MainframeJames

Someone once told me they used to catch crabs my wrapping a mullet frame in a tangle of old fishing line. Kept the little pickers and bigger fish from taking the bait but crabs would get their spines caught in the line and you could bring them in easily without losing them. I've done some reading and I'm still not sure if that would be legal or not, but it sounds like it should work in principle. If anyone has a clearer answer on that I'd be interested to know.

Is this still true if he's not on the boat in an official capacity? I mean, Anthony would still be allowed to do as he likes in his private life, right? He wouldn't be able to help it if he happened to be out fishing with a mate who just happened to catch a bunch of flathead that were subsequently donated for research....

Looks great, good luck!

As long as you have the 'nades, only fishing gear you need is a net!

I don't have any $100 lures myself, I think the most expensive I have are Sugapens, get them between $20-$25. I also use them on 8lb braid and I don't worry about losing them due to faults in the line. 90% of the time I lose a lure it's because I did something stupid like cast into a tree or pull my lure into a snag that I knew or suspected was there, or tied a bad knot, or cast back out when I knew or suspected the line was damaged from the previous cast. The other 10% is from fish that get me snagged, and probably a good percentage of that is still me making mistakes handling the fish. You must be doing much heavier fishing than me. I think my heaviest reel only has 28lbs of drag, so if I used 30lb line I would more likely get spooled before the line snapped. I also run my drag at max 25% of the line's breaking strength anyway because my understanding is the drag's effective power increases to about triple by the time you get to the last 25% of your spool capacity (75% of your line out in the water). I think it's due to the physics of the decreasing spool diameter, similar effect to changing gears on a bike. Anyway, that's probably gone way off topic. I can understand why you'd be more picky about the line in your situation. I probably err too much on the side of caution. If I'm nervous about breaking off I go a bit heavier so I feel more confident.

There's literally kilometers of easy access to the water along the shore there. The flathead like to sit along rock walls so it's pretty ideal. The downsides are that you can only get there by train and a lot of the shoreline is quite close to the train line. I fished there for 2 hours. From one hour before high tide to one hour after. Not the ideal time for shallow water flatties because they're less concentrated and harder to target compared to when the water is low, but I had at least one, usually multiple hits on every cast. The amount of baitfish in the water was unreal. There wasn't a single moment the whole time I was there that I couldn't see fish in the water, and that goes for along the rocks as well, not just around the jetty. I don't have polarised glasses, either.

I've heard people say good things about both, but I haven't used either one myself. Get the one you like the look of, then next time buy the other one and see what you think. Better yet, buy a bit of each and try them out at the same time. Unless you're going to stop fishing in 12 months you’ll have plenty of opportunities to try out both of those and more if you feel like it. So don't sweat it. P.S. I wait for a spool of braid to go on clearance and I buy it then to try out. Tried out Fireline Exceed that way and I don't prefer it. Tried out Sunline PE that way and I quite like it.

Oh yeah, that looks pretty good for sure.

Have a look at this hack, made from a wire coat hanger. Link to full video:

Sounds like it was a good deal for his dad too

Did you get any pictures while you were there? I've never been there, keen to have a look though.

Pretty sure its a Dusky.

Agree, looks good. Never been on one but the lines look right.

Hi mate, Blades work very similar to vibes and I often fish them similar to SPs. I let them sink until I feel/see it hit bottom, then a standard twitch, twitch, pause retrieve. Keep in contact with the lure during the pause as this is often when you get strikes. You can also slow roll blades as they have tons of action. Practice the speed of the retrieve though, sometimes they can look unnatural if you reel too fast. Be careful in snaggy areas. The fast sink rate and trebles combine in a dangerous way if you're not paying close attention. You can replace the trebles with singles or better trebles. For trebles, just get a good brand in the same size the lure came with and that's most of the battle. I lean toward Owner when I’m spoiled for choice. For singles, you need inline singles. Some brands have better factory hooks than others, so when starting out I wouldn't worry about changing the hooks unless you notice a problem. Problems might be too much snagging (switch to a lighter blade or change to single hooks), fish hooked really deep (switch to singles for easier removal) lots of takes without hooking up (check your striking technique or switch to better, sharper trebles). As a relative beginner myself, I can tell you that technique matters much more than the gear itself. You can catch a lot of fish on rubbish gear if you have good technique. Good gear helps, but it amplifies skill and technique more than replaces it. I normally wait til a batch of blades goes on clearance and buy one of each size for the price of one lure. I'm sure there are better brands than others, the TT switchblades seem to get a lot of good press. Not sure on the price.

