Bream Mad

one note on shimano 1000 size reels are the spool size is generally pretty small so may have probs with wind knots if you technique is not up to stratch speaking of uni, i used to fish blackwattle bay (fishmarkets) between classes and it was also pretty good kael

water temp mate ! the rain we have had for the last two weeks has certainly shut them down, only caught one in that time myself. Bass realy do switch off and on, but when they are on, they are ON!! i find water temp (changing) much more important than anything else when bassing small streams are much more prone to large, quick temp changes due to lack of volume bigger rivers less so you sure those micro hits were bass? the nepean herrings are particually agressive this time of year bm

great catch Roberta a straight retreive you say does the trick? i wish i could catch them at my local they are massive!!! what pencil were you using? kael

just a quick note on sinking braid i just brought the red sinking stuff in 20lb and was shocked to measure it at 0.33mm in diameter, not the 6lb mono equivalent as advertised (0.2mm) this basically meant it was useless for my revo unless i only wanted 80m on it. don't trust what you read bm

man get cals grease it is awesome for all wet drags carbon or felt!! pretty good for gears as well, feels like soft butter, very sticky got mine from carbontex US kael

Hi Raiders, just thought i would share some recent findings concerning braid diameters and breaking strains. note that braids marked IGFA must break BELOW their stated breaking strain, those not marked IGFA may break at or above their breaking strain Brand Line Colour BS [lb] Diameter [mm] IGFA Berkley Fireline Crystal 6 0.15 No Unitika Silver ThreadYellow 6 0.09 No Unitika Trout Brown 6 0.09 No Sunline Castaway Blue 10 0.11 Yes Unitika Saltwater PEWhite 12 0.09 Yes Berkley Fireline Yellow 14 0.20 No Samurai Dyneema Black 14 0.21 No Sunline Super PE Green 15 0.14 No Sealine Dyneema Grey 20 0.21 No Platypus Sink Braid Red 20 0.31 No

sx40's require fine braid<0.1mm and good casting technique i don't realy use them for distance work (flats) for distance work use camions they cast heeps better sx40's are very good lures for snags kael

got a couple of drop bear 100mm in my tackle box i will definitly give them a go on Barra someday i like tru blue for tailor /salmon black gold and silver fox for bass kael

no they just tend to get off mid fight? does the stinger make it more likely to snag?

yeh i am loving sunline FC atm. I have serious trouble breaking off snags using the 8lb stuff but castaway PE is a sweet thing for bream i will never use fireline again knot strength is horrible!!! and it just feels rough kael

Hi Jamie, Try nymphs on bream about #12 with a gold B/H and maybe a sparse marabou tail in brown. fish them like a plastic with lots of twitches and pauses while watching the leader for bites. cheers kael

great points there, especially about single hooks, I tend to loose more fish on spinnerbaits than on trebles? although i have taken to not flattening the barb on spinnerbaits and slickrigs and results have improved. that is interesting about tailor and salmon i will have to give singles a go as i have lost some mega tailor on trebles i guess the whole point is to tailor both your rod and line to suit each fish and fishing situation and results will definitly improve cheers kael

WOW those are serious lizards mate great work Hodgey and Co. kael

Just an update on this thread i am now using Basic FC for my bass gear and i am very happy with the results. It is definitly more sensitive than any mono and very managable in 5lb on the spin gear. Bloody bulletproof in 8lb on the baitcaster when throwing crankbaits short accurate distances i beleive you can't beat using flouro as our yank and Jap bass anglers have found. for impoundment fishing maybe braid is a better idea but still experimenting with casting on the baitcaster kael

yes they definitly work one thing though you have to rely on feel more than sight when fishing plastics. thus keep a tight line to feel for hits, and using poppers wait to feel the weight of the fish before you strike cheers bm

yes it is a pitty about the weak aussie dollar making jap stuff expensive when the aussie was 104 yen i paid $290 for my luvias if you can wait a bit the aussie dollar should improve, but i doubt it will get to that level again

i have got a luvias 2004 (JDM) and just love it , the feel and the fact it only weighs 185gram!! saying that i also like the shimanos, have got a new stradic and it is awesome as well, slightly more solid , fluid feel, but heavier than the Daiwa. one note is that generally for the same size reels the Daiwa's have bigger diameter spools which means they cast better, less windy's. to be honest i am looking for a back up to the luvias and at the moment the saros 1000 has my money, light at only 190 grams and less than $200 with enough bearings to please kael

Well done mate on your first (landed) Jewie!! they realy are magnificent fish, and the fact they are rare catches makes them more special well done again kael

Thinking of getting a revo premier for the bigger sportfish (kingy, barra, jewys) are they hot or what, any body got one ? heard good things about them cheers bm

Thanks for the replies guys i just ordered a zebco 11 platinum from troutlet for about $90 landed. i plan to respool it with 5lb fluorocarbon and smack the bass!! i think at this stage i will use a procaster Z rod , we will see how it goes kael

Hi Cam, Nice fish mate !! interesting about the frog, i gave a evergreen weedless frog a go on monday and scored lots of hits right in the lillys then put on a slick rig and nailed a 40+cm beast he he keep up the good work kael

yeh that is what i have read as well I'm thinking of the zebco 11 platinum which is a scaled down UL version although had a play with a daiwa silvercast at a fishing shop and it felt pretty good as well cheers kael

love those fiesty natives!!!!

Hi Raiders, Just spotted a Heartland Z ML 6" casting rod in a shop that blew me away. it was not made in japan as some of them are and the shop wanted $375 is it worth that kind of money does anyone have experience with these rods it was the purple one? kael

Hi Raiders, thinking of getting a daiwa goldcast matched to a short trigger grip rod for realy tight creek fishing for bass. Are they just crap or a worthwhile fishing tool for specific applications cheers kael