[Sydney North + Terrigal Fad's]

may stay inshore a few more weeks and target some kings then. cheers for the tips guys.

[Sydney North + Terrigal Fad's]

Hi Guys,

Just wondering how everyone has been going (if anyone has been going) offshore to either of these to areas)

i am keen to get out this weekend, and thinking i may take the trip out to the FAD's and see whats about.

I will more than likely put out a few lures once i start seeing the traps, and troll the rest of the way to see if there are any stripeys, or bonnies or even salmon about.

(hopefully i can put them down deep at the fad)

Anyways, any news would be great, as i havent been on the water in a good month to month and a half.

[Jigs]

Hey Slink,

The jigs for the tuna need not be overly heavy as you will find the heavier jigs do not impart the kind of action that the tuna likes.

Lost on ( you can ask Mike ) on a 200gm jig dropped about only 100 metres down ( where the tuna was sitting not for anyting but because of my own stupidity of using light line and not understanding how it works.

If the tuna does take your jig, let it run and dont panic. I did and tried to stop the reel from being spooled after losing about 200 metres of line so i thumbed it too hard and it snapped !

It will be dependent on the size of the fish of course but generally from what i heard of reports in the states where they predominantly do this for BFT, better to let it run and do its tuna circles before you apply pressure.

It is good if the boat is not drifting too fast and you divide the work around with one cubing and two people on cubes and another jigging by dropping the jigs to around 200 metres and bringing it up quickly. You would have buckleys chance to get it to the bottom only because the depth could be over 1000 metres.

Mike from Reef Magic Charters got it pretty down pat and if you get a chance, go out with him with a crew. At least if there is no fish, its a hell of a boat (so comfortable you can be lazy !! LOL)

Also the jigs as mentioned are normnally short butterfly types and this was what i used and got the fish. I will be trying again this season and also next season for BFT if i have a chance.

LUCANUS JIGS

Used them but only on inner reefs where they work very well on all sorts of fish (mostly bottom dwellers).

problem is that the hooks on these are not for tuna (trust me) and i have lost kingies as well but caught lots of rock cods, sargent bakers even small snappers on them.

You dont do much with them - just drop let it sink enough not to hook at the bottom and let the drift do your jigging for you. Once in a while lift your rod SLOWLY and not too fast and the take is sometimes hard but usually a gentle bite until the fish feels the hook and starts to fight. Very very different than jigging high speed jigs.

I tried this at the peak and also 12 mile - Bloody hopeless except that the leatherjackets will eat up all your plastic and you have buy new ones.

VIBES

Get yourself some vibes - there are some 20+gm ones availabl. Change the hooks into the twin hook ones and if there are bonnies around, you will have hell of time with them cos they also catch you plenty. I have bought some 40+ and 50+ ones to try for kingies so will update with a report if it works.

Blue Broken Arrows, and Pink Rockets... thats what i say.. here is a video of me and some mates doing some jigging with these 2 jigs.

[Pesky Birds Stealing My Bait..how To Get Rid?]

with an "oar"!!?? haha.....

very true, hard to get rid off them as i tried fishing livie on the bottom, distracting them and secretly drop livie in close so they wont see...but they are very smart!!!

i might have to resort to the "oar"!! hahahaha

Make sure you guys dont get seen doing this. as i dont think its very legal..

but in saying that, they are pesky, esp when drifting around the fads etc.

Apparently if you sprinkle chilli powder on the water it stops them and seals, as they dont like to dive in chilli ?

I never tried it, i just end up using a small sinker, and dropping the bait over the side.. i have had a few baits caught and brought to the surface by them, but i guess its all part of the game.

maybe you can get some feather dusters to scare them off, like gulls on moored boats?

i would also love to know how to be rid of them, just not game to get my oar all bloody haha

[How Far Out Is Safe In A 4.35M Runabout? And How/where Do I Find Fish?]

