Heavy D

Absolutely. My other love is playing guitar and recently went on the market to purchase a new one, only to find that the majority of instruments I wanted to try were unavailable. Two reasons came up consistently, firstly global supply was affected due to Covid related shutdowns, and demand was up with folk in isolation spending their covid payments on hobbies to engage in. So basically demand went up, and supply went down.
I use tru-turn hooks for certain fishing applications, and cannot source these local so get them sent down from interstate, even some of these have been hard to source lately.
Finally with my affinity for the Alvey brand I know that they have been selling so much recently that they are struggling to keep supply to dealers, to the point where there has even been delays releasing new products. 

Yep, my 'tackle' is certainly getting shorter as I get older.......

Hi there,
 
Palm Cove jetty produces some great fish -- especially on live herring/sardines castnetted underneath it off the ramp. Huge GT's and spanish mackerel have been caught there. The trouble is the (cursed) sou-easter mid-year that re-suspends the muddy sediments and keeps the pelagics offshore.  So your fishing will be governed by the wind and water clarity. The sou-easter blows for weeks on end (and makes the climate bearable) between about late March and late October. The various mackerel species come right inshore when it clears up in winter.
Here is article for starters: http://www.fishandboat.com.au/articles/item/193-palm-cove-jetty-dan-kaggelis?fbclid=IwAR1gCmDzBEMNR34a88KBKL4BaEGD7bbYRhELv7iPQ4AV8Eqj4o7bBAhU59w
Here are some pics from the young jetty rat who features in the article. Barra school up underneath the jetty but are no easy capture. Suspending unweighted live baits under the lights at night is a proven method used by the locals. Barra don't mind your Murray-River type murkiness at all.

Hi all wondering what the biggest Redfin Perch is that has been caught in SA waters.
I managed a Pb pushing 40cms on the weekend, not huge but a cracker fish for a freshwater novice like me.
Whats your biggest?
Cheers LL
 
 

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reel? is there anything other than an alvey? not for me for a surf rod anyway....

I have just set my self up with a 700c alvey and a 12 foot alvey rod to match ,may not be everyones choice but i figure they make the reels so why not get one of there rods ,i also have a couple of 500c reels on a 9 foot rod that i use for smaller stuff of the beach ,i cant be bothered with trying to cast a overhead ,tried to many birdsnests ,just practice i suppose but as pauly said more parts to bugger up alveys are tough as and easy to look after ,even got one in my boat .

Unfortunately, there wont be a report next week (and possibly the following week) as I will be away interstate.
I'd still try those beaches though, especially with the rougher weather coming through.  I reckon a good chance in the gutters. At the very least there should be some ST's around from reports floating around.

Hi Doobie, sorry I'm a bit late for the party. I buy the long life gents too, and have found them to be fantastic. I keep them in the fridge set at 4 degrees, and they have lasted for several months. When fishing I'll often leave them out of the esky yet have had no issues with the ones bought from a local tackle shop. The only time I have had them go bad was from a BCF store purchase, and I suspect the product was old as the substrate was dryish. Recently I've started "flavouring" maggots with tuna oil and other stuff, I use a separate container so as not to contaminate all of them. The one's I purchase are Sheldon's brand, won't even bother trying any others. Recently my son and I caught 68 tommies in a 90 minute session, using 3 maggots to a hook and catching up to 5 fish between rebaiting.
 

Hi Doobie, sorry I'm a bit late for the party. I buy the long life gents too, and have found them to be fantastic. I keep them in the fridge set at 4 degrees, and they have lasted for several months. When fishing I'll often leave them out of the esky yet have had no issues with the ones bought from a local tackle shop. The only time I have had them go bad was from a BCF store purchase, and I suspect the product was old as the substrate was dryish. Recently I've started "flavouring" maggots with tuna oil and other stuff, I use a separate container so as not to contaminate all of them. The one's I purchase are Sheldon's brand, won't even bother trying any others. Recently my son and I caught 68 tommies in a 90 minute session, using 3 maggots to a hook and catching up to 5 fish between rebaiting.
 

Hi Doobie, sorry I'm a bit late for the party. I buy the long life gents too, and have found them to be fantastic. I keep them in the fridge set at 4 degrees, and they have lasted for several months. When fishing I'll often leave them out of the esky yet have had no issues with the ones bought from a local tackle shop. The only time I have had them go bad was from a BCF store purchase, and I suspect the product was old as the substrate was dryish. Recently I've started "flavouring" maggots with tuna oil and other stuff, I use a separate container so as not to contaminate all of them. The one's I purchase are Sheldon's brand, won't even bother trying any others. Recently my son and I caught 68 tommies in a 90 minute session, using 3 maggots to a hook and catching up to 5 fish between rebaiting.
 

These were fairly small, so I kept a batch for squid bait. Then again a week or two ago at Waits I saw a whole tommy around 20cm cut from the gut of a 53cm salmon caught on a pilly piece. It was fresh enough to eat. Might make up some gang hooks and use them whole for salmon. Have never fished the southern metro beaches, so pending next weeks strikehook report, hope to hit Southport or Maslins/Sullivans etc with them.

