Hweebe

Used to fish canal bridges on the goldie just at or around this height. 

The compromise we made (at the loss of "feel") was to go heavier rods and try to pendulum swing them over the bridge railings. You will definitely lose some this way but it beat carrying around a net/gaffe.

It always made for some good banter if the mates, stuffed up the swing and hit the railing (and lost the fish) or vice versa, some over the top swings saw "flying" fish up and over onto the adjacent bridge road. hahahahaha

Must be an IT guy thing (I'm also IT Project delivery) and also had to get my boat kitted out with all the latest gadgets and electronics when i got my boat (DIY of course)

When are you going to get Sonar on your boat and then open it up to auto pilot hahaha (not because you need it but because its a tech gadget  

Getting the sounders dialled in and settings to what you want is as you say time on the water.

I always thought livescope was more for your fresh water fishing (all the US Bass guys run it) In salt water and deeper water does it come in handy.

I've seen vision of livescope for the guys that go prawning. Now that's a sight seeing the prawns and cast net live.

Maybe beach worms but blood worms i'm not sure about. Start your own worm / compost farm would be the most cost effective and all it takes is food scraps from the kitchen.

Can never have enough fishing (or fishing related) gear  

On 17/02/2024 at 3:43 PM, Old Scaley said:

I did a post on my installation a few years ago, but can’t find it now. Lots of videos on the net. From me the extras I needed were: battery case (cheap one); 60 amp inline fuse; 2 Anderson plugs; 2 waterproof covers for the Anderson plugs; red and black tinned 15 amp power cable; some waterproof solder joiners; heat shrink tubing; liquid electrical tape. I also bought a MK quick release bracket which I haven’t used (yet).

Hope this helps. 

I feel like 15 amp power cable is a typo?

I also installed with:

• inline isolation switch (or you could just plug / unplug the Anderson connections)
• battery terminal lugs
• padlock (if wanting to secure trolling motor when using quick release)
• stainless steel bolts / washers / nuts and bit of silicon between bow mount metal and the washers
• CTEK /Victronsmart quick connect for the trickle charger
• Cheap ebay Bluetooth monitor to check remaining battery capacity / charging

I went overboard on the wire guage as i'd read the minn kotas can be at times fickle with voltage drops for longer cable runs.

As @Old Scaley said no soldering required, if you buy the joiners, but because i have a soldering iron already, this is obviously cheaper to strip and solder the wires.

If you buy an inline fuse that can also be switched on / off / reset - you can get away without installing an isolation switch.

Something to consider is if you want to be able to charge the trolling battery with your outboard. I didn't deem this necessary for my fishing sessions.

47 minutes ago, AUS-BNE-FISHO said:

Is there anywhere exactly along here that you've found to be best? I fish here regularly and only get a few odd mullet, sometimes lots of herring or prawns. Also it seems to be quite snaggy in most spots. 

Newstead park can definitely be snaggy - ruined a few cast nets back in the day. I tended not to let the net fully drop to the bottom if possible.

I preferred the south end towards the two newer apartment blocks. On Google maps its Wharf park

Schools of mullet are much easier to spot in cleaner water around bridge / pylon lights. (Dark blob/shadow)

A favourite spot for me is all along Newstead Park > Newstead Terrace Park. If you walk all along this built up foreshore you're bound to spot / hear mullet jumping around. Just have your cast net handy. Big Banana prawns at times as well.

I've had no issues with my Minn Kota - just make sure to wash down with fresh and lubricate as per manufacturer instructions after each use.

I did previously buy a brand new watersnake from BCF but this was over 10 years ago, so probably not relevant. The deploy mechanism failed on that unit (warranty replacement through BCF).

Are you on any particular sounder setup? If I had my time again I would probably also consider motorguide which can integrate with my lowrance setup. The Minn Kota doesn't integrate with Lowrance.

A handy feature on the Minn Kota is Spot-lock Jog (move 5 foot up, down, left, right with push of 1 button) but it's not really a deal breaker - Just very handy.

No particular braid brand but if it is a casting rod I'll put the more expensive 8-strand braid.

You can feel It's a lot smoother and runs through the guides better when casting.

1 hour ago, mangajack said:

My bet is oxygen depleted water.

