Josh88

I recently posted a thread 'Sounder Problem' about one of the small gold pins snapping off in the plug in the back of the unit. Well now having got a replacement sounder the small pin that snapped off is stuck in the hole that it fits into in the transducer cable and i can't properly plug in the sounder and turn it on because of this. So i need a way to get it out, i'm thinking of using a magnet?? Any suggestions are appreciated. Cheers Josh

Am going to post it in tackle talk soon

Well going out fishing yesterday on my birthday, what else would i of done. Was hoping to get amongst some kings with a good sized one thrown in there, it was not to be! No squid, tried 5 spots for not even a hint so resorted to using squid from previous trips, this didn't prove to successful. Decided to try the newly eradicated western wedding cake and was using the big rods weightless seeing i think the kings are getting smarter, had bail arm open with a big head on one rod while i was putting a strip on the other, towed them around the cake a few times for no interest, pulled them up and of course the head is gone, must of been when the bail arm was open-BUT surely it couldn't of ripped it off 2 hooks when it was still partially frozen with no resistance with the bail arm not closed Anyway off to quarantine where everyone has said the rats are. They were certainly there for 1 out of about 8 boats. These guys were pulling them in about every 30 seconds while every one else just sat and watched throwing everything they had at the kings for no result. Met Dave (Kingslayer) up there but left after cutting off my anchor having been stuck completely in the mess of rocks down there, i think i've figured out why they those people were getting fish whilst others weren't, i'd rather not say it completely but its in the bait, and it wasn't squid they were using, nor was it fresh. Something tells me the fish are getting smarter. Having no anchor our only option was to find a buoy and we did so at seaforth for no luck then tried Pickering where 3 boats anchored near the pt where doing well but our buoy in the middle of the moorings burleying heavily didn't attract any attention. Then headed to balmoral to meet friends for my bday, having no anchor i then had to drive the boat around to my grandparents place in neutral bay near cremorne and they took me back around. Had a good time at the beach but was then facing the prospect of driving the boat HEAD ON into the noreaster back all the way to roseville. Needless to say it wasn't a good experience, I got soaked, felt uncomfortable seeing that the harbour had become a dangerous washing machine with waves coming from all direction. I had to travel at around 3000rpm very cautiously in waters in waters i could normally drive at 4500rpm comfortably. Coming home to some awesome fishing gear presents was great though Anyway hopefully do better next time, i think the problem is my brother, we never catch fish when he comes out and always do when he doesnt!!! Cheers Josh

Well Done Dave. Nice meeting you out there too. You certainly did better than our big 0. Josh

Definitely Pike, make good baits for kings and jewies but are ok to eat.

There's quite a few options of decent reels: Shimano: Sedona-$85 Seido-$120 Daiwa: CY Spin- $100 Exceler-$120 Regal 5i-$90 Penn: Applause-$80 Affinity-$120 Give GoFish Pete a call and he'll sort you out with something good. Cheers Josh

Good work Ben, nice haul especially seeing you're landbased? I usually find a jig in 2.0 or 2.5 to be most effective for getting all sized squid, but i guess thats not too important if you're going to freeze them rather than get little ones for live bait. I know if i had excess they wouldn't end up in the freezer

We have one, its a fairly nice reel, i find it a bit bulky (this is the previous model). The new one may be better though, looks pretty cool in black. Josh

We have a Garmin 450s GPS/sounder and its a good little unit, they have a good clear screen with high resolution and are very easy to navigate through menus. Having colour does make it easier to differ between different bottom structures but its not that much better than a black and white one if you can't read your sounder properly. I'd advise you to get a good book on how to read your sounder, there a some good ones out there, can't remember the authors but ask around and they sell them at boat supply shops. Cheers Josh

I think we had something similar put on our grandpas trailer, but it was like a v shaped entrance at the back of the trailer that made sure it went on straight, that had rollers as well. But if you're winching it up then as long as you can get the front of the boat on with something like the v shaped guide then you should be sweet. Ours just has 4 bunks and i can easily launch and retrieve it on my own, even if you get blown out a bit, if you get your bow onto the bunks the boat will straighten as you drive up the trailer. Maybe look at some good straps for when travelling across bad roads. Cheers Josh

We caught probably close to 100 tailor last week. Best lure is a shallow diving minnow of some sort, rapala's are great lures as mentioned and i've had them take little 1/2 inch metal slices up to 15cm deep divers without any hesitation. I found the best lure was a rapala husky jerk 8 in a white/transparent colour which looked exactly like the whitebait they were feeding on. Best trolling speed i found was about 4.5knots, make sure your lures action is constant not jumping out the water or getting tangled, try different speeds until you find the right one. Put your lures at different lengths have one in quite close that will sit just under the bubble trail left by your prop as this often attracts fish up. Gear we were just using 8lb and they were easy as to get in, some fish were up around 55cm and took a bit longer but no drama at all. If you're likely to pick up salmon or kings then 8-10kg might be a better option. Cheers Josh

Thats the world we live in. Who knows how people like that come about

I'm right handed and used to wind with my right hand but have been using my left for the last couple of years, find it much better to have right hand on the rod for casting, jigging sps and fighting fish. My brother though still uses his right hand to wind and so i have to sometimes when fighting some fish but no drama changing back. If you are going to change best to just take your time and start small with things like squid, then work up bream, flatties, tailor, salmon, kings and you'll be settled and used to it before you know it. Still struggle every now and then to keep coordinated when retrieving quickly with my left. Cheers Josh

Daiwa TD Sensor, just got some haven't used it yet but it sure does look good

All done and sorted in a few days, Garmin sending out a replacement unit immediately which was good of them. Josh

Would like to go out, but i think it'll be mayhem on the harbour, not sure if its worth the hassle and may not have sounder back yet

Thank god, hate people that have no respect for the laws that have been put in place for a reason, when just about all of us stick to them.

Got birthday on Monday as well I'm thinking there'll be an iphone in there and a very nice medium spinning combo Josh

Bull Sharks unlike many other sharks can tolerate freshwater and thats often why they are seen well upstream like in the hawkesbury. Probably hunt the small soapies up near wisemans and other fish like Pete (tide'n'knots) catching one the other day. I'm just wondering is wisemans ferry really that safer place to water ski, there's a hell of a lot of people that do up there, i know i have and bull sharks are one of the more dangerous shark species? Josh

Well done Dogtooth, you always seem to produce some good looking kingies. Have the rats invaded botany like the harbour? Cheers Josh

It should be fine, you see people out there in smaller than that doing ok. Probably a good idea to really check weather reports and forecasts before you go out particularly if a change is coming that could make it a bit hairy getting back to shore in. with a 30hp you should do fine though just keep an eye out for bigger boats like cruisers and ferrys as they may have a hard time seeing you. Cheers Josh

Nice work, how big was it? Guessing MH somewhere? Cheers Josh

Great fish, well done. Were you inside or outside sth head?

Plenty of rat kings in the harbour, h'bury and cowan are a bit slow at the moment i think. Not sure about pittwater, haven't heard anything out of there for a while.

The squid usually turn off after a big run of fresh water, you'll often find them a bit deeper around reefs like dobroyd where the water is clearer, they tend to like live baits and you can often lure them up to within sight and then drop a jig in front of them, i got my biggest squid doing this around 2kg. Can't think of too many land based apart from the ones you mentioned. I'm not going to give away my good specific spots but the little beaches all around the harbour produce well. Cheers Josh