NoWorries

How are they collecting recreational catch data?

Very poorly I think is the answer to that one. Essentially they survey a small percentage of people over a small percentage of fishing days and estimate the factors to multiply the results by. I don't think there's an easy answer to getting more reliable data than what they're getting but they shouldn't be promoting it as accurate data by any stretch of the imagination.

Nice work - it must have been a good lift after all the other stuff you had going on. Even sweeter from your own boat!

I haven't been on a charter boat for a few years but I'd highly recommend G&J charters out of Whyalla. I've been out with them four times in total - twice in Jan, once in May and once in October. We bagged out on big ones each time out and got some better eating size to go with them on all but one trip (the skipper was frustrated that each spot we dropped on we were hooking up on big ones). I never thought I'd hear someone apologize for the fact that he kept putting us on top of big snapper! I've been out with Jason each time and he seems to have a good handle on where the fish are and knows the Whyalla area like the back of his hand plus isn't afraid to travel to put you on 'em. I hear his brother Grant is just as good but I haven't been out with him.I was invited on a trip a friend organized from Port Hughes with Moonta Bay Charters more recently and we were stood up at the ramp. The guy wouldn't even respond to phone calls in the morning. It may have been a one-off as plenty have been out with him and had success but that day left a bad taste in my mouth and I wouldn't recommend them for that reason.

Well done guys! Great footage - watching it is almost like being there, you get a much better feel for the day than some still pics.

As SoulFisher is new & maybe unaware of the PM problem, I think he might have clicked the 'Private Messages' link next to his Avatar/welcome note instead of the 'My Messages' button on the Menu Banner or the 'New Messages' indicator at the top right.For me, the former only shows PMs before the upgrade but the latter two options show all PMs before & after the upgrade.

In general I favour the following but you will catch them in all kinds of conditions with various rigs, baits, etc.:Calm conditions with slight chop on the waterWarm surface temperaturesRunning tideWind and tide working togetherI prefer to fish with a float with around 2.5m trace with two number 10 long shank kirby hooks with a small split shot between both hooks (sized to suit tide conditions). I prefer a bran and pollard mix for burley with no fish oil/additives and gents for bait.I fish for gar from a boat but the above should apply for jetty/other land based scenarios too.

Thanks for posting that one - great visibility on that day! I think the OzDiverDown videos are fantastic - good high quality footage of our favourite fishing spots. I'm keen to see more!

I've been using MetEye for the last few months & have found it excellent. I rate it as hands down the best gulf waters forecast. The combined swell & wave height incorporates swell being pushed up the gulfs from weather conditions well South - something WillyWeather seems to lack. This is more accentuated for Spencer gulf that doesn't have the protection of KI at the entrance.

Thanks for posting this and it's great news they're planning to keep the same formula. Should be a good show - I'll be looking forward to the debut.

There's some great footage there, I think I'd come across the Clarry's one before but thanks for the link to the rest.

That's a bit more reasonable, let us know what you think once you've had a play Phil.

I've found February to be the best all round month for fish - Whiting in numbers but generally a little smaller in size (still good fish though!), plenty of rugger snapper, squid, and XOS snook. Feb is a bit hit and miss with the weather though. May is my pick for BIG whiting and better weather, don't do quite as well on the other species although they're still about. I've struggled to work out the bigger snapper over that way, only one session with fish to 6kg but mostly I get them under 4kg there and more so around the 2kg mark. Really good eating fish at that size but the bigger ones are so much more fun! The bigger ones must be there but have proven a little elusive for me, maybe I need to talk to Like a Sturgeon.

I'm looking to buy a quality real and some of the Daiwa lineup I'm interested in feature the mag seal. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with servicing these as I normally do my own and would have to factor this into ongoing costs when comparing different models.

I went to a place in Admiralty Gulf (East Kimberly) called Port Warrender which is a great location if you have a 4wd and a tinny you can put on top. You need to be well prepared for a trip like this though as there is nothing around for over 200kms and we had to build up part of the track on the way in just to get through (it was early in the dry season though). The fishing was fantastic - lots of light pelagics (queenies, GTs, spaniards) around the islands and a beatiful little Barra creek in the bottom of the gulf. If this sounds like something you're keen on, PM me and I'll fill you in with as much info as I can. I think I still have the charts for the area too.Last time I was up that way I was going to go on a trip down to the lower Ord which I've heard is very good for big barra in the run-off and build up but I was travelling alone and the other three blokes that I was going to be joining pulled out which spoilt my plans.I've also been offshore on a charter out from Broome that I would recommend on a boat called 'Billistic' fishing for sails and small blacks. Good skipper, nice boat, great fishing, and a good deckie from SA coincidentally. From memory, the best months there for billfish are June - August.

Dragged myself out of bed for an early start heading out from North Haven chasing the red fish and managed to find them fairly easily for a change. Pulled one at around a 3kg fish and a couple of pannies form the first spot, then moved and got 3 big ones and a few more pannies.We were back in by 10 and the weather was nice so made for a good morning session. Made up for the last couple of trips of nothing much going on.

The owl analogy certainly concurs with my own theories/experience but I haven't been able to crack the 'where do they go when feeding/foraging at night' question in any form that could be applied to different spots. Another thing I believe is that being around structure with fish on it prior to dusk with a sufficent burley system working tends to keep the fish around. Essentially, they won't move further than they need to in order to find a feed.I'm not really convinced that there could be a general rule of thumb for working out where they forage at night (in relation to their daytime structure hideout) that could be applied to all spots though. It seems feasible to expect they might often move inshore as there is probably more food to be found in general but I can picture examples that would contradict this assumption. Also, some grounds are too far offshore to expect that those fish would be moving to 'inshore grounds' through the night. I think it's more a case of knowing the grounds well enough to be able to identify areas surrounding the structure that are most likely to hold food. In my experience, this still leaves lots of trial and error in determining these areas and when they are most likely to be visited at different times of the year, stages of tide, etc. I'd be very interested to hear if what he has to teach is really worthwhile but at this stage I don't feel he could teach me $500 worth of information. It would be great to hear feedback from someone who has coughed up the dough and attended though.

My Dad's been doing the same thing for years. He never adds pellets, bran, or any other binder/filler and just uses it as is. He just minces the scraps, packs it into the stormwater pipe (very firmly) then covers each end with plastic wrap and a rubber band. Depending on whether a heavy or light trail is required, he takes the wrap off the ends and either drops it in with the stormwater pipe on or pushes the frozen slug out of the pipe and into the burley pot. You might need to tweak things a little to suit your specific pot set-up but in my experience it is magic stuff - better than any commercial burley I've come across is very effective for surface fish aswell as the bottom dwellers.

anyone on here who has the marks to the Tuna drop out off of Whyalla please PM me immediatly

I'll PM you the marks but you need a decent boat and plenty of fuel - the spot is about 250km south of Whyalla ramp :silly: I wouldn't have thought you'd get Dolphin Fish at PA either though...like TackleBags said, "anything is possible".