Captain Spanner

The reels Blaxland is talking about here are a specific type of reel. Not all spinning reels have this feature and it is unlikely that your reel is a baitrunner style. The little switch you are talking about on the back is for the anti-reverse and not fit for the purposes of using like a baitrunner. I really only use it when servicing/lubricating reels. If you want to fish that style of having a light drag with the rod in the holder you are best just to set the drag light and then grab the spool to set the hook and then tighten the drag to fight the fish. The best way to do this is to set the drag to how you want it to fighting tension and count the number of turns (eg 2.5) you changed it down to the light setting. That way when you hook the fish you know you just have to turn the dial 2.5 turns and you are at the setting you want. It is difficult to reset it by feel when there is a fish helping you pull line off and you are trying to wind.

I have never done it off the rocks down there but i would imagine off the rocks down there livebaiting for big kings that guys would be using double or triple that leader weight.

Not all lures like to run at the same speed. Depending on your deep divers they may not handle the speed of the other lures and skip out. This can cause a massive tangle having a deep diver with two trebles dancing around amongst the braid of other lines. Rapala CDs and Xraps can often handle. As Rick says, always stagger the distance from the boat back to the lure so they dont tangle when you turn the boat. I would probably just pick one deep diver to run and the squid skirt. The boat speed will have to be dictated by the speed the deep diver is happiest going. Then check that it is fast enough for the squid skirt to swim properly. If the deep diver keeps skipping out and you don't think it is because you are going too fast try putting that rod on the other side of the boat. My favourite bonito deep diver has to be on a particular side of the boat or it cuts across through the prop wash and flips out. I could bend the tow point on it to "tune"it to run straighter but i haven't because i like it pulling away from the boat into the clean water and it works well at it's preferred speed.

That's great news. I have one of those rods, they look pretty too. It has been out for one trip throwing poppers in the wash for kings but no fish yet. Shimano are normally pretty good at helping out like that wherever possible. That is why most of my gear is shimano.

I haven't used it or even know if it is open but there is a boat ramp at the end of Hollywood Drive in Lansvale, It should be protected from wind and not have tidal flow/current issues. I also has a beach next to the ramp to walk/pull the tinny up onto. It is in Lake Chipping Norton so should be calm and have bream and flathead, possibly still EPs. If not there is Davy Robinson ramp near Flower Power off Newbridge Road, Moorebank. Once again i haven't used this one either but imagine it would be more subject to wind and tidal flow. It also has a smaller beach. If you want to drive further i can tell you that Oatley Boat ramp is pretty user friendly. All of these boat ramps will be slippery, especially at Low Tide when all of the slimy bit is exposed. The three most important things to remember when launching boats are the BUNGS IN, the HANDBRAKE ON when you get out of the car on the ramp and NO KIDS IN THE CAR ON THE RAMP EVER. List: 1.At Home - I put the bung in at home, you can practice start the motor at home if you are worried about it and you are about to drive an hour to the ramp. Dont forget the keys and or killswitch for the motor and the winch handle. Also if you are driving an hour from home you probably want a spare tire for the trailer and an appropriate jack and wheel brace. Go through your safety checklist for required gear for the boat. Don't be afraid to do things like stick Post It notes saying "Handbrake" on your rear view mirror in your car for the first few times, or have a tag on your boat keys that says "Bung". 2.In the ramp carpark - undo tie down straps and remove motor brace or block or whatever, make sure the motor is tilted up. Do not undo the safety chain or winch cable clip yet. Tie a rope to the front bollard of the boat for handling it once you push it off the trailer, if it is a bit longer (over 10m) it gives you more time and control in some situations but can be more awkward to handle. Make sure everything is in the boat that you need. But no people in the boat if its only a little tinny. If you have removable tail lights and number plate etc. for the trailer it can come off now. Just be aware i have heard stories that if you have a the number plate for the trailer on a board with your tail lights and you leave it in your car while you are out fishing then you can be booked for an unregistered trailer as it technically doesn't have a number plate on. 3. On the ramp- I always have my car window down and seat belt off when on the ramp in case the unthinkable happens. I dunk my trailer wheels right in and just make sure i wash everything when i get home but some guys keep the hubs dry, it depends on the person and the boat. I would back down far enough so the back of the boat is touching the water. If you like you can tie a big loop in the loose end of the rope to hang it over the winch post so you don't have to hold it while you push the boat off the trailer. Now you can walk your boat to the beach or jetty and tie it up, drag it up the beach, put the anchor in the sand while you park the car. I would start the motor before you set off from the beach so you do not drift away if it has trouble starting. 4. Retrieving the boat - do everything in reverse order, don't forget to put the ratchet on and safety chain from the winch post to the boat before driving away from the water.

