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They're like any minority group, Tom; secretive, possesive and loyal in spite of the evidence! Terry.

Of course, for Jim's 165, if it's not on a mooring, it doesn't need anodes. I just wash down after every launch and my Smart Tabs have been on my 165 for 2 years with no probs. 40lb thrust models. Terry.

Tried it; nothing happened. Terry.

Going back to my photos above, is this why bassing always seems to be better in the mornings than afternoons? They stuff themselves up in the morning and then take the rest of the day to digest their meal. They may, like mine, strike at something purely out of instict and because it is there but can't eat it. Or perhaps they put it in the larder for later. Also, Gordon caught a mackerel that was so small, neither of us had seen one that size before. Blow me, about 5 minutes later, he caught another virtually the same. They were no more than 3" (76mm) long. Terry.

In my day, the last person to use something leaves it ready for the next one. Brotherly love? Terry.

I belive I took that picture of your raider. I have realised what I was doing wrong. I was doing it the same as before and then checking it in Preview. It doesn't show the picture in preview. When I go straight to post, lo!, it's there. Terry.

? Terry.

Hoorah! Back in picture business. Having opened the stomach, I discovered a red gurnard and a hard backed edible crab. This was the hard lump by the vent. How do I know it was a red gurnard? Because it's tail was still protruding from the bass's throat! What it was going to do with my mackerel, I don't know, there was no room for anything else. Terry.

Picture attempt 1. This should be a picture of a bass I cleaned and fillited today. It shows a rock solid distended gut with a very hard lump near the vent. Being easily fascinated, I had to open it up and investigate. Terry.

I didn't even know I had a gallery, Trev. I used to do it straight from my files on the computer, suitably reduced. Now, nothing happens so I'll try you way. Terry.

I used to be able to post photo's but no longer seem able to. Can someone please tell me the secret as I have some interesting photo's from Sunday's catch. Terry.

Siamese twins walk into a pub in Ontario and park themselves on a bar stool. One of them says to the landlord, 'Don't mind us, we're joined at the hip. I'm John, he's Jim. Two Molson Canadian beers, draft please'. The landlord, feeling slightly awkward, tries to make polite conversation while pouring the beers. 'Been on holiday yet, lads?' 'Off to England next month,' says John. 'We go to England every year and hire a car and drive for miles, don't we, Jim?' Jim agrees. 'Ah, England !' says the landlord. 'Wonderful country... the history, the beer, the culture...' 'Nah, we don't like that British crap,' says John. ' Hamburgers & Molsons beer, that's us, eh Jim? And we can't stand the English - they're so arrogant and rude.' 'So why keep going to England ?' asks the landlord. 'It's the only chance Jim gets to drive. Terry.

Hi, ewen. Have a look at JK Max Navigation website and go to the special offers. The have a load of Lowrance handhelds at very good prices. Check it out. Terry.

Gordon and I had a good day out on Fugazi. The morning sunshine and flat sea on the way out from Christchurch was most welcome and everything felt just right. That was, unfortunately, until we tried to catch some mackerel. My God, but it was hard work to get 10 to go and try for Mr. Bass! Off to the Ledge and down to work. Gordon has a large, deep, rectangular bait tank and it was at this point he discovered he'd left the catching net behind. Trying to catch one mackerel out of 10 was not too difficult, it just meant a wet sleeve (yes, I did roll it up; I did say it was deep). When it's gone down to 2 or 3, now that took patience. On the ebbing tide we managed 5 decent bass, the smaller ones around the 3lb mark and I had two larger ones at 5lb 14oz and 6lb 3oz. Gordon is convinced that his boat makes a lot of noise from water slapping on the hull and this makes catching fish close by impossible. Well, at one stage I had 3 bass on two rods within 2 or 3 minutes. I hooked a large,ish one, reeled in my other line and left it dangling about 18ins down beside the boat to keep the bait alive, landed my fish and as the mackerel was still frisky (adrenalin?) cast it back out before dealing with the catch. Immediately it was taken by a fish and, as I was reeling this in, another one took the bait hanging beside the boat. Talk about a purple patch! Although the last one was lost, it was hectic while it lasted. The change of tide put the drift rate up to an unacceptable speed so we retreated to top up the mackerel stock. Still unbearably patchy with only another 6 being added to the tank. Although trying various other tactics and a few more drifts when the tide moderated, nothing more was caught. However, we both agreed we'd had a good day. Thanks for the good company, Gordon, and not to mention the fat boy brunch ( I said don't mention it!) which was an unexpected bonus. Leftover cheese sandwiches for lunch today. Now, if this weather can improve a bit, I'll be back down soon. Terry.

I will now be fishing on Fugazi with Gordon, in place of Simon. Terry.

Or alternatively................... FISHING v.l. The art of loitering in and around bodies of water in an effort to find food under a false pretence. Terry.

Looks like a mega downrigger. Terry.

If it's a question of recouping a little money, then there would obviously be some benefit. If, however the boat is paid for and money is not an issue, I can't for the life of me imagine what the benefits would be. Although the 175 is only a foot longer, the amount of additional useful space exceeds this greatly, as I'm sure Adam would agree, having had both boats. Having said all that, my 165 does most of what I want for accommodating 2 people on a day's inshore fishing. I think I would feel more confident going farther off shore in a 175 but this depends on the type of fishing you are interested in. If I owned a 175, I would want a jolly good reason for downsizing. Terry.

Whizz-ho. Thanks Paul, one problem out of the way. Terry.

Thanks for that one, Harry, I may well go that way as it should be here fairly quickly. Haven't you sold your Warrior? Terry.

Another small problem. My GPS NMEA connector interface has twin cables whereas the icom radio has a small coaxial variety. Can I just twist up the sheathing wire on the coax and use it as a normal wire or do I need an adaptor of some variety? Why can't anything be easy? Wouldn't it make sense if all these things were standardised? Terry.

I am in need of a new antenna for my radio. I wanted to move the existing one to the other side of the boat but, like a prat, I previously cut the coaxial cable and it won't reach that far. Neither can I dismantle it to fit a new cable and don't want to put a join in as this will degrade the signal. It will need to be a base plate mounting as it will have to fit onto a plate on the rail and also be able to pivot to the horizontal for travelling. What is a good make and where can I get one? The previous one came from Piplers but was pretty basic. I am considering coming down for the meeting on Thursday so could purchase one then. Terry.

And while you're in this state of inner peace, perhaps you could concentrate and tell me how this works. 3, men go into an hotel and the man behind the desk says the room will be

It's always nice to get an endorsement of my decision, Rob. Hopefully my problems are over. It should arrive today so I'll report later. Terry.

I have been having trouble with my Cobra VHF radio even though it has been exchanged once, the latest one developing the same fault. I am now bored with trying to make it work and being unable to transmit any farther than I can shout. I have therefore decided to lash out and buy a new radio and have decided that Icom is a reliable make with plenty of good things said about them. I can't justify the