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DerekD

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Everything posted by DerekD

  1. Not the full set-up but that is an excellent suggestion so I'll try and put something together over the next week. Anything in particular you are interested in?
  2. Hi Frank, This thread was never intended as a competition. It was intended for people to get inspired and take out their cameras and try and create beautiful or touching images to share with the rest of us. It was also an opportunity for people to get out their old images which would currently be collecting the equivalent of electronic dust. The list of topics was added to provide some motivation. Really appreciate you sharing this with us. Derek
  3. Fireworks on NYE at Sydney harbour years ago... The colours came out pretty nicely. What was a surprise was how well the black and white one came out.
  4. Hi Kayakers, This topic is a little more subjective as what works for me may not suit your fishing style. While I’ll do fishing excursions to other Sydney waterways, in general my favourites are Sydney Harbour (East of the bridge), Pittwater and Middle Harbour. My preference is targeting the pelagics and especially the kings. I own a Hobie Revolution 13 with Fishfinder and that has had an impact on how I fish. For example if I see a school of fish feeding on the surface in the vicinity the use of the mirage drive keeps my hands free as I power towards the school. I can grab my rod and be ready to throw a lure when in range. When fighting a fish I can use the drive to move me away from structure to give me a better chance of landing the fish. I have mates with paddle kayaks and some of them have done way better than I have in the last year so don’t let the lack of peddle drive be a concern. As with most things in life, effort and fishing smarter yields better results – they were out on the water far more often than I was and they used our network to work out where the fish were biting and what was working. The following are a collection of notes based on what has worked for me during over 10 years of fishing from a kayak. It is open to improvement as I have an aha moment or learn something new from others. I am a person who probably brings too much on the water but I’d rather have it and not need it than need something and not have it with me. You will likely be far from your back up vehicle so you have to be clever in what you bring and you need to be adaptable enough to deal with changing conditions. Unless you have a pro angler (which is a small battleship) space is at a premium on a kayak. My kayak has several storage locations (middle hatch and large front hatch) so I use them to my advantage. Everything I am likely to need quickly is stored in small Plano boxes and dry bags in the middle hatch between my legs. I have a larger garbage bag with additional things I might need in a pinch in the front hatch. My pliers, fishing knife, lip grips, some cord, wet rag and a plastic bag are kept in the mesh side pockets. First piece of advice on a kayak – lose the trebles wherever possible. You do not want to get a treble caught up in your skin while trying to unhook a madly jumping fish. Suitable large eye replacement hooks are strong enough and far more easy to remove safely from a fish. They are less likely to get tangled up in a landing net if you choose to use one. Second piece of advice is to have things set up so it requires the minimum of effort to change out your set up depending on what circumstances dictate. For example, swivels with duolock clips allow me to quickly change from a metal slice to a hard body lure to a squid jig to a hook and sinker arrangement without a lot of re-tying. Another example, I keep a small collection of plastics, slices and squid jigs in the cup holder pocket so I can very quickly grab a spare or change out lure if required. I have 4 go to outfits to choose from when heading out on the water. These are: A light outfit (2-4kg or 2-5kg). In my case this is usually the Daiwa Wicked Weasel (actually 2-6kg) with Sedona 2500 reel and 8lb braid. With the long butt this rod annoys me SP fishing shore based but is perfect for the kayak. A medium snapper type outfit (5-8kg). In my case it is either the Raider Snapper 762 or the ArrowZ AAS-270H (14-30lb) matched with a Shimano (Stradic or Sedona) 4000 reel and 15lb braid. A heavy outfit (50 or 80lb). In my case it is the Shakespeare Ugly Stik 5’6” blue water rated to 37kg line. It is matched with an older Spheros 14,000 reel for which I have a 50lb and an 80lb spool. A 9 weight 9 foot fly rod with intermediate (partially sinking) line. I usually run a 20lb or 30lb leader on this rod. Disclaimer: I've heard some pretty strong opinions about taking a 37kg outfit on a kayak. You shouldn't do it. You'll flip the kayak if you hook into a big fish. Etc. I have a slightly different view point to what the others are saying and I've been doing it that way for a long time. First thing is just because it is a 37kg outfit with a drag to suit it doesn't mean you have to fight a fish like that. I do not fight the fish on a locked drag - not even close. I barely wind it up. In fact I use just enough drag to do the job I need it too. Why do I take it out on the kayak then you may ask. First answer is I already owned it. Second answer is that it is a short rod so the lever is not huge when fighting the fish. I can leave it in the rod holder with the drag backed right off for the strike and then put my other gear away