Remote River Man

I am still looking for that magic recipe that makes a freshly caught mack tuna palatable....🤨

I have seen a similar thing in the mouths of black piranhas in Guyana, in South America. Pretty gross, but didn't affect the fish's eating quality - black piranhas are quite a large, tasty species.

I was recently given a bit of spare old fishing gear by my father-in-law, most of it from the previous century. One of the items was a packet of 'running sinker clips', which consist of a small plastic cylindrical sleeve with a metal clip sticking out from it at a 90 degree angle. Never used one before, but assume it's used on a typical running rig setup, with the sleeve/clip allowing you to rapidly change lead sinker sizes as the tides/conditions dictate. In other words, it's used between the swivel (about a metre up the line) and the hook. Have I got that right, and does anyone use these regularly? Previously, I've just chucked on a running ball sinker and hoped for the best....

Thanks Derek D - great stuff. Thanks for the explanations - very thorough!

Hi all - I've decided to try out some metal jigs for a change, to see what it's all about. I have a Berkley Skid Jig - pictured. Now, being completely new to jigging and therefore clueless about hook options/combinations, I've noticed mine comes with a single hook up the front. I've seen other jigs that have either two hooks dangling from the front, or nothing at the front at all... just a treble hook attached to the back end instead. My question, for any experienced jig users out there, is this: Should I be using this jig 'as is' (single front hook), or 'improve' it by either replacing the single front hook with a double hook setup, or opting for a treble at the back instead? I'm assuming adding double stinger hooks to the back (in addition to the existing front hook) is probably overkill, and would perhaps adversely affect the jig's characteristic fluttering motion through the water. I also assume a hook up the front plus a treble at the back is also a no-no, since nobody seems to do this. Any advice for a newbie on the best way to hook up my jigs (and what has worked best for you, through trial and error) is most welcome....

Looking good, Donna. Yeah, my Polycraft 4.5 Frontrunner combined with a Yamaha 60HP high-thrust is the perfect boat for me - good for crabbing, prawning, impoundment fishing, mangrove creek fishing and occasional offshore action when the fickle Bundaberg wind and weather cooperates. Lovin' it so far...

I have a 60HP Yammy on the back of my new Polycraft 4.5, and while trailering the boat I use a Poly chock to support the hydraulic rams as I cruise down the highway. I've noticed that sometimes, although I've trimmed the motor up into a perfectly upright, raised position after retrieval, by the time I get home a half hour or so later, the motor has shifted off to the side a bit. Wondering if this is a problem at all (does this off-to-the-side movement hurt the motor), and if so, what's a simple solution? I've read that some people simply attach a bungee cord from the bottom of their boat steering wheel to the pedestal base of their seat, which stops any sideways motor motion while on the road. Thoughts?

Just wondered how many Fishraiders use sea anchors (aka drift socks or drogues) while fishing, and exactly how they're used. I've got a medium sized sea anchor for my new 4.5 Polycraft, and am getting ready to attach some line to it and put it to the test (we get plenty of wind and current up here on the QLD Fraser Coast). Specifically, how long should the line between drogue and boat be, and what gauge (I'm guessing 8mm would do the trick). Also, where is it normally attached? At the bow, off the sides? I've also noticed most people use a short trip line to make it easier to pull back in, which makes sense. Any suggestions/advice on how to get the most out of a sea anchor for drift fishing are most welcome. Pics of the new boat forthcoming, once I get it set up the way I like it.....

Hi all - I'm planning to screw a Santmarine storage bin (one of those the long, white plastic ones) into the inner hull of my new 4.5 Drifter Frontrunner along the side of the boat, and am wondering about the correct length of stainless steel self-tapper screws to use, as well as the thickness (gauge). My understanding is that both the inner and outer hulls of a Polycraft are around 10mm each in thickness, with varying amounts of space between inner and outer hulls depending on where on the boat it is. So I want the screws to bite nicely into the full width of the inner hull but not extend too much into the space between, and not at all into the outer hull. I imagine in places like the flat ledge just behind the windscreen (on a Frontrunner), where you'd drill straight down into plenty of space to install a fishfinder or compass, length of screw isn't as much of an issue. But I suspect there's much less leeway along the side bulkheads. I'll be using washers and a dab of Sikaflex on each screw hole, and drilling a pilot hole first. I welcome advice on screw lengths and thickness. What screw lengths do the rest of you normally use around different parts of the boat, especially along the inner sides?

