monch

Hi guys, i recently bought a combo for light/medium kingy/jewie bait fishing and would like your opinions once again but for line rating. 7' 6-10kg Ugly Stik Platinum Shimano Baitrunner 4500B I also got 300m of 20lb Fins PRT braid and some backing which the people at the store spooled up for me. I was happy with the purchase until i did some testing of the drag with my cousin. The braid seemed to snap at around a 5kg (10lb) drag setting and not at the slim beauty knot either. My testing was a little crude but seems accurate enough for my intentions. My method was: Weighed some dumbells on an electronic balance, wrapped a few metres of line onto the handle which was not sharp, tried to keep the pressure nice and even and tied it off with a uni knot. I then increased the drag on the reel, pointed it to the floor and dead lifted the weights. With a 5kg dumbell, i slowly decreased the drag until the drag started to slowly tick and lower the weight back to the floor. Now that i had a fairly good measure of 5kgs of drag, i got my cousin to get a good grip of the 30lb mono leader, i pointed the rod at him and he walked backwards very slowly. SNAP goes the braid a good 2m away from the slim beauty knot. Now i am very confused. This now raises a few questions: - Is the line faulty or is my testing flawed? - Should I try to return the line and if so how would i prove it was faulty? - How much drag should i run on my combo? i was thinking 3kg but not sure now - Should i get another spool of 30lb braid instead of 20lb? The main question: Should i use 20lb or 30lb braid for my combo which is in bold above?

Nice fish hodgey ! That 'monster' of a flattie MUST be a record!

Made a half-arsed attempt for jews tonight with squid freshly jigged at the spot. No touches but my baits got slowly nibbled away. I am starting to dread each session before i even go out. Dreading the constant failure and disappointment Can't wait till winter is over

Jewgaffer i think Tan allocated you the question above the one you tried to answer Anyway, Jdi, I am by no means a pro but i have been reading fishraider for quite a while and like to hope i have my theory up to scratch even if my practical skills are a little deficient. I would say that since your cousins seem to be experienced you should try and bug them to go fishing with you more often. If they are dedicated i'm sure they'll agree. Seeing first hand how to tie knots, rig up baits etc and catch livebait really accelerates your learning and i wish i had someone to show me these things. In regards to your inability to 'feel' the fish on the 10ft rod with 6500 baitrunner, this is because they would be smaller fish nibbling at your bait and i mean small relative to the the strength of the gear you are using. The 10ft rod i am guessing would be rated to be suitable for a higher line weight than what you were using at the entrance (the 4-6kg rod?) and thus comfortable with. That and/or it may just be relatively stiff and thus does not transmit the touches and bumps coming from the end of the line. Braided line helps in this regard as it has zero stretch (unlike monofilament) and transmits vibrations very well, however seeing as how your a beginner, i would not recommend you using braid as it is costly and is prone to more problems eg harder to tie knots, wind knots etc Musty has given you a good basic rundown of gear and a simple running sinker rig that will get you most species, i would heed his advice. You should also search the forums for some more information for this area. In regards to soft plastics, hardbodies and lure-fishing in general, i tried to start off with soft plastics a few months ago and to tell you my honest opinion, it may be better off to start with bait fishing. Firstly it is less costly (at least in the beginning) since you need some more specialised gear (such as rods, reels, line, jig heads, lures etc) which is not an absolute necessity but really lets you use the full potential of the style. Also, bait fishing is inherently easier, some fish will hit a smelly dead prawn that is not presented on the hook properly but rarely will fish hit a similarly presented lure. Lures require the right movement and action to entice a strike and most fish around wharves etc have seen many a lure twitched in their faces, they have now grown accustomed to them and on my experiences alone, it is quite hard to get a hit on lures in these overfished areas. You will thus get more hits on bait with less effort which allows you to learn the feeding habits of the fish you are targetting. For the style of fishing that you have indicated (landbased off wharves etc) a 7ft will be a good length, 2-4kg rod will get you most fish you will encounter (ie it is light and sensitive enough to let you feel bites but also strong enough to get a decent sized fish). Since you are just starting out, i reckon it is more important to get the feel of things and fish lighter (ie with lighter line, sinkers etc) to allow you to get hits more often. If you were to purchase a new combo, i would advise you to think of a budget and search these forums for some ideas and then head to a local tackle store and ask for some more advice there. Also it is winter at the moment and i have found the fishing to have slowed down considerably. You will find that come summer you will start to get much more success comparatively. This does not mean that you should give up and wait until then but it is just a heads up to let you know that you are not alone, a lot of people have also had trouble getting fish recently. This is just a quick rundown of stuff and even though this seems like an essay, there is considerably more that can be learnt. I hope others will give you some more specific advice in regards to your questions, but if not a search through the forums will really give you an insight into the details of our fantastic hobby. Hope you have a good time catching fish and Welcome to fishraider Monch

