BrassRoots

So I picked up a few Berkley Powerblades and so far I'm pretty happy, having caught two flathead in the same gully in about 6 casts. The only problem I have is that with the trebles a pretty much broke one of the poor bastards mouth pieces when taking it out. I've swapped out the trebles for singles now, putting one on each split ring in the way the Owner recommends (middle down, back up). However, the tackle shop guy recommended that I just put the one hook in the middle and not worry about the back hook. These are tiny little blades, not even half an ounce. What is the general recommendation for rigging singles into blades? I have Gamakatsu size 4 and size 8 lure hooks.

Should be the same as most other braids right? There is a good post discussing what braid is in the forums. I've been using Berkley Fireline 6 lb for fishing bream and flat head so you should be fine with 7 lb. I wouldn't go higher though as I find bream lures are very light. Not very familiar with bait fishing yet so can't give any advice there.

Great catch! Would love to get a few of those in the pan or deep fryer.

Thanks guys. Probably not going to invest in cleats etc yet so just going to stay where the waves aren't, inside the bay. To be honest I wasn't really fishing for anything in particular as I was mostly expecting to get nothing but wanted to work on my cast. I just happened to get lucky. Going to throw some more tomorrow, hopefully I'll have some photos of the cheeky bugger with 2 lures in his mouth.

Well had my first King hook-up and bust off today. Went to Gordont bay this morning to throw a 20g Halco silver twisty around. I was throwing off the rocks near where the divers enter the water at the Clovelly car park. I was slightly into the bay as the swell was pretty decent. Wasn't expecting much but could see the occasional bait fish jump so knew something was there. So I'm pretty new to fishing and very new to metals sow as just working on a few different retrieves. I was working a medium wind with a downward jerk every 3 winds when behind my lure and in one of the waves I see a big silver coloured fish make a swipe at the lure. Wow. This got me pretty worked up so kept throwing and working but nothing for a little while. Then saw some bait fish jumping so threw the lure over the top of them and did a fast retrieve with downward jerks every 3 winds and BAM! So far I've only caught little whiting and flathead with the occasional bream. This was definitely a different class of fish. Instantly my line was whizzing so tightened up the drag. It gave a good fight and I got it into the rocks and I could see the distinct thin yellow tail and pointy head. I was just about to jump into the water and guide him over to me so I could grab it but it made another run. This time he found a little rock hole and got my line caught up on the rock I was standing on. I tried to get the line off the rocks but couldn't work it free before he busted me off. Damn. Lure and fish gone. I got a really good look at and if I had to guess it was in the 50 - 60cm range. Just incredible fun. If someone catches a King with a silver Halco in its mouth, let me know.

Is that what they are? I thought so. Accidentally caught a bunch in Rose Bay Sydney before swapping lures. Saw one floating around too after someone had thrown one back after hooking its gills. So sad.

Went back to my favourite spot again this afternoon to catch the run out tide. Got to Rose Bay just after 2pm and fished until 5pm. Not much around today. Threw the Atomic and got nothing so swapped to a deep diving fake pilchard and managed to snag up on the rocks. FAAAAARK. So annoying. So far it's my first lost lure and I'm not happy. Of well, put on some more leader and put on a 15g metal bait fish imitator. Nothing fancy, just some metallic silver reflective stickers on the side, some eyes and i think it had a glow in the dark belly. First few casts and not much but suddenly felt a tug. Yes! Haven't felt a fish like this before! Pulled out a very, very, very small tailor (could be a sampson fish too? maybe? not sure confident at identifying yet.) No photos as I always freak out about getting the little ones back in to the water before they suffocate. After all he was only somewhere around 20cm. Only a baby. So I've put him back and cast out again and hot damn, the lure only hit the water before another little tailor smashed it. So pulled him in and let him go. Then made the mistake of casing over the Woolhara boat ramp and lost the lucky lure. Bugger!!! After losing two lures wasn't keen on losing more so put on the Atomic and waded the shallows but by this stage it was an hour to low tide and the sand flats really slow down.

very nice. They're such a fun fish to hook too

The rays are pretty nasty there. A woman got hit one day while I was there and one of the old blokes showed me where he got hit on the ankle. So far I haven't managed to hook any of the bigger fish but I'm still tweaking my technique. I'm running 6lb fire line braid and 6lb mono leader on a cheap shimano combo I got at BLAH BLAH BLAH. It's true that cheap gear still catches fish. I think I might have to get some jig heads though. The flat head are just too tempting.

Howdy folks. Keen lure fisherman here just checking in. Got back from Rose Bay in sydney this morning. Started out with frozen prawns and managed a few baby bream near the boat ramp. Walked down the beach but could't hit anything. It was my first time using frozen prawns as bait and hated every minute of it. I think it is really only suitable for jetty/pier fishing. Anway, swapped over to a Berkley atomic once the prawns ran out. Waded up and down the beach section and snagged a few baby whiting. Was wading up to the boat shed around midday and the water was crystal clear and I could see a few flat head laying on the bottom and quite a few decent sized whiting hanging around too. But had to get back to the chores at home. It looks like the rains have opened up some new channels down there too and changed around which bits of rock are exposed/covered. It could be pretty interesting there over the next few days while the fish fight for new territory. Also managed the meet the 2 old regular guys down there that fly fish/lure fish there every day. Nice guys. If you see me there in a t-shirt and boardies with a straw hat on, up to my nuts in water, say hello.