Dreamtime

God your a sweet talker Ross. - Did you get her phone number too?

True one?? How would your hand be after holding the bill of a green marlin, with your bare hands. I still need convincing!

Maybe they're chain smokers. Or possibly they have a carrotine surplus. Good question, deserves a better answer than was given. Maybe another Raider might be more helpful.

Hi Daniel, Tell us what sort of line and reel you are contemplating to match with the rod. That may bring some more replies from other Raiders. Do you think you may also use it for trolling?

Geeeeze Penguin, the story was going fine until you brought some reality to it! Was released without harm - F##k - imagine what a 7 metre Great White would do to your net - and to subdue it and release it with no harm?????? I would like to see that!!! Good on ya Penguin - I was waiting for someone with some sense of reasoning to reply to this thread. My guess is that the "Old Pro" had 1 too many Sweet Sherries , or had some other kind of Pro on board, and needed a good excuse for the missus for his late arrival back home. :wank: Anyway, good while it lasted.

Crikey! - did you guys go out fishing or go out for dinner? Sounds like you stayed at the local Bed & Breakfast - bacon, eggs, sausages - what more? I think the added burley from the boats' head probably brought on the rubbish fish. What would you put it down to Grant? Too cold maybe?

Can't complain about that lot. Great feed for the family, well done. What bait and line did you get them on? How would you cook the trevally, or are you going to smoke it?

Here's mine Hope this helps

Where did it break - in relation to the reel seat and tip? i.e. - middle, top 3/4, etc. What length is / was it? What do you generally use it for - trolling, spinning, etc?

Mate, if caught from that depth on 6Kg your a bloody champion. I know how difficult it is to pull those bloody kegs up from 100 + metres on 10 or 15kg. Going back a few seasons now, it was not rare to see a few fin of 100Kg + caught off Sydney each season. That's the beauty of fishing off Sydney. Rarely do you get fin at those depths, and the battle is generally short lived in favour of the angler. 2 hours - on stand up - great effort. That's what real fishing is all about:- stamina (dehydration, fatigue), strength (mental & physical) determination (you against the fish & elements) luck (I hope that f##king knot holds out & quick, get away from the school) don't want another fin hitting the line and busting me off - especially after that long a fight! good judgement (grab the leader, gaff the F##ker, "astern - no, forward") patience (I'm so f##ked, I might just push the drag that little bit more) - nooooooo!!!! optimism (F##k, get it to the gaff before that shark gets it!) Funny story - I actually won the heaviest shark catagory in a comp in PNG. The bastard took my 10 Kg approx YFT and swallowed it whole. At the weigh in they had to change the scales to the version that measured 100gram increments. I think, from memory that the shark went around the 80kg mark and I beat the next mark by 300grams. Sometimes you get lucky. But that too was a hell of a fight on 10kg. Most these guys only use 24 and 37 outfits for YFT. Not too many have had the opportunity to really exhaust themselves on boating a good fin on light to medium tackle, stand up at that. 3 cheers, exceptional effort. From someone who knows

Excellent to see the authorities doing their job. It is a thankless task and it is good to see positive feedback from the Fishraider fraternity Tuffy. Normally we hear only from those who get fined (obviously for a reason), give praise when praise is due. Good on ya Tuffy. Why would you be out there without all the required safety gear????

Some serious damage there. Thankfully only to the boat. I agree with gone_wishin, possible write-off, would be difficult to repair to original condition. Sorry to the owner - insurance will probably have that section cut out and a new piece welded. Should not affect the integrity of the hull if done correctly, still wont be the same though. It's possible that the whole hull may have been twisted or deformed to some degree. Who's gonna pay for the new undies though? Good luck to all concerned, thankfully there were no children on board. Life jackets - mmmm - should be worn at all times. I have a Marlin PFD TYPE 1 MODEL EXP-1M gas inflatable which I wear at all times. This, when not inflated, does not inhibit the wearer whatsoever. It weighs less than 1 kg and gives the wearer piece of mind that if a situation arises he is already prepared. Food for thought.

