DerekD

Good news: The reel looks about the right size but I can see a rod in your future for lure fishing so you get to do some retail therapy too. Actually that 6 foot 6 inches rod should work to start off with. I've got to do a bit more checking up.

Hi @Waynocantfish By the way, don't buy too much gear until you understand a little bit more about the why for each item. I've heard it said before that "lures were designed to catch fisherman more often than fish".

Hi @Waynocantfish Once we know what gear you have we can make some suggestions. On the rods should be brand, model, line rating and ideally lure rating. I've had the Raider series of bream rods since the mid 2000s so there is a chance the rods might be graphite. Regards, Derek

Hi @Waynocantfish, I might be able to sneak in one more fishing student before the end of year. Could you make it to the lower north shore one weekend. It would cut the learning curve dramatically. Currently I have this weekend pretty free. It starts to get cluttered again after that. Regards, Derek PS. If Wayne takes me up on the offer I'll have one other spot free if someone else is interested in learning more about lure fishing on light gear. It is almost as easy to teach two people as it is one. Any more though and it gets a little too hectic. Rod should be graphite in the 1-4kg range and about 7 foot long, reel in the 1000 to 2500 and ideally a light braid of 4 to 6lbs. Leader around the 8lb mark. Starting location would be Mosman bay.

Just before we get into the advice part - what gear did you get? With lure fishing getting the right outfit makes a difference. I put this together recently to help people starting out. I have a few things to add to it such as some suggested lures for starting out.

I'm hoping this request for information doesn't breach any site rules. I've tried keeping it pretty vague but hopefully with enough information that someone is able to help. Several years ago when the lockouts were put out there, one of the supporters (from one of the smaller parties) put out some promo material going on about how much he knew about fish. To this day I don't know if it was genuine or a very clever person taking the mickey out of the politician. If it was genuine I suspect they were talking themselves up as an expert who knew what they were on about and to give some additional punch to the promotion of the lockouts. It went along the lines of "these are yellowfin bream, I know as I have been studying them for years... blah blah blah". The twist in the tail was that they were actually Tarwhine in the related photo. Does anyone have a copy of this electronic media they can forward to me. To this day it still makes me laugh.

Both excellent companies. If they didn't make good products then with all the competition out there they wouldn't stay in business. Question is a little too open ended. Are you comparing a Saltist series with a Raider. A Twinpower with a Saltiga. My response depends partly on your budget. In a similar price range it is more likely to come down to personal preference than relative "build quality". You get what you pay for. I lean towards Shimano because I've been really happy with their products and their aftersales service has been so good to me (when I worked near their Taren Point offices) but I also own several Daiwa outfits.

Hi @Ryan.f, Thank you sometimes goes both ways. I've enjoyed your company during these learning sessions and the passion you have in trying things makes it a pleasure to mentor you. I've been really impressed at how quickly you've picked up a lot of the techniques and philosophies behind what I'm showing you. I did the numbers this morning and realised with an 80cm mulloway, a 65cm kingfish, a 30cm tailor, 2 legal and 1 just under legal blackfish that you caught over 2.5m of fish on Saturday (if you laid them head to tail). If we'd scored a salmon and flathead too on Saturday I would have told you not to worry about the lottery as you probably used up all your fishing luck for the day. Having said that I believe technique was a bigger factor in your success than luck. You worked for and earned every one of the fish you landed. We were also lucky in the order they were caught. Those blackfish allowed us to discuss fighting techniques and an awareness of adjacent structures. That mulloway was excellent practice on how to bring in and control a larger fish. The tailor was good learning for the working of the slug-go lure and the bump I keep talking about. The kingfish gave you an opportunity to put it all together. Well done and looking forward to our next session. Probably yabbie (ghost nippers) pumping and 40cm plus whiting on the sandflats. Regards, Derek PS. I pointed out to Ryan on the day that a mulloway, and especially a legal one, is a Holy Grail of Sydney fishing for many people.

