squidjigga

Yep gonna use pliers next time. I plan to eat my next one to get even

I think the catfish which stung me was an estuary cobbler. It ended up causing my thumb to swell and I had a burning sensation for the rest of the day. I still have a mark on my thumb from where it got me, you can see its white spine on the right pectoral fin in the pic I took below.

I can agree on the smaller sized jigs being more popular but I'm surprised at the natural colours, I've only ever caught squid on orange jigs. I've tried white, green, and blue squid jigs but never had any luck. I'll have to give brown squid jigs a try.

I think @Isaac Ct is right, after some googling, Yellowfin Pigfish looks like the species

Definitely, I'll be keen to meet up when I get a chance as I'm always looking to learn from others.

Nice work @SpeedyGiraffe49! Lots of parallels in experience as I've recently got into lure fishing and have been practicing casting and retrieving under @DerekD's mentorship too. I've only been able to get small hook ups on soft plastics (pearl 3 inch paddle tails) so far: one small bream, two tiny tailor, and a lizard fish. ^ Some of my soft plastic "successes" so far. I'm still waiting to hook up a decent fish like your flatty on a soft plastic or catch my first fish on surface lure but I'm sure it will come with gradual improvement by practicing and just spending more time fishing. I would love to hear from @linewetter if he has any advice or not-so-obvious tips on the slow rolling technique he's had so much success with.

Awesome photo @Blackfish, I didn't know you could hold them bare-handed like that though

There were a few logs yesterday around Dangar Island and the water was still pretty murky

Actually @Yowie might be right, if a big toadfish bit the middle of the longshank, I could see a beak bending the hook in that fashion.

@DrRaymondSnapper We didn't see the bite happen because we were fussing over a 40Cm+ bream on another rod. We only found the hook like that once we checked to see if bait was still on, almost certain it wasn't a propeller. @wazatherfisherman it was over a deep hole not far from snapper rock. @slothparade is spot on, it was a cheap hook from a 5 letter department store so I'm sure the hook quality played a factor but I'm still surprised at something doing that much damage. My dad reckons it might have been a crab using its pincers.

I was fishing today with a mate in some deep water and one of our hooks came back looking like this... Any ideas on what could have mangled the hook so badly? We were on to some big bream on our other rods right before it happened but I can't imagine a bream bite causing that damage.

This is an amazing resource thanks @DerekD, it has already answered a bunch of questions I had. Thanks!

I'm based in Sydney. Is there a specific reason you prefer to teach with sugapens? I'm keen to learn poppers because the action looks pretty satisfying.

@DerekD able to share any tips on surface lure fishing? Would love to hear your advice and anecdotes.

Thanks for the info Zoran, Using gel on the sabiki is not a bad idea too if the water is shallow. Interesting note about the legality of a baited sabiki, never thought of that but it makes sense now you say it.

beautiful catch, how was the fight getting it in?

@Steve0 wow thank you so much for your insights. This info is better than anything I ever expected, I'll be sure to apply this knowledge and hopefully catch my first salmon soon.

By dropping, you mean opening the bail and letting it fly down right? Not just dipping the rod tip lower? And good mention on the size, I'd almost forgotten sabikis come in a range of hook sizes 🤦‍♂️ might need to go smaller

I was fishing this weekend and spotted two Aussie Salmon gliding through the water and decided to try and catch them. I had a squid leg on one rod and a Zman Grubz soft plastic (motor oil colour, not sure if that's a great colour tbh) on the other. I tried casting and retrieving with both but could not get a single bite from them. Does anyone have any tips on retrieve speed? Do I speed up the retrieve when they swim at it? And what are your experiences with soft plastic sizes and colours for Aussie Salmon?

Thanks @Ryder grated potato is a new tip for berley that I haven't heard yet. Any other ideas for cheap and convenient berley? @DerekD@slothparade thanks for the tips using the Sabiki. I've been jigging it up and down in the schools of bait fish so that must be where I'm going wrong. I'll try using a heavy-ish pyramid sinker and dropping then retrieving the rig at different speeds.

Hi raiders, Recently I've been getting in to catching my own bait and so I've been using Sabiki Rigs. I find if I add small bits of bread or prawns, I am able to catch livebait almost instantly. However, I've been advised that Sabiki Rigs should be able to catch bait without the addition of bread or anything like that. I've tried it a few times and I end up never even getting a nibble if I don't add something to the Sabiki. Am I missing something here? Does anyone have advice on how to catch bait using only a Sabiki? I am land-based if that matters. Thanks in advance!

Good to know it's good crab and shark bait @Restyle might try that in the future. @faker what's your go to eel dish?

I have been advised it is a pike eel

Any tips on how to prepare it and cook it? Favourite seasonings? Any reason to not eat it? How the hell do I get eel slime off everything?

Legend thanks