Prawns

OMG what cracker fish! You gotta be happy with those mate Im soooo jealous of everybodys ability to land so many great fish. I will get there eventually I guess (coming home empty is pretty normal for me) Sounds like you got a nice understanding wife mate - Mine suprised me today with a packet of soft fake fish with hooks already in them (no idea what they are called) Seems I have a understanding wife as well Makes things alot easier

Thanks mate thats some great advice. I do have some circle hooks but they are too big for whiting (more legal bream/flathead sized I think). I guess I might visit my old friend Mr Ebay again Dont suppose you could help me out with a hook size to chase?

Thanks for the info mate - Thats some gold advice for a newbie like me

Love reports like this - helps me learning what each fish looks like and what they are called I would of been happy as the proverbial if I landed a fish like that Never seen one before. Sounds like prawns are a pretty universal bait for a few different fish

I might ge a squid jig thing. I notice quite a few glow in the dark - Is squidding a night time activity?

Ive never caught a squid before - are they all that colour when not frozen from the bait shop? Nice work mate How did you cook him up?

Great tips there guys (from somebody who is also trying to figure out whiting) My daughter and I have been using squid for bait cut into "worms", they seem to like that as well but sofar my daughter and I are usually too slow to land them - they seem to like spitting the hook? So from my little knowledge, dont back off the line retrieve once you have one on it, thats when we keep losing them. Locally here the guys all seem to run yabbies/nippers? (not sure what you call them) taken using a pump at low tide along with worms taken at low tide here. Those guys are the ones who seem to fish for a hour or 2 and walk home with quite a few nice sized whiting - They make it look easy! and it seems a very successful way of fishing from what Ive seen (I will have to pull a couple over and interrogate them I think ) Ive been told a few times that those yabbie things are the "gun bait" for them though from my neighbour, but even using "squid worms" Im usually baited every 3rd or 4th cast by whiting around high tide

Love the fridge in your rig mate - I dont have one yet (cant afford one) and get stuck using ice bricks from the freezer when I head out to Stockton beach fishing. I got the tacklebox for $30, it came with nearly everything you see in there (lures excluded) I noticed the exact same box as a "Plano" brand selling at BCF for $60 which was $20 of retail price on special - and that one came empty! lol I got a bargain there for sure I am a bit anal about my tacklebox and keeping everything nice I guess but I can find everything I want nice and quickly I suppose - Mind you its getting full and I think I might need to get some kind of lure box for the lures I have coming from ebay as I have no more room for them unless I start mixing up hook sizes etc to gain more compartment space The estuary fishing here is great if its high tide I guess - but only if your not me. I quite often see fisherman spending a hour or 2 out the front and going home with a dozen nice sized whiting from the beach. They walk out into the water nearly waist deep though and use local bait (pumping yabbies at low tide, along with soldier crabs and worms) I dont have a yabbie pump yet as those suckers start at about $70 but eventually..... At low tide I do go down the waterfront sometimes and collect soldier crabs (hundreds of soldier crabs do a run each low tide, the whole beach looks like its moving in places!) I smash em up with my foot and roll them into a handful of sand forming a ball - I chuck those out as burley they are easy to chuck where you want when they are a "sand ball" Ive stuck some on hooks before as well, but sofar the fish get a feed and I havnt managed to land one, the first few casts usually ends in only a small bit of crab left on the hook after a couple of lightning strikes Im too slow for

Thanks mate The trucks a cheapy and has lots of home made mods which are quite dodgy hahahhaha - but it gets me out camping and onto Stockton beach so it "does the job" I guess and it was cheap Gimme a yell when your up this way next time and I can take you out to Stockton for your first sand drive Be warned though - every time I go my fishing is usually interruped with bogged people wanting help when they drive off embankments and into trees and things (Some Stockton fishing / recovery photos here if your curious http://s797.photobucket.com/user/prawns100/library/Stockton%20Beach%20Fishing%20Trip%20Gone%20Wrong?sort=3&page=1 )

What a great report and WOW what a pretty spot to fish Congrats on your haul! I wish I were so lucky but I guess I will start to land some bigger fish like yours once I get a bit more experience

Crikey mate that sure is alot of fish! Im yet to come back with any whiting worth keeping

