Ben Hall

Thanks mate, bit of luck there aswell being hooked in the corner of the mouth. I've had them rub through 60lb leader before just as I landed them, so with 20lb leader you got to be lucky.

Chasing some Snapper in 30m of water and the reel started to sing, dumping line fast the little Stella 5000 was about to be spooled, I gave chase in the boat getting some line back. 20lb braid, 20lb leader and a gulp soft plastic. Fishing out of Port Stephens

I've just been away doing some beach and bay fishing, bait and spinning. Using the rods I've suggested, I did give you some mis information when I said I had a Sensor Surf rod it was actually a Linear Surf by Daiwa which I was told replaced the Heartland which I also mentioned and have, great rods both discontinued. I was using my 12 foot Revolution with the 16000 Thunnus reel forgot just how heavy it was. One outfit that got a work out was my 11' Lateo Pirates Daiwa rod with my 4500H Saltiga from spinning some solid Tailor to landing my second Longtail off the beach, using 20lb braid. Absolutely love the Lateo, it is very slim and light. Unfortunately they are discontinued also

I just tried to give you an idea of some outfits I use that work and are comfortable to use, I just love casting the light 9 foot rod, like if you wanted to fish smaller plastics it would be nicer then and big heavy rod but if I was going to go for maximum distance I would take my 11 foot Lateo Pirate Daiwa rods in either 7 to 15kg or 10 to 20kg which I run either 20 or 30lb braid with a 4500H Saltiga or 5000H Saltiga. Yeah I love the Shimano Stella, but yeah not the sort of reel you want to get beat up. There's just so many variables, it's not often you can spin a Longtail off the beach unless conditions allow and on that day I would of preferred my 11 foot distance rod but the 9 foot rod got the job done, hopefully with your Tailor and Salmon you can find the right bank that you can cast a metal lure the distance to be in the zone something like a 40 gram metal. And yes I have used the 9 foot rod rigged with gang hooks with pilchards to get the job done but would prefer a longer rod. And also put a small Thunnus 8000 on it with 15lb mono which I fished bait in the right conditions which sometimes a long cast is not required to fish a close in bank or gutter. Like Restyles comment above its hard to get a outfit that does both jobs well, and the Sensor Surf rod he mentioned is the rod that took over from the discontinued Heartland I spoke of, I also have a Sensor Surf which is exactly the same as the Heartland only different colours and labels. Hope that helps

I would try to work towards 2 outfits. I'm pretty much just a Daiwa and Shimano fisho so don't know about the Penn outfits that seem very popular. I do alot of spinning and spin with rods between 8 foot and 12 foot for varies reasons from the beaches and rocks. So when take a rod to spin the beach while bait fishing aswell I always reach for my Shimano Revolution 9 foot spin rod which is 6 to 10kg which are a good price. The reel I run on this is a Shimano Stella 5000 with 20lb braid on it which is a high end reel but something like a Stradic or Saragosa would go nice on this rod to bring the price down. I've even managed a nice Longtail Tuna off the beach around 12kg on this outfit. Having a spin rod ready to go at all times can really help when fish turn up unexpected. As for bait fishing I lean towards a rod around 11 to 12 foot in that 7 to 15kg or 10 to 20kg range since I'm usually trying to cast large baits out intended for Jewfish. My 7 to 15kg rod is a Daiwa Heartland which has been discontinued the 10 to 20kg is a Shimano Revolution which I pair with a Shimano Thunnus 16000f which have a baitrunner feature so you can have the rod set that allows line to be taken from the reel with near zero tension and with one wind of the handle you can set the hook with the pre set drag pressure you've set. And for my bait fishing off the beach fishing for Tailor and Jewfish I use 20 to 30lb mono. I've caught Jewfish up to 27kg on this outfit on 20lb mono. Hope this helps, this is just my choice for this style of fishing. I'm sure you'll get some different advice. Tight lines

Hey mate, pretty sure it was just white with a white eye, or white with a red eye.

Thanks mate

Wow these guys put up a spectacular fight, this fish jumped out the water about 6 times with the fish well clear of the water, caught on my 8wt on Clouser I tied myself.

Sure can especially since it was hooked in less them a metre of water with 20lb tippet, it's first run was towards 50m but it'd not like there's any structure on the flats so you can just let it do its thing.

Yeah for some it is said to be the Holy Grail of fly fishing, but the Holy Grail is really what ever your goals are.

I was very lucky to get this on my second day on the flats, but it gets better I caught my second Permit the next day and my 3rd Permit the following day.

Sure was after fishing hard to get the hook up, I was pretty nervous during the fight feeling every voilent head shake with that thought of something going wrong like pulling the fly or popping the fish, very relieved to land the fish.

First Permit on fly, fishing Hinchinbrook with Clint Isaac. Caught on a Crab pattern on my 10wt with 20lb tippet. Anak are a very good fighter hooked in less than a meter of water so theres only one way they can run, and thats away from you accross the flat.

Thanks mate, it was back in December 2019 on my 6wt using a 1/0 Clouser white/yellow with red double pupil eye from Saltwater flies Australia