dhess

Bingo. I want to call hom Osama but my wife won't let me.

Good guess, but not even close. I was blown away at how different they look to the adult dogs.

Our new pup. Only four more days till he comes home. :woohoo: Can anyone who I havent already told guess the breed?

Give me about 2 months and I will be able to contribute to this thread.

Oscar Pistorious will definitely have his bail application denied. He doesn't have a leg to stand on.

I have sashimi'd plenty of them and they are quite nice, but like Angus said not as nice as YFT or longtails. The key is bleed and when you fillet cut all of the red meaty stuff away. With any fish you are preparing for sashimi always cut the slices against the grain of the flesh as it is all about texture. Having a proper sashimi knife that is razor sharp and parts the flesh as you cut makes a big difference. The cuts should be a glide rather than a sawing motion. Especially with soft fleshed fish.

With regards to Penn Spinfishers the older series has a legendary reputation for being near indestrucatble. The newer spinfishers that cost $99 and are made in China have been getting less than stella (haha terrible pun) reviews. I haven't used either. Just being a keyboard fisherman. :blush: Too funny Shane. Small world. For popping I use the saltiga maverick on a FCL labo popping rod. Unfortunately jig rods are completely useless as popping rods and vice versa. The monster mesh has held up ok so far jigging but am yet to give it a proper workout. I am a bit worried as I have heard reports about the older black coloured series randomly exploding. Probably need to get another saltiga with lower gear ratio's as a jig reel as the 6500H makes it hard work cranking up from the depths.

I only have very limited popping experience, but from what I have learned there is no such thing as cheap yet effective popping gear. Firstly you need a strong reel with strong drag and fast retrieve gear ratio. Reel: At a bare minimum I would look at a Daiwa Saltist 6500 or a Shimano Saragosa or similar. Either will be around $280. Anything less is likely to get bent or completely destroyed on the first few fish. Rod: As a minimum a shimano Tcurve GT special or a Daiwa monster mesh popping rod. Around $250-$300. Line: Around $100 Total ~$650 Disclaimer: I may be wrong and it would be awesome to see something reasonably cheap that works. Popping is very physically demanding and anything less than what I have listed just won't cast a lure or bloop a lure well, and will have you completely shagged after a few minutes. A more typical $2000+ combo will be way easier to cast and fish for any period of time than the options I have listed. I ended up taking the plunge and buying a highish end combo but unfortunately haven't had many opportunities to you use it. My time will come this coming summer though. :evil:

LOL Ted the psychopath.

LOL Lance the orthopaedic surgeon. I have always just belted the crap out of their head with a fish donger and bled.

Are those snapbacks?

Excellent write up. I have only caught a few but things I have learned: 1. They can show up anywhere and I mean anywhere not just closer to shore. I have caught longtails on livies fished right on the bottom (heavy patternoster) 30kms off Fraser Island. Have also heard of several reports of them being caught well into Pumicestone Passage. 2. If you are short on plastics or slugs but have a spare livie use it. Just lob it straight into the action and it will likely get smashed. 3. When winter westerlies have well and truly set in, longtails feed in really close to bribie. Just reiterating the whole feeding into the wind or current thing. Have heard it is possible to catch them off the beach with a bit of luck. Hey Andrew, Have you had any longtail encounters on popper?

True but whatever it is its a damn nice looking dog.

I find belting the races out easy enough. Probably take only one minute each if you work them side to side. Probably quicker then getting the welder out and packing it away. All you need is a steel rod or heavy guage pipe around 15-20mm in diametter and about a foot long. If you can get hold of a piece of brass even better but mild steel is fine. Using hardened steel can be very dangerous as hardened steel on hardened steel can splinter and fling shrapnel. Having a couple of solid blocks of hardwood to rest the hubs on is very handy also. As is a nylon hammer or any other dead blow type hammer.