rjc123

Thats a fantastic idea! The fishing is mind blowing and the weather should be hovering around 30 if you go in say september but october gets a little sticky. Good luck mate!

Yeh mate, thats true. i would go heavier but when lure fishing you can't get to carried away and go too heavy as the twitch and action of the lure is affected. I just need something that can cast accurately and have enough grunt to subdue the odd standout fish but work on bream and others.. I like a challenge so i might go with the rack raider and 3000 stradic. Thanks guys!

Thanks mate, i thought it would be. There is the money question though. Will it stand up to a mangrove jack?? can a 3000 take a decent amount of 20lb braid?

At this stage it looks like this. * either 3000 or 4000 shimano stradic reel * Either a Shimano Raider Mexican Fire rack spin 682 2-5kg rod, Plueger Trion SP702 3-6kg rod or Shimano Jewell 702 Saltwater spin. Does this sound okay. Im ordering it online so how will i know if the reel will match the rod?

Yeh, i know mate. They really put the tackle to the test! Im mainly fishing bridges and rocky bays for them. I reckon if i have a decent 3000 or 4000 reel with 20lb braid and a 3-6kg rod i can subdue one of these brutes! Hopefully.... haha

yeh, i thought it was wayy to heavyy.. maybe the 3-6kg rod is the go? still get a good fight but have a chance of landing the fish!

Yeh mate, thats definitely an option. I came across a few others. * Shimano Jewell 702 saltwater spin 3-6kg with a Shimano Stradic FI 4000 reel. * Shimano Mexican Fire Rack Spin 3-5kg with Daiwa Exceler DA 4000 * Shimano Jewell 662 Barra Spin 5-10kg with Abu Soron SX 40 reel Any opinions guys?

Another option i have would be shimano symetre 4000 with a shimano jewell 702 saltwater spin 3-6kg. Does this rod have enough grunt to handle a mangrove jack and maybe school jew?

Thats a good size mate. Lost a similar size fish the other day on a live yakka. They run hard ay!

pm sent mate!

Hey raiders, im looking for a new spinning combo. I just bought a shimano baitrunner a couple of weeks ago so don't want to go too over the top. Something preferably under $260 - $270 would be nice. I need something that can handle Mangrove Jacks up north but light enough to fish for bream on with both baits and lures. Preferably a reel at about 4000 size and a rod at 3kg plus at least. I had a look online and came up with one possible combination. * Shimano Symetre FJ 4000 matched with a 2 piece shimano sahara spin 6"6. I already have a symetre 2500 and it works very well. Any comments or ideas raiders?

Maybe somewhere up around the whitsundays mate. There are a few lagoons and reefs surrounding most of the islands. Port Douglas would be another option just make sure plan your trip outside of box jellyfish season! Both have good fishing, charters and hire boats i think!

WOW!!! That things gotta be over 12ft long! Its a serious fish mate! Great catch!!

Thanks mate, they should introduce a tagging system to see what happens after we release them!

Good idea mate, i have been using them for my live baiting and pichard floaters but not with the prawns. Might give it a go!

Winter isn't the best time for kings. They head offshore during winter but there is still the odd fish around. It really depends on where you are hiring a boat from. A few locations fishable in a hire boat would be the weddingcakes, sow n pigs, Off Bradleys Head and anywhere that is deep with plentiful bait. Your best chance is to get some livies and squid. The John Dory are around at the moment and im sure you won't mind that as i by catch! Like i said, it really depends on where you plan on hiring a boat from.

Hey raiders, i was fishing pittwater the other day and we got a few undersize snapper that swallowed the whole bait. The baitholder hook ( size 1 ) was right down and could not be removed. I released the fish even though his chances were very low... any tips on what to do in this situation..?

I have a Shimano Jewell 702 Saltwater spin rod matched with a 2500 Shimano Symetre reel. Its a great combo. Picked it up for just under $300. i use it for bait fishing too!

Ganged pillies are the go mate, just fish the best gutter you can find at the top of the tide and maybe introduce a bit of burley to get them on the bite. You have the right size hooks so its only a matter of time until you get lucky mate!

Yeh mate, went out today and managed 12 yakkas in 10 minutes on a jig. It was at west head in pittwater. I was actually quite shocked as i just threw in a few handfulls of my burley mix and dropped the jig about 4 meters down and as soon as i fllicked the bail over i had 3 on! Definitely going to keep using the jigs. They did tangle up eventually though...

Yeh mate, frustrating day but at least i got him at the end..

Hey raiders, headed out this morning in pittwater even though i woke up to heavy rain. By the time i arrived it all cleared up. Headed straight out to West Head and had a quick troll. Nothing much happened so i moved out to the baitgrounds at the pillboxes. Managed 12 yakkas in 10 minutes and then shot off to my first spot. Got to Stokes Point and sent out 4 rods. Two with live yakkas, 1 with prawn and the other with pilli. After 15 minutes a small 25cm snapper comes in. 5 minutes later my baitrunner starts screaming and i let it got for 10 seconds or so. It all stopped and i thought he might be swallowing it but it turned out that he spat it out. The poor yakka was crushed and mangled. Looked like a jewie had a crack at him. Anyway, kept fishing and a little while later the other rod goes off with a yakka on a circle hook. He was hooked this time and running hard. He felt very heavy and i was thinking jew but after 5 minutes he took a leap for the air. Another 3 minutes later he was about to be netted when he took another run straight under the boat and caught the motor AHHHHH! Bye Bye pb salmon..... he would have gone close to 75cm i reckon.. Heart broken i kept fishing and it all went quiet. Decided to make a move over to the basin and fish the same baits except this time i butterflied one of the yakka's. After 10 minutes the butterflied yakka had been taken... reel screaming i picked it up and set the hooks. This thing felt very heavy and took 10 minutes to net. Turned out to be a 110cm banjo shark... not the target species but better than nothing i guess... Went quiet again for a while until a livie was smashed... the fish ran straight for a nearby moored boa and bang! He was gone.. It was turning out to be a very frustrating day and i decided for one more move. Back to Stokes point as the tide was a bit better. Only had about half an hour to fish it so was keen for it to happen fast. Sure enough after a few minutes my livie is smashed and the fish takes a short run with plenty of head shakes. Didn't feel as powerful as the salmon did but he was still giving a good account for himself! After 5 minutes up comes a really nice flattie. Slipped the net under him and onto the boat comes a 55cm flathead. I was relieved that at least i had caught something and he was definitely going to be dinner. Great day on he water and having flathead for dinner!

Its a bit late now but where abouts do you normally fish? ( Pittwater, Hawkesbury, Harbour, Botany etc...) most wharves are the go for beginners. Just berley and use prawns and you should get a bream or too!

Newport wharf is meant to be good mate! Squid there too