JET01

This happened to my Stacey nomad 469 years ago. I was lucky that the guy in the boat storage place I used was good with maintenance. The hose in my rear live well split at the same time and my bilge pump seized.... Got it all sorted out for $1000.

Hi everyone, I'm doing the Sydney to Gong ride this year which is a 90km ride to raise funds for the MS Society. Multiple Sclerosis is an extremely common and debilitating disease. Here's a link to my fundraising page. I personally raised $1310 in 2014 and unfortunately missed last years ride due to work commitments. Please help me set a new record. As with fishing, we all love a new PB Cheers and tight line, http://www.msgongride.org.au/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=4049

Thanks for the input. I've lost a few fish getting used to the reel, but it's doing the job well enough now. I'll never buy another rear drag? I've actually got a Sedona 1000FD waiting in the box for when the Exage dies. A bargain at $54 posted.

Ive got a 762 lox 1-3kg. It's my favourite whiting rod. I left it I my car on a hot day rigged up with a slight bend in the tip. I've noticed that this bend is now permanent. It affects the feeling on the line when fishing and I'm wondering if there's a way to get it straight again. Should I just leave it in the car on the next hot day with no pressure on the tip?

What I'd like to know is how on earth did that guy tip over the Hobie outback in an estuary? I remember fishing that same spot in my Revo a few years ago, it's always flat unless a massive ski boat goes past.

Just wondering if there are any hacking fishos out there that have a preference for worms or nippers when fishing for whiting in the hacking. I was going to pick up a bag of nippers and a bag of live worms today to give them a shot but ended up sticking with what I know. What do you prefer, and why? Does your location/tide/moon phase change which bait your reach for? Would love to hear some theories.

Weather looked like it was going to be good for fishing today. Cloudy, light wind, dropping tide. Perfect for my local flats. Bought 2 bags of nippers and hit the flats at 11am. Caught the bottom three fish and a stack of undersized fish. I recently bought a new shimano Exage 1000 rear drag reel which I wasn't very impressed with, but after using it a little more I've been able to figure out how to adjust the drag a little better. It's very touchy and not very smooth. As the tide went dead low I had 3 whiting including the 40cm fish I'll enter into COTM. I usually need 4 fish for a proper feed for my wife and I, and as I only had 3, I figured I'd better go get some more bait and fish the incoming tide also... hahaha. Went over to st George sailing club to pump some nippers, 1.5 hour round trip and I was back in the hacking fishing by 3pm. The bream were on the bight to my surprise. All just under legal, but loads of fun on 3lb FC sniper. The new reel got a work out today. There were some HUGE whiting around on the incoming but none would take the bait. Water was crystal clear and the clouds had cleared. Managed to hook the fourth fish (29cm) and also released a legal flatly. Something green for the COTM

First of all I want to say that I own 7 shimano reels and love them all dearly. Went and bought an Exage 1000rc today. Went for a fish in some windy conditions. Initial thoughts. Garbage. Biggest waste of $100 I've had for a while. The whole idea behind buying one was to used it like a baitrunner but be able to keep the bait moving while waiting for a bite. In theory, these reels are perfect for this. Unfortunately in practise they are not. If you're looking for smooth drag, these reels are not for you. Worst drag I've felt out of the box ever. feels really sticky. Takes a decent yank from the fish to get going. I know I'm used to a stradic ci4 drag, but I expected a little better than this. I started out fishing with a Sedona 2500 years ago ($90 reel) and it was far better than this. There used to be some resident reel gurus on here that were very clued up about drags and carbon washers etc. Wondering if it's worth upgrading the drag washers to see if that helps. Or is this a design flaw that will see me giving this reel to the Mrs for once a year holiday fishes.

Has anyone out there recently used one? What did you think. Looking for a reel to catch whiting on the flats. Using 3lb so don't need a lot of drag but it needs to be relatively smooth. At the moment I'm using a normal spinning reel with the drag loosened right off so the fish can run with the bait a little. Almost like you'd use a bait runner,however I like to keep the bait moving slowly which would make a baitrunner annoying. I haven't had a chance to pick a rear drag up physically yet. But from what I can gather on the net it looks as though I'd be able to go from loose to tightish drag with a quick flick of the knob. Almost having two preset drag settings. Would like to hear from anyone with suggestions.

I've had issues with shimano drag clickers before on my 2500 Sedona FD, ci4 4000, and stradic FJ 5000. But that is the only part that has ever failed me on a shimano reel that I would put down to a possible design flaw. Other only other issues I've had have been due to me using my reels off the rocks and getting them drenched and not serviced soon enough, bearings rusted, all my fault.

