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I find the most reliable bait for yellowtail and mullet is chicken cut into little cubes a little smaller than a quarter of an inch. This stays on the hook pretty good and yakkas and mullet love it. I freeze little balĺs about the size of a golf ball and find this plenty for a bait catching session. I either buy a breast fillet and cut it up or keep trimmings from chicken being prepared for dinner. Ron

If you are sounding bait schools it may be worthwhile to catch some and sit on the schools with a livey or 2 out. Catch on bait jigs with or without bait. Bridle them with a large circle hook and set them one on top and one with a sinker down in the bait school. I have mates that last year tried it for the 1st time and caught and released quite a few. Ron

I find the KISS method works best however I do often use bait thread to tidy up jew baits but not the elastic type. Ron

I bought a Boat Catch at the boat show a few years ago for my 5.6 Quintrex and they're great. They usually have a stand at the show and have a sale price. They release to launch by driving forward a bit but I usually prefer to launch the conventional way with a rope but drive back on. I consider myself to be an experienced boaty but found it a bit scary at 1st to drive on and you feel like your awfully high as you drive up. Ron

Ice frozen in bottles is fine but if you are carrying it can be heavy. Adding salt to water is supposed to make ice thats colder and lasts longer but can't be used for emergency drinking water. I use 2 and 3 litre bottles in my boat but I have a big eski. Ron

You see sqid in shops that have a thin point on the end of tube. Do not use these for bait (wouldn't eat either ) as they have a preservative and I think they come from China. Never had any luck with these and when I had a saltwater fish tank my fish would run away from it and hide and visibly shake with fear of it until I took it out of the tank. I know of heaps of jew that was caught on Californian squid. I freeze small squid whole and all my heads in vac bags and am carefull not to let them make contact with fresh water. Ron

I have a 5.6m Quintrex and use a Sarka when over sand. I also cary a light reef pick for anchoring over reef like shark island when bait or squid fishing. Keep your reef pick light with short prongs as it will hold a fair sized boat but still allows you to straighten the prongs when it gets caught in the rocks. Ron

For many years I took my 4.5metre quintrex lazeabout off shore to places like the 12mile with no problems. I was carefull to check weather reports especially noting forcast changes during the day. Example is in summer it regularly changes to strong NE winds in afternoon so I would plan to fish to the north so I had following seas to come home. It's ok to try to outrun changing conditions at speed but if you get caught in bad conditions its safer to slow down to a safe speed and take your time to get home safely. Get out there as often as you can to build experience and confidence. Ron

Bigger can be better but 4.5 meter is a good compromise. For a long time I had a 4.5 quintrex Lazeabout but I found a 60hp was right for me. I would add the following to your wish list. Flat floor. Underfloor fuel tank. A good sounder and maybe gps. Nav lights. If your a serious fisherman I couldn't do without a live bait tank. Biggest decision is tin or glass, I'm a tinny man myself. Tinny is lighter and tougher but dousnt ride as well but later blade type hulls are pretty good. I am a convert to 4stroke for quietness and no messing around with fuel mix issues. You should be able to find something suitable for your price range. Last but not least, dont forģet to consider the condition of the trailer. Good luck. Ron

I have used double sided tape for light applications like microphone mounts. Meant to be temporary to try location but worked so well I left it. I also used the thin film type with no foam padding to mount rubber pads for knees inside gunnels. Make sure back of what you're mounting is flat as some have a ridge on edge. I also clean all surfaces with wax and grease remover thats used for spray painting. Worth a try. Good luck. Ron

Any type of feather can be used but some have a better pulsating action. There are hundreds of youtube sites on fly tying that will show you how to use a thin thread to bind feathers onto hooks. I use rod binding thread or cotton. When finished coat with clear epoxy or nail polish. Good luck. Ron

I have used them as well as the swivel clip combo when fishing for mulloway from my boat at night. Both methods work and allows the fish to run without feeling much weight from the sinker. Ron

I don't think it would matter as long as it's a neutral cure compatible with your hull material. Ron

They may be chewy as a result of being kept alive in the keeper net. When you keep them alive they stress and release lactic acid into their flesh which affects eating quality. Better to kill quickly with brain spike or a hit between their eyes an putting in eski preferably in saltwater slurry. Ron

