success and to really enjoy it, you should think about getting a lighter rod. The reel is a good versatile size so if you get a 2-4kg 7' spin rod, the reel should still balance it nicely. Fishing soft plastics for bream and flatties is a finesse game so make everything as light as possible. If your Sienna came with a spare spool, think about loading it up with 6lb braid for your plastics fishing. The Pflueger Trion is a great choice... great rod and great value so if you can, another lighter model will give you 2 great outfits. The 3-6kg outfit is the sort of outfit I take plastics fishing for Mangrove Jacks or Snapper... unfortunately it's really a bit heavy for throwing around small, light jig heads and lures. It will do it but you'll be limiting your chances of success and more importantly, making your transition to plastics a lot less enjoyable than it should be. All is not lost though... keep the 3-6kg rod for throwing bigger plastics at Jewies, snapper or rat kings. Maybe before you rush out and spend any more hard earned, see if you can spend a session plastics fishing with someone with a lighter outfit and try it out side by side with the outfit you currently have. You'll notice the difference and get a better idea of whether you want that sort of rig. Cheers, Slinky

The damage done to Australian eco systems by Carp is well documented... the articles posted above are just the tip of a very large iceberg. They, like Cane Toads, are highly destructive to local species so get a humane size 12 when I bring one to hand. The best place for carp is somewhere else.

You won't notice their teeth until the first time one kicks while you have your thumb in its gob. After that, you'll never go cod fishing again without gloves or bogas Not so much teeth as an oral version of a wood rasp. T

Great report and trip, Roberta. Congrats on getting amongst the Cod... don't they hit hard and aren't they beautiful to look at!! How's the thumb by the way? Holding a Murray Codby the lower jaw is something you probably won't do too often. If you still have skin on your thumb, you've been very lucky As usual, some great tackle tinkering with your weedless wonder Cheers, Slinky

