Vince1974

Hi all I am thinking of getting the Garmin 550c fishfinder. Has any one here got one or used one and have an opinion on these? It will be mainly used in Sydney harbour. Regards, Vince

HI there I own a Raymarine DS500x sounder. I was wandering if anyone owned one of these and actually knows how to get the best out of them using the manual settings???? The unit reads depth very very well and I think shows some good structure. However, I don't seem to mark fish very well. I know there are fish beneath me but the sounder does not seem to show them. When I am bouncing plastics off the bottom I can generally see my lure going to the bottom and if I hold it in the transducers beam I get a steady line appearing on the sounder. So this to me makes me think the sounder and settings are fine. But rarely do I get fish marks. Any suggestions??? Thanks, Vince

Hi guys, any one no of a good mobile boat motor mechanic for yamaha s ?thanks, Vince

Mate, grab yourself a couple of the yamashita golden bait jis in the 1.8 and 2.2 and in the natural colours. The R egi suite yamas series are also very good. I have also started using the new Shimano sephia egixile range in the 10g. They are slightly larger than the ones I just mentioned but these jigs catch all sizes and are by far the best I have used. Good luck. Like the guys said, find the kelp and sandy patches and you will eventually find them.

Gulps. Any colour will do, but i'm finding the lime tiger and nuclear chicken working at the moment.

G'day guys Went for a fish in sydney harbour Sunday morning flicking 7" plastics and landed three jews in less than an hour. Interesting enough i caught them in the run in tide and were all on deck with in 45mins, but it was about 10:30am well short of the high tide due at 2pm from memory. One of the best soft plastic sessions i have had in a while. The 3rd came in at 70cm. These fish were better quality than the 60-65 cm ones i have been landing of late. Needless to say, the Jews are firing in Sydney harbour! Cheers, Vince

I gotta get myself one of those brag matts! I have a wooden rule screwed to the side of my gunwell that i use to measure. That's the crap thing about being by your self fishing....no one there to take decent photos of you and the fish. This shot shows the width of its head...like a shovle!

Hi dunc, I was just off Steel point/shark bay.

Hi Guys Went out for a fish on the public holiday, headed out from Drummoyne at 6am and out to the harbour. First up landed a nice jew that went 85cm. Then I landed a nice croc that went 105cm and was released to fight another day. My first over the meter mark! I landed one more flatty 75cm that was kept. Picked these guys up on the trusty 7" gulps. Tight lines Vince

Thats them.

Thanks guys. I got the plastic fittings from Whitworths Drummoyne. I had to drill holes into the esky that pretty much matched the dimater of the fittings. Then i used sikaflex to seal it up to ensure no water leaks. You are right...i made the inlet higher to provide more oxygen. I also made it higher than the water outlet to prevent the water reverse flowing back out trhough the bilge. I won't be running the tank all the time only to freshen up the water every now and then. Works well.

Hi Guys Just thought i would post some picks of my DIY esky bait tank. Might give you some ideas if you are limited for space or had similar ideas. All up this cost me about $80. Cheers, Vince

Nice work mate. What sounder you using? Good show on it!

Hi Does any one know of a good mobile boat service/mechanic? If you do can you please let me know contact details. Thanks, Vince

Looks like you had some fun there with the plastics. Good work. I am with you guys on the Sol reels.....they are great! I have two of them, A 2500 and a 3000. My 2500 is on a Daiwa Tierra LMFS 7 foot two piece and the 3000 is on a 7 foot Sol rod. Both are awsome set ups. These reels have a fantastic drag system (apparently the same as the certate). I have pulled some monster fish on both these rigs. Vince

Thanks again for all your comments guys. Jeff, not sure you would want to swap me for your net. I am pretty certain that was a one off "lucky" situation and I doubt history will repeat its self. Regards, Vince.