Hi @Tomfisho, Firstly, as others have said, "Welcome aboard". Once I got the hang of lures my joy in fishing increased exponentially. As with most things there is a learning curve and the more you put into it and listen, watch and try the better you will do. Try not to get stuck on conventional advice. Listen to it but think about the why. More about that another time. You've mentioned some excellent details (outfit and target species) but you are also missing some information in your original query. Are you using monofilament or braid. What breaking strain? Where are you based (there are 4 rather extensive water systems in Sydney (Pittwater, Sydney including Middle Harbour, Botany Bay and finally Port Hacking). I mostly fish the first two. Do you have a car or are you stuck with public transport. I hope I don't come across as rude with the following but just something to think about. For a lot of my fishing spots I've put a lot of time to work them out. How to fish them is often far more important than where. I also don't like crowds and will walk away from some of my favourite locations if there are too many people there. As such I usually only share my locations with close fishing buddies or people I mentor who have become friends over time and who have earned my respect enough to share the spots. They don't get everything either. 😀 Rather than spot X or Y what I will do is give you enough things to think about so you can speed up your journey. For locations, Google maps can be your friend for water systems but a better option I found in the past was an old copy of UBD (urban business directory) as they often included paths down to little public wharfs which you often won't see on Google maps. Every 4th trip for me was an exploration trip. The other 3 trips were to get to know existing areas better at different times of the tide as well as seasons. A location might fish better in the summer than the winter. There are plenty of public wharves which are still open to the public. I also like to hit the small bays which don't have a lot of boat traffic. Think about where bream might be. Watch some of the bream tournament videos. @Niall did this wonderful piece on topwater bream and there is a follow up. Look at the video link in the article too. There are plenty of sandflats to fish in Sydney. The inner west has several I fish (look at videos by Shroom). For most of my fish I like quick drop offs so I can fish various depths. To be continued. Regards, Derek

If you do get a Fishfinder for your kayak then there are some things that you are better off learning sooner rather than later. The following assumes that you also have a GPS incorporated in the unit. You should know the model of the Fishfinder you are getting which means you have an opportunity to read up or look at YouTube clips before getting out of the water. You may be able to plug yours in at home to play with it and learn about it. There is also a simulation mode on most units. These are the things I suggest you know before getting out on the water. Getting the unit out of simulation mode. Setting up for Australian conditions: knots, meters, Celsius. Setting up for your preferred coordinate format. For expample. Degrees, Minutes and Seconds (DMS). Degrees and Decimal minutes (DMM). Finally. Degrees Decimal (DD). Switching between Sonar, SideScan and Navigation Map Programming in a waypoint. If you go on Google maps you can right click on the location you want to go to and it will give you coordinates. Not sure what format they are in. Choosing a waypoint to navigate to. Dropping a waypoint at a location of interest. Launch location is a good starting point. If you go over a point of interest you want to be able to enter it quickly. I can do it with a single button push on mine. Setting the sensitivity of the sonar so you don’t pick up everything that is down there Learning how to read sidescan. YouTube this. Setting up multiple screens on your unit. Specifically, navigation and sonar so you can see them both at the same time Setting low battery level alarm (e.g. 11.2 volts) Setting up a shallow depth alarm When you get out there use it as much as possible. Go over anchor lines to see how it shows up. Go over rocks and weed patches and see what impact the hardness of the object has on the colour of the screen. Go over a boat wake to see what turbulence looks like.