Hey guys,

Just got a new boat recently and have done a little fishing in the bay and in the georges. All i end up catching is little whiting and undersized bream. Some legal ones would be nice, even a snapper. I want to venture outside the heads a little and try and target some bigger fish outside. Does anyone have any pointers on whats out there and what i can target. How far out is safe would you say? Say 500m from shore? Maybe even 1km? I also have a Lowrance HDS-5 fitted to the boat and i want to actually use it and try and sound some fish. Nothing seems to ever come up on the sounder in the river or in the bay. If i headed out a little further will something actually show up on the sounder? Im hoping someone can help me cause its so frustrating not coming back with anything. Any tips would be great.

D

Hey mate, i agree with the above, it sounds like you may not have enough experience to test this alone. But not taking a stab at you at all.

I would say just grab a mate, or maybe someone off the site who goes out there regularaly on small craft to go out with you the first few times, to give you some pointers etc.

does seem like your boat will be fine outside mate, and depending on the conditions, sometimes (and more often then not) its rougher closer to shore, then when you pass that it seems to get flatter, and nicer.

[Youth Fishing - Be Responsible]

It disgusts me, when i go to my fvourite rock spots too... and you find bait packets, line, drinks etc etc, all just pushed into the crevases. i always have a few plastic bags in my fishing backpack (i have a bunch of the flat tackle boxes, so depending what fishing i am doing, i just change up whats inside the bag, and always take it with me..

I usually end up bringing back other peoples rubbish from the rocks, but have had a couple of people try to tell me i cant throw it in the bin by the pool... Seriously though those ppl can suck a fat one, because if i didnt put it there, it would eventually just end up in the drink...

- i do understand if it was my rubbish from my car, or home a bit of a different story, but my fishing rubbish, along with others i have picked up... (maybe its just because it looks a pretty full bag when i have it - and my part of the bag is usually very miniscule...

[Any Interest In A Day Deep Sea Fishing]

Is anyone interested at all? .............

Hey mate, i would be after october, as i am going away next week..

[Mako's Inside Browns]

Nice mako guys well done, just wondering what some of you guys think or the best way to quickly ( if there is a quickly )dispatch makos when you have tired them on the rod, we sunk the fly gaff into one on sat & he managed to chew the rope so we struggled to tail tie him but eventualy did, then dragged him behind the boat for a while, at one stage we had him beside the boat & i thought if only we had a good club, rite between the eyes would have been the way to go.

Im no expert so was just wondering what some of you more experienced guys do to kill the buggers if your taking them for eating as the one we got was about 120kgs & real good eating i must say, i think ill be looking for a good solid mallet or baseball bat to keep on the boat now

Hey mate,

Club would probably not do much to a big sucker like that, if under a meter you will probably crack the skull and kill it.. though, i have done it, had a collapsed skull, and the thing still wouldnt die.. I would be looking for a samurai sword, and right though the skull

[Does It Matter Which Way The Rod Bends?]

Are you just not sure if the rod you have is an overhead rod or spin rod? Or do you know what type of rod it is (say an overhead rod) and want to use it as a spin?? Also what rod are you talking about?

Ideally you should use a spinning reel on a spinning rod, and an overhead reel on an overhead rod. That's what they're designed for. The blanks are the same, it's the size, position and number of guides that is the difference. Also, some overhead rods have the reel seat mounted higher than the spin version too.

If you've got a heavy rod that barely bends than using an overhead reel on a spin rod isn't going to matter too much. If you have a light spin rod that bends heaps with a fish on the using an overhead on that is not a smart idea because you can almost guarantee that the line will be rubbing on the blank. With a light line to begin with the chances of it breaking are quite high.

Long story short, if you're in doubt stick with what the rod was designed to do - ie: a spin reel on a spin rod, and an overhead reel on an overhead rod.

Hey mate, mentioned it in the post, but not in the sense, just as an example.. but yeah the road i am more interested in is the -

shimano 15kilo backbone elite - regular non roller guides, and non roller tip. - This is the one i want to use for the threadline reel. (also was told these were good for braid use as opposed to rollers which i was told are not great for braid fishing.. just wasnt able to tell is it was for overhead or threadline.