before grabbing it. I can use a very heavy sinker on it without damaging the rod as part of my poor man's down rigger. If you snag up you will probably have to cut the line but I haven't had that problem yet. Unfortunately I only have 3 rod holders so I’ll make a decision between the heavy outfit or fly rod depending on what part of the fishing season it is. The fly rod comes out when the schools of pelagics are around and are primarily focussed on the very small bait fish which an eye fly can replicate. I have a Plano box which contains everything I might need for the light rod (swivels with clips, halco twistys, soft plastics, small poppers, jig heads, small hooks, sinkers, blades, squid jigs) and some things I might need for the medium rod (larger hooks and sinkers). I have a second Plano box for the medium outfit (larger swivels with clips, hooks, sinkers, squid jigs and several types of hard body lures and some plastics such as Slapstix). In the dry bag I ensure I have everything I need to replace/re-tie leaders or tippets while on the water. In my case, 8lb, 10lb, 20lb, 30lb, 60lb and 80lb leader, braid scissors and a cigarette lighter to finish off my FG knots. I also keep spare packets of soft plastics in the dry bag. I bring a bucket. In particular I like the older Handy Pail in 11 litres which used to be found at Bunnings. It is a short squat bucket made of food grade plastic which has a lid. The larger diameter makes it easier to put slightly longer squid or fish (e.g., live yellowtail) in it. Being squat it is a bit more stable than taller buckets. The older ones had an all plastic handle. Filling it with water and changing out through the day allows me to keep my live bait alive (obviously) but it also stops my fresh caught squid strips from being cooked under the sun. Often the squid strips are in such good condition at the end of the day that I can ziplock and freeze them for a later session. When I first head out I have a swivel and duolock clip and 10gram silver halco twisty sitting on the light rod. This gives me an excellent casting range and is very effective on the surface feeding pelagics when the bait fish are around. If I don’t see feeding schools then my first stop is usually one of my bait grounds for squid. The clip means I can easily switch from twisty to squid jig. When squidding from the kayak I am trying to cover ground. I’ll pick a line parallel to the shore but just outside the weed beds and cast as far as possible forwards. If outside weed beds I can let it hit the bottom. If I’m worried about snagging up then I work with a mental countdown to keep the jig above the weed beds. Short sharp aggressive flicks with pauses is usually very effective. When I hook up I am paranoid about getting inked so I have developed a technique on the Hobbie where I peddle forward and drag the squid parallel and alongside the kayak. I tap it several times for it to spurt out ink in a safe direction then carefully lift it into my bucket. The problem with this is that it often takes a bit of time and there are usually another 1 or 2 squid where you hooked up. Sometimes I will have a second squid jig hanging from the snapper rod which is in the holder and then pick up a second squid that way. Once I have all the bait I need the squid jig gets changed out for the Twisty. During the day I might switch to a soft plastic of 3 inches as it allows me to work the water column. Small surface lures such as poppers or sugapens (one of the few lures I will leave the trebles on) can also be very effective on surface fish. Don’t be afraid to use a light rod on a kayak. In Sydney harbour, unless you are in the moorings or very close to the shore, there are very few snags on the bottom for the fish to bust you off on. As long as you keep your head and don’t rush you should be able to get most fish to the kayak. Note that when they see the kayak they will often startle and run – let them. Each run will get shorter and shorter. Time is usually on your side. For catching live bait I have a smaller version of the snapper swivel, sinker and hook rig shown further down below. On my medium outfit I run 15lb with 30lb nylon leader and a heavier swivel and duolock clip suited for that line rating. When I head out I have the medium outfit in the rod holder and then usually run a shiny, deep diving skinny profile minnow type lure. For example, the Yo-Zuri Crystal minnow with the trebles changed to singles. If I’ve got to paddle to a destination anyway I may as well tow a lure. It doesn’t account for the majority of my fish but I have hooked up sufficient tailor, kings, bonito, etc to make it a money for nothing proposition. Have the drag set tight enough to set the hook but not too tight so as to result in problems at that first aggressive strike. You will have time to put down whatever you have in your hands and reach back to grab the rod. If I don’t hook anything on the way out then I might throw a bigger squid jig on this outfit when I get to my bait grounds. I get some good casting distance and am more likely to get my jig back if I snag up on weed. I have some pre-prepared rigs (see pictures below) consisting of a swivel 50lb line passed several times through a pretty heavy ball sinker to friction lock it into place and then there is another 80cm of line to a 5/0 or usually 6/0 Gamakatsu Octopus circle hook. Once I have sufficient squid I strip it into the bucket and then use a strip on this outfit. I hold this outfit forwards and outwards in my hands as I slowly cover ground. The heavy