Red

In a word.....Comfort. They feel really nice with a big thready. They also look unreal They give the rod a genuine custom appearance and come in a range of colours to boot. Regards Red

Allen, thanks for the info and your kind offer A supplier has contacted me, so all is well. Thanks again Red

JESUS !!!! Congrats Laurie on a superb capture Cheers Red

Cheers Allen, that is the one. An absolutely superb reel seat, especially for the heavy spin rod i'm planning to build. How do i get my paws on one locally? Do you supply? Regards Red

Hi guys, a mate of mine got a rod built with the strangest looking reel seat. It appears to be anodised aluminium in a beautiful blue colour but instead of being round, its triangular. It looks wierd but feels unreal. Anyone know who makes them? Red

Cheers guys, they sure go harder on lures and light tackle Chris, i knew you would be pleased with the early results and can't thank you enough. You've had all the answers to my million and one questions on plastic fishing and you've given me a real head start. Sorry to hear about your dry spell (by your standards) which is probably not a dry spell to most fishos. Jason and other mates, i've had a new mobile number for a little while now (needed to go on a capped plan due to excessive bills ) so i hope you haven't been trying to contact me on the old one. Send me a PM for the new number and PM yours as all your numbers on my old CDMA phone have been lost.....thanks to the Nokia repair centre FF, 20 trips without a touch is a bit of a worry. Maybe you've had little bumps that have gone un-noticed? Just remember to strike at everything, which is very difficult to do as it doesn't come natural to baitfisherpeople, purely because we've been conditioned to wait for a decent bite before striking It's certainly a hard habit to break for SP converts, if not the hardest. Which is the main part of the system you fish? Drop me a PM. Cheers Red

Hello FF, The first session was in the Georges and the 2nd in the Harbour but they are in every system. 4 inch Powerbaits were used. The main and most obvious secret is in finding the bait schools. Or better still, a very good sounder that really picks the jewies out. However the biggest advantage is having a great mate like J.J. who has an intimate knowlege on this prized species and understands it's movements year round. The guy is simply a genius. Very switched on and a real thinking angler. Don't give up FF as they are certainly here. Maybe you are not looking in the right places at this time of year. Regards Red

Steve, like you said, when they're on they will nail any lure but if i were to target them specifically, the first lure that goes out is a 6.5 inch Yozuri Bonita bibless minnow followed by a Rapala CD-18 or Halco Laser Pro. Little skirts are very good too but they pick up too many pesky Striped Tuna for mine Cheers Red

Sorry mate. I don't take camera's fishing. They are bad luck!!! Cheers Red

Thanks matey, there is a poor pic on my mobile phone. J.J. assures me with confidence that a 20 kegger will come this summer. Something tells me the traditional bait fishing rods will become dust collectors. Lets see how long this lucky streak lasts. Regards Red

Hi raiders, I'm excited! You may remember my first SP jew session was an eye opener with two soapies and now the second session has produced a soapie and a neat 21 pounder Hardly a monster but top fun on baitcaster gear. This beginners luck phenomenon is bound to dry up soon but i'm enjoying the ride for now. The SP craze has finally bitten Many thanks to J.J. and Aero who have helped me adapt to this style of fishing and make me a believer. Happy days Red

I was wrong again but a quick google search found the following interesting bit of info on the modern game as we know it today. The most popular game on earth. The King of Sports? Not according to King Edward. In King Edward's reign of England (1307-1327), laws were passed that threatened imprisonment to anyone caught playing soccer. King Edward's proclamation said:" For as much as there is a great noise in the city caused by hustling over large balls, from which many evils may arise, which God forbid, we command and forbid on behalf of the King, on pain of imprisonment, such game to be used in the city future." Evidently judged to be vulgar and indecent, soccer was at times suppressed by the English sheriffs who followed royal orders describing the game as a useless practice. King Henry IV and Henry VIII passed laws against the sport, and Queen Elizabeth I "had soccer players jailed for a week, with follow-up church penance" Laws, however, failed to stop the sport, which had earned official sanction in England by 1681. The game became so popular by 1800s that, in certain annual contests in northern and middle England, large groups roamed and raged throguh towns and villages. In 1829, an account of such match in Derbyshire spoke of "broken skins, broken heads, torn coats and lost hats." A record of the development of soccer in England shows that Eton college had the earliest known rules of the game in 1815, perhaps implying that until then, chaos was preferred over order. But order gradually came to the game, and standardized rules known as the Cambridge rules were adopted by England's major colleges. At 1st, it was England where soccer was originally banned, that eventually exported modern soccer to every continent in the world. today, undisputedly soccer is the most watched and played sport in the world enjoyed by 8 billion people. This past World cup, that took place in the united States was watched by an estimated 33 billion people around the world for almost 27 days. This makes soccer, the most watched single sports event in the world not surpassed even by the Olympics. This sport is bigger than baseball, football and basketball combined. Regards Red

Likewise mate. Thank god the tournament has come to the stage where we get a break between games. It's killing me. I'm tired, snappy and have no energy to fish GO ENGLAND GO!!!! .........who happen to be the inventors of this game. Cheers Red p.s. a mate of mine summed it up nicely. He says, a 6 pointer in AFL and a try in league feels like a peck on the cheek. A goal in soccer feels like an orgasm They are worth the wait Once again........GO ENGLAND!!!!!

