Grantm

There are a number of companies that specialise in taking scrap batteries. They used to be worth about a doller each, then 50c, then a bit less, and now in some cases they want to charge you to come pick them up unless you have a huge pile. You can dispose of them at metal recylcling yards or look up a battery recycler in the yellow pages but you will have to take it to them. Alternatively see if your local mechanic will dispose of it for you. Cheers

Hey mate, dont waste your money on Spitfire or any other fuel additive it wont do a thing. Try adjusting the idle mixture screw or better yet pull it out and blow out the port.

Ive never really understood the problem. The same hook that goes through the live bait will be going through the mouth of the fish you are catching. Whats the difference ? You cant ban live baiting but allow normal line fishing. PETA are screwballs. Powerfull screwballs though. Keep an eye out. I dont give a stuff anyway. I will always live bait if a want to, im not going to be dictated to by imbiciles. Hey Clutch, I agree. If I had a hook in my mouth Id be in such pain that everyone would know. I ve seen those Bream swimming around in the Shimano tank at comps with hooks hanging out of them and they act no different to any other fish. If they were in pain they would be noticably different in their actions but hey arent.

James, Your a perfect candidate for doing an apprenticeship. There are a number of trades that would suit your interest in manual labour ( building, carpentry, metal fabrication etc ), and a good tradesman will always earn a good living. Cheers

A vote for labour is a vote for more marine parks make no mistake. Its hard to see that the libs have much going for them either although they have a better policy on marine parks. Any fisho wanting to vote labour is fine and totally your choice, but remember that its Labour who are locked in with the greens who want to lock up our fishing grounds. This being a fishing site, and if you want to support fishing, I totally agree with Hariklia, a vote in the upper house to remove the green majority is neccessary. I too will be voting Group 'M' above the line in the upper house and support Jack and his team of passionate fishos just like us ! Cheers !

Mate its a pretty common question for new boaties. What you will find is that on a windy day the boat will handle very differently. If the wind is hitting your boat from the side your boat will tend to 'list' or lean into the direction the wind is coming from. The reason is that the wind is actually blowing your boat to one side and you will naturally try to keep it straight and by doing so you will be turning the steeing wheel and holding the boat aginst the wind. Doing so will make it lean. Its like turning into a corner but your actually going straight cause the wind is fighting the boat. Hope that makes sense. Next time it happens switch direction and the effect should be opposite. It can be a scary feeling, and when the wind is bad you just need to go slow and keep the boat under controll.

Mate all is good ! Havent wet a line for far too long though, just been too busy. Im busting to get out !!

Good going Jethro, nice to see you start to crack the Lake. Wish i could !

Ive seen them whilst in QLD and they really dont look like anything that special. The bloody banana benders just like using the local product I suspect ! The reason they do so well in the Classic is cuse so many people use them - just like the Pig lure. Stick with thw Squidgee range and also Berkely and youll catch plenty of flatties. Cheers

Here is a good indicator of what has succeded in the Gold Coast Flathead classic. Just for the record the 'Pig' lure mentioned is a hand made hard body lure from a Gold Coast bloke, that doesnt look anything special but it sure takes flathead ! Very hard to get. go to the 'gold-coast-sport-fishing club site' , flathead classic, then map and archives and sus it out. Sorry the link wont work and when i type in the site manually it gets blocked out ????

My understanding is that the lower reaches of the Tweed are off limits to the pro's but they can go upriver. There are plenty of trawlers on the Tweed and im pretty sure it gets hit hard. Im not sure of the exact limitations to where they can go but they definately have access to parts of it. Im sure it fishes better from a boat and in warmer whether too. I cant really complain after catching two good flatties but they were few and far between. Cheers.

Gday all, Been a while since i have done a report so here goes. Ive actually been away for a few weeks and had a bit of a fish in the Tweed river. That place has really slowed down over the years and this was no exception. I found it really hard to find fish and worked very hard for what i got. I did try for some Jacks and maybe a Bream but it was blowing a gale which made it even tougher. Couldnt find any Jacks but did manage a few Moses Perch which were hitting Bass Minnows. Highlight was two decent Flatties one at 74cm and one at 75cm which i pulled from a small shallow weedy bay just off the river. One 74 took a Berkelt Mullet in sand perch and the other took a 100mm Squidgee shad in green. Both went back in to fight another day. I spoke to some locals who also confirmed the slow conditions in the Tweed. Even the local fishing map they give out at tacklo's said the fish stocks had depleted. Here are some pics. 74cm 75cm Lucky to find them I think ! Cheers

If its any indication all but the first fish in the records section have been taken on Pseed gulp grubs. There are days where they are the only lure to take a fish for me. I was recently in the clear water of lake mac and was drifting right over resting flatties litterally donking them on the head with squidgees and they wouldnt touch them. They did however react to the gulps which indicates two things. a, they are more than just a lure, and b, flatties will have lure preference on certain days unlike the belief that they will eat anything at anytime. The good thing about gulp grubs is that even the 3 inch version will take big flatthed and it will also take Bream and Jews and whatever else is around. Very versatile lure as you dont really know what your going to get. Failing all that 75mm and 100mm Jelly prawn Squidgees with the tails dipped in pink spike it work well too. Cheers

Still cant flush motors Brown Hornett. ALL external use of town water is banned, this includes flushing motors. They now specfiy just that on radio announcements. Cant even bucket wash anything. Still, I will continue to fill my dogs water bowl from the tap outside as the missus wont have him drink from the toilet.

