rjc123

Sunline PE is part of the problem. I stopped buying it under 10lb because i (and many others) got wind knots time and time again. The 20lb+ stuff is fine for me though. Power Pro is generally pretty good stuff but if your looking at some quality line that seems to have far less wind knots then give Daiwa Sensor TD a go. Great stuff. Put it on my caldia (4lb) and have had no problems what so ever so far. Top braid! Cheers, Tom

Nice work on the flatties Were you up the back end of pitty? Never make the mistake of heading out around west head on a windy day. I own a Hobie Pro Angler 12 which is a big yak, and got tossed around when gathering livies and drifting for flatties there. Was dead flat when i went out and then a change came in Sounds like a great session of yours though Cheers, Tom

Bassday Sugarpen, Berkley Scum Dog and Z-man Grubz in bloodworm or watermellon red

Great Spangley Do him up whole Superb tabe fish. congrats! Cheers, Tom

Nice work Paul Good to see you getting into the fish from the PA. Nothing wrong with a bag of nice flatties! Electric Chicken is a great colour, but i would certainly recommend "opening night" as well. Gun on the flatties Cheers, Tom

Nice work mate! Great session. Good to see the slimies around! Cheers, Tom

Black label Just feels so good in hand!

If your willing to pay close to $300 then the black label is definitely the go. Its so light and an all round top rod. Recommended to me by many people and now i see why Online you can get it for $250 though I'm tempted to get another but i'm keen to try a samaki. Cheers, Tom

Hi Raiders, As aways, I'm looking to add to my rod/reel collection again. Even though i've bought a caldia 2000 and black label rod last week The Black label is 3-5lb (1-2kg) so extremely light. Looking at more of a 4-8lb (2-4kg) as i paid the price of going so light around the pylons and marina the other day The Samaki Zing 4-8lb seems perfect for the job. I'll match it to a freams most likely and fish 4-6lb braid on it. Any feedback on these rods or other suggestions? Can't fork out too much so $180 will probably be the max for this time (rod only). Cheers, Tom

What a Bonnie Kings good too Good to see your getting into them. I'll have to do the same ASAP! Cheers, Tom

Might be a little late but the last 3 sessions i've been getting good whiting (to 35cm) on plastics. The Z-man Grubz in Bloodworm and Watermelon Red. Fish it like you would for flatties and you should get some! Cheers, Tom

Hi Powerfisher, Nice report! You found some good fish and had a great time doing it. For the trevally, i'm not convinced it's a golden. Golden's have those big, blubbery lips. Hard to tell from the photo but either a small bludger trevally or Gold-Spot trevally. Either way a top catch! Well done Cheers, Tom

Tomaree Head (opposite Yaccaba) is the spot to get your livies. Yakkas, Slimies, Bonito and Squid. As previously said, broughton holds good kings and snapper over the reef with plenty of nice flatties over the gravel patches. The other nearby islands (apart from cabbage tree - marine parks..) have good bonito and striped tuna, with kings in the deeper water around. Best bet is to head over to broughton island, sound around until you find a nice patch of reef with a few fish hanging off it. Burley up (even in water 40m deep burley still works a treat) and bottom bash with a mix of plastics, livebaits and tuna/bonito strips. Its always worth having an unweighted livie out the back or under a float. The odd Spanish mackerel and longtail tuna will come by from time to time... Good luck! Cheers, Tom

It really comes down to personal preference. I like to have confidence in my gear. Knowing that if i hook a 10kg Jewfish on my 3-5lb rob, 1000 reel and 4lb braid, that my rod and reel are capable of landing it gives me peace at mind. I would agree that using better gear "helps" catch more fish but its really up to the fisherman whether they catch fish or not. I often try and get value for money. Sure I have a few expensive outfits , but i've got plenty of cheaper and medium range outfits that also perform well. The Jewell 2-4kg rod ($100) and Shimano Saros 2500 F ($170) has done plenty of damage for me over the past few years. The moral of the story is that if your after kings and bream, spend the money on kings. They'll make short work of any sub-standard tackle, while the majority of bream won't. Cheers, Tom

Keep it simple mate. Fish for Bream, Flatties and Whiting before you move on to jews and kings. Fish light as well. Start off flicking around unweighted baits like prawns around rockwalls and pylons. You'll get a fair few bream doing this. Plastics and blades are a good idea as well.

Sometimes its hard to get the barb through if your using a big hook so keep that in mind.

The nose is just above the top lip. There's a little hole on each side which the hook goes through.

