Berleyguts

Is it?! 😂 I tend to lose quite a few when I go snapper fishing. @Scratchiewill probably tell you I lose them on the bottom mostly! 😂 I like to be prepared for anything, including rapid gear changes - always experimenting. I mostly fish solo, so I can pretty much carry as much as I want in my boat. I just like it organised and ready to hand. I just don’t understand why they’d make a 19 pouch wallet that really won’t take a pack of 3 or 4 plastics in each pouch! Go figure! 🤷‍♂️

So, how do you all store your soft plastics, so that can carry as many in your boat as possible? It will probably be another couple of weeks before I can hold a fishing rod after hand surgery - at least for lure casting with a single handed rod - I might be able to handle a light beach rod and Alvey. So, in the meantime, I’m tidying up my gear and the boat. The zipper on one of my old tackle wallets I used for SPS seized up, so I bought a different model with 19 pockets in one compartment (10 on one side, 9 on the other), plus a plastic box for jig heads etc. in the other compartment. Thought I could combine 2 wallets into one. I’ve filled 10 pockets with my 7 inch ZMan Jerk Shads and other similar sized SPs (Squidgie paddle prawns etc.). I went to put the 5 inch and smaller plastics in the other 9 pockets and I won’t be able to fit them in - I can’t even close the compartment as it is! See photo attached. I haven’t even looked at the other old wallet with 3 inch grubs etc.! What does everybody else do? I do like to take as much as I can in the boat with me. 🤷‍♂️😂

Great stuff, Jeff! You certainly get up there early! 😎 Gotta keep your eyes and ears open for whales. I watched some amazing breaches off One Mile yesterday. 🐋 Ive got a lot more time on my hands these days, as I’ve cut back my hours at work, so I might just message you to join me on a trip in my boat… as soon as my hand recovers from surgery and I can hold a rod. 😉

The way I play, I need a bag that can also carry a shovel, rake and scuba equipment! 😂

Thanks Donna! Like I said at the time, “No rush!” 😂 It’s not like I’ve been fishing much and I’ve just been browsing the forums to maintain my interest and I was reminded of my last trip (apart from a charter I took for the most expensive flathead fillets ever!). I had some hand surgery recently (trigger finger repair)… hope I can hold a fishing rod soon and get back out there, as I have plenty of time now. I can now hold a guitar pick and strum a few tunes with my band, so that’s a start. 🙏 😂

Bump.

Soundgarden.

I like to have them sorted by style, e.g. skirts, metals, bibbed minnows, bibless minnows etc., then left to right by size in colour groups. That’s what I like but I haven’t quite got there yet! 😂

Onya, Scratchie! Called it a day at 8:30! It doesn’t matter how early I get up there, I still haven’t got my $h1t together at 8:30 and have to stay out there til lunchtime! 😂

I keep mine in their original resealable bags but then, I probably carry too much gear! 😂 I lean towards Zman and Squidgies for durability. Gulp work well (perhaps more pickers incl. toadfish than other types) but they stink like bait and dry out if not placed back into Gulp juice. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Do you use a sinker on the Sabiki? I often find if I use a sinker, I get yakkas but no slimies. Take the sinker off and I get slimies. Do you also use a Sabiki rod? Because taking the sinker off to get slimies resulted in the rig getting stuck inside my Sabiki rod! 😂

Re the Sabiki rod… the swivel got caught in the feeder hole. Loosened it up with a skewer and the sinker and rest of the rig came out OK. Bigger sinker on there now, or I will tie a big stopper knot in tubing if going lighter, or weightless. 🙏 everyone.

Thanks. The chilli crab was scrumdidderly scrumptious indeed! 😋

Ah, that might work. I’ll give it a try tomorrow. The sinker shouldn’t be too far in. I made the mistake of going down a size or two, as I felt I needed the least weight possible. Obviously, I went too small! 😂

Thanks. Yeah, sounds like we’ve had similar symptoms but I didn’t have the razor blades in the throat for as long as you. I wish I could have lost 7kg though! 😂I lost 2 in the first 3 days, then got my appetite back and put most of it back on. Not having the energy to do much and sleeping a lot doesn’t help burn the calories, I guess. 🤷‍♂️It’s coming up to 6 weeks for me… I just have to try a little bit each day.

