Aardvarking

Are you using a mono or fluorocarbon leader? Also what is the action of your rod?

I was never a fan of power pro at all. I switched to J braid, and never looked back. My favourite braid by leaps and bounds.

Good rule of thumb is a rod length and a half. You can add a bit more if you like to change lures very frequently like me, because a rod length and a half can become half a rod length very quickly when you are retying all the time. I change my leaders when they get shorter than about 1.5-2m.

I use loop knots for hardbodies and standard snug knots on jigheads. I find that is the way to make them both swim best. My favourite snug knot is the uni knot, easy to tie, fairly strong, not hard to stuff up. The best loop knot is the rapala knot, a bit hard to learn but the strongest loop knot.

Onya for putting that flathead back. We need more people like you with respect for the waterways so they are still there in 20 years. Great fish mate

Around sunrise and sunset are the perfect times to be fishing, so from 8-9pm is a good time to be out. Later on in the night you might not have much luck with bream and flathead, but that is when the jewfish are roaming. I don't have much experience night fishing, so you might be better off getting someone else to give you a more definitive answer to that one though. Rose Bay beach at low tide is a good place to use the chubby, as it is a nice sand flat with plenty of bream and flathead. In sydney I find I have more luck with plastics and blades for whatever reason, and tend to do better with hard bodies like the chubby down south.

Blades should work in any depth of water, they sink very easily. Above 10-15m it might struggle a bit with the current, but in low current areas I've had no trouble fishing 1/8th blades in 15 metres. They are an awesome lure for both bream and flatties, I'm a big fan of them in the 1/8th size especially. I recommend doing a twitch pause retrieve. Wait for it to hit bottom, wind in the slack and then just do 2 short quick lifts of the rod top in quick succession. Twitch it just enough to feel the vibration, pause just for a fraction of a second then give it another twitch before it hits bottom. Let it sink and wait a few seconds before repeating. This is my favourite retrieve with blades, works for both flathead and bream. I like to use lure scent with blades, as they don't look ultra realistic when they sit on the bottom, but when scented bream are more likely to take them when still. My favourite is sax scent. Sounds like you've done some research with your lures. The 2.5 inch grubs with be great for bream, and the 100mm will be great for flathead. Both 2 of my favourite plastics. The Jackall chubbies are more suited for sandflats and mangroves, but they can also be used along vertical structure such as wharf pylons and bridge pylons. Instead of casting out, cast across the jetty as close to the pylons as you can, and do a steady slow retrieve.

I've had a look at the soft vibe selections out there, but I'm not sure soft vibes are for me. Casting a 20 dollar sinking lure with 2 treble hooks at the bottom land based seems like a snag waiting to happen, feel like I could lose one by just looking at it. I'm also interested by the bio range, but considering they are about double the price of the regular fish I might hold off on buying some, and I'll see how other people do with them first.

Thanks mate, just the info I was looking for. I might buy a packet of the whipbaits and one of fish then, was planning on 2 packets of the whip baits. I also have the same problem with bent tails on the fish, so it's good to know you don't get that with the whips.

I am wondering if anyone has had any luck catching jewfish on squidgy whip baits? I have been trying to target them for quite a while on 100mm and 120mm squidgy fish, and although I have caught plenty of flathead, I haven't had any luck catching any of those damned jewfish, which must be pointing and laughing at me by this point. My supply of big boy fish has nearly run out however, and I'm looking to get some replacements. Considering the lack of jewfish I have caught on my fish, I am thinking I might try a new plastic. As someone who is a bit of a squidgy fanboy, I am intrigued by the whip baits, which according to Starlo and Bushy combine the best parts of 3 of Squidgy's best lures. But then again, Starlo and Bushy say a lot of things, so I can only take that with a grain of salt (sorry fellas, still a big fan). I would consider other brands if there as overwhelming cry for me to do so, but I'm really just looking at whether to invest in some new whip baits or stick with the fish.

I use the 80mm squidgy wriggler in bloodworm for bream, but you'll find them a bit small for flathead. The thing with wrigglers is that they are smaller than they'd seem, because the tail takes up a lot of the length of the lure. By that I mean that a 120m wriggler is roughly the same size as a 100m fish. For flathead I usually use a 70mm, 80mm or 100mm squidgy fish, in black gold. The 80m is my go to, but I upside or downsize depending on the conditions.

I stayed at the big4 easts caravan park in december, and had a great time casting lures for flathead on the flats just east of the park at high tide. When the tide was a bit lower I would cast into the hole near the wharf (circled) and when it was around full low tide I'd throw some heavier lures off the rock wall out into the deeper channel (where the arrows are pointing). Only thing to be careful about is rays. I had an enormous eagle ray not bend, but snap in half both 2/0 owner trebles on a huge blade I was throwing and nearly spool me, so watch out.

Are you sure it wasn't a pufferfish or a porcupine fish?

