Raider

Thought I’d share a couple of pix shot with the drone from one of my favourite areas to fish. The West Coast 😎
 
 

Daiwa Australia
Posted in directly and too a few weeks to get back

SportFishingScene is where I get my servicing done, usually after them getting drowned in a sand monster.
 
This what I do for my basic reels, I buy Sienna's for around $40 and servicing is usually about $30 so I just run them into the ground and replace every year or so.
On a kayak where it's always getting exposed to salt and sand so it's not worth using good expensive gear.

Going by those prices I'm thinking its more economical to buy mid priced quality reels, work them hard, but with care. Obviously avoid water and sand intrusion. Wash them down etc. after use and replace them with new ones when they no longer perform to acceptable levels.
Seems wasteful though....such a throw away society we live in now days.
I guess the cost is wrapped in the service person's pay. The value of those reels listed above would however justify their servicing costs.

I got a Daiwa Exist and Emeraldas serviced last year. Needed new gears for Exist and bearings for both $350. 

I just had my 12 year old stella 2500 serviced for the first time. Although it hardly needed one. Still like brand new. Was sent to Shimano. $100 they charged me. Couldn't belive it. 

I've been using Rob for a couple of decades - he is cheap and does a great job. Also good for a chat (don't go if you are in a rush)

Have used Sportfishing Scene at Cavan. Great service with quick turnaround. Regards, HBt.

We take ours to Rob for serious servicing. You don't have to go through a tackle store. 

From what i'm aware Most of the tackle stores send customers reels to get serviced by Rob Wilson at South Oz Rods. If it is a Shimano Reel or Daiwa Reel depending on whats needed they get sent back to the company and they service them. 
 

I got my NS from Tackleworld on Port Road, not sure if any where else stocks them at the moment

I would be pretty tempted by a custom built miller rod as well!!!!

Well have managed a couple trips out on the northern flats for the month so far and got into good fish both times.
 
First time was out was 2nd August with my friend who's now on the site as TommisnSalmon chucking lures and getting into some good fish holding fairly close in over broken lumpy ground. No Strikehook gear for the comp though.
 

 
Weather was crap with rain and moderate winds but we managed to position ourselves upwind of some schools and got into fish from just over legal up to the 40's.
 
Then got away again on Saturday 15th with Underpants and his mate Blackdog3. Was out pretty early and the weather was fantastic for it early in the morning. Even had to strip off some of my insulation as I was getting a bit cooked when the sun was out. There was a lot of early morning fog which was interesting to fish in being able to see nothing but the water and grey cloud around us.
 

 
Was plenty of interesting life around the place.
 

 
Lots of activity everywhere. Was a small group of dolphins close in chasing fish in knee to waist deep water making huge bow waves and birds hovering overhead looking for scraps.
 
http://youtu.be/p8K_YDL5aGM
 
We got into fish fairly quickly. I was trying out some new lures, in particular a Savage Gear 2.5" Manic Shrimp which worked was working great on the little salmon trout but didn't land anything special. Underpants quickly got into some good fish with soft plastics.
 

 

 
We moved further out while Blackdog3 stayed behind which was a solid move on his part as further out in the sort of channel and gutter systems where normally good fish school up we struggled to get a hit. I managed a couple of good follows from salmon trout and some nice sized snook but no commits and Underpants managed to net some solid squid but as for the good salmon schools they were absent, holding again in the lumpy broken ground further in where there was no clear channels or gutter systems, just sandy holes with scattered high lumps of weedy patches.
 
We headed back to that area spotting some nice rays, one right up on shallow flats waving its wings in the air and a massive one that came right up to my feet to check me out. Underpants also manhandled a huge Pt Jackson that kept trying to eat the catch in his keepnet! Those things are like badly behaved puppies sometimes.
 

 
Managed to get into some good fish myself, switching over to a 68mm black-chrome Shimano Waxwing fitted with a quality single hook. I find this a great searching lure as it casts like a metal but can be fished with a slower hardbody like action and with the single I find it to be a bit more weed resistant than a metal as the 'wings' push floating weed up and away from the body a little when pulled through.
 

