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That's a first!!

North are in the lead !!

Landed lunch this morning during a very wet and windy couple of hours at Hayes inlet. 43cm Flatty and 23cm whiting. I was happy to get anything in those conditions. Are squid out and about long the peninsula yet?

Are you fishing the bottom end around the old Council Chambers or further up ?

I agree with Neil, different spots at different stages of the tide.... Incoming look for feeding banks about to get a few inches of water on them....they will be feeding hard there for about 30 minutes. Keep following the flooding banks as the water rises. You want to cast into about 6 inches of water roughly. Once the bites have tapered off you need to find where they will wait for food to come to them....look for a sand bank that tapers down to the river bank along the river.....you can bet a years wages they will sit there until the top of the tide vacuuming up all the worms and small crabs and yabbies dislodged by the sand bank being disturbed. You really should recon the river towards the last of the run out tide to learn where this high tide spot will be. Ideally the sand bank should be at least 1/2 the river wide and taper down to the bank on one side only on the upstream end.....the fish will be over the last 15 metres of that bank guaranteed. Google Earth Pro shows these sand banks quite well too....another way to plan your run.

Beautiful clean looking fish , looking forward to Sunday . Please promise me , we are not targeting fresh water cobia ! Regards Neil

I find the tide sizes don’t really affect it too much , you’ve just got to be prepared to move around and position yourself in the right spots during your session down there. It’s always about knowing how the puzzle works ie how when why and where you anchor your boat and present your baits. Whiting will move to where the food is., think like the fish .Sounds like you tried a few spots ,but hey , not all was lost , at least you’ve found where they don’t bite on those tides. The next trip will be better. regards neil

The more run the better, we have found. 4 ball sinker.

whiting

Funny you should say that! I ordered one 2 days ago

I presume you’re not sleeping in your boat whilst reef fishing ? If sleeping I prefer to use a plough of some sort and drop it on a sandy patch and set the anchor alarm. If just shallow reef fishing , I suggest just using a lead filled 5 pronged reef pick with about 3 m of 6 or 8mm chain with some 10 mm silver rope and pull it up with a ball when your on reef . ( The 10mm rope is softer to use on your hands than 8mm) This can be all stowed in a fish bin and taken out your boat when your not planning on anchoring on rock or reef. Keep your expensive Manson anchors for sand and mud for which they are designed . Have a look at a Sarca , they’re cheaper than the Mansons and have a slide shackle set up. They are bigger and may or may not suit your setup. Regards Neil

That's a modern interpretation of a hand line... Careful you don't end up with a dislocated finger too from a sticky drag...

Brilliant. All you need now is a slingshot.

I did look at them but the price vs a reef anchor put me off a bit, I'm already spending about $270 replacing the Manson, and the reef anchor really won't see much use, I almopst always anchor in sand or mud. Why am I not using a fluke anchor? I used to and it was ok, but it doesn't self launch and having to get out the front and shove it sort of takes away at least some of the fun of a winch. Re: the zip ties down the shaft thing... that works right up until the tide/wind shift your boat around and the anchor tries to reset and the chain tears the zip ties, then your rode's pulling on the head of the anchor. Probably not a huge issue on a reef anchor since you won't be relying on it overnight or unattended, but still. Thinking I'll just get a 20m line and a float to attach to the head of the anchor in case I need to pull it loose. The sliding shackle in a slot thing you see on some anchors seems a bit problematic too to me. It's fine if you're in a nice level sandy bottom but if you're anchor's sitting on a bottom that means the shaft's on an upsward angle the shackle's not going to slide down the anchor as you motor forward. It could also end up pulling out the anchor if your boat shifts but at least then the anchor would turn around and reseat itself.