I worked for the DMT/RTA/RMS for 52 years and managed nearly half the registries in NSW when relieving managers on leave and managed an office for another 9 years. In those days staff took pide in their knowledge. About 8 years ago Motor Registrys were taken over by Service NSW and the majority of knowledgeable staff took a redundancy package and left. I had been out of the Registrys for 15 years when I took a package and also left. Ron

When fishing in someone else's boat I like to take my own manually inflateable jacket. Funny thing is that I keep 2 good quality old style vest jackets in my boat as well and prefer to wear one of these when crossing nasty river bars as a guy I know hit his head when he was rolled and struggled to pull inflation cord. I change to inflateable for comfort when clear of the bar. Ron

The less I go fishing the more I feel the urge to compensate by adding to my 20 or so rods. Following Covid and recent issues with my heart I need help (or maybe a Stella). Ron

Probably too late but you can prevent the keel jamming on side of rollers by filling the gap with large stainless washers. Ron

No lure you can cast is too big for big flatties. The day after I landed and released one at 97cm I lost one next to the boat over 1 meter long when it spat out a 40cm one it took while I was bringing it up. It wasn't hooked but was hanging on to it crossways in her mouth. I have caught many big girls but all on live baits and mostly in deep water more associated with mulloway. Ron

If its canvas try a camping supply store. Older style tents required fabric to be treated with a waterproofer. If its a plastic material I doubt there is much available.

You haven't stated what type of fishing you do. Big difference between short accurate casts for bass with a baitcaster and casting a heavy sinker or lure from shore with a bigger overhead. I haven't used anything bigger than an ABU 7000 off the beach with big baits for jewies. Basically I would use a threadline for light weights and an overhead for big weights. Ron

Hard to tell from photo but it looks to me that the rear blue v guides would cause a lot of friction. They look to me to be mounted back to front. I didn't like that type and removed them from my trailer and replaced them with fixed ones the same as jeffb5.8 has. A boat that size should be easy. My 5.6 quinnie will launch itself when released and I drive on or winch out easily. Make sure your rollers are free and well oiled. I have replaced my roller axles with homemade stainless ones, best thing ever. Last but not least, have a look through the ramps parking area to look at how others have theirs are set up for any ideas. Good luck. Ron

Burly which the yanks call chum is any food distributed into the water to attract fish towards you to catch them but not in enough quantity to satisfy their food needs. This can be a complex mix of food bits or as simple as mashed up bread or chopped up weed mixed with sand. Usually its a mix of left overs after cleaning fish but can be as specific as pilchard or tuna cubed and fed into the water in a constant stream. The general rule is a ĺittle fed out in an unbroken stream. If you have limited burly it can be a good idea to bulk it up with bread or chook pellets and add some tuna or pilchard oil. The burly can be distributed from a pot with holes in it or distributed by hand. There are other ways such as fish frames suspended in a keeper net or even rope tied to the tails of bonito or tuna frames off the rocks. There are heaps of methods depending on how and where you're fishing. Good luck. Ron

Generally you will cast further with lighter lines, but they are more susceptible to being cut by sharp rocks, oysters and teeth. I fish much lighter but for general fishing for bream,whiting,sqid and flathead etc I think 8lb is a good alternative. You can always use a heavyer trace for toothy critters or a lighter one for wary fish. Most importantly you can catch big fish on light lines if you have your drag set correctly. Don't worry too much about all the advice you get, you'll have it all sorted in 30 or 40 years. Ron

One way to lessen snags is to use a posternoster rig with sinker on the bottom with sinker dropper long enough to keep hook clear of bottom. However there are a couple of sneaky tricks to try. 1. Put a small runnig float about 2 or 3cm round on sinker dropper under hook trace to hold hook off bottom. 2. If sinker is getting snagged a drop shot rig can be tried. This is just a split shot clamped on end of sinker dropper so that if sinker gets caught a steady pull will slip shot off the end of your line releasing the rest of your rig. If more weight is needed just put a ball sinker on 1st above the shot. This is the real original meaning of the drop shot rig, not a means of vertically working soft plastics. I have only used this trout fishing in an area covered with round river stones and it worked well. May be worth a try. Ron