BinaryFart

Here is the link to the NSW DPI Fisheries page on licence fees usage:https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/recreational/recreational-fishing-fee/licence-fees-at-work#:~:text=All money raised by the,improving recreational fishing in NSW. I can't find anything that looks like a balance sheet accounting for all fees paid, but it does detail the projects and initiatives funded by the Fishing Trusts.

Ah **** dude - sorry to hear that... Any homes or businesses underwater? Hope you're all ok....

Hey All - Hope all of you affected by the eastern coast floods are safe, and haven't had too much damage. For those of you that have, I hope you're ok and it hasn't been too devastating! Hopefully we'll be able to help somehow soon, either directly or by donations or something. Stay safe! Not to be too quick to change the topic to fishing, but as well as the human impact of the floods, how do you all reckon it'll impact this season's fishing? Obviously while the floods are actually happening, fishing is likely to be blown out (and probably unsafe anyway), but after the floods recede, what will be the the longer-term impacts? Bass and EPs are starting their spawn migration downstream (or have been for some time is some places) - I imagine their spawn will be buggered up. How about estuary & harbour species like Mulloway, Kingfish Flatties, Bream etc? The Mullet run would normally kick off soon as well... If the reproductive cycles of these fish are interrupted, when will those effects become apparent? I am a relatively inexperienced angler - only a few years fishing and I'm not very knowledgeable on the spawning or behaviour cycles of these species. I'm Interested to hear everyone's opinions!

@SuperHans - A balanced opinion! The pay walling of a "natural birthright" access to the common property is an interesting idea and I hadn't considered that angle before. I guess a counter to that argument is that the common property (fishing) could be said to belong to future generations as well, and licence fees (if used correctly) can help to safe guard future access to that same common property. It really does come down to how the funds are used. I don't hold a lot of faith in politicians - either their honesty or competency. That's why I think the upsurge of new anglers as a result of the pandemic is an excellent thing! Every new angler is a potential (voting) advocate for fishing rights, and there's nothing politicians like more voters . Increased numbers of anglers has its down sides certainly, but with the increased fees comes the opportunity to educate these new anglers on things like size and bag limits (which are definitely not enforced very consistently in Sydney). I'm definitely not a fan of over regulation, but fishing licence fees seem to work well enough in NSW. They do seem to be invested back into the sport, and overall I think it is a net-positive. I guess it depends on how much weight you place on the principal of "access by birthright" - You've got me thinking about that now.

Apologies for the thread necromancy I was looking for other people's views on Gliss and other than a few articles in online mags, there didn't seem to be a lot out there. So I decided to write down my thoughts on it - Not my usual way of doing things, but I figured it was suitable for my first post here

TLDR version: Gliss definitely has its quirks but in my opinion it's benefits can outweigh the downsides in certain applications. It’s cheap and casts amazingly, but only get the transparent (white) colour - all other colours are a problem. For context, I mainly fish ultralight, targeting bream through to Salmon in the salt and bass in the fresh. I've been using 4Kg Gliss (transparent) as my primary line on my ultra-light setups for about 18 months now. I previously used 6lb 8 carrier braids (like J-Braid or Siglon). Originally, I tried Gliss out of a desire to save a few dollars - I had a few reels to spool up and the $60-ish dollars per reel was starting to hurt. Pros: It’s cheap! A 150m spool of 4Kg Gliss is around $20, compared to $35 for the same spool of J-Braid. Obviously j-Braid comes down in price significantly if you buy in bulk, which you cannot do with Gliss. Gliss is incredibly thin for it’s strength rating. 4kg (~9lb) Gliss has a diameter of approx. .10mm (For comparison 8lb X8 J-Braid is .13mm). This is particularly useful when using Gliss on rods with extremely small micro guides - it lets you use stronger lines than you might otherwise be able to fit through the guides. It is extremely smooth and has a very low friction coefficient. This results in what I believe to be Gliss' best quality - Castability! This thin diameter combined with incredibly round, smooth profile results in a significant improvement to casting distance! It is affected by wind less, and has less drag in the water. It feels so nice to cast – it’s hard to explain, but it just flows off the spool! This really cannot be understated & is the main reason you would use Gliss – its quite a unique sensation! As a side-effect of it’s thin diameter, you can fit around 20% more on a spool. Not a major advantage for some people, but can help counter some of the downsides of Gliss. In most other ways Gliss has virtually identical properties to regular braid – almost no line memory (In the transparent colour anyway), takes on very little water and floats the same as braid. Cons: Due to how thin and slick the line is, knots will slip more with Gliss, which limits your leader knot options. You will have to be proficient at FGs or modified Albrights (sometimes called an Alberto) - Double uni, blood, surgeon and most other knots all slip, and cannot be relied on. If you fish straight braid through to your lure or hook, I don’t think Gliss will be suitable. It is definitely less abrasion resistant, even compared to braid. If you fish near tight cover, you might need to run a longer leader than you would normally. I usually tie on several meters (around 2 1/2 rod lengths) of wind-on leader. People report a higher number of wind knots with Gliss. I had more wind knots when I first starting using Gliss, but it seems to have stopped. Not sure why. The transparent/White colour can be hard to see, particularly in low-light or in the dark. This is particularly an issue because; All Gliss colours other than transparent have a coating that causes the line to have memory, results in more wind knots and makes knots even more likely to slip. This is so bad that I cannot recommend any colour other than transparent. Gliss can get kind of “fluffy” over time. This is really only happens in the last foot or so of the line, so it’s easy enough to deal with – I just snip off a bit extra when I retie my leader. This does mean you go through your mainline faster, but is countered by the additional capacity afforded by Gliss. Should you try it? I really like it, but I don’t know if it’s better enough than normal braid to warrant a change. It’s a good bit cheaper and is really nice to fish with, but I wouldn’t unwind a full spool of braid to swap it with Gliss. For ultralight applications it can provide significant advantages over regular braid, but in the heavier weight classes, most of those advantages are less noticeable. For $20, it’s worth considering when you next respool, if only as an experiment.