Old Scaley

Just the 165k so barely run in. It would be a much easier decision if the used/new car market wasn’t overheated. @Junky I do trust the mechanic but they were smashed in the flood so that gives me more time to procrastinate.

I don’t know about you people, but I always hang on to my cars for just that little bit too long. Mrs Scaley and I are both retired and we only run one car, a 2012 FG G6 Ford that we bought after the big hail storm in 2014 totalled our previous car. It has been a great car. Pretty comfortable and tows like a dream. For the past 2 years I have been thinking about trading up before it got too old, but as usual left it until the thing developed a few problems. Last service the mechanic delivered the good news that the suspension needs major work, and that front suspension parts for this model are crazy expensive. Despite changing out the front shocks last December, it still needs a few thousand dollars worth of work to take out the rattles and bumps that have crept in over the past few months. The rest of the car is mint. Happy to look at a replacement but just don’t know what? Don’t really want a changeover price above $20k now that I am not working. Needs to shopping centre friendly (have been told that utes or 4x4s are not happening), able to easily tow the tinnie (I have calculated that all up weight of boat, motor, trailer and gear when loaded is under the 750kg limit, but not too much under), be comfortable on a trip, and not too expensive to maintain. I have thought about lots of different vehicles, but the prices at the moment are crazy for what you get. So I am throwing it out to the universe - replace or repair? If it is replace, what with? That will give us all something to ponder while we wait for the water to clear up and we can get fishing again.

Looking at that article, it is amazing how many players are out on suspension. Melbourne has 5.

Better than a broken leg which was my tip for his pre-season injury.

Years ago I was inspired to keep a ray after watching a cooking segment on one of those lifestyle shows where a Noosa chief was preparing and cooking a ray. I made such a mess of butchering the poor animal that I tossed the mangled bits into the bin and never tried again. I need to take some lessons from you @Drop Bear. @GregOug, I am a big Rick Stein fan and have a few of his recipe books. I will keep an eye out for that one.

Congrats on the new property @Ed.. Prices sure have jumped up there recently like everywhere else. Have you got a boat? It is a magic place for boating. If not, the beaches near you can turn up good whiting and there is always the Pier. Maybe you could do an apprenticeship with a couple of the jetty rats that fish the Pier. They are pretty well set up with their pushbike trailers and all the gear for live baiting. Many times I have seen a kid heading home on his pushie with a large spannie tail hanging over the trailer. It is always an entertaining walk even if you are not fishing.

Can’t complain about that bag, @ellicat and @Kat. You are starting to get a bit of mojo in the ellicat hope, Brian. @AUS-BNE-FISHO, we did put together a small feed of average summer whiting that trip, and a few small flatties on the troll.

Not too sure that I would actually beat her, Kelvin. I am lucky that I married someone who loves sport and watches more closely than I do.

I am wrestling with my approach this year (again). Do I tip with my heart and pick the Qld teams every week like I have done every year, or do the smart thing and tip the most likely winner and learn to live with my guilty conscience? Nobody ever accused me of being smart so it is likely that @Drop Bear and I will duke it out for the wooden spoon in 2022. God help us in 2023 when there are 4 teams to back!

Stop day out @GregOug. You certainly seem to be getting some Moreton Bay mojo lately.

That is the same fish. @ellicat, I am also a Luddite and have no idea how to copy a link to a Facebook page but if you search Facebook for Rainbow Beach Deep Sea Fishing On th3 Kelly Rose, you will find it.

Ed Falconer of Rainbow Beach Fishing Charters caught that one. Went 22kg. You can see the details on his Facebook page. Just rubbing salt in the wound for us @ellicat and @benno573 after our planned trip in October was blown out.

Damn those pesky fish disturbing your nice early morning relax on the water . Nice work @Techman, I think that is about as good as it gets at Mud.

User error. You need to put the code in, not the comp name. All signed up and raring to go.

Not working for me Brian. Error message says comp name must be exactly 8 characters?

First time was quite a while ago now and we wanted to learn about plastics fishing for flathead. Sean nailed it and we got some great fish. Second trip was to learn about trolling hardbody lures for snapper. Again, we got some good fish and learnt heaps.

No experience with those guys. Looks like he might be John Palermo’s son, so there is a good pedigree. One local charter I can definitely recommend is Sean Conlon’s. I haven’t been out with him for a few years but he really knows his stuff and will do whatever style of fishing you want and give you lots of great info and tuition along the way. Very honest operator.

73 bass is not a bad effort @Dinodadog. As I scrolled down I was a bit nervous that you might have loaded a photo of every bass you caught.

Hope you got a few @Kat. I find beachworming as frustrating as solving a rubix cube. I reckon my strike rate is about 1 in 20, despite lots of tuition from experts over the years. I have found the quickest and most productive way to get them is to take a mate who can actually catch the slippery little suckers.

Hi @Mick GC. Did the angelfish look like butter bream https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monodactylus_argenteus? They are actually quite tasty cooked whole in butter and then scraper the meat off the bone. Very sweet white meat.

Worth thinking about how to include grassies, tuskies etc without blowing out the list of target species. Might also be good to think about whether undersize (or even oversized) fish should be eligible? Just from an optics perspective.

Mate that is really bad luck. You won’t get a refund because it is not a manufacturing fault. Where is it broken? If it is close to the tip you might be able to cut it off cleanly and hot glue a new tip runner on. It won’t be the same but could be still usable.

Another great day on the water @ellicat. Considering the heat around town yesterday we were probably in the best place to stay a bit cooler even if the water was a bit bumpy.

Yep, good point. No access to salt water so no sex change for them.

Nice work @christophagus. A nice distraction and some good fish caught despite the poor conditions that we had for most of the time the comp was running. Looking at the leaderboard and some of the reports lately, maybe next comp we drop tuna and add miscellaneous reefies so people can include grassies, tuskie etc. just a thought. Thanks again mate. You have done well again!