Territory Lad

Mic drop....................

@doobie hahaha that was my exact thought too! @Hunter69 aggree with cooking majority skin side down, for the same reasons you have mentioned. I assume a smaller saucepan/fry pan would achieve the same result? Ill definately try it on the next batch!

Thanks guys - appreciate the responses. I figures it was either user error (my filleting process) or the size/age of the fish leading to a chewier/tougher flesh, which in turn curled. Glad to know others have the same experience. RE: hot pan, maybe, but in the same pan at the same time are smaller fillets that dont curl. I had this same thought originally though so reduced the temperature and got the same result (curling) just without the crispy skin. RE: weights / press with a spatula. I might give this a go and see how it fairs. I may also try just skinning the larger models and see if that helps. I do like the crispy skin though..... maybe just fry that off on the side! Worst case scenario I may just release the bigger models and only keep the ~30cm models. Thanks guys. TL

Odd question, but any reason a YFW fillet (scaled, skin on) would warp/curl up when being cooked? Last few batches I have done, some of the larger fillets have curled up and the flesh tends to be chewier. Only seems to happen with the models to go above mid 30s. The smallers models come up beautiful, everytime. Im assuming it is something I am doing wrong, possibly during the filleting process? I know with squid and whole fish, you can score/cut the flesh to prevent / reduce curling, but I've never seen this with straight fish fillets. Any advice / ideas would be greatly appreciated. Cheers TL

You could always ask your local store to order it in. If they have the larger model one would assume they have an account with the distributor. They should be able to get the smaller version in for you if it is still stocked / distributed.

You mate have any luck getting his yak back yet?

I assume thats a sleeping cabin ontop of the trailer? A) awesome idea, but more importantly B) surely significantly more identifiable for those looking. Hope your mate gets is rig back in one piece.

@Yorky thats good to know. Hopefully Ill see an improvement by doing the same.

This is getting a touch frustrating. Had another session on the flats last week and had two more failures. One snapped clean in half again and the other bent completely out of shape. The one that bent out of shape was new on the day and by the 2nd fish was a wreck. You can see in the pic below its been opened and is all twisted out of shape. The whiting that did the above were both mid 30s, so good size but not absolute brutes. A mate of mine had a few spare from the next size up (S) so I have placed a set of these on a few of my surface lures to see if the larger guage helps. Time will tell.

Got out for a short flats session, was pretty blowy and choppy where I was - not at all what old mate WillyWeather suggested. Still a good session though with a handful of YFW on ice and about to be filleted

@AquaticResearch1 heavier middle trebel isnt the worst idea. Ive seen Jack fisherman do this and works seems to work fine. Not sure what lure your using or fish your targeting, but it might be worth a shot.

@bjorn2fish definately makes things easier. Dont get me wrong there are some small inconveniences at times with the tub - in comparison to just wading, rod in hand, bag on you back. However the benefits far outway the cons! An updated version 2 of the tub came to life last weekend! After a bit of research I found the a pretty suitable esky. A 20L IceKool esky. It was small enough to fit in the tub, but big enough to fot a 35+ model YFW. Worst case scenario if the reality was not quite as I had envisaged, I had a good BBQ beer esky The esky didnt fit exactly as I imagined, especially with the rod holders on the inside, but it was workable. It also took up more room than I anticipated, odd given I knew the measurements before I made the purchase. I used some lengths of hardwood dowel to strengthen up the axels so they would cope with the extra weight of an esky with ice, drinks and hopefully a few fish! Then it was time to hit the water to test it out! Overall it worked really well and I was very happy with it. Next upgrade will be some additional flotation - possibly by adding a 3rd axel - as whilst an esky with ice and a few drinks is fine - I soon found out, the weight of any fish in the esky quickly adds up!!

^^^ this was my 2nd thought. My 1st was $HITBALLS! Those terminals copped a hiding!!

@Aff no silicone, just bolt, washer and nylock. So far so good! Only water I have found in the tub was related to spillage from the net/fish during landing and un-hooking.

@HB tragic Not 100% sure mate. They dont use the standard 10, 8, 6, 1/0 etc sizing. The ones I got were SS. From memory they come is 5 or so sizes/categories.