Coach

Its either something better.. or the price drops!!! but look on the bright side.. you have an awesome reel there now.. just in time for the weekend!!!!

Re: Hauraki gulf Don't think the boat will make it over there....but if the current and wind are right and if i get a few Jerry Cans.....HHHMmmmm. In terms of Afternoon Vs Morning, We used to get the bigger fish in the afternoon, but more mid-size snapper in the Morning...Simple solution I have found to this is to go out in the Morning and stay out till the night. (with a quick kip in between).. Not wanting to sponsor anything, but Red Bull does keep up awake when you feel like your eyes are bleeding after fishing for 18+ hours!! Have decided to get the cobwebs off the boat on Saturday... will see what happens!! I worked it out, haven't been out there for 8 weeks due to work ...been so long, I probably wont recognise a snapper when i see it!!! Cheers

anyone catchin any snapper out there??... I haven't been out for around a month and if the boat behaves i might head out broken bay for a run this weekend .. but not sure what depth of water they are hanging around in. Cheers

I found this one very handy as well http://www.weatherzone.com.au/marine/marin...p?district=MN04

i used to have a 4.2 Metre Bluefin tinny with a 40Hp tillersteer on the back and fished in the area you are talking about a lot. We Used to troll around barrenjoey, down to Whale and back again for salmon, kings etc etc. (Never woudl take her out to the Vallient though) Used to have no problems so long as I didn't go crasy, (Commonsence always prevails) and did get into some messy water once or twice out there. (Between lion Island and Barrenjoey can get very very bad if you have the tide running the opposite way to the wind) Main problem was when the boat was too light.. they used to bounce a bit in a messy chop, but apart form the comfort factor she was pretty good One word of warning though is if she takes on water in a hurry, then they will go down pretty quick and the normal flotation that comes with a tinny is not much, so make sure you have lifejackets etc etc very handy (Left the bung out at the boat ramp once and noticed that she didn't flot for too long) I used to tow her behind a jeep wrangler with no hassles, they are pretty light as once i got is stuck in the drive trou at Red Rooster (what was i saying about commonsence!!!) and we could move the whole trailer sideways with just two people pushing it. The run from Barrenjoey to bayview was always a bad one (too much horsepower and not enough cushioning), so I used to put it in a little sand ramp just behind Palmbeach which was pretty good ( but make sure you have a 4wd or you can get bogged) We used to catch more kingies and salmon than my current boat. .Still not sure if this is because the engine was smaller or if I am having a bad season. Good luck.

pleeeease don't say Boston Whaler!!! Actually mine has already been rolled and went out drifting by herself for a few days.. before we picked her up... so a few leaks would be understandable (not that she has any though..shes a tough little boat!!!) What type of boat was it.. Cummonnnn ya know you wana say it!!!

If the yakka's in front of west head are a bit skittish then chances are their are a few kingies around. When this happens I normally put my first yakka out in this area and generally get a hit when I am getting bait. I also have a mate who fishes the drop off near the red marker pole in the middle of pittwater (northern part of pittwater, opposite mackeral beach, there is only one marker pole.... go about 20 metres south and 30 metres east if you have no sounder to get close to his drop/hole). he recons that on the change of tide he gats a few good flatties and bream out of there. (he's fed me on a few occaisions so he must do alright out of it!!!) Trolling up the western side from the basin, heading south generally gets a hit or two from kingies or tailor as well.. in this area i tend troll as slow as the boat will go, but drag them along a bit when i get a hit (A little like a marlin strike, but without the $'s), i find they tend to like the slower lure in the bay, but don't connect up to it well unless I drag them along a little bit... (Put a bit of speed on the lures if your near barrenjoey) Also between the western tip of Barrenjoey and westhead is a good place to keep an eye out for salmon, I find the rising tide best. Hope it help's..

Are we still talking about eating????!!!! I found salmon pretty ordinary when baked ... and ok when fried. However, grilling them in Cutlets on the BBQ in that McKormacks "Lemon and Pepper" seasoning is pretty good. I also make it a habit of bleeding and (with salmon) gutting them as soon as they are in the boat as well...this might help

that google earth is pretty cool stuff.. expecially when exploring a new river or lake. Thanks for the launching tips Changa.. I have a 6 metre Boston Whaler centre console that i know can handle the rough stuff a lot better than its owner.. but its handy to stick it in at botany and a lot cheaper to run it 37Kms out than 65Kms (For some reason I always thought Browns was north.. not south!!) Co-ordinates i got off the web were lat 34.02.200s long 151.39.500e (again thank you Mr Google!!!) Jacool: I had the same problem with the co-ordinates.. but i just scrolled the pointer until its location showded up as a match.. a bit slow I know.. and there is probably a quick converter around... but it did the job in the end.

Thanks I found the co-ordinates on the web and typed it into google earth.. My boat would be fine to get out to this as it used to do these distances when I was in Brisbane. I will be keen to come along as its been a while since i chased yellowfin, but again am unsure of work commitments. I'l keep an eye on the posts and will come out if i can. Cheers

how far out is Browns from Barrenjoey?? and what is running out there this time of year?? I might be keen to follow if you want another boat to tag along at a distance... Im in the same boat (excuse the pun).. I have a six metre console.. but it would be nice to have a 'back up boat" should the beer..i mean engine... run out. (Not sure of my availability at the moment though as work makes me work for a living..)

