Ledge

OK raiders. I need your collective knowledge to stock up before a trip to Weipa next month. We’ll be doing all sorts of fishing from boats... rivers, reefs and out wider. Lots of casting around pylons and under bridges and markers etc. I need to stock up on lures for the trip. And especially good value lures (that work) since I expect we’ll be losing a fair few. I know plastics are a good option due to their value, but I know next to nothing about plastics... no idea what brand, type, jig size etc.. Any experts that can point me in the right direction? I’m experienced in metals, hardbodies and poppers but does anyone know what works best in Weipa? And what sizes? I’ll be taking 3 spinning combos... 80lb, 50lb and 20lb. Thanks team!

That is awesome. I love how you can only fit half the fish in the frame!

Wasn’t shown how to detect parasites unfortunately- that would have been a good question if I’d thought of it! I have heard that if the flesh is milky then it’s no good.. I also saw yellow swiggly lines through a bonito that I caught a couple of months ago and didn’t eat it as I figured it was some sort of parasite.. so my uneducated opinion is that you can often tell if it has parasites just by the way it looks. I’m sure others can tell you more educated information though! I was taught correct iki jime technique to humanely dispatch the fish and make sure the meat stays undamaged... something I’d tried before but never been able to do properly- turns out you need the right tool, a knife won’t do the job properly/consistently.

Thanks all, for your replies. Don’t think chef was confusing bonito for tailor as I brought him my own bonito, kingfish and trevally from a recent session so he could show me how to prepare them. But he may be confusing our bonito for a Japanese variant? Anyway, very encouraging to hear that you all eat bonito no problems! I will keep doing so!! Personal preference Scratchy, but I prefer sashimi bonito to kingfish! And to just about anything else we can catch here from the rocks. Can’t beat marinated, char-grilled kingfish though! ps. Interesting to note that the chef was super excited about the silver trevally. Says it’s very prized as sashimi in Japan. Thanks Raiders as always for the quality input. Ledge

I find fluoro knots tighten down a bit more than mono when under stress. Not slip, more tighten down that bit more when first put under load. When I first swapped to fluoro I had the same issues so I started leaving just slightly longer tag ends and haven’t had the problem since.

Hi Raiders. Great xmas present this year in the form of a sushi lesson from Japanese master. Learnt heaps of great things but one thing left me very confused: He said that he doesn’t sashimi bonito as it is from the ‘bluefish family’ and has too high a risk of being dangerous to eat, even 1 day after it has been caught. Funny thing is he was happy to sashimi kingfish that was caught 5 days ago. My preferred way to eat bonito is sashimi and have done it a few times now with no issues. What are your thoughts? Do you eat sashimi bonito? Have you ever had issues? Do you take any particular precautions like freezing before you eat it? Ledge

Thanks for your input mate. Leaning towards the itchy twitchy II.. It’s just so much lighter than anything I’ve used before- my lightest combo to date has a cast weight of 7-21g as I mostly do rock fishing. Cheers.

Hi Raiders. Reviving this post as I need some help deciding on a rod to cast light lures 3g-8g. Will match to my 2500 stradic. It's between: - Pinster II 642LFS (193cm, 1-10g, 2-5kg) - Itchy Twitchy 6102LFS (208cm, 1-5g, 1.5-3kg) - Scratchy 702LFS (213cm, 1-5g, 1.5-3kg) Does anyone have experience with these rods? I like the sound of the Pinster but concerned it won't get enough distance on the casts so that's why I'm considering the others... But will they be able to handle the 7g-8g lures? Thanks for your adv,ice! Ledge

What do you do with the salmon? We caught 5 monsters around 70cm last weekend. Kept one to see if I could make it edible by using my new sous vide technique (fail). Even the cat wouldn’t eat it.

Agreed. Thanks Derek. I'm land based and have landed lots of rats but never managed to subdue a hoodlum during its first run. Opening the bail arm is an interesting technique. I've heard of that before but have never had the guts to actually try it when I'm on a good fish. Will hopefully get the chance to try your tips this weekend!

