JDP

50mph from a 115 would be pretty amazing, the hull must be pretty flat with very little v and also very light. My boat is the same length and maxes out at 34kt with a 140 and a clean trailered hull.

Another couple of marlin today tagged and released, with a few dolphin fish kept. It isn't actually that common for people to keep the marlin but mako is far more commonly taken home. I have to say the marlin steak she bought home was some of the best fish Ive eaten for a while. Towards the end of the summer season we get the bigger billfish turn up, which are rarely taken by anyone even in the billfish tournament which attracts around 80-100+ boats. On the spearfishing front, I started spearing myself in the UK and there are still clubs running in the UK and very good venues there for the sport. The skill level is so much more than line fishing and not necessarily fitness as many good spearfishers here are overweight and elderly. It's a whole different level of mind control, relaxation and fighting the urge to breath. Fish need to be hunted in a way they don't think they are being hunted and the freediver needs to know and understand the target species behaviour and habits. Most of the better fish are found at 15m -20m or deeper, which means you don't have long once down there to get all parts together for a clean shot.

I know there are those who don't like seeing dead fish that are kept to eat and the fact they bleed can't be helped but over here anti fishing green groups have far more against catch and release than catch to eat, which makes sense really. Also most green groups support spearfishing over any rod and line fishing as its seen as both controlled and sustainable and a traditional way of fishing that dates back thousands of years. I don't get the majestic saying myself as all fish are pretty majestic and wonderful to swim with, yet there's something about size that changes peoples views. A garfish is much like a tiny marlin and a mackerel is a small tuna, yet killing these or even using them as bait and burley doesn't get an eyebrow raised. When a large fish is kept here, they almost instantly go into an ice slurry to drop the core temp down to around 5'c. Even in my small boat I carry 20lt of ice and a 7ft chill bag which which can be used to chill down anything I bring onboard, yet in the UK very few people chill their catch which might be seen as seen as not caring for the catch by some of us.

We have a local seal colony of around 4000, also like sharks in terms of fish stealing.

The problem with any of these bigger fish is as soon as you wash away the blood more appears. The dolphin fish are pretty much on a one way track to death each year. They move down the coast gaining a centimetre in length everyday on the warm southern currents (with Nemo!!), at the end of the summer season when the water cools they are left several thousand km south from the warm water they need to survive. Personally I much prefer targeting dolphin fish, especially when its casting for them with lighter tackle. Sharks get an awful amount of press from green groups and activists that don't have a clue what they are talking about in our local waters. Protecting large apex predators but not their common food source is a recipe for disaster, which we are already seeing with a sudden increase in shark attack fatalities. We are currently having great white sitings almost daily along our local beaches, for the first time in my life Im becoming nervous while in the water. Even species of smaller sharks have greatly risen in our area . These smaller sharks like whalers, hammerhead and mako etc are fish stealers, whether its off your rod and line or off your spear. Even though they are small compared to tigers and great whites, they can still do some damage if they mistakingly give you a bite. When we head north around the areas in this video it can be almost impossible to land a fish due to the number of sharks that follow us. In my area a local commercial shark fisherman has been loosing so many small sharks (150-200kg) to big sharks that he's stopped fishing at the moment (lookup trapan Bermagui and see a 100kg mako head eaten by something bigger). Don't get me wrong I love seeing sharks from both in the water and from land or boat but strory's of them being endangered here is simply not true, so eating the odd one isn't going to effect the world to much. The problem comes from country's that have allowed foreign vessels into their waters that have wrecked the local fishing.

I did wonder how people might see it!!! The thing is people have no problem killing a cod or whiting etc but simply the size of something makes them see it differently. That marlin would be around 4-5yrs old and are in such numbers that they are sold as pet food or turned into fertiliser because their value is so low.The little mako would be around 2yrs old and both reproduce offspring in good numbers. Its not uncommon to catch and release 10-20 striped marlin in a day where the small striped tuna (skipjacks) which are a favourite target of the marlin are virtually gone locally from overfishing to supply the canned tuna industry. Nobody would have an issue with a photo of a dead striped tuna or bonito yet these are now rare catches. Both the yellowfin and bluefin tuna have made good recovery after overfishing years ago by the commercial industry but the skipjacks are targeted so heavy before they reach us they are almost gone now. The mako's are like dogfish are in the UK at times and one of the higher priced commercially targeted sharks.In the open mako comp held off Sydney each years the winning boats normally catch over 20 mako per boat in a day, most of which is on 10kg line class. In saying that very few are taken by the majority of anglers. Hounds are another shark which is common yet many of us don't keep them while some do. When you start looking at the true picture of taking a common wild caught species and compare it with the negative effects of producing the likes of beef etc, then things get crazy on how people except one thing but not another. The damage done in this country (the world) from farmed animals is frightening. Pesticide and faeces leaking into waterways, then the ridiculous amounts of water to grow crops to feed and the animals. Then there's the machinery needed to produce and bring farmed animals to the dinner plate etc. When you look at any of the study's on the true cost of producing the meat we farm it makes far more sense taking a wild caught fish that will feed a fair few members of these peoples family's. I had some raw marlin with soya cause and wasabi this evening which was superb, tomorrow beer battered mako steaks.

