nigelr

thanks billfisher, yeah it will definitely be hit with tectyl before it's first use.

Sincere thanks gentlemen for taking the time to reply; living 500k's north it's obviously a real gamble buying 'unsighted' and so I genuinely appreciate your comments. gazza thankfully I'm looking at the '4 x 2 17 foot unbraked with skids' model - I can only hope your experience was a very unfortunate one-off. I did a search on this forum and a couple of the members seem to have bought them........

Have a look at a Stessco Catcher 4.2. Good deep vee for a pressed ali hull and quite high sides also. 3mm bottom sheets for a bit of peace of mind. Would go ok with your 25 in enclosed waters though 3-up would limit it out. My son and I used to take mine over the local river bar and out to sea on a calm, flat day, although it did have a 30hp. As others have said, if you can wait and buy something bigger with a bigger motor, it will give you more options and may save you an upgrade later.

duralac between dissimilar metals and disconnect your battery/ies! PITA maybe, but personally worth the peace of mind.

by jimminy gazza that does not sound encouraging!

anyone got a Sales trailer? looking at one for my tinnie; they talk the talk and look solid for the $ anyone have any experience with them? cheers.

Living on the mid north coast I will say that hereabouts and further north salmon have increased from a rarely-seen species to one that is almost in plague proportions from late May to early December. It's not only the baitfish they eat but juveniles of other species; the sheer numbers of these salmon have to be seen to be believed and being an active species the total food intake would be phenomenal. Personally I don't have a problem with a certain amount being taken commercially, however this issue will be the methodology applied, the by-catch and whether or not salmon remain the actual target. I can remember seeing my first aus salmon caught at DY beach one night back in the late 70's; none of us local lads had ever seen one. Fortunately a couple of the boys were from the 'Gong and knew what it was straight away. Salmon have certainly come on strong since then.

Agreed, leave her be mate. Never spoil a work of art. Not worth the risk of being dissapointed. If you need a two piece rod this long, buy a new one. Blank design has come a long way since then, but Kilwell have the SU7180 or Pacific Composites have the SU 7177, both are fibreglass and both available as 2 piece. Cheers.

Thanks for posting this useful piece of info, Neil. Can only concur with your sentiments, all rec licence holders owe it to themselves to be aware of Fisheries' activities. Cheers.

I realise that this post is doing nothing to return to the original topic, however, in respect of Recreational Fishing Havens. I would take the opportunity to bring to members attention the present circumstances surrounding the Bellinger River Recreational Fishing Haven (RFH). The creation of this RFH allowed for the buy-out of the commercial estuary fishers then present within the system, thus removing pressure on the fish species targetted by the pros. However, at this moment, a group of travelling Ocean Haul Fishers, specifically Beach Haul netters ostensibly targetting mullet, are awaiting the annual mullet run so they can haul net those species that exit the river during this process. In 2004 this same group took an estimated 2 tonnes of mulloway during an identical operation. As you can imagine local rec fishers are somewhat incensed at the present situation. Fisheries have advised that the presence of the beach haul netters immediately adjacent to the confluence of the river and the sea is legal. As long as they conform with the relevent regulations, they can take the following species via Beach Haul netting. All mullet species, blue, frigate and spanish mackeral, yellowfin bream, sand whiting, diamond fish, luderick, sweep, tarwhine, dart, salmon, longtail and mackeral tuna, 3 species of bonito, as well as mulloway. So what I'm saying is while it seems that fish numbers are being encouraged to prosper within the RFH of the river/estuary system, the commercial sector is free to plunder them as they hit the beach! Considering the $20 million loan taken by NSW Fisheries to set up the RFHs is being repayed by Rec Fishers licence fees, the pros must be having more than a little chuckle to themselves! This is only one example, in the Richmond and Tweed rivers, our licence fees pay for a mulloway re-stocking program. I'm sure the local commercial Estuary Haul Fishers, still able to operate within these rivers, are enjoying this bonus immensely. There are several rivers declared RFH in NSW, what is happening at the mouth of the Bellinger at the moment is small beer compared to the Beach Haul netting occuring annually, adjacent to the Macleay, Clarence etc. Sorry for the monologue, but I am one NSW rec licence holder who is not happy with this situation.