Another thing I forgot to mention, I caught every fish on a single raw chicken thigh I got from coles, which costed me less than 2 dollars! It was my first time trying that as bait, so I think it's safe to say it won't be the last. Unfortunately I won't have time to make taranka, but I have had it before with bream and it is one of my favourite ways to prepare fish for sure. I've never actually eaten drummer before, so thanks for that advice. The issue I had with the stomach was really just the sheer mass of this spiralling mess I didn't expect, and the fact that all the fish there lived mainly off kelp, so the smell wasn't at all pleasant. I think I'll try filleting the bigger one and cooking the smaller one whole like savit suggested, see which one I prefer. As fun as drummer are with 6lb line and a 1-3kg rod, I think I might upgrade a touch next time. One of the bigger ones nearly broke my rod when he did one last run as I tried to leader him up!

Unfortunately in blackwattle bay there is a huge risk of flathead bicatch. I tried going down to 3lb leader there once, and despite catching some bream I lost 3 lures to flathead in one session. I already feel uneasy enough using 6lb when I know about the hungry flathead around.

Great, thanks for the help. I reckon I'll just put the keplfish in the freezer and cut him up for bait and burley then.

I know from the title it may seem like I'm posting this a bit late or I've lost my calendar, but I come from a Ukrainian family and we celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January instead of in December. Anyway, it is a tradition to have a bit seafood meal on christmas eve, so I thought I'd head out for a fish to contribute to that meal. I don't want to disclose the exact spot because it's not all that well known, but I'll say that it was in Wollongong. After about 4 hours of fishing I ended up fish a whole ton of species. I started off the day catching a bunch of yellowfin bream, before moving to a new spot where I was catching a ton of wrasse, various small rock cod and what I now know to be an Eastern Kelpfish. I was planning to release the kelpfish because I didn't know enough about it to keep, but it was very badly hooked and it was clear it wasn't going to survive, so I took it home with me. Does anyone know if they taste any good, or are they better off being chopped up for bait? I had a bit of a wild ride after hooking a huge stingray, which after 10 minutes of nonstop swimming was well on its way to spooling me, before it thankfully spat the hook just as it reached the backing. After another 5 minutes rewinding all my line back onto my reel I was back in business, and caught a cod I've never seen before. Does anyone know what species this guy is? There was also an interesting wrasse I caught which I can't quite identify, here is a photo of it: After my 2nd spot dying down a bit as the tide went out, I tried a third spot and found myself pulling in black drummer by the bucketful, not bad with my 6lb mainline and 8lb leader if you ask me. The biggest one I ended up catching was 35cm, which put up a hell of a fight. Here is the haul for the afternoon, minus all the fish I put back: And just as a side note, no matter how many fish I cut open, I don't think I will ever be prepared for the horror that is a black drummers stomach.

Thanks for the in depth info, sounds like I'm gonna have a fun 5 days. Shame about the hoons though, hopefully I don't encounter any in my time there. I might try fishing an ecogear sx40 or a small squidgy wriggler so I can cover bass, bream and eps at the same time. Do you have any suggestions for lures that might work better? I have limited freshwater experience with lures, but I have a huge collection of bass lures I have inherited from my dad.

I am heading out to a Ukrainian Scout camp in late December this year as I always do, and it is being held at Webbs Creek, near Wiseman's ferry. I probably won't have a whole lot of time to fish, but I'll be there for 5 days and I'm sure I can find some time to throw some lures. It will kill me for sure to arrive at a thriving fishery and not have a rod with me. I'm just wondering, what is the fishing like in Webbs Creek? I have heard that there are bass there, but I've also heard of bream flathead and jewies in the Wiseman's ferry part of the Hawkesbury, which feeds the creek. Is it in golden ratio of estuaries where there and fresh and saltwater fish, or am I better off just targeting bass? Our campsite is here, quite far up the creek: Any help on fruitful lures in the area is also greatly appreciated, soft plastic or hardbody.

I just had a chance to test the fishfinder for the first time. I am pleased, but have a couple of issues. The thing I really like is that the screen resolution is great, very easy to read the finder. The traditional sonar mode is fantastic. It was the mode I was using most of the time, and it definitely helped me find spots to fish. The quickdraw contours in good, but my one problem is that it's a bit hard to read, especially when in split screen or when you don't have a complete map. Once you have mapped a whole area it becomes a lot more helpful, but until basically the whole screen is filled with contours it's a bit superfluous. It is able to map in the background, so I got it to start mapping right from the start of the session and switched to the traditional sonar while the quickdraw did it's thing. Maybe when I start having regular spots I fish it will be more useful. I did really like being able to add waypoints and customise them, my favourite part of the quickdraw maps. The thing I wasn't all that impressed with was the clearvü. To me it just looked like traditional sonar but with far less detail. I know it's meant to be better for shallow water, but I was fishing in around 10m, which seems far too shallow for it to bottom out. Maybe there just wasn't a lot of structure in the place I was fishing, I'll keep trying it in other spots to see how it goes. Does anyone have any tips for getting more from the clearvü?