If you liked your Terez you could get another one, or a new black one or look at something like the Ocea offshores. I think you were either unlucky, or like you say it may have been bumped and had bruising somewhere causing a weak point and then possibly high sticked it a little bit more than it could handle in its condition. If you are predominantly bait fishing (Live or Dead) with it and want to back off on the budget you could track down a Silstar Crystal Blue. I fish a 701 6-10kg as a jewie rod and it is great for purpose. I fish up to 50lb braid through it on occassion but 30lb braid would be its limit. I also have the 3-5kg 8 footer i fish with 10lb. I haven't fished the extra heavy 7'6" 12-20kg model but if it is anything like the rest of the range it is good value for money. Just make sure you are happy with how your chosen reel engages with the reel seat I think they are discontinued but if you call around you might find one at a good price. There is a shop on Taren Point Road that has one advertised for $179.

It appears there are 14'6" 10-15kg rods in stock at Auburn, Bankstown, Blacktown and Castle Hill for $200. I would call the store before driving anywhere

I don't own one but have used them. They are very nice and i have been tempted to buy one for ages. I have a shimano aerowave graphite and an old model composite and can vouch for both of them also. I would definitely consider a prevail in pretty much any of the sizes. Alot of places stock them if you phone around you should find one.

I have done this too. If you go to a shop that sells fly fishing stuff you can get smaller hooks. I have size 16 and size 20 on 2lb fluro leader. i use a large foam float stopper as a float, it is a bit smaller than a pea. You can use those clear plastic water filled bubble floats if you need casting distance.

There are street lights around but not specific lights over the boardwalk. You will need to take torches for tying hooks etc. Unless it is windy there will highly likely be mosquitoes so take your favourite spray.

That's the go. Maybe 5/0 and 7/0 or 6/0 and 8/0 for the livebait hooks. 6/0s can sometimes be a little small for good hook exposure on days where you can only catch massive live baits.

If you are going to drive that far just go for it. Have a quick look for live baits on the way there but at least take one or two blocks of pilchards with you. I would drive straight there and troll home if you want, but i would still focus trolling time on likely areas. If the water looks good out there i would do a few hot laps of the FAD area and look for current lines on the way home. Depending on how calm it is it might take you 2 to 3 times as long to troll home as it took you to race there. If you just want to catch a fish trolling i would focus your trolling time in the general area within a mile or two of the FAD focussing on current lines (smooth and rough patches of water and changes in colour are the easiest way to identify them. They often look like a slick). If there are no fish there i would pull the lures in and race back to another FAD, fish trap or to the heads and troll for bonito. As you approach the FAD you will often see small dollies free jumping if they are there. You should also try to see them in the water as you drift past it. They will probably be an electric blue colour in the water.

Gamakatsu Octopus Circles are pretty much all i use for jewies when fishing with squid (strips, heads or whole). They work especially well in the situation you are talking about with an unattended line and a drag set with some pressure so the jewie hooks himself before you even get to the rod when you see the bite. I have them rigged on a two hook fixed snell. Hook size between 6/0 and 8/0 depending on bait size. Generally 6/0 on the top and 7/0 on the bottom for strips. They would also be ok land based for kings if you are not fishing stupidly heavy line. I still haven't broken one yet, they are surprisingly strong. I still prefer the gamma live bait hooks for kings regardless. Match the size of the hook to the size of the bait (not the size of the fish you hope to catch) Where the gamakatsu octopus cirlces are not ideal of kings is slow trolling or super fast current as they are offset so they can make the bait spin, especially a squid strip of small livie. This is bad bait presentation, twists line and kills baits. In these situations you would use your gamma live bait hooks. I tend to use gamma livebait hooks for kings regardless. You could use an owner inline circle in any situation that you use an octopus circle or a livebait hook but i would use the others in the scenarios described. The offset eye on the Octopus circle lends itself to snelling. I even snell the bottom hook on too so the shank of the hook is parallel with the direction that the line pulls it. You could put an inline circle tied straight on as the bottom hook if you wanted

Thanks Jim, As Jim says the warmer water is better. I would put in more effort if the water is anything over 22 degrees and a nice blue colour. You will catch them in colder water but if it is under 21 and a bit green or dirty i probably wouldn't persist with as much hope. Also keep an eye out for anything at all that floats on the way to and from the FADs eg logs, coconuts, crates, fishtrap floats, even an old helium balloon that is having a rest on the water, especially if the water is blue and over 22deg.