Spot on all extra water would be carrying excess organic matter and microbes sucking all the oxygen out of the water. Normally the larger fish can outswim it but 1m jew would mean the inundation was rapid!

If you have the tools and a bit of experience - I say give it a crack. This is why we buy boats (sort of) to tinker / alter / change to be the ultimate fishing weapon  

Definitely don't recommend that link as it is way over the top pricing.

But that's just so you get the idea  as an option. I'm sure bunnings would have something you could use for probs less than $10 hahaha

@MattInOz  No - Membership will no longer be required once Marine Rescue QLD is fulling implemented / operational.

From their FAQs Frequently Asked Questions (vision6.com.au)

Will Marine Rescue Queensland charge users for services?

Providing marine assistance to persons or vessels in difficulty or distress will be a core function of Marine Rescue Queensland. This means that MRQ will not be charging for these services. 

The rescued party may choose to make a donation to MRQ as a subsequent action, however the request or requirement for donation is not tied to the on-water response. Where someone chooses to make a donation, that donation can be directed to their local unit or to Marine Rescue Queensland.

Doesn't look normal to me to have that much play in the reel. As @Huxstang has suggested. Check if the drag washers are installed (usually installed out of the box)

There a quite a few versions of the HDS 9? Any version in particular?

HDS Gen 2 Touch (7,9,12)
HDS Gen 3 (7,9,12)
HDS Carbon (7,9,12,16)
HDS Live (7,9,12,16)

So back in the day I used to fish land based under Boyd's Bay Bridge (on the southside). Bream / Flathead / Trevally and Tailor (during winter)

Caveat being we only fished at night and with live or freshly caught dead bait (herring). Never fished there during the day and never had much success with frozen bait around there.

Collecting baits was a bit of a mission as you can't use cast nets in NSW. So on our way down we would collect bait from some of the Gold Coast canals in preparation for a nights fishing.

Current can get strong there so targeting turn of the tide and slowly floating / drifting lightly weighted baits with the current is key. Keep your bait looking natural and moving and not anchored to down with a heavy sinker.

We were cheapskates back in the day as students, but if it was worth a drive from Brisbane and worth the fishing permit that should tell you there is fish there.

That spot under the bridge we have had some awesome trevally sessions. Where you hear them bust up, throw out a popper and hold on.

Great catches for Team South @Neil Stratford You got Photo uploads working again!

Are you on PC, Tablet, Mobile? How did you get it working? 

Good one @Huxstang I wired up a VSR on my 4wd starter / aux battery setup so I'm familiar with them.

I'm not sure why I didn't think of this as an option for the boat as well.  

On 15/01/2024 at 3:57 PM, Junky said:

Also keep in mind that a crook battery can kill a good battery in a parallel setup. 

This is always my worry as well, so whilst my dual battery setup can be run in parallel, I usually only use Battery 1 or Battery 2 isolated from each other and don't really run them in parallel at all.

I always carry a spare set of plugs on the boat - this way you have a set in an emergency and will always have a reference set for purchasing spares.

Agree with the plugs and making sure you know the order and cylinder. I also do my own maintenance so I've permanently labelled and color coded plugs and cylinders, so that i never make that mistake.

I'm glad I don't have to deal with Carbies. Fuel injection makes outboard are lot easier to manage.

2 minutes ago, Rebel said:

Started with a bonito. These fish like a fight. Tested my new Penn 6000 conflict reel. Works well.

We ended up with 4 snapper 42 to 48cm. We let the bonito go. Caught 3 of them. Also caught  2 tailor ( released )

I've seen more recently that people are keeping Bonito for fresh sashimi and that sashimi fans rate them as comparable to long tail tuna.

In Wivenhoe Dam (Impoundment) species would include Australian bass, golden perch, silver perch, saratoga and a lot of silvertail catfish 

On 11/01/2024 at 2:29 PM, ellicat said:

Personally, I find it much quicker to just tie a new loop knot each time. Playing around with split rings is a pain for me.

I'm with @ellicat, I can cut and tie a new loop knot much quicker than playing around with spit rings / pliers / rocky boat. Don't get me wrong I use split rings with certain lures / assist hooks but I'm not opening them up to save re-tying a knot for sure.

If anything....knots are usually the weak point in any terminal tackle so re-tying new knots is a positive thing.