What will you miss from FR the most?

[Scratchie]

Well fellow raiders, 

I was just sitting on my chair watching the footy and the phone rang. One of my mates called to say I left my jacket on his boat from our last trip out to Broughton. He said he'd bring it around. I said, no worries. We are off to boat harbour for a sausage on a roll and a game of cricket, you want to join us? Yeah sure and he brings his 2yo son. So we went down, nice arvo watching the sea eagles whilst the kids ran around. 

Last night I get a text from a mate up here telling me how he'd gone on his trip up the big gibber. Caught up with him over the tfbt too! He won the biggest bream for the Comp! Champion! 

Had a mate come up for the tfbt and out of his own money, bought us shirts with our names on them, hats and even a few spare for my kids! 

Whats my point, all these MATES I never would have met without Fishraider! To add, these are only a few of the people I now call mates! 

So I started to think about what I'll miss most! 

Firstly, meeting all you good folk out there when you travel up to gods country and give me a moment of your time! 

Then, a few other things.....

yowies- hacking reports

big Neil's- freshwater trips

fab1- informative feedback on all things fixable! 

Blackfish and salty dog- knowledge on fish species! (Learnt heaps, thanks) 

stewy and swano- adventures (good to see swano being photographed last trip  ) 

Donna- giving it to swordy on nearly every fishing trip! ?

lyn and Geoff- who contribute to FR greatly. 

All the blackfishos, that have taught me what weed is actually for  

stapo- top bloke and his entrance reports! 

Gh-1952: taught me more about gamefishing than anyone and is always very generous to me and my mates! 

The hairtail social that I have freezed my arse off for the last 5 years! 

AND..........every single report that has been placed over the last 5 years, whether it was your first ever flathead, whiting or marlin because believe it or not, I have read every single one of them! 

 The beauty of our beloved pastime, is that it overcomes all social, religious, racial and political divides and brings us all together for the same common goal! 

And how much fun is it!!! 

So tell me, 

WHAT WILL YOU MISS the most? 

Cheers scratchie!!! 

[Blackfish]

Gee Scratchie you bloody make it hard to add without missing someone deserving.

Going to miss JonD's articles as his  daughter is about the same age as mine.

 As Jons, she loves the water and has done here fair share of fishing and diving but has a different direction in her interests these days, but thats all part of growing up to be the person they are.

On-Ya mate.

Edited April 9, 2017 by Blackfish

[Scratchie]

6 minutes ago, Blackfish said:

Gee Scratchie you bloody make it hard to add without missing someone deserving.

I know mate, but I couldn't write anymore as I got something in my eye! ?

[UnderFisher]

Hi, what's happening to fish raider?

[Scratchie]

10 minutes ago, UnderFisher said:

Hi, what's happening to fish raider?

It's closing at the end of June! 

 

[Fab1]

I will miss putting up posts to help others.(especially in the workshop)

I will miss reading the fishing reports.I too love reading Big Neils,Yowies,fragmeisters etc.

Myself and my family are far from being great fisher persons but I have learnt more from this forum than what I could possibly learn in a lifetime on my own and have built up an archive for future reference that I've saved.

I will miss having this forum to look forward to on my lunch breaks.

The regrets I have with this Forum is that I haven't been able to get out as much as I would like to be able to put up some more fishing reports.

I regret not being able to make it to the socials due to work commitments family etc.

I regret not being able to meet you all in person,fishing with you etc due to the above reasons.

Even though I have never met any one on here I know that I have helped many on here as much as many have helped me and that i guess is what a great site like this is all about.

Like you Scratchie I'll leave it there as someone's cutting onions.

I wish everyone the best and hope there will be another great Forum like this in the future.

Fabian.

 

 

[Welster]

I will sure miss it.   I have logged in most days for the past 10 years.   The regular contributors what they contribute is just awesome.  The go above and beyond.

Past contributors that no longer post or have past.   Greg L, Jewgaffer, Roberta, Hank and many others.  To think their posts and knowledge will be lost blows me away. 

The moderators and Swordys have kept it a family friendly place.  Things I wanted to do that couldn't happen at the time like the soft plastic social I figured I would happen one day now won't.

The support raiders give to each other is fantastic.

 

I am really blown away it's closing and hoping some other way is found. 

 

[rickmarlin62]

ditto on tryin to keep it running  ive only been on site for a short while but ive watched and read for years..surely there is some way of keepin things alive..ive seen other sites close and im a member of a couple of others that all seem to be struggling..i don't get it in this day an age of internet why are internet sites failing..is it us as members ?? I try an look at least a few times everyday..i get knowledge..information..insights..laughs..and much more...sad sad sad day if this goes down the gurgler...rick

[nutsaboutfishing]

i'll miss the reports and getting my questions answered from the wealth of knowledge out there

 

richard

[mrsswordfisherman]

Oh goodness guys  Jeff why did you start this thread. 

