JDP

Break out the thermals with that coming.

Just popped a longer handle on my little Talica 10 (Maxel). I was going to get another little jigging reel but decided to stick with the little talica as they are so much more adaptable to many kinds of fishing rather than a dedicated jigger. The extended handle will improve it for jigging on kings and hopefully assist in cranking the next mako I get on it.

Part of the reason I dropped down to my current little boat was that I get to play in all sorts of boats that I don't have to buy and maintain. This is one of them which happens to be the same as one of the commercial boats I drive, only the commercial one doesn't have the extras such as flir camera and helm master steering etc. Only took it up the river to do some prop testing so couldn't push it to hard just yet being a new motor, in saying that we had a quick spurt to 54kts. Electric steering and flyby wire is always nice to use but the helm master is quite remarkable and something I could see many uses for. With helm master I positioned the boat over a wreck in a brisk breeze and about 3kts of outgoing tide then touched the fish mode, which held us over the wreck better than anchoring could. The engine quietly popped in and out of gear turning constantly holding us directly over the wreck "fark its good". The drivers seat was full suspension but took a fair amount of room so was taken out and a different seating config will soon be installed. In the commercial versions we run them without seats as this makes them easier to handle in big seas at speed. The flir camera even though it was daylight worked a charm, as did autopilot etc. The economy at 26kts was close to 2km per lt which will give some pretty good range from the 350lt fuel tank. These boats are built heavy with deep v hulls for punching through big seas at speed and covering big distances. Looking forward to chasing a few broadbill from this little weapon over the coming months. Cost of little boats like this are about the same as two bedroom flat locally, so not in my price range of toys!!!

Hey Geof, thats a dam big looking 18 boat, is it actually 18ft or like some boats gets a name not true to its length (my own boat being one). If you don't mind me asking there are a couple of things in the photos that look a little hard to make out. First is number one which looks like a plank with a gap under it. Second, no 2 is the section that looks a few mm lower than the other part of the transom, was this perhaps a well for an outboard. Third question in relation to the added on pod, is the pod flush with the bottom of the hull or raised. If raised have you had a marine architect give the all clear or having it raised. Having looked into jacking plates in the past Ive always been put off them after seeing reports on the extra stress putting an engine further out out from the stern. The figures I saw were something 80lb of extra transom pressure for every inch out from the stern, which puts a huge amount of extra stress on the transom if you were to use the likes of a 10ins jacking plate. I know many builders get over this by lowering pods so they run flush with the bottom of the vessel.

How do you get them in the boat and back again without knocking them about to much, or are you keeping them ? Also are you tagging them and if so are you catching others with tags ? would be interesting to gather an idea on how many are in the area and how many are recaptured.

Cracking looking boat, must say its giving me the shivers seeing so close the the rock wall even if you do have fenders out. Is there enough room to bunk down up under the front for a nights sleep, some boats can be deceiving ?

The other side of the jigs.

More in regards to the fall and the lures themselves, don't think that paying more equals better fish catching jigs. Also experiment with altering the fall action by moving the hooks or adding bling to the hooks, most are sold with the hooks at the top of the jig. Both of these lures are readily available under $5 and work better in my opinion than lures 4x the price. Wth the silver jig you can clearly see the bottom of the jig is the heavy end yet the lures are sold with the hooks at the top. By simply putting the hooks at the bottom, the fall and action has totally changed and this is now one of my most productive lures even on species I had never caught on lures or bait ever before. Where the golden one is better balanced to flutter, adding an extra set of hooks slowed down the fall making this another 25g jig that rarely reaches bottom before something takes it. In contrast both of these as well as many others I have changed have now become deadly on smaller species and I have to do far less rod action to catch fish with them where if I don't get a hit first drop its probably not worth fishing that spot.

Glamour conditions, even looks like a bit of pink skin from the sun. Top day.

One day you might if you drift out of the channel.

Apologies on that, I had gone through the comments a bit to quick and thought you were referring to those light rigs being able to handle big dogtooth, totally agree about them being stiff and heavy which through me off track as that's a different style of jigging altogether, even though they will smack slow fluttering jigs.

The reason I use the 3mm is more because its handy for all sorts of things that need high strength, even strong enough to pull my boat back on the trailer if the winch strap breaks. The dyneema loops I use on sharking rigs are from this stuff, where hooks will break or straighten long before the dyneema will break which is better than leaving sharks with gear in them. In saying that I can normally remove hooks from sharks without to much trouble. I often use this assist cord on kingfish jigs, its under $10 (5 quid) and hasn't let me down. We tend to lift our fish in from the jig, so the hook and cord has to handle the weight of the fish.

Maybe better amounts of baitfish might be a result of the trawling pressure taking away their predators.

Just to add, those little packs of cord are a ripoff in my opinion. I buy 3mm dyneema with breaking strain of 1.1ton for a fraction of the price from rope stores. Yes 1.1ton is overkill but I use this on all kinds of rigging around the boat also.https://ropegalore.com.au/3mm-4mm-dyneema-ropes-r/

Trying to work out if you are from the UK or overseas with references to 100kg dogtooth yet showing light assist hooks suited more for UK species and smaller tropical game. Don't get me wrong I use light rigs just like that but only on fish of less than 10kg, certainly not 100kg dogtooth, yellowtail kingfish etc. both of these like those you've posted are good for slow jigging on small less demanding species, most likely all come from the same factory. These are low cost great value compared to the heavier rigs for bigger species. .

