Mutt

Just saw this- thanks- I’m sure the marine mechanic mentioned cleaning carbies as an option… will ask if he did that when he worked on the engine. Thanks!!!

Just an update and a bit of valued help/suggestions…. Have had a mobile marine mechanic look over and work on the engine twice now- lots of work done, new plugs, service, battery replacement etc etc. Engine starts fine but took the boat out and it lost all power again- ran beautifully for about 20 minutes at max speed but then lost all power again- engine stays running but when I apply throttle - no power or revs. Turn engine off, start again…engine runs fine for awhile and then it happens again- seems to happen when running at close to max - just drops revs and nothing happens when I apply throttle. Limp back to ramp and scratch my head! Mechanic wanted to try an on water test but this can be hard to organise etc and no guarantee it will lose power… Anyhow- you guys are legends and know a lot more than I do about engines- any suggestions/thoughts as only want to do an on water check if really necessary??? 2003 Yamaha 60hp 2 stroke Thanks in advance! Mutt

Greetings! Been a while but finally got out on the bay with my little man and a few mates! Left at the ramp on a high tide at the gentleman’s hour of 10am, tide too high to pump nippers so picked up some bait at Mac’s before heading to my mark in the Bay. On a side note, slim pickings at Mac’s with only frozen bait so grabbed a few salted pillies, prawns and they threw in some worms and half a dozen small nippers. Started with the nippers with the young ones, a few small reddies on the drift with the tide starting to go out. Finally got to rig up myself and drifted a chunk of pilchard with the immediate result of a plate sized flounder. Wasn’t long till I landed a nice 42cm flathead and from then on it was my day for a change!!! Landed 4 good flathead (all on the pilchard) with the biggest a nice fat 54cm. My son and mate also landed one each and after a few hours on the water - came home with a nice feed on ice! Even a few engine issues (see my Boating post) couldn’t hide the smiles. Left the fish on ice overnight - seemed to make the filleting and skinning a lot easier the next day. Cooked up a feast for 9 people with a few oysters, prawns and beers thrown in - sensational! This is what it is all about my friends….. Tight lines! Mutt

Seriously- you guys are all amazing! Thank you so much for your suggestions and advice- really appreciated! Will do what I can do following your suggestions and go from there- sounds like a fuel issue so will start from there…. Thanks again! Mutt

Hi, I have a 2003 Yamaha 2 stroke 60 hp engine that has rarely given any problems- until today! It is regularly serviced but has been over 2 years- will get it serviced soon. Hopefully a service will fix it but want to see if it sounds a bit more sinister than a service!!! Last 2 outings when at 3/4 speed the engine just lost all its revs and I couldn’t increase speed- was like the prop had stopped. Checked the prop and all ok- started again and it went fine for the rest of the trip. Same thing happened today a few times but coming back to the ramp the engine lost all revs and cut off a few times. Always restarted but today couldn’t get the revs up again at all. Managed to limp back to the ramp and when flushing the engine it cut out a few times as well. Starts no problem and plenty of fuel and oil. Just putting out there if anyone has any ideas what it might be so I can make sure it is looked at when I get it serviced? Thanks in advance! Mutt

I have a boat down here as well but just love sitting on the bank at Conjola, keeping it simple!

Certainly is- tide was ripping out and it just pumped against the tide with the thumping tail….

Certainly did- hasn’t stopped talking about it!!!

Was delicious!

Down in heaven on the South Coast for Easter and after a beautiful day at Mollymook Beach- decided to get the kids off the screens and a quick land based session at Lake Conjola. Just using prawns- kids having a blast with lots of hits and then my friend’s daughter’s rod goes bang and she’s on to her 2nd ever fish… A bit of coaching as it looked decent, particularly as it swam solidly against the current. She did incredibly well on light line and after a few scary moments around the rocks and oysters…. we landed this trevally- the biggest river trevally I’ve ever seen…. Needless to say we converted it into sashimi for Good Friday dinner and possibly converted another person to the joys of fishing! Happy Easter to all and tight lines….. Mutt

All’s well that ends well! Picked up some tools and new bases and seats from Dave Hill Marine in Nowra who were fantastic!!! (Thanks for the tip!) Luckily all pretty smooth and have set up 2 new seats and pedestals- ready to get out and fish again! Thanks all for your help and support!