Alot of spots can be a bit dark and sketchy for taking kids at night all along the river. There aren't alot i would fish alone myself at night. Lugarno Board Walk down the end of Forest Road near the seafood restaurant is pretty friendly any time people wise. Not so consistent for the fish and not so easy to fish either as you are up off the water and you need a decent cast and the current moves through there pretty quick. I think it would be about as safe as anywhere as it is right out the end of a dead end road so doesn't get trouble maker traffic.

I strongly suggest using a leader knot like a double uni (<15lb) or albright knot (>15lb) (an FG will be better but more time consuming and trickier to learn and tie) to a rod length of leader, have your sinker slide on this, then swivel, then trace, then hook. The leader will be stiffer than the braid to prevent twist, the leader will be alot more abrasion resistant to the sinker sliding on it and also rubbing on the bottom with the sinker. Running sinkers make pretty short work of light braid by sawing through it with the water movement. I never tie my braid to anything except a leader. You don't have to use expensive flurocarbon as your leader attached to your braid, you can use a softer line like jinkai or a hard wearing mono and save your fluro for the trace where the hook and teeth are. The leader knot in nylon leader is also softer for casting through the guides than the hard brittle flurocarbon. For 40lb and up on all of my jewy, kingie and bigger gear i use jinkai as the windon leader (albrigth knot) and use flurocarbon for the trace to the hook (the rig from the swivel down). I just use Sunline Rock FC as the leader and trace for anything 30lb and down as it is not very stiff as far as flurocarbons go and is very good value for money so it is not prohibitively expensive for the application.

Do you have the leader connected to the braid with a leader knot and the sinker running on the flurocarbon or is the sinkre on the braid and then braid to a swivel and then to leader? Best to have a rod length of leader, connected with a leader knot for the sinker to run on, then swivel, then trace to the hook. If the sinker is on the braid or even catching on the leader knot so it becomes the pivot point between the braid and leader it will twist. As mentioned you can limit the height the sinker can slide up the line with a second swivel or even a rubber band tied to the line

If you are going to the FAD for the first time you are probably happy to catch any dolphin fish that you can rather than trying to ween out only the larger ones. This is a good thing. I would try to get livies to take with you and try to be at the FAD for dawn. I think statistically slimies are better than yakkas but you will take whatever you can get. Small yakkas are better than big ones if you have options. I would take 3 outfits even if fishing solo. Gear Outfit 1 - light-medium rod 12-20lb line (braid or mono) that can cast an unweighted pilchard easliy. Baitrunners are very handy if you own one. I would fish a leader on this of about 20-30lb that had 2 circle hooks on it (about size 6/0 gamakatsu octopus circles is what i use). The bottom hook is tied to the end of the line, the top one just slides freely on the leader so it rests on the bottom hook when there is no bait on. Bottom hook goes in and out through the head of the pilchard with the the pilchard facing away from the rod, top hook goes in and out of the pilchard 1/3 from the tail, two half hitches around the tail. Outfit 2 - medium to heavy outfit 20-50lb line (braid or mono), baitrunner is good because they are easy to cast and have free spool option but anything will do. Rig is one live bait hook or inline circle hook 6/0 to 9/0 depending on the size of the livie. Livie is pinned with the hook sideways through the nostrils or bridled through the eye socket with either a rubber band or some dacron. Outfit 3 - light-medium rod similar to outfit 1, can even be outfit 1. Something suitable for spinnig for salmon or tailor. This is for casting lures ranging from 10gram-65gram metals, small to medium poppers and stickbaits and plastics. Have all of you lures ready, a snaplock clip is handy for changing lures quickly but it will need to be a good quality one and up to task. Method Slow the boat down as you approach the FAD and drive slowly and quietly when near it as sometimes the fish do spook. Figure out which way the drift is going, most likely north to south. Cut up a few handfuls of pilchard cubes and have them ready in a bucket, have all of your 3 outfits rigged, baited and ready. Drive wide and around the fad, not over or next to it, about 100m up drift from the FAD so you will drift past the side of it. Start throwing a couple of cubes over the side to start a little trail and send out the livie so he will be out the side of the boat closest to the FAD when you drift past it. As you pass the FAD throw a handful of cubes at it and cast the pilchard into the handful of cubes and have bail arm open, free spool, baitrunner, on. They often grab and drop the bait so you dont want it to tear off. When the line is running out just flip the bail arm over and steadily wind and the hook will go in. Just cast the lures around while you are doing all of this.