outfit is set up with a poor man's downrigger (see pictures below) and nothing else. The leader on the heavy outfit is usually 80lbs regardless of the braid being 50lb or 80lb. I only have about 1m of leader. I have some heavy pendulum type snapper sinkers through which I pass the line. I then tie it to a swivel with an eye too large to pass through the snapper swivel. On the other end of this swivel I tie another 1m of leader and finish with a 6/0 or even 7/0 Gamakatsu octopus circle hook. This rod sits in the rear rod holder and slightly off to the side of the kayak. I usually put a squid head on this with the hook well exposed. Back the drag off to the point that there is light resistance. Enough to set the hook but not enough for you to get into trouble. About half my kings are usually caught off this rod. I drop it down till the sinker hits the bottom then bring it up several meters. I don’t want to feed the pickers. I want the fish big enough to take a large bait in a single bite. On the fly rod I’ll use 20lb if I am fishing the eye flies or 30lb if I am fishing larger flies such as squid flies, clousers or gummy/chummy minnows. I only use about 1m of leader as I have found the pelagic when feeding don’t seem to be put off by a less than subtle presentation. I fish a very open style with the fly rod as I don’t want that fly anywhere near my body. I can strip line onto the hatch between my legs. I use roll casts to get the line back to the surface and then can start false casting. If you drag the line behind you when following schools you can inadvertently hook up. Dragging the line behind you also helps you load up the rod when you want to fire the fly line forwards. I have a rod holder for each rod so depending on what goes off I can put the other rod in the rod holder and then work with the one with the fish on the end. Think about the rod length and how you fight the fish. If you have a heavy rod with heavy drag holding it out as far as you can perpendicular to the kayak gives the fish a nice lever to tip the kayak. Fish the rod tip close to the boat. My bream, snapper and fly rods are slightly longer but as they are lighter I am unlikely to get tipped. The added length means I can swing the rod tip over the bow when fighting the fish. The use of the heavy rod in the rod holder and snapper rod in my hand has been very effective in the past. My best so far was 20 kings in a working week. I often use the Fishfinder with this two rod arrangement. I pick a depth of say 10m and set my lines so the baits are maybe 4m off the bottom. I can then follow the shoreline while maintaining this depth to ensure my baits are in the sweet spot. If I see what looks like pickers (especially leatherjackets) I can pick up the pace to get clear of them and then slow down again. So you have hooked your fish, fought your fish and it is time to land it. Depending on what the species is I might use the wet rag, comfort lift it with my hand or use the lip grips. If I plan to release it then the long nosed pliers give me a pretty good opportunity to unhook the fish safely without having to lift it out of the water. Some people use a net but I usually don’t like them on a kayak. It is another thing to carry and lose (unless you have a lanyard). When the fish is jumping around the hook can catch into the webbing making it even more of a challenge to release. There is a time and place for them. I think they would be excellent in estuaries with bream and small flathead. I find them a struggle with longer species such as kings. If you plan to keep it then you need to be sure it is legal. I don’t feel like lifting a bucking fish into the kayak. My solution has been to make several tags with a dymo label maker. Specifically, 0cm, 40cm, 65cm and 70cm. I have stuck them on with a tape measure. They are correct within a mm or two . Legal size for a bream is 25cm so hold it between the 40 and 65cm tags. Legal size for a snapper is 30cm. Hold it beteen the 40cm and 70cm tags. Flathead (usually 36cm) can be estimated between the 0cm and 40cm mark. Legal king 65cm – got that one. Mulloway 70cm – got that one too. These marks are all within easy reach on my dominant side. It is a very easy check to see legal versus undersized. I can bring out the tape measure if it is borderline. If I plan to keep it with a bit of care I can cut its throat while in water and then put it in the keeper bag or more often that handy plastic garbage bag in the side pockets. The fish then gets stowed in the larger front hatch. The place where I launch from has a point which blocks the view down the harbour. When we head out as a group we will usually send one of the faster kayaks to look around this corner to see if the schools are there while the others head towards the bait-grounds. Why spend all morning chasing bait if the fish are already feeding and you have some Halco twistys with you. We usually have mobile phones handy and often separate at times. Whoever finds fish lets the others know. Hope this has given you a few things to think about. Supporting photos below. Plano box for light rod Plano box for medium rod Swivel and duolock clip Yo-zuri crystal minnow Rig for snapper rod Rig for heavy rod If you haven't seen the first part of this topic go to:
  5. Transport: A friend asked me to get some photographs of his lovingly customised Vespa... Taken with Canon EOS 80D and 18 to 135mm lens. The challenge was trying to keep my image out of the mirror like reflective surfaces (unsuccessfully, if you look carefully at the photos).
