Stippy

Good work mate, very nice lizards. But if anyone asks about the one that got away it was a jewie! Cheers, Adam.

Makes more sense to upgrade your drag washers, certainly more cost efficient; if you owned Daiwa's I'm pretty sure the spools are interchangeable amongst the Real Four line. Someone will confirm whether the same holds for high end Shimano's but I have serious doubts that a Stella spool would fit onto a Sienna reel body in any case.

Thanks heaps mate.. here's hoping I can improve my flatty record next time

Good stuff... which plastics were you using?

Good work mate... were you guys fishing land based? I rarely have much luck land based under the bridge itself. Cheers, Adam.

Matt, if I didn't have final examinations coming up in the next month I would definitely come along... I'm not afraid of a little exercise and would love to give fresh water fishing a go myself. Good on you for helping fellow fishos get onto some great fish. Will you be around Winter next year? Cheers, Adam.

That's awesome! Picture looked to be in sped up? Can't wait to have a go on some sand flats on a warm day now.

Frankly I can see the upside.... I'll be in Melbourne next Saturday

Very nice! What were you using for bait? Tackle? Cheers, Adam.

I'd be hard pressed to complete a triathlon now at 23, built tough in that family I think! That's a nice looking bike and a good bag of flattys. I was supposed to head up to Forster this weekend for a fish but work put paid to those plans Next time, Adam.

Probably more fluke than anything with the gar.. I'd chosen the spot in search of flathead. Somewhere with patches of weed and plenty of sand, maybe with a gutter to hold some deeper water. If they're about you'll probably see the flashes of silver, cast by sight and you've got a good chance of hooking up. Having said that their are probably better ways to catch more gar if you only intend to bait them, using floats etc, but I just like the feeling of fooling them into eating a lure. They don't go particularly hard, but they apparently taste pretty good if you can get enough of them.

I caught my first jewie on an old servo pilchard too! You outdid my effort by 10cm as well! You must be doing something right if you landed another straight after Cheers, Adam.

I've only had limited success on bream with soft plastics, but in the Hacking I have had more success with flattys and garfish. Flathead is probably the easiest target for the soft plastic novice (like me ), you pretty much have to drag the plastic in front of its face and you're on. Bream are far more wily and someone else will explain the techniques required there, however I wouldn't think 3inch is overly large for your target species - just means you're less likely to hook pinkies and pickers. Cheers, Adam.

Great work on the editing mate, shame about the music. Nice to know there's fish in the lake, can't blame the spot anymore... must just be the angler.

Thanks for all the tips and pics everyone. Given the replacement is on its way I may have a go at opening it up myself as per Slinky's pics. I shall open another thread and post my findings if and when I do. Thanks again, Adam.

Thanks for clarifying Grant, and certainly a wasted opportunity if they don't take it up. Chris I would grease up the drag washers but I was lead to believe a) That the Soron's have a "dry drag stack" b.) That they require a special tool from Sweden to open the drag up Being none too competent in matters mechanical I felt it was better to defer to the experts, and in this case at least I am certainly glad I did. Cheers, Adam.

That'd be a shame. Of course the mods are free to delete as they please but it strikes me that the site sponsors most probably on-sell PFA gear anyway so it's in their best interests to have positive feedback about their suppliers. Cheers, Adam.

Just got off the phone with Nick from the Spare Parts Department of Pure Fishing Australia and I'm one very happy Fishraider! I had called to rectify an issue I was having with the spare spool of my Abu Soron STX40, the drag felt sticky after spooling it up with some Fins and I just wanted to know if I should take it back to the retailer or send it directly. Nick was very surprised to hear that I wasn't completely satisfied and very generously (without my prompting) offered to send a completely new spool free of charge. With service like this I will continue to buy PFA's products in the future with confidence. Nick I don't know if you read the forums but mate you're a bloody legend. Cheers, Adam.

Cool, we were under the bridge as well, would have been around 3pm. At that stage I was still persisting with soft plastics although by the sounds of it I would have had more luck with bait. On Sunday I was using bait off a section of the rockwall although I spent most of my time showing some friends how to cast and freeing snags as the current was ripping through at the time. Once the water warms up I'm hoping the lake starts producing more for me, certainly looks fishy. Cheers, Adam.

Did better than me mate. I was there Friday and Sunday throwing all matter of lures and bait for a doughnut. I hate being landbased Cheers, Adam.

I'm a beach fishing novice as well but I do think I have learnt a thing or two in the short time I've been doing it. Use fresh baits based on what's available on the beaches you're fishing; don't give the jewie anything to be suspicious of. It makes sense to use big baits and big hooks if you're chasing big fish... also means generally any by-catch will be entertaining at the very least. Don't be afraid to put the hours in, it's too easy to say "the tide is too low/high, the moon is too big/small, the sea is too rough/flat". Unless its bucketing down (like it is currently my way ) there are worse places to be than sitting on a beach with a bait soaking, contemplating your navel while waiting for that rod tip to start dancing. I generally head down around 45 minutes before sunset but that's only because I'm busy during the day. Oh and bring a camera or no one will believe you! Good luck, Adam.

Thanks mate, pretty excited to try this now. Just got to wait for the right conditions. Cheers, Adam.

Hey guys, After a number of soft plastic sessions I've noticed a tendency to have finicky fish nibble at the tail end of the lure and missing the hook on the jighead. Does anyone successfully use a stinger? What size stinger would be best for bream and whiting, I'm less worried about flathead because they're more likely to inhale the whole plastic. I've read that some people effectively gang the hooks together, whilst others leave a tag from their jighead and tie the stinger at the end. Which is less likely to effect the action of the plastic? Also I've got a couple of packs of bloodworm Gulps here... how do I rig them, is a special jighead required? The way I currently fish them leaves the vast majority of the lure to 'dangle' and I haven't had any success with them yet. Cheers, Adam.

Good work Scotty, I'd love to get out for a bass fish, sounds like a perfect excuse to buy some new lures Cheers, Adam.