Thanks for that Grant. I tend to agree with you as i pinned the live tailor through the nose when i got my 9kg fish back in April. I've been using 7/0 Octopus or Circles. Cheers, Tom

Oh god.. I guess thats a good thing that it was but man i can't believe i didnt get a hook in it! I remember thinking should i rig the livie near the front or back i went for the back Its a good sign i guess! Cheers, Tom

Yeah that came to mind Grant. It just felt a lot different though. Took it a lot quicker and screamed off, while the estuary cod was a dead weight for most of the fight with the odd run back towards the rocks. Certainly a possibility though! Just had another session on the jews (landbased) and had a near miss. Yakkas and tailor wouldn't play ball until half hour before i was leaving. Finally got a big yakka and chucked it out on the 50lb gear. 10 minutes later, baitrunner screaming! Gave it 10 seconds and struck up. Nothing... Wound it in and yakka was destroyed. Two massive gashes on it and its face was crushed. Only two things that could do this in this spot. A jew, or a bull shark. I guess I'll never know I'll attach a pic and comment what you guys think. Jew or shark? Keep in mind that it was a big yakka of around 25cm.

Yeah they're gun plastics! So tough as well. I used the same plastic for all fish yesterday! No damage to it at all. The 2.5" Grubz will get you flathead, bream, whiting, trevally and occasionally school jew. "Watermellon Red" is #1 colour for Bream Especially. Bloodworm and Copper Penny are also fantastic. The 3" Minnowz are also a great plastic for flathead, tailor and the odd jew. For Big Flathead and Jew the 4" Swimmerz is #1. Great paddle tail plastic. "Red Shad" and "Black Bad Shad" Being my favourites. The 6" size also works well on Big Jew and Kings I'm told. Having a jew session this afternoon so hopefully all goes well! Cheers, Tom

Not sure on the specific species but i've caught hundreds of them in Weipa (Cape York) so they're definitely predominately a northern species. I've put in a few sessions with only the one hook up (ended up pulling the hooks ) but if the rain stays away then this afternoon might be worth a crack! Cheers, Tom

Sorry to hear that mate While the bream weren't overly big they were hitting the plastics more aggressively than i've ever seen! Really hotting up around Rosie. There'd have to be some jews about. I'll put in the time and try and repeat my jew from April. Hope you get yours! Cheers, Tom

Yeah they're illegal. While its so tempting to use a cast net its breaking the law. Hopefully the fishing gods will smile on you for playing by the rules Try deep creek for mullet as well. I clean up on them there. Avoid windy days though.... Cheers, Tom

Hey Raiders, Had a great session in middle harbour on the yak this afternoon. With the stormy conditions predicted late afternoon i knew the fish would be firing prior to this. So, headed out after a few bream on plastics. I also planned to fish a few live mullet on dusk to see if i could coax a jew out of hiding. As soon as i hit the water i realised that i forgot the home made anchor system so instantaneously threw the jewfish session out the window... I had a few gun spots to try out for bream so thought i'd give that a go. What a decision that was! Started off flicking a few z-man grubz 2.5" in "watermelon red" around the pylons and first cast BANG! On the drop a lovely little 29cm bream snaffled the plastic. Not a bad way to start! No more hits in the next 10 minutes so continued on upstream. I missed the best part of the tide for fishing the snags (first 2 hours of run out) but still gave them a quick flick. Came up with a 29cm Whiting on the grubz after a few minutes. One of my first whiting on plastics. And boy it took the little grubz right down! Decided to pop him in the livewell with Mr Bream. Continued upstream fishing every likely snag i came across. Most of these snags produced a few bream each. However, one big snag i had a big hit first cast and got absolutely smoked. Even on 8lb braid, 8lb leader i had no chance! Shredded my leader! Most likely a big big bream but given what i caught later on, the high water temp (25.2) and suitable environment, A Mangrove Jack pops to mind. Hit just like the 49cm model i got up north earlier in the year but as i said, very unlikely! The next snag i hit looked so breamy it wasn't funny! First cast and a 30cm tailor snaffles the grubz. Next cast went wayward so cranked the grubz back in and right at the boat (literally less than a foot from me) a 26cm bream smashes it! These plastics are by far the most productive bream lure i've come across! They really do scoff them right down as well! No luck after that great spectacle so moved on. As much as i wanted to have a quick flick at my jewie hole i stayed in close going for the bream. Pulled a few just undersized bream from a rockwall tumbling into deep water. Then a solid thud and whack! Something a little more substantial! It fought slow and deep with the odd run back towards the rocks. To my surprise, a nice little estuary cod surfaces!?!? Never seen one caught in sydney but heard of the occassional capture. This would potentially support the mangrove jack theory from earlier but still... This cod was a greedy guts as well! Not only had he inhaled my grubz, he spat out a small mud crab and had 2 other hooks in his mouth. Clearly from busting people off! Anyway, put him back to grow bigger and give me a real tussle one day! Just a few casts later i got smoked again but this time it felt more breamy. Would have been a horse of a bream though! The clouds were closing in so i had only a few casts left. Right on Que had a good hit and came up tight to a 28cm bream. Good fun wrestling him out of the snags. The final tally was 21 Bream (13 legal and biggest 30cm) 1 Estuary Cod (42cm) 2 Whiting (biggest 29cm) and 1 Tailor (30cm) Pretty happy with the session. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. Kept a couple of bream and whiting for tea Cheers, Tom