Well done, sounds like a great weekend

I’ve also had mixed experiences with charters. They have to work with the conditions on the day, so it's just like any other fishing in that respect. I haven't been on one where the captain and crew didn't make a big effort, I’ve always been pleased with that. It's just that the fish don't always cooperate. Also, I think I would be remiss if I didn't point out that one of our site sponsors is a Charter outfit, so of course it would make sense to give them a call and have a chat next time you're looking to go out.

I use a tiny swivel tied into my leader with a small Mustad Fastach or Norman Speed Clip attached. Tackle Tactics Fastlink clips are rated highly by a lot of fishos and there’s also Hawaiian clips that are similar to the Speed Clips. I rate them in this order: Mustad, TT, Norman, Hawaiian. It may be counterintuitive, but the smaller the swivel, the easier it spins. So use the smallest one with enough strength. For my 10kg line, I use a 20kg swivel, its tiny. Some packets show the break strain of the swivel, some will say what line class they suit. I would steer clear of coast lock, cross lock, egg snap, etc. They can all come undone easily if bitten by the fish, they're bulky so they snag easier, they're heavier so they affect the lure’s action more, and they leave room for user error if you don't clip them perfectly every time. I wouldn't use a split ring, and in fact, I remove the split rings from all my lures’ tow points if possible. Many times the factory split rings are rubbish anyway, so if I need to have one on the lure I like to replace them with ones I know are good quality.

http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/topic/53112-beach-worming-how-i-do-it-at-forster/

Well done mate!

I think you've nailed it already with the excerpts above. You've proved what everyone says, that whiting can be caught anytime, but if you fish ideal conditions you'll have better luck I think.

Hi Bryan, Fishing has a lot of nuance to it. I'll share a few rules of thumb that hopefully will get you started. 1. I was taught that if you're getting bites but not hooking up, use a smaller hook with a smaller bait. Just keep stepping it down one size at a time until you start catching fish. 2. Big Neil's suggestion is excellent. There are two general styles of hook. The ones where you do the work and ones where the fish do the work. Octopus/circle hooks are the kind where the fish do the work. They're designed so that as the fish eats the bait and swims away, the hook "sets itself" in the fish's lip. The downside for more advanced anglers is the hookup ratio can be a little lower, but the big upside is you don't have to watch like a hawk and set the hook perfectly. It's much more foolproof. The other big advantage is fish are less likely to completely swallow a circle hook or octopus hook, so if you catch a fish you don't want to keep, you can usually release it with a minimum amount of harm done. 3. This should probably be number 1. Watch the poeple who are catching fish. Pull up a chair and just observe. Even better if there are quite a few of them on a wharf or pier. After watching, strike up some conversations and ask some questions. Be friendly and don't get in the way and most fishos are happy to chat. Don't be ashamed to copy exactly what they're doing. Chances are good that everyone catching fish in the same spot are all doing pretty much the same thing anyway. 4. Be there when the fish are. For *most* fishing, an hour before high tide to an hour after high tide is usually the most productive. When that time period overlaps sunrise or sunset, moonrise or moonset, that can be even better. It's not a hard rule, fish can be caught anytime, anywhere, but fish move in cycles just like we do. If you're a police officer and you want to catch someone speeding, you don't sit on a side street in the middle of a Sunday arvo. You sit on the freeway during peak hours when everyone is trying to get to work or home as fast as possible. High tide is peak hour for fish.

My Father in Law made a short video from the trip and put it up on his YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/drCKpHaigWw

The best part.

P.S. Father in law had a good time. Didn't touch a fishing rod but he had his new GoPro and had no end of fun filming everything in sight.

Very well done. Fantastic result!