Thanks for all the replies guys. This catch has certainly been my biggest fishing achievement. I am still pumped from yesterdays effort. I have to say I have had a few practice attempts before yesterday’s catch. In the past three months I have hooked up to something big 4 times including yesterdays. The first three times I eventually got smoked with out seeing the fish! Cheers, Vince

Hi All Went for a quick flick this afternoon at Birchgrove for some bream and ended up with one hell of a by catch. No luck with the bream today, but I was stunned when my reel started to scream and the line was peeling off like there was no tomorrow. I had a 125 yards of 4lb fire wire and about 50 yards of mono backing. I started to worry on a couple of occasions when the actual spool could be seen through the mono. I almost got spooled twice! The fish eventually started to tire and I finally started to take some line back from him. Fortunately I had room to walk on the sand stone edge I was fishing from. It must have taken me on at least a 100m walk. 40 mins in to the fight the fish showed it self and it was a very decent King. I called it at about 80cm. I was now concerned on how I was going to land this fish and if the line would hold up. It was low tide and there was a section with some exposed oyster covered rocks....about a 1.5 meter drop from where I was fishing. I managed to climb down whilst still keeping the line tight. It's amazing what you can do when the adrenalin is pumping!!!! I managed to lead the fish close to me with the rod in one hand and the other hand ready to grab the fish. Heart was pumping at this stage. As the fish stuck its head out of the water the line could not bear the weight and I couldn’t believe it....ping! the bloody line snapped. Don't ask me how, but with a very quick reflex I managed to grab the fish in the nick of time. I couldn't believe the fish was finally in my hands. The fish went 75cm and weighed 3.3Kgs. I was using my Daiwa Tierra 7 foot MLFS (light rod) with a Daiwa Sol 2500 (These reels are worth their weight in gold!) The Sol is spooled with 4lb fire wire and I was using a 6lb fluorocarb leader. I was using light jig head with a 3" minnow pumpkin seed Gulp. Any one that has caught a decent king 65-90 cms knows what a fight they give on the heaviest of gear, so I was excited to say the least when I landed this thing. Cheers, Vince

Hi There, Flat head are one of the easiest fish to target on plastics.....until you catch you first one that is. When you land your first many others will follow. Patience is the key! The 3" or 4" GULP swimming mullet in the pumpkin seed colour are killers for the flat head. Also the Camo coloured 5" jerk shads are good...and even the 7" for the big mamas on a 1 ounce jig head! Use about 15lb fluorocarbon leader to start as there head shakes will get their teeth grinding through the line if they swallow the bait. Off any jetty in the harbour will work. I do really well around the areas in Balmain or Birchgrove. Even off calm beaches/bays are good areas. Look for areas with weedy patches. I normally use a 1/4 or a 1/6 or a 1/8 jig head....depends on what the wind is doing. After you have casted, hop the plastic back towards you with 1 to 3 quick hops or flicks letting the bait come back down and let it rest for about 5 secs winding the slack and repeat till your ready to cast again(the pauses can very...can be longer if you wish). You keep this method up casting in the various directions you will eventually land one. Flat head also hang around the sandy edges of structure, like rock walls. Dont be afraid to bounce the plastic in weedy/rocky patchy areas and in the shallows either. Yes you will get snags, but this is where the fish are a lot of the time. I have landed many fish, and good ones from depths less than a meter. Good luck, Vince

Thanks for all the posts. The vibe was actaully a Strike Pro Cyber Vibe 40

G'day Raiders Thought I would share todays outing on the harbour. Used a vibe blade for the first time and had a bit of beginners luck. First I landed this nice silver bream - 30cm. I then hooked a small 10cm red bream and on the retrieve was smashed by this flat head. This fish spat the bream as it was netted - about 60cm in length and 1.4kgs. Not a bad by catch. This squid went into the freezer for jew bait. Many more flathead between 40-50cm where also had during the 2 hr session. Apart from the wind not a bad day out.

SOL SOL SOL SOL I have two of them and not only do they look good (in my opinion) they are great performer!

Thanks guys. Sol 300 it is.

HI all, I got as a gift the Daiwa TD-SOL 701 MHFS Spin 7’0” 1 Med Heavy Fast ⅜-⅝oz 10-17lb. What reel would match nicely for this rod. I am thinking of getting the DAiwa SOL 4000. IS this to big for it? Thanks, Vince

Hi Guys, Thanks for the replies. I can get the Garmin 400c for $399 and found a price for the Humminbird 727x for $499. The 400C has 320 x 240 resolution but has a 4" screen The 727X has 640 x 320 resolution but I don't know the screen size of this unit. Which one of these units based on the price would be the way to go? Thanks, Vince