Pat Williams

The Black Magic Hard is also good stuff, but feels more similar to fluorocarbon and is more difficult to lock down a good knot in the heavy stuff - I do like it in the 20lb variety for snapper fishing though..

I've been using the Black Magic Supple and found it really good. It knots well for heavy stuff and I haven't been busted off on it yet. I've had it dragged across the rocks by school jew and little noahs a couple of times and it has held up well - it can get pretty scuffed up without looking like snapping. It's well priced too, from memory about $20 for a spool which I think is about 40 or 50 metres.

The question can only be answered properly if we know what you're fishing for. I wouldn't limit yourself to just those reels either. The Exceler is a pretty good reel for the money, although the handle did snap off mine under load.. It did last well for a couple of years on the rocks though.The Saltist is overhyped, an OK reel, but Daiwa made out that it was pretty much a Saltiga which just isn't the case - it's got a few crappy componants which are known to cause problems - eg crappy plastic bush instead of ball bearing in the line roller that is known to seize quickly. I know I wouldn't be spending my hard earned on a Salina. It's not a bad reel, but Okumas quality control is just shocking when compared to Shimano/Daiwa. You're more likely to get one with problems, and after a couple of years the bearings will start to go and it will end up feeling like cranking a coffee grinder. I've used Okuma reels before but will not be in the future. If you're after a reel for lure casting, the Daiwa Emblem Pro 5500 is a very good option. Really good retrieval rate - over 120cm per crank of the handle. And pretty good value, you can get em for around $250. They won't last forever but they will do the job well as long as they're looked after and are good value. If you're fishing for kings, I would suggest a big Penn Spinfisher - maybe the 850 size. Everyone will tell you that the new Chinese ones are crap, but they are not that bad. They're built pretty tough and have a good strong, smooth drag. You can get them for less than $100 now which is just crazy. They will serve you well for years and you just can't argue with them when it comes to value for money. You could buy one and replace it a couple of times for the cost of a Saltist/Salina/Exceler... My $0.02

Yep TLD 25 with 15kg mono should have you covered. Good reel and you can pick em up cheap.

They're not really leader shy, I use 60lb mono leader and it doesn't bother them. Gamma Occys are the go, sharpest hooks around. 6/0 is pretty good for school sized fish, snell a couple of em together if you're fishing slab baits.

Hey Snapperless, Thanks for the info, I fish for them on the northern beaches. Been a few in close feeding in the washes this last few days with the southerly swell, just gotta fire 'em up with a heap of burley and then you can get em on floaters

Nice fish. Are you fishing the bottom there? Or burley up the wash and fish floaters?

nice one Aidan those macks are awesome fun off the stones! how big did they go? There was a run of 4-5kg ones a month or so back but the last couple i've got have been little tackers

Second the Power Pro, its great stuff. For <10lb I usually just use the old Crystal Fireline, it's way stiffer than the more expensive braids but as a result wind knots are very rare.

East Reef, West Reef, Trawleys and Boultons are all within range of where you're headed, you should be able to find gps coordinates on this site or just google them, all will produce snapper and other reefies with a bit of burley. The Valiant wreck is not far off Barrenjoey Headland and can produce kings on live baits or jigs. Try trolling some divers between Barrenjoey and the Ovens at first light, you should pick up a heap of bonnies with this warm water.

Definitely Watson's leaping bonito. How big did it go? I've only ever got tiny ones..

Plenty of bonito around at the moment so I've been trying out a couple of new ways of preparing them. I gave this one a try last night and it was awesome.. Fillet and skin your bonito. I used four good sized fillets and it ended up being more than enough for three people. Cut fillets into cubes approx. 2cm x 2cm and roll in seasoning mix of flour, Moroccan seasoning and dried chilli flakes. Pan fry quickly in hot ricebran or canola oil and set aside. Wrap your bonito pieces in Mexican style corn tortillas with shredded lettuce, diced tomato with lime juice, fresh coriander, natural yoghurt and chilli relish. Serve with coronas. Bloody awesome.

