Does anyone have any recommendations for any of the charter fishing companies operating out of Darwin? I am planning a trip there for work next May. I have looked at a few websites and they all look pretty good. However, first hand information on who is good (or bad) would be great, Many thanks, Colin Hay

Courtesy of the ABC

A group of leading marine scientists is calling for the Federal Government to ban fishing in a 1 million square kilometre area of the Coral Sea.

The scientists say the Coral Sea is one of the few remaining pristine marine areas on the planet and the only way to keep it that way is to ban fishing altogether.

The proposal would create the world's largest heritage park.

Professor Terry Hughes from James Cook University says the protected area would be three times the size of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

"It's virtually unique in that it's one of the last places in the world where you can still find significant populations of big things like billfish and tuna and sharks," he said.

"In most other places around the world those species have been severely depleted.

"So there's an opportunity for the Australiain Government to create something unique and to look after the Coral Sea for the future."

But Robin Hansen from the Queensland Seafood Industry Association says the level of fishing in the Coral Sea is already sustainable.

"I wish that they would consult with fisheries more closely because clearly a lot of the info they are giving out to the public has no relevance at all," he said.

"It is really nonsense to suggest that the area is under threat from fishing practice in this state.

"And the evidence that we have seen with the GBR Marine Park is that there is a cost to commercial fisherman and indeed seafood consumers as to how this impacts in commercial fishing businesses."

Mr Hansen says the scientists are poorly informed.

Imogen Zethoven from the Pew Environment Group says the benefits to the environment far outweigh the hardship that would be experienced by the fishing industry.

"It would impact on a small number of operators who would need some assistance from the Federal Government but on the other side of the ledger the protection of the area would be a huge contribution to global marine conservation," she said.

Here's your chance.

Well, the outcome of the State election is dragging on. Who will make the decisions, who else will be influential in deciding things which affects recreational fishing?

Whatever the outcome, Recfishwest will be in there working with the elected government, the opposition and independents, and will be working for YOUR recreational fishing interests.

Recfishwest has really good working relationships with all of the Parties and some of the new Independents.  Interesting times ahead!

There will be 6 vacancies on the Recfishwest Board for recreational anglers who want to get involved with this important work.

I can assure you that you will find Board membership most rewarding and well worth your time and effort.

Nominations for Board Members close 24 September. Nomination forms and all the details are on the Recfishwest website http://www.recfishwest.org.au/AGMNotice2008.htm

If you know of anyone else who might be interested, please pass these details on to them.

For more information:- Call Recfishwest 9246 3366, email or PM/email me via the forum.

And if being a Board member is not your thing, you can support the important work of Recfishwest by becoming a member.

You can join for just $20 or $10 for over 65/under 18, $40 for a family of 4 - by post, by phone 9246 3366, fax 9246 5955, by email , in person, or fill in a website form see http://www.recfishwest.org.au/MembershipDet.htm

TerryF
=====
Beavering away in the background.......

Recfishwest - looking after YOUR recreational fishing future. http://www.recfishwest.org.au/

You need Recfishwest to look after your recreational fishing interests. Who else has the time, the knowledge, the professional approach, the realistic alternatives, the willingness and the contacts?

My daughter rang from New York on Sunday to wish me a happy Fathers Day. She had spent the previous week in Illinois with her partner who took her to meet some old friends somewhere in the sticks - and she meant Banjo twanging sticks. The friends father took them Catfish Jugglin' - ie you wade around, find a catfish nest on the river bottom and stir it up until the male catfish swallows your arm, allowing you to drag it out of the water for later consumption. This was the highlight of her trip other than watching them shoot raccoons. When she comes home in a year or two she wants to live in Wiluna as she says it will run this place a close second.

havent been down for a while ...

Hey guys flying up to broome at the start of october to visit some family friends and hopefully nail a few fish, hopefully an early season barra.

Would anyone like to help us out with what to take and where to go (no secret spots, just rough idea). Would like to hopefully nail a barra, but am very happy to chase queenies and trevors, so all help appreciated.

I think we will hire a 4by, but the people we know have got a cruiser so off road spots- no problem.

