alluring

Personally I do most of my fishing land based from the rocks, and I mainly target salmon, tailor and bonito. To find those and other predatory pelagic species just try and find some deep water, preferably without too many snags and cast and retrieve the metal slices/baitfish lures. Diving minnows are the most productive for me.. eventually when theres a school around you're almost garuanteed a hit!! Alternatively rig some pilchard or squid off ganged hooks and stick them off a float for similar results. Once they grab your bait or lure it's good sport, they'll put up a bit of a fight before you get them up, but it's probably get yourself a rod that's good for up to 33lb (15kg) with similar strength line and a wire trace or you'll bust off a bit! Salmon aren't the best eating, even after they've been bled but Bonito is beautiful, and more importantaly they're good fun when you're land based.

I haven't personally done a whole lot of squidding myself, but from what I've heard squidding is most productive on a calm day with little to no swell. If theres any wind the water is usually pretty choppy as well, which puts them off. As far as I know very early morning and evening are the best times of day, and according to my cousin's experiences full moon is the best time of the lunar cycle. Other than that, find a rocky or weedy area to throw your jig around, as they're ambush predators and like the cover. Pontoons, wharves etc also produce as well, especially when they have a light on them, cause lights apparently are also attractive to them. That's all I can tell you from my limited experience and knowledge though, but as far as I know that's the ideal conditions etc. I'm still yet to dedicate a session solely to targeting squid though, so don't take my word, the only times I've ever caught them are as a by catch off a boat, or seeing them chase a fish up and throwing in a jig while they're still around!

This is great, makes me keen to give squidding another shot, haven't tried or had any luck with them in the last 6 months at least!!

Arrow or calamari? I've caught some pretty big arrows down in Tasmania, about as long as my forearm.. Not sure of the exactly species but I think they're called the southern arrow squid.. Not officially weighed or measured though, but definitely around a few KGs I reckon. Never actually gone after southern calamari, but I'm keen to wet my jigs again so might give that a shot next time I'm in a good location..

I've never fished beaches but as far as I know the salmon are still on the bite. All I know for beach fishing is that you find a gutter and throw in a line - a decent rig are some pilchards on ganghooks, and maybe those surf poppers? But don't take my word ahah, like I said I'm unfamiliar with the beach scene

Wow thanks for all this information guys, blown away by all the feedback This is all excellent to know, I'm still undecided on whether I'll go second hand or new, but I'm ready to start looking around now I have a bit of an idea of what I'm after. I'll definitely be getting a license regardless of the size/speed of the boat though, can't be too careful when it comes to safety and I'm sure there'll be plenty of useful information I'll learn

My budget at the moment for this would be about $5000, I could go quite a bit higher without an impact on my savings. Would you recommend buying brand new? I was thinking something second hand but because I don't know anything about boats just yet it's making it harder to know what's good or not

Guess I'm about 6 months late on this thread but something that always works for me is simply spinning metal baitfish lures off the rocks! What's even better are the rapala diving minnow lures, if you pop a really fast retrieve and there are salmon about they can't resist them

Thanks I'll definitely keep that in mind!!

Thanks a heap for all that info, that's exactly what I was after!! I'll be checking out a few over the next few weeks/months and hopefully be out on the water soon afterwards

That's sick to see another Industrial Designer on here, I'm currently studying it in my second year! Fishing related gear is something I'd love to get into when I finish! Back to the PFD though, every lifejacket I've ever worn has felt clunky, especially around the shoulder area.. Maybe you could balance the floats better around the front and rear, in a way that you could still wear it comfortably without feeling obstructed. The ones with a lot of straps too are really fiddly to play with, maybe something flexible that fits a range of sizes would make a better material, so that you wouldn't have to waste a lot of time adjusting different straps. Hope that was of some help!

Thanks, that sounds awesome. Would you have any recommendations for a first boat? Like I said I've never owned one before, I don't have a license or anything yet either.. What should I be looking out for?

I'm 20 years old and after a few years of putting money aside I'm starting to seriously consider buying my first boat. While I would eventually like a nice boat that's good to take out to sea I figure for the moment a tinny of some sort that'd be good for the rivers, lakes and estuaries around the south coast and canberra region would be best to start off on. Because it's my first time I don't really have any idea where to start when looking for a boat. I guess my questions are what would I be looking for, things to watch out for, etc. I'm not really familar with many of the terms used either, I've searched around the web but I'm just wondering what advice you guys would have. Towing isn't a problem, and I'd be looking to spend anything up to $5000. Thanks for your time! alluring

Always up for a fish!! Wouldn't let a bit of drizzle put me off

I'm Alluring (scuse the bad pun, I couldn't think up a decent username), I'm 20 and live just out of Canberra. Never really did too much fishing growing up, I spent alot of time around ulladulla though because my grandparents and cousins are down there. Used to go out on the rocks once a year im queensland with hand reels and my old man, and occasionally went out in my uncle's boat but that was all the exposure I needed to buy my own gear when I got my license at 17. Since I began driving I've literally been down the coast most weekends, especially over the summer with friends. Began for fun a few years ago, chucking a line in off different areas of headland, but gradually gotten alot more serious as I've slowly upgraded my various tackleboxes and gear. Lately I've spent the last few months chasing salmon up and down the coast whenever I can get away. I also give freshwater a shot every now and then in the different lakes and mountains around Canberra, but never caught anything worth bragging about I'd love to get into se of the freshwater species though, both introduced and native but my biggest challenge is finding time.. I spend alot of time divided between two jobs and university, but i've finally put aside enough money to start looking for a boat! I'd eventually love to get something big enough to take out to sea trolling for kingies and other big fish but for now thinking of getting a cheap tinny for the lakes and estuaries around! Lastly, I've signed up to the community after about a year of browsing the forums in the shadows when looking for new spots or advice! I'm definitely keen to learn more, I'll probably be pestering people with questions, but if you can get past that you'll find I'm probably just overly excited to catch fish!!