Captain Spanner

Thank you for the update. This is my first time on ere in a very long time too. I haven't been out much at all in the meantime either. Thank you for the update, it is much appreciated. Especially the comment on the line release coping with repetitive heavy weights as that would be an issue with my application when i get around to getting an outfit that fits this description.

I run about 1m of 200lb above the sinker for rubbing on the bottom and then join that to 2m of 40-60lb between that and the bottom hook. This is my weak point for snag insurance. I use the crimp sleeve swivels to attach the droppers for the hooks.

The Thunnus are fantastic reels but are a little cumbersome for spinning lures repetitively. The saragossa is a solid reel that will feel and probably be tougher and feel like it has stronger gears than the stradic but once again wont feel as finesse as the stradic for constant spinning. I have a 5000 FK stradic and find the drag sticky (on all three of my spools) but it is nice to cast and retrieve. For bait fishing i'd consider Thunnus, for repetitive spinning where weight and speed is a factor id go stradic 5000, for big fish, slow spinning (jewies off walls etc), jigging and bait fishing/bottom bashing i'd consider the saragossa in a 5000 or 6000 depending on your requirements for retrieve rate (gears ratio) or line capacity.

I have no experience with the daiwa or penn stuff sorry. I always get shimano reels for the warranty and after sales service i have found fantastic over the years.

I have a Lowrance HDS 5 Gen 1. From memory you do not need to power the unit to update the software if you plug it straight in to the computer. Also, depending on your unit you may even be able to do it with WiFi, Bluetooth, an SD or Micro SD card and not bring it into the house at all. If you do decide to turn it on in the boat and you are not in the water (you are on the trailer in the garage or house) I suggest you unplug the transducer as some of them  can overheat/burn out if they are run out of the water.

I bought a spare power cable for my unit (with the inline fuse) and connected flat tabs to the ends of the wires. I can connect it to one of my little deep cycle 12V batteries and turn it on anywhere. You could do this and sit in the loungeroom and punch in marks etc.

Jeff Squires in Peakhurst 95338746  does all our stuff and has for years. I can't recommend him highly enough. 

I can't help you with specific ramps but here is some general stuff, If you let us know the type of boat and tow vehicle we can probably help a bit more for locations.

You want a ramp that is not too steep, that does not have cross current movement or waves from other boats/ferries etc. A quieter ramp would be better for obvious reasons. If you have a station wagon or car that you can open the rear door/boot etc (not a ute or sedan) you are often able to see the wheels of the trailer and this helps alot when you are trying to reverse the trailer. If you only have a small boat you will hopefully be able to man handle it on/off and to/from the trailer when at the ramp. If this is the case i suggest a ramp that has a sandy beach right next to the ramp. Then you can tie a long rope to the bollard on the front (where the anchor rope ties to) and push the boat off the trailer and then guide it up onto the sand for parking the car and getting in and out etc and then walk it up onto the trailer to clip on the winch cable to wind it back on again. This is alot less stressful than trying to man handle a boat from a pontoon or jetty past rocks to or from the trailer. 

If it is just a little tinny on a trailer it will be lighter than you think, so if you can't get it quite straight on the ramp getting it down close to the water you can cheat and drag it sideways to straighten it up. You will be surprised how easy it is to drag a trailer sideways on a slippery ramp. If the trailer is in the water and not quite straight it is even easier as the tyres are slightly buoyant and make the trailer even lighter to drag. This is obviously not part of your long term game plan but keep it in mind if you are stressed that you cant'quite get it straight after repeated attempts and feel under pressure.

