benno573

what odds do you think you would have got on tigers and eels top two after two rounds? not even @ellicat would have predicted that in his wildest dreams. although, come to think of it, i don't know that he worries about footy at all during his wildest dreams...

looks like a sailfish got it on with a barracuda. cool looking beastie though.

That stessl looks like a good package. Has everything you need, expect maybe a canopy for when you take the fam out for the day, easy enough to add one if you think you need it. Solid boat. Engine has some age on it but only 240 hours use so shouldn't be an issue. 75L tank will give you heaps of range. $11K is almost $5K... ticking a lot of boxes.

Noted - based on that, PM me if you need a decky one day!

I actually "LOL'ed" in the office reading that. Nice move skipper, d!ck move decky... and you got called out on it. Hope it was a cold and crappy latte to boot.

HELL YES Legal size for mulloway in Qld is 75cm.

and bleed them upon capture if they are of size. greatly improves the eating quality.

you'll find fibreglass rods more difficult to use if you are planning on throwing plastics. a graphite rod would be a better option here as they generally cast better, are lighter and impart a better action on the lure. fibreglass rods are excellent for bait fishing. on the flip side, graphite rods are more fragile and susceptible to damage if not packed securely or used properly. fibreglass rods generally certainly have a better "bash" factor and may be a better option, especially if the kids start to imitate some of the more athletic moves of the jedi... other option would be to get a couple of cheaper sticks from kmart for the kids to use (cheap combo about $20-$30) and grab something a little more serious for dad to use. the raider rod series are great value for money, a 2-4kg weight would be perfect for what you have described, will throw baits, plastics and troll lures from the yak no worries. there are often some good priced shimano combos in BCF catalogs, especially in the lead up to Xmas. I have bother raider series rods and a couple of ugly sticks, both have their place in my collection. haven't fished the gippsland lakes myself, hope you get amongst a few!

I use a hark 2-door gas smoker which is exactly the same as the aldi one and smoke pretty much any meat. Not overly expensive in the grand scheme and very simple to use and use well. Smoking fresh fish - in all honesty you don't really need to brine it if it is fresh, especially if you are able to wash the fillets in salt water. it does develop a stronger, saltier flavour if you do brine it but I personally prefer to let the fish itself shine on through with a lick of smoke flavour. Different story altogether if fish has been frozen or has been rinsed in fresh water. Standard basic brine I use is 1:1:16 salt, brown sugar, water. I add soy for chicken, sometimes a dash of fresh citrus juice for different seafoods, maple syrup when i am making maple bacon, dash of red wine for beef, apple juice for a pork... it's a bit of a choose your own adventure thing. Specifically for fish, I always leave the skin on my fish (scales off of course) and smoke it skin side down at about 120 degrees C for approximately 45min - 1 hour, depending on the size of the fillet. As far as wood goes, i use a lot of aussie natives in all my smoking, some of my favs are ironbark, wattle, banksia, any kind of gum but the best i have found for fish is definitely wattle. Apple wood also works well for a sweeter, softer smoke flavour. Definitely soak the chips prior to putting them in to really get the smoke going. Best fish I have found to smoke are tailor, mackeral, trevally, kingfish and dart. Also have worked out how to smoke oysters, mussels, prawns, squid and the best of all - scallops. Here's a report I did a while back. http://www.australianfishing.com.au/forum/topic/47933-aus-day-smoking/ Cheers Benno

Hmmm... tides are better this weekend for a leave work and head up kind of arrangement. I think I’m a goer, will just have to confirm no other commitments!

Geez... you wouldn’t want to hit a speed bump hard at that! My ideology stems from a guy at moreton in a brand new Range Rover who wouldn’t let his tyres down at all coz he had nitrogen in them. And the apparent expectation that I would tow him up the track out of my way to the resort. I towed him out of my way and then left him to work it out. I don’t know what his problem was really. I was running a ~78% nitrogen blend in mine at the time, no issues.

Sounds like a dud root @Drop Bear... hope it gets sorted for you. I’m a maybe at this stage, depending on final dates. Will likely take my own truck, potential for passengers if required. @Sparksie or @Old Scaley can have first dibs if interested. I am fully equipped and capable of recovering pootrols, however, refuse to help anyone up the beach with 40lb in their tyres...

@Angus I know, I had similar visions... Good luck throwing that about on your 1-3kg bream gear!!

40-60cm bream lures... so that’s where. I’ve been going wrong, using lures that are way too small!!!

The park at west end near the bbq shelters works well on an incoming tide. Easy to catch something, mostly catties but you also get the occasional bream, little/river jew or threadfin there, as well as bull sharks.

The aquaculture farms in question pump water in from the logan. If the disease was present in the "wild", various "micro" organisms can carry it including copepods and alike, very easy to be carried from the river into the farm where it would spread extremely quickly. The disease was confirmed in the wild population hence the shutdown of movement and harvesting of Crustacea in the Albert/logan system. it could potentially have been in the river for year/s before it made it into the farms as well. the other options are possible, however less likely than contaminated prawns being introduced into the river.

Well there's a revelation... As if we didn't all know that already.

Thanks to all involved with organizing and catering, was good to get out and amongst it and meet some people who I have spoken to or about many times but had never met. it was kind of fun doing the trivia bit, glad most people got involved. I must say... Watching a group of fishos stare blankly at me when I pronounced a Latin name of a fish was quite entertaining... well done to @DropBear for taking it out.

@kmcrosby78 all good. Firing on all 4 burners. Just need a bottle. let me know if you need me to pick the bottle up.

Ok, so it's about everyone except you then. I love pies and sausage rolls!

I have just remembered... I have a bbq we bought to take to Bathurst with us sitting in the garden shed. Basic, but should do the job. I'll pull it out and make sure it works. Don't have a spare gas bottle at the moment though.

This just in... I may be able to attend after all... as I am unsure I'll go for the non-catered option at this time. @kmcrosby78 - left or right handed? Surely you could just change the handle around on any spin combo? Have a cheap-ish combo or two lying around if you need one... Braid only on my reels though? Surely this is an opportunity for a savvy rod company to bring a few of their rods along to make people fall in love with them...?

Well if it was caught in a net that's only half points... Unless you butterfly filleted it?

Only if you could take it home and eat it... High in carbon which I've heard it good for digestion...

I have caught two rods in my time. One of them was cleaned up and continues its life cleaning up whiting. One taken with @ellicat and the other trolling in Coochin creek. Other weird stuff a couple of caps (without heads in them), a shopping basket and a burst kids inflatable boat. A juvenile qld groper in a crab pot in the Bris river was a bit out there as well.