I have the Shimano 15 kilo backbone elite roller tip - i have a tld 25 on her

24 kilo shimano backbone elite full rollered. - just with another tld 25 on her for now..

I have another tld 25, on a no name roller rod.. so if its for overhead reels, will probably use her on there, and load with braid

anyone know the Shimano backbone range ? and know if the non roller ones, are made for threadlines?

[Jigging For Kings At Peak And 12Mile]

Port Jacksons are protected mate...

Hey Guys,

this always comes up, i am sure it was in 2 posts last week. PJ's are not protected at all.

They were many moons ago.

Are wobbeygongs still protected?

P.S- i do throw them back once caught, have kept a couple before for the guys at work(PJ's Not wobbeys). they love em, but too much hassle for me to bring them home, gut them, and take them to work for them the next day...

- As for Trevs and stronger tasting fish -

Go down and get the fresh paste stuff and use it (found where you find the herbs and stuff in the vegetable section in woolies)

I get the garlic, ginger, hot chilli, basil.

I mix them together (to taste so just dip your finger in each time, and decide what you need more of)

then i skin the fillets, and put them in a shallow tupperware pour my mix over, and massage it into the flesh.. then i seal the tupperware, shake it around, and putin the fridge for a couple of hours (or even just 20 minutes) the longer, the more flavour will soak in..

then i like to do them over the grill side of the BBQ as opposed to the plate so you get that flamed grill taste. and a bit or crisp...

Man my mouths watering

i use a few different combos, but this oneis good,

i prefer the -

1 part chilli

1.5 part ginger

1.5 parg garlic

.25 part basil.

Good luck

[Does It Matter Which Way The Rod Bends?]

thanks for the top info guys.

I saw another post, but it was more about how to find the spine as opposed to weather you can use one on the other.

I will do the tests tonight, and see how i fair.

Should they also bend differently when under load? Maybe i can tie on my 5 litre bucket and test an overhead, and a threadline, and see the difference.

would i be right to assume, that the reel that gets more bend is the right one ? or the other way around?

or ?

[Malcom Douglas]

hi all ihope this report i just heard on the radio is very wrong but they said malcom douglas my have passed on due to a car accident ;i hope not i have enjoyed his showes for many years fingers crossed ray

Yes Mate,

Very unfortunate indeed.

you guys can see more below -

http://www.kidsolo.com/malcolm-douglas-dies/2671/

[Does It Matter Which Way The Rod Bends?]

Hi Guys,

just wondering if it matters which way your rod bends?

I know i use baitcaster/ overheads, on some rods which are actually for egg beaters.. (or made for spinning etc)

But does it matter more when you go up in size.

say for example, a shimano 15kilo backbone elite - regular non roller guides, and non roller tip. now can this rod be used for both an overhead, and an egg beater? or just an egg beater? or just an overhead?

Any advice, or tips and experience would help alot.

Cheers.

[Do You Clean Your Own Fish And Where?]

the issue is if ur cleaning fish on the boats and chucking rather large bits of fish overboard i heard its illegal as it counts as littering.

Yeah come on, whats the difference here with burley ?? or chumming ?? i guess i agree with the leaving the whole frame of 10 large fish off the end of the local jetty as being bad enough th warrant littering, but you just dont see it enough.. any chunks that go in, would eventually be picked apart by peckers, crabs, rays, occys will all get into it, and they should not last long at all..

But yeah that being said, anyone seen any legislation on this ? as i would rather know if it is illegal or not, and what the guidelines are as i dont like to get a big fine for nothing haha.

P.S-

I catch my fish, if on my old mans cruiser, we would bleed them and chuck them in slurry until we got back to the doc, as trying to clean down the wooden decks with scales everywhere would be killer.. however, we have pulled up a mooring when we get back into the bay and you can clean them in the water over the side if you want.

Thats what i do on my smaller boat, i usually pull up a mooring in pitty, gut and scale, (which usually attracts hords of yellowtail.. and i stick a bait out for kings if they are about.. We have caught a few kings while doing the cleaning...

