Old fishing photos

Pictures are back from 2004.
Those pictures surely brings back memories. I used to catch and kill most of the fish I caught. I did release that big flatty though. The trend have somehow changed lately, I can't be bothered gutting and cleaning up fish anymore.

Other things that have changed is that I don't use bait anymore. Most of the fish on the pictures above are caught with bait. I pretty much fish with lures these days, I find it more rewarding and fun catching fish on lures no matter what they are.

Tackle have also changed, gone are the days of using 12 foot fibreglass rods from the wharf. It's now graphite or nothing. Fishing from a boat allows you to use shorter rods, most of my rods these days are 7 foot or shorter. Reel sizes for sydney fish are anywhere from 1500 to 5000 spin reels, running 6lb to 30lb. Those tackle should be able to land all the inshore species that Sydney have to offer.

My current boat SAMPAN 4.1m Polycraft

Here's the details of my new toy. Acquired brand new in April 2008 after a long 2 months wait.

Hull - 4.1m Polycraft Challenger
Hull material - Plastic fantastic
Engine - Honda 50HP 4 stroke
Electric Motor - 24V Minnkota Riptide 70lbs thrust bowmount
Max Speed - 29 knots with 2 onboard, full fuel + gear.
Electronics - Furuno FCV-620 Sounder connected to a Garmin Etrex Summit Handheld GPS. I love this GPS with the huge and full coloured screen.

The deck layout and carpeting was done by my dad and myself, with a lot of glue sniffing in the process. Carpets and decks are bought from the local Bunnings store.

This boat is very stable and soft riding, the only downside is that is quite a wet one. If the you're going against the wind you're more likely to get wet. Furthest I've been on this is about 2km from the Sydney heads.

I'll keep this boat for a long time coming, it's well suited for my type of fishing and I don't think the plastic will rot or rust anytime soon. I love plastics !! That is unless someone gives me a Skeeter or Ranger bay boats. :-)

My 2nd Boat

An old but well-maintained Haines Sea wasp, 40hp 2-stroke Yamaha, a Lowrance X91 Fishfinder, and of course a MINN KOTA RIPTIDE trolling motor.

THIS IS AN AWESOME BOAT !!! with a 40hp Yamaha on it, took us 10 minutes from Drummoyne to the Harbour Bridge, haven't done much fishing on it though but sure am looking forward to it.

TIPS

When you're boating, it is always good to have someone else with you, 4 eyes is better than 2 eyes especially at night where visibility
is very limitied. Always bring lights !! very important for night fishing, don't forget your lifejackets as well.

When reversing a trailer onto the boat ramp make sure that the trailer is straight to start with, then look at your side view mirrors if
the trailer is steering to the LEFT steer your steering wheel to the LEFT as well until it has straighten out again vice versa.

ALWAYS flush the engine after every use especially if you've used it on salt-water. You can flush the engine by running it on freshwater, if you are at home use a deep bucket and submerge the engine and make sure the water level is above the water intake of the outboard, run the engine on neutral for 5-10mins. Another way is to use the "ear-muffs" connect the ear muffs to the hose and run the engine.

FOR 2-stroke engine only, use the correct fuel to oil ratio, too much oil is always better than to less oil. THIS is very important if you want
to maintain you're engine.

My First Boat

THE OLD ONE

My first ever boat is a 10ft tinny with a 1971 6hp Evinrude, got it from the tradingpost. Bought it in March'04 sold it in June

This tinny is a great little boat, I would recommend to all boat firsttimers to get a tinny because they are really tough and when you're a beginner you ought to make some mistakes. Caught a jewie and some flatties and hundreds of small tailors on this little boat. Took it out to the sydney harbour
and almost got ran over by a ferry... phewww that was an unforgettable experience.

It was hard letting this one go.. since this is my first ever boat.