H @AlbertW, Well done on a few levels. Firstly, on the fish you both caught (and lost but it still sounds like you enjoyed it). Secondly, on helping someone improve their knowledge of fishing. Mentoring will also help you grow as an angler - explaining concepts in a way that makes sense will help you understand the core basics even better. The questions they ask can get you to look at things from a different perspective and even change the ways you might do something. Thirdly, that was a well prepared and enjoyable to read fishing report. Regards, Derek

Hi Albert, I suggest you look at some sort of cross over outfit (stainless guides) in probably a 4 piece and 7 weight (floating line) in 9 foot. It is a little overgunned for the Australian trout (you can also downsize the leader and tippet to suit) but probably pretty good for the NZ ones. What you will be able to do is chase many of the saltwater species here in Sydney to keep yourself in practice when casting. I've also caught carp in the Hunter Valley and bass in Manly dam on my 7 weight outfit. A few years ago I started to branch out into luderick on fly. Read:

I'm surprised @AlbertW hadn't asked me about it to start with. Probably because we hadn't discussed it in our previous lessons. Albert I think we need to chat....

Overachiever!! Well done. Glad you are seeing some successes and it will only get better as we move into the warmer months. I may have opened the door but you are the one that has to walk through it and the more you put into it the more you will get out of it. Looking forward to the next fishing session.

Hi @maccapacca Something else just came to mind and this is applicable to a lot of the waters in Sydney and elsewhere. This time of year is nesting time for seagulls. They will often pick the least used moored boats to build a nest on. If you get near to one of these nests they will get rather narky at you and then harass you till you go away. Sometimes they will dive bomb you but almost all the time they will only be faking it and so will pull out about 1m or so at the at the closest. I've only ever heard of one person being hit but they were on the boat that had the nest. Sometimes they will try and drop a shit on you - I haven't been hit by one of those yet but there is always a chance.

Hi @maccapacca. First thing to be aware of about Mosman bay is the ferry traffic. The ferries come around Cremorne point point from Cremorne wharf and then cut over the bay to South Mosman (Musgrave street wharf) then back over to the other side of the bay to old Cremorne wharf and then finish at Mosman wharf. On the weekend they arrive there at about 20 past the hour and then head back out the same way they came in but in reverse. While there is only one ferry per hour the fact that it makes a return trip means you have to watch out for them twice. During peak hours on weekdays there are two ferries per hour coming in and out of the bay. The pilots are good and careful but you don't want to be lazily paddling up the bay and then hearing that really loud horn as they warn you to get out of the way. Watch the path they take and be aware of them and you shouldn't really have a problem. From South Mosman wharf into the bay is a no wash zone so you shouldn't get swamped by wake. There are other boats which use the bay but they shouldn't cause you a problem either. The good news is that it is usually sheltered from the wind or at least you should be able to find a spot to fish out of the wind on most days. There are also several areas where there are plenty of boats moored which gives you plenty of options to fish. There are toilet facilities and a cafe at Mosman wharf. In the corner of the back of the bay closest to Cremorne is a small beach and drop off. Some people I know like to fish that for flathead. On the left hand side heading towards South Mosman wharf is a nice long area to fish along the rock wall and moored boats. More to follow later.

Hi @maccapacca, I've got a strata meeting shortly but I should be able to give a better response about how you can fish Mosman bay from a kayak once I'm done. When are you planning on heading out there?

I have this academic argument with European friends about which side it is better to have the steering wheel on. I think Australia has it correct for several reasons. Most people are right handed and the right arm is stronger. The advantage then becomes (pre-automatic and power steering cars) that you could operate the indicator and steer single handed with the right hand and do gear changes (which required less strength) with the left. I had to replace my car earlier this year and bought a manual again because I enjoy the way they drive. I specifically went Japanese with the indicator on the right as it saves me lifting hand off the gear stick to indicate and then back down to the gear stick to change gears and then up to the indicator to cancel it on say a lane change. Annoyed the heck out of me when I had an Alfa Romeo for a year or so and so I promised myself that I'd probably never get a European car again.

