guimaras

Nice boat. I really like Middle Harbour most of the time but it can be a bit slow this time of year. I usually launch at Tunks Park though. For me, Botany Bay is producing better, for now.

Good on you ! What boat did you get if I may ask? 100m North of the northbridge rowing club,just past the moored boats. I caught them west side of sugarloaf as well when we moore there overnight. Both good from dusk till dawn. During daytime, Balmoral rocky point would be the go.

I use 2 setups. My larger one is a daiwa sensor surf 13ft heavy with a ultegra 15000. Spooled with 50lbs PP. I pulled in small sharks with these. The smaller one is a shimano starlo 12ft with 40lbs braid on a 8000 stradic fj. Good for salmon, tailor...even jewies. Agree with what others say. You don't need to cast far to catch fish here in Sydney. The biggest jewie I got was caught 20m from the waterline. More important skill would be to learn how to read the gutter and current.

Most of the jewies I caught there are inside. Sugarloaf (northside) are some places, bantry Bay aswell. I never caught them on vibes though. Mostly bait and one soapie on a nuclear chicken.

Depends how far from the heads you go out. I go out the heads solo (Botany and South Head) on this. Its a 3.4m inflatable cat with a 9.8hp tohatsu. My mates thinks Im crazy but It is definitely possible and on a good day, can be quite exciting. Just my 2 cents. Rule # 1. Plan your trip. And I mean not only plan where you're going...plan for everything. Make a contigency plan. Plot evac and exit points, depending on wind and sea conditions, and emergencies. For example at botany: When I go out, my evac point is at malabar boat ramp on the north, and harbour beach at the south. I make sure I know where they are in my mind. Rule #2: Go prepared. I always carry 2L BACKUP water, a marine radio, sea anchor, extra 5L fuel on a separate container(enough for about 8miles on my motor), first aid kit, 2 extra spark plugs, and everything needed on the handbook for offshore. I always tune my radio to the weather update forecast, and check weather on my phone every hour. If I happen to leave one of them at home, I don't go out. rule #3. Pick your days. Swell, wind, & weather have to be good. It doesn't matter if the weather looks good when you get to the ramp... If the forecast says it's gonna get worse in the arvo, I don't go out. Always keep an eye on the weather changing. Going out the heads on a small boat can be nerve racking at first. You will feel how tiny you are and immediately know mother nature's full capacity. Provided you respect her, you will have a great time. Also, I think 25L on a 70hp is too small. What range does that give you? Maybe get another 25L?

1 weeks ago, I was fishing BB just NW of Mols point. I had a live yakka out at 3m and a fresh squid on the other (6m). I was also fishing a small outfit w/ sabiki rig for yakkas. I caught a bream on that outfit (around 31cm). Took me a while to bring it to the surface(only had 4lbs line)...only to realize my landing net was still folded. I had the bream on the side of the boat, while trying to open the net, when all of a sudden, a hoodlum smashed my bream. It was more than a meter long. My point here being, try using larger lures...or a legal bream as live bait.

Flavour of the fish depends on the location I think. In Japan and SE Asia, yakkas are a delicacy. I personally chase them here in Sydney(my mates call me the yakka king. Lol)...however, IMO the yakkas back home taste better than the ones here. Hence, people's opinion differ. Also, the way of cooking it makes a lot of difference. Personally, I am not a sambo fan(always catch and release when I get them) but I did try a smoked one from NZ and they are divine. Problem is, I am too lazy to smoke them at home.

Good day Ladies and Gents, I just would like to seek advice about fishfinders. I am currently outfitting my small inflatable fishing boat with some electronics. I have the option to install either a 2D sonar OR Down imaging for it. I usually fish estuary, inshore and coastal on a good day, with depths from 2m to 40m. I know some units can show both but the choices I am given does not include those. If you were to choose just one...would it be 2D sonar, or Down imaging?and why? Which one would be more useful? Cheers for the help.

Mind you, the $600 would be split into 4 or 5... Based on our computation, monthly cost would only be about $250/month. I'm not too sure if there are similar scenarios...but paying $16000 for a Haines profish with a monthly bill of $250...and you get to take it out for minimum of 3-6 days a month sounds good to me.Also, after the contract ends and you all decide to sell the boat, you could get around $8000 back.