When you get to the ramp carpark,  but before you get onto the ramp itself (sometimes they have bays for temporary parking/preparation) make sure you are all ready to go when you actually back down the ramp. Take off any removable trailer lights/lightboards, tie down straps, PUT THE BUNG IN, tie on the bow rope that you will use to pull it to the beach and have that rope untangled and neatly (and loosely wound up) sitting in the back of the car and preferably the holding end tied in a loop and that loop hung over the winch post (not obstructing the winch). This is so if the boat shoots off then the rope tied to the trailer will catch it if you aren't fast enough to grab the rope. Have an anchor ready at the front to push into the sand on the beach to secure the boat while you park the car. When you get onto the ramp proper you should only have the winch cable and safety chain attached so they are the only things to sort out when you are at the water's edge. Do not undo either of these until the boat is hanging over the water in a position that it will land safely on the water if it comes off the trailer when you undo them. Undo chain first and then back the winch off and lower it in (don't get hit by the handle).

Purely based on assumption, I guess alot of the people with water tanks that have run out of water would use them for garden, lawn and car washing and not just motor flushing and trailer washing. So maybe if it does start raining again you might have enough to just look after your trailer and outboard.

I thought that was logical, I just wasn't confident that council would share the same sentiment.

Jon, what are the rules if you get rainwater tanks? Are there rules as to how you can use the water that your rain water tanks collect? 

Same question for Sydney based people.

As mentioned by many, drop the block flat side on flat concrete. You may want to lay down an old towel or two and maybe put whateber block it is you are dropping in a heavy duty plastic bag or garbage bag. The concrete often scuffs through the plastic bait bags pretty quickly and the bait gets damaged, can scatter everywhere and make a mess. You want to minimise how much you touch the bait with fingers or knives or anything as is will probably damage it as mentioned. I buy good quality frozen hawkesbury prawns in kilo bags. I drop the bag on the concrete a few times gently and it loostens them all up, then i put them in one of those Sistema clip lock (with the rubber seal) tupperware style containers from the supermarket. I have a big bulk one in the freezer and take what i need each trip in a smaller one. On occasion If i need a handful of whitebait or prawns from the bait shop on the way to the ramp i get the guy to put them in a container so i dont have newspaper and plastic bag waste, plus it doesnt leak. 

I also smash my pilchard blocks at home and put the loose pilliies in a big clip seal container for easy access on the water so i dont have any thawing and leaking bait bags in the esky.  Or have to thaw the whole block to use a few at a time.

If you find a type of clip seal container you really trust they are good for gulp lures and gulp juice too. But test the container is sealed fit for purpose first. Noone like the trademark cat piss smell of gulp juice through the tackle bag, boat, car or shed.

John, Is that knot similar to the "Thumb Knot" but just tied with a different technique to form the twists/wraps? I normally use a thumb knot where is go through the hook then around the end of my thumb or finger three times and then slip the loops off the end of my finger and poke the tag through all of the loops that were around my finger in the direction from the hook back up towards the rod. Then i just have to make sure the twists/wraps form properly before tightening down.

I would just use a large torpedo sinker or a trolling sinker above a swivel and then about a  2m trace to the snelled hooks for the squid. You can use a snapper lead on a sinker clip (like an Ezy-rig) but they don't travel fast as well. One advantage of the snapper lead over the torpedo sinker is that if you have a very short loop of lighter line attaching the sinker to the clip then you often just lose the sinker when you crash the rig into the bottom or a rock. If you use a smaller sinker you can slow down or stop when you sound bait or fish and let the rig sink down through it to cover the depth range.

There will be a balancing act between depth, boat speed and how far behind the boat you want the bait. Some guys use knife jigs as the sinker too. Just be mindful of your rig with regards to spinning and twisting if using a jig, you may also want to take the hook off to minimise its chance of snagging. You can either just attach the jig by the top end like a snapper sinker or at both ends like a trolling sinker (so it is essentially in-line like a swivel is)

You need to decide if you are using live bait or lures and have an idea of what ledges you are fishing off as to whether you need to cast or need a long rod to control fish around rocks at your feet. Also, how big you are hoping they will be and how you intend to land them. For example if you cant get down to the water's edge you may need a long and very heavy beach/rock rod and use bait/live bait and may have to swing fish (up to 70-80cm) straight up out of the water with the rod. You may be fishing a more accessible ledge and can throw lures with a 7 foot or 9 foot rod and be able to get to the water's edge to wash the fish up, grab it or gaff it.

