Putting pen to paper, or finger to keyboard as the case may be, takes time and committment.

Given that most Visitors to FSA prefer to simply peruse and read its content, there are those who also interact with each other [within FSA Forum] as well as with FSA itself, in providing further insights towards recreational fishing in South Australian waters.

This section is dedicated to all FSA Patrons.

So as to give credit where credit's due, this page will highlight the Best of the Best comments, snippets, hints, advice and input that have been made and deemed extraordinarily usefull by FSA.

pedro_the_fisherman [FSA Forum Member]

Subject Matter :	Victor Harbour Fishing
Date Submitted :	10th February 2002
Reference :	FSA Forum Post

.......... there a small island behind granite.Go the sea side of it and look back towards land.Line the right side of the island to the left side of granite.Be about 50-70mtrs out theres broken bottom all around there.I have dived there before and we found some illegal pots which had crays in them.Its a good fishing spot too plenty of fish varities ..........

Tripod [FSA Forum Member]

Subject Matter :	Live Baits
Date Submitted :	8th April 2002
Reference :	FSA Forum Post

.......... For fish to be used as live bait, and from past experience, I have most time inserted the hook thru the muscle halfway between the lateral line and the top of the fish, and in front of the dorsal fin. This area is pretty meaty, and ensures that you miss the major organs. This is called "dorsal hooking".

Typically, most small bait fish are nose-hooked, with the hook inserted crosswise in the nose. Take care to hook the bait lightly and as far forward in the nose as possible, without the hook tearing out. This hook position will also produce the liveliest swimming action.

Often, when using a sinker, it’s best to nose-hook your bait. That way, when the weight of the sinker pulls the bait down into the depths, the fish sinks head-first, which is its natural orientation when swimming.

A size 6/0 - 9/0 hook would be suitable, dependant on the size of Mulloway around. Another rule of thumb is to match the size of the hook and the line to the bait, not the game fish you are targeting.

Hook ganging the fish would not be recommended, and if using dead mullet, I would recommend 4 x 4/0 ganged with strip bait. Mullet are oily and the strip flesh will release the oil in the water attracting any potential catch.

Lastly, if you can get it, use garfish strips, as Mulloway absolutely looooooove Gar. Tried it once with the only strip of Gar I had, and within 5 minutes, had a huge run ..... but it was a damn ray - the biggest one I have ever caught as well !! ..........

jezza [FSA Forum Member]

Subject Matter :	Live Baits
Date Submitted :	24th April 2002
Reference :	FSA Forum Post

.......... Obviously, tommies are the logical choice for livies, but there are other alternatives, as you are probably aware. I have used yellowfin whiting;a sizeable bait, with legal being 24cm. These got nailed bigtime off the Outer Harbour Breakwater last time I was there-Xmas 2000. Results being 2 bronzies about 1m, and a good mulloway just a shade over 110cm.

Another run was unstoppable;took about 150m of 15kg on the first (and only!)run against nearly 6kg of drag.Too much animal for that gear !

Another top livie is the humble trumpeter, nutsty whatever vile name you can give them. They are very hardy, send out awesome distress signals when dorsal hooked as described by Tripod in the previous response.They also have a great tendency to swim downwards, which negates the need for a heavy sinker.

I caught 5or 6 good ones at Wallaroo at Easter (24cm +), sent one out wearing a pair of Mustad "Big Gun" 6/0 under a balloon. At the end of that session (6hrs), I reeled him in and released him and his mates to fight another day.

To keep livies "happy" you should use an aerator (small battery powered pump-about $12 at K-mart) and change their water every hour or so. There is no substitute for live bait whether it be nutsties or worms ..........

John Winslet - GFC [FSA Forum Member]

Subject Matter :	Berley Recipe
Date Submitted :	28th May 2002
Reference :	FSA Forum Post

.......... I've found the easiest burley method for snapper and whiting is a scaler bag tied to 30m of 3-4mm rope or cord and inside the bag place a lead divers weight or similar, sized to suit your fishing conditions, I use aprox. 500gm.

For burley, all you need is place whole pillys, old whiting/fish frames, cookles etc. as the boat moves with the waves it rubs the fish frames, pillys and cookles together and particals drift away with the tide, every 15 mins give the rope a half a dozen pulls to help brake particals off. Your chicken pellet and bran can be used for your garfish in summer ..........

Brezz [FSA Forum Member]

Subject Matter :	Boat Motors
Date Submitted :	19th August 2002
Reference :	FSA Forum Post

.......... Spoke to the best Mercury repairer I know in Adelaide, actually he probably is the best, anyway before I could even finish telling him the problem he let me know that a piston has detonated ...... How was this so?

Apparently due to Australia's crap quality fuel .... Now I was told ever since owning the boat to use Unleaded, so that's what I have been doing for the past twelve months. And I always use a premium two stroke oil.

The motor ('83 115hp Mariner) was designed to run on a minimum octane of 90 ...... ULP is 91-93, but he explained that there is a tolerance to this figure and if you get a bad batch of fuel it can be low as 90 and this figure is way to close to the limits of the motor especially when running the motor at high revs.

Lower octane fuels burn faster (with a bang) than higher octane fuel ..... not sure why. Obviously super was the fuel to use back in the day when it was around but the new lead free stuff has to many additives that would stuff the motor anyway.

So to save my motor I should have used Premium ULP, If only I knew. But the thing was the advise to use ULP came from a certified merc service centre ..........

ozdevil [FSA Forum Member]

Subject Matter :	Plastic Lures - Shimano / Bluefox range of soft plastics
Date Submitted :	6th August 2002
Reference :	FSA Forum Post

.......... Starlo and Kaj have had great success on there creations and they were spose to be out in june but they had shipping problems and have only just recently got to the shops. These new lures are tops on bream and many other species but they are top.