My daughter took her first crew for the marlin season out today. It was a pretty quiet day in our area but the season looks like its going to be a good one given the amount of marlin that have been caught just to our north. Sometimes she has crew that are only interested in catch and release and other days the customers want fish to take home. Both the striped marlin and mako's in this area are very common and both rate very high on the menu. This was an eight hour trip followed by two shorter trips later in the day and evening. She leaves home at 4.15am and returns at 10.15pm and has had just Xmas day off in the last month!!! Just thought I would post something been as its been so quiet on here and I haven't had many opportunity's myself to get out.

Due to the weather I suggest we have a meet over here, even if the wind is up on the day we could still fish the river for big stingrays!!!

I was surprised to hear we are still getting UK and USA people flying into this country. One of our last outbreaks was from USA flight hosts out on Sydney shopping sprees around the city and I believe the cases in quarantine in the Northern Territory are Poms who couldn't wait for a holiday. European backpackers are constantly popping up in the news for total disregard to regulations here, which in my opinion should be reason to remover their visas and pack them on a plain back home. I think if you are going to send us the UK strain we should send you an Oz strain which includes a tiny bit of venom from all our friendly critters.

I use a bees knees line spooler. These are used in just about every tackle store over here that loads line on customers reels. These have the same drag systems found in Shimano tiagra reels except these have a slip drag system both sides of the spool line. The plastic spool the line is supplied on doesn't slip at all against the metal cones, its the drag inside the metal cone that slides. Exact constent drag settings can be set to suit any line class for any type of reel (multi, spin, electric etc). They are a little expensive but if you spool up reels regularly for yourself or friends they are a good investment that makes life very easy. With mine I tend to leave several spools on it to save having to fully unwind the tension knob for a small spool. Bulk spools left on it are simply taped to stop the line coming off the spools when filling from another spool.

Garmin inreach mini is a handy peace of kit, unlike Epirb's or Plb's these can be used for far longer on a charge and also make two-way communication. I even get my kids to take it in remote wilderness areas when out hunting etc. When I get a message sent from it, it goes to several family members phones giving the exact gps location, time of day, heading and speed etc. Runs off the satellite phone network and can even be used for getting detailed weather for the location its at. They can also be used as simply a handheld gps or if you go to the 66i model you can install detailed charts or land maps etc.

Exactly, not just this industry and even in Government!!!

For the UK government bodies to use U.K. built vehicles they would first need to be faster and more reliable than the foreign imports. Employees at local manufacturing plants would need to work at competitive rates and local governments would need to grow a backbone. We are much the same here with the closing of manufacturing plants etc.

You can also stick things like this on the flatbeds, these can be jacked up and removed when you reach your destination giving you more freedom with the vehicle. These little caravan style things https://www.caravancampingsales.com.au/items/details/2010-northstar-trackmaster-9/SSE-AD-5597116/?Cr=2 even have a toilet and shower in them as well as cooker and fridge!!! Depending on boat size you could tow a boat and carry a miniature home, not hat I would personally as I like sleeping in swags when away. The snorkel up the side of the drivers window is for river crossing above the bonnet, I tray to stay in water no deeper than the top of my wheel arches.

Yes both are popular but the kind you mention are limited in space because of the wheel arches. Also being able to simply forklift a pallet from any side or rear is handy when the sides are dropped. Ive had the integrated kind in the past which only have 1200mm width of flat space where the flatbed tray is 1850 X 2200, both kinds can be removed and changed. These are rated for 1 ton on the tray but can tow 3.5 ton, trade workers tend to have the flat beads and city posers have the other kind. For carrying a few fishing buddies and towing a boat they are very useful, especially given you can put some hefty fish in the back and just hit it with a hose at the end of the day. Both these trays are aluminium. The Isuzu has a sliding trundle trap that's the full length of the bed and the two tool boxes behind the wheels. It also has a fair amount of storage under and behind the rear seat in the dual cab. She is keen on it but I need to sell it to cover the new one. Its pretty hard selling to your own family, the little Toyota Yaris she drives was a freebee from us. She took the bt 50 out this evening into some pretty tricky 4x4 country with muddy river crossings, so she's now thinking of buying the the Mazda.