Mate, congratulations, that's awesome. What's the secret to the fight? The few times I've hooked a decent king on light gear, it's just taken off in a straight line and hasn't stopped until it's found its way to structure and busted me off. Is it just luck of where it runs or is there something that can be done to stop the run or steer it away from structure?

Hi Krispy, Thanks for your input! I wonder if the fish would have hit the other guy's line if he was using 12lb mono... and whether it would have rejected yours if you were using 40lb fluoro. Based on what some of the other experienced fishos have said in this discussion, it seems line diameter plays a bigger part than material (at least, when comparing fluoro and mono). But as you say, best to use what you feel most comfortable using.

Shame about the weather but such a great adventure! A trip like this has been on my bucket list for some time... hardest part is finding the mates and the resources to make it happen! Hope your kids know how lucky they are!!

Thanks for an informative post JonD. It sounds like you've done the research. And you certainly seem to get the results! Seems you've found mono leaders to get as many or more bites than fluoro. You're telling me what I was hoping to hear, as I much prefer the performance of mono leaders in every other aspect. So you use Momoi standard mono line as leader material? Not even Momoi leader? In terms of knot strength and abrasion resistance I've found the Jarvis Walker Hercules mono leader from Kmart to be a standout. So if you reckon different mono lines look the same underwater, I might just stick with that!

I'll be interested to know the outcome of your test. Keep me in the loop!

Thanks for the replies, all. I'm more interested in whether fish are more likely to bite using fluoro than mono, as I already feel that mono leader material performs better than fluoro in other areas.

Hey Raiders. I'd like to hear your experience with how many bites you get using different leader materials. When I first got into fishing, I switched to fluoro after about a year of fishing with mono, and ended up getting a lot more fish. But that could also be due to the fact I was no longer a newbie. Getting more fish was good, but I also noticed that with fluoro the line was breaking more easily and it didn't tie as well. I know the companies claim that fluoro is tougher, but I find that it breaks more easily than quality mono and that tailor and other toothies bite through it more easily. And I've tried 4-5 different brands. So, I'd like to know if you Raiders have found that you get more bites using fluoro? Or do you think that mono gets just as many bites? Cos I'd prefer to use mono if it won't cost me bites. Thanks team. Ledge.

Ah yep. Cheers. Have a few knights already. Nice double hookup lol

Good read. Do you mind sharing what lure you were using when you hooked the king? I'm keen to add a few new ones to my tackle box!

What kind of fish is that? Hard to see in the pic but it looks like a cobia from George's River?! I must be seeing things

Thanks Luke, some good insights. I never though of burleying for kings but I guess if you're keeping baitfish in the area then it can only be a good thing.

Thanks mate, I have a few of the new XXXrap 14s so will give them a go as well. Out of curiosity, how would you rig up a dead frigate?

Thanks mate, much appreciated!

Thanks PaddyT that's great advice. I've seen those GT Icecream lures at my local tackle shop so I'll give them a try. Which model lure? There's a bunch... cone, needle, flatface... I assume white colour is best. Might try spinning gars this Sunday as well though I worry that the gang hooks will be too weak and bend under the load of a big king?

Hey Raiders. Long time spectator, first post I've started though. Given kings are the only reliable gamefish in or around Sydney, I'm wondering if anyone has had much success catching kings off the rocks using lures. I have been rockfishing for about 3 years now and have got to the point where I can reliably catch a feed, but I haven't caught any 'trophies' yet. By which I mean a fish approaching the magic metre. So this summer I'm going to forget about the table and start targeting big kings. I've caught roughly 10 kingfish over the last 3 summers using pilchards, but they were all undersized so I assume big kings don't like pillies. Livebait is the obvious choice but holding a rod with a balloon bobbing around for hours on end can get boring, and sometimes there's just no livies around the ledge I'm fishing. So, what success have you fine people had with catching big fish from the rocks with lures IN OR NEAR SYDNEY? What lures do you use and what have you caught? Or is there another viable alternative to livebait? Do whole dead squid or slimies from the seafood wholesalers work or are they too old/washed with fresh water? I'm starting this journey on Sunday so I will share my experiences, but I'd love some advice to speed up the learning process! Cheers, Ledge.