Berleyguts

Oh... duh!

5. Invictus

That’s a Class B charge for the M2. Is your boat over 2.8m high and vehicle and trailer length greater than 12.5m? I guess the consolation is that you’ve got yourself a nice boat! Congratulations! I used to drive from Quakers Hill to Redfern and return 5 days a week for work. 8 or so years ago it was around $20 a day (M7, M2, Lane Cove Tunnel, Harbour Bridge). Hate to think how much it would cost now! The train proved much more affordable and, generally, more relaxing. I understand there is now a maximum $50 a week spend when using an Opal card, which I guess is a good thing. I miss a lot of things about Sydney since moving to paradise but I don’t miss the daily commute!

“Wire brush and iodine, sir!”

You probably saw me throwing up at the ramp! 🤢 🤮😂 I was backpacking from early 84 to December 87, so I missed a lot of good ANSA years.

I’ve been a member of St George Sportfishing Club since about 1979, I think. I let my membership lapse a few times due to travel but I’m still a member. There’s no Port Stephens club unfortunately. The Nowra ANSA comp was one of my favourites and our club weekend the weekend before was always enjoyable. The Culburra fishos were a great bunch.

I used to fish in a lot of ANSA conventions and club events back in the day and was fortunate enough to fish in other members’ boats. As a kid, I was always prone to getting car sick. As I got older, I mostly got over that but still, sea sickness was an issue in certain boats (although I think it was directly proportionate to the amount of beer and cheap port drunk the night before at ANSA conventions). One time, after being spotted still throwing up half an hour after arriving back at the ramp (Greenwell Point, I think), the guys started calling me Berley Barry, Berley Baz or Berleyguts. So many years later, when I discovered Fishraider, that’s what I chose as my user name. 🤪 My wife wouldn’t let me put “Berleyguts” on the side of my boat. When I bought my latest boat, and was looking for a name for it, my Over 35s soccer mates suggested “Sea Miner”, which was a twist on my soccer nickname, “Miner”. I got called Miner because they reckoned I had a predilection to falling over at soccer and I was “always in the ground”. Sea Miner is also a twist on C Minor (a chord) and as I play guitar it seemed appropriate. I still haven’t put the name on the boat, though... I’m trying to find someone who can design the artwork for a decal... I’m picturing a caricature of a Yosemite Sam type miner with a pick axe on his back fighting a fish. Incidentally, thinking back, I believe I was more prone to seasickness in glass boats than aluminium boats, perhaps because they ride differently.

Yes, they’re a lot tougher than the lettuce leaves and stale bread I’d been saving. 😂

Yes, I‘ve heard that view and some people have reported that the police are saying 30km is OK and maybe it is. Or maybe within your local government area is OK. Me? Today I’ve been tidying up the garden and I think I may have discovered an alternative toilet paper solution...

I’m with your local copper on that. We do what we need to do in our own postcode or immediate neighbouring postcode at least. If, for example, we need to do an hour’s exercise in a park (if they’re not closed), we do it in our immediate neighbourhood, not drive across town to another park. If what we want to do is not available in our neighbourhood, we’d have to ask ourselves if it’s essential. If we want to fish for exercise but can’t in our own neighbourhood, then, IMO, it is not reasonable to leave our neighbourhood to do so and we must find something else to do that is socially and medically responsible. There are too many people looking for loopholes! 😶 Many thanks to Donna and the mods for the great job you are doing! 😎🙏

Mate... I should have gone to NB Woolies then... but that would be a non-essential journey, whereas I drive past Salamander shops on my way home from work, so I don’t feel bad about popping in for 5 minutes for perishables. 3 days in a row, they’ve only had gluten free hot cross buns. I tried them but man, they just taste horrible! I think I’ll be putting them in the berley pot (when I can)! 😂 Have a safe, healthy and happy Easter with your family, mate! Stay well.

