Sports and Hobbies Thread

[AndrewX]

...and BTW... 

What happened to William???

[DreamTime]

Hi Andrew...

Check out http://www.travelingkaren.com and see what my girl is up to. She is by Astrojewels right now and having the time of her life. She also did some surfing - well as she puts it - mostly falling, but she had fun. Sure wish I could be there enjoying it with her, but who knows...maybe one of these days.

[AndrewX]

Groovy DT:)

She's having a good time it seems.  I like some things she said...

Well, as most of you know I am now in Melbourne. Melbourne is... well... strange. It is a city, perhaps not as big of a city as Sydney, but it's definitely a city in LOOKS. But, in feel... well, it really doesn't FEEL like a city. For starters, there is NO ONE HERE!

LOLOL!!!

If she goes to the right places during the main business hours in Melb she'll be run off her feet with passerbys.  Melbourne city itself, Tookak area, Carlton, Lygon St Brunswick, Barkley Street Footscray, Frankston city (Near me), Geelong city and more.  Perhaps she was there outside the main hours which would explain it.  But sure, there are also alot of areas/suburbs that are inherantly very quiet even though they are within a stone's through of the city.

Now the pics she shows of quiet Melb I do believe she took in the area of NORTH Melb near Flemington.  Correct me if I'm wrong.  I can tell you that that area is always relatively quiet as it is mainly residential with a few shops in it.  It is NOT the real Melb even though it is SO close to the city... plus it's 4.00pm Saturday.  That's teh time when most begin to get ready at home for the night ahead...plus many are about to finish a day at teh beach or at a sports venue watching the Cricket and the like.  If your Karen ventures a little further south into the heart of the Melb city, or further NorthEast towards Lygon St Carlton, she'll see a different ambience to that.  More people, more action and far nicer a places to visit and do some shopping and or quality feeding... which she may need more of... very skinny isn't she?lolol  No doubt she'll get to the other parts I mention in due course... she may even return home a few pounds heavier... let's hope.

Really, if I had to choose to live in Melbourne or Sydney, I would choose Melbourne in a second... the people are much more laid back and less rushed than they are in Sydney, and they seem a bit more friendly and willing to talk to you. Also, people seem a bit more into healthiness in Melbourne, I see a bunch of people jogging and sports are a big thing here.

At least the girl knows where it's at.:) lolol  I and karen(astrojewels) told you that Melb was 'the' place to be did we not? lolol  Why gee DT, let alone everything else that's great about it don't forget... I'm here too.LOLOL!!!

I also hear that many Americans who travel abroad tell everyone that they are from Canada...

This is true, I catch them out all the time.lolol  I can tell the difference between a Canadian and American accent easily.  The Americans always have a laugh with me after I pull them up on it.  I always explain to them that it is NOT the average American we hold contempt for but rather their criminal government.  Though some Aussies don't know the difference, many do.  But I can understand why they do it though IMO they shouldn't bother.  Once they explain to people who they are and what they believe most here would easily embrace them.  I'm afraid it is the cost of living in a land whose government is highly corrupt and rules its people with an iron fist while all along trying to tell other countries how to live their lives.  All the more reason to oust them I'd say.

I hope Astrojewels allows a double portion of everything on the BBQ for your Karen DT.lol  Then all need be done is to take her to all the great Italian and Greek cake shops and resturants in the city followed by a visit to Chinatown Melb at the SharkFin restururant for loads of goodies... SanChoiBau, SharkFin and PrawnDumplings, CantoneseSteak, Whole fried fish, roastedDuckling with rice and bukChoi... and eggCustard tarts for desert.  yummmo

...she'll eat you out of house and home by the time she returns...lolol

;)

[AndrewX]

Here's a picture a friend of mine sent me to look at of himself in his boat approximately 15miles off Sydney harbour.  In total glee of the DolphinFish he landed and was doubly suprised by the way the pic came out.  Awesome coloring no?  Dolphinfish a are true gamefish, very powerful and yet very tasty too.  Unlike most other gamefish, they have white meat, not dark meat that is saturated in oil and blood.  That makes the meat taste very sweet being of low oil and fat content.  btw... my mate rang me on his mobile the moment he landed it and was freaking out like his wife just gave birth.LOLOL  He's a solicitor by trade who's also a mad fisherman and often comes down to Vic fishing with me when he's on business. 

