JDP

Back on the charters today for kingfish in good numbers, with the usual sharks and seals to contend with. I hate winter!!!

A pretty one!!!

Early morning leaving at 3am had my daughter in fishing a mountain stream on sunlight. Eight trout for the day.

I never seem to have problems finding homes for used gear, its the big game stuff that's hard to move on these days, simply because far lighter more fun outfits do the job better now. I was offered a 50 wide tiagra on a broomstick of a rod when I bought the above outfit for $450, would be ok on sharks of 500kg if you had the back for it!!! One of the guys I broadbill fish with just got rid of his 120 and 80lb tiagra outfits for more powerful lighter Talica's on light bent butt rods.

Done, postage will be $800

I can always sell it on I suppose!!!

Some tackle store owners are good at their jobs!!!!.. Had no intension of buying this outfit, in fact I went out to but a new prop. Came back broke and without a prop.It was one of those last ones at this price mate and I will throw in a neoprene reel cover and load it with 500m of braid!!!To be honest I had been considering getting a Shimano ocea 2000 -4000 with one of the latest grappler rods but had been put off after hearing how a few of those little reels hadn't fared so well when used regularly and hard on charter boats.So I ended up getting a little Shimano Talica 12 single speed with a Daiwa Saltiga rod. Simply a general outfit that will cover more styles of fishing than just jigging like the ocea jiggers are designed for. I also prefer the fact any lever drag can be set to precise drag settings which is more important when fishing heavy drags matched to the line class. Thats another factor for the little Talica, which has 18kg of drag, something we need when trying to slow yellowtail kingfish over reef. It will be my live bait, trolling and even casting light boat outfit.The Daiwa rod is surprisingly soft for a pr 3-4 class and apparently able to take a flogging on kingfish. A few locals have been using these on both yellowfin and bluefin tuna.Aus $750 which is bellow 400 quid, how could I resist!!!!!

I do like the inflatable boats but in the bigger sizes. Messing about with pumping them up and carrying engines and fuel inside a car would put me off, ok in the back tray of a 4x4. I won one which has been under our house for about 8yrs, pretty certain it can only take 4hp, I gave up trying to sell it as nobody was interested. Still in its box never been out!!! Had another one given to my kids which could take 10hp but after pumping it manually and walking to the lake with a 3hp they decided never again again bought a proper boat!!!...well that's not quite true, they were given another boat which is left at the lake edge, all they need to do is get the engine to it (use it once a year after the initial flurry of use!!).

Good to see a few pic's from my old stomping grounds. Some of my mates did well on mackerel out of Bembridge on the weekend, won't be long un till a few sharks turn up.

Great photo. Just buy another boat and don't tell her.

Windy weather again so my daughter headed into the remote wilderness mountains. Locations where even her 4X4 struggles and way out of phone reception means relying on the Garmin in reach to keep us posted. She managed both a buck and doe which she butchered in the field (bush, forrest). Walking 17km back to her 4x4 dragging the buck was a challenge, the doe was shot closer to where she had camped so a much easier proposition. Not sure how she will manage when she shoots a 300kg samba. We have one leg in the slow cooker, a huge plate of back strap panko schnitzels and about 4kg of jerky in the drier. Plenty more meals now in the freezer and plenty distributed among her friends. Not your normal 20yr old girl by any means!!!!! Deers are another of the European introduced feral pests Brough over here. They are killed in their thousands and left to waste by rangers so I have no problem with her hunting them. I must admit I much prefer the goats she gets though.

Yes those different smells are amazing, even extremely hot days when the eucalyptus trees smell so strong.

When Im not on the water I head out into the bush, as its called here. I try to explore as many locations as possible and yes regularly get lost for a few hours!!!! The dog loves it, though watching out for snakes with the dog is a big concern. Anyway I thought I would share some of the sounds I recorded on my phone from yesterdays walk close to home. I find listening to the birds on these walks very relaxing. If you don't like the sounds of birds don't click this!!!!

OO is this a copyright issue now for posing it on here too oo!!!

First cast just on dark resulted with a nice tope, second cast a ray. Third cast I think the bait came off, fourth is out there waiting now !!!!.....

A few good yellowtail kingfish today and reef fish. Temp is dropping now and all rugged up for a few hours on the beach to use up the bait left from the boat. Just taking one rod and my son to do any fish pulling in as he's hoping for a nice shark. Tides are wrong but who cares, nothing ventured nothing gained!!!!!....report later 🙂 When I say temp dropping, I mean to frost levels.

Complaints of dozens of big sharks stealing fish out there today!!!!

Might tow the boat to a ramp somewhere on Sunday and play with props again. The boat Ive been skippering over the last few weeks had a 207kg broadbill yesterday in an epic deep battle where the fish spent several hours bellow 700m. The yellowfin tuna have been in good numbers for several months but our freezers are all full, so I will just target snapper or deep water table fish (deep as in 400m depths).

Not had any restriction here in my area at all yet at pubs, wineries and little breweries etc, carting my son around gigging at them until he's old enough to drive himself. Im not a drinker but spend more time in them than many hard core drinkers!!!!

Looked at the boat, which had had a pretty hard life of being bashed on its trailer (fair amount of hull repair work). So with the cost of a new motor, floor work to take a bigger long range fuel tank as well as some transom repairs and alterations it simply wouldn't be cost effective, so walked away from that one. I honestly cant think of any part of the boat that didn't need work. Its amazing how people manipulate the truth when it comes down to it. Trailer stated to be brand new, yet it was 4 yrs old and had a fair few rusty sections and poorly set up (hence the bashed up hull). $2000 lowrance gps sonar, turned out to be a $500 unit. $1600 hydraulic steering recently fitted, well the owner before this owner had it fitted which was lower cost version of the $950 hydraulics I recently put I my boat. Always stored in a garage, yet there was no room (head height) to fit in the garage where I viewed the boat. It was kept on the grass in the garden. Who knows how the previous owners stored it but water was dripping from a poorly repaired transom. $2000 travel covers, well there was a cover on the rear that couldn't be used while driving. Totally rewired, well maybe back in the 90's. Flares, yes 9 years out of date. At least it was a nice day for a 5hr car drive. I also have some sharking friends wanting to head back over as soon as they are able and I don't want to be in the middle of a big project that I cant use.

It's a direct injection, they run these with up to 225 on the back of these 17's. I would be looking at possibly refitting with a Yam f130, Merc 135, merc 150 4 stroke. I must admit I would like to fit it out for fast runs out to the sea mounts, so more power that could run at less rpm would be best. The cost of refitting means the hull would need to be 100% as things soon start getting up around a new outfit price.

This is the old girl. They have a very deep V and we’re once used as a racing hull, with more hp of course.

Just spotted an old favourite boat for sale and arranged a look for tomorrow morning. These are classic boats well known for rough water handling but a little old in the tooth as you can see by the old 140 two smoke merc. I would most likely remove the engine but the fact there is nothing in the secondhand range available and the even new ones has gotten me wondering if anyone has any experience with these old engines. This one is actually low hours and been stored away in a garage for many years (boat and engine). I can sell my current boat pretty easy but would buy this first in order to swap a few bits over. Not 100% made my mind up but will take a deposit in the morning and see how it is. Anyone had an old 140, I did have a merc 90 that never let me down apart from the smell!!!

thought the big fans behind the pizza oven looked like an aircon unit.

Is that an aircon unit and pizza oven, also looks like the bench needs a good staining.