yellow door 1

a few more options

I just went down to have a scaling comp between the store bought and the diy bottle top version Both were good but the store bought version wins by a nose - I think it was due to the pulling action used with the red tool

For those hard to remove scales

Yeah I like the sound of that

Yeah I've always been a skinner - but I want to see how the skin reacts to hot oil in the pan

Yeah I havent tried snapper withthe skin on so I want to give it a go

although this method look pretty good too

Yeah I havent tried that one but it does look good thanks Dmck

Yeah his testing rig is slightly more sophisticated than mine - and using Standard uni knots definitely weakens the line and is not a true test of the lines actual breaking strain - but it gives me a base line I can work from. I was able to achieve higher than stated breaking strain results by passing the line through the eye of the hook twice before finishing the Uni - so it shows the importance of knot selection in line strength tests Heres my rig in action on some snaps

I get the 300m spools and just topshot my reels with 100m of braid - At the time I was buying it it was around $8 on ebay (Its since gone up to $12 for the 300m spool) - and it passed all my tests - so it turns out to be a very economical braid thats nice and limp. I tested the 8lb most thoroughly and with the way I test my lines - it breaks at 75%+ when dry and using a uni knot - but if you pass the line through the eye of the hook twice before finishing the uni, it will break slightly above stated breaking strain. If I tie an FG with 8lb Kast king braid to 8lb Vanish leader - the l

If they made undies - I'd buy em I switched nearly all my reels to the cheap 4 strand braid and use the 30lb flourokote for Jewies After my experience with their lines - I even took it a step further

Here that diy method I mentioned

And Pulley rigs stream line your bait so they fly through the air better

This might be old news but I'm going to risk it. I cant help with the rod but...... Once you get your new rod - there are ways to get your baits out a little further and make them hold. These Sputnik Sinkers act like an anchor in the sand - a sharp tug will trip the wires and make them point backwards so your sinker slides out. You can also make you current sinkers a bit more grippy with some screws sput 3

No worries - good luck

Last tip is - while you will find plenty of flounder on a clear still night with a head torch - you will find more with a submersible light. The angle of the light hitting the fishes back is important. When the light comes from directly on top, its doesnt cast a shadow - but if you have a submersible light shining across their back it casts a shadow and makes them much easier to spot. I bought one of those battery operated units as I already had alot of rechargeable aa batteries. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Prawning-Flounder-Fishing-Light-CREE-LED-Prawn-Spotlight-Battery-Bright

Heres a thread about flounder in SA https://www.strikehook.com/index.php?/forums/topic/19978-flounders/

my rod is 1250mm long and the metal rods stick out 450mm - so thats a total length of 1700mm - the solid wood curtain rod diameter is 33mm. The steel rods are 6mm diametre and come in 1m lengths from bunnings - so I hacksawed that in half to make the 2 spear points that are 500mm long. I'm from Victoria so I cant help with local spots - but beaches I spear are inside port phillip bay - flat bottomed, calm, very gradually sloping beaches that receive no swell apart from wind driven swell. Heres the regs for SA - its worth checking it out because there are laws in VIC like a spea

I rarely use hard bodied lures these days but I used to use them flat out for bream - towards the end of that era I was beginning to become dissatisfied with Owner st36ers - and that was on 6 to 8lb leaders. Too many bent and snapped trebs for my liking. I had a suspicion that quality control had dropped or the last few packs I'd bought were from a dud batch. Then I got a batch of lures that had BKK trebs on them and I remember being very impressed with those. But this was a long time ago and I didnt test them with scales like I would these days. I've got a mate who is still an avid

And while I find the process of testing tackle less than thrilling - I'm always glad I did it