I was fortunate enough to be able catch up with @big Neil again today before his double birthday celebration in the extended family (and the reason he is in Sydney). Today’s playground was McMahon’s point as it was out of the forecast winds, very scenic, and gave us the chance for some fish. My German friend Hannes was coming to join us after dropping his boss at the airport. New Raider @Ryan.f was available and eager to come down. Another Raider @Flop was also keen to join us but his wife had taken the car to go camping. Big Neil, Hannes and Ryan started with plastics. I took out the fly rod to see if I could tempt some luderick. My morning’s fishing did not go to plan..... First thing to note is in this area you don’t need super long casts 3-4m can be sufficient at times. The other thing is I was moving around the others to get into an open area so was shifting the fly line by doing some lazy roll casts prior to actually casting properly. Just before I could start I had a gentleman call out to me and then said he had a gift for me. It was a bottle of Armour All. I can be a little slow on the uptake at times but it turns out that he had seen me cast and struggle to get any distance. He was a passionate fly caster and did to me what I have done to so many others and offer some pointers to improve my technique. Things started to click into place so I asked him nicely if I could demonstrate how well I could cast when I was ACTUALLY casting. I sent out about ¾ of a full fly line a few times with tight loops and pointed out that the reason I was not casting far was that I didn’t need to. This is when the conversation got interesting. His name was Manuel (or Manny at times) and he’d a combined Portuguese and South African history. Ex SAS. Married an Australian nurse. Moved to England and then later Australia. He’d invested wisely when younger and was in a position where he was able to travel across Australia multiple times (his four wheel drive had done over 1,500,000km). He made his own flies. Unfortunately, his wife had passed away but he still had a passion for travel. He then showed me how his vehicle was decked out and the many flies he’d tied as experiments. He gave my fly rod a try and struggled as it was not the fast taper he was used to. It turns out that the reason for the Armour All was to make the line more slippery and then easier to send out. The idea is to first wash the line in soapy water and then stretch it out between two hooks. I could then go down the line rubbing in the Armour All and then go back with another cloth to polish it off. He was pretty sure the improved smoothness would assist with casting. Now I can almost shoot a full fly line but am a couple of yards of actually doing so. I’ve got Armour All in the garage so am happy to give this a try. After a very interesting discussion I went back to fishing. I didn’t have any downs but was just enjoying casting out the fly line. The wind picked up so I moved with the others to the actual wharf. I figured it was a good opportunity to work with Ryan on the nine foot rods while Hannes and Big Neil sat down for a chat. After about 30 minutes for this and the realisation some of us were getting hungry we made the decision to go for lunch at a nearby bakery that does amazing pies. What I’ve noticed on some of these fishing days with raiders at times it ends up to be more about the chats and the chance to reconnect than it is about the actual fishing. This turned out to be one of these days. Neil had some technical questions that the rest of us knew a bit about and took the time to explain to him. The food was good, the tea and coffee were hot and we were not in a hurry. Think we spent over an hour there just eating and chatting. For a change of location we moved to Mosman bay. We were mostly fishing plastics and during this afternoon session we all caught at least one flathead. As we were out of the wind it was a very pleasant afternoon fishing. It was not a long session as we had been invited to fellow Fishraider Flops place for dinner. It turned out to be one of those evenings I live for. Great company, many stories, lovely food (and plenty of it too) and the wine was flowing (for the other’s at least – I don’t drink and was the designated driver). The time flew by and then before I knew it I was dragging Neil out the door to drop him off at his accommodation for the evening. We did make a detour by the Northbridge bridge to get some photos for friends of Neil. All in all a lovely day and one of those ones that stay in the memory for years to come.

