sbarnden

Wish I could try and go for another one. Been nothing but birthdays and doctors these past couple weeks and the next ones too!

Wouldn't put singles on a micro-popper unless I was only targeting salmon. Even then I would probably stick to trebles. 

Fish are not that accurate on the poppers so your hook up rate is far better with trebles since they can grab them on the side of the head when they swipe at them. Yellow Fin in particular I don't think would even get most poppers in their mouth properly so better with trebles for them.

I'm interested the Molix Thasis Slow Jig. The extra tie point for shore casting and lighter weights could be good from rocky points into deeper water. And if I ever get out on a boat the vertical tie point can be used for vertical jigging but most of my work is going to be casting from the shore.

Was wanting to go out on the boat Sunday for fathers day fish but the weather has put a stop to that. Winds are a bit too high to be taking the 4yo for her first trip on granddads boat.

Today would be great but need to clean up the garden for fencing contractors on Monday and have medical appointments my wife needs to get to.

Managed a day out at Victor yesterday though which was great. Spent the day with my little girl visiting the whale centre, playgrounds, climbing rocks on granite island and her favorite activity for the day - fishing off the screwpile with daddy. Just had her little princess spincast rod with small hooks and some cockles. Dropped a big red mullet straight away trying to winch it up to the deck and then got into some smaller and interesting fish for her. Landed a little wrasse, small rock cod and the smallest flathead I've ever caught at around 10cm. Only fished for about an hour with her running around. One person fishing there landed some decent size strongies (keeping them for her cats apparently) and either some luderick or zebrafish?

From what I know mono has a definite shelf life even kept out of the elements. Of course the elements shortens its life quite a bit.

Braid can last ages provided it doesn't start wearing or fraying, even UV just makes it fade without damaging to much from what I know. Not sure if it really has a 'shelf life'.

Not too much experience with it though, my line tends to get used/replaced/upgraded before I've noticed any degradation from age. Just going by what charter guides I chat to say and what I read/watch online.

Beaut fish!

Good to see you getting some good ones from the beach. Personally I still love rocks, beaches have continued their disappointment and annoyance for me with getting sand everywhere for no fish..

How far to the left did you go? Down to that reefy bit where we were nailing the little trouties on the S&H day?

Good on ya Doobie! Look forward to reading it when it's up.

Come on guys, even little ones count! Need to be in it to win it.

Posted up another flats report and managed at least one good fish.

Considering that I just broke a rod the other day I figured that I should try my best for this months comp since I need a replacement! 

Seen some guys forking not long ago for the seaweed worms along Thompson's and Webb's beaches with the rotting seaweed line.

Ideal local bait for the sand whiting there but would be a good worm bait in general.

Thinking of getting a bait pump and floating sieve for that area as there are lots of holes and life on those sand flats, probably nippers and sand worms which would be top live bait for most of our beaches and inshore areas.

For that Keenfisho I think they need to either have it in summer for the yellowfin or Bjorn needs to add StrikeHook waders to the store!

I just boiled the kettle and it seemed to work.

Not sure if slightly cooler water where I could keep my fingers in there working on the tail in the water itself might be better.

Doesn't seem to need it really burning hot.

Had a pack of the old Z-Man grubs that were sitting mashed up at the bottom of the bag, before they included that plastic insert to keep them separate and sorted, which had gone all kinked, twisted and generally misshapen.

So thought I would try something I've seen on the net for fixing up some types of SP's when they get out of shape.

Boiled up some water and dunked them. Once they are hot remove them and immediately try and flatten and shape the tail. They cool off very quickly when removed from water so you need to be quick and work at it a few times.

Managed to get a few into shape. Need to do them one at a time otherwise they will stick to each other in the water and get even more out of shape. The best ones were ones I had mounted on jigheads, so it would sink to the bottom of the glass and the tail would float up, in the hot water it formed the right shape and pulling it out with a spoon I could press it straightaway and it turned out looking good.

Couldn't get all the kinks out but I was satisfied with the end result. One thing to be aware of was pulling the tail too much, when hot it seems to weaken the plastic and the tails can be pulled right of the grub body. Seemed fine and strong again once it cooled.

They have been pretty consistent up north for me so far, had no troubles finding some to get into.

Got into a few on surface lures as well once I found the schools and they were pretty willing takers. Was great fun chucking a scum dog walker over the top of the schools and having it savagely attacked the entire retrieve from the time it landed by the school.

But most of the best ones have been hooked on plastics. Single hooked metals and the Shimano waxwings have been great searching patterns for locating the schools. Hard to throw anything sinking with a treble around due to all the weed about the place.

Was disappointed I didn't manage to get those snook to take a bite, they were nice sized ones and followed to my feet.

Can the picture you took and report I wrote for the Salmon day count 

Just posted my latest from fishing off the flats featuring myself, Underpants and my friend who has recently joined the site as TommisnSalmon. This time I had the advantage of actually fishing with someone capable of taking photo's. Usually I'm out by myself and I don't have a selfie stick to get photo's with myself in the frame.

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:

Breathables. All the way.

