Hooky.

G'day Raiders The time has come for me to do an overhaul on the boat trailer. Everything is just great except for the axle and suspension due to rust. What I'm after is somewhere to buy a galvanised suspension kit, ie a pair of 5 leaf springs (eye to eye), U-bolts, 40mm square axle and Holden hubs, two fish plates, hardware etc etc. I believe it's cheaper to buy the lot as a kit and I know that you can buy box trailer suspension kits for around $150 which includes hubs, axle and the rest, although I'm more than happy to buy bit by bit depending on the price difference. If anyone can help find somewhere reasonably priced it would be appreciated, preferably in the south west and/or west of Sydney but willing to drive further if necessary. Does Yabbie Marine sell this sort of stuff.........Ben??? P.S. I could probably ring around but Fishraider is as good as using the yellow pages and this way at least I can get feedback and info which may help others as well. cheers and thanks Hooky

Good little outing there clutch. What model Suzi is on the back? I have a DT25 on my tinnie and I just can't fault it. Great little motors. cheers Hooky

Yep, it sounds good but I'm told that because they all have names they can't be Sundays roast. Buggers me how they can have names, they practically all look the same.

Another weekend eh!!! EDIT: No fishing now, the wind looks like it may create a bit of a problem and I hate fishing in the wind. Not to worry, there's always next weekend. Sunday I need to throw up a temporary fence around the fruit trees. The bloody chooks are climbing up and pinching the fruit. If they keep it up there won't be any shortage of chicken for Christmas dinner. That's about it other than maybe have a quick nap in the arvo. Have a good weekend Raiders. cheers Hooky

There's no stopping you lately Ken. Thanks for the report, sounds like a great day on the water to me. cheers Hooky

Good stuff there Dave. Sounds like a good weekend was had on the fishing front. cheers Hooky

G'day Mick I actually snuck in to town over the weekend for a quick visit to the in-laws and mum & dad. Didn't have time to do much but I did get some pics. Only two that are relevant to this thread. A nice hole or two on the southside. Northside

Great report there fella's. I was listening to "Hi-Tide" this morning and the bloke who you gave a tow to rang up to talk to Schuey and Keiran and said a thousand thankyou's to the captain of "Jiggin' Joe". Good onya Joe. cheers Hooky

Another spot x that will get crowded. Nice fish there fella's, well done. cheers Hooky

Good one Ken, top effort and pics. cheers Hooky

That's seems like a top little outing Chris. Well done. cheers Hooky

there Stephen.

The funny thig is this spot x gets crowded sometimes. BTW, Mr Pineapple. As for my weekend, no fishing at all. I have a few things to do but after this weekend it's fishing every weekend......I hope. Have a good weekend Raiders. cheers Hooky

Great stuff there Mr & Mrs Clutch, all the best for the future.

I believe it's normal. My two squidgy rods which are similar to the Stradics, although not the same rod, have the same difference in texture between the two pieces. I wouldn't be too concerned with it. cheers Hooky

Looks the goods Whitto. Strange how people with an association with Ozy (one z thanks) seem to have an urge for putting decks in their boats. At least we have someone to blame for lost fishing hours.

Got a leave pass have 'ya?

Sorry Matt, I never thought to tell many people, although I think I mentioned it to you in a PM just after your last visit to Lyell. I usually just get up and go where ever, when ever. I'll be heading back very soon as there is no way I'm letting my mate, a novice at that, pull in a brown like that and show me up. The bugger also pulled in a 65 model straight afterwards. cheers Hooky

G'day Martin There are no onsite vans, it's BYO. They do have one powered site but I would imagine you'd need to book it in advance. If you have a van you could take it, no problems. The only trouble at the moment is that the water level is low which makes for a long walk to the waters' edge from the main camp site and the water is full of algae in some places so it's not really reccomended for swimming at the moment. Personally, as far as family goes, I reckon there would be better places to go to at the moment than Lake Lyell. I took my wife and daughter up there once, a good 8 years ago, and a storm came through and wiped our tent out. Needless to say they don't come with me any more........four and a half stars plus for these two chicks nowadays. cheers Hooky

Nice looking salmon there Bob. Isn't the Huon just one of the best places to visit, great area and crisp fresh air. cheers and well done. Hooky

G'day muscle, No need for a 4WD and accomodation is in the form of camping/caravaning unless you want to stay in a motel and then you would need to stay in Lithgow or thereabouts. They have a very tidy shower/toilet block for a camping/caravan only site which is very handy.If you want to know more about Lake Lyell and if they are hiring out their boats at the moment or anything else happening you can ring the caretakers house on 02 6355 6347 or email lakelyel@lisp.com.au Good luck. G'day CharlieThe main ramp is open and you are allowed to use it. We were told we could try and use it if we wanted to but since we were camping up the back there was no need to. The water level is just lapping below the last piece of concrete. IMHO, it would be best to close it as it is a steep drop at the end which makes it a bit hard when launching. BTW, water level when we arrived was at 26% and over the four day period it probably dropped by about a foot and a half. cheers Hooky

We never even thought of mounting the fish. Just sent it back swimming. I think what made this fish so heavy was the fact that the actual flesh or meat was very dense. It really had a solid feel about it and very firm and as strong as an ox. At first my mate held it by the jaw and it just clamped down and didn't release his hand until he shook the fish and dropped it on the deck. The darn this was even snappin' at him like a dog.

G'day Andrew Yep, I'll get my mate to email them to me today as they are on his camera. It was a big buck and when it pulled the scales down I couldn't believe it either when I compared it to some jews I've seen. Nearly all the trout on the weekend were full and fat and full of roe and the white stuff in the males. Very solid fish. It was a case of the bigger the lure the bigger the fish. cheers Hooky EDIT: I just checked my email and he sent it last night.

G'day Chris, yep, a top few days alright. As for what the fish were taking. We spent most of the time trolling and the hardbodies were mostly Ecogear SX40's and 48's, halco scorpions (micro mullet pattern), smilin jack minnows and an assortment of producers minnow lures and frenzy's. Basically anything that had a rattle seemed to do the trick, especially in the areas which were thick with algae etc. cheers Hooky

G'day Raiders, Just a quick heads up for anyone wanting to get on to a trout or two. I spent the last four days (starting last Thursday) up at Lake Lyell and the trout were still readily available. The quantity wasn't as large as my last outing but the quality was excellent. The smallest fish caught went around the 36cm mark (a rainbow) and the biggest was a nice brown trout caught by my mate which went 73cms and weighed in at around 5.5kgs, a deadset horse. The trout seemed to move around a fair bit but once you found them it was easy going. BTW, I didn't keep or eat any, the lake is like a stagnant water hole in some places which was a bit sad and put me off eating anything but if you're keen for a feed I can't see why you couldn't chew on a fish or two. cheers Hooky