I have noticed a trend at boat yards to put what I think are underpowered (HP wise) high thrust motors on boat packages to keep the cost down.

The answer from the salesman is always, it spins a bigger prop its all good.

Is there any truth to this logic?

 The fishing has been tough for me lately but the one thing that always seems to catch good fish is softbaits, curly tails in particular.

good article here in the west ,

worth a read as a reminder on dhuie survival and potential mortality rates when people keep on demersal fishing and releasing them thinking its all ok ...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-12-14/even-fish-get-the-bends,-and-they-get-it-worse-than-humans/10612410?section=science

Has anybody had a look at the discrepancy between the predicted wind forecast for falcon and the actual wind speed for Saturday and Sunday on willy weather.

What a joke, with all the money spent on satellites put into space to better predict how the weather is going to be this is the best that they can come up with, I got a far and away better prediction from my dear old mums beetle kept in a match box
Good people rely on these forecast to plan safe travel be it by boat plane or car and this is the best that they can come up with and BOM are in the same (excuse the pun) boat with them.

Computers and such I'd like to know just how much the government spend on these things to do their modelling for them what ever it is it's to much.

Can anyone tell me of a site that is reasonably reliable at predicting weather for the WA coast.

Gday Folks,

Getting to the time of year when im planning my 2019 trips........ The monties has been on my radar for sometime now and i think its time to get out there and check it out so this post is to gather some more info from people that have done the trip in their tralier boat in the past. Im NOT after fishing spots im after info that will make my trip out there go smoothly. kinda after the tips that your learned along the way ie good camping spots with the different winds and tides.

Anchoring /mooring and any other general information you may have, fortescue is the cloest place for the shortest run out i figure?

Ive done a good few trips in the crusher so have my range worked out pretty good and always use the rule of thirds so i  can carry enough fuel and water no problems and am quite happy with the boat and all that sorta stuff.

Any info or stories will be much appreciated  in helping me decide on the best time to go and from where.

Love my top water fishing  so the trip will be based around that with some jigging chucked in aswell as diving and general relaxing .

Cherrs in advance 

Rob 

Enjoy

 Just curious if any one has a rough idea how heavy a 23ft haines hunter with 150lt fuel tank plus a175hp motor looking at buying a new trailer in a few months time 

Cheers and Merry Xmas to all Wayne

Howdy all
any reports of Spaniards around yet ? - I was going for an early morning run this morning (north freo area) and saw a good size fish jump about 100m out - looked too big to be a tailor and too slender to be a tuna - my thoughts were maybe a Spaniard. Water temp prob still a bit low but was thinking of a westend troll this weekend Mate of mine has been getting a few YTK at the west end - nothing spectacular size wise but a good feed of sashimi :-)

 Any reports from down that way regarding the crabs? Squid? General fishing.

Heading down that way to our onsite van next week with the family and the boat.

Mike

We winched our first pot this morning it came up sideways smashing the door on the pot the pro was near us and could see we were busy putting new batons on the pot he came up to us and said are you ok we told him of our dilemma and said do you need anything I said no he said we are always here to help and glad you got a feed out of the pot gives me more respect for these guys now well done

Apparently there's a pirate operating out on the 5 Fathom down Mandurah way, when we came back in this morning my son was talking to an aquaintance who saw some one pulling one of his pots, he said that when the pirate spot him coming he took off like a Bondi tram so wasn't able to get rego number but thinks it was a small Stabbi Craft with a white hull and darker topsides. Some people just can't help themselves, just hope the perpertators get an allergy to cray flesh.

anyone hear about this? Not sure of the details, but think the govt wants to increase the commercial quota, but take control of a portion of it. Think I heard something like 17%. Don’t know the details, but can’t imagine would be good for either the commercial guys, or recreational fishers? Couple of good years and it seems they think it’s time to hammer the stocks? Like I said, don’t know the details, but would be keen to hear from someone in the know! 

 Does anyone eat the stuff in the head of the crayfish?

hey guys. Been trying to freeze some of my catch for Christmas lunch. Soo far I am putting in ice slurry to kill, then before boiling I am using the feelers to remove the poo tube. Then boiling in salted water with a splash of vinegar about 10 mins for average size. Then straight into ice water for 10 mins. I then break off the feelers/ miuth bits and hang upside down for about 10 mins before wrapping in newspaper, then in glad bag and into the freezer.

is there anything I should be doing differently to minimise the risk of spoilage? First time freezing crays, so any advice appreciated!!

cheers! 

Today rocko

 Hey guys can anybody tell me why some of our crays have this black stuff in their joints. They are drowned in fresh water then boiled in sea water. Thanks

 Hey guys,

I have recently got a job up in Karratha and the company i work for has agreed to pay SOME of the transfer cost to freight a boat up from Perth.  

