Longfish

Unlucky mate, Better to have hooked and lost than to never have hooked at all.

well done mate...5 in one night, that's 4 more than I've ever had! The George's is really firing at the moment, can't wait to get back down to Sydney.

perhaps a little depth sounder...doesn't need to be fancy...just something that will show you what the bottom is like, and some zip style retractable leashes or bungee leashes, as if it is valuable, it has a knack of finding its way over the side, especially rods and reels (and your paddle)...if it is leashed on then there are no tears (I speak from experience). PFDs are a must have...and maybe some little lights just in case you gat caught out and have to paddle back to the ramp in low light conditions...better safe than sorry...its easy to say it wont happen, but then you get onto a hot bite...and you don't want to leave it, and before you know it its getting dark and you have a 40min paddle back to the car...lights are a must have in this situation as not everyone on the water is as cautious as they should be when driving boats at this time...and canoes can be very hard to spot as they have very low profiles. Also it is worth just taking it out for a few little paddle around sessions...just in the evening for 20 mins to half an hour, flip it over and make sure that between the two of you you can flip it back over and get back in it...this is a very important thing to get the hang of before embarking on any really serious fishing trips.

Epic mate...that has inspired me to get out and do some night fishing in my yak...need to deck it out with lights first...and some outriggers, the seat is so comfy in my Jackson I am terrified I am going to fall asleep and tip out!

Quality, cant wait to get back down to Sydney and get amongst 'em...and try and catch my first pig...fingers crossed for some good weather next week.

Hi, My name is George, I am 25 and from England...I am a very experienced fisherman in the UK, and I have caught many nice fish since coming to Australia including particularly flatties, bream, trevs, and jewies (or jewie!) from my kayak and landbased... however, I am a little unsure about rock fishing, especially solo (as none of my friends are fisherman). I have done it once solo and caught a few nice luderick, so I am familiar with the techniques (used to do a lot of float fishing with centrepins in the UK)...it is rock fishing Sydney style that I am a novice at and it seems a little intimidating considering how often I hear of people losing their lives...I did a lot of rock fishing in the UK but it is different as you are normally a safe distance above the waterline...not on platforms...and I always had at least one fishing mate with me. So I am seeking someone to teach me the art of safe rock fishing, reading the swell...and how to catch MASSIVE PIGS!!! I am available to fish weekends and weeknights (work dependant)...but am in regional qld until the 6th, I would love to get into rock fishing but it looks unlikely that I will be able to without someone experienced to show me the ropes. Thanks for your time guys (and girls).

I use a nitro distance spin 7'6" 2-4KG, and find it a great tool for the job, the extra length is good for land based and is great for controlling a fish in a yak.

Think this might do? Any comments? will be used for throwing 30yrd casts back to structure from an anchored kayak...big slabs/livies and lead. TCurve Revolution Vertical RVLC60-120

Hi guys, I am after a bit of an odd pair of rods for fishing big baits from a kayak. I would ideally like a long (7'-8') overhead rod for my saltist 40s loaded up with 25-30lb line (12-15kg)...would really like them to be a 2 piece and carbon (graphite...or at least a composite) as well which narrows the field...if anybody knows of such a beast do they also know who would stock it in the south or eastern suburbs (I live around Rockdale). I would also be requiring a pair of said rods so not too expensive (won't get used hugely often). Bit of a specific ask I know...but thought it would be worth posting it to the knowledge pool before I went and compromised with something that doesn't really fit the bill. Sounds like LBG rods are probably the go but don't know much about them.

Thanks guys! I caught him in a deeper hole up river (but not the famous railway bridge hole, never had a touch in that pool), around 4m deep at half tide, I sounded out the hole but am still fiddling with the sensitivity on the finder in order to confidently sound individual fish (finding it tricky in shallow water). I didn't have my fish tape with me at the time, just weighed him with the lip grips, I was shaking so much after the fight that I forgot to note his length against the rod or something on the kayak (the shakes also explain the dodgy photos), but 70 seems a reasonable estimate from memory... Loving the new kayak, its a Jackson cuda 12 if anyone was interested to know...and the seat is amazing (which was my main worry about kayak fishing)

Took my new kayak for its maiden jewie sess this afternoon, (I bought it mostly to catch my first jewfish) and I only went and got one!! great take, great fight, everything was perfect and just how I had imagined after reading and watching every little thing I could find, over the moon with it all...back out tomorrow, fish weighed 7lbs, caught in the cooks, released after photo, tide was half way up, squidgy fish 70mm, 1/4ounce jighead. p.s. sorry about the rubbish photos but it turns out a kayak is not the easiest place to get good snaps.

NICE

cheers guys, yeah...I wouldn't fish it in anything other than a small swell, hope to get into a few more soon.

Hi guys, I am looking to have a couple of my UK carp rods re-built into light surf rods for bream and whiting and was wondering about rod builders in Brisbane (I am moving back up there soon) as I cant find much info about them. If there are any QLDers (or anyone) on here with any info I would be grateful. cheers.

Well, as fishraider was down on friday it forced me to actually go fishing...rather than just sit on the sofa and read about it (a favourite past time of mine!) Anyway, managed my first blackfish, and then my second, then third etc etc, ended up with 5, and one of those weird fish that have the same mouth but don't really fight, before the bite dried up, all fish tossed back from whence they came as I still have a couple of bream in the fridge that need eating first. I fished little bay southern side ledge and it was my first 'proper' blackfish sess so pretty chuffed with it, they go well once you get them on. I had fished Hungry point down Cronulla way previously but no swell/ swimmers/ jet skiers = waste of time, although I did see a massive blue groper down there at low water which may inspire a new mission at some point...need to break my jewie duck first though. Here is my first (and probably biggest at 36-37cm...I am going to give myself 37 for the records )

Epic

Hi All, Went down to Wanda for a couple of nights fishing, being from England I wanted to bag my first Aussie Salmon, to cut a long story short...I didn't. First night the swell looked good until darkness, then died a death, I don't know about Australia but back home I normally like the swell to be between 3ft and 5ft for our sea bass (not to say you can't catch in bigger or smaller swell but found this size to be best)...is this the case for Aussie surf beaches? So anyway I called it a night earlier than expected after landing some small flatties and a couple of nice dart on the second rod. Went down again last night in the teeth of the howling Southerly (which has never bothered me hugely as long as its not a cross wind), the swell looked about perfect so was quite expectant...but all I caught was this shovelnose...not what I was after but I had never seen one before so I was happy enough...It was a very bright night with the full moon both nights, I never liked this in England and always found it ruined the bite...do you chaps find the same here? Sorry for all the questions but its a case of trying to transfer as much of my UK knowledge as possible and finding out what still 'rings true' down-under. Anyway, the swell looks virtually zero for the next few days so may put the Salmon mission on hold and go chase some whiting. Cheers for any guidance in advance...love the site it has been a great resource for me thus far.