Yeah, the sinker’s in there… but it got in there, so it should come out again, right?!😂

PS. Does anybody know how I can get a Sabiki jig rig out of a Sabiki jig rod??? It’s gone all the way in and I can’t seem to shake it out! 😂😂

Not much of a report really and a few days late but thought I’d better post something. 🤷‍♂️ I avoided the crowds here in Port Stephens over the summer holidays… partly out of choice and partly due to 14 days of Covid isolation. On Monday, most of the holiday makers had gone home, it was 34 days since I tested positive to Covid and was feeling slightly better, although still quite lethargic. I needed a dose of vitamin D and vitamin sea! The forecast was good but I still get tired easily, a little dizzyand am still shaking off a cough… curse you Covid! I though a trip offshore to Broughton would be a bit much for me so I opted to fish in the Bay for a change, enabling a bit of a sleep in, and chase some whiting and flathead as well as some crabs. I had the boat in the water by the time forecast for first light but first light was probably actually 10-15 minutes earlier. 🤷‍♂️ I dropped the traps and hoop nets in an area I’ve had success in the past and did some drifting in a few areas not too far away. Bait fishing with worms mostly as I really didn’t have the energy to stand and flick lures for too long. Just a nice relaxing way to fish and ease myself back into it. Also tried a deep hole on the tide change with fresh local squid, hoping for a jew but no success. Caught several small snapper around the 28cm mark but all I took home were 2 sand whiting, a flounder and a couple of blue swimmer crabs. I think someone may have raided my traps because one of the hoop nets was 50 metres or so from where I’d set it. I checked them a few times during the session and got 3 crabs (one a Jenny with eggs) after the first check and that was it. Anyway, I enjoyed several relaxing hours on the water and took home a small feed. Whiting and flounder, lightly floured and fried… 😋 When I catch blue swimmers, we usually like to make Singapore Chilli Crab but 2 wasn’t going to be enough, so I dropped into the local co-op to grab a few more… 4 blue swimmers for $60. Yikes! Still, my mother-in-law made up a nice rempah and we cooked them up in the wok on the BBQ. Yum… one of the best way to eat crabs! 😋 I was exhausted that night and the next day and my whole body ached. I’m kinda glad I didn’t fish offshore as I don’t think my body would have handled it! Small steps, slowly, I guess. 🤷‍♂️

You shouldn’t drive a boat while you’re high, Ron😂😂

On some pizzas, yes, but not all. I also love anchovies and they must go on a supreme! I’m also happy with coriander on some pizzas. 😂😂

Nice effort! Only micro dollies, eh?I wonder if that’s the same further up the coast?? Sometimes that happens but the next season they’re bigger. Kinda hard to put hot water on those blue bottle stings when you’re in a boat!

Great stuff, Jeff! Were there any slimies about? Or only yakkas? I’ve got the next few days off (til Monday) but probably won’t get out til the kids go back to school and to try and recover properly from this damn Covid! Day 28 and I still can only last about 4 hours before I feel like I have to go to sleep again! Definitely not tomorrow… just sitting outside Tomaree Hospital - had to drive my son there because he cut his finger down to the bone. Good sharp knife that, so a nice clean cut, I think. He’s got tattoos all over his arms and chest but he’s still petrified of needles and stitches! 😂 Pity I can’t be in there to watch him faint! 😂😂

It depends how we’re using the dishwasher. Generally, I only run it once a day, or every 2nd day. I find rice, egg yolk and the like sticks on plates if left for any length of time, so we always scrape and rinse first in this scenario. We also only tend to use a short cycle at lower temperature. If we’ve had a big meal with guests and we fill it from empty and put it on straight away, just a good scrape may be enough… but only if we run it on a full hot cycle. 🤷‍♂️

Don’t ditch all the overhead combos you used on your boat. Some of them may be suitable for live baiting the rocks. 😉