The Red Planet Sorry mate, couldn't resist. Jokes aside. The problem with the media in this country is, if we are NOT the "world champions" in a particular sport, they won't want a bar of it. The biggest insult came when a particular commercial TV station televised the PAN PAC swimming "TRIALS", live at prime time What planet are they on Bop? No such favours for the starved football fan. Boppa, if you are happy to watch 124-0 humiliations in a "world cup" than good for you. I always thought a world cup featured the best of the best, where emerging nations were not yet competetive enough to participate? But i have been wrong before mate. BTW, are you happy with Rugby's points structure? ie points given for a try, penalty goal, field goal etc ? Regards Red

G'day guys, I'm also a big fan of most sports and all i want to see is a real competition. Those Rugby scores i posted are not my idea of what a world cup should be They are woefull. Surely even the most one eyed rugby fan doesn't want to see scores like that, let alone pay hundreds of dollars to watch a massacre. I'm a cricket tragic, Moto GP and F1 nut, love domestic rugby league, love watching Wallabies v (Springboks, All Blacks or England only), big tennis fan........even watch the AFL but i'm so excited about the future prospects of soccer in this nation. The country has never experienced such euforia for any sport. Thousands of people flocking to outdoor venues in the freezing cold to get a piece of the action. No other sport in the world has this much pulling power! Lets hope the Australian media doesn't try and kill it again Our heads have been in the sand for too long! Regards Red

Here are some results of the last Rugby World Cup. You be the judge. I particularly like Australia's October 25 match. Hope people didn't pay too much to watch that thriller October 18: Australia 90, Romania 8 October 19: Ireland 64, Namibia 7 October 22: Argentina 50, Romania 3 October 25: Australia 142, Namibia 0 October 11: South Africa 72, Uruguay 6 October 12: England 84, Georgia 6 October 15: Samoa 60, Uruguay 13 November 1: South Africa 60, Samoa 10 November 2: England 111, Uruguay 13 October 11: New Zealand 70, Italy 7 October 17: New Zealand 68, Canada 6 October 24: New Zealand 91, Tonga 7 Regards Red

You have a point mate however there are only 3 or 4 nations that are competetive in world Rugby. Some sides even got flogged by 90 plus points if my memory serves me right. Its purely a money grabbing farce! These understrength nations should not be eligable to compete at the highest level in my honest opinion. Who wants to see a 111-13 scoreline? Regards Red

Wayneo, my thought are similar to yours. I also believe the ref was totally exhausted and could not bear the thought of running around for another half an hour I'm just so happy for our boys, who put in 100% for their country against football superpowers like Brazil and Italy. They won over so many new fans with their courageous displays. Hopefully the people of this country will have felt the "passion" that this beautiful game generates and will finally embrace it by abandoning BS sports like league and union and enrolling their sons and daughters to play for their local football clubs. And lets face it, how many people would go sleep deprived, day in day out to watch League, AFL or union(totally BS codes by world standards) ? How can these codes even consider holding a world cup? When Italy lost a man, i instantly thought Guus would go for the jugular by injecting Aloisi and Josh Kennedy into the attack at once. He is a better coach than i ever will be, however injecting goal scorers was the first thought that came to my mind. We needed a goal and we needed these guys on the park! Anyway, for mine this has been the most enjoyable world cup ever and i now hope to see a Brazil v Argentina final. The sleepless nights aren't over just yet. Cheers Red

Lets hope we don't have to compete against the officials again. I'm expecting loads of award winning dives from the spaghetti munching Hollywood stars tonight, so hopefully the ref won't be shy to show a few red cards Red sauce goes well with Spaghetti Cheers Red

FROM SOCCERWHO'S to SOCCEROOS We've done it the hard way against quality opponents. What's going to happen when we finally get a break? Go you good things and thanks so much for putting us on the map. Surely even Ronaldo knows who you are now. Red

The old man hooked a large turtle on a front flipper whilst catching livies at Port Botany.......on a handline And he got it to the boat, which was a good effort. I think he wanted his hook back Cheers Red

Wayneo, i'd guess 32kg............ and Mick i'm guessing those old scales are a tad past their used by date Cheers Red

Thanks for the correction Mick. You don't want to get yourself a reputation for over inflating fish sizes My five year old holds that title Regards Red

The Aussies suprised me. Never thought i'd see the day but they really have matured into a world class team. Just so unlucky they blew several wonderful scoring opportunities but they done us proud and can hold their heads high. Croatia will be shaking in their boots Red

Are we getting a bit ahead of ourselves? Have we under-estimated the opponent? Brazil have not started their campaign yet. Lets hope they don't start it tonight because they are unbeatable when they're on their game. 3-0 Brazil but i'd wear that egg on my face with pride . Go you good things Red