Hi, This is the fishing report for last weekend with Big Neil. He has the photos so hopefully will be able to add them when he gets back to Leeton. So after catching up with Donna, Stewie & Waza the night before to discuss fishing the plan for the Saturday was to actually do some fishing. I met him at the place he was staying and then we drove to the Freshwater/Queenscliff area. Me to collect some cabbage and string weed for fishing and Neil to drop some pottery off at the extended family. We then went down to Mosman to meet with the others. I’d invited @henryr down to join us and had a mate (Hannes) over from Germany for work who was also going to meet us there. That was the plan at least. Turns out Hannes and his boss Nils went to the pub for a drink and then made some new friends. They got back into the hotel at about 6 in the morning then made the mistake of lying down on the bed to.... zzzzzzzzzz. Fortunately the choice of Mosman bay meant we could have something to eat and then have a flick while we waited for the others. Neil walked past a parked car and ended up in a conversation about fishing. This was how we met new Fishraider @ryan.f. Turns out he was just getting into fishing locally. He had a 9 foot rod so we invited him to the wharf to show how we would normally fish that outfit. Neil was happy flicking a lure while I was mentoring Ryan. At this stage HenryR arrived and spent some time chatting to Neil. Finally, Hannes rocks up and we could change location to chase the target species of Luderick. Ryan had to leave at this stage so we shifted to Clifton Gardens as I can usually find a few down there. Hannes borrowed one of my squid jigs and spent some time chasing them - unsuccessfully but I think he was just happy to be back in Sydney. We were sheltered from the NW winds so it was really pleasant down there. We made up the burley and started chasing luderick in earnest. They were there but really picky. Henry had some downs but only landed one. Neil and myself were in donut territory. We could see them swimming through the weeds but they wouldn’t play. The most frustrating thing was that inside the netted area where we aren’t allowed to fish were about 5 times the number of blackfish. Pretty sure they have worked out what is and isn’t a safe area over the years. Wasn’t really happening so we shifted back to Mosman bay where both Neil and HenryR scored a few blackfish. While not huge amounts of fish we did get the target species. All in all it was a lovely day. The plan was slightly different for the Sunday as we had Hannes and his boss Nils joining us to pump yabbies. The target species for the day was whiting. Nils had not done much fishing in his life so the day was a balance between fishing and touristy activities. We met at the sandflats of Bayview and introduced the two Germans to the yabby pump and sieve. They learned what to look for and how to best use the pump and sieve as a team. Nils got a yabby on his first pump but it had eggs so was released. Over an hour we got enough yabbies for the afternoon fishing session. We were conveniently close to a tackle shop so popped in for a look and some gear. We did the touristy bit next with a looping drive up to Palm beach and back with a convenient stop at the Newport arms hotel. We got back to the Manly area in the afternoon for a fish. Hannes and Neil knew what they were doing so I left them to their own devices after showing them how to rig up and hook on the yabbies. Nils had pretty well never fished before so I worked with him on casting and how to work the yabbies over the sandy bottom. He must have been listening as he hooked a few flathead, a cracking whiting and surprisingly, a long tom. He was grinning from ear to ear by the end of it and I’m hoping we have another fishing convert. This was followed by dinner at one of the local pubs. While not huge numbers of fish it was still a fantastic weekend of fishing with excellent company. Regards, Derek