Awesome fish, awesome report. Which islands were you fishing from?

nice one mate bonnies are good fun off the stones, there are heaps of big ones coming in at the moment over here on the north side with some mack tuna mixed in with them that pull twice as hard! If you can manage to have a crack at them just on dawn you can often find them feeding much more aggressively

Hi mate, it sort of depends on your target species, but for bait fishing a longer rod around 12' is about right. Reel size and line strength depends on what you're fishing for but a threadline reel is almost always easier to use especially when you're still getting used to it. If you're fishing for tailor, salmon, bonito etc a 3000-4000 reel loaded with 15-20lb braid is about right. Good quality braid makes casting longer distances much easier. For heavier baitfishing you may need to beef up your gear to a 6000-8000 size threadline with 30lb+ braid. This is only really necessary when livebaiting for jews or fishing in very unforgiving terrain. Similar reel size and line strength works well for lurefishing, but shorter rods make things much more comfortable. I find a 9-10' rod works well for spinning metals from the stones and this sort of setup can also be used to chuck soft plastics or other lures around the washes. cheers, Pat

Thanks mate, sounds like an interesting technique. I'll give it a try later in the week.

I've got a couple of deep water ledges that might be worth trying that, but the bottom is pretty snaggy at both. Do you let your jigs sink all the way to the bottom? Do you have much of an issue getting snagged? Cheers

Looks like a couple of very nice rods. What type of metals are you spinning for kings with the stiffer one? I occasionally pick up rats on raiders etc when spinning Sydney ledges but have not had much luck on decent landbased kings with metals... Interested to hear what you're using and if you're getting a few cheers, Pat

I already picked up an Ugly Stik but it was very cheap so I'm gonna give it a go this season and see how it goes, If it needs replacing I'll get a live fibre. Will be setting up a 24kg outfit later in the year, do you reckon the live fibre 7' 15-24kg is up to it or is it a bit soft? i've seen some sweet sabre 24kg sticks but you're looking at forking out a bit more. What blanks do you build your rods on? cheers Pat

Yep will be putting down the rod and picking up the board this weekend!

Mate soapie jews that are living in rivers have a diet predominantly made up of prawns. When they get to a certain size, maybe around 50cm or so, they stop being interested in prawns and are after small fish such as mullet, chopper tailor and yakkas. I don't have experience fishing the parra river for them but there's no reason there shouldn't be migratory larger fish cruising through the same spots as you are catching your soapies, just start using baits like live mullet that are more attractive to the bigger fish. The larger migratory fish do most of their feeding around, or just after, slack water. So that's the best time to target them. Cheers, Pat

G'day Grant, mate i tend to use the same connection when using 30lb mainline/50-60lb leader. Short double in the braid and a slim beauty to the leader. I've never had a bimini fail on me, what are the advantages of using a plaited double? Sometimes when fishing the north coast my jew plastic reel doubles as my pelagic spinning reel, in which case I tie my leader to the braid via a PR knot. I think this is the ultimate connection as it is as strong as any knot yet presents such a low profile it just whispers through the guides. The only downside is the time it takes to tie, I know some blokes who can do it in 5 mins or so on the rocks but you need to be carrying around a weighted fly-tying bobbin, lighter etc. I've been meaning to learn the FG knot for a while now but have never gotten around to it, does it take long to tie? cheers, Pat

Ain't that the truth! I've done a bit of livebaiting with longer rods and while it helps with clearance while you land the fish, the fight is painful. Cheers for all the input fellas, I ended up picking up a 7'6" Ugly Stik bluewater rod last night off a bloke who just had it collecting dust. Seems like a decent quality rod at the right price, hopefully I'll get the chance to give it a workout soon!

Hi mate, I do most of my plastic fishing for jew in the washes around the ocean rocks, in those sort of conditions I find 30lb braid mainline with 40-50lb fluoro leader seems to be about right. Much heavier and you won't get strikes, much lighter you just get blown away. In the estuaries the fish are always going to be spookier than the ones you find in the washes, so the lighter you go the more hits you're likely to get. I would say your setup sounds pretty good, but would consider dropping down to a 20lb leader. A pretty reliable leader connection for that sort of tackle would be to tie a short double in your braid using a bimini twist, then connect that to your leader via a slim beauty. This knot has a low profile and will not clatter through the guides as much as most others. Cheers, Pat

The reason you need mono backing is because under heavy load, when fighting a good fish, the braid can slip on the spool which can cause line to come off the spool under uneven pressure. Agreed that there is not much chance of a bonnie or whatever stripping 150m+ of line, but it does help to add a small amount of mono to prevent the line slipping. You only need to use about 10 or 20 metres of mono - just enough to cover the spool a few times before filling with braid. Another option is to wrap the spool once or twice with masking tape before filling with braid, this way you will not need the mono backing and your braid won't slip on the spool. Pat