  6. Please do. You've posted some cracking ones so far and if you have others in the garage like these then it would be a shame not to share them.
  7. Hot dang!! @kingie chaser Those food shots are fantastic. I had a sugar rush just looking at the last photo. Who prepared the food in your photos? If it was you I vote we have a BBQ at yours once Covid restrictions ease.
  8. Wildlife: White faced heron. Was lucky enough to catch this bird feeding. The meal was less lucky. Canon EOS 80D. This rainbow lorikeet came up to say hello while I had my 80D with me. I bought a 150mm-600mm lens for some wildlife photography a few months back. This cropped photo of the crab was taken from about 3m away. With the Canon 80D having a cropped sensor it did help with the magnification a bit.
  9. Trees: This tree growing on a tree was a surprise
  10. Topic: Close up (or angles) Was teaching my cousin the basics of photography. One thing I was trying to impress on her is change your perspective or elevation or angle to get the impact. Using what I said she took this one of a very famous iconic Sydney building (I wish I'd taken it) on my Canon EOS 350D. It is the Sydney Opera house.
  11. Hi Zoran. Luv it!! Especially how the sense of movement comes through in the photograph. Your daughter did really well there. Please keep them coming. D.
  12. Hi All, Most of us have easy access to a camera. It might be a simple as your mobile phone or a high end kit. I started the following challenge for work during Covid but never followed through on it but I thought it would be a good topic for Fishraider. The challenge is to put together a set of images in whichever suggested topic(s) below appeal to you. If you head out for your outdoor recreation bring your camera. I've also included topics that can be done inside the home. Get creative. Play around with the angles that you take them from. Consider the light. This is not a competition as such but it is a chance to share images which give us a bit more insight into the people on this forum. If you can, include some details about the photo such as where, when, the camera or phone. A loved one Action Angles Beach Black and White Boating Close to the heart Close ups Clouds Dusk and Dawn Fireworks Flowers Food Homes Landscape Macro (thanks @Green Hornet) Nightlife Polarising lens impact (the most dramatic changes you have using a circular polarising filter) Portrait Reflections (thanks @kingie chaser) Roads Sculpture Silhouette Stone Textures Transport Trees View from my window (e.g. home, office, car) Water Weddings Wildlife Some examples for action photos: The first two were taken at the ski park near Wiseman's ferry when one of the boat owners was kind enough to take me out on their boat. The challenge was keeping the focus sharp as the gentlemen was working the wake hard. I then realised that since he was on a ski rope he was always going to be the same distance from the tie off point on the boat. I just got the sharpness right once then turned off the autofocus. The second was taken at Curl Curl south when we had some pretty big waves. If you have photos taken previously which fit into the categories then feel free to recycle them. Those beautiful photos you have sitting on storage will bring far more joy if you can share them around to a larger audience. I'm also open to suggestions for other topics. Happy snapping. Regards, Derek
  13. Savage Gear or Shimano? The only Bream Raiders I know are made by Shimano. I highly recommend the Shimano Bream raiders and they are still in my top five for bream rods based on configuration (length and short butt) and bang for buck. It is what I teach people on when introducing them to plastics. A number of people I have helped have bought them. The weight is a tad heavy but you only really notice it if you have switched from a lighter rod. I'd probably be looking at the Bream Raider 762 (7 foot 6 inches 2 piece) as it has a 3 to 12gm rating. The 1 to 4 has a slightly lighter lure rating. If you can go a little more then I'd be looking at the ArrowZ range in 7 foot. Just a touch lighter.