I've never fished the hawkesbury but those outfits should be fine if that's what you have. I have no idea on GPS marks and would be surprised if anyone had or gave you any. I would say most guys would use landmarks and their sounder because they are in the river.

I believe some popular areas are around Juno Point, Flint and Steel and the Rail and Road bridges up near Brooklyn. Have a look at how the water moves through the area at the stage of the tide you wish to fish it  (eg run in or run out) and try to visualise how the bottom structure will affect the water flow and where the baitfish may congregate in the area to pin point where you will anchor and present baits.

I have the 2016 ci4 in a 4000 and the 2017 in a 3000 and a 1000. I have the FK in a 5000. I think the FK feels more solid to hold and wind and the Ci4's are lighter. I have experienced no twisting or torquing issues with the Ci4's but i have never used them as winches.

I have had problems with the drag on the 5000 FK being sticky and not smooth. That is not under silly pressures, just as you would  sensibly fish 20lb or 30lb braid. I have three spools and they are all sticky. My mates is sticky too. I'm considering greasing all of them. 

Try for the worms along Hawks Nest beach. You should be able to catch bream, whiting, flathead, salmon, tailor off Hawks Nest Beach and similar off Jimmy's but obviously its a rough beach vs a bay at Hawks Nest. You can also get squid at Jimmy's if the ribbon weed is within casting distance.

Method  for beach worms is simple in theory but i am very bad at extracting them. Any stinky fish in an onion bag or stocking works. Take or use a tough hand bait like squid or pipi to get the worm to bite to bring it up a bit more before grabbing. Some guys use the stocking as the hand bait too.

I've never let one off but i have heard if you ever do need to let one off out in the wind and waves you will probably wish you had a pair of welding gloves in the flare bag and maybe not be wearing anything too flammable and plasticy  while you are holding it and it's burning and throwing sparks all over you.

Just a tip for anyone salting their own fillets for the first time in the fridge. Make sure your tray/bowl/dish is at least a couple of inches deep. It is very easy to underestimate the amount of fluid that comes out of the fillets. If your dish is too shallow then the fish juice can fill up the tray and can overflow, spilling into the rest of the fridge and the veggie crisper.

Look up the schematic and write down the part numbers. Then call them or email them and you can get a quote or order straight away. Very easy. They post it out very quickly too.

If you haven't done it much before then you probably wont know the wall very well and where all the snags are, even if you do you will still lose alot of gear. Take alot of leader and alot of lures. If there has been quite a bit of rain (dirty water and bait getting flushed out of the river) or the surf is big with lots of foam then you could give hard bodies (bibbed minnows) a go. Typically 150mm-200mm length. Otherwise you will probably have more consistent luck with plastics, typically 1/2 oz to 2oz heads depending on how fast it is running and the size of the paddle tail. Try plastics from 5"to 8". Start with paddletails but have some jerk shad patterns too.

As you are trying to work the lure near the base of the wall you will get alot of snags. As such, you will need a leader knot you can tie quickly (i use  type of albright). FGs and PRs are great but they take a long time to tie, especially when you might be tying one every second cast until you figure out where the snags are. An hour either side of the tide change will be the easiest to fish and be mindful that the water will not necessarily slow/stop/change direction when you think it should by reading the tide chart. It often appears to change up to a couple of hours after the tide chart depending on the river and the tide at the time.

Also be careful of brown snakes in the walls, especially if it is warm. We saw one swim from one wall to the other at Forster in January.

I'm sure you've heard more tips than anyone with your experience in the boating world but i"ll throw in my two cents.

I've always been prone to getting sea sick but rarely actually get sick these days unless it is pretty rough and or we get a catergory 5 tangle in the wash zone and i have to sort it out. I have it at least 45 minutes before ill be in the rough water (i'm fine in the river and bay and in mild conditions inshore). Other tips are eat a normal breaky (dry eg toast with honey or similar) is better if you need everything going for you) but I still drink coffee) and try to go to the toilet before you get on the boat, it puts your guts in much better standing for the day.