There are some nice whiting in the hacking at the moment.... Great to see the little one enjoying herself. Can't wait until my daughter is old enough!

It's good to hear from someone that has downsized... normally people go the otherway! I had a good walk around inside the 424 that's on boatsales at the moment as the owner hasn't picked it up yet. I reckon it's a perfect little machine for what I need. I'd hate to reopen the biggest can of worms ever but the thing I left off my main post was whether to go 50 4 stroke or 40 2 stroke. I did a bit of reading a while back on polycraft boats and on the 50Hp etec but they got a bit of a bad wrap on the polycraft forum.

Ladies and Gents - grab a coffee or a beer and have a read. Had a boat before which i've mentioned a few times on this forum. `Twas a Stacer Nomad 469 with a 50hp 2-stroke Merc and a 55lb Watersnake electric motor. Made a few mistakes with this boat and dont want to make the same mistake on the next. Or should I even think about buying another boat? Biggest headaches: 1. Getting the outboard cowling stolen on day 3 of ownership - insurance covered it. had to make a claim though. 2. Getting the electric motor fitted. Getting the bowmount bracket welded on and repainted to look factory... In the end great result. a local business did a great job with the welding of the bracket, the fitting of the gunwale rubber. My electric motor was installed after some issues. 2. Watersnake motor issues. 3 during warranty period, 2 foot pedal issues, 1 plastic collar on the headunit issue. 1 outside which resulted in my father-in-law rewiring most of the corroded head unit. 3. Floor boards rotted out. Replaced all ($1000) 4. Steering Cable rusted.($900 happened on a long weekend up the coast) 5. Annoying list whenever the weather got bad when i was fishing solo. I did all the things people say fix it like mounting the leccy on the port side and filling the portside live well... didn't fix it. 6. Trailer brakes took a hiding as boat was always stored outside. Biggest joys: 1. fishing alone 2. fishing with my wife 3. Fishing with my mates 4. being about to get over to maianbar to get nippers. 5. being able to move around to look for bait or fish. 6. Going flat out on glassy water at sunrise 7. Knowing you're going to be in deep sh#@ when you get home because you fished for too long. 8. Telling you're wife that you dont need to get anything out of the freezer because "i've got dinner tonight honey". 9. thinking about how nice it's going to be having my daughter pretending to drive the boat. Theres the background. Here are my thoughts on the next boat. I've got a small garage. 5.5 in length although there are places near my house where on street parking would be ok. Mainly fish the Hacking and would like to push out for Snapper and Kings when the weather is good. My thoughts are getting a 424 Anglapro Bandit CLX. 50hp (not sure on 2 or 4 stroke yet - dealer recommends 4 stroke although i didnt have many probs with my 2stroke 50hp merc). Factory fitted 54lb electric motor with i-pilot or equivalent (Motorguides are getting some great wraps) Boat size - Would love a 4.5 to fit a removable rear lounge in it, but I'm thinking the 424 mainly because most of my fishing is going to be done in the estuary and I can get it in my current garage. If I ever move, it's unlikely the garage will be any smaller so there would be no need to sell it again. 4.5 means going up to a 60Hp also so more dollars. Trailer - the 424 will fit on an unbraked trailer so that will translate to less maintenance and cost. Almost any car will tow it so don't need to worry about towing capacity. Centre console - This seems to be a bit of a contentious issue as some people on this site believe the list on modern 420 side consoles (such as the quintrex renegade or stacer outlaw) isn't noticeable. Personally i'm a sceptic. I'd rather a central driving position with 360 access. I was really surprised how room the centre console 424 felt when getting inside one the other day. Canvas cover - I can't help but feel that covering my old boat in a tarp was part of the reason that my floor boards rotted out so quickly. Getting a canvas cover would be my fix for this. Bimini? - had one on my boat before but never used it as it got in the way of casting lures. Anyone with a similar boat ever use one? Would love to hear from any fathers or mothers out there about if you've come up with any other ideas to keep kids out of the sun. I was thinking a beach umbrella in a rod holder might work? Steering cable - How long would it last if kept in a garage vs outdoors storage under a canvas cover? Not sure I'd be completely happy with a tiller steer with kids on board. Would love to hang around and wait for a second hand one to pop up but they are pretty rare as they haven't been around on the market all that long. Especially one with all the things on it that I want.

Congratulations on the boat purchase. I really miss my stacer nomad.

Any one getting a new centre console. the way things are going for me I'll have to win the forking lotto before I get my anglapro bandit 424 or 444. Noticed a sweet 424 CLX on the website the other day. Salivating at the pics.