I have a broken smashed thumb from a ***** cow. this is what I have came up with…. Yet to go fishing with it, but I can cast and reel it.. I should feel the bites ok

I don't really have an option for the main anchor as it's on a winch, and the thicker silver rope means a much shorter anchor rode. I've got a coil of silver rope I was planning on putting on a fluke anchor to use a s stern achor when I'm anchoring off a beach or as a second anchor in case a storm blows up... no reason I couldn't swap it out and use it on the reef anchor too, just put on whichever anchor I'm using on the day. It also has the advantage that if you do need to cut it you can always resplice a new thmble into it.

I have never had an issue with 1.5m of chain fr my reef anchor....or sand anchor. I think 2.5m of 8mm chain will be all you need in a 4.5m. Dyneema / spectra is not a good option for anchor rope...it has next to no stretch and often will un-nest an anchor with surges coming down the rope. Use silver rope, it is a good stretch rope that helps keep an anchor holding.....plus it is enormously cheaper. If using a cheap reef anchor you can shorten the spikes to about 6 inches long and bend them quickly back towards the eye....not long slow bends. they will hold better and release better when you need them to. Long slow bends are far less effective.

Kyzanka in Mackay. Way over priced.

Went to western arm with Rick and Joy. Shrimp traps a bit light on but good size. We were restricted to fishing in the bays due to the wind. Found one spot that was ok but as the boat was yawing a lot we kept on getting snagged besides feeding the prolific barred grunter. Found a couple pf trees where we were able to tie off fore and aft but the barred grunter still prolific to the delight of the eagle. We finished off early with a total of 26 bass ,one tandanus and a nice yella. All tagged and released,

is the anticipation excitement for SOO, starting to rise? even during the NRL 'off season' it never dims for me, a NSW fly and a Qld fly zooming around a bbq at Goondiwindi draws my interest to see which one wins first splat of the squatter................ okay, here we go again, good luck to all ROUND 9 THURSDAY MAY 2 Rabbitohs vs. Panthers Accor Stadium 7:50pm AEST FRIDAY MAY 3 Sea Eagles vs. Raiders 4 Pines Stadium 6:00pm AEST Broncos vs. Roosters Suncorp Stadium 8:00pm AEST SATURDAY MAY 4 Bulldogs vs. Tigers Accor Stadium 3:00pm AEST Titans vs. Storm Cbus Super Stadium 5:30pm AEST Cowboys vs. Dolphins Qld Country Bank Stadium 7:35pm AEST SUNDAY MAY 5 Knights vs. Warriors McDonald Jones Stadium 2:00pm AEST Sharks vs. Dragons PointsBet Stadium 4:05pm AEST Byes: Eels

Consider a Mooloolaba Pick anchor https://www.whitworths.com.au/mooloolaba-pick-anchor Thats what all the boats have on the swains that I have been on. Shackle to the top then lay chain down the shaft and heavy zip ties to what you would normally attach to. If its stuck you just pull back over the top and it snaps the zip ties and you then pull the anchor up from the head. Mate bought a very expensive version of one (cannot remember the name) but it uses a sheer bolt to hold the fins in place and all you do it drive over the top and it sheers the pin and the fins collapse. A guy up in Mackay makes them. Very neat.

Latest generation Stradic (FM) is so close to the latest generation Shimano Sustain in smoothness it’s not funny. Hard pressed to justify the increase in cost, except the Sustain is sexy black and maybe a bit lighter thanks to MGL rotor Handle goes in just as easy as any of my other Shimano’s - just need to wind it against the thread to settle it into the lead and then wind it in.

If you decide to get a brand new stradic bro hit me up, im selling them brand new at a tackle shop ive just started, free shipping aus wide

I have owed two Stradic's. Never had a problem. These days I use Penn. The past 2 years their reels have got a lot better. ( IMO )

3 metres of 8mm will be sufficient. I run that on a 4.7m ally runabout with a 4kg sand anchor or reef anchor. Never had any problems with the reef anchor pulling or the chain getting stuck. I wouldn't go rope to anchor, as rope has some buoyancy, so your anchor may not set properly. Also there is the risk of the rope wearing through on reef. Anchor socks are great, but the drawback is they collect and hold sediment.