Berleyguts

Hi Pete, I'll be at Wisemans Ferry from tomorrow afternoon until Tuesday. Where might you be camping? I'll be in my van at Carinya (opposite Del Rio), as usual. Maybe we could catch up for a fish, or a beer - beats me trying to ski! Any time is good but Sunday is all mine as the is heading back home for the day and night (back Monday morning). If you're interested, give me a ring 0419 617 579. The weather was crap last weekend, so I left the boat there without putting it in, hoping for a better than normal Easter! Cheers, Baz

Also bream, flathead and jew. Baz

There is an additive called Stabilo that was recommended to me by a few friends. I bought a bottle but am yet to use it. Not much help I know, but at least it's a brand you can research. Cheers, Baz

Hence, why I run mono and a small ball sinker (if that) straight to the hook. There is less tackle to carry in and out, the bait moves around more naturally in the wash, I definitely get less snags and if I do get snagged, all I lose is a hook and a sinker and there is only one knot to tie to re-rig. That means more time with a bait in the water. The KISS approach. Baz

If you like to fish the rocks with no swivel, I assume you are fishing for bream, pigs and drummer etc., like I do occasionally. I like to fish the smallest ball sinker I can get away with in the conditions, running straight to the hook (no sinker at all, if possible). I use an Alvey. This minimises snags, lost tackle, line twist and reduces re-rigging time. Braid is great for sensitivity and strength for line diameter but you really need a leader of mono or flourocarbon, which means additional knots. I am also relcuctant to run a sinker on braid as I find that it can fray the braid. That's just my personal opinion, no doubt there will be others. I admit to being "old school" and having a preference for mono in many situations. The stretch in mono can be useful (forgiving) at times but so can careful use of the rod, with braid. I also like to fish ANSA line classes and if I use a mono main line, I don't need to worry about break-away leaders (and more knots) as I would with braid. Braid is useful in certain applications, though, and I do use it on some of my outfits. Cheers, Baz

Good point... and since the old Kombi has been traded for a younger model, I need to change my avatar anyway! I think I have it sorted but will take a pic anyway. Boat is a 4m Stacer runabout as originally stated - it has wide gunwhales, forward steer of course and false floor. I really need to find out how much the whole rig weighs, I guess. I moved it forward on the trailer again on Saturday but for some reason I can't get a reading on the scales now. Go figure! It feels better anyway... It will get a test run to Wisemans Ferry the weekend after next and I can fine tune it there, in between . Cheers, Baz

I broke my trailer in a similar fashion on New Year's Eve. I was going to weld it but it was quite twisted and I found more cracks and with a lot of the rollers needing replacing, I decided to bite the bullet and by a new one. A "12 foot" trailer with 13 inch wheels, submersible LED lights etc. to suit my 4 metre tinny cost me $1250. $1400 all up with rego. I am happy enough with that. Picked it up at Rydalmere. PM me for details but if you Google, you should find it like I did. Cheers, Baz

Yeah, I was thinking a 10lb anchor would not be big enough. Baz

Or put a towball on a ride-on mower, or even quad bike!... "What do you mean, "MORE TOYS???", darling? These are important and necessary tools!" Baz

Good thinking, 99! I will weigh it again, too... I realised that I would have had it higher than the towball, so that may make a difference. Also, a good tip from Fester. I will look at a big pump up tyre... at least until I can afford to lay more concrete. Cheers, Baz

The FMT is also a forgiving rod - my wife loves it. Like guitars, I will never sell a rod! Baz

Oh, I forgot, I have a Butterworth MT8144 low mount, I bought off the rack in the 80s, too. Then I think I have a Snyderglass MT4120 and another FMT72L which are essentially the same blanks. Baz

I have 3 Butterworth rods, built myself on Butterworth blanks -a FMT72L - first rod I ever built; a SuperBarra and a MT8120. All are great rods. I still regularly use the FMT and the SuperBarra but I stripped the runners off the 8120 years ago and haven't got around to rebuilding it yet. All have caught a lot of fish over the years. Baz

Thanks all for the feedback. I had mainly thought about moving the boat around off the vehicle - hadn't thought about sway while towing. I don't want that! My tow vehicle is a 1994 VW Transporter 2.5 litre van. I think the trailer on it's own weighs 120kg. I will have to find a weighbridge to weigh the whole rig, I guess. I mainly travel from Quakers Hill to Wisemans Ferry, so around 80kmh (well that's the speed limit anyway ) but also to Botany/Port Hacking and also some highway travel. Have boat will travel. I am thinking I may have to move the boat forward a few inches again. I will put the fuel tank and anchor in and weigh it again. In the meantime I might move both up the front for towing to be sure. I would struggle to lift 60kg and move the boat around on my own on the slope through the soft ground and gravel, although it will be OK with the jockey wheel once I get it over the bumps and onto the flat concrete at the top of the drive. Cheers, Baz

Hi Raiders, I haven't been online for a while... just too busy with life. I busted my trailer on New Years Eve and it took me I while to sort something out. I thought I'd have a go at welding it but I ended up buying a new one a few weeks ago. Some mates helped me get the boat of the old one and on to the new one, then we set about adjusting it. I felt it was too heavy at the towball to move around easy (I have a steep drive and need to move it about a bit at home) and I also thought we had it sitting too high. We moved the axle as far forward as we could but I still wasn't happy. So, yesterday, I lowered the skids and rollers to a height I am comfortable with and moved the boat back on the trailer about 6 inches (I had to take the jockey wheel off and move it forward of the winch post to do this). Weight on the towball is now just over 27kg and is manageable, although I'm the kind of guy that might get sand kicked in his face, so if it was lighter I'd be happier!). Does 27kg at the towball sound OK? I don't know the overall weight of the rig. It is a 4m Stacer runabout, with a 25hp Yamaha. I don;t keep the fuel tank in the boat at home and the anchor is out at the moment too. I guess my main concern is moving it around off the trailer, as I think my vehicle can manage towing it OK. Tow vehicle is a 1994 VW Transporter, rated to 750kg unbraked, 2000kg braked. Appreciate your help. Thanks, Baz

