Hooky.

ditto...... Darn wind.

G'day Raiders Saturday is a quiet one. Getting a haircut in the morning if that's anything to write about. Gotta go to the tackle shop to get a rod tip fixed.......again. No pub, just can't be bothered going down there lately. The way I see it is, the money and time I spend at the local establishment could easily pay for a trip or two to Lake Lyell or similar on a Saturday. Which is what I am going to do. I also need to pack the boat ready for Sundays' Ausbream social. Have a good weekend Raiders. cheers Hooky

Maybe I was just lucky. I fished the school of bonito and yellowtail using up just two BM's for two hours. Every fish was hooked in the corner of the mouth and the BM was never in the fishes mouth.

Agree with swoffa. I found some Watsons Leaping Bonito amongst schools of yellowtail last weekend east off Lion Island and they seemed to like a 3" bass minnow in smelt colour but not rigged upside down as swoffa has mentioned. I was using a 3gr squidgy ball jig head and a size 2 hook. cheers Hooky EDIT:clarification, I didn't fish with the BM's rigged upside down, never have, but it may be something to try in the future.

Top looking catch there Mark, enjoy. Lucky you had the leccy battery otherwise a good day could have turned out quite the opposite. Well done. cheers Hooky

G'day Jimbo Yes the battery was fully charged. I charged it the night before and then again a half hour top up before putting it in the boat that morning. The fact that it was charged to the hilt probably helped it blow up like it did. As for the new battery, it's all sorted out and will be delivered to me at the Ausbream social on Sunday morning. Ended up getting a 100amp/hr Delkor no maintenance battery (which is what I was wanting) from Yabbie Marine through Ben (wakd) and he more than helped out with price matching and as for customer service, 'ya can't beat getting a fully charged, ready to go battery delivered to you at 6.30 am on a Sunday. Thankfully Ben is fishing the social as well and I doubt he would normally practice such habits on a Sunday morning. cheers Hooky

It is important to learn from ones mistakes It is cheaper to learn from other's mistakes! Oh so true.

Even though I've probably made a goose of myself in some way by posting up my foolishness, it has certainly helped me learn by everyones replies and thoughts. Thanks. cheers Hooky

Thanks for your help and reply Brian. cheers Hooky

G'day Grant, certainly was windy over the weekend on the water. We spent Friday 'arvo doing a drift east of Lion Island starting about 50 yards off then just drifting out for about 400 yards. Found large schools of bonito, yellowtail, tailor, as well as bream, small snapper and flatties. Saturday we didn't venture east of the road bridges.....darn wind. cheers Hooky

Hahaha, never thought of buying a lottery ticket. Probably won't have any change left after I buy another battery. A good tip on the bi-carb soda. A question though. How is the bi-carb soda applied? In powder form as it comes when first bought in the pack or added to water, sprayed on and allowed to dry on the aluminium? cheers Hooky

No problems there Brian, I copped those jokes on the weekend as well. I won't argue with you on that Ozy.

Thanks for the tip there Brian. I never thought of that, I just gave the boat a good hosing out. cheers Hooky

G'day Raiders Got back last night from a four day "boys weekend" away on the Hawkesbury. All was well until Friday morning when I was all "amped up", literally, to go for a spin in the tinnie. Getting all worked up and excited I put the deep cycle battery in the boat, put the hatch down and all of a sudden "BOOM". An aluminium bracket on the hatch crossed over both terminals on the battery and the 4th of July was a happrning thing. The darn thing blew up like there was no tomorrow and the space under the hatch lit up like the sun. Acid every where and when I opened the hatch everything was glowing. Luckily I was pushing the hatch down and whilst my pressure of leaning down on the hatch was enough to smother the "blast", it did tend to have a bit of an upwards force about it. Lesson learnt, make sure there is nothing in the way that will arc out the terminals. Note to self: Stop and think before acting and make sure there is good light when installing a battery so you can see what you are doing. Don't let the excitement of fishing get in the way of safety. I was lucky but it could have been worse. Hopefully my mistake can be a lesson for all. Never say "it won't happen to me."

Good looking trout there Darryl, top stuff.

This is the one you want Andrew. http://www.bluemts.com.au/eagleviewescape/home.htm Close to TCD, Thommo's, Wallace, Lyell and Oberon.

G'day Reeso For me it's the 3" Bass Minnow in smelt colour for SP's. In HB's it would be the Sydney Guppy #306 SX-40. cheers Hooky

Wenty Lake is a total disaster to what it used to be. I remember as a kid walking to the lake for a swim after school and swinging from the tree at the overflow and never been able to touch bottom. Many a corrigated iron canoe was paddled from one side to the other and some even sank and never retrieved, great memories. My dad did the same and so too his dad and his. Used to be a big day at the lake for everyone during summer. (Just a thirty second walk too) Then the do gooders decide the overflow needs to be lowered and the water gets shallower and then a bloody flock of desease ridden ducks and geese move in. Oh well, at least there's some good fishing to be had. The weed beds at the western end are usually pretty good for a fly flick especially in summer in the arvo using "white ant" imitations and as troutboy said, the northern side for luring. The dam wall still puts out every now and again (not like it used to) but I've usually only had recent success using baits like corn kernells and even then the old corn seems to attract carp. Just pick a pole to cast at and let your bait sit there for a while. cheers Hooky

G'day Mick It's good to see some water flowing out. At least it will get a flushing. I just got off the phone talking to dad and he was telling me that there have been pelicans sitting in the water picking out fish as they get washed out or be it swim out with the current/flood waters. cheers Hooky

Not doin' much. Tomorrow is vacant for a "just in case" situation. Sunday I'll probably go for a drive to Penrith and surrounds, have a feed, drop in at ABA and spend some more cash. Other than that it's a pretty quiet weekend. No pub on Saturday either due to this darn head cold I have , mind you, it won't stop me from fishing in the 'arvo if I feel the need to get out of the house. Have a good one Raiders. cheers Hooky

Cheap knives for me too! I've lost too many good ones over the side to warrant spending up on the better ones anymore. I do however carry a "Victorinox" pocket knife, they are just the best thing out when it comes to knives. cheers Hooky

I'll second that.

G'day Raiders Just thought I'd let you all know that the NSW Shadow Minister for Fisheries will be on the Hi-Tide radio show on 2KY tomorrow morning, 26/6/2005, between 5am and 7am. They will be taking listeners phone calls within this time frame as well. So any of you politically minded fisho's who would like to know what the future holds when/if the Liberals get in to power, here's your chance. Probably a good chance to hammer Bruce Schumacher (ACORF Chairman) with a volley of questions as well. cheers Hooky

Doesn't that just nark 'ya? Nearly lost an SX40 to a crab net at the Hawkesbury social. Luckily I was able to pull the net up off the bottom and retrieve my lure. I'm yet to give my "spock" a run but judging on your results Ken, I shouldn't have any problems scoring a fish or three. Great pics too by the way. cheers Hooky

There's also a DVD due for release at the end of June or there abouts. "Fishing in Botany Bay" by Gary Brown and Scotty Lyons.