bennoz

hi all The weather was awesome today, so i finished work a little early (dont tell the boss), and headed down to balls head to drop a line in. Nothing much was going on so i started berlying. The plan was to catch some yakkas and stay till the evening, and maybe something bigger. Soon i noticed some birds under the harbour bridge and within half an hour i could see 3 seperate schools of what turned out to be bonnies, getting closer !!! So i keep up the berly and 10 min later one school was right on me I pulled up 5 bonnies before the school moved further out.... and thats where it stayed for 20 min! It must have been about 30 meters just out of my casting range Nothing could bring them closer. meanwhile 2 boats were about, not catching anything, so i managed to signal one over to a school. They were pulling up some decent bonies as i could only watch on as my school stayed just out of distance. The guy came back around to thank me later and thats when i called it an evening. I ran out of burly and patience. still was great fun, and a top location - and i even kept a bonnie for dinner. The excitement of attracting a school and then getting smashed cast after cast was wicked... just need a boat now

awesome thanx all - ive got 2 weeks down there so i better catch something !!!

i recently got a new Shakespeare Sigma 2200 SIG70 model, fairly cheap, for just this purpose. its got a 5.3 : 1 ratio so not the fastest but def not slow. The model below (sig 60) is 6.2: 1 ratio but a fraction smaller. I fit about 700 yards of 30lb braid on it. 200 bucks all up for the reel and braid taken it out a few times and its really sturdy, and got a smooth action. great for beach / rocks where it can get knocked around abit. its on a special surf casting rod (rated 2-5oz) and the reel balances great on it. Can launch a 80g raider a mile if needed even better is im pretty sure its a FishRaider sponsor so heres the link : http://www.purefishing.com.au/reels/shakespeare/spin/sigma-2200-spin/

G'day mate. pretty much any beach with a nice gutter that runs parallel to the shore is worth a shot. Any deep water hole along a beach, where the waves arent breaking is a good sign (basically a rip). Another good sign is if the breakers out the back are churning up sand - its safe to assume theres a shallow sand bar and usually in front of that is a deep water gutter perfect for a cast. (the food runs down from the sand bar into the deep gutter where the fish are waiting) Gutters can be as close as a few meters (when the waves are "dumping", breaking, right on the beach) of quite far out. I like to use a patternoster rig with a surf poper on top, ganged 4/0 hooks with a whole pilchard under it, and a star sinker on the bottom. Break up a few pillies with your hands and drop then at your feet, and the surf will take them out. great for burley. or if you like, spinning metal lures is fun. 60-80g twisties / raiders are good. the weight helps to get out the back with a long cast if needed. Jewies are much more elusive. usually feed at night or dusk, and much prefer large fresh baits like squid

Hi All i was searching the net for some info on rock fishing tuna, and discovered this magnificant site. Thought id say hi. Im heading down from syd with the family, to Culburra beach, over xmas and NewYears and am really keen to try my hand on some striped tuna, Bonito, Mackerel Tuna. Ive been beach / rock fishing for a while now and love it (got a new 12' beach rod and shakespere sigma 070 reel thanx to the missus for xmas ;P) and maily target salmon, tailor and blackies. As this is my 1st year to the illawarra region, i feel like being adventurous Just wondering if ill be pushing my luck going for tuna / worth the effort without a boat. Any good spots along the coast apart from the famous tubes on the nth point, as im not really chasing the big game fish My plan is to float livies on one rod, and spinning metals with another. Is Berly a must? should i use the same approach as the big boats, cubing pillies into the whitewater ? Any other tips would be much appreciated as most of this is new to me. (if im still chasing after a week i might give a local charter a call too )