inspin

Leave the camera in the car !!! Saturday morning saw us try and get stuck into this Red October caper....The morning didnt start off the best with nothing caught and a move was called for at about 9:30am.....so we tried some deeper water off broken bay and the first fish came aboard at about 11am...after this it was a waiting game with the occassional bust off using 10 kilo gear....put in a lot of hours but ended up with the below catch.....just wish i had some live fish photos. Fish ranged from 1 to a smigeon over 4kg and went down a treat on the bbq for grand final day with the rest of my soccer team. I am never bringing the camera on board again !! Its a curse i tell ya, i have been bringing it onboard over the passed few outings and if it doesnt curse the current it curses those bloody bait stealing birds or the wind gods or the swell gods or the no live bait gods etc etc....

Good luck trying to get your bait through those bloody birds !!

Unlucky Byron, great read as always. Sounds like you got done on the eye of the hook as you stated....crimping sounds the way to go but if you can get your hands on a solder try and use it to close the eye of the first hook in the double....i do this for all my doubles and havent been done on light leaders for a while.

Thanks for your help guys, going to get one from Kangaroo Tent city on thursday.

G'day Raiders, I need a new esky and was thinking of getting one with a cushion lid to act as a seat.....Do any of you know where i can get one. This one is a Wise - 48 Qt Cooler And Cushion from a website in the states but shipping is way too much but is exaclty what i am after.

Thanks Byron, will check them out.

Byron, what type of line class is the rod you are using ? Or what kind would you reccommend on a 4000 size reel.....I am looking to start some deeper water jigging say 30-40 metres and was looking at rods with a 4-6 kg line class and with a bit of a stiffer action to allow for heavier jigheads, you think 4-6kg will do with say 10-12 lb fireline ?

G'day all, Had a great day, thanks for organising this guys. I fished with Yellit on his really nice Freedomsport. Thanks Yellit for the day out even though there was a lack of action, we trolled around north head in the morning for 1 slimey mackeral then caught up with the rest of you along Manly where we drifted and threw 4 inch plastics around. I scored a little kingie of around 25cm and yellit got 1 legal and a throwback as well. I also managed to score 2 sergeant baker...i hate those bloody things. We then came back in about 12 to clontarf for a few mintues before Yellit dropped me off at the ramp so i could get to the footy in time....bloody roosters are crap, should of stuck around with the rest of you. I also went fishing on Saturday morning where we managed to troll up 2 kignies, one was undersize and the other was 8 kgs...waiting to get the photo sent to me as the had my digi to use in NZ...gotta love not having the around for a full weekend....2 days of fishing and a in a corporate box at the footy....oh well im sure i will pay for it in the coming weeks.

Having a day off yesterday (Bank Holiday) we decided to venture out for some snapper action as well. The water was 17.9 degrees and all looked good until we anchored up and set up a berley trail when we noticed no current what so ever...you know what they say...no run no fun...we ended up with 2 small pinkies around 35cm and 2 big morwong, with the dreaded plague proportions of sweep and pesky pike...my mate kept yelling out "how much does a pie cost ?" everytime he brought one to the boat...stinky nuisances !!! We pulled the pin after a few hours and decided to try a drift in deeper water....no luck, no wind, no drift....top day to be on the water and felt even better cos i didnt have to come to work. On the way back to the heads we saw birds hanging just in front of north head looking as if they were feeding but couldnt see any sign of fish feeding...threw a bass minnow in amongst them just in case and managed to hook a bird square in the beak....had my hands full trying to release him but finally managed to do so....salmon cant be far off surely !!

Heading to longie on saturday for a troll and hopefully a snapper or two if they are willing to cooperate...where is the weigh in for the probream event in the harbour ?

When gathering livies for bait it always pays to drop the first one caught back down with a hook in its back...we have caught numerous john dory, kingfish and a few jewfish like this when we least expect it.....probably 1 in every 30 bait gathering sessions results in a hook up on the livie...it doesnt always happen but when it does its always a bonus and a great way to start the day. Whenever we are fishing baits we always bring a block of pillies and just throw cubes down a trail every now and then....we dont burley heavily but we do it constantly...apart from that i usually will burley what i am using whether it be off cuts of the squid, fillets or prawn heads.

Thanks for your help guys....it was the Jerk Shad that i was after...no wonder all my searches and enquiries to the tackle stores came back with zilch results !! I have always just called them drop shots. Even managed to find some 7 inch ones. I knew you guys would know what i was on about

G'day raiders, Does anyone know where i can get some 5 inch Berkley drop shot minnows ?? Plenty of 3 inch in every tackle store i go to but would really like to get a hold of the 5 inch variety. Have found some Fin S ones but i really like the look of the Berkleys. I am willing to order from the states if anybody knows a reputable dealer there as well. Thanks

Might hit the stones for some blackfish or pigs on saturday cos the predicted westerly may keep the swell down in close or if the swell is reasonable enough may hitch a ride on a mates boat to Longie.....bloody swell has been aweful these last couple of weekends !! matt_nsw have you been getting stuck into the groper ?

How does your Avet perform Swoff ? is it a lever drag ? Heard some good things about them. Does anyone know what the Torsa's are roughly going to retail at ? There are a few on ebay that are going for about $600 - $700 US...

Do you think they might be ribbon fish ?? Im not sure what they are in the Asian fish shops but i heard that they get ribbon fish out at sea.....they could well get hairtail in the deep blue yonder....they are mysterious thats for sure. We use to get them off the land on that wall at Akuna/Illawong bay 5+ years ago.

Heading up to Airlie Beach with the soccer team in early October for our end of season trip and was wondering if anyone had been to Airlie beach and could inform me of the type of fishing i could expect up there ?? Are there any charter operators that are located on Airlie Beach ? If so does anyone have any reccomendations ?? Thanks for your help

Mate i also pulled out of a lot of fish when i first switched to braid but once i experimented around a bit i started actually liking the stuff and i wont use anything else now unless its on an Alvey, plus 300 metres of braid was expensive. If your reel can handle it go heavier in the braid than 15 kg. Also i found that a long, say 5 metre, leader helped with the hook up rate as it gave it that shock absorber effect and as always make sure your hooks are ultra sharp...i even sharpen the chemically sharpened ones. Also you are bound to pull out of big fish on any line type, they all get big for a reason !!