I went about 3 weeks ago, could only manage yakkas. Saw a small cuttle attack my jig but didn't get a proper hookup, also had a run of a squid on a live yakka but that's about it. And geekfisherman, there was actually a rodent in the water, some sort of water rat.

Haha, he returns the tackle bag and with some treble upgrades as well. This one is a top bloke Props to you my friend

Sounds like a lot of fun was had, great work. And that last picture is a stunner! First class wallpaper material right there.

Here it is: This has been brought up on the forums before, i searched around but couldn't find it here.

Where is the survey? I can't find it but want to vote

Thanks for all the replies guys, it is greatly appreciated. I have taken it all into consideration and can tell there are merits for both options. I was starting to favour the 9' path, however, in the end i went for a 7' Ugly Stik Platinum that was on sale and couldn't pass up the bargain. Monch

I have been getting zilch in the hacking for a while. I usually at least manage to get some live baits but the water was so clear today, the fish could see my hook and didn't touch my baits. I burleyed up lots of undersize trevally, yakkas, pilchards and also blackfish at the one spot but to not much effect.

Ok guys, quick question: For land-based bait fishing for smaller kings and jews around wharves, jetties etc (but not on rocks), would you prefer a 7 foot or 9 foot rod? I guess a trade-off with a shorter rod is less casting distance but more direct pulling power on your side which equals less leverage for the fish to pull. I'm not sure if a longer rod will help land the fish when its close to shore though, since its extra length could help keep it away from pylons but could it also mean less direct force from the angler to pull the fish away from said pylons?

Put me on the list Woohoo 1st fishraider social for me, should be able to make it. By the way, what will we be targetting?

Ifish is now regularly on One Digital which is Channel ten's 24/7 sports channel

Nice fish mate, especially the flattie. I'm quite surprised it didn't put up a fight, must have been in hibernation for winter. By the way, what combo is that in the 2nd picture? I think its a Daiwa Tierra reel but what is the rod and what are the line weights for them if you don't mind me asking?

Hey mate, nice calamari there. I went down to the hacking at sunset 2day got 2 tiny <8cm arrow squid that i sent back out as bait hoping for a jew. Both got nibbled to death, then when i brought up one to check on it, i could feel the pulsing of a squid on the end "hang on..." i thought, "hadn't my squid already died?". I reeled it up and a larger squid had eaten it, not sure whether it had been hooked properly i slowly dragged it over and tried to grab my other rod with a squid jig on it, getting ready for it to fall off the hook. As expected, it fell off and i quickly tried to entice it with the squid jig but it didn't take it. Not long after i hooked another arrow around 20cm hood, not sure if it was the same one tho. The tube will be dinner but the head is going to be bait for my next session I could make out in the water a school of squid which i presumed were arrows but they weren't fooled by the jig.

Yeh, the boat ramp is right next to it, wally's "wharf" is more like a pontoon really. I could complain all day about the inconsiderate boaties and other landbased ppl there who tangle and cut lines, create 1m waves, scare off fish and step on my fishing equipment but that is for another topic.

