Off Sydney

[GordoRetired]

Looking at the forecast this week and Saturday was looking good so the plan was made to finally get the boat out. It was only when I stopped at the servo on the way to the ramp that I realised just how long it had been. I only needed to put in 15L to fill it up which meant that the last trip out was on Lake Jindabyne back in April.......

On to the fishing, we headed out around the Heads on what was a pretty good day, almost no wind and very little chop on the water. We started drifting across the area known as Foul Grounds and it was not long before we got a bite. My mate Steve pulling in a nice Snapper, around 45cm, so into the ice it went. After bringing in a few throw backs, small Snapper just shy of legal, Steve pulls in a decent Mowong, onto the ice. During this time all I seemed to be able to catch were throw backs, Snapper, Mowong, Naniguy, Sargent Baker, Rock Cod and Wrass. At least we were getting a nice selection of species.

As we got near the edge of the area Steve pulls in a nice Flathead, around 50cm, then he pulls in another around 40. I still have not put a keeper in the boat and by now we have been fishing for over 3 hours. Finally perseverance pays off and I bring in a Flathead around 50, shortly after in comes one around 40 so I had finally contributed to the catch for the day.

Around 1.00 the wind started to pick up a bit, all morning we had been drifting on Current rather than breeze, so we decided to head to our favorite Flathead spot off Manly for a drift. Not very successful, first fish was an undersized Snapper, then a barely legal Flathead, both went back to fight another day.  
Finally we decided to call it quits and head in while trolling a couple of Rapala's from Manly around North Head and into the Harbor. Just as we rounded North Head and were pointing into the Harbor Steve's rod goes off with line screaming off the reel. He grabbed the rod but after a few seconds it spat the hook. 

Overall it was a lovely day out, not a huge day for keeping fish, the final tally was 1 Snapper, 1 Mowong and 4 Flathead, but conditions were great.

Only problem on the day was that the electrics kept turning off, sounder, radio and stereo, and after a while they would come back on again. Guess that my Sunday is going to be spent trying to find an intermittent electrical fault..... Pure Joy 😞

Sorry no pictures.

Cheers

Gordo

Edited November 6, 2022 by GordoRetired

[zmk1962]

Sounds like a great day out - good weather, good mates, some fish. Top write up as well. 
Re electronics - sounds like a bad earth (common after a long layup) - I’d clean and reseat all battery terminals and connections first before diving into any deeper analysis. 
cheers Zoran 

[GordoRetired]

12 minutes ago, zmk1962 said:

Sounds like a great day out - good weather, good mates, some fish. Top write up as well. 
Re electronics - sounds like a bad earth (common after a long layup) - I’d clean and reseat all battery terminals and connections first before diving into any deeper analysis. 
cheers Zoran 

Thanks Zoran. I'll try that. Have just been looking at the electrics and they all look good but did not take off the battery covers as even when the power to the instruments went off the engine would turn over and start with no problem . I'll go check the terminals now 🙂

[zmk1962]

14 minutes ago, GordoRetired said:

Thanks Zoran. I'll try that. Have just been looking at the electrics and they all look good but did not take off the battery covers as even when the power to the instruments went off the engine would turn over and start with no problem . I'll go check the terminals now 🙂

The motor has its own negative connection to the battery. It's best practice to run a separate negative for all the electronics back to battery to minimise electrical interference from the motor. Check that connection at the battery .. then follow the negative back towards the electronics ... that cable may feed a negative terminal block to which all the electronics are wired ... check that connection as well. 

Cheers Z

[GordoRetired]

33 minutes ago, zmk1962 said:

The motor has its own negative connection to the battery. It's best practice to run a separate negative for all the electronics back to battery to minimise electrical interference from the motor. Check that connection at the battery .. then follow the negative back towards the electronics ... that cable may feed a negative terminal block to which all the electronics are wired ... check that connection as well. 

Cheers Z

OK, that's the next job. The batteries are quite new, less that a year old. When I pulled off the covers they look like new batteries, no corrosion anywhere and all nice and tight. I was under the dash and the wires are just a jumbled mess, it's hard to see whats what. I'll try to figure which is the earth and redo the connection. 
I HATE ELECTRICS 😂

[Rebel]

Top report.

Nice haul.

Well done.

[Yowie]

A nice mixed bag of reef fish, some to be kept for a feed, so a good day out had by all.

[campr]

It's great to get out after a long time but unfortunately boats don't like sitting idle and you are more likely to have issues with electronics and seized steering cables after a long spell.  When I bought my boat 2nd hand I decided to replace most of the wireing and filled two 40 litre buckets with old cables that had been lleft through the hull after being replaced by previous owners.  I like to run one heavy positive and negative cable up under the dash to power blocks and then run power from there to other electronics.  I hate working with electronics too!!  Ron

[bessell1955]

Sounded like a very pleasant way to spend Saturday and you did catch some fish.

[big Neil]

Not the greatest of days Gordo but always good to clear away the cobwebs. Hope you find the fault and rectify it quickly, ready for the next window of opportunity. bn

[Pickles]

Great to read your report Gordo’ and hear your out and fishing again. Like Zoran said, electronics a real pain and earth is most likely the issue (or poor connections due to detritus on switches or contacts. If you do some rewriting, use “spray contact cleaner” and “plastic electrical tape” on the connections. Saltwater spray will find its way into / ont every part of the boat.

look forward to catching up soon.

[Larkin]

Good feed of reef species and a few flatties thrown in to round off the catch!

Two thumbs up 👍 👍