A great example of work before you post! Thanks dunc333 for your help- much appreciated mate! Was able to muster a few tools together and remove the old pedestal and seat- have organised some replacements and will pick up tomorrow. Looks pretty simple to reattach the new one as long as I make sure it is the same base set up (size, screw holes etc.) Cheers! Mutt

Happy New Year everyone! Would value some advice/suggestions for replacing some seats and the pedestal bases on my Quintrex 2003 Coastrunner. I snapped the pedestal base yesterday and would love to get it repaired/replaced asap as hoping to get the boat out a lot over the next few weeks before I get back to Sydney and reality! I’m currently in Ulladulla. Have contacted a well known marine store (Rex’s last name) in Bateman’s Bay but they have none in stock at the moment. Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated - have put a few photos up. Without all my tools etc with me- I’m happy to pay for someone to install if available. Mutt

Thanks! I have fished offshore for 35 years and never caught a whiting! Always caught off the beach or river… tasted a treat though….

Certainly are!

Cracking report as always Rob- thanks for sharing! Shame about the bust offs!

Weather on Seabreeze looked spot on for a bottom bash off Ulladulla so packed the godson and mate and headed out with a promise to the family we’d get a feed. As soon as we got out of the harbour, NE wind a lot stronger than predicted so changed tact and fished in 40m off the lighthouse for some flathead. Nailed 7 blue spots pretty quickly despite the ‘washing machine’ conditions and the boat drifting quickly. Also picked up a red spot whiting - first time ever I’ve caught one of these offshore! We all started feeling a little green so came in after an hour of so but with 8 fish and 16 fillets we had more than enough. While we all have our favourite eating fish- not much better than fresh blue spot flathead fillets (although the kids said the whiting was the best), some local sashimi and oysters and a quality pale ale with the sun setting and two families fed…. Tight lines everyone! Mutt

Also caught this- can anyone ID this one?? Never caught this in the river before!

Finally got the chance to get out on the Georges River this morning and explore what was on offer within my 5km. Met up (COVID safe) with a great mate and with kids in toe and some frozen Hawkesbury prawns- started a few drifts from Baldface Point towards Tom Ugly’s bridge. Big shout out to Spiro and Mac’s Bait Bar who was able to organise the bait for me- best bait shop around! Didn’t hold the highest of hopes but just so happy to be on the water with family and friends. Needless to say the flathead kept coming! Over the next few hours in between a number of throwbacks we managed to hook 8 keepers and a nice little whiting. Biggest flathead was 58cm. As always the smiles say it all…. Can’t wait till next time…..

Dad...I want to catch a salmon! Who am I to argue??? So a plan was hatched and today was the day.... Found a great gutter off Mollymook Beach and spent a few great late afternoon hours with my little man and a few ales casting ganged pilchards into the sea. Caught a few flathead and a tiny salmon when the call was made to head home. ‘One last cast!’ I said... and BANG! We were on... A great fight with 2 almighty leaps out of the water before we beached it and the high fives started. A few pics and we happily let it swim off into the deep.... This is what it’s all about my friends! Tight lines.... Mutt

Hey Bill, I had snapper rigs on as I thought I’d try and get to a reef but late change of plan we concentrated on flathead. Rigs were flasher rigs in blue and pink with 4/0 hooks. Hope that helps! Mutt

A few more pics!

With the task of feeding 13 people- we set off from Callala Bay ramp at the gentleman hour of 7am. Thanks to those who helped me out with a few tips, plan was to head towards Middle Ground and see what happens! While it was a beautiful morning- with me and 4 kids on the boat and a slight swell and breeze- stopped just off Longnose Point and out of the sanctuary zone in about 20m of water. With salted pilchards and flasher rigs, got the 9 year old into the water first. Went to bait rod number 2 and the 9 year old was already on to a 40cm flathead. What followed was an hour of bedlam, with me having no time to fish in between baiting, removing fish, re rigging etc. In between a plague of barracouta the kids all managed to catch 11 keeper flathead up to 58cm. Mission accomplished and with big smiles we had a leisurely stop at Long Beach for an icy swim, a bit more of a fish off Long Beach (for a few small flathead) and back at the ramp by 10:30am. Love days like this (even though I didn’t turn a reel!) Mutt

Thanks Noelm- much appreciated! I know there’s a lot of reports on JB already in here but always good to get something current! Really aiming for the kids to catch a few fish instead of glued to their screens!