yellow door 1

Yeah those first few outings when using a new lure or bait can determine whether it becomes a favourite

Yeah when you burley them up into a frenzy - its chomp first and ask questions later

great story - lots of good info there. Have you ever used carp for bait or burley?

Thanks for that - the links are working at my end at the moment

Ha Ha - yeah I was impressed by the rich red chunks

Yeah thats one of the things I love about- when the little snapper and flatties are tearing pilchards to shreds - you know those carp fillets will survive the onslaught

Yeah I wouldnt recommend leaving all other baits at home - but it might be worth sneaking a bit of carp out on one of your rods

Do you salt it down or use it fresh/frozen

Yeah if that variety of species dont mind chewing on it - theres got to be others

Yeah its a bit early for me to give it my full endorsement - but its worth a crack.

Yeah the second video was shot on a very slow bight - we had squid, pilchard, red mullet, silver whiting, a king george whiting head and salted carp out. The only 2 baits that got eaten were the king george whiting head and the salted carp. Re snapper eating anything when they are hungry - you got that right

The question of carp as bait or burley came up in the thread about Snapper fishing lessons. So I figured I'd ask around - who's used it? and what do you reckon? I'm at the stage where I dont leave home with out it when chasing snapper - but I havent given it a long enough trial to see if its as good as I hope it is Here's some of Vids of the first couple of trials

First time I took it out on a mates boat he was like - "You are not bringing that stinky crap on my boat" second time it was "Ok it doesnt stink and the pinks like it" Third time I caught him sneaking a couple of pieces on to his hooks instead of Pilchard

First things first - I'm no pro at this but heres how I do it I use 1kg of supermarket salt on the fillets from a 5kg carp - I cut mine up into 3cm x 5cm x 1.5cm chunks. The chunks are put in a snap loc bag with the salt. Then I shake the bag until everthing is evenly coated. It usually takes a day or 2 for the majority of the water to be sucked out of the chunks. I hang my snap loc bags upside down - with a slight crack in the seal - so the water can run out and the flies cant get in. I've thought about collecting the juice for burley but never done it. Guys who are serious ab

Re the fishing lessons - I've never done it, but I wish I had back in the day - there is nothing more valuable than experience in hard fished areas - going out with a pro could save you 20 years of mistakes and dud trips. If you dont have the time to get out there everyday and work it all out - being guided by someone who knows what they are doing, is the best money you can spend to improve your catch. You just have to find the right guide.

I've only done a couple of tests with carp versus pilchards as bait - and it performs well by comparison on little fish. I salt mine down so they last the season and use smallish chunks on flasher rigs - beats playing mushy pilchard roulette with the frozen baits. Heres one I cut up last week - it would be great fresh but I need mine to last, so it has to be salted. It lasts forever and can be refrozen multiple times - some blokes dont even keep it in the fridge and say it lasts for a couple of months

Most of my materials come from curb side rubbish collection piles - so there is no shortage of old mops to choose from. And yeah - improvised tool use is one of my specialties - Just yesterday I was faced with getting some huge sturdy card boxes into the bin - the stanley knife was breaking my balls - Cordless Jigsaw made short work of it

ahh and you'll need a pvc pipe sheath for the points, so you only stab things that you intend to stab

Cut out the shape you want with a dremel or angle grinder - then blast with the heat gun until it gets floppy - then shape with gloved hands - hold it in place and run cold water over it to set quick and you're done

First make a piece of junk out of a metal mop handle to see the limitations of such a beast. Then beef everything up - drill holes into heavy curtain rod - cut steel rod in half and hammer into pole - add hose clamps - sharpen the tips - and you're ready to put holes into some flounder A flounder guru set me straight and said you need a heavy pole and long tines. The heavy pole makes penetration a breeze especially on boney headed flathead - and no barbs makes getting them off the spear too easy

Its good for even, predictable, cooking times and very little wasted flesh.

Yeah would be a piece of piss - as long as the tubing your gaff is attached to slips snuggly into or over the top of the extension pole - you're in business. I dont use gaffs where I fish because I intend to release the big fellas I catch - and the spots I land fish are pretty forgiving to the use of nets - Ie - they arent going to get tangled in kelp, mussel or craggy rocks The double button springs are fine for what I do - I mainly fish man-made structures with easy netting opportunities - but there might be complications with the buttons being depressed if you were dragging them

order parts from tent supply store measure up chuck in rivets and double button chair springs Spray with enamel to stop black hands and you're done

Sorry to dredge up the past but I was wondering how the Dam was going now. I'd love to hear an update on how it all went.