Well one is only 3.5m and lives on the bank at the lake and the other is my daughters rib taking up half the garage!!! Planning a solo mako session in the new little one as soon as Ive finished fitting it out. Dropped it onto some tyre on the lawn today so I can get the trailer tidied up.

No I bought the little centre console before I sold the other boat, couldn't be without!!!!....in saying that we still had two more at home, so three again now!!! No not really, the young woman looked to be in her mid 20's and had 4 kids in primary school and another on the way. I guessed by her appearance she was doing it tough, so the phones would help her out.

Just sold mine well above what I paid for it but had to spend well above average to get the latest one. Just noticed a big jump in price on marine electronics, to the point my daughters Garmin unit has gone from $1500 three months ago to $2800 now, that's not a small jump at all. Most new car sales yards have nothing to offer now that China has cut off the manufacturing plants. If it is made in China, which most things are these days, we might all be waiting a while for any fixes to the situation. I had three old iPhones kicking around at home, a 7s 6s and 5s which were all put on buy swap at what I considered to be average to what they were selling for a few months ago. I had so many people chasing them I simply couldn't keep up with the messages, with most wanting to buy all three together at the asking price. Sold all three to the same person who instantly put them back on buy swap at more than double my price and sold them all within two days, crazy times.

Superb vessel, has to be the best rig on any of the forums.

Must be a pretty good hull to of not suffered damage, would give you confidence in it after that.

This side of the pond we have to register them and display the rego no. alongside side the vessel. We also have to register trailers and have them annually inspected to pass the registration for safety. The trailers have a different registration to the tow vehicle, which makes sense given a trailer can be driven by any number of vehicles. Maritime soon pull you up if your boat is out of rego and smack you with a fine. I had to register a boat as small as 12ft boat that I owned in the UK many years ago to be able to sell fish legally to fish wholesalers.

A friend just sent this which explains it in a way I find easier to get my head around. HP = Torque(ft/lb) x RPM / 5252 Up to Max HP RPM the motor is generating ever increasing amount of Torque, measured on a dynometer. At Max HP RPM the motor is running most efficiently, converting the maximum amount of fuel energy to Torque. Beyond Max HP RPM the motor still generates Torque but instead of increasing, the amount of Torque is decreasing, as the engine becomes less and less efficient --- higher RPM means more friction, less time to inject, combust, expel ... everything starts to run inefficiently. So Torque production drops off (but some torque is still there) so your still experience boat acceleration but the rate of acceleration is slowing down, until you eventually hit terminal speed. Look at the chart below as an example and you will see the different HP rating (blue) calculated at different RPM based on the Torque (orange) measured at that RPM (the curves always cross at 5250). PS - HP is just a term invented by James Watt so that he could equate the Torque produced by his steam engine (the worlds first motor) to the work output capability of a draught horse. Power = Force(lb) x Distance(ft) in a linear scenario. With Rotational movement, distance traveled is a function of RPM hence the HP formula that takes that into account. Generally engine manufacturers would advise you to stick with the one that lets the motor reach WOT. The difference in performance may be due to the efficiency of the props - thinner blades have less friction giving higher revs, stiffer blades have less distortion giving higher thrust etc. But having said that, you would need to ensure that you are running the optimum size and pitch for your motor+boat combination. If I was observing that, I'd check the following: 1: both are not spinning to 6600 (WOT) which may suggest you are a tad over-propped, but 6500 is very close 2. The 6500 prop: does it provide good/acceptable holeshot? 3: The 6500: does it show any signs of cavitation marks on the low pressure prop faces? ...and if 2: and 3: are good, then I'd run with it.

Ok Im not mechanical, just do basic servicing and leave the rest to the experts. My question is why does an outboard continue to accelerate well after its reached its full hp. Example being my engine developes full hp at 5500 but pulls away with plenty of power well over that, with the rev limiter kicking in at 6600, 1100 rpm above full power. One of my prop revs out to 6100rpm and the other to 6500rpm just under the rev limiter. Both props are the same size and pitch but from different manufactures, one gets used for heavier loads and the other for light but Im leading towards staying with the one that revs higher as it gives a higher top speed.

Fella turned up with cash today and took the boat. Fitted a new radio and installed nmea 2000 in the new one, tricky job fitting it all into such a small console. Got some cash left over between trades so a few new bits and pieces will soon be installed. Ordered some adjustable transducer brackets from France so I can raise and drop them beach launching. Excited about getting this little rig up and ready for action.

I've just bought another little boat which has the 55lb Minn Kota with spot lock which my daughter is keen to pinch off me for her zodiac, will be interested to see how you set yours up. Lucky for her is that her boss who owns the charter boats is a stainless steel welder and no doubt able to knock her up some sort of front bracket system. They are bulky units and then there's the issue of the extra battery's etc. I will look into getting the lithium battery setup for the latest boat project.