If i dont get a chance to (i.e its way too dark etc) i use a big bucket (like the rectangular ones at the markets, or mty big esky.. fill with some water.. do the scaling with the fish submerged (to stop strays flying around) and then gut.. i will then have a separate bucket for scraps, which i use as berley on the next outing...

Hope it helps.. i would say to you guys wanting to scale at home, but a big bucket, and do it submerged...

No misses to keep happy as i live in my own flat, but when i lived with the parents, this kept mum happy..

[Shimano Rod For Soft Plastics]

Being crap at soft plastics i bought a dedicated rod to give me a wriggle on to get it happening a couple of weeks ago.

I went to the shopping centre in Campsie and got a special edition Shimano e.t. 702 rod - at $89.95

It felt really nice - balanced.

A couple of trips out and it snapped just above the join on a snag... eeeek!

I rang Shimano - they don't stock replacement tips... dang

Went through paperwork and surprisingly found the receipt.

Took it back to the shop and they replaced it on the spot no questions asked!

I was prepared to buy a new tip, but there we go -

I have a few types of jig heads and plastics, but have heard good things about a few hard bodies so i headed over to Fish Therapy at Earlwood and bought:

• a red belly stiffy popper http://tinyurl.com/2947aux
  
• and a Ecogear SX40lc (colour 343) http://tinyurl.com/24tloc2
  

Time to try again.

Fingers crossed!

I'm a keen bait fisher but having caught a Trevally at Scottish Rocks in Jervis Bay on a Tailor lure about a month ago i've definitely got the lure disease.

Have had good results with S-factor on bait, but not on plastics.. more practice needed i guess..

Be gentle on those long sp rods.

Hey mate,

Good tip, is to not go over your rods line breaking strain when you are filling your reel.

If it a 3 kilo rod, dont use over 6 pound. (or you could so long as you set your drag correctly)

When in a snag, point the rod directly at the snag, and walk straight backwards. This way there is no pressure on the rod itself. The line should be sitting freely within the guides.

If you find it is not coming free, thumb the spool and it should snap.

Hope this helps if you get snagged again, so you dont lose another tip. They are very easy to break.. (also when fishing them from a boat, try not to lift the rod tip too high (try not more than a 45 degree angle to the water) to avoid it over bending and snapping too.

Anyways, sounds like you got great service at the tackle store, which one was it ??

[Offshore Boat Size]

Carrying water for people. 2 litres per person.

I watched a good survival show the other day on foxtel. Was really good.

Make you you waer the distress beacon on you, don't leave it on the boat.

Just in saying that, i'd like to add, it is compulsory to have all of the safety equipment such as epirb, radio, etc when going out past 2 miles. But also noted you have to carry the 2 litres by law. I usually will have 6 litres on board, just in 2 litre orange juice bottles.

and we take drinks on board, and fresh water for the day. we keep the spare 6 litres just incase of emergency. so make sure you have in excess of the 2 litres per person,

as if you get pulled up at the end of the day out there, and obly have a litre left per person, you will probably cop it..

[Pittwater Saturday 18Th]

Thanks Gary, looking forward to heading out!!

Looks good for it saturday.

Pittwaters weather can be found on the BOM website too.

you should be able to go all the way to the mouth and as said up above, should only get a bit of swell once you get close to the joey, or past mackeral beach (just a bit past the basin)

But you will find you dont need to go to this area to find fish, you can get big kings inside the bay around different moorings etc.

[The Humble Parramatta Carp]

Here's a tip for all you guys with kids or access to freshwater rivers close to home,

carp are dead easy to catch there not real fussy kids love catching them, and here's something for all you guys that berley up for big monsters.... keep the carp gut them and use them as berley... beleive it or not they make great berley plus there's usually around 3kg of fish in every bloody one of them so go out for a day carp fishing bag as many as your freezer can handle them mince/chop/mash or even put it through a wood chipper and use it as berley!!!!!! add a little tuna oil to the mix and you'll have excess berley.... now bet you never thought of that one... your helping the enviroment and your recycling lol ha ha ha

Yeah mate, that sounds the goods...

