muddie

Not necessarily broken. Given that the fish I have recovered easily, and quickly, I suspect just bruising to the spinal chord or something like that

Bicarb should help for cleaning because it neutralises acid. An old idea was to use cold tea to wash it. Anyway, after you have it clean, I find a smear of grease or vaseline keeps it nice for ages. Just renew when/if you disturb the connection. If the corroded are includes the copper wire in the cables themselves, it might be necessary to cut a small length off the end to get back to clean wire and re-terminate the cable.

I have seen this in a fish tank. One of my discus fish looked like this, half normal colour, half dark. I googled it and found it sometimeshappens, usually when the fish gets spooked and bumps it's head hard on the glass. The fish recovered fully within a few days. I suspect it is brain/spine bruising, maybe similar to concussion. The fish may have recovered, or, if swimming so badly, may have become dinner for something bigger I suppose.

You can also, if there is room, instead of just a backswing, swing the line with sinker/hook on the end, in a complete vertical circle a few times to build up speed, just make sure you release it when it will go sailing out over the water Also, I tend to use thicker lines as handlines, as they tangle less, and also cut your hand less if a huge fish grabs it and goes for a run while you are trying to stop it. Out on the reef I always wear gloves and use 80lb handline.

Just grab the line hard and pull, usually raising your hand above your head

This is how I was taught also. It seems strange to see people fishing, just holding the rod, and trying to sense bites without touching the line. I see it on TV fishing shows too.

I'd rather eat them myself

It get's cheaper every day. I bought a Lowrance Elite 3x for $129. Add $50 for a small SLA gel battery and charger and you're done. Not very portable though, but works great in my tinny.

They have maps for most of the world. See the chart at the bottom of http://www.navionics.com/en/mobile-pc-app. There are other apps as well, but I think Navionics is good. It's the one I chose.

For the GPS function, I just use my phone running the Navionics app. Works really well.

Yes, well, with a small motor, I often run a full throttle when moving around. I have heard that the change to 100:1 might be just to make them seem greener. Quite a few mechanics seem dubious about the 100:1, but many others are not. In the end, it's just a secondhand motor, not worth a fortune, and I will probably run some compromise, at least a GENEROUS 100:1 , maybe 75:1. Thanks to all for their opinions.

At the other end of the scale, 3.3 metre tinny with 8hp Yamaha 2 stroke, manages 15km/hr with 2 people on board

Yes, I thought of splitting the difference. Might try that. Obviously 50:1 works, because the guy I bought it off did it for years, but 75:1 might be a good compromise.

Yeah, I always make sure the measure is a bit over rather than a bit under too.

As I said, the manual specifies 100:1, but I have also read that it depends on the quality of the oil, and they expect you to be using the Yamaha oil I suppose. I wonder if the Quicksilver oil I am using is as good.