queensland Dragonfly catches thready

[Old Scaley]

Took my new toy (Raymarine Dragonfly) for a test run today. Weather forecast didn't inspire me to go too far so I decided just to hang around the port area and play with the shiny object. Spent most of the time just running over my usual spots to see how it looked on the downvision and try a few different settings.

Pretty impressed with the unit. The screen quality is great. I did check out how to take screen captures and then download them to the PC but then forgot the instructions so no pretty pictures today, but I will make sure I can do that next trip.

Managed a bit of fishing along the way and picked up this nice thready. He had a couple of really good runs, then I thought I lost it. The fight went from a classic dogfight to just a big weight on the end of the line. When I got the fish to the surface, I could see why. He must have spat the hook then got foul hooked in the abdomen, so I was dragging the poor bugger at 90 degrees through the water. Took quite a while to get him in and unfortunately that tired him out so much that I couldn't revive him, so he will be dinner tonight for us and a few of the neighbours.

Usual poor photo attached for your viewing pleasure.

[Doobsy]

How do Threadys go on the chew?

Haven't caught one yet but I'm interested in how they are as a table fish as I've heard mixed reports on their taste.

Hope to see those screen shots as I'm in the market for an entry/mid-range sounder.

Cheers.

[kmcrosby78]

Nice one mate - there still on my to do list. Enjoy those fillets - they're meant to be alright aren't they?

[Old Scaley]

Distributed some fillets around the neighbourhood and kept a few for tomorrow, and still had enough to freeze a packet for later. Tonight was Mediterranian fish salad. I cubed some of the fillets, rolled them in ground coriander and cooked them in olive oil, adding some fresh garlic and rosemary for the last couple of minutes. Served over a fresh salad with basil, chick peas, rocket and baby spinach dressed with balsamic. Turned out very nicely. Will try some fillets later in the week.

[getrigged]

Bloody hell, that's gourmet! I just crumbed my whiting!

[Bill_V]

They taste pretty good I reckon, unfortunately they don't release very well and are spent once you get them boat side so I wouldn't fish for them unless I was prepared to eat what I catch. The up side is they taste great, they can be a pain to fillet as they have a big knuckle in the backbone which catches your filleting knife up. The first time you fillet one you will see what I mean.....

[dassa]

How do Threadys go on the chew?

Haven't caught one yet but I'm interested in how they are as a table fish as I've heard mixed reports on their taste.

Hope to see those screen shots as I'm in the market for an entry/mid-range sounder.

Cheers.

Doobsy The thready is 1 of the best fish I have eaten mate better then a lot of fish people talk up 1 of my fav fish to eat but only ever caught the 1 but going back very soon to try and get another.

[reeves]

even 1.23 meter threadies eat well (it was well beyond release) , far better than any barra maybe almost as good a snapper or flatties

[kmcrosby78]

Doobsy The thready is 1 of the best fish I have eaten mate better then a lot of fish people talk up 1 of my fav fish to eat but only ever caught the 1 but going back very soon to try and get another.

[getrigged]

Took my new toy (Raymarine Dragonfly) for a test run today. Weather forecast didn't inspire me to go too far so I decided just to hang around the port area and play with the shiny object. Spent most of the time just running over my usual spots to see how it looked on the downvision and try a few different settings.

Pretty impressed with the unit. The screen quality is great. I did check out how to take screen captures and then download them to the PC but then forgot the instructions so no pretty pictures today, but I will make sure I can do that next trip.

Managed a bit of fishing along the way and picked up this nice thready. He had a couple of really good runs, then I thought I lost it. The fight went from a classic dogfight to just a big weight on the end of the line. When I got the fish to the surface, I could see why. He must have spat the hook then got foul hooked in the abdomen, so I was dragging the poor bugger at 90 degrees through the water. Took quite a while to get him in and unfortunately that tired him out so much that I couldn't revive him, so he will be dinner tonight for us and a few of the neighbours.

Usual poor photo attached for your viewing pleasure.

[attachment=64255]002_2013-05-26.JPG[/attachment]

Mate, I checked these out today in the showroom, do you find the screen big enough for normal use, it looks small sitting next to the big 7 and 10 inch units. Prob ok when not sitting alongside others??

[rayke1938]

[Old Scaley]

As Ray said, cost is comparative. For me, I am using it on an open 4.35m tinny and mostly in the river or the western parts of the bay so no point spending thousands. The screen is bigger than my old hummingbird 5" and definitely clearer and easier to read from different angles. You can read the charts ok (if I have my glasses on ) but then again I never really need the charts where I go anyway. The only negative that I have so far is that compared to the hummingbird the mounting cradle seems to be made of a much cheaper plastic and the transducer is also not as rock solid as the old unit (just a bit of play that doesn't seem to make any difference to the display) so not sure about the life of the product. The downvision feature is really cool, and the unit is very easy to use.

Big shout out for Lance (aussie123) for landing this product for me in a very limited supply market. I can thoroughly recommend reeltackle as a quality vendor. Lance went out of his way to make sure I knew what was going on while we were waiting for stock to become available.

Mate, I checked these out today in the showroom, do you find the screen big enough for normal use, it looks small sitting next to the big 7 and 10 inch units. Prob ok when not sitting alongside others??

[getrigged]

Oh I know the larger screens are heaps more, unjustifiably so, the gizzards of the unit must cost the same, maybe an extra 100-200 for the larger screen, I just want to ensure the 5 inch is ok to use as a combo 1/2 1/2 screen or if I should look at a dedicated sounder and dedicated GPS?

[rayke1938]

If you have the money and the space separate units are preferable.

I have a 5inch humminbird and when using it solely for navigation i use the full screen for navigating to a destination and switch ti split screen when approaching a way point so that i can also look for fish.

with the humminbird split screen you get about 2/3 of the screen for navigation and 1/3 for the sounder display.

I also would recommend having a talk to Lance ( Aussie 123)before committing yourself.

Cheers

Ray

[tugger]

Glad to hear the new toy is working well did you find the threadies on the sounder and or locate the bait fish

[Dubbzy]

gee these things look the goods, good price too!

[Eug]

nice thready, did you spot it on the sounder? keen to see the screenshot when you find out how.

[Old Scaley]

Tugger and Eug, I am embarrassed to say that I was reading the manual at the time so missed all those important details on the sounder. And I was drifting quickly with the outgoing tide so really not sure what I missed. Mostly I was just interested in seeing what the bottom looked like on the downvision in the spots where I usually fish. I have memorised how to take the screen capture so hope to put up some shots next trip, hopefully around Peel or Mud.