It's been a while since I wrote a post so fair warning... to make up for it, this one is going to be a long one so maybe go and get a coffee or cold beverage then settle in... Murray Cod season opened last Saturday so Jewhunter (Grant), Outdoor Dan (Dan) and I had long ago booked a return trip to the Severn River to coincide with the first few days of the season. This time, we were also joined by a blow-in hoping to cash in on our previous success... Brown Dog (Greg). Now, I'd like to get straight into some mind-blowing Goodoo action but I need to write a short preface. You see, Dan has this problem in that he is physically unable to be in close proximity to water without fishing in it... in fact, if he is kept away from water, you might find him digging a small hole in the dirt and filling it from the nearest tap. Amazingly though he's also such a good fisho, that he'll then usually catch something in that hole. After flying in on Saturday, Dan bunked in with Grant at his place on the Tweed River so of course Saturday night was decided as a time for Dan and Grant to chase one of the Tweed Bull Sharks that are hammering bait in the river at the moment. In the end it was Grant who nailed a good fish in the shape of a muscly Tweed Jack a bit over 51cm. Having been targeting sharks, we're all a little uncertain whether it can be called a good capture though... it sure wasn't very sporting since the red fish virtually choked to death on the 1kg mullet fillet bait that Grant was using. It's worth a word or 2 on the very special rigging technique that led to this success. The first tip is the use the very special and until now, secret, 'Vidler Improved Albright' leader knot (it's worth clicking on the pic and blowing it up to have a close look). This knot works on the principle of letting the line do all the work thus simplifying tying. It's a knot best left not snugged up (as attempting to snug it up usually results in breakage). The second secret to both effectively tying this knot and to this style of fishing can be seen in the lower left of this next photo. NO, not the gaff... behind the gaff. Thankfully the boys managed not to need the services of the local VMR despite their very wobbly fishing boots and a nice fish was the outcome (along with some sore heads). Jewhunter made sure to SMS me the photos obviously because they thought I would like to hear all about how awesome they both were... So now finally onto the cod fishing trip. Early Monday we loaded up my 'Mosman Shopping Trolley' (Toyota Prado) and Greg's Landcruiser flat tray. I should point out that despite an endless tirade about the pooncy air conditioning, adjustable suspension & electric everything, Jewhunter seemed pretty quick to always bags the passenger seat with me rather than in Greg's ute... I noticed in the 30+ degree swelter in Casino that Dan was struggling to boost the air conditioning in Greg's truck but the window was already open all the way up After a bit over 4 hours of driving we met the property owner at the local pub (actually, first we went to the wrong pub so had to have a drink there first). And after another round of beers in the right pub while checking out all the cod heads nailed to the wall, we headed off and finally got to the property which compared to last trip, was very green. The drive into the cabin was rocky and rugged and for a while at least, Grant laid off hanging shite on my Mosman suspension... I'm not sure that Greg and Dan still had all their teeth when we finally reached base camp. We settled in and unpacked all our gear. We all know Grant is a man of simple taste and simple understanding... but even we were surprised by his tackle box. He turned to us with a hurt look in his eyes after our derisive comments and pointed out that unlike all our Plano goodness, he had exactly what he should have... a box (cardboard) holding his tackle (tangled mess). We also made sure we had plenty of provisions. Mostly these consisted of blue cans, twiggy sticks and other assorted preservative rich proteins. While twiggy sticks might be the one food to survive a nuclear holocaust, anyone who came into our hut and breathed the air during our stay may not have been so lucky. I don't think we really need to comment on Jewhunter's fishing shirt as it was well documented in the report on the last trip but I hear that the Sydney Mardi Gras organising committee is in the process of negotiating with Grant over a sponsorship deal. With everyone expecting Dan to be, as usual, the first to the water and the first one fishing... as soon as we were unpacked I actually managed to sneak down to the river right in front of the cabin and a couple of casts later we had our first green fish on the grass, falling to my favourite surface walker. That first afternoon the fishing was a bit tough for all except THE CODFATHER (Dan) who managed to pull cod out of seemingly any puddle and back-eddy into which he lobbed his spinnerbait. A pattern which he pretty much maintained through the whole trip (in the end catching close to half himself, of the 50 odd cod that we landed for our 4 days) Unfortunately, the afternoon we arrived there were big storms in the hills around us so the next morning we woke up (those of us that managed to sleep despite the bugs in our mouths and ears... who left the door open? ) to a river that had risen noticably and turned a tasty shade of chocolate. It killed our plan to try to cross the river to access the easier fishing far bank but nevertheless, we set off heading upriver from the cabin. I over-optimistically decided to take my fly rod... I think in about 3km of walking I managed to find enough fishable spots to have around a dozen casts. The other boys weren't much better off even with baitcasting gear as the bank we were on was steep and scrubby. There was a lot of celebration though when Brown Dog put some casts into a likely looking hole and landed his fist ever Murray Cod. Onya mate Dan made a memorable capture... managing to land the Hunchback of Codtradame. Grant added to the tally despite his shirt. That's not the best looking head... and the fish isn't much better. Then I finally found the one spot on the accessible river where room for a fly fishing back cast coincided with some suitable cod water. 3rd cast in and my 9wt Sage loaded up. A few minutes later I'd ticked off one of my 'to-dos' and had my first Murray Cod on fly. Not big... but like all of them (except Dan's deformed monstrosity), a beautiful green-speckled chunk of a fish. (sorry about the self-indulgence of 2 photos but hey, I'm the one they've pushed into writing this thing!!) Through the middle of the day, we regrouped to the cabin and apart from spending some time sleeping off the previous night's blue cans, made a plan to fish the river in the afternoon at a section of granite gorge further up-river. Once the sun started to get low enough to shadow the river, we scrambled into the spectacular country (or at least the 27yo Dan scrambled... the rest of us sort of shuffled). Foam from the waterfall at the head of the gorge lined the surface of the pool and followed the eddies and currents of the river. The poetry of the moment obviously moved Greg to spontaneously begin a zen Tai Chi spiritual ritual. Apparently when he attains his black belt, he should be able to dip his ass in the water without losing contact with the rock... something to look forward to. At the risk of blowing my own trumpet (hell, try and stop me!!), my Mojo was on fire that day. After my first with the fly rod, I then managed (despite almost sliding on my butt straight into the river) to find a great spot from which to throw a big quad-blade spinnerbait. And on the second cast the bumping of the lure across the snaggy bottom was interrupted by an almighty WHACK! A few minutes of tussling had me sliding what felt like a green bulldozer into range of my lip grips. While not a big fish by any means, it was my PB at 66cm My mojo continued later on when I headed down river before realising that my camera was missing and even though the thick grass was hip high, I actually managed to find it again back near where I'd almost slid into the river. As the sun dipped lower, we all moved back to the head of the gorge where Grant claimed one of 'his' rocks (many times during the trip, the granite cliffs rang to Grant's refrain of "Get off my ^%*$## rock!"). We hadn't realised after the last trip that it was possible to register a legal claim on particular granite boulders... Jewhunter must have a particularly switched-on lawyer. Shortly afterwards Grant started hollering and hooting as he was hit by a good cod and then whooped and yahooed, loudly claiming it was at least 70 or 75cm. From nearby I laughingly shouted back that it must be only 65cm. "Nah... it's heaps bigger than that" was the reply. I shuffled around the granite and helpfully produced my tape measure... it was 65 Day 3 started with us heading even further up river to the water we'd fished a lot the previous trip. By now the river level was dropping again, the barometer was rising strongly, and confidence was high. It's a beautiful stretch of the Severn surrounded by wind-fall timber as it gurgles through bouldery pools (artsty photo alert). The fishing was tougher than expected. I once again had my fly rod and didn't manage so much as a touch despite plenty of casting in the more open country. Grant and Dan managed a few fish between them. Dan's being small as was the pattern of his trip... in fact we all reckon that if you only counted the decent fish, Dan probably only landed 3 fish for the trip! Greg had stayed in the cabin to spend time recovering from the previous day's Tai Chi. One of the problems fishing the Severn is that it holds one of the world's great old-growth stinging nettle forests! Thigh high in places, long pants are a must unless you want to spend your time curled up in pain, mewling like a scalded cat. The other worry is snakes. Unlike last time, we didn't see any this trip but constantly walking through hip height scrub and grass where you can't see where you're putting your feet, really grates on your nerves. I'd learned my lesson last time and withstanding a barrage of derisive abuse I tracked around in snake gaiters for the 4 days. Derision turned to envy after a couple of days when I was still happily plodding along while Grant was quickly developing a nervous twitch every time he put a foot down. That afternoon, it was decided to make the epic crossing of the Severn in front of our cabin. While Dan and Grant were having a beauty rest, Greg and I gathered up some rope and combined with an old inner tube and a plastic tub we jerry-rigged a raft. Once again when the sun started to drift lower, it was time to hit the river. Dragging the 'SS Doomed To Failure' down to the river's edge, Greg took the lead and braved the raging river to paddle across and secure one rope to the opposite bank. All he got was a bit damp. We then ferried our gear across in the handy plastic tub. Unfortunately, then Grant took his turn and employing a 'rear first' boarding technique managed to put his ass through the plastic tub, thereby rendering any likelyhood of a dry crossing for us or our gear highly improbable. Mountain Goat Dan managed an agile crossing with minimal wetness and then my somewhat beefier frame made a very undignified crossing with bum in the water, feet in the air and avoiding going head over only by virtue of Greg's fast rope work. We were laughing so hard that through the tears we forgot to take pics so here's some shots of Dan's return voyage. No Fishraiders were harmed in the making of this documentary (and Dan's smokes made it through unscathed too) That afternoon we worked downriver fishing a long section of really great looking water, finally reaching some more granite country and concentrating our efforts around a big rock shelf. We all managed to pick up fish including a few good Cod around the 3kg mark. The deeper holes certainly hold the better fish on average. The only sour note being Grant having 'sand in his mangina' after leaving his spinnerbaits in the cabin and having to rely on borrowed lures which were 'entirely to blame' for him missing a hit he swears was the moby dick of all cod. We all believe him. After narrowly avoiding drowning on our trip back across the river we settled in to a great nosh up. By this stage what I thought was a head cold (I'm now under a doctor imposed quarantine for possible chicken pox/shingles) had me feeling like crap so I fell into my sleeping bag while the boys undertook some blue can fueled brainstorming for our last session in the morning. The next day I drove Dan, Greg and Grant into the big waterfall gorge for a last fish while I (still feeling very 2nd hand) decided to do something a little less strenuous. The final session produced quite a few fish without anything spectacular and when I got back to the drop off spot at around 10am, the 3 of them were looking shattered... Grant was horizontal and the others looked like kicked dogs. We headed back to the cabin with one quick stop when I spotted a crocodile in a roadside pool. "Bullcrap" was the least offensive of the comments when I hit the anchors and told the boys what I'd seen here in roadside New England. But sure enough... Ok, so it wasn't real but the property owner sure has a sense of humor and I wasn't lying. So that's it for another trip. We're all knackered (not that it stopped Dan fishing out the back of Grant's house until 2am the night we got back). But it's an awesome place and way to fish and the 'Mighty Goodoo' gets it's nickname for good reason. Absolutely one of the best fish to chase... looks awesome, hits like a freight train, fights like a bulldozer and takes you to amazing country. Roll on next trip. Cheers, Tony