I can't believe how emotional everyone is. Here I am having little sad moments (it's the onions!) and thinking it was just me who was sad. 

I will miss everything. I will miss swordie saying "ban that bloke" or the moderator discussions about various threads or people. Yes we even have a special mods forum. I will even miss the abusive pm's and emails!!!

We have had births, deaths, marriages here. 

The announcement post and people's comments are so touching. Stewy and I just look at each other shaking our heads and try to move away from the mongrel who is cutting those onions!!!

i wanted to do a last Soft Plastic day as I suggested in a few threads but I was looking like a wake after a funeral in the end!!! 

Ok swordie is saying "harden up" now

we all have great memes and great pals 

Mods watch this post please and lock it if anyone plays up hehehe

[Scratchie]

6 minutes ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

Oh goodness guys  Jeff why did you start this thread. 

I'm sorry! But it dawned on me this afternoon that life revolves in funny ways and most of the people that I spend my spare time with are fishraiders! 

Jody, that's enough friggin onions! 

[luderick -angler]

I've met some great people here who are now best friends that I fish every week with can't take that away! 

[nbdshroom]

I'm going to miss all the people the most. We all can associate a face with a lot of the usernames on the forum but there are many that post that we read reports of, or have grown accustomed to their activity and presence on the forum. I'm not looking forward to the day that this all disappears...

[big Neil]

The main thing that we humans share is the ability to communicate with each other. Today's world provides us with more opportunity than ever before, to do so. 

I live in a part of the country which some would call remote. I have family and friends here, am retired, and get to go fishing as often as I want. I have a very good life. I started fishing when I was very young, in England. My first fishing "gear" consisted of a bamboo garden stake, cotton line, a matchstick float and a bent pin hook. With this gear I became hooked on fishing the ponds, canals, and lakes that had "coarse fish" in them...Carp, Redfin, Roach, Dace, Gudgeon and the like. As I got older, I progressed to better gear and branched out into fishing for trout and Grayling in the rivers of Northern England and Wales. When I moved to Australia, I lived in the Eastern Suburbs and became aware of the environment known to most Aussies as "the beach...sometimes the surf". The coastal areas of Eastern Australia exposed me to an amazing array of fishing opportunities. I was always fishing land based so beach fishing, estuary and rock fishing provided me with many hours of fun. I got better at it and seldom came home empty handed. Over many years I developed a very broad base of knowledge. 

Now I have returned to the freshwater fishing that first tweaked my curiosity and got me started on this epic trip. Now I have a boat and still love to fish. It's an amazing pastime and some of my best days are spent down the river...soaking a bait or tossing lures into the snags, in pursuit of my quarry. 

So Scratchie (Jeff) posed the question "what will you miss most about Fishraider?"

EVERYTHING! The people, the sharing, the friendships, the learning, the teaching, the sense of belonging...

I seldom get to the coast these days and focus on a very specific type of fishing. True, it fulfills my basic needs, but FISHRAIDER BRIDGES THE GAPS. I can sit at home and read all the wonderful experiences that the Raiders are having. Fishing places which I've fished, using techniques which have held me in good stead and coming up with incredible results. So F/R is like a trip down memory lane for me. BUT IT'S MUCH MORE THAN THAT. It's the people! Unlike most Raiders, I've only met a couple of members and shared a day on the water with them. Being on this forum though has allowed me to feel that I know most of the regular contributors, personally. AND THERE ARE SOME AMAZING PEOPLE ON THIS FORUM. Not only their angling skills either! Many people on here are worth more than their weight in gold. Their knowledge and their readiness to help out others who are yet to achieve success. UNBELIEVABLE GENEROSITY. Where else can you go to find such a wealth of expertise and the willingness to share it, free of charge? NOWHERE!

Imagine the size of the library needed to store the wealth of knowledge (in book form)...THE MIND BOGGLES.

F/R has been a lifeline to me. A real time link with the past and the present. I am a better person because of F/R. I have learned so much and probably passed on a handy hint or two. It has provided me with a sense of belonging, value and purpose. I will miss this forum. I don't know how I'll fill in the extra time which will be there each day...but I will. Like the passing of a loved one, we are all the better for the experience. We will have fond memories of good times spent together and the knowledge that we made a difference...each and every one of us.

NOW WHERE'S MY BLOODY HANKIE? ONLY KIDDING!                                  BN

 

[Wellzy94]

I don't think I can single out one thing that I'll miss the most about this site, everything about it is just so great. 

The socials organised by Stewy and Donna (I never got to one, but the effort involved is usually no small feat!)

The updates on regions outside of Sydney (BN from down south on the 'Bidgee, Stapo at the Entrance, Scratchie at PS, and even JaniFIN internationally, among others) are great to see how other systems and waterways are fishing.

The different styles of fishing incorporated among the members here, seen in the reports (which led me to buying my first fly fishing rod - wouldn't have happened without Fishraider!)