Cheers guys

Has anyone tried Cotteloe Groyne lately. I am thinking of heading down there early Friday morning. Does anyone know if there have been any tailor caught there lately, Many thanks, Colin Hay

Interesting what will happen if they get in

Must be getting closer to that time of year again - has anybody seen any and please feel free to PM me where if you are feeling very generous. I was out back of Rotto last wednesday and water temp was up over 20 so fingers crossed. Itching to hear some threadlines singing again! I know there are a fair few of you who head wide chasing bottomies so any tuna schools you see I would love to know even if you are not interested yourselves. Thanks in advance??

we were talking about this in a previous post but my mum got me these things called sea bands which get a pressure point on your wrist and release pressure.

so i tried them on sunday and they worked a charm

didnt feel sick for a second :)

had a great day

Ok my refit of my boat is in its last stages , all the floor work is complete new fuel tank and plumbing being built ect . Have been keeping an eye on a fcv-585 to fill the spot on the console but with the new fcv-295 coming into the market i was just wondering what everyone thought of them . Hopefully it wont turn into a 585 and a 1 kw argument but spend a fair bit of time with a fcv-1100 and 2kw wetbox transducer . Mainly like the bigger screen set up for the centre console nd it ;looks a bit more rugged than a 585 ,would mainly be targeting out to 110 metres roughly, cheers feral

[URL=http://imageshack.us][/

FCV-295: 10.4" Dual Frequency Digital Sounder (1/2/3kW)

Click for a larger view

The FCV-295 is a new colour digital sounder designed for a variety of professional fishing operations. It features a bonded ‘fogging-free' 10.4" LCD display providing superior viewing even in direct sunlight. You can display echoes in 8, 16, or 64 colors, with color assignment dependent on the strength of the returned echo.

• Features
• Downloads
• Related Products

The FURUNO Free Synthesizer (FFS) Transceiver allows a wide selection of operating frequencies. You may choose any two frequencies between 28 and 200 kHz to fit your fishing operation. Output power is selectable from 1, 2 or 3 kW. A wide variety of display modes and functions are available, which provide skippers with simple and intuitive information.

 

• 10.4" 'Fogging-Free' color LCD provides clear view in any weather conditions
• Post-processing gain control applies to all existing returns on the display
• White Edge function trace the bottom contour with a thin white line
• FURUNO Digital Filter delivers crystal clear target presentation
• FURUNO Free Synthesizer transceiver allows adjustable operating frequency

 

FURUNO Digital Filter
FURUNO digital filter optimizes the gain to obtain highly defined images of underwater conditions. The FCV-295 can clearly show target fish close to the seabed. The digital filter also eliminates noise to deliver sharp and detailed echo presentation, achieving detection of fishing reef and even individual fish with absolute clarity.

 

White Edge
The top of the seabed is displayed in white to easily discern seabed structure from bottom fish returns. While conventional bottom discrimination function called "White Line" applies also to the strongest echoes, the White Edge function enhances the discrimination of bottom fish and seabed by painting a very thin line above the bottom contour regardless of gain setting or display colour.

 

Operating Frequency Adjustment
When FURUNO transducers are connected and set to the FCV-295, the operating frequency range will be registered and shown in the menu. The user can shift the operating frequency freely between the ranges at any time from the menu. With the FURUNO 82B-35R transducer, the operator can select any operating frequency from 66 to 109 kHz. This feature is particularly useful for vessels targeting many different species, or when the fish finders of other ships in the area cause interference.

 

Faster Transmission Rate For Detailed Detection

The rate of transmission is increased by more than 30% compared to conventional fish finders. As the result, more detailed information about underwater conditions can be gained through the same sounding interval. With the FCV-295' s AUTO transmission function, the rate is automatically raised in shallow waters and lowered in deep waters, which provides for detailed detection of seabed targets.

 

Function Key
An often-used function such as TVG (Time Varied Gain) can be programmed and made available with the press of the Function key. This will give you access to any menu item without opening the menu.

Functions which can be registered: Pic. Advance / Interference / Color Erase / Clutter / White Line / White Marker / TVG / STC / Bottom Zone / A-Scope / Split Range / Auto Shift / Freq Choice / Freq Control.

 

Quick Gain Control
With the FCV-295's Quick Gain control, changes in the Gain setting are applied to not only to new echoes, but to all past echoes on the screen. You can compare the past and current echoes under same gain setting. Because the changes are applied to both new and existing returns, you will be able to quickly and easily find the right Gain setting for your conditions.

