Vendee

Went for one. Pretty informative even for those who fish regularly. Plus free lesson on filleting and targeting certain fish. You get to choose your life jacket so happy days. They also help you choose based on your style of fishing. What I found weird was a lot of people chose life jackets which were not for rock fishing (inflatables - manual and auto) . Hopefully they don’t use them off the rocks or the stats won’t change.

Thank you

Hi. Had these pics from a year or so ago and wanted an ID. Both released. Assume ones a tailor? One broke the hook off the rocks so had to wait to release, the other was too heavy for the 2-4 kg rod deadlifting so took a quick pic and released. At 5:30 in the morn wasn’t too hot. Thanks in advance

You can keep the leader light but the rod is too heavy to cast just 6lb especially braid. Reckong you could take that to at least 12lb. With using light leaders, you can't really flick such a heavy lure. You need a smooth action to load the rod like some surf casters do

I just saw your rod strength. Possibly too light for the rod it self. Would suggest going a lil heavier in the main line.

I thought that the weight on the casts might be centred on the braid as some people use short leader length but doesn't seem to be in your case. I think 6lb main line might be too light but I use 6 and 4 lb myself for lures to 12 gms but load the rod up for the cast. If you don't want to spend yet on New line, try loading the rod up rather than flicking. It helps with the wrists. There could be a Nick in your guides however imo it's most probably the casting style.

How long is your leader? Where is the knot when you are casting? Near spool or after guides? What kind of a cast do you perform?

Mostly adults eh?

The bin was max 5 meters away. Wouldn't have been too hard to discard it. A few bad apples that could spoil it for the rest of us.

Was at Narrabeen on Sunday but swell was a bit crazy so the beach fishing was a bit of a write off. Found this on a bench near the lake. Imagine if someone had Sat down without looking and had the whole set of bait jig hooks embedded in their back. Threw it in the bin but some people are just .....

I keep a few for a feed. They are pretty decent to eat. Make fillets and bake in oven.

Don't think FedEx would work either?

The first time I went fishing, my wife caught more than me (I caught nothing) and even now if she just holds my rod she catches more than I do. There are many in this forum who would love company and am sure you could join them. Coogee might not be the best place to start as it is crowded and fish scare easily. Whilst you wait for someone I suggest you try to find less crowded beaches or Google this forum to see which beaches are firing. Buy worms to start with. There are some smaller shops which sell live worms or beach worms are available from most shops. These would be good starting points butnot sure which rod you have (shimano ????) or if you can cast these easily. A running sinker rig and light trace using a swivel would get you started with smaller fish. The outfit you have sounds heavy however it becomes a waiting game with pillies. With the crazy winds today am not surprised the line got messed up. I was up in Newcastle and decided against dropping a line. Don't forget burleying.

You most probably will catch fish of the rocks and beach but the targets you mentioned above aren't the easiest. Rock fishing and beach fishing may share same rod and reel but rigs are quite different and with rock you usually burley them close to your feet and you will normally get some fish like drummer , luderick or sweep. Beach fishing is normally finding gutters and dart, whiting in addition to your target species may be there. You most probably will catch other species first until you refine your techniques(doesn't mean changing rod and reel but just the way you go about targeting them) and learn to specifically chase fish you want. Not everyone fishes only for target and no matter how hard you try , other species will take your bait unless you are marlin fishing but that's a topic for another day. Most snapper reports I see are off boats and some times off rocks. I've caught snapper on lures but they were just about legal and am sure you are looking for some 2kg, soon to be fried in butter, specimens. If you want to target species, read articles related to rigs and bait and type of locations (structure, kelp, gutters etc). All of us here have gone through a process of refining our methods even those who have been fishing for ages so it will take time but end of the day you just have to enjoy the spectacular views and a screaming reel.

Mulloway - patience and skill and mullets should be fine for the silver ghost but be prepared for a long wait. Snapper - off rocks yes but off beaches most probably difficult. Trevally - when a school comes in, each fishy will fight like mad and is my favourite. I think maroubra is a good beach to try. search for surf rods online . Will give you a better idea of prices and types. Come back with some selectionsin your price range and we could guide you. Just don't mention store name

Agree on a 10 ft being good to cover most situations but if you are spinning lures, I can tell you a medium action rod becomes a pain. Great for bait though. I would suggest a graphite or composite if you aren't used to heavy duty long fibreglass rods. If you plan on throwing small baits and pieces and hold the rod this should suffice. If you want to throw a large slab or a live bait out and put in a holder then plenty of heavier options available. As a newbie, I think better to go light and fish for bread and butter species rather than wait for larger fish as you might get disheartened. Plus you can move around a lot and the bites feel fun.

I've been using 12lb berkely fireline exceed braid off the rocks for the past year and never washed anything. Braid lost colour but still going strong. Hooked up to massive 45cm trevs and 60+ salmon and only broke at my Albright when snagged. Think it might just be a bad batch. Lot of new braid lines are being released. Might be worth trying another brand.

