JDP

We get the genuine bounty as well as a copy which tastes much the same. At the right price I can export.

Whats with the lumps on his arms, is that what pot noodles do for you ?

Virtually the same then, the zodiac had 25.5 at the transom.

So what degree are the ribcrafts ? unfortunately they aren't available over here but most other brands are. The gemini 770 I used to skipper for a friend with scuba tours was extremely wet so swapped out to a naiad with twin 250's but I have to say the smaller ones are far more fun. My 550 was the pro tour which was narrower than the pro open and had a 25.5 degree hull. My daughter has a 500 pro for spearing etc when she's not skippering the bigger charter boats, both fitted in our standard sized garage doors .

I had a zodiac 550 pro which was the most fun and capable sized boat for its size Ive ever owned. I looked forward to bad sea conditions when I owned it. My bigger heavier more powerful boat before it was only managing 50-100hrs of use due to our bar crossing but went to 500hrs + per year with the rib. It didn't stop us targeting game species or even sharks, my only concern was using braid on large fast species which could quickly turn under the boat. In saying that I was always able to avoid braid cuts on the tubes and tended to use longer mono leaders for game fish close to the boat.

Hows the cost of Honda outboards compare ? Here they have a full 7yr warranty or 3 yr commercial. Buying commercial drops the cost dramatically if you are able to do that, reducing cost by around 30%.

They had a terrible reputation over here in Aus. You would have to ask yourself why the company collapsed and no longer in production. Here's one from last weeks fishing adventures. Ended up being the end of a trip on the first day for these people who had just driven 4300km one way to join us on an offshore adventure.

The youngsters have done that same trip several times as well as other remote locations, they can't get enough of it. They are also into their hunting, so got to shoot a few scrub bulls on the island too. I shot a few things with the camera!!!!

We had three onboard, just missing the heaviest in its class, which is overkill in my opinion. The lightest is more parabolic and ideal for the youngsters onboard. I used the second heaviest in the three piece range and found the extra power great when targeting fish that try to head back into reef, I was simply able to lock drag and bully them out. I was also able to cast further even with soft plastics that the other rods being used but that might just be due to the youngsters technique. Casting hardbody lures 80m+ and soft plastics 40-50m is quite achievable if you don't use to heavy a main line. Keeping the boat moving aided in quick releasing of many fish as they relax more while swimming alongside. Taking on shallow water reef and coral species involved trimming the engine up a little and holding the boat in gear stern into the wind. Boga grips helped in swimming fish back to recover with a slightly faster the tick over idle speed. No end of trevaly, northern bluefin, Spanish mackerel etc etc.

Just gotten home from a remote fishing trip up north, just over 9000km of road and trails before heading out to an island where barrels of fuel had been dropped for the ten day fishing trip. Daily temps were a comfortable 38'c around the outside of the island but deciding to do a walk across the centre of the island through the red soft sand was pretty hot, to the point I had to stop every 500-800m to try and seek shelter from the heat 49.3c. Did a mix of boat and land based fishing, all of which was off the scale in terms of non stop action. Pacing yourself and taking plenty of breaks was a must. Keeping fully covered from the sun was another, hence why even my hands are covered by gloves. My biggest fish was taken using a whole live mullet intended for barramundi. This biggest fish I landed using a light 4 piece Bone Voyage travel rod and a small Shimano rarenium reel. The shovel nose ray was just over 2.400m and doesn't do justice from this image as its wings fall down over the gunnels. More to come.

A few more yellowfin have turned up close to shore, so I should be out if the weather is good. Weekend just gone was good on small bluefin, Spanish mackerel, trevaly, groupers, it's and various sharks on light tackle. Will post a few images when I get them off my camera. Best from the shore was a shark around 60kg on a 3.5ft kids rod and 4000 spin reel. Best from the boat was a 2.4m shovelnose shark on a light Bone travel rod and a 4000 spin reel again.

I looked at these a few years ago but back then there were no reviews from real people who had bought and used them, seems much the same now.

If anglers believe fish are attracted to all that jazzel do they also consider fish may eat it when it breaks apart. If so is that considered ok to lose on a regular basis shore fishing. I don't see much difference between that and throwing all the bait bags, cig butts and other rubbish into the ocean.

Only an Arvor owner would say parking, most other boaters would refer to it as docking a boat🤩

Superb fishing and quality eating fish, great report.

Yes, will be heading out this weekend. Floods have meant my trip up north from the bottom of the country to the top end has now needed to be re-routed adding an extra 1000km to the trip but its still going ahead. It will be 8 days of towing (4 each way) the boat and 12 days of remote island fishing. I was going to take some shark gear but have since decided to pull that gear from the tackle being taken as sharks up there can be a total pest but Im sure plenty will find us. My daughter just returned having been in the same area for the past month, where her best day was over 100 barramundi in one day between two of them. The reef fishing was also next level. Many of my trips have been with very windy weather up that way, so hoping this time will be better. At least the daily average of 33'c will defrost me after this cold winter we've had. Only wish JonC was coming with me but we can all dream I suppose.

Looks like a fabulous trip, even though a couple of the pic's look like you might have a fish allergy and about to sneeze!!!!! Was the boat stopped for the shark pic?

Chunky huss, conditions looked pretty good out there.

Only did a quick dog walk on the beach and took a rod for a couple of salmon to make fish bake. I have a big trip coming up though next week, 4300km up the coast and 90km offshore to an island where I will fish for 10-12 days.

Experimented with different bait but squid was always what worked for me.

This is my favourite spot to dive for lobsters from the shore.

Thank goodness warmer weather is starting to turn up, first day of spring last week hit 27’c at my place, which was a shock after such a cold winter. Now it will be time to cover up from the sun again.

I doubt you could catch a more healthy plate of fish than those. Do you have to scale them or are the scales to soft to worry about ?

Last weekend ended up being fish-less this side of the pond. Put some effort in towing the boat 2hrs up the coast and spending many hours on the water. One of the commercial female divers I work with got a decent yellowfin casting surface lures.

Catching bunches of mackerel is way better than strings. Glamour conditions out there.