Hooky.

Not doin' much. I may get up to Chippo' or similar for a bit of a flick on Saturday sometime but other than that.......not much and no pub for a while either. Sunday, nothing at all, I might just bludge around the house. Have a good weekend Raiders. cheers Hooky

G'day fella's $140 was a good price but I only think I got it this cheap because he took 4 weeks to make it and I was a very patient man. I think you would find that a fair dinkum price would be closer to $200. It was made by a bloke at Chipping Norton (S/W Sydney) and I can't for the life of me remember the business name at the moment. Just a small place but darn busy. cheers Hooky

G'day EVAN No problems to ask questions. I did the same thing when I was making and installing the tank. The cost of the tank plus powder coating was around $140. The pipe running out is the overflow. There is a hole in the bottom of the tank with a screw in boat bung to act as a plug. At the end of the day when I pull the boat out of the water I unscrew the bung and the water just empties into the boat then out the back boat bung and out of the boat. I didn't bother with a pump to pump water out as it was just as easy to just empty it at the end of the outing. In saying that there would be no reason why a pump couldn't be installed. cheers Hooky

G'day granpop The following pics should be self explanitory. The two bars that are close together are directly under the base plate. Here you can see the view from underneath. I used large washers to help with holding strength against the deck. Also, I put two 12g self tappers in behind the base plate and screwed into the bracing underneath to stop the deck lifting when the seat is rocked with someone siting on it....pulling the deck in an upwards fashion. Hope this helps cheers Hooky

Trout seem to enjoy the swim before dinner.

G'day EVAN, yep, it's a 45 litre livewell. I actually copied the design off Ozy, along with some other tank ideas. Good one Ozy. I didn't make the tank myself because it worked out basically cheaper and more time efficient to pay someone to do it. Not cheap for some but in my eyes a lot cheaper than I can make the tank at work for. In short, cut a hole in the thwart for the appropriate sized tank. Check to make sure it fits before cutting in all the required holes. Get it powder coated with anti-graffiti powder coating, throw some carpet on the seat then toss the tank into the thwart, attach some pipes and rivet the tank to the thwart. Add a lid and connect the plumbing. Throw a bilge pump on the back. And there you have a simple livewell for bream socials, a live bait tank for chasing those bigger fish, a tank for your ice slurry to keep your catch fresh for the table or just a good old ice chest for keeping the ales cool. cheers Hooky

G'day Ken I am a tradesman, a toolmaker in the metal industry but I think this is a job that anyone could do with a bit of planning and homework. As for the 40lb MG having enough thrust on your tinnie, I would imagine it would be OK but just to make certain send a PM to The Iceman and pick his brain. He has a 40 or 42lb MG on his Quintrex 350 and it seems to push his along with no troubles for the duration of a bream social (7 hours) with two grown men and their gear. cheers Hooky

Lucky bugger.

G'day Chris Everything is pop riveted in with 3/16ths rivets. Couldn't be bothered with the tig or mig welder for the simple reason that it wasn't worth the hassle for me dragging the boat into work. (I only have a stick welder at home.) Frame is made up of 38 x 25 x 2.5 walled aluminium tube and aluminium angle for holding it all together. Extra bracing beneath where the lean seat is and carpet on top of the frame to stop squeaks and rubbing noises. I could have used rubber but I chose carpet for the extra thickness and at the same time utilising the off-cuts I had. I put rubber under anything that had load and was touching against the body of the boat, as the below pics show. The frame might not look pretty but it isn't a "cosmetic" part of the boat and it is as strong as an ox.

Nice couple of fish there EVAN. Lyel is certainly a top place, especially when the fish are on the chew. 'Ya got some fish too!! Well done. Some familiar areas in those pics and as for the blue green algae, it sux big time. The browns in the lake aren't caught as regularly as rainbows, especially when powerbait is used. From my experiences at Lyel, browns just don't seem to have a liking for powerbait. Most of the browns I have caught in the Lake have taken Rebel crawfish in Chartreuse-Green colour on sunny days and Nest Robber, Texas Red type colours on overcast days.......this is just what seems to work for me. cheers Hooky

Thanks again fella's. It might serve to help those wishing to do a similar thing to a similar boat. When I get a chance I'll post pics from when I first started the job. G'day KenThe MG for me is a great addition to the boat. Been a cable steer it is very responsive and there are no electronics to worry about. The whole motor as a unit seems very tough and the foot pedal seems to be able to put up with anything, including been bounced around on the floor of the boat and been dropped on the concrete from a great height. (Yes, I have accidently done this a couple of times whilst taking the motor off the boat.) Mine is a 54lbFW MG and personally I would not go any lower than a 54lb leccy on a boat this size. The down side is the height of the foot pedal which is why I installed a lean seat. Standing on "one" leg for 7 hours is a hard task even if you don't have niggling injuries but with the lean seat you are able to make the task more comfortable. Basically, IMO, a lean seat is a "must have" with a cable steer Motor Guide. cheers Hooky

Shite, I only just realised the same thing. Oh well,

Thanks fella's. It's a project which has been stretched out over time. Not because it was hard but just something I would work on when I had some spare time. It is very rewarding in the end not to mention making an older boat a bit more comfy. I threw in a lean seat 'cos the old sports injuries don't agree with standing up on one leg whilst steering/pedalling the motor guide.

Just thought I'd throw up a few pics of the old tinnie showing the decks etc I have installed. It's not much but it's comfortable. As you can see from the outside, it's just an old 4.2m Quintrex tinnie. This is an aerial shot of the decks and lean seat I just finished installing. I still need to put hatch type decking between the middle thwart and the front deck so as to make it one deck from front to back. And a close up. To be continued........ cheers Hooky

G'day Raiders I just finished installing a lean seat in the old tinnie which should help make my leccy controlling a lot more easy on the back and knee joints. Got a few other parts of the deck to finish yet but at least the seat/deck are done. I could probably work on it some more but I have shopping to do, tackle of course and then this 'arvo is free. Not too many though 'cos tomorrow is an early start for the Ausbream social with The Iceman as deckie. Here's hoping the weather is on our sides. Have a good weekend Raiders. cheers Hooky

That's the only place in the Georges I've seen and caught squid but not that often. Never seen or heard of any further upstream than the bridges.

Hard to pick just one Ken although I did tick 306. I have the 301 & 306, both proved their worthiness on the trout and paid there way in supplying dinner each night on my last outing. Now for this weekends social so I can say they have worked on the bream.......for me anyway. EDIT: swoffa's on the money. We need a colour chart on the site somewhere showing all of the range of SX's or even the whole range of Ecogear products.

Mike.L

No prob's Evan. I'll PM the map tonight. cheers Hooky

G'day Evan One thing I always stress to people nowadays is that if you are taking a boat, ring the caretakers house first just to make sure that the lake is still open to boats and get info on launching before you go. They may even give you some up to date info on fishing conditions. Ring 63556347. I have a map at home on my computer which shows the areas I trolled and caught fish in on my last outing. If you want a copy I'll send it to you tonight via PM or email if you like. cheers Hooky

Well there you go. I always thought it was only illegal to trans-locate carp. None the less, I've always disposed of mine in a thoughtful way. If it is illegal to throw them back, why are these fisho's throwing them back or am I missing something here.

As far as I know and understand, releasing carp is not illegal but I think most people would agree that it should be.

Great report there Lizard. Darn fine campfire as well. cheers Hooky

Congrats and well done Chris. You look reasonably happy with yourself.

Nice reel choice there Choc. I have a Symetre 1500 on one of my spin outfits and I'm very happy with it. Good luck with your fishing adventures. cheers Hooky