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[AndrewX]

I recently went for a fishing trip to a place we call Portland which is near the boarder of Victoria and SthAustralia and is essentially a fishing village that contains many large commercial vessels that fish the Southern Ocean year round.  It’s as far from civilization as it gets in our State and the waters are loaded with fish and pristine.

What was amazing about this trip is that when we arrived and went down to launch our boat at the ramp in the harbor we saw a HUGE YellowfinTuna swimming in the harbor.  This fish was simply HUGE, well over 120kg, possibly up to 150kgs.  At around 6foot long it had a girth of at least 2.5feet wide.  Any Tuna expert will tell you that when Yellowfin have such a wide girth they are very large.  They grow and when they reach 100kgs in weight they slow down growing in length and start getting wide.   Anyone who knows anything about Tuna will know that the fish in the pics I show is very large because of it's excessive width.  It was just casually cruising around the harbor and coming right up to the wooden pylons of the pier there.  A mere few inches under the water it gave as a clear view of its size.  Needless to say we immediately whipped out our rods and threw everything we had at it in the hope it would take a bait or lure.  To our disappointment it would swim up to our baits, look at them, then look at us as though to say “You must be kidding me Buster”… and it would then continue on its stroll through the harbor.  A pity it wasn’t hungry, but given the stocks of baitfish in Portland it wasn’t too surprising. 

One foolish mate of mine became so anxious and frustrated at not being able to hook it that he suggest he wait till it came near us again and that he would dive onto it to grab it.LOLOL Just as well we stopped him because such an action would have defiantly resulted in him injuring himself badly given the massive burst of energy these fish can produce when first scared.  A couple of shakes of its tail would have broken bones on a human body that was in contact with it.  After telling him what would happen to him he came to his senses and continued trying to fish it out. 

Glad to say we did catch some Yellowfin Tuna that day out in the open ocean, but they were nowhere near as big as this bad boy.  Ours ranged from 10-20kgs.  We hooked onto 12 of them, kept 6 and released the other 6.  The 6 we released were over 20kgs each in weight and were all females in full season ready to breed.  We also caught a nice load of Snapper and GummySharks to 20kgs in weight.  All in all, a great day on the Ocean all round. 

Here’s a couple of pics of the ‘beast of a Tuna’ that was simply too old and too smart to fall prey in such clearly visible and closed quarters.  No doubt he could hear everything we were saying too. 

[Polly]

I love this story, Andrew.  That is one righteous tuna!  He carries all of the accumulated tuna wisdom!

[DreamTime]

Hi Andrew,

My daughter is (well was, by now she should be back by Kaz) now in Tasmania taking a tour and during the tour she came upon this rock that she had to take a picture of. It immediately reminded me of you. :D She called it the fish rock.

[AndrewX]

Glad you liked it Polly, believe me it was a stunningly beautiful fish... the pics do it no justice.  In the flesh it shon and reflected most every fluroescent color concievable with vivid awe.  Everyone in the harbor that day stopped what they were doing, including payed workers, and watched it as though they were mesmerised by it. 

You know, ironically enough, had any of us hooked it BEFORE we got the boat into the water, we would have NO DOUBT lost it in no time.  The harbor is filled with obstacles that would have fraid our line in an instant at the speed and momentum these fish go at.  It's not uncommon for such a fish to take up to 400m of line out in a few seconds during their initial run.  One wrapping around a pylon or bouy and 'goodbye Sally'.  So it was just as well we didn't hook it early on.  With the boat in the water, it would have been another story as we can then chase it as it ran thereby avoiding fraid or cut lines.  I have hooked Tuna to this size in the past in open water and I can tell you that if your rod and reel are not of the finest quality and well lubricated that they can actually make them smoke up and seize.  Yes, they can actually make the metal gearing inside a game reel MELT.  That the power we are dealing with here... they can melt gears in a $1,000PLUS gamefishing reel if its not been recently lubricated well.  Let alone what they can do to cheap reels. 

