slothparade

I know there's eels there and an occasional carp, but never caught a bass there, haven't tried though either.

Makes sense, was thinking as it was rather flat in the middle and close to the bottom could have been a ray.

Arrived around 8 am, at Bayview, loaded up the kayaks and unfortunately found that the pedal drive didn't fit. I had a major failure in the frame of the pedal drive and got the a new frame put in, unfortunately due to a slight design change adding 2 stubs on the side, it wouldn't fit in. Luckily have a large tool box in the rig so managed some alterations. Got out on the water to target squid, the water was fairly clear, at 24.8 degrees. Unfortunately no squid, but lots of jellyfish bits. Kept heading around, found some nice marks on the sounder, dropped a chrome lure with no success. Went out to the main chanel, just sounding around when I saw a very large mark, it was fairly flat in the middle with a slight curve on the front and end, not like a normal curve and much larger. It was quite low to the bottom about 10 or 11m deep. If anyone's for any ideas, what that might be, would be interested to know. Then the weird things started happening, found a school of yakkas, chucked in burly, they all came up, dropped in a sabiki, not one touched it, they ate everything but the sabiki. Ended up with 1 yakka, which I unfortunately dropped and another that was taken by a king just a bit under the kayak. After that decided to trawl a pilli and some squid strips around, the flasher rig close to the bottom and squid strip mid water column. Found some marks here and there but they were very spread out. Then came the really interesting part, saw fish busting up, went over, saw a big school on the sounder with marks surrounding it. Trawled multiple times through but absolutely nothing. After a few mins everything went quiet. a couple of locals were out there to with no success, not even on the yakkas. Went back to the beach to pack up where I wasn't paying attention and stood on a oyster rock and cut my foot open. So yeah very disappointing day considering the conditions, but always good to get out.

Yeah if you want to use lures to, baitrunner isn't the one that'd you want. I like the light Shimano reels to, but have to keep up the maintenance, on them. If your after pure durability, slammer, spinfisher or battle will serve you well. As for the battle vs the slammers, I won't speak for the battle 3 as I don't have to much experience with them , but the battle 2 feels great. It's smooth, feels like it has a bit of weight, has a lot of power, sealed and just feels like a solid good reel. The slammer is a bit smoother, better sealing, I'd say the spinfisher and battle are about the same. Probably should go to a shop and try them out.

Ahh sorry didn't remember you wanted to throw lures. Baitrunners have a pretty low ratio, in saying that I've used my liveliner to throw lures. Live liners are tough as, I use them off the kayak and they take a beating when heading out through the break. They get dunked, wacked and splashed and they just keep going, same as the slammers. I use the slammers for shark fishing in the surf and they constantly get soaked and they just don't stop. The Penns are like Toyotas, on the reasonable price end, not the smoothest but they just keep going. If you want looks and feel, Shimano is the way to go. I've unfortunately damaged almost all my Shimanos on the kayak, surprisingly the old bait runners still going. Mate loves the dawia saltist, didn't mind the Penns and hated Shimanos. Also have a look at the battle 2, mine was left of the bottom for a few days before it was recovered, quick spray and grease and it was up and going like nothing happened.

Thought about a baitrunner or liveliner? 6500 or 6000 size depending on what brand. Slammer 4 is great, slightly lighter slammer 3, but basically the same, didn't notice to much difference.

Found the front rod holders in the seak the reels tend to get splashed so keep that in mind. For fresh water, I take max 2 rods, offshore take 3-4. I found putting clips on the leader was great as it allowed me to change rigs so quickly. I have a box of pre made rigs that comes on the kayak found that was an effective way of handling everything. I not to rig on the kayak as that splits your attention. Also quick tip with the seak, the rod holder that comes with it is a Scotty mount, so if you want to keep it, can use Scotty mounts for it. Another thing with that is if your going to stand on it make sure the weight is well distributed, really doesn't like having undistributed weight. Another thing is when it starts to tip, not much chance to recover ot before fully tipping, unlike a hobie. Found the storage in the back awesome for a create, I put my pots or a create in the back and the wheels and sometimes pots on the front and use the hatch to drop them. You do tend to situp high and do get effected by the wind. Overall though, great kayak for inshore and fresh water. The handles can be a little bit of a weakness, and be a bit gentle with the rudder peddles, they can break

Had a bit of a rat problem, anyways dog did it's job and caught a whole bunch and decided to do a little experiment as people were saying sharks will only eat things they're used to, chucked a rat out and caught a small bullshark on a dead rat. I'm sure little chunks of rat would work for bream and stuff, hard to say.

what area were you having trouble with? also its worth looking at getting a motor for the seak, its cumbersome to paddle but insanely stable. i use mine for fresh water and bream fishing and crabbing, hence ive got a motor. never found the rudder all that effective, the motor is alright, 24 was reasonable but i found 54 was pretty good, though the weight adds up really quickly. also the rudder leaks, not the worst but just keep that in mind.

ive setup a solar system in my car, guess it should be applicable for you. i used redarc dcdc charger and a smart isolator for my dual batteries, the dc to dc manages it all and the isolator isolates the batteries. the charger distrobutes the charge to the battery with the lowest charge, been working really well. i also used anderson plugs for everything as ive standardised on them, the dc to dc i think can handle up to 3 batteries though i rarely use 3 and the 3rd is used as a fridge backup

i can grab some pics of mine, though its been modified should give you an idea

They replied, size limits and bag limits do not apply to private property, same as opera house traps are legal on private property. The one I contacted was unsure about opera house traps in saltwater and will contact me later with an answer.

