Fishing with Paul

Hi everybody, hope you're well and catching plenty. Unfortunately, I picked up a feral virus in Sydney which has kept me off the water. Finally starting to come good now. Hopefully I'll be fighting fit for the Sandstone Point fishing comp this month.

With no fishing to report, I thought I’d touch on some important maintenance stuff and competition plans. I regularly do maintenance inspections on my boat, i.e. removing the panels from which behind are many of the necessary and vital workings of my boat. I check my fuses and wiring, remove cowling checking for fluid leaks, check and if necessary replace filters and any connections, especially the fuel line. Check the sounder and radio plugs for corrosion, along with anything bolted on, giving it a good push and pull to check for movement. This 15-minute inspection might afford me the opportunity of more fishing time instead of an emergency fix up.

This time I got lucky – only had to replace two wires – one didn’t have much life left in it – counting my lucky stars I escaped an issue on the water and found the small problem before it became a major one. There was a nick in the cable housing causing it to corrode which would have broken leaving me ‘sounder’ less. Imagine how lost I'd be without a sounder. So guys, if you don't want to cancel trips or worse get towed, give your boats a regular inspection. Of course, don't do it on a fishing day, go fishing instead. But do it on those days when it’s windy and dry because fishing on those days isn’t an option. Hopefully you find nothing. However, if you do – congratulate yourself for giving yourself extra time on the water when the conditions are right instead of being bitterly disappointed by breaking down.

Now for the ‘big comp’. Sandstone Point Hotel’s major comp with $150,000 in prizes is on September 24-27. Many of the prizes will be lucky draw prizes, so if you fish it's worth entering. With just a few hundred people with the same passion as you and yes – the same weird warped sense of humour - these comps are excellent.

In the 90’s I fished the Toyota comp at Fraser - Evans Head Straddie Classic, Rainbow Beach family comp. And with every comp I fished I brought home memories and fishing hints that have stayed for a lifetime. Only $50 entry, I hope to see you all there. I'll be in my Nauti Buoy shirt, come over and have a yarn. It's a full moon, so my plan is to head out around midnight and fish until 10am-ish, weather permitting, then fish the low tide around 2-4pm-ish in the tinnie for flathead. Should be a full on four days with lots of laughs.

Caloundra Wide is calling me. I’ll take the first opportunity and give you a heads-up next time, along with a comp report. Tight lines everybody and stay safe.