benno573

Don’t do it Hamish.

the problem with an old boat/motor is just that - it is old. Even with regular maintenance and servicing, there will still be issues. Add into that two regos (boat+trailer), upkeep, maintenance, consumables (fuel, oil etc)... without a regular income you would find yourself off the water real quick.

ill throw a curveball out there... consider perhaps the type of kayak you have and maybe look to invest into a hobie or similar. I can easily cover 15km+ in a day on my hobie despite the fact, as you have pointed out previously, I am fat and old. I can fish a lot of places that you can on a boat and certainly anywhere you can in a 3m tinny with a 6hp - and the best bit a lot of places you just can’t get to on a boat of any size. You can pick up reasonable second hand ones for $1500-ish.

pros: no rego costs, no insurance costs, minimal maintenance, no trailer.

cons: person powered, still requires a car to move it (maybe a push bike attachment option)

1 minute ago, kmcrosby78 said:

You are correct, however you must remember it is easily justified to our better halves given the never ending fruitful bounty we consistently bring home to serve up for dinner after yet another successful fishing outing ......... 

I’ve read your posts... this is BS

23 hours ago, GregOug said:

How fast can you paddle?

Comfortably maintain about 4.5kn which is a little slow but have picked up mackies trolling before so might as well give it a smash.

4 hours ago, Old Scaley said:

After seeing @benno573‘s thread about a lockdown stocktake, I thought I would drag out the many and varied lures that I have bought over the years for specific trips or just picked up in the bargain bin. Some are just cheapies and some were quite expensive. Some have had some use and some have been patiently waiting their turn.

Anyway, a lot of them now have surface rust (at least) on the hooks. Most are trebles but I have used singles on a number of them. Pretty sure this won’t be the last lockdown we have so I am thinking that my next lockdown project could be to renovate my lures. The question is do I replace all the rusty hooks, or do I just give the points a touch up with a stone if they are not too bad. Or a combination strategy of replacement on the better lures which I know I will use sometime and a sharpen for the rest? I have previously tried soaking a few cheapies in vinegar and water to dissolve the rust but that didn’t really work too well. 

What do you champions do? And does anyone have any suggestions for brands that are available in bulk packs that are an acceptable quality at a reasonable price? I don’t want to replace 100 trebles at $2 each. 

Thanks all. 

I would suggest a structural integrity test. They can be a bit rusty but still strong and sharp and they’ll work fine. Just as long as the fish has had their tetanus injection all will be ok. This could also be because I am a bit of a Scrooge with the hard earned.

That being said, i have a similar problem with some older hard bodies. I did buy some bulk treble hooks off the inter webs and replaced a whole heap but they rusted very quickly once they hit salt.

if you have the time and budget, I would suggest replacing the hooks on lures you think you may use. I actually pilfered some other lures that didn’t work out as planned (and cost like <$5 from a bargain bin) to refurb some of my better or more effective lures. 

And i am soooo happy I finally inspired someone somewhere to do something.

I have a decent trip planned for a few months time (rona pending) so I thought I would make use of the fact I was stuck at home over the weekend to take stock of my current tackle and see what - if anything - I need to top up before the trip. Three main things - leader and line, plastics and jig heads.

by the time I went through every tackle box and bag I could find this is what I came up with...

plastics (1 of 2 drawers)

leader/line

and finally jigheads... now all organized by weight, hook size and head shape

And theres another box of bigger heavier jigheads that didn’t fit here as well...

Glad I checked... top up order went from over $400 to about $120 as I am actually in need of 40g and 30g slugs and not a lot else.

its not a habit, it’s cool, I feel alive... if you don’t have it it’s on an online site... I’m not an addict, maybe that’s a lie.

I see you’ve taken inspiration for videography from the Benny Hill show. Everything seems to happen very quickly at Fraser. Must be why I prefer Moreton, much more relaxed pace over there.

21 hours ago, jon said:

Mate kudos to you for tackling such an adventure with lil Bub as well. Be a great yarn to tell her how tough mum and dad were when she gets older

Or potentially more evidence against us when child services come knocking to discuss reckless endangerment...

@Old Scaley Just my sister and her partner, Mrs benno, me and bubs, we had to carry all food but plenty of places to top water up along the way so only carried a max of 4L at a time on the track. We saw some other groups on the first two days but the last two we didn’t see anyone else.7 

@kmcrosby78 - what’s a guide? No guides, just work it out yourself. Follow the trail markers and hope for the best. Hence they sent the most expendable one in first...

@Drop Bear - looks like some great father/son bonding time there. We were certainly not going to be taking on mt Bowen, even if the weather was mint. I don’t blame you for turning back. Places just inland on the main range recorded 300mm in the last 24hrs we were on the island so who knows how much fell on the range on the island in the same period.

@GregOug - we did actually see a croc in Zoe creek one night. Not a particularly big one but a good reminder to remain vigilant. Majority of creek crossings are well into the freshwater sections so not an issue there, few were just above the tide line though so heads were well and truly on swivels the whole time.

@Kat - certainly not trying to be a hero, just the most likely to be able to make it over and back and the one that everyone would miss the least if it all went pear shaped.