gambit

Moover, You and Shannon looked very pleased when we saw you moored next to SGFC on Monday. The appearance of the "new" boat is astounding. Some of the club guys thought the hull must have been fibreglass! The restoration of Rosie is a credit to the both of you, and any others who helped. Well done! Cheers, Bob.

Steve, The evening starts at around 7pm, and there will be a BBQ going to feed the hungry masses. Drinks are available as well. The club is indeed the one on the end of Watson's Bay wharf. Quite likely to be a few boats tied up on the weighstation - I know ours will, as that will be my bed tonight! Cheers, Bob. PS : Roscoe - wasn't that Blue on one of Peter's original Beer Barrells, in the Blue/Purple colour? I still have some green/yellow and pink/white ones somewhere, that used to catch plenty of fish. Maybe Pete will be announcing their rebirth tonight!! I am sure if we ran them more often now they would still catch fish.

Amazing how well that tarnished stainless is coming up using Tooheys Dry !!!! Might explain why my head feels like it does some morning after drinking that stuff.... Good luck with the project! Cheers, Bob.

To maybe clarify some of the confusion re the "Record Fish" issues, I think the articles all make clear that when weighed back in Townsville, it was still weighed hanging off the boat's crane (and thus not eligible for GFAA records - as it was not weighed "on land"). But given that the fish was also said to have had a run in with the boat's propellor's (and hence likely mutilated and N/A for any record purposes on that count alone), and also that the NZ angler is unlikely to be affiliated with a GFAA club anyway (and therefore not eligible for GFAA records - must be a financial member of a club affiliated with a GFAA State Association), then presumably it would not have been worth the additional effort to weigh it "on land". No matter what the technicalities, it seems clear that they have won at least the bragging rights for bringing in the first "Grander Blue". Cheers, Bob. The relevant GFAA rules covering the issues above can be found at : http://www.gfaa.asn.au/html/5rec_01.htm

Many years back we caught a similar fish wide of Sydney around an offshore FAD. We brought it in for identification, and the good Dr Julian P identified it as "uraspis uraspis", which is of the same family to this recent catch. I cannot remember much about it's set of dentures, but do remember it fought well on light gear, and had an amazingly thick coating of mucous/slime on it. Cheers, Bob.

There are at least 2 separate sets of unusual footage. The "I Fish" team filmed the demise of an 80-oddkg Mako which Paul Worsterling had been fighting aboard Mazzara, after a much larger Mako took a liking to its flesh as it arrived boatside. They then filmed the fight with that shark (est 250+kg on 15kg), which was later tagged [but could well have been the largest Mako for the tournament]. There is also footage taken from aboard Tantrum, of the MASSIVE Great White they had swimming around the boat for 1/2 hour or more, and it ultimately ate in 2 chunks an est. 130kg Bue shark which they had hooked up to after the close of fishing. Apparently some of this footage is on decent video camera, and some on mobile phone. I have not seen either [yet], but do hear that something is being put together. Not sure if something might be played down at the Sydney GFC presentation evening on Saturday night?? Aboard Gambit we had Greg Barea of El Bandido fame with cameras galore, and he managed some good footage of the 177kg model Mako we captured, including some great jumps and also clear underwater footage of it swallowing the whole striped tuna bait on our second attempt at getting solid to it. When the footage of anything surfaces in available form via SGFC I am sure that either Warnesy or I can let people know how and or where to see it. Cheers, Bob.

Grant must need glasses

I remember the good old days when we used to get BIG yellowfin off Sydney. 99kg was our best (moored at 12 mile). I wonder where they have all gone ?????????? Cheers, Bob.

The weekend weather forecast is starting to look good!! Bring on the 15kg action machines. Cheers, Bob.

Some more Google based research, as many photos of the "jimble" look similar – ******************************************************************* ….The research team also studied the venom of the ‘jimble’ (Carybdea rastonii), a closely-related species of jellyfish that is suspected of causing an Irukandji-like illness. In preliminary studies, the venom of Carybdea rastonii was found to exert a similar toxicity to C. barnesi, but its mechanism of action appeared to be more complex. ******************************************************************* BUT, of course, on yet another site, they seem to discount the potency? The Jimble, however, is not dangerous. It does sting but the venom potency is nowhere near as potent as its tropical relatives. It is the only cubozoan that occurs in the colder southern Australian waters. Occasionally it can be present in high densities in Sydney Harbour. Distribution: Western Australia to Southern Queensland. Habitat: Coastal waters, estuaries and oceans. Status: Common Size: Bell up to 3.5 cm. ************************************************* I don't think I will scoop any up into a bucket, just the same! Cheers, Bob.

I should mention that : (1) most sharks are tagged, as on the capture side of things the only award is for Heaviest Shark, and also (2) there is a TUNA section as well. Again, most fish end up being tagged, as the only capture trophy is for Heaviest Tuna. We on Gambit threw a spanner in the works last year when we brought in a Southern Bluefin instead of a Yellowfin to claim the Heaviest Tuna trophy! Amazing what you can find 35 miles out.... Attached photo is of an excellent mako which was tagged last year by one of our boats. This one looks much cleaner than Warnesy's ones! Cheers, Bob.

The photos are of 2 separate ones by the way. The second one already has one small shiny fish inside it's "boxhead", and another one in the grasp of a tentacle on its way up. As I said earlier, I have seen the same type of jellyfish many times over the years, so it is not necessarily the product of a recent current. They must be a temperate species of some sort. I have done a bit more searching and found mention of some of the "CARYBDEID" variety, which look somewhat similar to these. Must be some more information around if I keep digging! Bob.

The picture was taken last night about 6.30pm, at Rose Bay in Sydney Harbour. There were several groups of the jellyfish under different lights. Cheers, Bob.

