PaddyT

Use a bit of muscle spooling up-braid works best on a spinning reel if its put onto the reel with A LOT of tension , i use a Bees Knees spooler but used to sppol line onto an old reel that i had and then wind it onto the actual reel under 3-4kgs of drag pressure for heavier braid and 1.5-2kg for the lighter stuff-never had a wind knot since

It was a fun day Bob-pity we couldnt crack a better fish , its interesting to see the slightly different philosophies we have towards catching kings-im very much a downrigger and lure chucker whereas you very much like the drop a bait on their heads approach-both of which were successful on Friday. Mind you catching a slimy on a live yakka was a first for me!!! The ocean always has its suprises!!

There are plenty of washes between Avoca and Copa that have kings/bonnies as summer rolls on , there are a couple of spots south of MacMasters that have them as well-around Avoca just stay clear of the rock fishos. You dont need to run wide for kings-West and East reef will have them in decent numbers as well.

All good-

your transducer is on the wrong side of the engine-if you can switch sides you will get far better results. a normal rotating prop spinning clockwise throws an enormous amount of wash to the port side of the boat and NO transducer can blast through the aeration.

trip line helps , i use mine a lot-just rememeber not to drive off with it out!!!

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I fish Longie all the time in the boat and one of the things that has me on my toes on a busy day is kayakers-especially in pre dawn light when there is a bit of a swell running they are very hard to spot-ive never seem one with a sensible light or flag set up (on at least a 2m pole)-its not a spot for beginners-go with someone experienced and if you havent kayaked at sea then get some practice before you hit such a heavy traffic area. On the fishing side Longie is at its best with a decent amount of north to south current , also in a swell a fair bit of it becomes surf zone in an unexpected way.

Depends a lot on what you are chasing-but 1/3 of the breaking strain of the weakest part of your set up is a great way to go-but measure it through the rod. Small fish its not such a problem-fish that will truck along at high speed-tuna/marlin etc its pretty important to get it right. Also remember that the less line you have on the spool-the more drag-so if a fish has gone on a long run the drag actually increases. For my lighter outfits i go by feel-honestly i would lose more fish through pulled hooks than i would ever bust off-the drag is also there as a shock absorber -as is the rod-and learning to use "soft hands"-especially when the fish is close to the boat -your reel is not a winch

Gamefishing rules are basically this-the leader must be touched but only when tagging fish-no tournament im aware of operates on touching the leader alone. Personally when we marlin fish i generally aim to get the fish beside the boat and subdued enough that we can remove the hooks-OR-when we use light gauge hooks like SL12's have a good wrestle with the fish on the leader and aim to straighten the hook-and this is really a safety issue-not so we claim a catch thats not a real catch. MArlin can be a handful at the boat, frankly for everything else if it aint in the boat its not caught

I think both you guys are missing the point of why this legislation is dangerous-it has been written in such a way that live baiting is exempt but can be included with the swipe of a pen-it doesnt need to be put in front of parliament again after its in place. You raise a point about cutting into a live fish-how is that more "barbaric" than hooking up a livebait-actually how is more barbaric that what already happens in nature-things like psychological damage is going to be included in the new act-how is that going to be measured. Both you guys are catch and release exponents-other non fishos might view that as torturing a fish for your own amusement, in fact i question catch and release fishing myself and these days find myself doing less and less of it-i catch a feed and then i go home (and i aint no greenie-i hunt my own meat). SO-before thinking this is an over reaction -have a look at what could come down the pipeline if this legislation gets passed.

Correct Bob-there are a couple of brands but the Richters were easy to get when i was still rockfishing . Agree with the QANTAS colour scheme-but straight white seems fine too-which is interesting becuase if you look at white coloured things sitting on top of the water from underneath they are very difficult to see. Trick with the Richters was to hold the rod tip up high and use a medium paced retrieve and the lure would snake across the top very nicely-similar to retrieving a whole gar and almost as effective.

Unfortunately its not just the ALP-the LNP have been complicit in this latest legislation-the majors cannot be trusted

Richter stickbaits are excellent,cheap and very tough , cast brilliantly , while i was rockfishing i used these very successfully and the good old Cotton Cordell pencil popper-cheap and effective.

good idea Bob-many years ago was fishing on a mates dads tinnie off Terrigal drifting for flatties and snapper on the rubble grounds. We only used handlines and my mates dad used to fish with 2 at a time (and outfish us young blokes about 10-1). He would usually drop one of his spools over the outboard tiller arm and on this occasion the handline got hit by a good a fish and launched the spool off the tiller arm and down into the deep blue. Anyway about an hour latter we caught sight of it floating (after doing about 3 new drifts over this piece of rubble) and still attached was a very nice snapper up around the 4-5 kg mark. It was a very nice piece of luck on that day!