The people met and the friends made, even in the <12 months I've been here

The community as a whole. You ladies and gents are a great bunch of people. 

Needless to say I'll shed a tear when this site finally goes black.

Cheers,

Wellzy

[HenryR]

if it had to be one word, I'd go with Neil, I think he nailed it - GENEROSITY.

For me the next it would be DIVERSITY. Both the depth and range of experience and experiences here. I've learned so much incidentally. Aspects of fishing that I might never have thought to start a conversation on have had time to wash over me and slowly, some of them, sink in. My big two there have been luderick fishing - awesome, awesome reports and more recently, murray cod and the the waters they're found in. Neil and others, thanks so much for those posts! What great looking fish and the rivers, I can hear my kayak calling me to them . Lots of technical stuff too: without even trying I now know a hundred times more about looking after my reels than if I had never joined. Of course the list could go on..

As a thing Fishraider strikes me as an amazing crossover between club and magazine. It's a club some of whose members do meet but it's not essential. One can be a very casual observer and still reap benefits, that's generosity. It sets it apart from regular fishing clubs. It's allowed it to be a club ...or some sort of thing.... with members (participants?) spread wide across geography, fishing styles, and levels of engagement, one doesn't even have to go fishing - cool!

The diversity and inclusiveness shows in Fishraiders almost magazineness.

Conventionally journalistic, the Fishraider articles are some of the best most concise documents you'll find online for getting started on a whole range of species.

Less conventional:  multiple voices of experience. Tons of insider  discussion available to anyone who uses the internet - that's generosity. As well as watching the ebb and flow of daily positing, I've read many of the pinned posts multiple times - the jewfish one, what a ripper! No summarised single celebrity view on how to catch jewies, instead a great mass of collective experience and thinking - that's the reality of fishing.

And keeping the whole thing afloat, there's 'the rest of us'. What magazine would ever bother to give you a regular column featuring: I went to the local beach and caught (choose any random bag) 1 tarwhine, 2 taiilor and a small flathead? Or, I've been trying for years and finally caught a marlin which popped the leader while we held it at the boat (congrats dogbox). Etc, etc.....

Has anyone ever considered formalising the Fishraider group in any way? It'd take some work and thought but might well have the makings of a very unique and very excellent club?

Last thing I'd like go on record as being a massive fan of are the Raider record books and the miscellaneous fish included in it. Fishing is about fun, yeah? And being there. To me, those records say it all (elferoz777, hold your head high, you are part of something truly glorious).

Fishraider: valued and never too precious

Edited April 9, 2017 by HenryR

[Guest Guest123456789]

ill miss the collaboration of ideas. what works, what doesn't, different solutions to problems. the old saying two heads are better than 1 rings true and on a forum like this often its like 10 heads, and very experienced ones at that.

I could never have made my live bait tank without fishraider

I wouldn't use the frozen ice bottles  and an ice slurry for caught fish.

frozen burley logs for shallow and deep water thats fab's wisdom.

long casting - outdoor dan helped me there.

poor mans downrigger for live bait trolling is another idea.

I could go on but you get the idea.

[DaveTheBoy]

I will miss mostly:

- The encouragement of others and spirit of always learning

- Catching many "firsts" with a combination of Fishraider advice + persistence!  My first hairtail, kingy, jewfish, beach worm all come to mind as most memorable occasions - and being able to share those wins back with the people who tutored me (many of whom I will never meet in person).

- Meeting up with strangers at some odd hours in Macca's car parks for enjoyable fishing trips!

- Building a bank of shared knowledge and experience

- Sense of community

Thank you all for your work, and for including me in your world.   I will miss fishraider!

[Rah]

What's not to miss?

It's all been said. 

It's amazing how you can be friends with people you have never actually met. 

The generosity of raiders is astounding. I will miss that for sure. 

I'll miss Yowies port hacking posts as it reminds me of when I was 12 and I would ride my bike with rod, tackle box and frozen prawns down to lilli pilli point from dolans bay (No mean feat as anyone who has been down there would know)

I'll never forget all I have learnt from reading thousands of posts. 

 

But FR has not only affected my life but my family's too. Even my mum will say, oh you should put that on fishraider. 

My partner contacted Stew to get some ideas on presents for me. That's the kinda place this is. You don't even have to be a member to know it and enjoy it. 

I will miss all of it. 

 

 

[hackingsOG]

why is it closing down??

SPEWIN!!

Edited May 21, 2017 by hackingsOG

[Catch_22]

@HackingsOG - I think it's been saved thankfully .... according to the site news section.

[Stapo]

Thanks scratchi 

hope it continues there has been some great reads over the years. I for one won't mind paying a fee. 

[frenzyfol]

So where is everyone going to go?
Can I come?
 

 

[raging]

It's not shutting down bud

[MattGb1989]

Please tell me this isn't closing??