davebrewer

Good stuff Bayrunner-what a flea Coombes is,to be so snidely dismissive of a man of Bob Kearney"s credentials under the cover of privilege.

When I'm wading I take one of those spring-loaded fish grabbers(I don't know what the bloody things are called);I've yet to drop a fish once I get a grip on the lip with it.Sounds like you guys didn't miss anything by passing on Curly-nice backup plan! Cheers, Dave.

A cautionary note:it is a good spot but can be bloody dangerous-a number of anglers have been lost there over the years,and my brother and his mate have both had close calls there.The front can be a prime spinning spot for surface fish, but keep an eye on the swell here-if it's up it rolls back fast from the cliff behind you. Cheers, Dave.

It's going to be horribly loud if you're sitting right next to it-don't forget your ear protection!Pretty smelly too. It'd be interesting to see how it went though. Cheers, Dave.

I use a tablespoon-saw Peter Doyle of Doyle's Restaurant recommend it years ago on TV.

Beats me Ray-couldn't get a touch in 3 hours of tossing plastics at Wagstaff flats on Sunday arvo-thought they would be thicker now than a month ago. Cheers, Dave.

I think you'll be fine-it looks flat and if there's no bowrail to cut it should be a straightforward installation.

Congrats Shan,that looks terrific-really professional.You'll be ready for anything once you get your bowmount. Cheers, Dave.

Storm wildeye shad 2" in the mullet looking colour,Berkley 4" power minnow in caspar clear.Mind you I reckon flathead will have a go at most Sp's,but those 2 have been working particularly well for me lately in Brisbane Water.

Terrific post Marty, love the pictures.Congrats on a memorable Pb!

Are mangrove jacks still turning up in the lagoon?I use to fish there about 25 years back for bream at night,but one wet day during a big fresh scored my only ever jack,which surprised the hell out of me.I later found out that a variety of usually tropical fish were caught there from time to time. Cheers, Dave.

Jeez Shan,you didn't waste any time getting your boat to pay for itself! Cheers, Dave

The foredeck is the triangle shaped sheet welded to the gunwhales at the front of the boat-the idea is to mount the electric as close to it's centreline as possible so it pulls the boat most efficiently. Cheers, Dave.

If the foredeck's pretty flat the mount should go on fine Shan-best price I can find on a 44lb bowmount is $499 from that MailOrder Tackle place-PM me if you don't follow.That's for a Jarvis Walker Watersnake-I've been looking into getting one too but don't want to pay MinnKota prices given that the JW feedback has been mostly positive.Glad you managed to get the floor you really wanted. Cheers, Dave.

Many thanks Macka. Cheers, Dave.

Good on you Shan-congrats on the PB. Looks like where going to have a great season! Cheers, Dave.

Having seen the picture I agree that it could be risky to remove the central thwart without beefing up the area with extra ribs or by following Livo's suggestion,but I think mods like these will be costly unless you can get the welding done cheap somehow.One thing (you probably already know) is to make sure you can inspect under the floor for dropped terminal gear that can quickly react causing holes in the skin.I can't believe you got the rig for $500 Shan-what a find! Cheers, Dave.

That is the name Shan,it's one of Jeff Webster's,he's also got one on Bay and Estuary Fishing-they're $9.95 each.If you can't find one let me know-you can order from Jeff directly. Cheers, Dave.

Congrats on the new boat Shan-I know you'll be putting it to good use.Probably OK to remove the seat -plenty of tinnies are built that way-there should be ribs which give the hull it's strength.I'd build a removeable marine ply floor shaped to the hull sides (with oregan lands glued to the bottom with marine epoxy if it wants to flex-that'll depend on how wide the floor is for the thickness of ply).You could seal the whole thing with epoxy if you wanted to to waterproof it but I think I'd knock it up cheap and simple and just replace it in 5 years or so if necessary.If the hull is a tricky shape a thick cardboard pattern scribed off the side will give you the correct shape for your ply.Let me know if this doesn't make sense-it's easier to visualise it than describe it.There's a mag in the newsagents at the moment called"Fitting Out For Lake and River Fishing" which has heaps of good info including a section on fitting floors on page 60.HTH, Cheers, Dave.l

Judging by the smile I assume that's a PB? Cheers, Dave.

Gooday Nigel, I found that review yesterday and that's what got me seriously interested in these reels-talk about value for money!I don't see how you can go wrong with that guarantee,and at these prices I think it's worth a go,given there've been no negative posts. Cheers, Dave.

I'm looking at a couple of new outfits shortly and was curious if anyone has any experience with these reels. I'm specifically interested in the VS20 for my new flats rod,and the VS65SA for highspeed (8kg) rock spinning.Any input will be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Dave.

I used to catch heaps of dart off the beach I grew up near-they are terrific fighters on light gear using pippies,worms,yabbies,prawns etc as bait and I bet they'd be suckers for small Sps too.Apparently they taste great skinned,but Mum just used seasoned flour and fried them(as she did with all the fish we inflicted on her as kids). Cheers, Dave.

Geez Royce,thanks for reminding me,I've still got an old 663 rod downstairs somewhere-I'm going to have to dig it out and have a go.I've been using a Magbream since a mate gave me the blank for rolling a few rods for him about 20 years ago.I love that rod for its versatility-if not fishing for blackfish I can put a 6"Alvey on it and use it for wash fishing or light beach work.Never had a carbonfibre beach/rock rod but have recently swapped to them for estuary SP/HB lure fishing after a long layoff and just love using them.Scouting around for a 2-4kg blank around 7'6" for flats/beach at the moment. Cheers, Dave.

I've just looked in Calcutt And Simpson's "Book of Lures" : "It is worth noting that prior to the soft plastic revolution,advanced anglers were taking a lot of flathead on trolled lures.They used echo sounders to fish dropoffs,sticking to contours around the 3-4 metre mark where the deep diving bibbed lures would be scraping along the bottom.This method is still very productive." It sounds like the trick is to match your lure to the water depth and monitor things closely on your sounder. Very interesting that davemmm has good results with his technique of making a racket on the bottom.Please let us know how you get on Bob.A boat that size is also easy to beach on those midstream flats,allowing you to wade and cast-one of my favourite ways to fish on a warm day. Cheers, Dave.