  14. Had a query several years ago about kings in the moorings. Read through some of the replies here: Curious why you are losing them. Are you landbased or on some sort of watercraft? If on a boat, even with light gear you should have a good chance of landing them.
  15. Hi Cooper, Welcome to Fishraider. Have a read through: We can then go through any questions you have afterwards. I know the Middle Harbour area very well and have fished it for a long time. I've messaged you my contact number. Regards, Derek
  16. I've done really well on the Ecogear ZX 30/35/40/43 series. The problem I've had with the traditional vibes is that the trebles are very snaggy and as I am fishing light gear it can sometimes get expensive. The ZX series does away with the trebles and uses two small but very strong assist hooks. I've landed quite a few different species on it including, flathead, bream, whiting, tarwhine, squid, peacock(red) gurnard, salmon, trevalley and even a kingfish. I like the 40 and now the 43 for the casting distance. Most of the time I bounce these along the bottom although I have had fish take them on the drop through the water column as well as when bringing them to the surface. These things can vibrate so aggressively that they are probably the equivalent of shouting underwater. Some people talk about using a slow roll or wind but I don't like this as you can't tell how far or quickly you are moving off the bottom hence the bouncing. The way I fish them is to cast as far as I can and look for the sag as it hits the bottom (I don't fish them in areas I know to be really snaggy). Wind the slack up and smoothly pull it to get it vibrating 3 or 4 times, pause briefly, then get it to vibrate another 3 or 4 times and then let it find the bottom. I want to cover ground slowly and give fish the time to make the decision to hit it. As the hooks are trailing that is an easy point for the fish to hit.
  17. @big Neil makes pottery. He reached out for help with the photography as he was struggling to take photos of his work which would give a good representation of the actual colours. There is an aspect of photography which can have a huge impact on photos called White Balance. Whites are not always white depending on the light they were taken in (something which has been a real eye opener for Neil). Under a tungsten light white can end up with a yellowish tinge. Fluorescent lights can give a blueish tinge. Sunny days, cloudy days, shade and flash can all have their own impacts. The Canon Digital Photo Professional 4 (DPP4) has a tab in which you can select each option for a RAW file and see the impact on the photo. As an example, the photo of the pottery below was taken in a light box. The material on which it is sitting is white but due to the lights it has ended up with a yellowish tinge. This is the actual photo off the camera. The only thing I have done is to crop it. Neil was kind enough to give me the RAW photo of the same piece. I have also cropped it. This time I have the chance to correct the white balance in DPP4 using one of several options. Knowing it was taken under a tungsten light I can select this option which will put in a blue tinge bringing out the white. Alternatively, I can tell the software to sample a section of the photograph which I know to be white and it will correct the photo. There is also a temperature function which will change the warmth of the photo (lower is colder, higher is warmer) but I’ll have to make the judgement on when I have reached the right correction. For this photo I told the software which part of the photo I knew to be white (the material on which the piece sits) and allowed it to make the correction. Big difference to the photo above. I found this excellent tutorial which explains the concept very well and demonstrates how to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQWXOF-lsEU
  18. Hi Again, I do the odd wedding here and there. Got talking to the groom (Daniel) at one and fired up his passion for photography. We kept in contact as he progressed. He was the one who showed me what was possible with Lightroom and Photoshop and essentially drove my decision to get into the post processing. I'm good enough with the camera to keep a bride (and groom) happy with the wedding day photos but I want to get to the next level. Both photos below were taken of a good friend of mine at an impromptu photos session. The location and the subject matter was fantastic. Problem was that even though I was using the flash I was competing with the sun (she was backlit). I also didn't have a reflector with me. Daniel took the JPG into Lightroom and enhanced the highlights (brighter sections of the photo) and a few other changes and the photo went from "good" to "this could go in a magazine". I can get pretty close to the same results with the Canon software but at this stage I'm still playing and learning. Regards, Derek Original photo Photo touched up by Daniel to "Oh... Wow!!"