Thanks for that

Any idea what this is? Caught whilst chasing luderick. Got hook bent twice with some other fish. Caught another weirdo with big dark ccircular things on body. Any ideas. All released.

I use the starlo on the rocks and trevally and it really takes a beating sometimes when the trevs decide to run straight down. . Sometimes the rod has whacked the rocks again and again as its bended in a U. Never used the other but the Starlo really works well and still going strong

Hi All, Joedee's report. After losing a big fish the previous weekend, took this Friday off to try again. Started off with a Sgt Baker which I kept as the Mrs cooks it very well. Only downside for her having to remove a bone in my gums near the molars. Changed spot and plastic and immediately hooked on to 3 decent trevally Using a 2-5 kg rod with 4 kg braid and 12 lb leader, had a lot of fun as none of the trevs were willing to give up easily and were making me move rather than me controlling them. The middle bigger one which was 45 cms plus fought for 10 mins atleast and then I had him at the rock ledge but each time I tried to dead lift him out of the water, he would make a short dash. This went on for another 5 mins till I realized that he was just moving with the swell and was too heavy to lift him off and it was only his weight and the swell that had the line coming off the spool. He was already tired and so was I but netting him alone off the ledge with the water a good metre below was no joke and took another 10 mins as I had to wait for the right swell. On sun went with Snapfisher (hope thats his Id) and went back. First cast lost a big one and then nothing for the next 6 hours whilst he kept picking up pike and sweep. Then suddenly I was on and got in one at abt 44 CM. Next he was up and picked one at abt 47 cm. After that we called it a day and left as we were too tired by then. The bragmat photos are from Sun session and the 4 together are from my Friday solo. Posting from mobile on way to work so go easy. Ignore rod in photo as its my back up drummer rod

No. Just someone who has gone there every week for almost 2 months. I see a lot of people get wet even after looking at the waves. Its just one of those spots where your eyes arent enough as the waves break in front. Btw I should mention I dont fish right in the front like the others. I stay a bit in the shelter where technically the waves should have broken up in front but one or two can get in and by the time you see it you're soaked. That should also explain why I am not catching drummer unlike the others standing right out in front.

Thanks Dave. Yowie, the place I go to normally the waves are easy to see but they hit from two different directions and sometimes my ears provide the first warning. The biggest waves usually break up up but its the freak waves that usually gets through. I always face the sea though.

Thanks Ryder. Checked the forecast and it should be quite calm next week. Am going to go a bit more inland and stick to lakes till I recover all my energy. A whole day on the rocks has me completely drained. Now just need to resist the thrill of rock fishing

Hi All, Been hitting the central coast every weekend to try for drummer but not getting anywhere. Catching mostly sweep and the odd trevally. Last weekend decided to hit the central coast again and after a really frustrating morning catching only sweep (releasing them). , threw out all my berley in to the water towards the end of the day and decided to hold around for half an hour. Tried a new tack with some different prawns and got a Herring Cale first.Talk about scary. Black body with bluish tinge, green ringed eyes and a blue streak on the tail and was having none of it when I tried to remove the hook, so left him in a bucket of water. At the time, I didnt know what it was until someone pointed it out later. This photo does not do justice to this black beauty. Tried again and immediately hooked on to this fish (initially thought it was a big sweep). I saw a lil red and was like Yay a snapper. Then someone told me its a red morwong. I hadn't carried a net that day so had to bring him up two metres from the water to the rocks. Well having never caught one before didn't know what it was. My mind was still on the H. Cale as I didn't know if it was legal to keep and for some reason it was scaring the heck out of me. Didn't strike me to wonder too much about the Mowie as my phone was dead and it didn't seem big. Coming home, I checked the records and realized the largest in the bait fish records was 46 cms so came and checked this one and its close to 48 cms. Only slightly bigger. To be honest though, the Sweep of 29 cms which I caught the previous week gave me a bigger fight than this 48 cm mowie. After that, caught one sweep about 20 cms, threw him back and left. Almost went in the water myself. Was on a high ledge after the drummer fishos had left. Noticed they had kept their undersized fish in the small pools on the rocks and these guys were dying. Went down on my hands and knees to scoop them out and it was a pain as they kept darting around but managed to catch and throw all back. On the last one as I walking towards the edge, tripped on a slightly higher rock and went stumbling towards the edge and only recovered on the last step, cms away from going 4-5 mtrs down to join the drummers in the wash. Next got whacked by a freak wave over rocks where there had been no water all morning or even after that wave. It hit me up to my waist and I was down on all fours clinging to the rocks ( and I kept on fishing) but from a higher ledge. Hope to try something new this week and will keep you guys posted if I get something worthwhile. Sweep may be easy to catch but the big ones on light tackle (7' Starlo Classix 2-5kg) can be a hard . The red mowie was caught on a cheap Chinese rod and reel combo I bought for 60 for catching drummer, not very sensitive but pretty strong. I found a good spot to pick cabbage and stringy weed close to each other so will give that a go next week and see if the luderick or drummer prefer that to my woolies prawns.