tassieflyer

These are probably the hardest weeks of the year for most people to get out and it has been a bit breezy. One plus of being so flat out at work the past few weeks (knowing I don't have time to head out) is sanding and repainting the boat trailer at night all ready for its first season with me at the helm and hopefully my first Schnapps!

Was met at the ramp at 5:30 am by my mate and 6 or so other boats parked up in the rigging area.Both my mates and my boats could be best described as "Estuary" type boats and with a reasonable chop your gonna get wet.After initially wanting to bail I decided to push out but vowed if I got 1 wave over the bow of my boat I was turning around.What would normally be about a 10min run took about 30min but I took it real easy.The minn Kota was deployed and "Spot Lock" engaged and we were away.The boat handled the swell/chop well considering.After making a few Jighead weight adjustments I had a good snapper on board measuring 76•5 cm and weighing 5kg.With that it was a slow cruise in and homeski.[attachment]image.jpg[/attachment]

Managed to knock up a feed today with moggy &hsv Hsv hooked a gar which then got swallowed by a bronzie which then in a calamity of errors was lost boat side due to a recently purchased ego 2 slider net breaking into 2, prety pissed off moggy got it on video not sure what its like as havnt had chance to watch it yet was funny on his gar rod though--mog dropped a near on metre snook today ,also on his gar rigCheers 4THA

Not the best pics but a great day catching tuna and snapper...

headed out from o'sullys yesterday caught 5 squid 2 u/s flat head 1 kgw (42cm) 1 sweep 3 leather jackets and 2 sunburnt people oh no that was us

mate sent me this.. freakin hell it goes nutshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoHXPvc5y3Y&feature=share

I have over the last 25+ years serviced fishing reels for gotone & worked at Jarvis walker repairing & servicing fishing reels. not a big fan of spraying reels with wd40 rp7 etc the stuff can get into the reel & degrade the grease with its solvents etc(also i dont think the fish like the taste to much if it gets on your hands & then your bait)my advice is to clean the reel down with a clean damp rag take the spool of the reel (now you need to watch out for any loose spacer washers at this point make sure they stay on the shaft) if it has braid on it, run a gentle stream of water from the tap & rinse the braid for at least 2 minutes. while the spool is off the reel wipe the extended main shaft off the old blackened oil with a clean lint free rag put one drop of fishing reel oil on the shaft, take off the handle & put 1 drop of f/r oil into each bearing/bush put handle back on turn reel a few times put a smear of oil on the spool shaft & put spool back on reel (dont cross tread drag knob). next undo the screw holding the line roller on do this carefully & watch how the washers & bearing etc sit note the correct position of the line roller for anti twist reels wipe bearing on cloth wipe washers wipe bail cam & bail arm roller holder clean of any grit & sand salt etc oil bearings washers (smear) reassemble bailarm roller do not over tighten screw. I recommend diawa abu or simular reel oils because they have anticorrosive inhibitors in them. sorry if this is a bit long winded but if you see my reels (rods; I just hose them down well & shammy off) u'd think they were brand new & if down the track you need to sell them to up grade you will get top dollar if there in good nick.

An often asked question is "how do i butterfly fillet a gar"well this is how i do it.I use a rounded butter knife sharpened to a nice edge.put the knife right through the fish just below its butt and cut down to the tail.now cut towards the head but don't cut through the ribs,then slice down behind the head too the backbone.now with an angled knife cut through the pin bones but over the top of the ribs but don't cut all the way through the fish and leave the gut intact.It will look like this when done but fold it back into place and turn the fish over.this time start with the downward cut behind the head then with an angled knife again run the knife towards the tail cutting through the pin bones but not the ribs.like this.then pick up the fish and fold the fillet near the head so it is skin on skin and tear the fillet away from the fish,it is important to get it started correctly so you don't end up with any black on the fillet.the end result is a clean fillet without any mess on the board or the fillet.Any errors you make like cutting through the ribs should be corrected before you start to tear the fillet away from the belly or you will get black lining on your fillet.It takes about 35 seconds per fish once you are proficient. cheers brenton