Dave_

Don't worry mate, I know how you feel. I've had at least 10 charter trips canned on me, some when I travelled a long way for them. Actually, probably more than 50% of the charters I book get canned to be honest. I let other people book them now.

I went with 50lb Sunline Super PE and 60lb Yo-Zuri H.D. Carbon F/C. Casts a mile even with a heavy weight. The long butt is awesome for casting.

I personally like Sunline Super PE and it's great in the 20lb range. I also don't mind Power Pro but I've only used it in much smaller diameters. A couple I've tried that I don't like are Fireline and Fins both of these seem super wiry and rigid compared to many other brands. 6lb Fins feels like 12lb but surprisingly still casts well and knot strength is good. Sunline Super PE has it all in my opinion.

I ended up going with the original Sensor Surf 1302 10-20kg (didn't bother waiting for the IZM) and a Saltist 6500H. It's a beast of a set up but I haven't landed anything too substantial with it yet.

Lefty's loop works for me.

G'day Raiders, I had a 600m spool of 50lb Sunline super PE and I used it to fill my Saltist 6500h. I ended up with 148m left over and I can't think of anything it'd be useful for. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Cheers Dave

Thanks mate. I keep hearing about this problem and I think I'll upgrade mine before I have any trouble. Cheers

Couple of real quality Bass there. They really pull hard above 40cm! Nice work

G'day Raiders, First of all I have to apologise for a couple of things. Sorry for the late report, I've been busy with new work commitments and I also should apologise for posting something against site rules which has since been rightfully removed. It was just something that fired me up due my passion for the issue. Ok so I went back to the bay to chase the big Kings that busted us up last weekend, this time armed with suitable gear. Well, they were still hanging around and pretty soon the Mrs hooks up to a monster on the 7kg with 15lb braid and 20lb leader so we were in with a fighting chance unlike last week with the bream rods hahaha. After 8 minutes (I was checking) and much jumping across the rocks, the leader got shredded. She done everything right, following the fish and keeping the rod over it the whole time but the 20lb was no match for the rocks. Thanks to Scratchie for the suggestion of unweighted fresh squid! I upped the 7kg rods to 30lb leader I was hoping to hook one on my 20kg rod with 50lb braid and 60lb leader.... Didn't happen....The next King took the lighter gear again and this time I thought I had it! But no.... into the rocks again....damn. 30lb leader was still no match. The Kings busting up in front of me, smaller ones that looked 70cm to 90cm and then you'd see single huge ones up to around 15kg! Unbelievable sight but they were so hard to tempt! On the Sunday, we got there before sunrise and sure they were busting up again. I tried poppers, metals, plastics... everything, but they were so frustrating. No one else was fishing the wall so I was walking along with the tide as it was pushing out hard. I just happened to look over my shoulder to the Marina side and I seen a huge bust up that looked different. I quickly tied on a small metal and hooked up! They turned out to be small Mac Tuna and great fun on the bream sticks. The heavy boat traffic killed that fun pretty quickly though. We still didn't land a king but we're getting closer. We did however land a couple of just legal snapper and some big jackets using the Mac Tuna for bait. Big Kings off the rocks is a steep learning curve and I've definitely got much more to learn but it's still fun! Sorry no photos this time. It was just too frantic. Cheers Dave

Congratulations on a rare capture that most of us could only dream of.

That's cool mate! I've never actually caught pillies before.

Cracker croc mate. Glad to know she swam away. What did you get it on?

Unfortunately, I'll have to stick with the big Saltist instead......

After seeing a guy land a 70cm King on a 1000 sienna and 1-3kg rod off a rock wall on the weekend, I'd say your set up would be close to perfect. I honestly believe land based King fishing has a lot to do with luck anyway. If they wanna run to the rocks or pylons they'll just do it, your just lucky if they don't.

The flatties love that nuke chook don't they? 60cm... That's usually a "do I take?" size for me as I usually let them go over 60cm. Just a personal thing. It's strange that you only got the one Tailor. At least you got a couple of decent fish anyway.

What kind of popper was it mate?

Top stuff fellas. Give the surface lures a crack late one hot arvo or early in the morning. You'll really love the Bass then!

The Lake can be a tough spot to fish at times even if you do have a boat and know all the good spots so I think a couple of nice whiting off the bank is a good effort. Those big whiting in the shallows there are so frustrating how they swim right up to your feet and even through your legs but won't touch a nipper or squirt worm. Same goes for the huge Bream in there, some gurus who fish the Lake consistently pull high 40s-50cm Bream. I think ultra light leaders or straight through 2 or 3lb FC is the key. That's what I'm trying next time I fish there anyway.

Cracker dolly mate. I've never caught one buy they're right up there on my list! How does the fight compare to a King of similar size?

That's a dead set stonker. I'll try and get some squid this weekend. Cheers

Wow...53cm Bream....I thought the 42cm one we got a Stockton last year was big! Do you know if the It was released?

I've decided to go back this weekend with a few more tricks up my sleeve and my 20kg set up. Wish me luck!

I post a report every time I go fishing whether I do good or not so good (which is most of the time!) I think many people don't post if they don't think their day was worth reporting on but it's still going to help someone. As others have said, I too have learned more about fishing here than I have from anywhere else. I'm 5 times the fisho now than what I was 18 months ago (not saying much!) and I've got this site to thank for that. I think everything is great here and I actually thought things were busier.

G'day Raiders, I went to Nelson Bay on Saturday to take advantage of the awesome weather that was predicted. I didn't plan to take the day very seriously and I couldn't take my big gear anyway because my ute is still being repaired. I had my Loomis 4-7kg and Caldia 3000 though, which can handle most things. Got there just before high tide and I hadn't even finished rigging the lines for my mrs and young fella and my mate was onto something huge on his Bream stick. After a 10-15 second reel screaming run, his leader got shredded on the rocks. Seconds later, a big bust up happened right in front of us and they were Kings....big ones. I frantically rigged up the lines and I put a flick bait on my heaviest set up and we were on! The unweighted fresh prawns on the Bream rods got smashed and everyone got dusted. They wouldn't touch the plastics or metals or anything with 20-30lb leader. The 8lb leader was no match for the oyster covered rocks so I was praying to hook up to a smaller one. While we were re rigging yet another bust off, the guy beside me hooks up to a smaller one on his 1000 sienna with 6lb braid and cheapo 1-3kg rod. He had no net and neither did I so I went to give him a hand and also some guidance as he was very inexperienced. 15 minutes later we see the fish and it turned out to be the dumbest (and kindest) King ever, avoiding the rocks completely. I got the grips in it and measured it and it went 70cm and was quite a thick fish. The guy who caught it hadn't caught a King before so I told him it was legal and showed him how to bleed it. We got busted off one more time before before they disappeared after high tide. We got a few nice Bream and heaps of Jackets until the Kings reappeared on the surface just before low tide. About 20 decent fish all busted up chasing tiny bait fish but this time I couldn't tempt them although I tried everything. A couple I seen would have been 10-15kg. We didn't land a King but it was still great fun and we got a feed in the end. Cheers Dave

The cicadas are everywhere here at the moment but it took them much longer than usual. I easily caught this one by hand because they're really docile when it's cool and another 3 landed at my feet. I think the cicadas have a big breeding year every 7 or so years (I think weather has a lot to do with it) and you're right, this year isn't as good. If you're having trouble getting them to feed, get some live shrimp, no Bass can resist them! I rarely if ever use bait for Bass in the rivers but this is definitely the best way to entice a bite.