Cheers for the replies guys (and girls of course!) Yep I sure do plan on doing the odd bit of deep sea fishing with a neighbour who seems keen to take me out on his boat, he gave me most of the reels and rods I have sofar - but Im converting alot over to braid. Is yellow leader terrible for deep sea fishing? That stuff was probably one of the cheapest anyway due it only being a 100 metre roll (thank god I didnt get the 300metre perhaps then ) I bought a land based snapper rod and also a surf rod myself to compliment the ones my neighbour gave me. I went out to buy a spinner rod but got one single letter in the model number wrong and ended up with a "boat" rod instead lols. Its a silstar 7foot one piece 701SWM "boat" but apparently they are ok for land based snapper anyway? (and I guess the boat) so.....phew! Sofar my kit Setup 1 = Rod is a "Sport Fisher 750" 3.6metre/ 12' surf rod. Line Class 5-10kg. Cast weight 28-90grams. 4.1:1. Reel already on it along with very stretchy unknown mono, reel mentions 20pound line/265yards - Kmart $30 job for the whole lot Setup 2 = Rod is a Silstar 701SWM 2.1metre/7foot "boat" one piece rod 8-10kg class. Mentions its "braid and mono safe' and "30-70GM" (whatever that means) cost $50 Reels for this rod are a Okuma Quadra QF80 which I plan to install 50lb braid on and a Niltron ALF550 Surecatch which I can "swap out" and plan on installing 20lb braid on Setup 3 = Rod is a Silstar overhead boat rod "graphite composite 1100-66BWJ" 1.95metres/6'6" 10-15kg "jig/troll" Currently sporting a Daiwa MFS300 baitcaster reel on unknown braid - but the braid feels like fencing wire and seems just as strong. In the end I think I will install the okuma BTL817 on it once I fix the shimano overhead rod Setup 4 = Shimano ET Escape Series 5'6 overhead "Boat style" line rating 10kg. It has a Broken tip and no reel yet, once I fix it I might move the daiwa 300 baitcaster reel onto it Setup 5 = Daughters Santa present. "Sport Fisher" 1.50metre/5' 2-4kg line class and 5-20gram cast rating with matched reel which has led lights which light up when you reel in. Replaced that reel when the ratchet broke on its 2nd use with a Shimano Aernos 2000 reel Setup 6 = Abu Garcia Custom COS53UL Ultra light Action 0-10gram cast weight 1-6lb line class with a Penn Powerspin 1000 reel and 2lb fireline braid which has snapped for no apparent reason twice now so Im a bit worried about my lures and got some 8lb braid on order or might just run mono Reels I dont have rods for yet.... Penn Powerspin V 3000 with 20 or 30lb braid installed at a guess Okuma BTL817 Baitcaster with unknown mono installed already. I might put this on the Silstar "graphite composite 1100-66BWJ" and move the daiwa over to the ET Escape rod once its fixed Im really getting into this fishing deal - I fish locally every day which is kind of estuary/river style - Mainly "legal" bream and flathead and tiny whiting sofar, but Ive also landed a turtle and a 80cm eel locally (I see the turtle here everyday doing laps up and down my fishing beach, knew it was just a matter of time before he got tangled) I also take my 4wd out to Stockton beach occasionally for surf fishing and of course, the neighbour wants to go deep sea fishing where we seem to catch lots of flathead (Id like snapper preferably) but also do a bit of trolling on the way back home I drag my wife down the waterfront locally when I can - but she is really dropping the ball and doesnt bring lunch! Mind you she isnt "mad keen" and usually only spends a hour or 2 with me and my 11year old daughter who is "mad keen" unlike mum. I have buckleys of getting my boy away from his xbox it seems so he doesnt come, Im thinking of rigging his xbox360 up to my surf rod and trying it out as a lure to be honest I still have to get some flourocarbon line for my local estuary low 30cms bream / mid 40 cms flathead - Anybody want to recommend what rating would be good? Im loving this website already - all you guys seem nice and friendly Heres my reels (apparently the neighbour is also servicing another abu garcia baitcaster reel he wants me to have as well - God my neighbours soooo nice, and OMG he has dozens of rods etc!) and heres my current PB whiting - The daughter seems to be the "Whiting Queen" and has no trouble landing them unlike dad. Hers are also alot bigger. Its kind of embarrassing when the baits bigger than the fish (bait is squid cut into worms as we arnt the best at keeping bait attached yet ) and I bought a "old lady bag" yesterday to help me carry some of this stuff down the waterfront directly across the road (I got a bad shoulder after a couple motorbike stacks) my "custom" rod holder aka ladder and my tacklebox sofar

