davebrewer

You'll also have to change the trailer rego,and make sure the Bill of Sale is unaltered and complete-they made me go back and get a second one last time over some ridiculous issue which I can't remember now-the exercise of commonsense discretion is unknown at the RTA. Cheers, Dave.

Calcutt's twisted leader knot-quick,easy and reliable.Just wrap the braid around the leader about 20 times and make an overhand knot,then 3 more through the same loop,pull tight and cut the tags.I've never had one fail yet. Cheers, Dave.

You could try glueing in an internal sleeve cut from another section of rod with epoxy-shops that make up rods often have all sorts of offcuts lying around.It is going to alter the action but is worth a try-I'd go and see Big Bob at West Gosford if it was me. Cheers, Dave.

That's the new pedestrian bridge next to the Woy Woy road/rail bridge.Must get around to Patonga soon-great post. Cheers, Dave.

Also Blackwall flats and Pretty Beach flats. Cheers, Dave.

I've had one for 3 years.I tow mine with a Prado but on paper my wife's 2.5L X-trail can tow the weight no problem-haven't tried though.The cabin is very roomy,more than it looks from the road,and it is a pleasure to drive and cruise and very safe-feeling in chop and swell;pretty dry too.For fishing I wish I had gone with a free-standing bimini with rocket launchers rather than a braced one,and a big bowmounted electric would be nice,but the boat itself is great and offers a lot of versatility.Electric anchor and trailer winches would be nice too-it's a heavy boat to retrieve and I use a long chain to anchor. . Cheers, Dave.

Maybe the spider was the lucky one!

Great first catch and great photo Tony!Congratulations to your little champ. Cheers, Dave.

A belated Happy Birthday from me too Hodgey-wish I was down there in God's country for the holidays but work beckons tomorrow. Cheers, Dave.

I threw SP's there today for 4 hours for 1 flounder which I dropped at my feet-another guy I chatted with had caught and released a 10lb breeder earlier, and had 1 pansized keeper-I don't know if holiday pressure may have been the problem,or having the wind in our teeth.Great to be out in any case.The highlight though was the frightening spectacle of three blokes trying to load a beautiful timber speedboat(one of those classic Indiana Jones ones) onto a totally submerged trailer hitched to a Mercedes 4WD also underwater to the top of the rear axle. .I could almost hear the corrosion spreading. Cheers, Dave.

You guys-get fair dinkum will you?What you witnessed was karma at work with a vengeance,working through the mighty Eagles-my faith in the game is restored.

There's a good recently refurbished ramp at Pretty Beach-about 10 minutes from Copa. Cheers, Dave.

Damn straight-that GF was a dream come true(for we true believers that is). Cheers, Dave.

What a great start to the season Erwin- Kudos on your efforts on Luke's behalf-what goes around hey? Cheers, Dave.

That's good advice-I am about to replace my weary old Avon centrepin with an Alvey sidecast blackfish reel-I expect to be able to cast a lot further when I need to,but still retain the instant line control so vital in blackfishing. I'm thinking about trying Rapala Titanium Stretch braid out on the new reel. Cheers, Dave.

Congratulations on your PB Matt-that must have been quite a job on 4lb line! Cheers, Dave.

If you're still looking,check out Willn's post in "swap and sell".Looks like a great deal. Cheers, Dave.

I'll put you out of your misery-Dark Corner is the headland starting at the northern end of the beach.

Well done Simon-what a great post.Love the pictures. Cheers, Dave.

The flats at Bayview around the sailing club are where I got mine when I lived at Dee Why-never found any where else( or needed to-they were very reliable).

So have I-I've almost finished my 6th,but they've all been sailing boats and canoes-this ABP thing is new and potentially a huge pain in the arse for amateur builders (thanks NSW Government Big Brother- follow the bloody U.S. bureaucrats mindlessly)hence my inquiry-any information would be greatly appreciated.

Has he sussed out how to get the ABP(Australian Builders Plate) you need to register all powerboats,including homemade ones, since last year?I've been thinking about building a 4.5 M boat and will have to deal with this too.This is the one that caught my interest: http://www.bateau2.com/gallery/GV15/view.h...g&boat=GV15 Cheers, Dave.

That's great Geoff-I've been putting off installing an electric for the same reason on my Coxcraft.Could you give a bit of info on the dimensions and the material sizes-I can't work out how the stainless posts are secured to the hull.Many thanks, Dave

Caine,yahoo search rodbuilding and check Australia only-it will take you to a couple of DVD's which look interesting.Roberta's talking about the Australian Rodbuilder I think which will be hard to find.Dale Clements books are probably where most of the current custom guys got started,although they may be a bit dated in some respects.There are also a number of forums online.HTH, Dave.

Many thanks-it was the big 50 for me;that's going to take some getting used to! Cheers, Dave