Hi All, With the actual weather being different to what was forecast yesterday I reached out to new Fishraider @Ryan.f to see if he could come out to play. He could so we met at Mosman bay. When we met the other day he was using a 9 foot rod, 2500 sized reel and 12lb braid. Not the first outfit I would have suggested. Turns out that when he walked into the tackle store his first line was that he wants to catch kingfish (everybody wants to catch kingfish). All well and good if they are around but then I explained why it was better to start with a lighter outfit such as the ArrowZ I was using. He managed to track a well priced 2nd hand one down which was one class above the 3-14gram lure rating I recommended. I was a little hesitant in recommending it as I suspected the butt length would be longer than I usually suggest. I left the choice up to him. Down at Mosman bay he had his 2500 reel and newly acquired rod. To see the limitations of the outfit for what I teach I put on my reel (he is English so uses the handle on the left). I tried a 70mm sugapen which I then got to walk the dog. I then demonstrated the sub surface walk the dog with a 3" plastic. That went pretty well too. The lesson then started in earnest. Had him put his reel on the rod and then the 70mm sugapen. I pointed out that if we could get that lure properly walking the dog then the same technique would work for bent minnows, MMD splash prawns and a variety of other topwater lures. The bugger had it working more or less properly the first time he tried it. He has fishing talent but lacks local experience. We spent a little time refining the retrieve and then started to throw in the pauses and speed changes which makes these lures so effective on the sandflats. Didn't get any hits but in 5m of water I wasn't expecting any. We worked our way through, 3" minnows, halco twistys and vibes. Each accompanied with an explanation as to when and where and how we might use them. Along the way he had some hits and then the rod started to shake. Out of the depth comes a lovely little flounder which dropped at the wharf but we'd seen it. Ryan's confidence was growing as that was his first Australian fish on lure. A little while later he picked up another flounder which stayed around for a photo opportunity (I'll let Ryan post) before being released. Now that we had covered the core concepts we worked our way around the rest of the bay as we would normally. First the channel near the marina where we both hooked and dropped flathead at the wall. I lost a lure when I was being a bit too cocky casting in the gaps between the boats. Then to the back of the bay where we worked on covering as much ground as effectively as possible. Surprisingly no fish there but we were at a bit of a time limit at this stage. Final stop were the jetties near the sailing club. We started using vibes and grubs at this stage. I hooked and landed a lovely little dusky flathead. I demonstrated where the spikes near the gills were and got him to feel the raspy teeth. Time was up but it was a very enjoyable fishing session for both of us. I think Ryan has a newfound appreciation for the pleasure of fishing with light gear. Regards, Derek