If its a handheld unit your after then I use a Garmin GPSMAP60CS (the 60C is basically the same,cheeper, but without elevation I think). It's GOLD!!!! The unit runs on two AA batteries for around 8-12 hours and comes with some basic, uncalibrated base maps.. The uncalibrated map is ok (or i used to turn it off) for plotting marks and going back them. However the maps are not a real accurate reference. The unit itself is very accurate and easy to work/run (its the type of unit where you dont have to read in the instruction manual all the time to work it) If you buy the mapping software (around $300ish extra depending on region etc etc) then you get a some pretty accurate data. I usually run out to my normal reefs for a fish, then have an explore when its gets a bit quiet.. I have been able to pin point pinnicles at home and upload the waypoint to the GPS and then I find them easily with the unit when I am out on the water. The screen is easy to see and putting in marks quickly on the fly is too easy.. When drifting, i hit the Mark button everytime i get a good hit.. its actually a bit scarey to see future hits happening on the rods not because of fish showing on the sounder, but becasue you are hitting a previous mark!!! I also use the unit when hunting and driving, its good in valleys/plains etc etc, but can loose signal in thick scrub (not sure if this is the unit or a general GPS thing though) Only thing to watch out for (and this is a general GPS thing) is the thing called "Datums".. Datums controll the accuracy and can be set defferently on different GPS's (if you have gone to a spot a mate has given you and what you are looking for is not there, chances are he is using a different datum) I think the current Australian Datum is WGS-84 ( 0r something like that).. Ask the GPS guy and he can make sure your on the right on. Only other advise I can give is to get a GPS and dont put it off if your working reefs that have no good reference points..... since I got mine, my catch rate has increased significantly!!!, One issue is that you can get dependant on them ( i would be lost without mine these days!!)

No worries.. Other good sites I use and find handy are: For Localised Weather: http://www.weatherzone.com.au/marine/marin...p?district=MN04 For Wave Heights: http://www.scubawarehouse.com.au/Weather/W...ght_Period.html Any other Jewie tips would be appreciated.. I havent caught one for several years now (tend to go outside chasing snapper) and I have forgotten what they look like!!!! Cheers

Sharkey I don't have any for the Bay, but this is the one I use for offshore.. http://www.mhl.nsw.gov.au/www/wave_temp.htmlx Hope it helps..

I looked up the Aussie Whale 5.5 Pro-Fish, Nice looking boat Martin...Would be good timing to get it just as the water starts warming up!! I dont know any good or bad things about the brand of outboard that you are getting, but did have to ship my boat down from Brisbane recently. When I did bring mine down it cost around $ 700. From memory they charged for the length on the trailer (7 Metres from tip to toe), and wernt worried about width (too much) or weight...all i had to do was get it to a collection spot in Brisbane, and then i picked it up from a collection site that was located out the back of Bankstown.. Around 5 years ago, I brought a tinny down, it was only 5 metres, from tip to toe on the triailer.. from memory this was around $400-$500 Maybe I was getting ripped off but that seemed to be the going rate at the time when I did my ring around Good luck with the purchase!!

Hi Joe I was thinking of doing the same on my Console, but in the end opted to buy the stainless steal outrigger fittings (around $100 each at Bias).. with the thought of buying the poles later. I mounted the fittings on the sides of the boat, near level with the console. (if i find a pic then I will send it too you) These ended up being a god send as you can adjust them any angle for trolling or bottom bashing, In the end I didn't end up getting the poles that slide into them as I went for two big beach rods which tend to do the trick just fine. The other advantage is when you do hit that wake at 20 knots, you have one last thing to grab for as you fly out the side!!!!

Looks like it was quiet everywhere on Saturday.. I went out last Saturday morning to Esmarelda and fished between 62 and 87 Metres of water.. The sounder looked real good but all we got was one pig fish, one med snapper and a heap of Nanni's. The charter boat out there seemed to just be getting nanni's as well. Got a bit of a fright when a large seal came up under the boat to say hello!!! Tried boltons reef on the way in and got nailed by a lot of leatherjackets and rubbish. Tried jigging on a few schools of fish in 40 metres of water (was clutching at all straws!!) but all i got was..... more nanni's (there aggressive little buggers arn't they!!!, The Jig was bigger than the nanni!!) Tried a final jig on the vallient, but again nothing!!! (getting repetitive isn't it!!) Didn't see any Salmon running around, through some small tailor were working the bommie on the northern side of Barrenjoey. Apart from that it was a magic day... bit cold in the morning though (ice on top of the esky as opposed to being in the esky is a sure sign its fresh!!!)

Apologies if I seemed preachy in my earlier comment…My comments were not meant to be dictatorial… Rather just suggesting that taking home a few for a couple of meals and not filling the fridge is something that should be considered. For example Lets pretend a photo had 100 fish in it.. but there were 80 fishermen.. would this be considered an overkill or enough to feed each bloke for a meal of two.. (Decide amongst yourselves on this one, as it’s an interesting question to ponder). Anyway, with a coastal wind warning forecast for the beginning of the weekend, I am hoping the salmon will be around in plague proportions as I seem to have my best days when the water is like a washing machine and the rain comes in horizontal… Good luck to anyone going out in it!!!

Hey all, first time writer, long time listener… This site rocks and often is the differentiator between going out there or staying in bed (The Newspaper reports always seem to be a bit “extra-ordinary) It’s a Nice catch indeed, but sorry to winge on my first time here.. but I gotta agree with plfishfingers. My ex-misses used to say/nag about a lot of things (much of which was ignored) but one thing she used to enforce was the line, “you ain’t going fishing till the freezer is empty” .. so I got into the habit of bringing back enough for only one or two meals.. Its just a thought…but if we all did this maybe there might be some more out there.. <end of my political statement> Damian