Note: You will require the free Acrobat Reader from Adobe to view the above brochures. To download the Acrobat Reader use the button below.

hey guys i was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to tell me is there any spots from hillaries that i could get a 4m dingy to for skippy and things alike????? i have a hand held gps and getting a portable fish finder but need some advice!!!!!!!!

well had a good weekend fishing with Al(hobie bloke).. Saturday was a bit blowie so went into the sound with Al and Sue his better half...

got some snook

3 in total.... but decent size....

i got a couple of leather jackets....

and then we went for a squid session.... ended up with 15 squid for the day

Sunday AL and i went out and was pretty quiet except for a couple of dhuie that went ino the esky and also 4 under size dhuie that were realised...

all in all had a good day anda good weekend... only pic for the sunday was this one cause batteries went flat on camera...

hey guys..need some help on beach fishing.dont have a clue about fishing from the beach,so any info or tips will be very helpful...what are gutters,sandbars,etc.how to look for them?thanks = ]

hey everyone.. just wondering and asking for some great tips/ pples choice on this sounder settings..

like the gain etc.. i been using my bottom lock alot lately and has started making a big difference.. to my fishing..

i,d like the experts views on this please.. i had this sounder like a yr still playing around..

any ideas would be good..the measurement settings are in inches here..

does anyone have a colour gps combo that they are willing to sell as my momochrome died the other day

Team - got the old man coming over for his 70th and have booked a house at dongara for 4 days at the end of September. We'll be towing the boat up and am hoping someone can lend a bit of experience/help as i have never ventured up there before. I have read that the Abrohlos is amazing fishing but I am hoping that we don't have to go that far. Maybe if we arse some mint weather we could do a fast run across but ATM planning to fish within an hours run of the ramp.

Any help would be great - thanks

G'day

if anyone going to be in exxy from the 12-20 of this month and is keen give me a yell, is there much ground on the gulf sid eworth looking at, i have a nuaticle chart of the area, I'm keen for some GT's

Rob

just curiouse as to wether any 1 on the sight goes bow hunting? if so were and what bow you using
brenz

Friday is a bit of a slow news day, so you're going to have to forgive me for this.



I picked this up from Alan Tani, you would be most familiar with him from his fantastic rundowns on reel maintenance and modding and holiday snaps on wangler and other sites.



It was a breeze to fit, just centrepop the shaft of the old handle, drill out a pilot hold, 3mm bit, say 3mm deep, then bore that out with a couple of progressively larger bits until the washer drops off.



Once the washer is off you can wiggle the old handle out, you don't have to try and drill it out of the handle. I've seen people do that, and it doesn't end nicely for anyone but the Daiwa spares desk. The replacement has a cup-headed stainless steel allen key to lock it down.







Now, I just need something to do with it =)

hi guys,

thinking of doing a kayak on a budget (even cheaper if i win that one on sunday!!)

i have my gps60 which i could mount to give me to gps function, just wondering what sort of money i would be looking at for a cheap fish finder setup. (as basic as possible.)

any idea what something like this would go for? donations are openly accepted.

cheers

wicksey

A few queries if anybody can advise - we are looking at The Mackerels rather than Shark Bay for our next trip - too far for too little fish.

Is the shore based fishing any good?

Will the mates 17' centre console handle the trip over/ - seems a bit small to me.

Any advice welcome.

Hi guys. Thought i would put a few feelers out, to see if anyone on here works for a boating company in perth? I want a new 30hp electric start/forward controls ect fitted to my boat.

It was ment to be getting done in for the past month...at a place here in Perth, but im that pissed with the service and b@llsh&t ive been fed over the last 3 weeks,so im grabbing my boat and taking it somewhere else! Any help would be sweet..cheers

has anyone used any navman gps or fishfinder and how do you rate them

Hi guys, just a couple of quick queries:
1) Does anyone know when bundegi ramp will be ready?
2) What are the regulations surrounding the Navy Pier for shore-dives? I am aware of the fishing and boat restrictions surrounding it - but what about diving?

Thanks alot

Brijett Sophia Bell joins the Bell family today

She surprised us all being 8 pound 3 on the old scale

all went well and i look forward to getting her into a creek to collect me some livies in a few barra seasons

Cheers
Brad

You have to check out some of the photography in this on-line magazine.  I am not advertising the mag, don't even know who runs it.  I was referred to it and was amazed by the photographs, especially the pictures of trout 'takes' by Jason Jagger.  Mainly a mag aimed at fly fishers but you will all enjoy the pics.

So cool!!!!

http://www.catchmagazine.net/

Either click on the bottom corner or the arrows to flick through the pics.

Gus

has any body seen the beaches down yanchep and two rocks way, planning on going down there tomorrow for some l/based fishing ... dont wanna be pulling weed balls.

hi guys....was just wondering wats down in busso during the weekend of the queens bufday?? wat sort of fish is caught there at the end of the jetty??? will salmon be there?? and wat gears shud i bring down??

cheers guys

Check the mail today - it included a letter from DoF. Basically sorry but :(.

Ah well, what can I say but Bok, Bok Bok , back to the chooks unless something better is seized.