Hi All, I apologise in advance for the length of this article but I do hope you take the time to read it all if this topic is of interest to you. I could just mention a list of items as a starting point but then you would not get the benefit of the “why”. I’ve been fishing for most of my life and doing lure fishing for over 15 years. As with most things there is a learning curve. Mentoring several people each year has refined my knowledge and explanations. You don’t compress so much information into a small article and still get across the key points. Hopefully you will get a lot out of this article and then help others down the track in their journey. So you want to get into lure fishing as you have heard it is a great way to catch fish or the lures in the shop look cool or that is what your mates are getting into, etc. You buy some lures and start using it on your existing gear and realise it seems harder than it looks. There is a point at which you start to get despondent as you are not catching fish and your loved ones are starting to joke about it. Obviously lures don’t worked as advertised. I come across a variation of this scenario several times a year. When I break down the “why” the biggest factor and easiest to fix is usually having the right gear. This is a subjective article in that what works for me may not suit you but there is over 15 years of learning, aha moments and teaching others behind what I’ve put together. What I am trying to do is give you enough information to help you make an informed decision based on your requirements with the final choices being up to you. Like most things in life there is a learning curve and I hope this article will shorten yours by several years. This is intended to apply to spinning outfits. Just to show you are not the only one, this gentleman went through the same frustrations and reached out on Fishraider for some help. If you told me I could only fish one class of outfit for the rest of my life it would be the light outfits in the 1-4kg range. My preference is the light (say 2-4kg) but the following will also apply to the ultralight (say 1-3kg) gear. My first fish on a soft plastic was on a soft fibreglass tip Shimano rod in the 2-4kg range with 8lb mono off a boat moored at Balmoral beach in the early 2000s. My friend introduced me to a white grub on small jig which I spent a little time working through the water column before hooking up. The fight took a little bit longer than it would these days but I really didn’t want to lose it. After a cautious fight up came a beautiful (and legal from memory) silver trevally. That experience changed my fishing world dramatically in several ways and exponentially revitalised my passion for fishing. The reel was a bit clunky (no infinite anti-reverse) and I realised that the line and rod felt too spongy to properly work the lures so I made some gear upgrades. After a couple of false starts I kind of hit the jackpot with the set up I ended up with and then fished for probably a decade. The rod was a 1st generation Shimano 2 piece (I started with a 1 piece and that was one of the false starts) Raider series Bream Finesse graphite 7 foot 6 inches long rod in a 2-4kg and 3-12 gram lure rating. I still own it but I haven’t used it for a couple of years. The reel (I had a false start with another brand) I bought was a Shimano Symetre 1500 (I preferred the handle over the 2500). The best value braid back then for me was the Berkley Fireline in Crystal (white) in 125 yard lengths. The backing was 8lb mono. The recommended joiner knot according to Berkley was the uni to uni. I still rate that outfit as a great starting point depending on your budget. Before I go into my usual excessive detail I want to give you some things to think about as to “why” you should consider fishing lighter outfits (especially with lures) as a starting point. A lot of what I teach people will scale upwards into heavier outfits. Consider the legal size of most bread and butter species, bream (25cm), snapper (30cm), flathead (36cm for the dusky), tailor (30cm), trevally (silver 30cm), whiting (27cm), luderick (27cm), etc. In the legal size most of these would weigh about 1kg max. Yes they can grow bigger but how many of these would you actually catch over say 2kg. Fishing with a 10kg outfit takes a bit of the fun out of it as you can winch a fish in rather than play it (not really giving the fish a sporting chance either). My theory is that people buy the heavier gear because it was on special or just in case they hook that 1 in a 1,000 fish but forget about the 999 fish they will more likely be hooking up. The follow on from that point is that with the finesse gear I expect to get more hook ups. Yes, I might lose the odd fish but if I am getting three times the hook up rate of someone using far heavier gear then I am still ahead overall. I find I am never bored. I’m focussed on the cast. Working the lure. Thinking about the next cast. Feeling for bites. Thinking about how I can change things up and what to try next. I even get a lot of joy out of seeing the water mist at the reel as I rip out a good cast and then watch the braid slowly float down to the surface of the water on a wind still day. The quality of fish has gone up and at times the quantity too. Think about what happens if you throw a piece of bread in the water. Usually it is the little fish that race in first. The larger fish haven’t gotten that way by being stupid or at least trusting their instincts. I still get smaller fish but it is the bigger fish that are more likely to engulf that lure if you can convince them they want it. It is a really versatile outfit. I can be working the bottom for flathead and then the mid to upper water column for pelagics. I can throw on a metal slice (e.g. Halco twisty) to cover some impressive distances when fish are feeding on the surface on the small silver baitfish. I can go freshwater and use a popper or celta spinner for bass. Use hardbodies such as Tassie Devils or Rapala CD7s for trout. Use a squid jig to catch bait or a feed of salt and pepper calamari. Put on a MMD Splash prawn or similar to chase bream along the oyster encrusted rock walls inside Sydney. I can even use bait on the same outfit to chase carp on