zmk1962

Well done Rob. Nice slab of silver there and congrats on getting both targeted species. 👍👍 cheers Zoran

Congrats Dave. Smashing red. You’d be very happy with that. Well done. cheers Zoran

Great read and report. Perseverance with mixing it up on bait, location and target species often delivers results. Well done. cheers Zoran

Thanks Donna, Although I made that DIY jig primarily for the boat, I actually now keep it on land and use it when setting up rods pre or post trip. I have found a much simpler FG knot tying jig on the boat ... here it is: 11in long nose pliers (always carried onboard)... note the rubber grip handles, and a handle from a plastic crate (just happened to be the right size) Tadaaaah ... the new DIY FG knot jig simulated as if sitting in a rod holder. I find a couple of extra turns of braid on the rubber grip handles holds the braid from slipping. I'm very much like Swordie ... I've worked out a set of knots that work for what I do and they have not failed me - I'd be mortified if they did. I also pre-rig everything so it only requires a snap swivel to change from live bait rig, to a paternoster etc. Time is of the essence on the water. Cheers Zoran

I think a double uni would do the job. But you are fishing with relatively light lines so a double blood knot would work as well. This is the easiest/quickest way that I have found to tie that knot ... infact I now use this for joining mono>mono or braid>braid and it has not failed me.... https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4Z1GH_iE7Z/?igsh=MXVwdzRwZ2czdzgwcQ== The video suggest to use this for braid>mono but I do not see how that would work ... Cheers Zoran

Pretty much agree with everything @Steve0 said. The only addition from me is that I prefer my leader length to run through the length of the rod with a couple of turns on the reel - I do a lot of boat fishing but I do this for my casting outfits (beach, spin etc) as well. Braid fails more easily than mono/fluoro from abrasion- which occurs most in those last few meters when bringing in a fish - whether rubbing against boat surfaces or rocks etc I have found that when beach fishing braid has snapped at the top guide after repetitive casting- I concluded the braid had worn there due to a build up of dry salt on the top guide. Hence I prefer a long leader running through the rod length which means I use the lowest profile knot I know - the FG knot - so there is least resistance when casting. The FG takes a little practice to master but it’s well worth it. Most people tie the FG using a jig as it’s crucial to maintain tension when tying this knot. You can buy jigs or make a DIY version- here’s a link to mine below, if you search the forums you’ll find others as well. https://community.deckee.com/topic/88225-tying-fg-knot-with-diy-jig/#comment-646088 cheers Zoran

Here's the reply from Gil ... "Yes, absolutely beautiful, nice white flesh, quite sweet with nice texture, not that different from snapper, big scales but quite easy to skin. good sized fillet enough for both of us (wife and I), still have the other fillet in the freezer, hope it freezes well, Cheers Gil"

Thanks Bob .. as per my text ... we have to get our calendars lined up in the near future. Cheers Z

Thanks mate. It was a team effort on the day. cheers Z

Well done Bob ... one trip and keen on a meter-y eh ?? ... fishing is so addictive! ... the sports equivalent of heroin. It's a slippery slope once you start 🤣🤪😂 Cheers Zoran

Sounds like double fun ... enjoy the DIY and enjoy the smoked results 🤘 ... glad you found it useful. Cheers Z

... the fuel is an investment .... that's what I keep telling myself 🙄

I guess you could work with a smoker box (to hold the wood chips) on one side. Have a read of this post and see if you glean a few ideas re brine and technique .... I recommend cherry wood chips. Cheers Z

Nicely done Isaac. You got out and caught a variety. If you looking to add variety to the plate maybe experiment with different cooking methods - a tailor around mid 40s would smoke up really well ... you'd be surprised ... and you'd be sent back to catch more 🤘 Cheers Zoran

.... and that's when you're thankful you are still fishing with your old fibreglass rod rather than a fancy new carbon fibre lightning rod ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️ 🤣 Well done Rob ... for some reason I have been struggling to catch flatties this season ... so any picture of them brings on a pang. Cheers Zoran

Thanks Chris ... yup nothing like a bit of the washing machine to stir things up 🤢 hahaha Thanks Isaac ... can't complain ... a blessing that made the trip entirely worth it. Thanks Guinness, We were fishing with two outfits both 7ft. One had a Penn 750 SSM, and the other a Penn 6500 SSVi. I think you could do it with a 4500 size letting the fish play out, but generally it would be on the tad small size for the stuff we encounter offshore - especially with a hot bite when you want to get them in ASAP before they spook the rest of the school or the tax man shows up. Thanks Neil, Yes dollies are delicious and they seem to cook up well in various styles. I've had them as cubes in tacos, fried like flattie fillets, in a green curry - they never disappoint on the plate. Thanks for your kind words re the Cruisecraft. It is everything I had hoped it would be. Thanks Rob, it was one of those days where reality did not match forecast... but it looks like it may have played to our advantage. Can't complain. Cheers Z

Hi Frank ... I second what Jason said above. The girls have come up from Melbourne so my next few weeks are full but I'll reach out and pop around after that. All the best mate. Cheers Z