Keep snacking on salty stuff, drink ginger beer etc, do not look down if possible, always look out at the horizon, put your phone in the glove box and let someone else read the sounder and do untangling jobs. If you are woozy drifting or anchor, go for a little drive, let the sick person drive if capable.

1 minute ago, Blackfish said:

Looks like a Juvenile Banded Rockcod Epinephelus ergastularius.

Also know as a Seven bar Grouper.

I think so too. They also call them Bar Cod. Often targeted in 150-200m depth on the mid north coast but get much bigger.

3 hours ago, Berrero said:

 

Having a spool swap out is something I hadn't considered. Would you say the 4lb difference between lines is noticeable? I also own two ci4 reels (1000 & 2500) and they are also really good. Although I do love my BG reel if I can fit it in my budget I may grab another ci4 just for the seals in case she goes for a dunk.

I would not have two spools 4lb apart for the same reel in this case.  It's just circumstance that i have two outfits close together. I use the outfit for snapper fishing mainly, often in 60m of water over gravel. So i went down a bit in line just to if it would help sink rate of plastics etc.  plus i don't really need 20lb of stopping power in that situation.

I would run 20lb braid and 10lb or 12lb braid if i had two spools for the one reel for your application. I do have a second spool for that reel now, i just haven't put line on it yet. 

It obviously depends what braid you are talking about too. I use Sunline Momentum 4X4 pretty much from 10-20lb on these reels (2500-4000) (It's not as buoyant as other braids, better for plastics and squidding). It's out of production now and i' m converting to J-Braid 8-strand.

I have a combo that is a 4000 stradic CI4 on a Crucis Travel Rod 7'11" four piece. 4-7kg that could do everything that you have said and fit the budget including line. If you go towards the higher end of your budget you could get a second spool off shimano and put a different braid, or half braid/half mono or mono straight through. Then you could run a 10 lb braid spool (longer casting distance with lighter weights) and 20lb braid spool off the same outfit. This essentially gives you two outfits for the space of one when travelling. It should come with it's own rod bag and tube but you can make them easy out of PVC or just use the bag. Mine fits diagonally in my big suitcase (just)

I used to run 20lb braid and now run 16lb I have another 20lb outfit on a heavier rod. I fish it as a snapper rod or light rod for kings. It will easily cast a range of weights and has balls to fight fish, easy bottom bash (bait) 4oz leads if you need to. Like all rods that are slightly cheaper, just make sure you wash the guides properly so prevent corrosion. 

I think there are two models of these rods around that have different guides so make sure you get the ones you want.

As mentioned above, you do not want a timber spike/butt if you don't need it and are always holding the rod, also if you are bait fishing off the beach then 12' will keep the line out of the shorebreak better than 10'. You could look at a few things to solve your issues. The Prevails are a well built rod and nice to use but can get heavy to hold. The Shimano Aerowave Graphite in heavy (13' three piece, marked at 8-15kg) should do most things the 12' 12-20kg Prevail does but may feel lighter in the hand and is slightly cheaper. It casts those weights easily and also handles a big load well. 

Regardless of the rod you choose you might want to look at some type of belt to rest the rod butt in both waiting for a bite and fighting fish. I have a 40mm PVC pressure cap (two holes drilled in the rim) tied with VB cord to a webbed belt (plastic clip buckle from bunnings). The VB cord ties onto one hip, goes through the drilled hole on each side of the rim of the PVC pressure cap and then up to the other hip. The length of your rod butt and how your reel is seated will determine how far you have the cap hang down but mine is about between my knees. You would need a 50mm PVC pressure cap for a Prevail because the rubber butt cap is too big for a 40mm cap. You can fight fish with the rod in it too. If you load the rod in the right way you can sort of "sit" you weight on the butt of the rod to exert pressure against the fish.

I always use this belt and have made some for my mates, they really do take alot of weight off your arms waiting for bites.