Went to wally's this morning, could get livies at first but nothing else, saw 2 big bloops at sunrise, not sure what they were but couldn't get them anyway. After hours of trying my yakka gets attacked and starts swimming all over the place, i bring it up slowly and low and behold 2 HUGE calamari squid are stalking it 25-30cm hood i estimate. Threw out the yakka on a squid spike but the constant boat traffic had scared them off already grrr... In conclusion, ended up with a donut... again..

Its hard to see with an untrained eye but quite obvious....he has an amphibious car and boat but likes to use them in reverse

How does everyone rate the Symetre FJ 4000? Advantages, disadvantages? Any alternatives that rate well for the same price (around $150)? Is 15lb/20lb braid a good match for it?

That is the stuff of dreams Slinky.... actually.. even better than my dreams , you have spoilt us all.

Oh my gosh that is a dream run there, wish i had "beginners luck" too... Self caught squid, prime feeding time, tide change and barometer rise... hmm maybe not so much "luck" after all. The overriding factor would of course be the guts to go out 2nite in this cold weather, without that, all the luck in the world would not have accounted for anything. Great work and once again welcome to fishraider

I left at around 12, must've just missed each other lol The action died right down at that time which is why i left, was getting hungry for lunch as well. I find that the bait fish (and most other fish) are more active when the sun is not as high, hence the action in the morning. Although there are times when the action fires up at midday.

Went to Wally's wharf this morning, got there at around 6:30am and started burleying up for bait. After a little while there were swarms of small gars, yakkas and what i think were pilchards of some sort. They were very scaly like garfish but their scales were even more prone to falling off, coming off by the handful when i tried to de-hook them. As such, they did not survive for very long but made good bait nonetheless. Their scales are quite glittery as well. With a few livebaits i threw them out hoping for a king to come round. Was only armed with my 2-4kg flick stick and 6lb line (hoping for a miracle) so was undergunned but do-able provided i take my time. I only wanted to experience a hit anyway. Not long later I notice my float go under slowly and continuously, not like a run of any fish and i started to wind it back b4 i started to notice the pulsing of a squid. I dragged the squid in closer and cast out a squid jig on my other rod. It let go of the fish but didn't fall for the squid jig. I tried this another 5 or so times with the same bait before i gave up and rigged up another livie. Within 2 minutes the squid has killed the livie again... "dam squid!" i thought to myself "i'm gonna get you now". Threw out the squid jig again and let it sink further to try and let the squid attack it from the darker depths but nope it gets snagged and i lose my favourite jig Anyway... no kings or any other fishy predators arrive but this squid proceeded to kill all of my livebaits one after the other. Really wishing that i had a squid spike right now, I decided to get creative to outsmart this squid. Knowing that squid like to attack just behind the head of their prey, I cut off the head of the just killed yakka, got rid of most of the insides and stuck my small squid jig threw the mouth so that the yakka head was kind of like a new shirt for the squid jig. I attracted the squid over and threw the modified squid jig in, pulled away the bait and jigged the jig. He let go and bang i was on. Hauled him in and i was happy, he had a decent 20cm+ hood. Having the smart bugger for dinner ... now who gets the last laugh Conditions seemed nearly ideal and the barometer took a good steady rise the whole morning from about 1013 to 1016 but alas no decent fish

I agree. I have had the most success with using an unweighted rig. It consists of a small swivel for some slight weight to a trace of 50cm or so to the smallest hook that i can find, i usually use a size 12 but if slimeys are around i can afford to go to a size 8 or so. I bait the hook carefully with a miniscule piece of bread or slice of fish and let that drift in the same direction as my burley trail. I find that bait presentation is paramount when the fish are timid. For example if i roll up a small piece of bread into a ball too firmly then they won't take it whereas if i roll it up barely firm enough to stay on the hook and let little pieces waft off the bait then its a near sure way of getting them. I find that if i really take care then i can get them most of the time, all that is left is to find them and get them interested with burley.