Here's a pic of an Alloy cast spool after a Yellowfin Tuna finished with it that would have been in excees of 120kgs... suffice to say I lost the fish.  Cost for replacement spool 2 years ago?  AUS$350.00.:(



Heres a pic of the reel the spool came from... a TR-50 gamefishing reel - weighs 7lbs can hold up to 550m of 50lbs-breaking strain monofiliment line.  The spool, although made of alloy, still weighs a ton.  You wouldn't want to be hit with it if someone threw it at you.  Very heavy, very solid, very strong... but not strong enough.  You should have seen the power I put into the rod when this happened. LOLOL  My mates on board saw me as I started to apply the pressure and they all stood 2 paces back.lolol  Then without notice the reel's spool went... CRACK-SNAP and TING went the line!!!!  And it was over, before it even began.:X LOLOL



This is why I call them "bad boy" Polly... they're as mean as be on terminal tackle.
 

Hi Andrew,

My daughter is (well was, by now she should be back by Kaz) now in Tasmania taking a tour and during the tour she came upon this rock that she had to take a picture of. It immediately reminded me of you. :D She called it the fish rock.

Attachment: fish rock in Tasmania.jpg

Hi DT,

I read her updates yesterday evening and saw the fish too.  It looks about as fat as me you know.lolol  Or is that what you're incinuating?LOLOL  Whose been telling you my secrets DT... who? LOLOL

All jokes aside, it's an amazing rock formation IMO.  It does look just like a fish... a coral trout in fact, and I never knew it even existed in ol' cold Tassie.  According to scientific infomation over half of Tassie will be under water after Nibiru passes.  But the good news is that MOST of Vic will remain as it is and NewZealand will become ENORMOUS.  Thought I'd put that in.

She's looks to be having a whale of a time your daughter DT.  IT's great to see people who are so "happy go lucky".  Others should follow her example and the world would be a much better place.  I also hope that Karen's been feeding her well ;)LOLOL  (just kidding Karen).  Tell your daughter NOT to miss the penguin parade on PhillipIsland in Westernport Bay.  It's a real specticle.  It's on every night of the week.  It maybe an idea to go on a Friday evening, and once the Sun's gone down and the parade's over she can stop over in the city and have a looky.  Friday night's are a buzz in the city with people everywhere and happenings by the dozen.  Resturants, nightclubs, theatres... you name it, it's all systems a go.  She'd no doubt love Brunswick Street Fitzroy which is a stone's throw from the city and a full on Bohemian stretch.  All shops and cafes are Bohemian and most everyone there are in such attire.  Perhaps they've already been,  I don't know.  In case she hasn't, it is worth a look at.

Give her my regards DT.:)

[Polly]

Andrew, I did a little bit of deep sea fishing many years ago on several occasions -- I especially recall being given the line when a large bluefish ran with it and how it leapt from the water and fought so hard.  This was out around Block Island.

I am a sea lover.  I should have been born a sea creature.  :-)  I'd be more at home in the sea.

Your stories and recipes belong in a fishing publication.

[Astrojewels]

Andrew, I took her to those eateries and she was a little astounded that the ‘front house’ waiters are outside trying to hook you in to their restaurants, and yes I am feeding her well, food is the core of my house, no one ever leaves my house hungry, I can tell you many funny stories about people, my house and food and the odd times that the kitchen has been pumping. We have eaten out more regularly the past few weeks I must say. Kaz is like part of the family, I love having her around, and everyone adores her.
Lucky for me Andrew, she does not like clubs, pubs or shopping, because I also do not like those things, I only shop for purpose it actually gives me a headache! She loves outdoor stuff, nature and everyday things so that has been an easy request to fulfill because we live up the bush!
nice fish.