I might jump on the bandwagon here, if I may. Please send PM with suggestions. My wife and I have a wedding to go to in Fiji in May 2012 - on Plantation Island - and we will no doubt stay there for a week or two. Does anybody know if there is a good sportfishing/gamefishing charter that operates out of Plantation Island, or do charters that operate out of somewhere else pick up at the island resorts? PMs please. Thanks, Baz

Well done Bruce - sounds like you had a ball. I couldn't make it to the comp unfortunately. I know the guy who caught that tailor and saw a photo of it - it took a live poddie he was fishiing for flathead on 1kg line, no wire - an excellent effort! Baz

Thanks. Yeah, I now suspect a short at the socket on the van. I've only had the van a couple of weeks - I towed the box trailer with it last week and those lights worked fine but I hadn't towed the boat yet due to the mangled trailer. I plugged the old (non-LED) light board in again this afternoon and with the tail-lights and indicators on at the same time, both blinked. My auto sparky should sort it out tomorrow when I tell him the symptoms - I might as well get him to wire the van with a 7-pin flat socket anyway, rather than muck around with adapters. I didn't need that curve ball about transformers from the trailer place though! I'm champing at the bit to get the boat in the water - I busted the old trailer on New Years Eve and haven't been out since - thought I could repair it but I decided to bite the bullet and buy a new one. Cheers, Baz

I busted my boat trailer on New Years Eve. I thought I could weld it up but I decided to invest in a new trailer. So, I picked one up at a trailer place in Rydalmere today. It has nifty submersible LED lights. When we tested it on my vehicle ( a '94 VW T4 Transporter), they didn't work. Hooked up to the battery tester thingy, the trailerlights worked. The T4 has a 7 pin round plug and I have an adaptor to convertto the 7 pin flat plug on the trailer. The adaptor tested OK, too. The trailer guy said some of the newer Europeancars need a transformer for LED lights - try VW. So I go to the spare partssection at a VW dealer down the road and he says I won't need that for a '94 T4.It's only needed for the newer VWs with LED lights and computers - you have toprogram them in (or something like that). The adaptor looks a little old, so I bought a newone at Supercheap on the way home - this one has little LED test lights on it -they don't light up either. The old trailer lights (non-LED) work fine. I rang my auto-electrician to see if he's heard ofanything like this - he hasn't - but he will look at it tomorrow for me. However, has anyone else experienced thisproblem? Any ideas? If it is a problem, the trailer guy will swap overto normal "old-fashioned" lights for me but if I can sort it out thatwould be better, as LEDs seem to be the bee's knees. Appreciate your help, in advance. Thanks, Baz

I had a call from a friend in Lithgow the other week to say Lake Lyell was full and overflowing with trout moving up onto the newly covered ground, so it shoudl be worth a go. Haven't been able to manage the trip yet myself. Good luck. Baz

It has been around 24 deg in the Hawkesbury up at Wisemans Ferry lately, according to my sounder. It's good to see some warmer temps closer to the sea. Baz

Sampo ball bearing swivels are the way to go. Baz

Paul, Good quality Hawkesbury prawns are generally the way to go. You can get bream, flathead and jew if you can get past the eels and catfish! Also bass and estuary perch. The water is extremely fresh up that way at the moment and I have not had much success on bream, flathead or jew for some time, although I did see a good jew taken off the wharf at my caravan park on the October long weekend, so you can do OK land-based. It generally seems to be better when the water is saltier and the jellyfish are running. That's when I put the crab traps out, too. I think there's going to a fair bit more fresh in the river yet. I'll be up there on Boxing Day until the 28th, then back agan on the 31st until the 3rd, so I will take the tinny out, maybe up Webbs Creek or the Colo chasing bass to get away from the wake boats... but if the fishing's not much chop, it will just be a skiiing and social getaway with friends . Are you staying at Del Rio? I'm straight across the river. Send me a PM before Christmas Eve with your mobile number. If the doesn't want to come out in the boat, I may be able to take you out for a short session. I don't fish too hard. Mobile phone signals are not real good up that way though and last year I tried to organise a simialr thing with a Fishraider and dropped my damn phone in the drink! Good luck. Baz

Stevo, I fish Wisemans fairly often, as I have a caravan there, but I am yet to nail it! I was up there three weekends ago (great weather ) and the water surface temp was 23-24 degrees but it was extremely fresh (I know, I swallowed enough of it with my attempts to get up on one ski!). I didn't stray to far from the van park as it was a boy's weekend and I had to be sociable... ( ). No jew, bream or flathead - I thought I could pull a bass or EP but no luck. When it's that fresh, I tend to do better on the saltwater species further downstream around the Laughtondale area but that has not been doing too well lately either. I haven't tried down as far as Spencer yet but I intend to when I fit another fuel tank. Good luck. Baz

For poddies, try in the creek on the right when heading downstream on the ocean side of the bridge. Just pull up on the bank behind the trawlers and set your trap. You should have plenty in 5 or 10 mins. I generally just drift the channel for lizards. Cheers, Baz