GPSguru

I was going to reply with just a 🖕 But, TBH, taking the piss out of your baboon ego is like shooting fish in a barrel 🙄 Anyway, I am too busy right now doing other important stuff, like loading reels, tying on top shots, and fitting wind-on leaders.

Wot, are you going to wave your fairy wand and turn kenny into a pumpkin 🙄

It really surprises me how you manage to get through each day without tripping over your ego or stupidity, which in your case, both are a significant handicap 🙄

Unfortunately not. Once you had lost the argument and the plot, you then returned to your childishness and locked the thread, which only demonstrates negativity to all those non members that may read it 🙄. You can only reap what you sow 🤷‍♂️

I spent a few years there, near Brisbane. It is worth the effort. I vividly remember our barramundi trips up to Northern QLD, and walking in the shallow water of the whit sunday islands with 100 - 200lb stingers swimming around your feet ! It was the family responsibilities that brought us back, together with a move up the employment ladder.

For the bigger stuff I use Fin-Nor 2 speed multi's loaded with 375m of 80lb braid and a topshot of 50m of 80lb co-polymer shockleader. The Top shot to braid knot is a PR, and the top shot to wind-on leader is a multi twist loop knot The only time the reels go into low gear is when the fish are circling deep below the boat, the low gear gives that extra bit of 'grunt' to get them moving through the water column. Today I have been mixing chum (burley), and freezing it down ready for a season start in Mid to late April 👍, it's a shite & smelly job, but good for clearing out the bait freezer ready for some fresher baits to be frozen down.

I do tend to chase big big fish like Tuna and Porbeagles with the boat, as it is good to get back to the reel top shot, then I tighten the drag right up and let them pull the boat, which really sucks the energy out of them. With Blues, we normally just bring them straight to the boat. The only time I have ever intentionally pulled for a break is in the Maroochydore inlet, when I hooked something big that was taking us out to sea and the wive’s were getting worried. I assume it was a big Bull shark, but totally unstoppable on the gear I was using.

Exactly what I am saying 👍, you need to evaluate the whole picture to see what suits best.

You have to evaluate the whole picture, so yes, maintenance is part of the picture. For me, slip launching just makes common sense. My nearest marina’s are Torquay, Brixham, and Exmouth. The nearest is Torquay and it is 30 minutes drive (on a good day - closer to 1hr on a busy summer day) plus parking plus walking down the pontoons, so probably 45 mins to get to a boat. My nearest slip is 10 mins and the launch plus parking takes 5 mins. When bro-in-law had his boat on torquay MDL, we would both leave home at the same time (he lives near me) and I would launch, travel 6 Nm to the orestone and be catching fish before he got there, and the orestone is only 2 miles from torquay MDL.

Well, your post was your usual stupidity 🙄 you were implying that you don't use ropes on a pontoon, when the reality is you actually have more ropes to worry about. Often when launched double handed we use no ropes at all. Whilst there is an element of convenience being moored on a pontoon, that element is often nullified by the fact that once a year you have to paint the hull (which uses more fuel and makes the boat slower) and any hull / powerplant issues are not easily resolved. Another point is most slips are close to the open sea with very little ‘speed limit’ travel time. Obviously pontoon mooring suites larger boats, but with trailered boats it is very much a matter of choice as to what is most convenient for the user.

You need Chart 5011, which is the full list of annotations and abbreviation used on admiralty charts. The PDF is too large to attach here, the sea bed abbreviations start on page 25, and the pdf is available for download here, Chart 5011 8th Edition

Yes, but I use Garmin 'Active Captain', which also allows me to update /change the charts, and update the software on my plotters. Using the relief shading on your phone, it is sometimes just good to 'mark' a location and send it to the plotter (Wifi) as a waypoint with a 'goto' command

For what you need, I would have thought an F-Rib would be a better option, or the ever popular Honwave.

It is not length, it is the displacement ........... I can't remember the actual tonnage, but ALL vessels over a certain tonnage have to have a fully qualified ship's master and there are detailed registration requirements (I guess it is an MCA thing)

You need to know what you are looking at, also, just because there seems to be a lot of fish, you don't know what type of fish etc.

A great day out Mike. You might need to turn off the ‘fish’ icons on your plotter and go over to looking for arches and moving patterns. The fish symbol gives way too many false positives 😉 Those Rays can give quite a good account of themselves in the tide.

Sounds like a top day Malc, plenty to keep you busy.

Yes, @thejollysinkerhas one, a hilux IIRC It replaced his increasingly unreliable disco. The invincible version of the hilux is pretty damn good, and usually available with lots of toys. The ranger is excellent mechanically but they have been known to suffer from hard to fix electrical issues. The Amorak is VAG, and I have never liked VAG vehicles.

Just give the on / off button a quick press and it takes you straight to the brightness/day/night menu 🙄

Thinking about it, I have also changed my style of fishing on the wrecks. Now I fish very close to the bottom and very close to the wreck, often I am no more than 3ft off the bottom, and a constant eye is needed on the sonar to lift the jig over the wreck. This is only possible with slow jigs, and I use the rod tip to make them tumble and roll. It is a very risky strategy, and I probably lose a jig on each session. However it seems to work.This year, in just a few sessions, I have had Pollock, Cod, Tub Gurnard, Cuckoo Wrasse, Ballan Wrasse, Pout, Whiting, and Mackerel

Time of year and also less fishing pressure due to the recent not so good weather. Another factor is pretty much no rod caught commercials (until next month).

What has the shite got to do with the thread title ? Why would I want an unreliable defender when I already have a MY19 Discovery Sport 240, HSE Black, Dymanic, Lux, with active drivetrain. The jeep I have had since almost new. I have traced the water ingress issues to a badly fitted secondary door rubber trim (Drivers a pillar) that has allowed the fixings (self tappers) to become loose. This was the result of windscreen fitters about 2 years ago, however, this is now sorted. The engine management light issue is low boost pressure from the turbo (Code P0235). It has cleared itself now, but I assume the wastegate is sticking. The life of a turbo is 75 - 100k before a rebuild is needed. The Jeep Turbo (a garrett) has done 190k, so I will whip it off and send it away for rebuild, then refit with new turbo hoses and boost pressure sensor, simples.

A very decent weather window was forecast for both Friday and Saturday, however, the tides suited me better for a Friday morning session. Crew was James (Brother in law) and at 07:00 it was -4c when we left my house. Once we got to the slipway, it was -2c, and we could see frost on the estuary sandbanks. For safety, I cleared the frost from the tubes, as they can get very slippery. The sea temp was 8c, so you wouldn’t want to be in there very long ! I decided to head for the wreck at 12 miles, which gave me the Codling last Saturday. The sea was flat, and we cruised at 28knts, the last 6 miles we were accompanied by a pod of Dolphins. We made several drifts over different parts of the wreck, and it was devoid of life, even the Pout were not at home. I decided to move to a smaller wreck at 10 miles out, as it was close by. What a difference, immediately we were into Pout, and James managed to snag the wreck about 6 times. The slow jigs worked well for me with 3 Pollock, all around the 5lb mark, and also a Ballan wrasse of a little over 3lb. I lost count of the Pout, but it must have been 20+. Soon it was time to head back in to catch the tide for the slipway (falling springs). The stamp of Pollock (a little over 5lb) A decent Wrasse of about 3lb

Weather and sea conditions are looking good for the weekend, so I expect a few of you will be out. The boat is loaded, and I will be out today, for a morning session on the wrecks. My weekend will be spent mostly removing the Turbo from the Jeep, to be sent off for a rebuild.

Excellent Dicky. I guess your dad put the winnings towards your new boat 🤣👍