Just picked up another tow vehicle at a good price from a mate. This is a Mazda bt50 3.2 4x4 auto, where my Isuzu is manual. Most vehicles sold here in Oz are automatic and have some good advantages for towing but for me it's more to do with medical reasons for possibly keeping the auto. The reason I say possibly keeping is because either the Mazda or Isuzu will need to go. The pro's for the Isuzu are they are an easy low maintenance vehicle and hold their value extremely well and in my opinion slightly better off-road. The dual cab is very comfortable in the back but this is mostly ever used for the dog!!! The Mazda pumps out an extra 100nm of torque, which is always good to have when towing 2 tons or more up big hills. Both have a 3.5 ton tow limit. The bt50 does actually have 4 doors and small rear seats which are pretty uncomfortable for anything more than a few kms but that rear space is actually very handy for keeping gear in. The tray is 30cm longer on the bt also which means the roll out sleeping swags fit inside without needing to drop the tailgate like on the Isuzu. Mazda do seem to of sorted a few issues out from the earlier models, this being a late 2017 with very low km. The big winner though is everyone in the family can drive auto which gives me a break on long runs (4-6 day drives of 800-1000km per day ). The fact everyone can drive it can also be a disadvantage if my daughter heads away shooting with it as I will have to use her stinky little crap car. Previous spine injuries to my back and neck can turn on instant migraines which can make any driving almost impossible for me. Also the fractures from my neck are starting to reduce my left arm use ( getting old can be a toss). Anyway, any of you have experience with the Mazda's, which are basicly Ford rangers.

I do heaps of it here but I also did a fair amount in the UK too. The shallows of warden ledge and casting back towards the rocks between Totland and Alum Bay were always productive for me. Dropping to lines 10lb or less will greatly improve casting range when using light hard bodies or plastics.

There are plenty of YouTube tips on networking.

Just because it's low hours doesn't mean you shouldn't pay careful attention to the powerhead anodes on Suzuki's. When I bought my last one it had 235hrs on it and service receipts showing the powerhead anodes had been changes twice in those 235 hrs. Unfortunately there was nothing at all left of them even though they had been changed just engine running hours 35hrs before. The reason being it had taken the previous owner 4 years to do those 35hrs.

My soft plastic jig heads would most likely seem very small to most people. I mostly use them in depths of 65m and fast running water, which means plenty of boat work in setting up drift accuracy and drop time. This is also something I can't do using heavy braids as I simply loose all contact of the falling plastic if I do. Light braids of bellow 15lb will normally allow me to feel a fish hit a falling lure, which is when most of my plastics get hit. Using jig heads to heavy simply messes up the action of the lure and results in 0 catches apart from junk species. Cheap braids that fluff up after a few uses are simply not going to work as the line needs to fall off the spool without any restrictions. Using the boat constantly dropping it into gear to back up on the falling lures and keep in contact can be tricky fishing but is soon mastered, many people use the ellectric Minn Kota motors for this. Jig heads need to have the correct gauge hook to suit the target species or you will soon straighten hooks. Soft plastics will also work very well down rigged and trolled at very slow speeds around deep reefs.

Used to fish there before moving here, it was like fishing UK waters 50 years ago. Those wrecks held summer cod among other fish and many had sharks hanging around them too. Our trips were often over several days, where even the night fishing didn't disappoint in terms of blue sharks. I don't think setting up drifts with today's modern electronics represents to many problems on pinpointing wreck accuracy. I'm dropping onto very small targets in 350m without issue. Simply set a bearing course extension on the plotter and if it looks like you may be a few metres out simply engage the boat in gear to correct the drift. You might be wanting to use jigs 500g up and keep the boat over the falling jig by again dropping the engine in and out of gear. An ellectronic compas such as point 1 is a must in this kind of fishing. The first drift will be the one one to get everything worked out such lure drop time to work out how far ahead of the mark you need to be but from then on it should only take small adjustments to correct drifts. My concern these days would be what's left after the overseas fishing pressure this area may of had.

Ok as you know my daughter bought a new boat which she christened with some nice lobsters Xmas morning but!!!!... Well this is the part I was going to keep quiet but been as it has given my family such a giggle I thought I would share the rest of the day!!! So after catching the lobsters I hopped up the front of the rib sitting on the tube to film my daughter driving it through the white water on the run home. What could go wrong So we hit a have a bit hard that sent me into the air coming back down on the anchor post right on my tail bone "ouch" but hey that's not enough this was followed by a second wave that capitulated me over the side, all with the GoPro filming as I summersaulted through the air. Lost my prescription polarisers but kept hold of the camera, which the kids are constantly playing and sharing on their social media First time I've ever gone overboard. So with my back starting to seize up I headed down the beach with my wife and the dog. The dog tends to play pretty rough with me and it wasn't long before she had split open my thumb with a 1in gash, strike 2. Later that evening my son wanted to search the bushland next to our house for a lost arrow, what could go wrong. So after walking around in dence bushland only watching the ground I walked into a large cobweb that wrapped around my face!!!.. As I pulled the web off my face a spider bit the finger next to my cut thumb, which is now swollen and sore two days later. Im hoping Ive got that little run of three out of the way I can have a safe run for a while!!!!

Why did my post have lines under it ?

My daughter did 9 days straight with 3 trips per day until Xmas day when she got a chances to use her own boat. She's now back to three trips per day, with the occasional fourth evening penguin tour. Im very much considering selling my boat now its only getting used once a week. Its also the silly season where our town fills with tourists and hundreds of boats, making it to busy for me at the boat ramps!!!! I must admit Im growing tired of taking people out who loose my jigs, can't catch fish and walk away at the end of the day with half my catch and not so much an offer to chip in towards fuel or the gear they loose "baa humbug"

Merry Xmas everyone. Xmas day, Xmas present, Xmas lunch collecting !!!!