Not sure whether the mobile phone pictures are going to work out for this or not. [YEP - now finally OK!] If they do, they are of a small jellyfish that I can only describe as a Box Jellyfish. Box shaped head, with 4 very distinct long streaming tentacles. They actively feed on small fish, worms etc attracted by wharf lights where my boat is kept at Rose Bay. Once their tentacles hit the fish, they seem to be poisoned and the tentacle then retracts it up into the box/head section, where it is quickly comsumed. I have seen them many times over the years, probably at this time of year rather than summer. Does anyone know what they actually are? I had the impression that true box jellyfish (ie: sea wasps & irukandji) were only evident in Northern Australian waters, but in googling the subject and looking at pictures, the appearance is eerily similar to the irukandji variety. Cheers, Bob.

Roberta, We use essentially the same set up with 2 round files, but instead of electrical tubing we use a suitable size wire rope crimp /suage (ship chandlery sourced) to hold the ends of the files, and if you get the correct size it holds them very firmly. On the topic of blackfish, I have been trying to get a camera shot of what schools of blackfish have been doing lately at the marina where my boat is kept [sydney Harbour]. They (along with bream & mullet) are "slurping" some sort of fish spawn off the surface of the water, and are there for the patting or taking! The spawn is brown in colour and obviously alive, as [if you are keen eyed and notice it in the first place...] it moves about visibly and collects in groups on the surface. It is very similar to what we colloquially refer to as "coral dust" out at sea, although not as thick as that usually is. The schools of blackfish and bream/mullet etc are also keeping the resident kingfish population occupied, along with at least one small whaler shark which appeared one day I was there. I will keep trying for a decent photo to post, as it would frustrate the heck out of dedicated blackfish anglers to see so many good size fish that close and active. Cheers, Bob.

While we have microwave / BBQ facilities on our current boat, we did not have that level of convenience on our last boat (26' Savage). But since the [very clean running] 300hp CAT diesel motor sat very flat within a raised engine box, it was easy to access the top of the header tank. I guess it was usually around 90 degrees while we were running, so was ideal for heating food. We just wrapped party pies / sausage rolls / chicken bits / snags etc in luminium foil and had them sitting neatly on the top of the header tank. Was great to always have hot food on a cold day, and it made us very popular with the smaller boats in our club when we came back in with leftovers, and many of them had shared one cold chook amongst 4 hungry fishermen! I have noticed a trend recently for many of the larger trailer gamefishing boats who drift fish for sharks to have a gas metal plate BBQ on board. The smell of bacon & eggs cooking must sure beat the smell of fish mince and mouldy mullet...... Cheers, Bob.

Congratulations with your first mako. I still remember mine - and it was my first trophy winner too! 70lb on 12lb way back in 1974, taken from a moored boat at The Peak off Sydney. There were only 2 of us on board that day, so in between doing laps around the boat I was politely trying to wake the owner up to come and gaff the fish... I am not sure of the site rules on this (and apologise in advance if it breaches protocol), but you might like to look at the "El Bandito Fishing" website. There is an excellent short clip, of a mako of very similar size to yours, taken with an underwater camera off our boat last year at the Port Hacking 100 comp. That mako went 58kg on 6kg, and took an hour for my 13yo son to fight. [unfortunately our minimum weight for tournaments up here is 60kg....bugger!] It also did taste good. What was very interesting with that shark is that it stayed around the boat for ages before even trying to eat a bait, but every time we had the camera in the water it seemed to sense the electrical pulse (or whatever), and tried to eat it! Time and time again the camera had to be lifted quickly out of the water before it became a TV dinner for the shark! Good luck with your next one. Cheers, Bob.

C'mon guys. You can hardly say that NSW gamefishing capture pointscoring rules have not adapted over the years. The points for Blue sharks have been adjusted many times, in correlation with their perceived/average fighting qualities. Initially they were 1/2 points. Then they were 1/3 points, and now they are in fact only scoring 1/4 points! I think someone earlier said that if the 232kg Blue Marlin had been taken on 37kg line that would have seen Black Pete win the tournament capture section. That is correct. The fish would then have scored 8,743 points, and the boat total would have increased to 13,726 (against Jamie and the boys and girl on Carnage with 12,603). It should also be noted in fairness that the Blue Sharks in themselves did not score all that many points (3,550 and 5,423), it was the combination of all 3 fish which got Carnage across the line. One >min weight marlin on light line would actually have thrown a spanner in the works. One was presented at the weighstation but only managed about 57.5kg on 10. If it had managed to be >74.5kg/10 that fish would have scored enough to beat Carnage's 3 sharks. Cheers, Bob.

Warnesy, Grant said you are nothing but a big girl's blouse for not getting that last fish!!! Reckons he would have stopped it much quicker..... Actually, I think he was still puffing from his previous battle(s) when he rang me all excited on the way home Sunday night. Sounds like you are at least finding the right area and getting bites, which is more than some of our other boats managed. Now if you can only get your whole crew onboard at the right time. Good luck for next weekend. Cheers, Bob. (Still packing boxes at work......)

The clips are known as a "Southam" clip. They were designed and built by William Southam (who was also famous for his split cane rods and other rod building skills), and he was indeed a member of SydneyGFC. They date back at least to the 1960's, and quite likely earlier. The description of how they work is pretty much correct. Amazingly, they still work very well and can be set very precisely. The "snap" as they release is very distinctive (and generally not the sound of the line breaking). Warnesy - I have a set which we still use at times (for secret reasons!!), and would be happy to show you the method. In one of the old gamefishing books there are pictures of how one of the guys, who was a little hard of hearing (and I think also had a noisy boat) retro fitted an adaptor which held an explosive percussion cap to the system. When the fish struck you had a "BANG" that the guys from mythbusters would be proud of! Cheers, Bob.