Steve Starling has been using them through the B.R.E.A.M tournements through Victoria,NSW, and Queensland. Starlo and Kaj designed this soft plastic lure called the squigy (may not be the correct spelling) for The Australian conditions and you will only find them in Australia.

I suggest you buy a few and give them a whirl as I think you will be rewarded with some great bream out of the Port River and out of the Onkaiparinga River as well. I also think they will work very well in Fresh water ..........

Stewade [FSA Forum Member]

Subject Matter :	Berleying
Date Submitted :	2nd September 2002
Reference :	FSA Forum Post

Question
Does anyone know a way to make a simple burley bomb for snapper and other bottom fish. ii thought just a 2ltr bottle with some holes drilled in it tied to a hand reel to drop it to the correct depth.

Answer
A trick I use shore based [off rocks] which I suppose can be used deskside is a scaling bag. All my fish frames, old pilles etc. get chucked in the freezer and then in the scaling bag.

Use extra rope and drop it down. Every now and then you can bring it up and stomp it a few times to break the berley up. Works well off rocks and using my rod holder as a peg, in the surf as well. A couple of tins of "black & gold" pilchard based cat food with holes punched in adds to the "aroma"...

A hessian bag would provide "aroma" only, an onion bag is a common - and good - idea. Scaling bags have a mesh of about 2 x 2cm and last for years. For the bigger species it sets up a good trail and also draws plenty of bait fish to you as well.

Brezz [FSA Forum Member]

Subject Matter :	KG Whiting Tips
Date Submitted :	3rd September 2002
Reference :	FSA Forum Post

.......... I have found the best way to catch whitting is to find a location away from a cluster of boats (the berly and baits need to be more concentrated rather than scattered accross the bed, from many boats in the same area). You have to persist on your spot because they could very well be there but just not on the bite. You have to pick your times, early morning up till about 8:30am and from about 4:30pm till dark has been the pattern I have found.

Sometimes they will strike as soon as my baits are down sometimes it will take around an hour. But I will not waste petrol driving all day from spot to spot if it's at the wrong time of day for only a few fish. For berly I have a stainless steel cage about two and a half litres in volume and has 3/4" mesh, good for releasing berly. I keep all my off-cuts from cleaning my fish/squid and blend the pieces as small as I can adding berley pellets, pillchards, tuna oil and crushed cockles. I pour all of this into a two litre ice-cream container and freez it. Bingo I have a berly block with fresh fish and squid pieces in it(whitting love this).

At my spot I will sink the cage and let the block melt away. Because the water temp is pretty cold it doesn't melt very quick but it does release a strong scent through the water, with enough berly pieces to tickle the taste buds of KGW. I also buy fresh cockles and keep a container of them crushed, throwing in a small hand full every now and then. If they are bitting soft and just stripping my bait I will change baits ie, go from cockles to say strips of pilchards and if there is crap fish around stealing the bait try squid strips, it's alot tougher for the small sh*t fish.

This method of mine has worked well for me time and time again. I have had boats anchor right next to me when in other locations and they have not had a sniff, while I am hitting them like they are going out of fashion. I also use those fluro beeds on my line to help attract them. This info may be well known to alot of you guys but if not it may be something new to try and good info to the guys who are new to the game. Oh and I will go for squid as soon as they go off the bite, the schools of KGW bring them in ..........

Brezz [FSA Forum Member]

Subject Matter :	KG Whiting Tips
Date Submitted :	4th September 2002
Reference :	FSA Forum Post

.......... The snapper showed up last year at around December And were there untill early April... after that there were just undersized ruggers. The snapper this year are already starting picking a few hear and there. I would say this summer is going to be hot for snapper.

The whitting have moved on but you can still find them in the 40cm size around Warrina to Yankalilla and also there is plenty of good sized squid down there as well. A tip for you guys chasing snapper; Night time is the go. Find that spot of yours and sit in it till the sun is hitting the horizon and watch fun begin.

Another important thing is berly, plenty of! Get a good trail going well before the sun sets. Many tomes the fish have kept me on the spot right up till 2am. You will find they will come on hard and fast then slack off for a while, catching only one now and then but it's in this period that I have caught the monsters. Then it will fire up again. So don't give up straight away. The only time I will take off is when I start to pull up sharks and stingrays, they go right off then.

Snapper are quite lazy, alot of the times thay will feed on the slack of the tides when the currents aren't so strong. So a dodge tide can be quite benificial. I don't believe in dodge tides being bad, as you can always use them to your advantage. I also have better luck with mulloway on a dodge tide at Salt Creek.

As for bait nothing beats fresh squid, so don't throw out your squid heads and flaps.... Even better still, if you can catch a few squid before you head to your snapper spot your on a win. But it was probably the last 4-6 weeks of the snapper run that I found thay would only take pilchards (good quality only) but prior to that they would only take squid.

To look after my spot I always dump all my bait and even keep extra for this purpose of giving them a good feed after I leave. It keeps them coming back. It can be quite an expensive exersise but worth it. Anyway we are all boat owners so what isn't expensive.

Lastly, I always take note of what's in the stomach of the fish when cleaning and this is what I find: sand, weed, my bait that has been stripped, berley from my trail and always plenty of crab legs and claws from blue swimmers!!!! Something I havn't tried yet but I will this season.

Crabs would be a great bait to try. I don't use hooks that are to big 2/0-3/0 max because they have quite a small mouth you have a better chance of a hook-up. Black Magic hooks are the best, as they are very strong compared to other brands. So this enables me to catch ruggers right up to old fellas. On other brands the hooks have been straightened out but on these, no worries at all ..........