 

 
Was a good days out fishing with company, hopefully can find time to get out again with the fly rod next time. And to finish off Underpants sent through a pic of his cleaning table once he got the fish he kept home:
 

I wish these would show up at my local metro beach
 

I got mine from anaconda for beach fishing - never had waders before.
I tried on both the nylon and neoprene but found the neoprene was more uncomfortable - might be warmer as thicker than the nylon one.
I got the nylon for $39 and a size larger than normal shoe size.
So far, and I have been out for hours in the water on quite mornings and they have kept me warm and dry each time.
I wear 2 pair of socks and track suit bottoms and I can move very easily when casting and squating down.
After the first time I used them I said to my misses that the waders had already paid for themselves.
But try on both types so you get a feel to what is best for you.
Get next size to your shoes as could be easier to get them off quickly in an emergency.

With a early morning flick down the Onk with no results I came home still thinking fishing and after catching up on a bit of work and doing a few things around the house I thought I'd get stuck into making a few DIY soft plastics, I'd rediscovered the moulds in my shed recently.
 
Paddle tail and curled tail grub in a few colours. The green one glows in the dark, takes a bit to charge up but does glow pretty well. I'm pretty messy when pouring but just trimmed them up with scissors afterwards and they look ok. Also have a few jig head moulds, the jig heads came out pretty well, I'll be trying those with the paddle tails. I can't wait to have a flick and see how they go 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just had to try the photo uploader. this fish was 1 of 4 caught a while back in an area NOW off limits thanks MARINE PARKS NOT 

So I’ve heard many stories of people finding rat kings within a couple of hours from metro in the last six months and never had any thought of chasing them due to not owning the correct gear. However, one close fisho friend of mine gave me some sound info a fortnight ago and gave me motivation to have a go at a landbased king. Not having ever seen one in the wild (plenty in aquaculture) and never having caught one, I went out chasing.
 
Day began at 5am, left home early and drove up to an area that had frequent sightings of rat sized kings. Armed with a few combos and a couple of not-so-fresh baits, I was hopeful. I began by sending out a freezer squid under a float and let it drift way out off where I was fishing. Whilst that was out the back, I began tossing a squidgy flickbait around on my 1-3kg Samaki Zing and my newly acquired Daiwa Caldia 2004 hoping to nab a few salmon or maybe a snook. After a long while and no hits on plastic, I swapped to a simple paternoster rig hoping to at least catch a fish. Managed to catch typical reef/rock fish such as sweep, zebrafish, wrasse and heaps of leatherjackets in the small size range. I kept periodically checking my whole squid throughout the day but it remained untouched. I swapped out the squid and put on half a garfish just to see how it went. After midday I swapped back to plastics and was rewarded with a solid hookup and strong run. The Caldia was singing loudly and I was losing heaps of line fast. The fish hadn’t jumped so I knew this was no salmon, the Kingies were finally here!! I fought this legal sized fish for five to ten minutes but without a crab net to lift and having completely the wrong gear it was hopeless. The king went for a short run and busted me off on the last pylon. I couldn’t entice another strike from anything until around 4pm when I began to bring in my last half a garfish bait under the float. As I retrieved the float, it began to bloop and pop the garfish across the surface. To my surprise two/three kings came from nowhere and smashed the gar on the surface and things came tight. Against strong drag from the Stradic 5000, it still managed to take line and felt like the harder I pulled, the harder it tried to run away. Eventually I got it close and was able to deadlift it on 40lb leader. Success!!!
 

 

 

 
My first ever kingie at 70cm. Great fight to it and to do it by myself was awesome. Now I just have to wait until late spring to hopefully go and find some more. Would love to land one on plastics as well, so that’s my first summer goal for next season.
 

For those that are interested....
http://tacklenews.net/shimano-15stradic.html
Pretty basic pic, but looks kinda vanquish like in shape

Bought some at The Sportfishing Scene at Cavan. It was a while ago now but try a phone call.

You could start here, Raider: http://searingtackle.com.au/index.php/stockists#sa
 
Good luck!
 
Cheers
af

No doubt it will be a fun combo to use when you get on to the big ones. I know mate I have been meaning to get out wet a line and let you know but I just haven't had the time lately which sucks we'll try soon I'll give you a buzz.

Hey bro, no worries!! Well i don't like scull dragging fish, so I recon this would be a nice setup then... We got to catch up soon mate!

will be a solid set up mate, good short boat rod. I reckon you might find that it will be perfect set up for Victor Tuna but maybe a little light for the big kings if you are lucky enough to find a few

With the increase in popularity and availability of circle hooks for KGW fishing, are they the go to hook that advertisers want us to believe, or are people trying them and going back to shiners, long shanks or bait keepers. What's your favorite KG hook and terminal set up for boat/kayak fishing?