Thanks very much, I'll directly ask them. Was always under the assumption that private property was exempt from fisheries regulations including bag limits. Im guessing its illegal to be in possession of opera house traps as well then, or does that apply to fresh water, as I was advised they were permitted in salt water to catch poddies.

Are the opera house traps allowed on private property though?

For lures I prefer a shorter rod 8-10 ft, as I find they're less tiring to use than a 12ft rod. In saying that, a 12 ft does work but you'd want to be pretty fit to cast that all day. Spinfisher surf combos is a great starting combo, that doesn't break the bank. Those reels last for ever and the rod isn't to bad either. If you want a lure rod, I'd be looking at a different combo though, I use a battle 2 on a tiapan, found the spinfisher to heavy to use all day especially on a big surf rod also a 12 ft rod becomes a bit cumbersome as you will want to be reasonably mobile. Line depends, I like 15-20 lbs mono for general surf fishing, don't know why, just prefered it to braid, though when I'm targeting specific species I'll change to braid. I always preferred to use slightly heavier mono, as I sometimes use heavy sinkers and found that lighter breaks when sending then out. For lures I prefer braid, about 20 lbs, with 20-30 lbs leader.

Worst experience I've had was at work (working in a kitchen) we had this camp come and for the most part they were all right, small bits of rubbish here and there but 99% was in the bin. The problem though, someone came around into the kitchen (staff access only) right into the food prep area and put a dirty nappy in the bin, not even wrapped in a bag. And then on the final day, I found another used, non wrapped nappy sitting on the serving station. There are literally bins everywhere no idea why someone would go to the effort of coming around just to use the kitchen bin. On the last day, same group, we were pilling the rubbish bags out the side of the kitchen waiting for the truck, anyways they thought it's a smart idea to just pile their loose rubbish on top of the pile of bags and just let it blow around. And of course they put all their luggage right in the rubbish pile. One of the weirdest groups we've ever had.

I just use one of these tackle trays. They float, pretty water resistant and never had any issues with tangling. My mate has a small tackle box he just tucks in the rear storage, works well for him. I only really take a couple of rigs and a couple of lures apart from what's already rigged. I have a main tackle bag that's huge and way to big which I store all my tackle in and then distribute for day trips unless I plan on going on a proper trip and I'll take all the tackle and distribute. With the kayak, try and limit the amount of tackle you bring, as you will save so much more time instead of rigging for every situation, rember if you don't have a line in the water you have no chance to get a fish.

i use a penn ally, though the regiment is awsome. you can pick up bargins here to. i got a spingisher 6500LL for $20, secondhand though. there is a bit of difference between the shimanos but i do find that theyre not as robust as the penns. the bg is also a good compeditor to the battle. if you look around you can pick up a second hand slammer for 100

I use the battle all the time off the kayak, absolutely perfect reel for it. Been dunked and sat in the bottom for a few days and still works like when I first got it.

I shark fish all the time, and taking baits out on a kayak. I even had the unfortunate experience of being tangled in the line and then dragging a shark bait around for half an hour trying to untangle myself in one of our best shark spots. All in all, your litterally a 1/100,000,000 chance to get bothered by a shark on a kayak. If your really worried, get a shark band, I use one because if I some how get tipped out while carrying a bait, I want as much chance to get out of the water still in one piece. A shark band is like $100 and gives you the peace of mind. Also go with someone else.

Pretty sure I've seen one in WA or NT years ago. Might have an old pic somewhere. It would have been some remote beach somewhere though, right up north, so probably not applicable for NSW

Dawia and Shimano sizes are a bit different. Dawia is on the larger Side. I'm a big advocate for heavy gear, hence my live bait setups are quite heavy. My main live bait setup is a Penn spinfisher 6500. 4000 would be better for lures though. As for longevity, just keep them regularly serviced, heard mixed reviews about both. I found Penns have the best longevity.

Anyone got any tips for Stockton?

Tried fishing Stockton beach, got there mid morning, headed up north finding rips and casting out into the churned up sand, bait was beach worms. Targets were, whiting, bream, tailor, ECT. With the wind, swell and strong currents couldn't get anything to hold bottom and was just washed onto the shore. Used up to a size 4 star sinker and a large breakway sinker which I used for sharks, which still didn't hold, kept moving up north with absolutely no luck. Wasn't really anyone fishing and those that were, were either struggling like I was or shark fishing with bricks as sinkers but even they gave up. Headed down south and tried casting lures into the churned up water, where I was bitten off. There were more people fishing down south but still having issues with the currents. Did find heapes of pipis just by churning up the sand and waiting for a wave to wash them out. Just ended up running around on the dunes and cooking up on the tailgate. Was pretty boggy with many people getting bogged at the entrance. Didn't really see anyone catching anything and quite a few people just packed up their gear and just ran up and down the beach and dunes.

Yeah, used to be able to just leave your car unlocked. Few years ago mates neighbors car was nicked or something.