SquidMarks

whats this thing you guys call a 'telephone'?

I wouldn't even use that if targeting hoodlums off the boat. Spanner is on the money, triple the leader weight, 80lb braid at least, rod might handle it but i would go 15-24kg. This might sound overkill, but you will quickly realise that sometimes even this is not enough when a big hoodlum latches on. Remind me of a time i took my brother fishing for groper. He was mocking me all evening before the fishing day because i told him he would get dusted on 15kg line, "haha, were gonna need a chain and a boat winch to haul in these groper" and "you may as well use anchor rope and winch em in" etc etc. Once he hooked onto his 1st groper, it pinged him in 3 secs flat, he just stood there stunned, staring at the water, mouth gaping for about 10 secs. The story is just meant to make you aware, sometimes when you think you are going overkill on gear, you may not actually be going large enough.

As people above have mentioned, head over to your local seafood store when they have them, but dont buy the defrosted ones sitting on ice in the display, ask for a box of the frozen ones out the back in the freezer (which they thaw then place on display ). They will be IQF in a 15kg box. Buy it and then use small handfuls as needed when your out fishing.

Hi Fab, what areais he in? (Campbelltown)?

Thanks Yowie. Ill keep trying and i might score eventually.

Hi Yowie, Nice haul (as usual!). Just wondering what sort of depths are you drifting to get those flounder as i often drift the same area between 30-40 meters or so and never really pull up flounder (only flatties). Thanks,

Due to be installed end of this month/early next month!

Anthony............. You have WAYYYYYYYY too much free time on your hands!!! (Its also just the kind of thing i would have attempted before having 2 kids under two!) Well done!

Hi Anthony, Im trying to stay away from a VSR and also energising the whole boat by using the selector. The battery switch needs to be in the "off" position while the charging is occurring. I think i may have found a way combining Zorans idea with my easy to connect 240V 15A power plug. (im using 15A plugs so kids or anyone silly enough to try and connect the charger into regular home mains will not be able to). I think i have it so that the batteries are both connected only when the plugs are joined and charging can occur for both batteries at the same time. When the charger is disconnected then the batteries are isolated as usual. Have i overlooked anything? Here is a quick wiring diagram.

Thanks ZMK, that is pretty much how i was thinking of handling it, except i was hoping to get away with a regular 15amp extention lead plug (male from charger and female from batteries). The problem is, 15 amp plugs dont connect the positives like the anderson plug! I Might need to go the anderson plug route...

i should mention that i understand i could connect the charger to common on the switch and then charge with the battery switch set on 'both' but that would also energise the rest of the circuit (which is what im hoping to avoid).

Hi All, After a long hiatus from fishing (and boat maintenance) due to renovations i have come back to do a little upgrading. I have purchased a CTEK Marine 200 15 amp charger. I have read on the CTEK website that the charger can be permanently mounted to the boats wiring so im trying to do that instead of mucking around with aligator clips trying to connect terminals to each individual battery every time i need to charge. I am trying to mount the positive and negative terminals of the battery charger to the switch so that i can run the charger when the boat is parked and the battery isolation switch turned to 'off' My current wiring setup is basically the same as the following image: The switch is 4 way (Bat1, Bat 2, Both and Off). The negative terminal is easy enough to sort out but i can not see a solution for the positive terminal wiring as any attempt to connect both batteries to charge simultaneously will result in both batteries being connected constantly. i thought it should be easier than this or am i overlooking something obvious? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I replaced my floor with marine grade plate ally, Not really lighter but is certainly more waterproof! My father in law makes signs for a living and almost had me convinced to go the foamex/celuka foam board route. I played around with samples of the material for a while (left it submerged in petrol to see if out disintegrate etc) and it stood up to continuous petrol submersion for a week without melting/softening. Being PVC based, acetone would destroy this stuff though (but unless the missus is painting her nails while your fishing, i guess your pretty safe there). I guess i just didn't have the guts to pull the trigger and use the board (i opted for something tried and tested). But the stuff seems to tick most if not all the boxes for a marine floor (i was playing with 15 mm board and it seemed very very rigid). here is a couple of links: https://www.cphgroup.com.au/store/c-144-substrates/c-443-celuka-board/c-444-endurex-hardened-pvc-sheet/p-607-endurex-hardened-pvc-sheet-white https://www.allstarplastics.com.au/materials/pvc/

You need one that 240V. Keep salvaging around until you get one that is a simple connection to the microwave power lead.

oh, and the rod holder itsself uses roller skate wheels, work perfectly.

This is exactly what my rod drying motor has been for the last 6 builds. Works perfectly! Stick it in a jiffy box, add a piece of pvc end cap and some well positioned cuts to slot in some rubber bands to act as the holders and you are away! You can see in the photo where the shaft of the microwave motor come through the centre of the pvc cap.

wow... what a shame. I am an avid user of Alvey reels and this is truly a sad moment..... Looks like i will need to stock up on spare parts to last me a while.

Hi Arthur, you dug up an old thread mate. In 2012 the size limit on jews was 45cm if im not mistaken.

can i have a guess and say that it might have been a leucistic leopard shark or a leucistic spotted sevengill shark? (for reference, here is a dodgy photo of an albino nurse shark and its colouration when seen through water, leucistic individuals retain their eye colour and may have more/less dark pigment or spotting).

I tend to catch the biggest ones in winter off beaches, as dirvin mentioned afternoons seem to produce the best results but make sure the tides are large and the swell is not too calm, i believe they fire on with a decent (but not crazy) swell as thats when the sand and food get churned up. Also, dont cast a mile away, lob it in just past where the wave is breaking (sometimes less than 5-10m from the shore, thats where theres the most turbulence in the sand and they are actively feeding.

the nemo pattern from yamashita was my best performing jig! it was a limited edition job and acccounted for around 30 squid before it was lost to the depths due to kelp! sadly, it is n longer available... Good job on the squid and try find another nemo jig!

If you strip the bearings of their grease and replace with too light an oil they will feel 'rough'. Even though you may think 'logically' they should be running smoother without all that thick grease in there, it is in fact opposite (they will freespool more with no grease or lighter oil, but will not feel smooth). Just my observation anyway...

No doubts about the importance of fish handling if said fish is to be released. Regarding trophy flathead... it legal to keep them so its really up to the individual as to whether or not they would like to release the fish. I have only ever kept 1 female over 70 (my first one) and have released all subsequent fish, often to the sounds of 'your not going to release that are you?' by my fishermen friends. Since i own the boat, i get to choose the fishing spots and techniques and needless to say, if im fishing with a mate who will keep a flattie which is over 70cm i choose not to target flatties with him/them!

Well done! Your mate can certainly tick Jew off his list, i doubt he will get a crack at a bigger one anytime soon!

the moral of the story........ NEVER take your old man fishing!