We run Lowrance LVR 880 which is a DSC like you are talking about and i would definitely be trying to scrape together the extra couple of bucks for a DSC radio for teh safety aspect mentioned above. We have had no problems with our lowrance.

One thing to think of when spinning metals off the rocks is where you are standing and how snaggy it is getting your lure up. When i have done it up the coast i swapped all of the trebles for big sinlges, i like to anyway but one bonus is they are heaps less likely to get caught floating weed, kelp or more importantly on a low ledge in front of you, or the reef if the king tries to rub the hook out of his face on the bottom. I think the hook up rate is fine and that they stay in a little better than trebles. Just make sure if you are putting a single on the metal that the profile of the hook is in line with the lure. This may mean you need to either use a hook that has an inline eye or use a second split ring so that the hook is in line with the lure.

Great to hear you have picked a rod. Start practising leader knots like the FG knot on the couch until you are confident with them and they should go through the guides alot better. They are more time consuming. I still only do them on occasion when i have time. I use an albright knot in anything over 16lb braid or leader. Uni knots become brittle clunking through the guides in higher line classes so they do wear out if you can keep them on long enough without casting them off. In the meantime, I suggest you still tie a leader but make it about half a metre long (as long as you can cast) and don't wind it through the guides. That way you will still have some abrasion resistance from crashing on the sand and rocks and also teeth. I still do that if i am really belting lures off the beach. I have ripped a guide of a rod when a uni knot caught on a guide casting a metal lure off the beach on a 9' rod If you are worried about having such a short leader for retying lures on then you can either use an appropriate snap (there are some very strong very small ones these days) or tie a swivel or solid ring to the end of the leader and connect the swivel/solid ring to the lure with a split ring and change lures that way.

I would definitely go up there for the handover to inspect the boat before paying for it and get a crash course in it from the dealer and meet everyone so you know who you are dealing with should there be any warranty issues down the track. Whether you drive up and tow it back or fly up, shake hands with the salesman to put a face to the name, inspect the boat, pay, fly home and ship it back on a flat bed i think is a separate decision. Keeping in mind if you tow it you will be putting 1000km on your brand new trailer and also without knowing how the balance sits with your tow vehicle.

I'm not very good at it and i have heard that they do not like southerlies but i'm not sure. I think you would be better off up at Wanda than North Cronulla and South Cronulla. I have seen them at wanda quite a bit but not at North or South Cronulla. Low tide is better but i'm not sure about time of year or if the end of the falling or start of the rising is better for the worms.

You will love that boat. I carry a couple of spare rollers and spare split pins. I have been caught out a couple of times when we have gone to pull the boat out and noticed one of the wobble rollers missing. I used to gaffa tape a towel around the arm with the missing roller so we weren't standard i the water but now I just have spares. We have also fitted solid plastic bumpers either side of the first keel roller on the rear cross member. So if you come in slightly askew driving onto the trailer the bow hits plastic not a gal bracket. Then you can spend less time fibreglassing on Sunday afternoons.

If you haven't live baited for big fish like that before, make sure when you are going to strike you sort of swing the rod away from the fish a little bit with the bail arm still open. This creates a tiny bit of slack in the line even with the fish swimming away. You do this to give yourself that split second delay to get the bail arm shut on slack line before striking, so you are not trying to close the bail arm on line that is being ripped from the spool. You clip the bail arm shut at the end of the forward swing and then follow the pressure back with the rod as it loads up. It can lead to injured fingers, lost fish and coarse language. I don't strike hard and fast when fishing livies like this that you are trying to get the fish to swallow, in case you pull the bait and hook out of the fishes mouth. Especially with braid. I hold the rod at a slight angle and wind to take up the pressure and the hook will set itself in the best place it can find. Like a circle hook method but I still do it with live bait J hooks too. We fish with large baitrunners for most of this fishing. If we need to go bigger to a jig outfit then someone normally holds the rod with the bail arm open and holds the braid lightly with their finger, like feeling for a bream nibble. When the fish takes the bait, just let the braid go with your finger.