Thanks Jason .... once on the water I guess you keep going .. as long as it's safe to do so. Getting wet or bopped around is just a part of offshore fishing. Thanks Bruce ... Yes surprisingly warm. I watched a similar current on the forecast a few weeks back when Jason and I headed out to Syndey N FAD ... but the forecast didn't eventuate on the water at all with a max that day just below 22C from memory. Hahaha ... nothing wrong with rock 'n' roll at any volume ... but when it's underfoot with a big fish on and another on the deck it really gets interesting 🙂. We'll have to wait for Gil to report on the Alfonsino ... but judging by the pic below he was pretty happy with how the day went. Cheers Z

Hey Raiders, It's taken a bit longer than I wanted to find time to write up this report but here it is. Forecast for Monday 15.03.2024 showed great offshore conditions - infact ideal for a trip out to Browns. I had Gilford pre-arranged as crew (the man that first took me to Browns way back in the 90s) so it was all systems go for a 5am Launch from Ermo ramp. As I reported on the last few previous trips, there has been very poor visibility on early morning starts with cold, misty and moist conditions. Part of the problem was the condensation that formed on the plate glass screens... so in the two weeks since the last trip, I purchased and installed two windscreen heaters/demisters. They're mounted with industrial velcro so easily removable. The plan was to turn them on when leaving home and hopefully by the team we hit the ramp the windscreens will be clear. This was their maiden run. Well, happy to report they worked like a treat. Arrived at Ermo ramp at 5am with clear dry screens - problem solved. The plan was to fill up with yakkas at Balmoral and then hit the FADs and 12mile before heading on to Browns. Although the Yakkas were plentiful they were very shy .. it was a bit of struggle but we managed to put 30 in the tank and were racing out the heads just on dawn. Conditions offshore were ANYTHING but the forecast. No 7kts breeze... more like 15kts. No 2ft swell ... more like 4ft with white caps and a short interval. But the water temp was a surprisingly warm 24.3C. We bashed our way to be first at the FAD and boy were we glad we had the yakkas ... the dollies were ready to play. Check the angle of the boat ... rock and roll conditions ! But the dollies were on fire .... Fish of the day ... just a tad over 1m Then as quickly as they came the dollies were gone .... but we had 15 in the kill tank chilling on ice ! We left the FAD without seeing another boat. Given the conditions we contemplated the next step and decided to punch on ... hit 12mile to find a charter and group of boats drifting ... the crew on a 23ft Carribean had rods bent over so we stuck around to see the catch - 2 undersized kings. We dropped some pillies, but they were being picked off super quick and with the current running pretty hard we decided to head to Browns. We found one other boat at Browns .. it was not pleasant there at all. In went the deep drop rigs ... and up comes an Alfonsino .... Gil shows he's still the Brown's master ... The action was slow but we stuck around for a while adding 3 more gemmies to Gil's tally .... making him Brown's Grand Master ... before deciding to point devOcean west for the 65km trip to Ermo. Final count for the day 15 dollies, 1 alfonsino and 3 gemmies. An absolute mixed bag of a day weather wise and fish wise but what a great adventure to share with a good mate. I finally finished cleaning the rig, rods, gear and fish at 3am ( a few whiskeys were required to see me through that) but the reward was superb ...My share of the dollies came to exactly 10kg of skinned and deboned dollie fillets. What a blessing as we have several birthday celebrations coming up in the next 3 weeks - I know what will be on the menu !!!! Gil messaged me the next day that he had a similar yield ... way to go! Tight lines Raiders ... Cheers Zoran

The mystery continues .... hope the jewie spot works out ! Cheers Z

Hi Albert .... I'm sure the guy you met was a fantastic, upstanding, top bloke .... us Zoran's are like that .... but mate I'm sorry it was not me! Sunday I was no where near botany....I was packing my boat for an offshore session on Monday ! Cheers ... "the" zmk1962 ZORAN

Interesting @JonD - they are just as delicious at that size although obviously the yield is much better from bigger specimens. Ours were caught in 430m just at the edge of the mount. You are an expert with offshore boating Jon so I am not surprised you are stretching your boat's legs far an wide. Exploring different prop pairings with a motor and hull certainly has its advantages. Did you keep the same diameter when moving to the 15p? When I repowered the Haines I settled on a 17p as that gave me 4sec hole shot and great top end with little slip which I was very happy with. The new owner of the Haines messaged me that he dropped it down to a "tuned" 15p and his hole shot now was 2.5sec which I guess was important to him...it would certainly make the boat more responsive at lower rpm. I've left the Cruisecraft Yam300 with the 18p Saltwater II that it came with, but I have been tweaking the zipwakes. I’ve now covered 997km on the water over varying conditions and found the default curve was too aggressive on pitch control in a short chop and would drive the bow down (slap) on the back of the wave. I manually edited it ... which improved the pitch aspects but stuffed the roll control. So I entered slightly different hull parameters (length beam weight) and allowed the zips to recalculate the curve and now she rides sweet ... its dialled in for me and made a big difference on the return trip. Now hoping to get another outing in the coming week. Cheers Zoran

Perhaps 🤔 this post needs a subject name change - Which raider is the most competitive…? Enjoy Z 🤷🏻‍♂️

Yup … I guess if you dangle enough hooks long enough something is bound to run into them 🤣

Nicely done Dave. I had a trip planned for yesterday but canned it - just didn’t want to face all the flotsam in the rivers. Hey, maybe the fish jumped on your hooks - they didn’t want to be in the brown muck either 🤣. cheers Zoran