Have kept me comfortable and dry in anything down from -15 up to high-20's.

Light, easy to get on and off and can layer to whatever temperature you are comfortable underneath. I've got 'stocking foot' which means mine just has a neoprene sock on the bottom so I have a pair of full lace up wading boots with studded soles. The extra ankle support is great for long hikes out places. Plus, as their name suggests they 'breathe' so your sweat doesn't build up inside making you wet and keep you comfortable when you are spending all day hiking around in them.

Only problem with them is the price as they really start at around $150 upwards into thousands.

But what about the price Cal? From the publications I looked at they were saying "Its almost just like braid. Only 10 times cheaper to make."

I'm sure everyone here would think a braid substitute at a fraction of the cost would be revolutionary :-)

http://www.shakespeare-fishing.com/shakespeare-combos-spincast-combos/1348936.html#start=19&sz=16

Little princess rod with practice casting plug.

Spincasts are easy for her to get started on because the whole line assembly is contained inside a shield so there is less risk of loose line causing a massive birdnest or tangle on the reel or getting looped around working parts like a spinning reel. And its simpler to learn to cast as its just push the button, hold, release to cast and retrieve to put back in gear without having to worry about flipping bail arms over or holding the line with your finger while casting.

For my little girl who is 3 I got one of the little kids spin-cast rods. The overhead push button ones which is a bit simpler to manage and harder to stuff up than a spinning reel.

Attached a de-hooked lure to the end for casting and retrieve practice as it came with a rubber plug which the line cut through in very short order. I've just re-purposed a small sinking stickbait.

For actually going out and catching fish I took her to the SAFWAA family day which didn't hook anything, did some fishing down Port Broughton off the jetty for loads of Tumpeters which she loved to catch and throw back and took a trip out to Mannum which has some great area's along the park to fish for carp or callop, but was a public holiday and o crowded with ski boats there was no fish to be had.

Best suggestion for that age with a rig would be KISS. Pop a small ball sinker on and tie a hook on the end. For safety concerns I tied on a small circle hook since there is much, much less chance of her hooking herself on it and circles don't need barbs on them to keep in place. Also it helps with her being too little to understand the proper technique of striking a fish since she just wants to reel it in.

Depends on your application.

Lures - high-vis so you can keep track of it and watch for line movements.

Bait - darker low-vis and more natural colours, particularly for fishing muddy freshwaters. Doesn't spook the fish mooching around as much.

Deep water jigging - Depth counter, measured lengths with different colours so you can estimate how much you have out and what depth you are at.

Of course colour doesn't change the breaking strain, diameter, limpness, texture, knot strength, etc.. so its really more a matter of choice and what you think you are comfortable with.

Great footage.

First one looks like you should have done your pulls earlier, there was what? 3 crabs in the net fighting with only one staying in when you pulled it?

And all fish will eat each other, shitties or not. Its a fish-eat-fish world out there and in the words of the wise Qui-Gon Jinn - There's always a bigger fish.

When my dad was learning sailing the cheapest option for him was buying a boat up in Queensland and doing a shakedown cruise around the Whitsundays Islands.

He wasn't fishing but if you want to get into long distance cruising the boats tend to be a bit cheaper with more variety up there.

And then he had the nerve to trailer it home (28' trailer sailor) and say it wasn't a holiday because it was having to test the boat out!

Charter boats can be expensive because of the all regulation around them, insurance, needing a commercial ticketed captain, marketing, profit, etc, etc. Can still be cheaper than owning and operating your own boat though!

There is another option, finding a cruising pleasure boater wanting to visit the area and doing a cost sharing arrangement. Private boats can't sell their services without being under survey but they can take passengers on board with just splitting running and maintenance costs. Just need to pull your weight around the boat when you go. My dad has been looking at doing this to help subsidies his trips out and give him a crew to go with places my Mum won't!

Or find a group, hire some gear and do a remote camping/boating trip splitting costs. Not quite the comfort of the resort getaways but if you can supply some of your own gear can be more cost effective.

Did a short video on tying a twisted dropper loop. I find it's good for stopping your hook links from tangling around the main line for paternoster rigs.

Because its quite stiff if can also be used with the 'drop shotting' technique I wrote up about before, particularly if you put some heat-shrink tube over the twisted dropper-hook connection.

Unfortunately there is this little thing called 'economy of scale'. The machines for making braid are fairly specialized and the capital costs are high. That's why braid is quite expensive as well. From a news thing I read apparently it takes around 100 hours to spin 1000m of braid, so that's not a high level of production from a expensive machine.

Australia is too small a market for a large scale manufacturer to set up here given our high cost base, small market, poor export opportunities and trade exposure since consumers really do vote with their wallets.

That's why our manufacturing industry is dominated by either local generic production or highly skilled technical production as for niche basic bulk manufacturing its cheaper to do it overseas where there is a bigger market.

I'm sure there is Australian braid out there but the majority of stuff that will turn up on the shelves will be imports for the massive overseas markets since their production lines are so much larger just to service their own domestic demand.

Bit short on recent good fishing photo's of myself, but here is my favorite background for a while from when I was in Europe.