doobie

Trusted and union don’t go in the same sentence 

Nope, think again.
 

You are blessed my son  
Kill as many fish as you can.

Father Doobie and Father Softy, please partake of the 'holy water' before administering...

I can just see Softy with the fastest kayak in the state.😅

I would have closed it, did nothing, opened it on the actual opening date and pocketed the 5million 
Same thing really 🤣🤣 

Well, where do I start.
I managed to get out on the boat on Australia day and launch at the so called 'new and improved'.
On the fishing front, it was very slow and didn't do well. But more importantly the ramp itself (I was curious to see what the improvements were). 
First of all, I couldn't believe my eyes that $5million was spent to 'upgrade' the ramp. On what??
To dig a few more deeper holes for the new pylons? Come on!
To put on a steel capping to 3/4 of the the existing steel divider wall where sailing club boats launch?  
the pontoons were meant to go out deeper... I don't so and IF it does, we're talking centimeters not meters. This does not help with launching and retrieving on low tides and will still take the standard 10mins minimum to retrieve per boat (by the time you dock, walk to the car and retrieve), which is WAY too long when 30 boats want to come back when the weather turns.
I've been involved in the concrete industry for 17 years and lucky enough to work with one of the original persons who helped construct the first concrete slabs for the ramp. The new precast concrete floor slabs are a joke. Mark my words, in a year or 2 time, when the algae growth starts on them, there will be cars sliding into the water if the cars are borderline to boat weight ration. These slabs should have NEVER been a 'smooth' finish. They need to be abrasive / grippy and whoever managed to convince the designers to 'cut in the grooves' after the panel was constructed, is an imbecile. What an absolute joke.
I've been harping on about it, but how there wasn't a 3rd pontoon added is a lost opportunity to make this ramp the best ramp in metro Adelaide. 
Some of the original pontoons were kept and re-used. Fine. But the least you could do is apply new rubber edging so its all uniform with the new ones.
The pay machines, 1 is out of order and the other you can barley see the screen, yet you want $15 to launch.
Good to see the useless wind turbines disappear in the wash down area, another waste of time and money experiment. 
We want to visually see a change, improvement and get bang for our buck. Apart from the new precast slabs, they have purely just polished a turd!
What an embarrassment!
End of Rant.
 

Well the torch arrived and its a ripper - apart from heat sensors dimming the light when it gets too hot on turbo mode (The adds say you can start fires with the torch beam)- its perfect for me.

Also added a velcro strap at the back for extra security. Its not really required as the mount is tight enough to scrape paint off the torch - but it does make it "impossible" to dislodge - instead of just "extremely unlikely"😉

Also set the torch back a bit, in the holder, so the tip doesnt protrude so much. As any Docks fisherman while tell you - balance is important

No reason why YF Whiting would not have a go..........

Just found this, could be something different to try.

Have to hop on one leg during hot days

The washers on the plunger of bait pumps deteriorate pretty quickly. But no need to rush off to the tackle shop, just pull out that old pair of thongs you kept for DIY projects.
Put the thong on the ground and place the end of the bait pump on top, then twist back and forth while pushing down. It will soon cut a perfectly sized circle, which you can use as a replacement washer.

I totally agree it's always been pleasant having a warm tool in your hands but you could always find other tool more likable 

Got a new fish spotting torch arriving soon
It’s supposed to heat up a bit
On the highest setting - 60 degrees Celsius is the same temp as water out the hot water tap
So I made a mount
 
 

its the end with the bulbs that get the hottest but is a short torch, so that means your hands are quite close, if not touching that end.

In winter it would probably be pleasant to have a warm tool in your hands but not on the recent balmy Melbourne nights - we've got an over night low of 24c coming up.

The mount isnt just to protect your hand - these torches have internal sensors which will automatically dim the torch when it gets too hot - so making a mount will also increase air flow around the torch and hopefully keep it cooler so it can run at higher settings for longer.

And lastly - they are quite heavy - 500g - doesnt sound like much but it will wear you down on an out stretched arm over a few hours - so the mount keeps your wrist at a much more comfortable angle on long spotting sessions. Thats why I originally made a similar mount, for my first torch of similar design. Just to make it more comfortable to use.

I'm almost always pointing the torch down into water - so if you drop your arms by your side and imagine you are pointing that torch on a downward angle - you have to crank your wrist a bit to light up the water at your feet. Thats where the pistol grip really comes into its own
 

....Just wear a heat proof glove??
Why would a torch heat up that much that you cannot hold it ??

Beware Croc spotted at waters edge

I
I have had reasonably good success making my own and think I have a simpler method than some others I have seen.
I just tie two hooks to a piece of 80 lb braid and loop it to a split ring with a strand of rubber alongside the braid, before pulling it tight I add two more rubber legs trough the loop created at the split ring. when it is pulled tight the rubber seems to stop the knot slipping when a fish is only hooked on one hook.
 
 
 

Did wonders on the Gar/Tommies today

That is correct. Raw chicken slithers work wonders on many fish, including KG Whiting..

Yes, technically.
But they have turned a blind eye (that I have witnessed twice) if using slithers of red meat/chicken or mince as bait on a hook.
 

I use the Oceans Legacy size 6 or 8... Or the Shinto size 6 or 8 get the "medium" I trim off the red shiney bits.. Dont like the Trick Bitz.
Cheaper to make.. But I like em.. Im lazy sometimes.. Short skirts mate.. Not too long as they get tangled in the lure..

Cheers for that. Didn’t do any fishing today, did alright raking crabs so stuck to that for 2 hours. Might be going in a few weeks so might get a fish in then. In the meantime I can get some of those size 8 hooks.