JDP

My parents bought one was I was 3 and moved to the IOW. I then bought my own one when I was almost 12 from the sale of rabbits and shore caught bass. Like cars, I never seem to keep a boat very long and constantly keep changing them. Most boats are poorly setup from manufacture, so a few tweaks such as more suitable props, engine height or trim tabs can transform some boats meaning I get better prices when I sell them than when I buy them. Another area that lets an outfit down can often be a poorly setup trailer, so modifying these so they are easy to drive on and off of certainly helps increase value.

What do you mean by deck board, the floor ?

We used to eat a few pheasants off my Grandparents farm in the midlands, picking out shot was a pain!!!! I don't shoot, one in the family shooting that much is already to much!!!!....she's planning on diving for lobsters after work tomorrow in her own boat.

Gun licensing is very tight with all kinds of tests and regulations. The power you have to use is also regulated for certain species, the guns have to be powerful enough to bring some pretty big animals down. My daughter uses a 30 06 smallish gun which is the minimum for samba deer (donkey sized). Gun safes, ammo safes, bolts removed when in transport etc. As for seasons, these animals are all considered pests and killed by rangers from helicopters hundreds in a day which are just left to rot. The battle to keep numbers down is a loosing one in reality. Wild horses, camels, buffalo, deer, goats, pigs, dogs, cats, foxes, rabbits etc to name a few. Personally I like the fact we are takeing animals from the wild where they have had a life without chemicals and growth hormones etc pumped into them like farmed animals. Then there's the stress farmed animals undergo being taken to market and killed in abattoirs and the way they are killed. The impact of farming and the cost environmentally is also a huge factor and why I support the taking of these from the wild. Yes she also managed two pigs on the weekend, I love roast pork. In terms of how long it will last comes down to how many people this will all go to, we can only keep so much and she enjoys the hunt. I have some in a drier as dog treats, some is heading off to be made into sausages and room being made in the freezer tomorrow. Not sure if you have ever bought a whole dressed lamb before but you don't actually get that much from one. My daughter is a big meat eater (everything eater in fact). Also other shooting contacts that haven't been so lucky will be getting some of this, even the skins will be getting cured. Its a very different way of living from the UK even though its also so similar.

Strong winds kept my daughter off the water on the weekend so he headed into the mountains with her new 4x4 and gun. There's a fair bit of meat now in a friends Coolroom ready for butchering and sharing among friends. All of these animals are feral pests introduced by the first European settlers. They cause extensive damage to native flora and fauna and have spread extensively over the country. Back on the charters today she came home with a big bag of dolphin fish fillets. Looks like we are going to eating well for a while!!!

Had a very similar one which was excellent until someone walked off with it. I would imagine the quality at that price to no be the greatest though, mine was around $180 when I bought it https://www.wellsystackle.com.au/_products//FishingTools/FishDEHOOKERS/TopShotGameFishHookRemover-8098-1415-.aspx

My panoptics is the bigger bulky pc30 which like yours has a gap at the front of the transducer, only bigger. I just assumed it would cause water to spray up so used a simple short length of aluminium angled bracket which I installed using the same mounting screws to fix to the hull. This is fixed directly in front of the engine as the transom has to deep a V to place to the side of the engine, besides the bulky lump on almost any degree of V would cause issues. As you can see rather than screw direct to the hull I use blocks of pvc which allow for far more changing of positions and different transducers without having to put lots of holes in the transom (which can often lead to rotten transoms). In the past Ive made spray shields from an old plastic fuel can that had a leek, that way I can make them what ever size I choose. Im loving the panoptics but find it picks up plastics far better than metal jigs. Seeing the fish go for the lures is such a buzz, as is seeing when a shark goes for the fish hooked!!!

Painted nails works well!!!!

Mine was actually the 6th and I believe JonC either 7 or 8 but its hard to tell being a day ahead in time as well. When you guys post about your New Years eve parties, that was so yesterday for us!!!!!!

Shame they dont have the range lines turned on. Such shallow reefs like that would be good for spearing a few pollack Im sure.

How about that we are just a day apart Mr C, no wonder we are so close Happy birthday JonC.

For those with young sons, my lad has quite a play list of these and its quite surprising how they get stuck in your head.

This is pretty much what was discussed in part of the coxswain 1 course I did where emf from radio's and radar were described as dangerous on vessels, which of course everyone disagreed with when I mentioned it on another very large UK based site!!!!