Yep, the first Easter in my 8 1/2 years at Bunnings that I haven’t had to work and I can’t go fishing! 😳😂 Oh well, I took the dog for a walk down to the beach the other day and watched the tuna smashing baitfish. That will have to do! There are definitely people flouting the laws. I heard a report today of (because Port Stephens ramps are closed) lots of boats putting in at Newcastle and cruising up to Port to fish - long haul for an “essential” feed! I’m respecting Marine Rescue’s request for us to stay off the water! Definitely a few holidaymakers in Woolies today while I ducked in to find some hot cross buns (been none on the last 3 visits) and a can of pineapple pieces (for whole crispy skin sweet and sour snapper tonight 😋). I also spotted a certain former rugby league player and TV sports presenter who lives on the central coast at the shops and he is no doubt in his (or his in-laws’) holiday home 300 metres down the street from me. What part of “STAY AT HOME” do people not understand?!!!

Hmmm... 🤔 nah... better not. 😂

Well done, Jeff! Well deserved! You know, if you smiled more often in your photos, you’d grace a few more magazines. 😉 Keep it up, mate!

Great post, Zoran. Just be aware that excessive facial hair can make the wearing of a face mask inefficient. 😉 I am aware of another symptom... fartus tobesureus. I read that victims of COVID19 sometimes lose their sense of smell. So, I am asking people, “Can you smell that?” If they say they can’t, I give them a strange look and extra distance. I also do this to my work colleagues, even if I don’t drop one. 😂

Thanks. No, I put it away when the auto trip stopped working properly and never touched it since! Many, many years! But I’ll have a crack at it soon, thanks.

I thought I’d dig out some of my old gear that I’d kept to repair/tweak on a rainy day. Guess that time has come! I have an old Shakespeare 2401 spinning reel - a sweet little reel in its day - I caught a lot of fish on it with 1 or 2kg mono. It’s in pretty good condition but the bail arm doesn’t always trip over when I wind the handle. Any tips on what to look for when I pull it apart? I don’t think I have the schematics anymore but from memory it’s a pretty simple reel. Thanks, Baz

Ghost Town - by The Specials (a little obscure for me)

Oh! Stonehenge by Spinal Tap.

“Shock the monkey - Not quite. Song is from the Pixies.“ The Pixies, huh? A bit outside my listening genre... I was backpacking for 4-5 years during the 80s and didn’t get to hear much radio. Mostly just what was in my Walkman cassettes! After some googling, I’ll go for: Monkey Gone To Heaven which reinforces my other guess: Heaven Is A Place On Earth The Stone Roses is very obscure: She Bangs The Drums and I’ve thought of some more: Ashes To Ashes Abradabracadabra Can’t get the hammer reference yet. The image of the moon throws me. Dark Side of the Moon was 70s. The image of the ghosts seems a bit obscure for Ghostbusters. The shops have got me stumped. Im not sure about the Star Wars stormtrooper either, or the Stonehenge reference. A long shot, as I didn’t really know the song but does the roped off nuclear zone refer to Radioactive by The Firm?

This is hard on your phone but this is what I’ve found so far: When Doves Cry Livin’ On A Prayer Africa Walk Like An Egyptian 99 Red Balloons Road To Nowhere Romeo and Juliet Die In Your Arms Tonight Walking On Sunshine Total Eclipse of the Heart Another One Bites The Dust Sweet Dreams Jump Eye of the Tiger Video Killed the Radio Star Blue Monday

Nah... it looks like one of those trolley sharks had a go at it! 🤪🤣

Sorry, Rick. I don’t think that capture is eligible under ANSA or IGFA rules. It appears to have been damaged during the capture. There is definitely part of the body missing. 🤣

Well, if I decide to make this, 250mm, same as Ron. Don’t know where I’d get it in Port Stephens.

Thanks Ron. ANSA C&R mats are $16 from the ANSA National online shop. $5 postage. I ordered a few ANSA boat and car stickers as well. Total postage was $5. Might have to order another one and make up a tube, if I can find tube anywhere.