noelm

They are around almost every location, just fish right on the bottom. Don't confuse them with the deep sea Ling you see in shops.

I don't think an 8HP will have a start in gear switch, more likely some kind of mechanical gizmo to prevent the rope being pulled. edit......is this electric start?

Most Alvey rods are what's called a "low mount" meaning the butt of the rod is very short. Millions of Alvey are in use all over Australia, lots used around the rocks and off the beaches, right up to Alvey deck winches for deep sea dropping, and up to the reef queen for really deep dropping in water 500m deep!

Just to add, if you are getting line "whipping" your hand, maybe your reel fitting is too high on the rod?

Lots of Alvey reels are just a spool on a shaft (direct drive) no drag, no gears, not too sure what you're talking about with wriggling something back and forth? some had a "clicker/ratchet" some had a star drag (a star shaped gizmo you tighten) and the spool can turn without the handles ripping your fingers to bits!

Lots of advantages, and disadvantages, there is many models, some direct drive, some with a drag, all catch fish, can't say using braid will be a big hit, because you use your finger on the line a lot, you might end up being called ".stumpy" and line twist can be an issue, a big tangle with braid is not a lot of fun.

First step is remove the plug and have a look, test for spark, replace plug/s and test start again.

Great eating, love catching and eating Drummer.

Sure sounds like "Pelican itch" I never get it, but I have a friend gets it all the time.

Just for fun, get someone to hold a length of mono (about 10kg or so) under tight tension between their hands, get a piece of rag/cloth/hanky and pinch the line with the cloth between your fingers and give it a fast rub, back and forth, in about 3 seconds, the line is melted through, so just imagine what could happen with a dry line, touching a hot gunnel rubber on a boat, under tension fighting it!

Spooling line with another person makes life easy, they can hold the spool a bit of a distance away, and put some tension on by using their hands either side of the spool, don't wind too fast, because friction will burn their hands! Never pull line through a cloth or similar when spooling, always use something that tensions the new spool. One thing I always do, and I have no idea why I am paranoid about it, I never thread the new line through the tip, always a few guides down, the thinking is, new, dry line is being dragged over the same spot on the tip (probably at right angles) for hundreds of metres of line, under tension, I just reason it might wear a groove in the tip! Probably not so important these days with better guide materials?

Warilla beach, I live on the southern end of the beach, the Tailor school is "busting up" in a school maybe 300m wide, easy to see them. They have been coming every morning for a few days now.

What I mean is something stuck through the new line spool, a screwdriver or something, so the spool can spin on it, like an "axle" on a bike wheel.

I think he is saying he tapes the end of the line to the spool rather than tying a knot.

Now back to the topic, I also see little sense in spooling with some braid first, it's not necessarily wrong, but just has no advantage and includes a knot that can break or get caught when casting.

Just a note on spooling reels, all reels should be spooled using the new line spool on an "axle" and pulled off by the spool spinning, never spool a reel with the line coming off the side, regardless of which way it's coming off! I have posted this before, it's really quite simple, an overhead reel it's obvious, the reel spool is rotating, pulling line directly off the new spool, also rotating on an axle. Now most will be thinking about a spinning/threadline/eggbeater reel and think you should be pulling line off from the side of the new spool, but it isn't so, why you ask? On a spin reel, the reel spool is stationary, and the bail arm rotates around it, in doing this, it imparts one "twist" every revolution, right? OK now if you put the line on, off the side, it is on the reel completely (well almost) untwisted, the minute you cast out, that untwisted line then becomes twisted, one twist for every loop cast out, you are now fishing with a twisted line......now, if you spool it up, using an "axle" setup, as you wind the handle, each revolution imparts a twist, BUT, the minute you cast, the line untwists as it leaves the spool, you are now fishing with untwisted line, get it? Reels like bait runners, that let line out by allowing the spool to turn, create havoc with line twist, just as winding the handle with a loose drag does. Alvey reels are a major drama, you wind line on by revolving the spool, but cast out, off the side from a fixed spool, every cast creates more and more twist, a good swivel is needed when using an Alvey.

The big school of Tailor showed up again today, same time as yesterday, no one fishing though, closest they were was probably 15m from the beach, then slowly moved along to the rocks chasing small baitfish.

Not too sure I 100% agree, sure there's traffic and all sorts of "issues", but, in the main, Sydney is a great city, reasonable fishing, clean water, mostly relaxed lifestyle, until you experience some other places, it's very much "better the devil you know"

Yep, that's about it, I just use those cheap fish looking metals at department stores, they're cheap and you will lose a few. I like ones about 5cm long with maybe the odd bigger one just in case you need extra distance.

Tailor will take just about anything, bait or lures, small metal lures cast out and retrieved fast will get them going, just this morning there was a huge school of decent Tailor boiling on the surface right out the front on my place, within easy casting distance, a few guys got a bucket full easy, they were about 2KG approx.

I guess it needs to be said, salting is really only necessary for a few types of bait, soft bait like Pilchards are good salted or brined, flesh baits like Tuna and Bonito don't need salting at all, just freeze whole or fillets (I prefer whole) Slimies are OK filleted, lightly salted then put into containers in "day packs" and frozen, the salt will firm them up when defrosted, Prawns, no salt, just fresh. Squid and so on, just freeze or buy frozen (Squid is a last resort for me)

Not a huge fan of salted bait (it's better than nothing) but some baits, lightly salted then frozen will be fine, it will just "toughen" the bait a bit before freezing. Prawns are the pickers delight, they are OK bait, but old frozen packets of Prawns are best left to the tourists (in my opinion) but a fresh/live well presented Prawn can be deadly during the summer months.

I guess in a way, we are the "lucky country" for all our faults and strange stuff going on, we do live pretty free, don't have a crazy gun culture, not paranoid about Police pulling you over to frame you for something, friendly population (in the main) decent lifestyle, very little true poverty, all in all, it's a pretty good place.

Mack Tuna, keep for bait, very red meat, and strong taste, maybe you might like that? But for me, excellent bait.

Litter is getting to be a bigger and bigger problem, especially since almost every fast food outlet has a drive through, so, you end up with a bag/box of rubbish to dispose of! Everyone is so "busy" these days, it's easier to just toss it out the window than stop for a minute to put it in the bin, I see it weekly out the front of my place, pisses me off big time. I have even resorted to be an "old fart" and calling Council, had two inspections and told there was nothing they could do, they provided a bin! I will just continue to pick up rubbish left behind by "kids" eating fast food at night.