noelm

I guess as time moves on we all have to accept what gets thrown at us, sorry to hear you’re not doing so well, but, as mentioned, there is help and options. Never be afraid to ask for assistance, both professionally and through “friends” here, next time I am up your way (which is not that often)  I will call in, but if there’s anything we can do, just ask.

1 hour ago, Green Hornet said:

If you have a good sounder, cruise around the deep side of weed edges and locate schools of bait to fish around. 4 and 5 inch plastics for flathead, 3 inch for bream. Expect bycatch of legal size reds, big tailor and the occasional jew.

There’s nothing for fish to snag you up on, so fish light for the best results.

It’s a large, relatively featureless expanse of water. Covering lots of ground is the key to a good catch.

Yep, that about covers it, much like Lake Illawarra, it’s just basically the same all over, so weed beds and small reef type structure is where the fish will be, even channel markers can be a good option.

The Basin fishes OK, best bet is to concentrate on a single species like (say) Flathead and fish using a technique that works for them (mind you, it is getting cool now) use smaller plastics, retrieved slow with a bit of a “hop” along the bottom, fish drop offs and the edges of weed beds and places like that where baitfish are active. If using bait, fresh live Nippers are hard to beat, easy to gather yourself and work a treat. Use lighter line, small sinkers and once again, fish where the fish will likely be.

It’s pretty hard to beat Jervis Bay (in my opinion) lots of swimming, snorkeling, Squidding and reasonable fishing if you put in a bit of effort.

edit…….be mindful of the sanctuary zones.

1 hour ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

How many do you play in there? 

I just read the questions to him (he’s 17) and see how he goes, he does pretty good for someone his age. We do it when he has “afternoon tea” at our place after school.

I read the questions to my grandson, some take lots more time than just ticking them off, but I do hit the wrong button often, short fat fingers and not checking the answer.

8 hours ago, Berleyguts said:

No. And I didn’t know you could do that! I just work through them one by one. 😂

You kind of can, but once you submit your answers, that’s your end score, if you go back to see the questions again, and/or correct any wrong ones, it doesn't allow you to submit again.

As long as there is no American sports or AFL questions…….I reckon slip in a few boating rules questions.

Probably because I am so much better……..sorry, just joking, I have no idea! Maybe because I did it first?

Never been a fan of the Optimax, and at 20+ years old, it’s certainly not my cup of tea. Mercury make a great motor, but….(in my opinion) the Optimax is not one of them. Now before 50 people come on and say stuff about their Optimax being fabulous, it’s my opinion only (and I worked for a Mercury dealer) 

5 hours ago, sam bros said:

Hey raiders,

I'm looking into buying a quintrx 5.7m boat that has a 2003 mercury 115hp 2 stroke Saltwater optimal with 517 hours on it

 

Just wanted to get your thoughts on the reliability of these motors given its age?

I've normally always had japanese motors like Honda or Suzuki

Any input would be appreciated 

Cheers

Hang on, you say it’s an “optimal” do you mean it’s an “Optimax”? If so, then it’s a whole different ball game, I personally wouldn’t buy a 20 year old Optimax.

If it all checks out OK it will be fine, it will drink fuel and be quite loud compared to a new 4 stroke, but overall it will/should be reliable. Remember it’s over 20 years old………operating in salt water.

All I know is it was hot work cleaning up all the mess from the wind.

What a change in the weather, one day flooding rain, next day, suns out, go figure.

Of course you can still catch fish on salted bait (and dozens of other things) but, in my opinion, salted bait is nowhere near as good as fresh, I have used salted bait thousands of times, and been salting bait for decades, but…..remember, it’s my opinion only, not necessarily shared by all!

Salted bait (in my opinion) is only good as a stand by, nothing beats fresh or simply fresh frozen.

Yep, going to pump mine out later, it’s been over flowing all night…….down the drain.

2 hours ago, Steve0 said:

 

Up here, we don't suffer water laying about, but a lot of the local area lost power and the Council says 5PM is the restoration time. How it went out is the mystery. AFAIK there's been no strong wind.  This time, we (and the supermarket) are in an area not affected, so life stays fairly normal.  

 

We got bad wind and torrential rain from the East at about 4AM, one of my gutters was blocked and caused a bit of an “issue” but no damage as such, lots of debris out in the ocean. Anyone even dreaming of going fishing near the rocks, be warned, the ocean is a complete mess. There is a big long line float washing up on the beach, complete with “something” attached to it, going to try to get it later.

Hope everyone is safe and dry at the moment. Our local area is mostly OK, a few roads covered, but as far as the news goes, no house flooding….,yet! Just be safe if out driving, don’t take chances in flood waters over roads. The estuary in front of my place is over the bank, and running fast, like a dark, muddy mess.

Good rain gear, safe location, the fish don’t care/know if it’s raining, they are always wet……

I guess first off, you need to define “best”…….as in best facilities, best species, best accessibility, best catch rate, best climate.

Squirt worms get taken the second they hit the water, no need for them to be alive for more than a short while. Nippers will stay alive for ages if hooked through the body and not the head, but they also get taken pretty quick most times.

If you can get the nozzle close enough it might, just squirting it from the ground won’t do much. Be careful, those high pressure washers can do some damage.

As I have always said, if gardening is not a hobby you enjoy, you are better off to just have grass (not lawn) and just hack it down with the mower. Gardening is quite fun if you keep at it, do a little bit often is my motto, once you let a garden get overgrown, you’re in trouble. Just looking around (pottering to oldies) pulling the odd weed or pruning odds and ends is quite enjoyable and rewarding.

I recently (well kind of recently) got rid of an old “Kembla” bike that was complete, had Sturmey Archer hub gears, but the SW model, not the common AW hub, and really good, still operational centre pull brakes, and 27” Dunlop “sport” 1st grade tyres with great white sidewalls. The bike itself was kind of different, because back then, 27” was a racing type size,  speed “chain gears” and 28” was considered full size and more a commuter kind of bike, I used to work at the place in Port Kembla that built them. Note all that terminology is from the “old days”