Jewhunter

Snell them

Hi CJ. I had a similar thing a few years ago. I bought a Penn spinfisher when camping down in Ballina to spin the south wall for jew. The boys at the shop spooled it up for me with 40lb braid. It didn't look right, as it spooled unevenly. Needless to say my spin session was a disaster, with massive knots in the braid every third cast. The line would stack up thicker at the top of the spool than the bottom during retrieve. I lost about 80mtrs of braid through cutting & re=tying! I took it back to the shop & they tried a few things, but couldn't get line to lay evenly. They spoke to the rep & he let them replace it with the upgraded SSV model. Great reel. Heavy, & not suitable for long spin sessions, but solid & reliable. I've since changed over to a Pflueger Salt 6000 that pulls 13kg of very smooth drag & couldn't be happier. It seems that Penns in the lower-mid price range have various issues that they need to address.

Dave, I need to take you cod fishing! Well done mate. It's very addictive & wait until you get them on surface!!

Done. But it does take some time when you have 3 boats, four kayaks & 1 SUP!

Are you striking at the fish when you get a hit? When fishing surface you have to not strike at all & wait until you feel the weight of the fish through the line. Striking at them pulls the lure away from them more often that not. Ohh, & well done on those fish. Great size at 40cm. Well done.

Try adding an extra split ring between the hooks & lure to get them to sit a bit further back & swing a bit more than they do with standard trebles. It's an old school method, but it works well. Also, are you pausing the lure for long enough? Once a bream is interested, a pause usually see's them hit the lure, as they really don't like it moving too much for them the strike. That's in calm water though. In really windy conditions with plenty of chop, keep it moving.

It was when I upgraded the drag to carbon washes & added an extra stack. Mmm, maybe that's why I bent the main shaft!! Haha!

I'd say so, just a bit smaller & less line capacity. My 10000 was an automatic 2 speed & they are hard to find these days. I bent the main shaft locking up on a big king years ago & couldn't get a replacement part for it. One of my all time fave reels that I've owned.

They're a bit bigger than the 7000, but are a great reel. Like Rick I used the same combo & caught alot of good fish on it.

Awesome pics again Jon. They are always worth a good look & thanks for sharing the beautiful part of the world you live in & the life you & your kids live. Keep 'em coming mate.

Use non scented plastics & coat with your own scents.

Great part of the coast. Nice Macks, but jeez they are monster Trag! Well done, but try not to mention a charter if you can. Well done!!

Thanks Jani & John. It was a great fight on spin gear. They never give up. They are right up there for me as an eating fish. Delicious no matter how they're cooked.

It will be tight! I hope you've got the Tillytoo! No doubt a few of you will drag the mattresses to get away from the snorers! You'll definitely need 3 tenders. It's as many as you can safely tow anyway. If you want any tips on where to go, spots, etc shoot me a pm. Also, use the search function at the top of the page & type in Weipa. There's plenty of posts on the place. Stewy did a top report of our last trip up there. Heaps of good info in all those posts.

3, 4 & 5 inch. 50-100gm. Raiders, the old half x quarters & bumper bar's are the go. Are you on the houseboat with tenders, or doing your own thing?

I always take too much when I go up there! 4-5 inch white paddle & curly tail softies on a 1/4 jighead slow rolled over shallow reefs are awesome. Take some heavier jigheads for deeper fishing around the lead markers. Squidgy mongrels, zman's, etc. Gold bombers never fail & still catch a heap of fish. Jackal Transams for deeper, muddy bottoms. A variety of metals & slugs to throw at queenies & longtails. Some big rapalas & jetheads for trolling for spaniards, & some poppers & stickbaits for chasing GT's over the bommies. That should cover most of it.

The scream of the drag is the best alarm to set. It will wake you up every time.

Fish around either side of the bridge pylons on a tide change at dawn or dusk with large soft plastics. It will take time to work out, but there are jew there. No oysters on the bottom & forget the prawn & burley.

Yep. I didn't know they grew that big. But I saw the pics & had 1st hand accounts from the property owner. Apart from that one I landed I also got dusted by one much bigger. They thrived in that dam. Everything in Africa is bloody big!

Yep, same fish Rick. Some bright spark bought some fingerlings & stocked the dam I fished years ago. They bred in there & get bloody huge. I saw some pics of 20lb bass that came out of there. They are an amazing fish to catch. Big bucket mouth, & they jump like a Barra.

4kg Largemouth bass caught in Zimbabwe many moons ago on a soft plastic, one of the 1st times I used one, on the cheapest & crappiest fibreglass rod with a plastic reel with an amazingly poor drag! It goes down as one of my best as I was fishing a new spot & the tackle used would be lucky to nail a decent bream. Scanned Image.pdf

& I remember you wading out with me & were there when I hooked up to the 2nd, bigger fish. You also helped me haul them back to the car as my hands were full & my leg was bleeding! Mate you're an absolutely top bloke & I always wanted to get in touch with you to thank you for your generosity. Hope you're well, & all these years later, 27 years in fact, thank you!

Are you effing kidding me??!! Was that you in the silver car that took that photo & was kind enough to send it to me in the mail? I have been forever grateful for that, as I was on my own & it was the only pic taken while they were just out of the water!

That would do the trick mate! When I got those two it was on a whim & I didn't have much with me, as it was the 1st time I'd ever fished there & my 1st time ever spinning for jew. Did a lot after that. Did you ever spin the Gosford rail bridge in a flood? I did a bit back in the early nineties & got a few.

Good onya Neil. That's a very generous offer & Vanuatu is an amazing place to fish!