AND-news on the Stop The Lockout FB page today-it appears Marine Parks are back on the agenda-so as i said before our opponents WILL NEVER STOP-sitting back and being non political about your choice of lifestyle/recreation/access to nature (thats the real problem we face) is not really an option any more-sign every petition , write to your member (just in the final stages of having a meeting with mine), STOP STICKING YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND-once hunting is gone, fishing will go, meat eating next etc etc etc.

Umm-if the SFFP and the Stop the Lockout hadnt of jumped in we would have vastly restricted fishing access all around Sydney-the legislation as they put it could stop fishing with the stroke of a pen -and virtually any other human/animal interaction-rec fishos are incredibly disjointed, lazy and complacent when it comes to protecting their rights, access and hobby and the AJP and their kind WILL NOT STOP until they get their way.

I think if it is done within bag limits and size restrictions i see no problem with bowfishing for anything

Hey Bud im guessing you are a fairly young bloke with no large family background in fishing-i think you are getting a long way in front of your self and worrying about fish you are not likely to encounter at this point. My advice is this-get a medium spin outfit with two spools-load one with 20 lb braid, the other with 12-15 lb mono. Get a few metals, couple of poppers/stick bait and a few ganged hooks , couple of light floats,and some general terminal tackle.Hopefully we will be free from this lockdown by December and this will coincide with the usual run of small pelagics around Sydney. Go to some of the more popular ledges-Avoca, Bass Point etc- a bit of research will find other spots. For Avoca get yourself cleats. Learn how to catch bonnies and rat kings, learn how to catch livies, upgrade from there. When the weather cools off in autumn do a bit of wash fishing for bream, small snapper, trevors etc. Learn how the ocean moves, learn to read a rock platform, spend time with experience rock fishos (Pickles gave an excellent suggestion regarding Alex Bellisamo), learn your craft. It will ensure your safety (which is above all else) and dont get your hopes unrealisticly high for huge fish. I reckon there are probably a total of 2-300 people who have caught a marlin off the rocks in Australia, LBG is a hard road and every fish is earned. The north coast is an excellent place in autumn for higer levels of action with longtails and a lot of mack tuna. Fighting a fish off the rocks is not about brute strength-some spots the fish just has to swim in the wrong direction and "ping" its all over-heavier is not always better. I NEVER tied my rod off when livebaiting -I ALWAYS held the rod-amazing how many times i saw fish lost because the fisho was lazy and stuck his rod in a crevice and i also saw a couple of outfits launched into the sea despite "safety lines" Good luck

Start writing letter and phoning-and make it a habit

Get this idea into your head-the ALP dont want fishing or outdoor activity (other that some vague promise of ecotourism) because they need to pander to the Greens. The LNP dont want fishing or outdoor activity because they regard us as the great unwashed and we might interfere with property values (you know-who wants to look at a fisherman from the waterfront mansion !!!)-if you accept this then you will start to realise that the only option we actually have is to stop biting each other and vote for parties that are REALLY pro fishing (and pro access-because this will become more and more of an issue as public space gets sold or given to private parties). Write letters, phone your local member -most of the time these guys dont even think these issues through -explain to them that fishing /hunting whatever is part of your lifestyle that you will change your vote for. The rally against the Sydney marine park worked because it made pollies from the LNP realise there are a lot of us who are genuinely passionate about our recreation . What you say about the dollar value is also very true-rec fishing brings an astounding amount of dollars into the economy -far more than rubbish like "eco tourism " or more concrete activities like scuba diving and again pollies need to be made aware.

yep , works fine-especially with braid-i do it all the time

mm-wonder how well the Sydney Marine Park would of gone for all of us if the SFFP and the Rec Fishing Alliance hadnt of scared the life out of the less thinking members of the LNP-and as for being a doomsayer-ive been writting letters and emails to my local member and the minister and the premier for the last 10 years. There is a very vocal and persistant part of society that simply will not stop until fishing,hunting and any other animal interaction is banned. Enjoy your steak while you can

the really frightening bit is the 5 freedoms of animals-these are vague and "glossy" and at some point will be used against fishing-as will the newly added bit about "harm"-everyone needs to accept that by eating meat (of any kind), fishing ,hunting, eating grain producrs (think of all the pests that are killed) , we are part of nature , not seperate from it. Whats to say C&R fishing wont get added to the list later on.

This is something SUPER important for all fishers, hunters, pet owners, farmers,-in fact anyone who has interaction with animals, large parts of this have already been hijacked by the AJP/Greens . This really is "thin end of the wedge" stuff-have your say https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/animals-and-livestock/animal-welfare/animal-welfare-reform/discussion-paper