Chillifishi

Thanks for the wisdom folks I do think my rod tip is a bit lower than usual, I will keep in mind and see how it goes!

Hi fish Raiders! I got my first baitcaster delivered in the post yesterday and went out for a fish. Happy to say no bird nesting though my brakes and spool tensions are pretty high:) I was flicking a 3 inch rapala prawn SP on a 1/8th and lucky enough to get onto 2 flatties and 1 soapie, but I noticed that my leader was wrapping around the fish as I was fighting them. I found this a little weird as this almost never happens when I'm using spinning gear. Just wanted to know if anyone else has had similar experience or might know why this is happening? Maybe something to do with the way I'm fighting the fish - tighter drag and muscling it in, rather than letting the drag sing like I would on light spinning gear? Thanks!

Ooo awesome looking fish!

100% if only they would take lures more often, but the scarcity makes it all the more special!

Went down to the local after putting the kids to bed for a well earned fish after a crazy day at work as I wanted to clear the old noggin. Dead on high tide when I arrived. Flicked around a 2.5 inch zman grub for about an hour or so on a light jig head (1/20th?) without a single enquiry. Switched over to a baitjunkie minnow 2.5 inch on a 1/8 oz in the hope of running into a flatty or soapie. Tried a variety of retrieves - slow roll, lift, dead stick, double/triple hope. After a while on the double hop I get smashed and the 2500 Freams screams and TD hyper 2 (1-2kg) buckles. 6lb leader on 4lb braid. Epic fight with multiple runs. Finally in the net and landed 40cm mullet! I love it when they go for the lure on light gear happens like once a year, all his mates are probably like "what r ya doing!" I had never tried mullet before so I thought this would be my opportunity. Ikejime immediately, gutted and scaled. Filleted at home and found it quite similar to mackeral! Surprisingly good eating with just a sprinkle of salt pan fried.

My 2 cents I have 10 lb Kmart braid on my 2500 Stradic used with either FC or mono leader 6 or 8lb and it works fine for 2 years. Big fan of Alberto knot for this kinda set up

My curse is the pink 2.5 inch powerbait grub. Got them on sale maybe 1 year ago and caught maybe 2 flatties on those in all that time. Love 2.5 inch grubs in motor oil or watermelon red. Love 2.5 inch minnows in any brownish colour. Been doing ok with flatties on the 2.5 inch prawns hopping them off the bottom lately. I suspect a strong case of confirmation bias 😅

Sweet thanks mate

My guess is bass? But not too sure.

What a donkey of a bream! Nice one!

What a cracking report. Congratulations mate!

Im right handed and for the longest time was winding with my right hand. In looking to eliminate the switcheroo and be more efficient after casting i switched over to winding with the left about 4 months ago and am now never looking back. I find i have more control in imparting action with my right hand/wrist/arm and while fighting fish felt clumsy and odd for the first month or two, it feels 100% natural now.

Yep!

Right near the boat ramp where the steel fish table thing is. Plenty of light!

According to my youtube research that's the theory behind it - slightly smaller, more finesse presentation, without sacrificing any of the action on the tail. Though that bream might have taken the 2.5 inch version...we shall never know😄

I have tried along the road there, and have hooked up to exactly 1 bream and 1 soapie across multiple attempts. I'm thinking I need to cast a bit closer to the structure, but my casting accuracy needs a bit of work! I've been told there are decent bream there, but yet to hook one up of a decent size.

Weather is beautiful and I find myself with an hour or two to have a fish in the evening, so I drive down to Berowra Waters to have a flick. Tide is running out, water is pretty dirty from the previous rain. I started off with a prawn vibe; after about 10 casts, I load up and end up dropping the fish. Likely a small flatty or soapie, annoyed that I've dropped it nonetheless, I remind myself to set the hook. I switch over to a 2 inch minnow on a 1/8th (2.5 inch baitjunkie cut back). In the next hour or so I get onto 4 fish: 3 tiny soapies, and the highlight which was a (potentially legal) bream, which was great fun on the light gear. More importantly, my goal has been to get more bream so this session, while short, was an awesome one! All C&R. Thanks for reading! Chilli

Totally makes sense. Agree with the less turns too, i couldnt make it work on 3lb leader with more than 12 turns.

I have tried small baits there (prawn, pillies) but not bread. Ever since starting on soft plastics havent used any kind of bait, not cause i have anything against bait, but i just wanted to stop myself from giving up in the soft plastics prematurely and now am thoroughly addicted! Speaking of mullet, got these in a sesh some months ago on a 2.5 inch zman grubz! There was a huge school of them milling around, they took the lure, which i understand is rare but not unheard of. 100% they gave me some great adrenaline pumping runs on the 1-3kg and the 1000 Sienna😄 no luck in them since

Yes they quite often bite off more than they can chew haha

Hey mate! Haha my kids are both under 5 and a few years ago my wife and i just started to inch bed time bit by bit back to 730 ish. Since they cant tell the time yet, they didnt know the difference! That Texas rig sounds fun, Ill give it a shot once I work through the current tackle Ive got:)

Hard day at work, kids in bed by 730, means only one thing - rod, reel and lure bag into the boot and off to the local for a few hours of peace and healing 😁. Since getting a 1-3 kg ultra light set up, I haven't been showing my 2500 Stradic and 2-4 kg Pfleuger Triton much love lately, so this is my gear of choice. Traditionally I would use a normal jighead with my plastics, but I decide to give wormhook-plus-ball-sinker-in-loopknot-weedless set up a go. Safe to say it worked just fine! I get on the water about 830 and start throwing around a 2.5 inch baitjunkie minnow with a dash of Sfactor and get pantsed a couple of times. After about half an hour a gutsy soapie takes the lure. Another hour or so in and two flatties and another (tiny) soapie later I decide to call it, thoroughly satisfied with the sesh, 4 fish and plenty of down time and fresh air!