The striker plus 5 has 0.4A power draw, the battery has 7.2Ah, which means to drain the battery fully I would get about 18 hours. The thing is, with an SLA battery you never want to discharge it to far, i.e. less than around 50%, so functionally it will have about 9 hours of use.

Unfortunately I only have one groove to put the bracket in in the Mirage Sport, so I can't slide it back. I used some big globs of blue tac wedged behind it at various points, seems to be doing the job quite well. I haven't had a chance to give it a test in the water, but from the 11th to the 15th we have rented a cabin right on wagonga inlet in Narooma where I will be doing a ton of fishing, so I will be able to let you know how it goes. So far from the simulation it seems great, the resolution is amazing. I am thinking I'll usually run the triple split screen, with the downvu, traditional sonar and contour maps all on one screen. In that mode the displays are a little bit small, but I have mounted the screen quite close to me and I have good eyesight, so it's not a big problem. If you are only using 1 or 2 modes at a time there would no problems with size, especially in a kayak.

I got a 12v 7.2Ah SLA battery. Stuck it in the hull through the front hatch in a waterproof bag with velcro. Drilled an 8mm hole just behind the fishfinder for the cable, and got a pack of rubber grommets designed for an 8mm hole and 6mm cable, which were perfect.

I recently decided to invest in a new fishfinder for my Hobie Sport, as well as installing a couple extra rod holders and an anchor trolley. So now it is well and truly good to go for any estuary and bay fishing I may throw at it. I went with the Garmin Striker Plus 5cv, which seemed to have all the features I need for a very reasonable price. The one thing I wasn't sure about was how I was going to mount the transducer. I know that most people install it in hull, which I'm sure works fine, but from what I've seen has roughly a 20% loss in accuracy than it would be in water. Another issue I had with the in hull is that I carry my kayak on the car upside down, meaning it will be easy for it to fall off when I go over any bumps, so I want it to be really easy to uninstall and reinstall the transducer when I get to the water. I was considering one of the Railblaza arm mounts, but to me $60 is a lot to spend on something which just submerges a piece of plastic, so I elected to build my own. I haven't given it a test in the water yet (I will do an update when I have) but so far it looks pretty slick. I'm sure others have thought of doing this same thing before, but I was just really happy with how mine turned out and wanted to share it. I went to bunnings and bought a 1m length of 15mm pvc piping, two 20mm pvc elbows and two 20mm pvc tee joins, totalling at $9. The first thing I did was cut a length of pipe long enough to sit snuggly in the cavity on the right side of me. I wrapped a piece of double sided velcro to it and filed out a grove for the velcro tape to sit in to avoid slippage. I then put some velcro tape into the cavity for the double sided velcro to attach to, and it holds it very firmly. Don't mind the wires, I took the photos after everything was finished. Next I cut some small sections of pvc piping just to attach the various elbow and tee junctions pictured. I elected to use a tee junction at the top instead of an elbow, just in case I ever want to install anything extra onto the top of it. After that I cut a length of pvc piping which attaches to an elbow joint that sits right at the bottom of the kayak. Luckily for me the edges aren't the bottom most point of the hull, so I was able to line it up perfectly without worrying about the transducer hitting the bottom, as the middle of the hull will hit before the transducer. I used some velcro on this section too, same deal as the velcro before. Next I cut a piece of pipe long enough for the transducer to attach to. I attached the trolling motor mount to the transducer, and then drilled a total six holes in the pvc pipe, two above each grove in the trolling motor mount so I could attach the transducer to the pipe firmly with 3 zip ties. After that was all set I ran the transducer wire through the pvc contraption I had built. My wire was very long, so I looped it around one of my lengths of pipes a series of times to shorten it, as shown in my first attachment. The beauty of this mount is that it is incredibly easy to remove and reinstall. Just rip it off the velcro, and stick it back on after with no worries. This is how it looks in action, pretty good for under ten dollars (in my humble opinion at least...). The only thing I would like to do is find a non-drying adhesive putty that I can use to hold the mount more securely, without making it a permanent attachment. I have heard that duct seal is great for that sort of thing, but I can't seem to find it for sale anywhere in Australia. I could always use bluetac, but I don't think it's strong enough for what I need. Does anyone have any suggestions for a heavier duty sort of bluetac that is easy to find down under?

The el cheapo Jarvis Walker line from K Mark actually isn't too bad if you're on a strict budget. If you're willing to sink more money then I'm personally a fan of maxima and platypus monos, maxima for heavier line and platypus for lighter. I personally don't use long shanks, but I reckon he recommended them because they're a bit easier to use, as they are less prone to gut hooking so you can wait longer to strike without worrying about the fish swallowing it. I use octopus/suicide/beak hooks (all the same thing) about 90% of the time, and circle hooks on sleeper rods when I'm too lazy to pay too much attention to the rod, because circles hook the fish themselves. From my experience the hook up rate with circles is slightly less than when I'm holding the rod ready to strike with suicides, but sometimes it's nice to just sit on a jetty and read a book waiting for my line to go off.