Reply With Quotejimbamb,
I've just come back from a weeks R&R up thar & in the noosa area the best value lure you could use at the moment would be to pull a carton of ice cold XXXX GOLD around the Noosaville area hoping for a hit from the infamous Mackeral Man (John Schouw). He'll drink your beer, listening intently to your questions then, tell you what good questions they are & what a keen fisherman you must be THEN tell you too "to go and get well and truly #####d." #
Seriously, Schouwies a top bloke (as probably that bloke at Yamba was) but as with most top fishos who aren't blabbermouths like us Ausfishers, he expects a few simple things before he'll share his hard earned knowledge with a stranger.
Number one is courtesy to him & others, pass the time of day with him. You bark at him - he'll bark back. Say g'day, how are ya & the kids etc before you launch into a tirade of questions. Talk to them about other stuff too. They also like to see you put in & contribute not necessarily to them (maybe #helping some other old bloke get his boat on the trailer - What goes around comes around.
That's the lecture & here's some of the things he does, I lot of which I learned by WATCHING, LISTENING & HELPING not asking.
Troll big IQF pilchards that are in excellent condition be fussy about the bags you buy - buy 1kg bags so you can see each pillie the head is the most important bit to be in pristine shape.
He uses 60lb green nylon, no traces, leaders or swivels, straight onto a 3 gang of 6/0s with lead wrapped around first hook to help the bait swim. Take care to insert hooks into pillie perfectly to get best swim & no spin, with a flying hook at the back. No squid skirts.
4 rods - First out the back a long way back just under the surface. Next two rods mid water with a large bean sinker several metres in front of the pillie to put it lower in the water colomn. Last rod is a pillie skipping on the wash just behind the bubble stream of the boat.
Know where you want to fish, work out a troll pattern to travel with the current & tide as much as possible & work the hell out of that one location.
and as Phil said troll slow, real slow, motor just above idle in gear.
As for Schouwie's good marks to fish at Noosa where he was pulling Blues (spaniards), spots & big eye yellowfin tuna in the last week ...
... go and get well and truly #####d - he'd kill me. #lol
seeyainthesurf,
chris
photos will follow in a week or so of some nice spots from johns boat & a 20kg+ tuna.
i havent tried the pillie skipping in the wash, i will now though 