Im new to fishing, and crikey - it sure isnt cheap to try and setup myself its turning out Take just tonight for instance, I ordered 500meters 50 pound braid multi colour so I can measure off in a boat 500meters 20 pound braid multi colour 100meters 80 pound braid yellow for leaders 100meters 8 pound braid dark green 40gram metal lures x3 for boat/surf beach 4.0g 1.96inch 50mm Crankbait 35mm Popper x20 Cross Lock Snap Swivels 72x Fishing Trace Swivel Interlock Snap Bait Trap 30 metres 6mm rope for bait trap I really dont even want to look at my bank account now, especially with other purchases recently like a rod etc - Im not a rich man and I reckon I just smashed my chances for some fishing trips for a while eek OOPS the wife is going to kill me Please somebody tell me once all this initial outlay is done with, it gets easier on the wallet (crikey please dont tell me it gets worse! Im worried I dont know enough and am buying the wrong things like braid and lure colours/sizes also arghhh)

Cracker fish. I would love to land a flatty that big. It is great to see a dad and son team fishing (my boy would rather play xbox I wonder if a xbox would work as a lure? )

Nice whiting mate and what a haul! All I seem to catch are tiny ones from the beach near my house at Tanilba Bay - There seems to be plenty of them here though - even if sometimes the bait is bigger than the whiting My last monster whiting catch yesterday: Reckon I might drive the car over and try Tilligerry Creek near bull island (The closest I can get to Taylors beach within a short driving distance) I struggle identifying the whiting though unfortunaltly, which is annoying because I might be chucking back "legal" fish and Ive never tried whiting before but heard they are very yummy

If I had known about "Scratchie" I would of called myself "Itchy" Thanks for the welcome

Nice catch mate. Im new to fishing and have heard chicken and parmeson cheese works great on bream also. Just not sure how you go about mixing the 2 together? Is it just strips of chicken coated with the parmeson cheese shaker you would normally stick on spaghetti bolagnase?

Gday Guys - My names Daniel and Im from Port Stephens and am very new to fishing I got "hooked" when a neighbour took me out near Broughton Island a month ago, and we had a great day fishing in his boat. I also saw a massive shark breach the water right infront of me and steal a fish we were reeling in (I thought it was a great white, but my neighbour said probably more likely a tiger) The shark also bumped the boat a couple times which was unnerving hahahhaha and came back for 2nds on another fish we reeled in (lost everything both times) Im into 4wding as well, and love hitting Stockton beach in my Pajero when I can afford it, but most of my fishing is done across the road from my house in Tanilba Bay (whiting, bream, the odd flathead, and at night time the odd big shortfin eel) My neighbour has helped me out setting me up with some of his old gear - Im learning to baitcast as well but not so good at that yet (good enough not to birdsnest anymore though I guess - after a solid 5 hours practising but my cast distance sucks) Im slowly getting a kit together (aint ebay great lol) but I have some stuff already to keep me busy I guess My gear sofar My new "old bag trolley" to walk down the local waterfront without tearing my shoulder apart My esky setup with home made burley /bait trap (I got a proper bait trap on order) My Tacklebox sofar - Slowly getting more My rods sofar - one needs a new tip (the shimano ET classic) My reels sofar Mates boat we went out in - Im hoping for future trips and it sounds promising The last fish I "caught" the bait was bigger than him!! And my rig out stockton beach My biggest fish sofar was a 38cm bream on stockton, a mid 40s flathead locally, and a 80cm eel locally lol I hope to pick up some great tips and tricks. Im trying to get into lure fishing for local areas near my house using a abu garcia ultra light rod (2kg i think) on 1 or 2 pound fireline braid (i think, was prespooled and looks like cotton thread) No luck sofar on that rod although my line has snapped for no apparent reason a couple times now ?? (my knots held ok) Cheers guys and I look forward to learning alot from this website