Better late than never Heavy D
One of mine was from BCF and the other from Fishing Wholesalers.  That said, generally I have found both their maggots to last quite well, but when buying 2 in a row, it annoyed me.  More than likely 'older' stock, but it pushed me back into breeding my own.
I've seen info on flavouring with tuna oil but as yet have not tried it - maybe due to not needing too or maybe it 'may' shorten their lives.
That sounds like a great session you had in 90 minutes and I hope you got your son to do the cleaning/filleting - all in the name of practice  

Hi Doobie, sorry I'm a bit late for the party. I buy the long life gents too, and have found them to be fantastic. I keep them in the fridge set at 4 degrees, and they have lasted for several months. When fishing I'll often leave them out of the esky yet have had no issues with the ones bought from a local tackle shop. The only time I have had them go bad was from a BCF store purchase, and I suspect the product was old as the substrate was dryish. Recently I've started "flavouring" maggots with tuna oil and other stuff, I use a separate container so as not to contaminate all of them. The one's I purchase are Sheldon's brand, won't even bother trying any others. Recently my son and I caught 68 tommies in a 90 minute session, using 3 maggots to a hook and catching up to 5 fish between rebaiting.
 

Hi Doobie, sorry I'm a bit late for the party. I buy the long life gents too, and have found them to be fantastic. I keep them in the fridge set at 4 degrees, and they have lasted for several months. When fishing I'll often leave them out of the esky yet have had no issues with the ones bought from a local tackle shop. The only time I have had them go bad was from a BCF store purchase, and I suspect the product was old as the substrate was dryish. Recently I've started "flavouring" maggots with tuna oil and other stuff, I use a separate container so as not to contaminate all of them. The one's I purchase are Sheldon's brand, won't even bother trying any others. Recently my son and I caught 68 tommies in a 90 minute session, using 3 maggots to a hook and catching up to 5 fish between rebaiting.
 

I did go onto there site and have a look though and seriously considered a Alvey,one thing i always do is to throw a few lures after the bait fishing session usually walk the shore line casting covering ground.This works well with a casting reel or spinner but not that good with a Alvey and a couple hundred casts.

Have a look at their current range. Alvey nowadays offer graphite and vented reels that have significantly reduced weight. 

Hi D,i did run Alveys reels years back but these days the rods and reels are so light to hold and you can hold onto them for hours,that's all i use these days light weight gear.
 

Have a couple of shimano reels that have been sprayed a few times without too much drama. I do believe however that warranties are voided by Shimano if salt or sand does get inside the reel. Have also heard of a claim being voided because the owner had previously opened up the reel for a clean, Shimano apparently expect that only authorised repairers are to open them up.
I do have a finn-nor rampage 2000 reel that went for a swim for about a minute when it fell out of my crab tub at Thompsons last year, and the sealing has held (I'm a little slow even when in a hurry). I just removed the spool, gave it a wash down then sprayed a lanolin based lube/dispersant called Reel Deal by Pirtek onto it.4ff   
If you're concerned about a reel being subject to salt/sand exposure when wading for mullet/gar etc. then have you considered an Alvey sidecast estuary/light beach set up?? These reels are simple and tough as nails. They can handle salt water dunkings, sand infiltration, have few moving parts, cast a country mile with great accuracy, and will often outlive their owner. Super simple to maintain as well, and warranties will not be voided for exposure to salt and sand. They are my go to bait fishing outfits, and range in sizes suited to anything from garfish to kingfish, shitties to sharks. The 1 to 1 retrieve ratio is a little slow compared to a spin reel, but that ratio also provides a winch power that cannot be matched. The 2 main issues are line twist, easily rectified by having a small swivel attached to the mainline, and people not familiar with them using incorrectly matched rods. 

My setup using a dive belt,the black loop is for resting rod butt while changing lures or baiting up hooks.
Two lengths bags depending if i'm standing deep or shallow depending on that day's location

G’day HeavyD, thanks for the detailed reply and info mate, I’ve been meaning to get onto one of those Alvey belts, seems it’s compatible with every Alvey product, something a lot of manufacturers could learn from. The bait bucket looks particularly good, being that it’s versatile for use with bait,Berley or tackle storage. Thanks for the photos mate, glad to see you out there getting amongst it, especially with your lad.


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Mate I have both Alvey bags and scaling bags, my go to is the deluxe version. Set up with ruler, worming pliers, hook disgorger and knife. Thermos, energy drink or cheeki water bottle in the can holder. Just love it. My boy uses the standard one. Also I have the mother of mid-sections and if anything it gives the bag something to rest against !! To maintain just give it an occasional hose out. I often use an Alvey belt with a bait container and rod bucket attached, the bait container can also be used to store lures.  In the front pouch of the bag I keep a small waterproof container for tackle, and obviously any fish go in the main pouch, and I also keep wallet/phone/keys, etc. in waterproof bags in the main pouch as well. Alvey do sell a dry pack for this purpose that can be attached to the belt: https://alvey.com.au/products/dry_pack/ If you look at my profile pic the yellow strap is visible there, I was flicking the flats for whiting on that day, took home a good feed too. Where I'm from this is actually quite a standard beach fishing set up.


Here's a pic of the Alvey bait belt with rod bucket and a bait container, note that particular bait container has a bit sticking out with holes that lures can hang off (yes the crab was returned for all you sticklers):

If you have a sewing machine handy just make ya own! A cheap $3 tarp cut out a bit fold in half sew up each side then cut a length for the strap fold in half and again sew along the length then just attach to bag! If you want a pocket just cut out the size and sew 3 sides to the main bag before you sew that together!
There easy as and very little cost. I used to make a couple at once and they would last for a few years before i threw them away and made another!..... 

What kind of godless heathen wastes parmesan cheese in a bloody burley mix.