  19. This one is mostly for the Canon camera users. One of my non-fishing hobbies is photography. A request for assistance from fellow Fishraider @big Neilwas the inspiration for this post. During lessons as to how to get more from his Canon camera I’ve picked up a few useful links along the way which I now want to share. While my preference is to get the photos right at the camera, it is often only afterwards when reviewing that you realise a good photo could have been a great photo with a few minor tweaks. Digital photography in combination with post processing can help achieve this. Industry software is usually Photoshop and Lightroom but unfortunately these have moved to a subscription based system which may not suit those people not making a career of it or careful with funds. Canon has developed processing software called Canon Digital Photo Professional 4 which is “free” for those who buy a Canon camera. From all reports it is excellent software. It is especially useful if your camera is capable of shooting in RAW format. The software can process JPGs but there is reduced functionality. JPG is the camera’s attempt at processing the information within the constraints and programming given to it. RAW is the unadulterated data. The RAW file from a 14Megapixel camera will be about 16MB but it allows you to correct for lighting. Please note that head to head the JPG will initially look better than the RAW image until you have had the chance to process it. For a short beginner’s tutorial as to what the software is capable of have a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRTkRyggeqU&t=15s The same gentleman did an intermediate tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6L8L8b46B0&t=5s This gentlemen provides a nice review and tutorial of the software here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRTXdZvxQJo&t=562s Please note that Canon has done some excellent tutorials and I’ll past the links further down but they will take a bit longer to go through as there is far more detail. The Canon software has been optimised to work with Canon cameras. In particular the following models: EOS Kiss X10 / EOS REBEL SL3 / EOS 250D / EOS 200D II, EOS RP, EOS R, PowerShot SX70 HS, EOS D2000 *, EOS D6000 *, EOS D30, EOS D60, EOS 10D, EOS Kiss Digital / EOS Digital REBEL / EOS 300D Digital, EOS Kiss M / EOS M50, EOS REBEL T100 / EOS 4000D / EOS 3000D, EOS Kiss X90 / EOS REBEL T7 / EOS 2000D / EOS 1500D, EOS-1Ds Mark III, EOS-1Ds Mark II, EOS-1Ds, EOS-1D X Mark II, EOS-1D X, EOS-1D Mark IV, EOS-1D Mark III, EOS-1D Mark II N, EOS-1D Mark II, EOS-1D C, EOS-1D, EOS 80D, EOS 7D Mark II, EOS 7D, EOS 70D, EOS 6D Mark II, EOS 6D, EOS 60Da, EOS 60D, EOS 5DS R, EOS 5DS, EOS 5D Mark IV, EOS 5D Mark III, EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 5D, EOS 50D, EOS 40D, EOS 30D, EOS 20Da, EOS 20D, EOS 9000D / EOS 77D, EOS 8000D / EOS REBEL T6s / EOS 760D, EOS Kiss X9i / EOS REBEL T7i / EOS 800D, EOS Kiss X9 / EOS REBEL SL2 / EOS 200D, EOS Kiss X8i / EOS REBEL T6i / EOS 750D, EOS Kiss X80 / EOS REBEL T6 / EOS 1300D, EOS Kiss X7i / EOS REBEL T5i / EOS 700D, EOS Kiss X70 / EOS REBEL T5 / EOS 1200D / EOS Hi, EOS Kiss X7 / EOS REBEL SL1 / EOS 100D, EOS Kiss X6i / EOS REBEL T4i / EOS 650D, EOS Kiss X50 / EOS REBEL T3 / EOS 1100D, EOS Kiss X5 / EOS REBEL T3i / EOS 600D, EOS Kiss X4 / EOS REBEL T2i / EOS 550D, EOS Kiss X3 / EOS REBEL T1i / EOS 500D, EOS Kiss X2 / EOS REBEL XSi / EOS 450D, EOS Kiss F / EOS REBEL XS / EOS 1000D, EOS Kiss Digital X / EOS Digital REBEL XTi / EOS 400D Digital, EOS Kiss Digital N / EOS Digital REBEL XT / EOS 350D Digital, EOS M100, EOS M10, EOS M6, EOS M5, EOS M3, EOS M2, EOS M, PowerShot G16, PowerShot G15, PowerShot G12, PowerShot G11, PowerShot G10, PowerShot G9 X Mark II, PowerShot G9 X, PowerShot G9, PowerShot G7 X Mark II, PowerShot G7 X, PowerShot G5 X, PowerShot G3 X, PowerShot G1 X Mark III, PowerShot G1 X Mark II, PowerShot G1 X, PowerShot SX60 HS, PowerShot SX50 HS, PowerShot SX1 IS, PowerShot S120, PowerShot S110, PowerShot S100V, PowerShot S100, PowerShot S95, PowerShot S90 *: Can now handle CR2 files converted with the CR2 Converter. For those with a Canon camera and interested in downloading the software. The link for the Windows version is: https://id.canon/en/support/0200583602 I believe this is the link for Mac users: https://hk.canon/en/support/0200618702 It will download a file called dppw4.10.20-installer.zip or similar. I had to find it in my downloads directory on the "C" drive. To install you will need the serial number on your Canon camera. I also found out there is a manual for the software: https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/cameras/eos-dslr-and-mirrorless-cameras/dslr/eos-1d-x?tab=manuals Once you play around with the software only a few clicks will dramatically improve the photos. Another excellent feature is that you can save “recipes” (the steps used to modify the photo) and then paste it on other photos taken under the same conditions. I’ll put some examples up when I get the chance. Regards. Derek