[Eating Pj's]

Hey Guys,

PJ's are not protected, but at this time of year they are in big numbers because they come in to spawn.

You can eat them, and i know some of my islander mates like them, boiled in coconut milk, with some spices.

but i would probably prefer others, as to prepare them you have to boil the fillets, then skin them, flake up the meat, then make your coconut slurry curry type thing.

too hard to skin them without doing this.. I have tried...

I have however tasted it, and its not bad, but i think thats just the curry around it

[Browns]

15 hp will push your boat to at least 8 knts with a small pitch prop, say a 5" or max 6" , if you use the 9" that most 15 hp come with you will be labouring the donk and you may even kill at by the time you got back. 15 hp is much better than no hp at all, if you got a tow you won't be going any quicker and under your own power you have more control too. I have a 15 hp merc 2 stroke on my 6.5 mt Trophy ( 200 hp Opti main) with a 6" pitch ( I can't foind a smaller pitch to suit) and she pushes at 7 knts in calm water and about 6 outside in rough water .

Altough I have seen smaller boats than yours at browns ( I saw a tiller steer tiny a few months ago ) your boat would be the absolute smallest boat I would venture to browns with and keep a very good eye on the weather, fuel storage is a big problem for small boats especially carby 2 strokes. Keep in mind you will use 3 times the fuel if you have to come back on and off the throttle and not on the plane . If you need say 30 lts to get there in good weather at say 20+knts you could use 90 to get back at say 8-10 knts and 3 hours !!!

I have a mate with a 15, so may give it a test run.. but without putting the bracket on the back, (obviously dont want to stick holes in if i dont need them, is there any other way of attaching the motor? Maybe just like on a tinny ? Or would that do damage to the transom?

Oh, and cheers for the useful info.. i am sure it will help me and alot of other guys wondering the same questions..

[Browns]

Been toying with the idea of a second motor on her, like a 15hp aux, but thinking it would be pretty pointless, as if it did go wrong outside, i would be best calling for help, and i doubt the 15 would get me back home.

[Browns]

Just realised that it was posted on a different site.

here she is..

[Browns]

Mate is your 115 a 4stroke or 2 stroke, If its a 4/s 130 lts will be fine but if you have a 2/s then I would be carrying at least 150 lts of fuel.

Cheers Silvo - Bentstik

Hey Mate,

its a 2 stroke, saltwater. have put up a pic of my boat with it on her in another post.

Cheers for the tip, i may just stick an extra 2x 20l tanks and strap them to the sides up the middle of the boat.

I was also looking at maybe upgrading my tank to a 100lt at some point, so maybe its a good idea to do that before i do the trip out.

[Browns]

I am going to be taking mine out there soon. 5.45m swiftcraft dominator. with a 115hp yammaha from 2007. done about 103 hours.

I have done plenty of Fad runs as a test, and have been to browns quite a bit in my old mans old 38footer, so i have faith.

My boat holds 70 liters of fuel in its tank, and i store an extra 60 litres under the back end of the boat. 4 x 10 litre, and 1 by 20 litre (just so it fits effectivley and out of the way.

On the Fad run, i would go from pittwater, out to broken bay fad, could make it trawling around, doing a day of drifting, even getting to terrigal fad before returning home. Although i would always fill 20 litres into the tank before we would take the journey back to pittwater, i found that i probably wouldnt have needed to add it. (just do it because i dont like the idea of going fast and then the petrol cutting out)

i would say to browns, if i went from the harbour, would be about the same as heading to the fad at broken bay, and back. So an extra 60 litres would be plenty for me.

But i wouldnt go out there if i wasn't with another boat or 2. as you never know what can happen on a sea mountain like this one.

[Blood N Bone As Burley]

Is this stuff bought from garden centre's thats sold as fertiliser? Is it the pure stuff or is 90% ok?

Hey mate, you can get the powder, or liquid at most any nursery, and some places like bunnings etc too.

The liquid one is good too, you can mix a cap full in 9 litres of water, and then soak bread in the water..