Does anyone have any contacts or reccomendations for this? 

The boat is 4.9m plate ali on a brand new trailer. 

Cheers

Mandurah Crabbing
As a long term resident (with a sabbatical in Karratha for 5 yrs) and a bit of a Scientist have always done some surveys early each season about the crabbing.
Due to the cool spring and early summer the sizes so far has been small to tiny with lots of berried jenny's still. But the numbers this year has been crazy.
Have done 3 check trips with logs - first November 3, 10 x 2 for 43 crabs, one large keeper about 15mm over (returned),10 jenny's with 5 berried.
Sunday 3rd December 10 x 5 (my crab loving Dad on board) 98 crabs, NO keepers, 18 jennies, 6 berried.
Saturday 8th December - 10 x 2, 32 Crabs, 1 keeper (just and returned), 4 jennies, no berries.
Average 2 per pot, best pot 6. It is by far the best survey I have had in a check since 1991 when I first arrived in Mandurah.
Might just be a great season (hopefully) as the linguine is waiting patiently in the pantry.
Neels

looking for a set of jaws from a North West Blowie to make up a fishing trophy. If anybody is heading away over the holidays and comes across one I will be very happy and will pick it up anywhere in Perth
Cheers Vince

  Had a lot of fun this morning- Big squid in Sound.

 As summer gets closer so do the calm warm days, it's awesome being out on the water on days like this and catching fish is just a bonus

Enjoy

Hey fellas it’s me first time doin the abalone in dawesville was wondering if anybody new a good beach or rocks I could go to get some on Saturday morning ... thank in advance much appreciated

 Hi I have a 5m Quintrex powered by an oil injected, 1998 2 stroke Johnson, has always been relaible until yesterday when it would not start at the ramp, gave up after 3 attempts, and spark plug change, dragged it out and took it to my boat mechanic, who texted me with pictures of what he found, apparently the oil/fuel mixture pump had failed, and the carbies were full of oil, insted of fuel/oil mix, I trust this guy, as he has been servicing my motor for quite a while, The options he gave me to get the donk going again, were

1. discnnect the oil to the motor and mix my own fuel.   

2. Replace the pump with a new one.

The engine has 135psi on all cylinders, so is still good, and has been running ok, trouble is, a mate of mine disconnected the oil to his motor, and eventually blew his engine, he said the oil/fuel mix goes off in the tank if you don't use it for a couple of months, and he thinks that is why he lost his engine.

Well don't want to be bothered trying to mix 2 stroke before putting it in tank, which is a 60LT underfloor tank , and also not being sure if I have the right mix, soooo... I am getting my mechanic to replace the pump, cost $850 for pump, with labour $1200...ouch! But cheaper that a new motor.

Anyone else had this happen?

Mal.

Anyone had any luck with the blue mannas down in Bunbury? 

As a beginner to this potting game how regularly should you be discarding the old baits.  We've been using a mixture of various heads, whole herring, wrasse and the like and whilst some baits remain whole they are getting on the smelly side.  Are fresh baits better?

 Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone can give a simple guideline to where i can boat fish around rotto,

Ive downloaded the guides and studied my chart plotter and i just get confused.

It seems there is nowhere inside the pink dotted line on my charts that is not a sanctuary around the entire island and yet i read that west end for example the sanctuary  marker is only for demersal fishing not trolling for pelagic ??

Seems pointless if you cant access the island reefs if you just wanna pick up some skippy or kgw?

Yes Ive done the search on the site and I understand theres the demersal ban on at the moment, thats not what im talking about.

Just hoping a rotto regular can give me a few rule of thumbs so i dont get into bother with fisheries but would love to pick up a few bread and butter fish when the weather permits...

Not looking for gps spots.

Cheers

 I am going to give the whiting a bit more time this summer. What is a good depth for the big fat ones of Warnbro/Rockingham?

Gday all, Im hoping to get out to the abrolhos islands for the first time early next year and looking for any advice on general depths / areas we should hit up with jigs and softplastics for demersals around the southern group also anywhere we can pull boat into the shallows and sleep on a beach or island overnight. I know your not allowed to camp, it would just be us two and our sleeping bags after dark (no fires, cooking etc). Have got some good advice from a couple of guys on here but always looking for more if you have a moment and can help cheers Dave

 Does anyone have any info on wether or not the FADs have gone in this year? Can't seem to find any info anywhere online. I was under the impression they usually go in in November? PGFC haven't updated their FADs news section since Feb.....

It's a long way to go if there's nothing out there.