  20. Hi Brendon, Definitely worth giving it a go. In areas where we know there are blackfish (or even better, can see them) the weed fly has been a very effective technique. I was pretty lucky in that I worked out and resolved the minor issues with the process pretty quickly. I also got very lucky with the flies at my local tackle store in that even now I think they are excellent and effective. Some of my learnings over the past year. If you have a fly rod, floating line is the best as an intermediate or sinking line can drag down your strike indicator. Doesn't really matter what weight class the line and rod are as it comes down to the leader and tippet. I usually buy a tapered leader but then run an 8lb or 10lb fluorocarbon (sinks better than monofilament) tippet of at least 1m. I need the thicker part of the line on which to slide the strike indicator up and down. You could also use say 20 to 30lb line for the upper section and then tie on the 8 or 10lb tippet. Overall my leader and tippet is 3 to 4m long. If you don't have a fly rod you can still use the flies with a traditional outfit. The strike indicator I made by hopping on Ebay to find O-rings with a 5mm inner diameter and 8mm outer diameter (any thicker and they don't bend well and the line kinks instead). I then bought some strike indicator wool (yellow or orange) and cut into lengths of around 4-5cm. I doubled these through the o-ring and then lashed into place right next to the o-ring (see photos loaded with the original report). The ends will fluff up during use. These will work for the first session after which you will need to use floatant once or twice a session. There are a number of people making weed flies (these will vary in cost from $3.50 to $10 per fly). While the basics are similar you will find a number of variations (different colours, different hook sizes, some hooks have better corrosion resistance, the way the strands look in the water). My favourite ones have a small bit of lead wrapped around the hook to improve the sink rate. I've lost very few weed flies. The best part is that I can head out for a blackfish session whenever I have a little bit of spare time and don't have to worry about getting burley. Not to say the burley wouldn't help but it saves me a trip to the coast to get the cabbage weed I like to use. As we are often fishing locations a few meters off the water I picked up a 3.6m telescopic net off Ebay for about $70. The smaller ones can be handlined but it would be a shame to damage/injure the fish and loose a fly at the same time if they were too heavy for the tippet. Looking forward to hearing how you go. Between several of us we have been getting consistent and good results. You may still have to move several times to find the schools but when you do they will hit the fly. Regards, Derek
  21. Hi Xuanhong, At the moment the store I use has not had the flies for months. If need be I can PM you the actual store. If you keep an eye out several other stores including some of the bigger outdoors chains are currently selling weed flies. The problem with most is that they don't have the little bit of lead wire wrapped around the hook to improve the sink rate. If you are using a classic float outfit you can put a small split shot above the fly.
  22. Oh and my Supermoon/Bloodmoon/Lunar eclipse photos from a few weeks back.
  23. Hi Donna, The settings for recent ones were: F stop f/6.3 (more or less set by the lens at this magnification) Exposure time 1/800 ISO 200 (more detail but risk getting it darker). I was also a bit lucky in that it was super clear where I was in Sydney when I took that. Just kicking myself because if I'd gotten down to the water an hour earlier they would have been even better. Regards, Derek PS. I like your collection of supermoon photos.
  24. Decided to crop it...
  25. Thank you. I still have another chapter or two to add to this one relating on how I strip them and several ways to use them shore based. Need a squid to do so and someone to assist with the photos. I can do one but not both easily at the same time. 😃
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