Little_Flatty

Hi Otto, I'll let the more experienced fishos comment on the gear, but make sure you bring a good insect repellent and keep it with your gear! Around dusk and dawn the sandflies are vicious and their bites itch for months and then scar. I've slipped up twice on very short sessions and paid dearly each time. I had a routine skin cancer checkup a few weeks ago and the dermatologist was more interested in my sandfly scars than my moles and freckles! On the gear side, bring some bait jigs for Palm Cove as you can catch yourself some bait off the wharf. Maybe a heavy handline for fis

Great job @reelemin! I totally understand what it is like to do opportunistic sessions without getting in trouble with a partner! 95% of my fishing these days is opportunistic, done with handlines, travel rods and lures/bait I can keep in the car. But the big upside is that you do get to share your pastime with your family, which for a lot of us is a big part of what it’s all about! You sure do have a keen fishing buddy to join you now! (That said I did get in trouble last weekend gone by for dissappearing in the early morning...thankfully I came back with a feed...).

I wouldn’t overthink it. The carp in the area are used to being fed and would suck up anything you offer them. Start with bread and then when you get bored start experimenting with lures. I'm assuming you’re not talking about Norwest lake near the shopping centre. There are no fishing signs at least around the built up side of the lake.

I agree it is a game changer as well as the quality has moved up a notch in recent years and the market has become more competitive. The kilojoule punishment for most NA beers is about the same as a soft drink. I can live with that. That's a good idea. I might get a case to keep at work. A diet soft drink is extremely guilt free from a kilojoules perspective! I actually haven't tried the Zythos yet. Might pick up a pack when I am back to beers again...having a break until Easter I know what you're saying Just for practical and health reasons I need to temper my consu

Hi all, I know the concept of good non-alcoholic beer is a tautology to most, but there are times I want a beer and can’t have one (driving, working, looking after kids etc). Non alcoholic and low alcohol beers are one solution to that. What have people tried? I like the Pine trail pale ale from big drop brewing, because of it’s wide availability and good flavour/aroma. The Nort offering is quite good too and as a bonus is connected one of my favourite breweries in Sydney, Modus Operandi. Then there is the Sobah range which I am a fan of, but is as expensive as a full strength craft

Amazing fish, and amazing part of the world. I’ll never forget swimming in the crystal clear water with the jungle perch and sooty grunter in Litchfield. Truly magical.

But Waza...imagine all the drummer and bream you would have caught if you saved those crusts! 🤣 I'm astonished at how much you can collect in a short period of time. I can imagine the kids would have loved your stories!

One of the time tested solutions is spag bol! Kids will eat anything that is put into spag bol!:) That said, any tricks to get kids to eat better are always thankfully devoured by most parents! Other things that have had some success in our household are getting them involved in growing our own veggies and cooking with them. They love their carrots and corn. Ownership seems to drive their enthusiasm. But there are no silver bullets, that’s for sure... Funny story, we got the proverbial excrements with the kids the other day, and we banned TV and iPads. We soon realised that the

I used to see crusts as a boost to my meal as well - couldn't see why you would cut off perfectly good food...but then I was a strange kid by kid's standards I did use a similar strategy to start the eldest eating salads (probably my biggest parenting achievement thus far!) She got a new bike for Christmas and I convinced her that good bike riders eat salad. Even got one of my cycling mates to play along and reiterate what I told her.

With the eldest starting school this year, I now have the task of making school lunches. Curiously, she has requested that I cut the crusts off all her sandwiches. I know it's quite common, but what is it with this phenomenon? I mean, it's not like the bread I am using is incredibly crusty (and she is incredulous when I explain to her that grown-ups like the crusty bits the best of all). When I was young, I did see other kids eat crustless sandwiches, but I never understood why, even as a kid (and my friends could never explain why either). So can anyone provide any insight? Mik

No problems Otto. Let’s just leave it for now. Look after your MiL and yourself! And yes, one of the best ways of doing that is getting out for a fish!

That sucks mate! I have broken a brand new rod before, but it wasn't anything coveted or special. I have noticed some brands offer a tip replacement as a product. You got to be thankful for that! Hopefully your mate offered to help with the replacement...or at least bought you your macca's meal! But I guess mistakes are mistakes and mates are mates...ah well, lesson learned from all involved. I think you have probably finished your degree in the fishing tackle school of hard knocks (literally in the case of your rod...).

Have been using bread as bait a lot recently. I find I almost always find quality bream if they are around, even though I've been mostly been going for mullet and gars (need to let the bait sink a little deeper though...maybe 1m+). Not sure if anyone knows of 'punched' bread, that the coarse fishermen use in the UK. It's actually a great way of presenting a very neat and tiny bread bait for smaller fish like yakkas, poddies and gars. Simply nuke a couple of pieces of cheap white bread in the microwave for 30 seconds, roll them flat together with a rolling pin and use a piece of tubing (I

Thanks for the info. Sounds like the trusty bubble float might be called into service...

Whopper gar indeed. Might think about targeting them in the harbour instead of my usual spot in Berowra. How you would get through the yakkas though, I have no idea!