As stated, unless you have a large resevoir to hold fresh water it would appear to be a little impracticle. On one of my previous boats I had an aluminium pick-up on the transom that would force sea water into the system when underway. When not using it for a deck wash it was diverted into the live bait tank by way of a 2 way valve. When stationery, the deck wash operated by way of a bilge pump mounted on the transom. It was also invaluable for cleaning fish on the bait board. Again it also refreshed the water to the live bait tank as needed. The bilge pump is mounted at a height so that it is not submerged whilst underway, but at rest it is then underwater and fully operational. Use your normal garden hose fittings. Apart from the cost of the bilge pump (size up to your personal requirements) the rest of the fittings will cost you less than $50. Keep the fresh water for emergency supplies.

I would be concerned about using anything inflatable when fishing. Hooks, fish spines, knives, anchors, snags but to name a few. What about the Poly boats - check out the members boats thread and take a look at what some other Raiders use for their pleasure. Just a thought. Cheers

Like to hear what depth you were fishing, and where. How long did it take to get it to the boat?

All it takes is common sense from all. That's why we have inspectors for the few people who wish to ignore the rules that the rest of the population abide by. Like you, I remember some 30 years back at Circular Quay watching the "land based game fishermen" catching 10 to 15 cm bream. The guts and gill were removed and the rest was promptly put through a hand mincer then transferred to a Tupperware container. At that age I was living on the Georges River and we would never think of keeping small fry like that - well before legal limits come into force. Curiousity got the better of me and I asked why were they mincing these small fish. The angler replied "he was going to make fish cakes from them" In hindsight, I guess they were trying to hide the small size of the fish as well. After reading some of the recent posts here, one could conclude that those 10cm fish 30years ago would now be of the size of some of the thumper models that are presently being caught. Thankfully, bag and size limits has reduced the amateur illegal catch factor. Who the F##k is policing the destruction and annihilation of juvenile fish stocks by commercial "fishermen" throughout the region? Answer that question!!!!! That's my 2 bob!!

Very impressive, adds a lot to your boat. Moving the helm forward has obviously helped the handling by way of balancing the load more evenly. Congratulations on such a neat installation. Did the steering controls give you any grief? Do they run under the floor or the gunwhales? I would be more than satisfied with that effort.

Nice Jewey - can't complain about that. Crabs - Ah, I think if you look around the Canterbury Road area at night you could catch some

I suspect you also had Jake the Peg on board. Or who else's leg were you pulling

Unless you've pulled fish like that on 15Kg you don't appreciate the effort, stamina, skills and luck involved in boating such a torpedo. Excellent effort. Don't you just love to see sickles that size! Nice catch, will definately stay in the memory bank for some time to come.

Baaaa!

Many questions - many answers! How big is your boat? Reef structure - coral or stone? Of the many anchors and chains I've lost over the years, I now basically only ever use a reef anchor. You can weld them up youself very cheaply - A piece of gal water pipe and some steel rod. Both diameters depend on what size your boat is. Chain is a necessary evil, it damages the coral reef, is a pain to store and continually leaves rust stains in your boat. Chain also has a tendancy to get stuck around the reef and sometimes no amount of pulling will remove it. To compensate for not using chain, I pour lead inside the gal pipe to give it extra weight, which also gets it down quicker. Sometimes we add a little weight being any piece of scrap iron (Hydraulic ram from dozer, etc) Places where it is difficult to "hold" with the reef anchor, I use a 20kg rice bag filled with sand tied to the anchor line. This is what we call a disposable anchor. When ready to leave just motor away, the bag will break and it's then easy to pull up you anchor line. This method also enables you to use much thinner anchor line. You can do the same with a piece of scrap iron, only difference is that you need to put a "sacrificial" line between the "anchor" and main line. This line breaks when you motor away. Might sound a bit odd to some, but those methods work fine here for us. Cheers

My Nokia 6500 Classic will do me fine.

Or a pick handle!

Maaaaaate, You gotta be happy with that sort of participation. Brass monkey weather - "Who cares?" Fishing IS alive!!! Congratulations to all who participated.