pete76

1. White soft plastics min 3" 2. jigs ( deepwater) 3. stickbaits 4. schooling kings generally undersize hit small rapala deep divers & poppers easily. interesting to note using bait....when the Middle harbour bite was on, we were catching 1m long kingies on large yakkas no worries, few days after the bite was over, we tried the yakkas again to no avail, the boat next to us (raptor charters) was using squid and must've caught a dozen right next to us(60-80cm). So lesson learnt, be patient and learn how to catch squid if you really want to land kingies consistently

JonD i should clarify i can see the bomb when i come to almost a stop not when going at 2-3knots. i haven't tried past 20m down but very clearly picks it up. Baitballs clearly show up at any depth. At browns mountain it can just read bottom upto about 450m and thats it. The transducer is cut through the hull not in the hull.

Thanks all, couple of weeks ago when the bite was on in middle harbour I was amongst half a dozen boats catching 1m kingies in 20-25m of water, multiple boats hooked up within meters of each other, nothing would show on my sounder but the downrigger bomb and the bottom, other guys I spoke to were looking at their sounders and marking fish then dropping jigs on them, their screens were lit up with multiple arches/red lines. With so many large kingies amongst us I was very surprised to have my sounder not show anything. catching Yakkas the bait balls show up very well on my sounder. Only time I remember marking kingies was at the 12mile in about 110m of water where I saw arches at the bottom, dropped jigs down and caught 2 kings. Perhaps as you said the angle of the cone is the issue? Can this be adjusted? Cant remember what model they are but here’s a pic I found on my found. ill try adjusting the surface and bottom depth and see how I go, any other tips would be appreciated cheers peter

I have 2006 furuno sounder with a 1kw thru Hull transducer, it reads the bottom well and picks up baitschools of fish no worries but I can never mark kingies(arches) or mark any fish on my sounder. I turn the gain high, try Lo/hi freq etc but still can’t mark fish. I know the fish are there cause I’m catching them but can’t mark them. What am I doing wrong? How do I rectify this?

hi guys, just wondering if theres any spots close to the Roseville boat ramp for catching lives/squid?? or do i have to head past the spit thanks in advance

thanks Jon, we're cruising(Riv 4000) it down and he's got all the game gear on board as well. just didn't want to go trolling wide for nothing, but if you think theres a chance we'll have a go for sure cheers

So my mate bought a boat on the GC and we're bringing it back to Sydney monday to Thursday next week. Hoping to do some fishing along the way, and having never fished the areas along the way, can any one advise if we should troll along the way, or chase any particular species in any particular locations? Any marlin/mackerel etc around this time of year? or should we just chase snapper etc? Any advice for fishos along the coast would be much appreciated. thanks pete

We called in the dbl hookup south of heatons.....2 yft 12&15kg, 4nm sw of heatons. Then we dropped one nth of heatons and lost another after 10mins half way back to Browns

must have been a trip of a lifetime, well done to your boy and to you for taking him on a trip like that!!

not sure if this helps, but i bought the pakula digger spreader bar, broke first time out and i bought the "striptease" dredge, pain in the a$$ to use.....the bars do produce a lot of drag, not sure if id use one again anytime soon....maybe try more than one daisy chain! or make a couple of daisy chains with a lure at the end attached to your mainlines!

YouTube "moldcraft squid daisy chains"

theres a product called Tear Aid, which is clear patches you stick on top, works relatively well, you'll need type "B" for marine. there is other types where you can match colour etc but i dont have experience with them, google it, theres lots of info out there

well done boys, dream day!!

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” ― Albert Einstein

we'll be out nice and early on wed on the troll, may cube at some point

We're heading out tomorrow, can I ask whereabouts Ian? Were u trolling?

Thanks guys, seasons just starting, I'll rig one up see how I go I like the look of it Marty

Quick questions to see members experiences with the above. I bought a dredge recently but havn't had the chance to use it yet(looks like a pain in the a$$) & now im thinking of making a few daisy chains for the tuna season. ANyone have experience with these? Do you find them more effective? Any DO's & DONT'S? Any info would be great. thanks

South head, trolled the area today but no luck

Yep SH

not sure, didnt weigh it, maybe 5-6kg at best i reckon....just happy to get YFT for dinner instead of a bonito!

been away for a couple of weeks, so just as i got back, thought i take the boat out for a quick run on thu. left at midday got to the heads and dropped a couple of lures in....10mins later bang double hook up, pulled up the first one and lost it 5m from the boat, jumped on the second rod and a few mins into couldnt believe my eyes! little YFT couple of hundred meters off the heads!! Last time i caught one of these i was east of browns! what great fishing we got on our doorstep!! trolled around for another hour and only managed 2 little bonitos.

Watch in full!

never cared for them 'til my local japanese rest served them once on a sashimi plate. Ask him how he prepares and he said salt both sides(skin on) and sear on hot plate for 5seconds either side then straight into a ice slurry. Serve as sashimi, tastes great! i say, if this lure doesnt catch them they're not there!! and thats for bonnies, dollies, kingies, salmon & tailor...actually caught a strip tuna on it last week too. Id be keen to hear what other colours people are having luck with, ive had best luck with the RH and the other is a greyish coloured one with a red head and a orange/gold coloured one with a RH

i use both rapala and halcos all the time, both have been excellent.....simple rules to follow...the choppier the water the slower you go, if it bounces, reduce the angle or slow down. Always test it boatside b4 you let out and check it regularly. Make sure ur rod tip is vibrating nicely, thats when its swimming right. Usually on the smaller lures you want to only go 4-5knots. I find the smaller and shallower swimming ones catch me more than the larger deep divers(around the heads) Finally always troll a redhead in your spread & they're patchy but theyre there