Geoff-

Tuffy, was it Mrs Palmer?

if you're on a mooring you do NOT need ANY lights on overnight. Moorings are a fixed hazard that are displayed on boating maps and other skippers need to be aware of them. However if you miss out on a public mooring and you set an anchor then you MUST display an all round white light from sunset to sunrise. You don't need other nav lights, they are only to be used when underway or drifting. A backup battery is well advised just in case, but you should make sure the primary has enough juice to run the lights all night!

that splitter above is for TV signals. It lets you connect 1 antenna to 2 TVs. TVs are PASSIVE receiving devices, which is why this is OK. If you connect two radios via a splitter and transmit using one of them then that power is being forced into the front end of the other radio, and will quite possibly damage it. I recommend you talk to someone who knows radios better, I doubt it's a good idea to have a setup like that. The splitters whitworths have are for using your VHF antenna for AM/FM reception, they have a choke/RF filter in them to stop RF power being fed into your AM/FM radio which is why you can use them without damaging the AM/FM radio.

I picked up a bonito school with the old man on Christmas day - we were trolling with hard plastics that dive about a metre under, every trip through the school I hooked up. That was doing about 5kts. It depends on the lure you're using, could see by watching the rod tip that these were good around that speed any faster and they stopped swimming and just skipped along the surface. Depending on the fish some like it close to the boat (the wash attracts them) others will want to bite if it's further back. Just gotta try a few things and when you find a combination that works start reeling them in

+1 to all the above advice. also remember that most of the time when you change the wheel you need to change the bearing carriers over too so a large flat bladed screwdriver, a hammer and the right spanner to undo the axle nut will make your life a lot easier. would advise doing a complete bearing replacement in the driveway so you know what you're up for - might never get stuck on the side of the road but it helps to know what you're doing just in case.

if second hand then pay attention to tyres as well. old tyres (especially ones with inner tubes) fill with salt after many dunkings and that accelerates wear on the tubes. within 3 months of owning our (first) boat we had 3 flat tyres, unbelievably they all happened close to home and that was with a trip from sydney to port stephens and back thrown in. that was a fortunate warning sign, 3 new tyres and a brand new set of bearings later and i'm a lot more comfortable towing it knowing the rolling stock is fresh!!

I've been checked at Roseville, water police were there checking every boat that used the ramp. They were friendly and more interested in educating and keeping people safe rather than writing tickets. But if you were doing something dumb I think they would make the effort!!

Have a look at the paternoster rig. It has a 3-way swivel with the sinker right at the bottom and the hook on a shorter line so it sits above the bottom. I have still found this will snag in some spots so I add a running float above the swivel. The float changes the angle of the line a bit so when you pull in, your tackle rises up first before coming towards you. Have found that to be pretty good but if you are fishing in a rocky area unfortunately you will continue to lose rigs from time to time.. nothing's perfect.

remember that you don't need a type 1 unless you're in open water either. Type 3 will satisfy all the rules and is just like wearing a vest, it doesn't restrict movement at all.

the new regs seem sensible to me - the new situations where wearing is compulsory correspond with increased risk. even in closed waters i put on a jacket if i'm by myself and the water is a bit choppy (I'm a bit of a lead foot in the car and when i've got a stretch of water i do like to exercise the boat too!). it's not much of an adjustment to wear one all the time. if i was setting anchor and fell off possibly getting tangled in the rope i would be pretty thankful for the additional buoyancy.

the spit is a very narrow spot and during high traffic times it would be inconsiderate to drift under the bridge as you make it more difficult for traffic to flow in both directions. at quiet times i don't see it as being a big issue, if a few boats come at once then duck out of the way and let them through and then you can resume drifting. generally just be considerate and then nobody has any cause for blowing a fuse Jeff - I know some people are d1ckheads but having a go at someone for drifting because they're in an area where unrelated idiots are fishing off the bridge isn't really fair. yell at the bridge fishers instead mate. if someone's blocking the channel then give them a serve but if there is plenty of room for boats to move through then let them have it..

Great fish there Paul, I don't think dioxins would be a problem at Roseville because they are put in the water by heavy industry and that was mostly around Homebush. Davidson river is surrounded by national park and the only thing above that are houses. I always thought the water coming through there was a bit polluted in general but that was years ago, maybe things have changed. Heard of a few reports of staph infections one in 2009 at roseville boat ramp so wear shoes all the time!

I knocked off early yesterday with a workmate and went fishing in the Lane Cover River, the water had some dirt in it but otherwise seemed fairly clean. Spotted plenty of garfish around, which my workmate pointed out was a good indicator of water quality but we started thinking that we could see garfish in the open because there was nothing bigger there to scare them off! They were just cruising around slowly. I had a bream follow my squidgie to the surface once but no hookups, seemed like there were fish around but none of them hungry!

I generally put my rod in the holder and reach for a sandwich. That's when the fun starts.

I always leave my Johnson in the downward position when I'm not using it too. (.. someone had to!)