Thanks for the replies. Sorry to chime in so late, was busy at work. Actually, I own a boat share already but not a fishing boat (33footer sport cruiser). So far, only problem I've experienced is some owners leaving rubbish behind. We don't have that problem now since we contracted a professional cleaner in charge of cleaning the boat after each outing. If you google boatequity, that's the system we use. Basically, they put points on the days, being 50p for the weekend, 20p for weekday. My share entitles me 120p a month. That equates to either 6 weekdays a month, or 2 weekends and a weekday... If you want to use it some more, you can trade cash for points. In our case, $2 per point. Fragmeister is right, we have contracts and all and everything is transparent. The reason that setup is good for me is not really the cost of the boat.. But the cost of maintaining one, especially if you don't use it every week. For the cruiser, I only pay $3000 outgoings a year...trust me, if I fully owned that boat, I'd be broke. It's just it's not commonly done on fishing boats yet here in Oz so I'm just gathering feedback for it.

Gday everyone, Boat expo is coming soon and me and my bro are thinking of getting a proper offshore fishing boat. However, with a great boat comes a heavy price tag so we are planning on putting up a syndicate. Thinking about 4 owners in total. 5 if majority agrees. I came across a website that actually helps you manage boat shares and it's pretty well setup. (With the mods permission, I would like to post it here. Just PM me the go signal) The plan is: Glass Mono boat, 6-7m long, Looking at Haines Hunter Profish 625 as of the moment, but hopefully try to find a better deal at the expo...but just to give you an idea of the type of boat we are planning, check out the Haines. Boat will be kept at dry dock facility (Sydney boat storage), undercover. This will be good since no more trailering, anti-foul, and less maintenance like anodes etc. Also, it will be in a covered facility so less UV damage. Basically, just call the dock the day before or 3 hours prior, drive there, load your stuff and go fishing...when you get back, REFUEL (refuel area near the dock...or bring your own jerry cans), dock the boat, rinse the inside (they rinse the hull and flush motor when they lift it up), get rid of rubbish, grab your haul and drive home. Price range for the boat will be $80k-100k. If 4 owners, it will be $20-25k each... if 5 owners, 16k-20k. Dry dock cost is around $600 a month plus normal expense like rego, insurance, etc. Cost of repairs and on-goings would be split among owners.(Unless due to negligence like propeller damage,etc., then owner responsible will shoulder cost) The plan is to put in 10% of the boat value every year for ongoings. This will be put in a bank account for future use...if there is any surplus, it is to be divided after syndicate agreement ends. Share owners would own an equity on the boat. Meaning, they can sell their share any time provided they have a buyer. Syndicate agreement would last for 35 months. After that, the boat is sold and profit and whatever is left in the bank account is split among the owners...or, they can agree to setup a new syndicate agreement. If everyone takes care of the boat, I am confident it will still fetch a good price...considering it will be kept undercover, properly maintained and detailed annually. Feel free to chip in your opinions.

I matched my stradic fj 3000 to a lox iridium 4-7kg rod. The balance is perfect for me. Use that rod a lot and I don't get strained.

Thanks everyone for the replies... I'll be using a stradic fj 3000. With 4lb braid, it would have about 300 yds in it. Im hoping that would be enough. That's actually my main concern (getting spooled) since I really have no idea how far jewies can run on only a kilo of drag on them. I always had bad luck with circles on jewies. For some reason, they keep spitting out the bait before the hook can set itself...but then again, I was using 7/0s so that could be the reason. It's because my current bream outfit has 4lbs already spooled on it. I could probably add a 3m 20-30lb leader using an FG knot. That would help a bit. Just look at it as a practice match for the big fight...simply because I have a feeling that when that big one comes along, my jewie gear would feel like a bream stick! My misus couldn't also understand the logic of me spending hundreds of dollars on fishing gear...only to return home with a couple of bream (which she could have easily bought at the fish markets for $15). Ever since I started fishing, if seen a lot of craziness around which made me realize that logical thinking sometimes does not apply to fishing. That's about the same size that Im usually catching. My go-to spot has heaps of them. So far, I can get them there around 90% of the time when I go there.Also, there are a few large structures where I normally fish them but not that close to the casting area(about 150m or so) so I think it would only be a matter of stopping it before it gets there.

Or make a thai curry sauce or sweet and sour sauce for it. Not the best tasting fish but I've had worse. Trust me, I cook for a living.

Good day Gents and Madames... Like the title says, How would everyone rate the difficulty (or possibility) of this task? Reason I ask is... I have been chasing the "magic meter" for quite some time now and am kinda losing my mind a bit. (largest so far is 89cm). Since finding a big one is a rarity these days, ive been contemplating on upping the challenge a bit by downgrading my gear. My current jewie setup is 40lb braid, 60 lb leader on a ultegra 14000 reel. I know its overkill but I kinda built that on the notion that I may need that someday when I come face to face with a 20kg jewie. Problem is, most of the ones I catch are between 60-80cm (soapies) and anyone who goes after jewies know that they don't really fight hard for their size. (ive had 45cm salmon give me more trouble). I just want to hear any inputs,experiences,stories,etc. from anyone.