Fab1

It won't be the last frozen prawn that snares a great catch like that.Well done!

Cheers Tara,he'll love it as he's forever trying to steel mine. Thanks Roylo,It's a tradition in my culture that we have a bbq every weekend.On a plus side I got the young nephew addicted to stick welding as I let him have a crack welding it up.All good fun.

Thanks mate,at least it's nearly done now for him.

All finished bar the paint on the exterior.Seasoning the interior. A good little project for a weekend. Cheers.

Good one. This is an option on the luxury model.

There's nothing to be ashamed of in terms of worrying when first getting a boat.We all do to some degree and even skippering a small boat can seem like your the captain of the queen Mary. Im a firm believer that confidence on the ramp comes from having a set plan,doing things methodically,and concentrating on the task at hand blocking any external distractions for the few minutes it takes to launch/retrieve. Combine these things with practice and you'll get good at it very quickly. What issues are you having on the ramp that we may be able to help you with? Ric gave you some good info there too and I would like to add that at the Windang bridge ramp on an outgoing tide the cross current you can get at the ramp is very strong and will push your stern down tide quite strongly towards the sea making it difficult to retrieve your boat. There's a few ways around it and I'm assuming your winching on by the discription of your boat. Firstly you can tie a rope to the starboard rear and front of your boat to help control it by the rope when the tide pulls the stern round. Angle the rear of your trailer so it faces downtide then bring the boat up to the rear trailer roller. Bring the boat up to the rear trailer roller with the stern facing up tide on a 30-45deg angle to give you time to winch it on before the boat swings round down tide. Clip the winch strap on and physically pull the boat onto the trailer a bit keeping tension on the strap while you walk over to the winch and start winching.(My method.) On thing all boaters should know is their boats draft which is the amount of water it can float in when fully laden which im betting even most of the guys on here wouldn't have a clue.Am I right guys? I see your in Campbelltown and if you want me to come down with you to the ramp to help you launch/retrieve let me know and I'll try to make it happen inbetween all the stuff I've got going on. Cheers. Good tips for him mate.

Yeah,it gets dangerous real quick in the wind as you've found out due to the very shallowness of the lake.You'll get through the shallow section mentioned above easy in your boat navigating with caution. Not to sure if it's me,but I wouldn't have 3 in that boat with an 8hp for the same reason above.It's hard to escape the weather when it turns nasty.Maybe you can upgrade it a little when the funds permit to a 15hp for that added bit of power? Take care out there.

It gets down to about 1/2 metre.This is one of those times when careful navigation will get you through.You will see other boats similar to yours go through from the channel into the main lake. If you launch from the berkley ramp you won't need to worry about the shallow part.Just a thought. cheers.

Agree with Wellzy that you certainly have the place mastered.Enjoy the feed mate.

Anyone had any experience with these 3 speed trolling motors below? They look fairly flimsy and so does the prop protector. I think a long extension would be on the cards too. Just some of the stuff that finds it's way on Facebook.lol.

Thanks guys,hopefully he's happy with the end result.

Doing my bit for land fill with a gas bbq conversion to wood and coal fired I promised a work mate. Getting there.Why do I always open my mouth?Should cook up a storm when it's finished. Have to love council pick ups. Cheers.

Cheers.Im toasty sitting about 1/2 meter from it in a t-shirt.

Firing up the weber for the coals to use on the big bbq for a traditional cookup for the nieces 18th. Any one doing anything special this weekend for that special someone?

This is a quick test I do to check the integrity of the fuel pump diaphragm if I suspect a failure. 1-unbolt the fuel pump from the engine block with all hoses still attached.Here I've removed the fuel pump from the block and also removed the fuel filter from its mount.All fuel hoses are still attached.I like to fit two nuts to the two mounting studs after removal to ensure the pumps halves are well sealed. (You can use a small clamp if necessary). All you need to do now is ensure the fuel tanks breather is open and pump the primer bulb up completely.It should go and remain hard and no fuel should come out the port on the back of the fuel pump.Any leakage of fuel from this port will indicate a ruptured/split diaphragm. This happened to me on the lake the other day causing hesitation issues which was resolved on the water with a new diaphragm I keep as a spare for when this happens. Hopefully you guys have learnt a quick tip to keep in the memory bank for a later date. Cheers. I'll post how to inspect your fuel system from portable tank/s to engine later.

Well done,great read.You could set up your own fish shop with all that.

Thanks mate.You need to get the Family down there yourself mate as I know you guys haven't been there before and your daughter will love it.It does get busy in the warmer months though.

Yep,he always chooses coming fishing with us over anything else.He's both our best friend and do everything together.

Great result and feed as usual mate.Well done!

I would of loved to fish it in those days mate.It was a good day out for many as from what I saw we all got onto some fish for a change. My sons 22 yrs old.I think he's worn out because he only got 7hrs sleep instead of his 8-12.I remember when I was 22 I was lucky to get 8-12 hrs sleep every 2-3 days at times.But I'll give him one thing,he managed to catch most the fish today fishing like that.lol.

Try posting in fishing chat and using the search function above as plenty here fish Botany Bay. Welcome aboard.

By the way,has anyone tried this new fishing technique?It looks the goods as my son outfished my wife and myself today and still bragging.Looks like it uses low amounts of energy.lol.

Thanks mate,we had a great time like usual. It was today. Your not wrong.You could use a frozen one as a baseball bat! Thanks Tara.There where plenty of family's sharing the day out there with their kids having a great time which was great to see.My favourite was a little girl fishing with her parents saying "Look daddy,I got a fish"then the mother would say "it's bigger than daddy's isn't it"and the little girl would say,"yep" each time she caught a fish which went on for ages.I could read the fathers thoughts from my boat.lol.But he went along with it.

Thanks for reading.