oz_brett

how big is the bank? do you want GPS as well? Mulwala is a big area having GPS will give you the option to mark & save locations where you get fish for later reference. pretty much every one will tell you they bought theres because its better then the next blokes. My last unit was Humminbird = absolute crap then I watched a video on how to use sounders & every one was telling me what a great unit it was (simple adjustment) Now I have Garmin = great unit but I believe Im missing detail because I still dont have the settings right. the bigger brand units are all pretty much the same & will all cover what you need I would suggest going to a shop that has them on display & navigate the menus - not just how to change screen but how to adjust sensitivity, surface noise etc on the sounder. Its not worth having the good gear and it not working for you due to a simple setting. Brett

if was going to spend $500 My personal choice would be Garmin echo 551dv it comes with the same transducer Im using on the gpsmap751 I get clear images up to 100m while travelling offshore at speeds up to 20 knots if not more (not in down view mode) while drifting I get just under 80m with downview. The garmin menus are easy to navigate & images are clear. second choice would be Humminbird but they dont seem as popular lately but I just found a Humminbird Helix 551dv for around the $500+ mark

I was advised to avoid the "fish shaped" down rigger bombs when I was buying mine something with them not running as straight as the round bombs. I too dont have a down rigger in the past used an alvey reel on an old heavy rod found that to be a bit of hastle when winding in 2 reels at the same time. Ive since bought an electric reel yet to try that as a down rigger should work fine. Be Careful tying rope to your bollard can do a lot of damage if your bomb bets a snag!

sounds to me that one end would be fixed the other (rear end) is a slipper allowing for the movement with the spring.

I was there 2 weeks ago, it gets very crowded on long weekends and its first in best dressed in saying that you could be lucky now that summer has passed. We stayed 2 nights & only heard of 1 fish being caught and that was a carp. Great spot very scenic take the yak for a look around the lake. I dont think its a dog friendly park though.

YEP a few times not just once! another one I am guilty of.. New boat maiden voyage SO EXCITED towed boat from Campbeltown to Kyeemagh launched boat parked car only to find I had no boat keys. Boat back on trailer & home we go trip cancelled.

yeah good point Bluefin I wasn't thinking of casting I always set my lures for off shore.

as Allen_j said no need for the sinker with that lure, bait not required but you can buy scent jell for the lure not a necessity, once again far from professional advice but myself I would be using 1 to 2 meters of mono from the swivel to the lure in case it drags across a hard sharp surface. I also use snap swivels instead of just a swivel for a quick & easy change of lure. Brett

Im not real sure about that Neil then every one will know who I am hahaha Cheers mate! Brett

We went as far as browns apparently a marlin was one free jumping there but I didn't see it myself, trolled back to FAD21 just as we pulled in the spread a marlin fin about 30m off the back of the boat, only sighting for the day. Brett

I have a 560 & a 760 that I use for reef both are good but I do prefer the 760 having the extra line allows for a run when fishing deeper water. They are bullet proof I do NOT look after my reels & never had a fault with them! Although I prefer buy from a store then online.

Give the lures a miss and try a bait , a block of cheese should excite them for you!

Cant help with that one just yet but coincidently my missus has asking to go out there for a weekend & it looks like its happening next month.I dont know how she found the place Ive never heard of it! so if you can get some info & maybe even pics of whats there I would much appreciate it! Brett

Going back 7 years I test drove a 5m centre cabin Formosa at Marks point ( near Swansea ) although the cabin design didn't work right for me the rest of the boat including the ride in very sloppy water when test driving was great. If the dealer is still selling Formosa he was more then happy to do a test drive & I was more impressed that the storm at the time didn't deter him from the test drive. Other then That look at the Formosa web site they should have a dealers list there if not email them for a list.

Hec I should be able to help you out with that if no one else is available, I start holidays this week & going to be busy until at least Wednesday with renovations after that play it by ear to see what happens, I do hope to get out on the water a bit while off work. if you do get any other offers take them up aswell people do things different to each other - what they do might be better then how I do it & vise versa. Brett

its on F/B already , it was passed to me earlier so now passed it on aswell.

Thanks again for the outing Neil as expected people started to show up not long after I returned at one stage the camp site come more a party with a total 23 people there at one time. Had a great time down there & hope to go again soon. Just for the record We did manage 1 legal cod @ 62cm and many more under size even got some fishing from the Yak, While camped there for the 4 days we had a wallaby and a couple of koalas hanging around site giving added entertainment. I am in the yack there some where!

Im thinking why would you use mono at all? avoid spending money on the spools and replace the line with Braid other then amount on the spool the benefits of braid off shore are the same in estuary, a 20lb braid in estuary would have to be better then 15lb mono and as long as your care full with it would be enough for occasional off shore.

I was thinking along the lines of giving it more tilt if you want to watch the bottom while trolling the top as long as you remember it is not displaying whats directly below the boat.

Ive recently bought one took a lot to convince me they are worth the money - still in doubt. My thoughts = only really any good if going out really deep as in browns - how often do you go that far? cost of reel + cost of rod + cost of braid then theres the rigs make my own still it adds up then sinkers every one has said "sash weights" have you seen them laying around lately? there all in storage at the bottom of browns some one suggested drink bottles full of cement not great but they work, so ok you've spent the $ & set yourself up I used to go to browns about once every 2 years once set up it was like I was obligated to get out there to use the new outfit UP goes the fuel bill & engine hours. other then that I love it, got some good fish already!

looking at the TX835 on the WWW it appears to be an (27mhz) AM CB radio in wich trucks used to use before UHF got popular your mates by the sound of it are using 27mhz "marine" channels. if you talk to a radio store they will change the channels for you but im not sure how the $ would be you have to call them.

PM sent Sorry for any disappointment Andy, Will let you know when Im going next. Brett

nothing organised as yet, I will send you a PM later this evening once I know myself. if I do go it will be off shore reefs or trolling depending on water temps when I get there.

looking a bit wet on Sunday, what do you hope to be chasing?

Im heading down there for the weekend Just myself & She doesn't mind a day out on the water but needs an ocean of glass to get her out there (not happening this weekend) with Monday being the only decent day to fish I will aim at going for a couple of hours in the morning before heading home but if the the wife doesn't want to go I will need a back up fisho for the morning. So if your from around the area & available on Monday how about helping me out?