Hey mate, I use Shimamo Raider Bream Finnesse 7'2 one piece for all my flattie fishing. They are whippy enough when you need to use light weights ( which is rare for flatties ) but hey have enough grunt in the but to handle the bigger fish too. There are a few differences in the blanks within the same model rods with these thins so just make sure it feels right. Priced between $120.00 and $150.00 mainly.

I know what you mean Big B. I use one every now and again and have learnt it by trial and error. Firstly I dont tie the leader to the mainline, i tie the rig first. I slide the sliding hook for the rig on first with just a bit on trace line hanging out the end. I then use a second piece of line abour 10 inches long and form a loop where the line runs along the hook shank Using the loop i tie 7 or 8 half hitches along the hook and trace line basically wrapping the trace line to the hook, Pull it down tight and its done. The main line slides through the wraps depending on hard you pull it down. Its a hard thing to tie but it works. Pull the trace line through to the desired lenght and tie the end hook on. Attach the trace to the main line. Make sense ?

Ive got one the CLT701 series Daiwa Coastal Tournement rods and they are very nice. 5 to 10 kg. Check them out too. Wont break the bank either. From memory it was about $175.00

Tiger - good point there mate ! I added the specs up on my boat and they were way off the actual weight by a mile ! Martin, The tow bar specs dont refer to trailer or non trailer. They are just the total towing capacity as the laws change between states. You need brakes over 750kg. Manufacturers guidance is pretty good. If you can get a 2100kg towbar then it will tow up to that safely if towed correctly. Cheers

My blame towards the governing bodies is that they have not implemented alternative measures which ARE available, and have waited too long to do anything. Thats not right and now we suffer.

No offence to anyone but its easy to advise on the biggest and the best as the only option, but in real life thats not always possible. People simply have to do what they can. I wouldnt class a cdore an unsafe towing car with a 6 mtr boat if you drive the car within its limits. The only possible problem i just thought of is if the weight of the boat is heavier than the car. Im pretty sure a VP Cdore (92') is around 1350kg. NSW has ( used to have ) legislation which states you cant tow a trailer heavier than the car. By doing so and having an accident would render your insurance useless. You can fit bigger tow bars but that does not overide the law. It could be worth a trip to the weighbridge. Ill check out the legislation and report back.

Obviously your a 4x4 fan 4X4 are without doubt the ultimate towing option for overall performance but I still maintain they are not the be all and end all for towing. There are countless thousands of people who tow big vans around the country with non 4x4 vehicles. Sure they are not pulling them up a boat ramp but hey they still travell on freeways etc. Actually the heavier the boat the easier it is on a boat ramp. V6 Commodores and 6cyl Falcons have ample pulling power and the extra weight on a big boat gives better rear wheel traction. Once again not the ultimate but still does the job and people need to use what they can. 5 to 6 meters isnt that big for a large sedan. Over 6 meters is another story though. cheers

Well, I dont think im kidding myself considering i used a Commodore for 7 years as a marine mechanic and pulled 6 meter boats out all the time. 1300kg aint that heavy if that weight is correct. It may not be ideal but you can do it and not everyone can afford to buy large 4x4s. Sometimes you got to do the best with what youve got. 4x4 are far better of course but you cant right off the falcon and cdores as no good at all. You also dont have to travell at 110kmh on the freeway either. Ive towed big boats on the freeways and highways and just take it easy. I still get their. Hey Netic dont feel too bad about the diff. Every second VY needs a new diff even if they dont tow. Cheers

You can fita genuine 2100kg tow bar to a Commodore Sedan and it will tow that size boat no worries. The 2100 bar has heat shields, extra braces inside the boot, an auto cooler, and upgrade shocks. You can go a 1600kg job if you like but it doesnt come with shocks or a cooler, but a cooler can be added. 4 wheels drives are obviously better but i dont think you need to go buy a new car just cuase your getting a new boat.

Yeah a few times may not be a problem but how long will it go for. If the restrictions last for the next three years and you cant flush your motor over 300 hours that would surley have an impact. I have installed a 2000 litre raintank with pump and have 'garden hose' pressure so thats what ill be doing. Cost my 1800 bucks but its protecting a $20,000 investment. There is also a rebate on tanks. I know its not cheap but it was the best option for me. You can easily go smaller than me too. I needed a huge pump cause it has to pump water up a 5 meter gradient over 40 meters. Of course i can use the tank for heaps of other things so it been a good investment regardless. I do think they should have fixed the water crisis with either desalination or whatever BEFORE it got to this stage. Our damns up here have a collective level of 14 percent. It sux you cant flush a motor anymore

Ive recently started using an improved albright knot as opposed to a double uni (where a double in the mainline is used sometimes), which totally negates the need to double the mainline in the knot. Working well so far and has a much smaller overall knot for easy casting.