Berleyguts

What time are you leaving the ramp these days, Jeff? I think I’ve gotta get better at navigating in the dark and I think I spend too much time trying for livies! 😂😂 Planned to head out tomorrow but I’ve stuffed my back. 🤬

Good to see, Jeff! I’m always keeping an eye out for your reports here or on FB or Instagram and showing them to my wife. I’ve been focusing on my music lately (when not doing chores 😂 and battling health issues 🤷‍♂️), with an actual paid gig a couple of weeks ago 😎 and my boat’s been collecting dust. I nearly fell over last night when my wife said, “You haven’t been fishing for a while,” and I replied, “Yeah, I’ve probably forgotten what to do!” 😂 And she said, “Why don’t you ask that Scratchie guy to go out with you?” 🤩 Things are looking up and I’ve got a window this week! 😂😂

May 14-16. https://tbft.net.au Interesting... about that time (maybe the week after, hopefully?), Little Beach boat ramp will be closed for refurbishment for a few months. The “short cut” road to Soldiers Point ramp, Foreshore Drive at Corlette has subsided and will be closed indefinitely and the road between Tomaree Headland and the Shoal Bay ramp is apparently closed due to current weather events. I imagine major works may be required there, too. Wait and see, I guess. 🤷‍♂️

Karuah or Hawkes Nest bridges... the fish will all congregate under them so they don’t get wet from the rain! 😂😂😂

Thanks. I change them every 6 months.

That road will be closed for several weeks, I think, so I’ll have to go the long way around. No short cuts! 😂Incidentally, that road and causeway were not installed by council apparently. The road never joined up until landowners on either side built the small causeway and put a rough road over it. So I’m told anyway. Good idea re the bottled water. We have a plumbed fridge with ice maker and water dispenser. Would the filter handle that brown water do you reckon? I assume the ice cubes I currently have in my whiskey were made earlier in the day...? 🤷‍♂️

Yes, we’re certainly getting hammered! (As is most of the coast...). The good news is it looks like I’ve finally fixed my leaky roof after 4 insurance claims in 4 years! 😎 I still need to install 2 or 3 more down pipes, though, as the gutters can’t cope and I’ve had a little bit of water getting into the eaves and down a wall. It looks like there are small trees growing in the middle of the road to work now. It will take 3 times longer to get to work on Saturday, I’m sure. Stay safe, everyone! PS. Some homes had no water. We had brown water... so I switched to bottled brown wate

You can usually grab a little plastic crab measuring tool at tackle shops. Very easy to use to measure across the carapace. I read something the other day about the minimum size for blue swimmers increasing by 0.5cm soon, from April 1 I think.

This is effectively what I do. Not because of eyesight... just for convenience. I’m struggling to tie knots at the moment due to a painful blood blister on my left thumb. Even opening and closing a snap is tricky... but I’m getting there! 😂

Another great report, Jeff! You do put in the effort! 😎 I was hoping to head out tomorrow but it looks like it’ll be blowing 17-20 knots from the NE.... and that’s the end of my holidays! 🤷‍♂️

Great stuff, Jeff! Were those garfish at Cabbage Tree? I often seem to struggle for slimies in the dark and find them a lot more responsive once that pre-dawn glow starts to appear. I think today would have been the pick of the week, weather wise. I’m kicking myself because I’m on holidays and... no... I promised I wouldn’t clutter your threads with reasons why I didn’t go fishing! (Mostly medical issues - getting old I guess! 🤷‍♂️). Maybe Friday... 🤷‍♂️😂 At least I’ve been putting some time into my music... jam night tonight. 🎶🎸🎤😎

I usually carry three beers on my boat on each trip... Kirks Old Stoney Ginger Beer. 😂 I don’t crack a real beer until I’m at home washing down the boat.

I often carry 8. It’s a pain in the backside cleaning them all at the end of the day but I like to be prepared. I mostly fish on my own, so if I bust off or something, I have another outfit ready to go straight away. I don’t want to spend the whole drift re-rigging. Note: I only have a maximum of 4 outfits fully rigged. The others are rigged to snap swivel, ready to clip on a lure or leader. I generally carry the following: 15, 10 and 6kg gamefish trolling (or live baiting) outfits. Rigged with Pretest mono, double and wind on leaders to snap swivel. 2 x 10kg spin outfits with braid

Yeah, I know I can order online. I just want to look at one and figure out where I can mount it. 🤷‍♂️

That’s what I say! I tried a lot of options on Tuesday, covered a lot of water and was really just happy driving the boat. The beakies, snaps and flatties didn’t want to play but at least I had a ball spinning up bonnies on ultra light gear. 😎 Good for the soul, this fishing stuff!