Caught my first ever barramundi (in the Kimberley) on a handline. It actually followed the lure all the way to the bank, then grabbed it when it was a few centimetres out of the water, sitting in the mud. Jumped up, twisted its body and dragged it back into the water. Beautiful to see....

According to recent wild rumours, I may finally be getting my 4.5-metre Polycraft Drifter (Frontrunner) in about three weeks. It comes with a basic lightweight Danforth, but I'll probably want a second anchor, plus possibly a reef anchor (we have a few inshore reefs up here in the Bundaberg region). I've had a look at the Sarcas (expensive) and the Coopers 3.5 kg aluminium anchor (which has had some decent reviews), and just wondered what my fellow Fishraiders use (and are happy with) for their own smallish fishing boats. Up my way, it's mostly mud and sand, with occasional rubble areas / harder bottoms. Plough anchors seem to be a good all-rounder, but any suggestions are most welcome for this anchor-buying rookie....

Just wondered what most of you use as the default for your measurements (and why), like on your fish sounders when you're measuring depth, speed, distance travelled, etc. I spent the first half of my life in Yankeeland and the second half here in Oz, so I'm equally okay with depth in feet or metres, although I'll admit I probably find feet easier to 'visualise' for depth (I'm often mentally converting metres into feet anyway...). Of course paper charts here are in metres, while many electronics let you choose your preference. And while I realise knots are somewhat the default standard for both distance and speed at sea, I imagine many of us still tend to think in terms of kilometres travelled and kms per hour rather than knots. I guess it all comes down to what you're used to and most comfortable with, but I just wondered what Fishraiders on here mostly use for their measurement defaults, and their reasons for doing so, if anyone would care to share.

Good question (for which there seems to be no logical answer), but ours isn't the only 'Spanish mackerel' in the world that has little or nothing to do with Spain, strangely. Bottom line: a lot of fish names just make no sense at all... Why is the King Brown snake called a King Brown, when it's actually a member of the black snake family? There's even a frog in the Caribean called a 'mountain chicken', too. Common names are a slippery slope of silliness for many creatures.

As a trivia geek, I've always wondered why Spanish mackerel are called that - what exactly is "Spanish" about them? Not all that much, apparently. Although several different mackerel species around the world are referred to as 'Spanish mackerel', including the smaller Atlantic chub mackerel (common in the Mediterranean) as well as other types in Japan, China, the Caribbean and other places, these are totally different species to what we know in Australia as Spanish mackerel - the narrow-barred Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson). This critter has quite a wide distribution from Southeast Asia right across the Indian Ocean to East Africa, also down both coasts of Australia as far south as Perth and Sydney, and east across to parts of the Southwest Pacific, including Fiji. What's interesting is that 'our' Spanish mackerel never used to be in Spain at all (and certainly didn't originate there). You might find the odd one cruising around the Spanish coastline these days - but that's only because it colonised that part of the world when it migrated in from the Red Sea via the Suez canal back in the 1930s. It's now reasonably common in eastern parts of the Mediterranean, but presumably a bit less so in Spain, further west. So, there ya go... the not-so-Spanish mackerel. They're big, great fighters, perpetually hungry, tasty, very easy to spot on a sounder and rather partial to trolled Halco metal flashas. So, what to do with them after you catch them? Here are some useful ideas:

Grilled octopus is quite a staple all over the Mediterranean - I've had it in Portugal, Sardinia, Croatia and Crete, and it was awesome each time. When it's prepared right, it's a beautiful dish, too often ignored by Aussies. Thanks for the recipe, KC. I discovered that Woolies-bought Tuscan seasoning goes extremely well on octopus, too... and just about any fish dish, for that matter. I prefer Moroccan seasoning on grilled Spanish mackerel, though.