Just realised I had watched it in mute, you are correct naff song!!!!

When you say 8410's do you mean you have more than one 8410 models. My reason for asking is that I find mine a little cramped on space and using an iPad with active captain only replicates whats on the 8410, unless you know a work around this ? It would be good to use my 8410 for fish searching and an iPad for charts. Im fast becoming addicted to my panoptics transducer

If nothing else it would make a good plotter and free up screen space for another unit to use for sonar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E0xJpi9rK8

Our freezers are for putting goat, deer or ice, very little space needed for bait. A beach session like the other night consists of taking two baits to catch bigger fresh bait, so two mackerel will result in an endless supply of tailor or salmon as bait. Same for out in the boat, a bait jig will soon have the live bait tank teaming with fresh live bait.

Its funny, only yesterday I was thinking of all the places Ive lived and how good it it is to live in a small coastal town away from all the hustle and bustle here. We have mountains behind us and the lake to the ocean right in front of our place and the beach where these fish were caught just the other side of the lake. My mum sent pictures of the UK last week asking if it made me home sick, still struggling with a reply!!! 5 years is a fair while, what were you doing ? It gets pretty hot up that way though, much preferring the climate here in the south personally.

Few more pic's.

We've had a pretty long run of poor conditions for crossing the local bar over the last few weeks, hence why I haven't been out to much. The last four trips now have been very similar with plenty of fish but none reaching the legal size limits. Had another day yesterday, clocking 127km on the water without a legal fish to bring home, though we did catch plenty of dolphin fish and kings again. Out of frustration trying to get my youngest daughters boyfriend into a marlin we decided to head to the beach straight after a day in the boat. Ive learnt over the years what and where to target certain species in relation to moon phases and tides etc and things looked good to try for a shore shark. Keeping things inline with UK fishing I gave the young fella an old penn inxs which I don't mind people abusing (breaking or loosing). Reel was the Penn battle 3 6000 which Ive been very impressed with for a 70 quid reel. Line was 40lb Jerry Brown 500m incase of a big one!!. Every cast resulted in either salmon or tailor (some call bluefish). The salmon aren't a true salmon but their name from the way they jump when hooked trying to flick the hook, which often works for them. Bluefish to me are a bit like catching bass but salmon are in a different class in terms of fight quality which is why they are considered a light game species by many, truly a fun fish to catch. We use both the salmon and tailor as bait, which can be a non stop supply even well into the night. With the salmon and tailor are predators that tend to be more tuned into after dark hunting than day. About 1hr after dark is time to move to wire if you intend holding onto the sharks but most of the time I stick with mono as I find battling some of the bigger sharks a pain on my back. But hey youngsters like playing tug of war so why not let them!!!! The last couple of beach sessions there have been some very big sharks, so getting this small bronze whaler was fun without battling on to long. The fight was pretty quick as the young fella loaded the drag up pretty quick so the fight was over well under 10mins (closer to 5). It was pretty lively given it hadn't had a long fight and the hook removed and back in the water in around 30-40seconds (camera was ready before landing). Headed home for an early night ahead of another trip offshore where we delivered my eldest daughter her lunch who was skippering a game charter and forgot her food!!!! The bar crossing. Delivering lunch to my eldest who loves driving from up top!!! Hooking into kings. Onto the beach.

marine carpet is pretty cheap and designed to be glued, commonly used for what you are wanting.

They wouldn't have their pic's taken as the fish weren't worthy!!!!!.. Just gotten in from the beach session which was non stop action, with a few sharks and a cracking 80cm salmon. Last cast for the evening resulted in a solid little bronze, will get a few pics of the camera after tomorrows boat session.

Plenty of yellowtail kingfish offshore today, only targeted light game but both marlin and mako's were going crazy along the continental shelf for the first day of a game fishing tournament. Hooked an unusual stingray which was almost silver on its top side, didn't think to get a photo as it was a case of get the hook out and release while still in the water. It was a hefty stinger most likely over 50kg but you really need to be careful as they can whip the sting in front of their heads depending on species. Dead mako washed ashore this week with a stingray spine through its head. Cleaned the boat, filleted a few fish and heading down the beach to try and get a friend staying with us hooked into something that will stretch his arms. Back offshore again tomorrow when the weather holds.

E10 can also damage metal fuel tanks by damaging the weld. Plenty on google search on the negative effects of e10 in boats