:074: As a few of the other long-term raiders will tell you, I swore off Gulps about 2 years ago too. All the same problems. Jewhunter received my sealed lunchbox full of the remnants of various Gulp packets and the very first time he took it fishing, the lid came off in his tackle bag It's now been christened the 'stink bucket' As for fishing, I couldn't be happier without them. To this day I have NEVER had a session where Gulps have noticeably outfished the 'non-gulps' I've been using (I do use scent with them). But interestingly enough I have had a couple of sessions where the tails I've used have outfished the Gulps of others.... but I put that down to size and style of tail NOT the Gulp formula as when it's happened I've been using a significantly different tail. As for what I now fish with... Atomic Prongs, Atomic Prongs and Atomic Prongs! (actually I use a lot of Squidgies too). "The Power of the Prong" has become a bit of a catch cry on my boat. The pearl 3" ones that are my favourite seem to have a magical ability to turn up fish and the pink/green ones are killer in dirty water. I'm also a big rap for 'Stink Factor' (Squidgy S factor). Scent vs no scent does make a significant difference... With all that said, Gulps are fantastic plastics and looking at it from the other side, work just as well as the scent applied plastics that I use... and probably a lot better than plastics with no scent... if you want to put up with the leaking juice, trouble threading tails, mummified tails on jig hooks and other bug-bears. (All these problems can be avoided but I choose not to try). Power to you!! Slinky

Just spoke to a mate of mine who went diving at the bridge on the weekend. He saw a few (not heaps) but all of them were rats. Water temp was only 16.5 still. Cheers, Slinky

Or feel a day over 55

If your old spin reels are rough and have become rougher over time, shimming won't get them back to smooth. They might improve things slightly but the problem will be either your bearings or gears need replacing. If the reels are making noise like 'sand' is inside something, its probably bearings. If its a rough 'coffee grinder' feeling, its probably gears. All being said though, you can get shims by googling reel parts. If you have no luck, send me a PM and I'll let you know some sites. When I was a moderator I had permission to name a couple of specific sites for parts but I want to be a little more discreet now. Cheers, Slinky

If you have access to a boat with an electric... or a yak... then the canals are great fun fishing. Nearly every pontoon and wall holds bream but don't expect them to be big. The average size in the canals is only around 20-25cm at that time of year with enough bigger models to make it fun still. If you chase bream on lures, you'll also get a few trevally and occasional mangrove jack. Yes there are bull sharks in the canals but don't expect anyone to appreciate it if you start burleying a canal. You'll have more luck (with or without burley) if you want sharks, by fishing any of the rivers. If you want some real fun and have a boat, go looking for jacks in the rivers or around the rock walls in the broadwater. Just look for good current flow going past rock walls, bridge pylons or gnarly snags and you're in with a chance. If you're a bait fisherman, live herring or slab baits work well I'm told. I use lures and plastics. Another really good option if you want some fun is to live bait the Seaway using live herrings. Drift the sand edges along either wall and you're likely to get almost anything. Usually in summer you can expect a mixed bag of flathead, bream, snapper, trevally and jewies with the odd sweetlip or cod thrown in. Cheers, Slinky

PM sent. Cheers, Slinky

what sort of flies are you after? Trout, saltwater, where will you be fishing and with what sort of gear? You'll probably get better advice on the patterns and types you want here in the forums and then we can point you in the right direction to get hold of some. The next thing to do is learn to tie them and tailor flies to exactly what you need. Cheers, Slinky

Top fish Ray :thumbup: It might be worth getting a lotto ticket this week. A pig like that on Blackie gear... your luck must be matching your top rod skills at the moment... nice work mate. Cheers, Slinky

Using stones relies as much or more on technique as it does on the stones. And the quality of the blade will also limit how well it takes and holds an edge. For 'no-fuss' systems, the best I've found are the Furi Fingers set which I use on my kitchen knives. On a good quality knife you'll get a shaving sharp edge. But nothing beats stones and hones if you really want wicked sharp blades. I've always prided myself on being able to sharpen knives well but I've recently taken up archery and if you want to learn how to get an edge REALLY sharp, get some tips from someone good at sharpening broadheads. For sharpening 2 blade broadheads I now use nothing more than a file and a leather strop. Google broadhead sharpening and then apply the thinking to your fishing knives... it basically revolves around creating a burr on the edge, then weakening and knocking the burw off by honing. Shaving sharp from scratch in around 4 minutes. Cheers, Slinky

In a $30 reel the metal drag washers will be poor quality and both the metal washers and whatever passes for the 'fibre' washers (quite probably teflon) won't really be able to be improved much. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for. Cheers, Slinky

+1 for Samaki... I had a Zecton II (before it got stolen). Great rod and fits your description real well. Cheers, Slinky

Going a bit far to call me a tackle expert I pull reels apart and pretty much own my own tackle shop worth of rods but there's plenty of Raiders who know more than me (they just have more self control so don't necessarily have to own everything) Congrats on the new outfit. Cheers, Slinky