corn or whiting on the flats with yabbies. I can head out pretty well anytime for a fish without a lot of pre-planning. Have an hour to spare and driving past some likely looking water. Grab the rod out of the back of the car, put on the reel and the lure and then start fishing. With lures I don’t have to clean the smell or mess of prawns after a fishing session. At worst I have to clean some of the scale type glitter off my fingers or face (otherwise I look like I’ve been attacked by someone with fairy dust). A packet of lures and jig heads will generally give you more bang for buck than bait which might only be used for a single session before being dumped. It is a bit more satisfying to catch fish as you are fooling them into taking your lure. As a bonus there is some poetic justice in there as the fish or squid picks on something smaller than itself to find something bigger than itself on the other end of the line. If this is resonating with you and you’d like more information then please read on. Disclaimer: I am a huge Shimano fan for several reasons. I like the gear as I think it is well designed and made. I have had a lot of wonderful memories using their gear. I used to work near their offices and they have helped me with a number of issues (services, replacing broken rod tip, spare spools, upgrades) and because of their after sales support I’ve had no hesitation in recommending their equipment to others. I do use other brands. There is so much competition out there that if you don’t make a competitive product (build quality or price) you risk falling by the wayside. I am not sponsored by Shimano but I’ll often mention their gear because it is a way of setting a minimum bar for comparison and I also don’t have the time or the funding to test every product out there. As you are the one going to be using it take the time to look at other brands. I don’t see an issue if you buy something just because the colour rocks if it meets my other criteria. The rod at a glance: Graphite all the way. Seven-ish foot. 8 guides minimum. Short butt. 2 piece recommended over 1 piece for travel. 2-4kg is a good overall line rating for bread and butter species. Rated for 3-12gram lures. Now in more detail: Graphite over fibreglass due to the reduced weight and fast response. You are creating the movement in the lures and I find the stiffness of the graphite rods means every twitch I send down to the lure is not dampened by the rod. Stay away from the rods with a fibreglass tip for this kind of fishing. Note: there will be varying degrees of stiffness within graphite rods depending on the blank used. I prefer a little stiffer where possible to ensure as direct a contact with the lure as possible. We are talking small degrees of difference but it is still noticeable. There are several downsides to graphite rods but this isn’t an issue as long as you are aware of them and factor them into your fishing. Like for like they are a bit more expensive than their fibreglass cousins but due to improved manufacturing the price difference is getting smaller and smaller. Graphite conducts electricity. Keep away from power cables and thunderstorms. Graphite bruises. If it is going to be a boat rod and banging up against the gunnels or other metal surfaces in time the points of impacts will develop minor cracking which will likely bite you when fighting a fish sometime in the future. People think the rod is faulty when it breaks due to previous poor handling. It is not as robust as a fibreglass rod. If you have ever seen the classic Australian movie “The Castle” there is a scene where they bend over a Shakespeare Ugly Stick rod back on itself. You don’t do that with a graphite rod and you don’t need to either. It is referred to as high sticking when fighting a fish and it is a bad habit. Rod tip speed usually translates into lure speed and added casting distance. All other things being equal I expect to cast further with a 7 foot rod over a 5 foot rod. My rods are generally in the 7 foot (213cm) to 7 foot 6 inches (229cm). You can go longer but these are often specialist rods and become a little awkward to handle. To ensure the line loads up evenly along the rod blank look for 1 guide per foot of rod length plus 1. So a 6 foot rod should have 7 guides. A 7 foot rod should have 8 guides. 2 piece rod versus 1 piece. When I started I bought the 1 piece Finesse Raider 761 based on the advice from a friend rather than the advice from the guy in the local tackleshop who said I wouldn’t notice the difference. 1 piece is a pain to transport and store. I bought the same rod (762) in 2 piece asap after I found it for a good price. The 1 piece has lived in the garage ever since. The problem with the two pieces is that after an extended casting session they can sometimes separate and you will see the top of the rod flying off. The way I fix it on the one or two rods where it is a problem is to rub some wax on the exposed section to increase friction. You can also get 3 or 4 piece traveller rods if you need something even easier to transport. They will fit in your suitcase on say a business trip or with your gear when hiking. You can get rods with an ergonomic grip. With lure fishing you will be doing a lot of casting so why not get something which is comfortable in the hand. The reason I like a short butt on my rods is that the longer ones bump against the meaty part of my forearm when working the lure rod tip down with the grip I prefer. As per the photo below I prefer a reel leg to butt distance of 21cm or less. The reel: Suggest a 1500 to 2500 Shimano or Daiwa sized reels (not all manufacturers use the same sizing so I’m using these brands for a size comparison not specifically saying buy one of those two brands – they are an excellent starting point). Biggest thing is make sure it has a smooth drag and it should have infinite anti-reverse (no matter where you stop winding there will not be any play backwards such as happened with the older reels). Check that it balances well on the outfit. If I put a large Shimano reel (say 5000 or above) on a bream rod it will feel off – it has to feel right is the best way I can put it. Alternatively, once you put the reel on the rod the centre of mass will generally be where the grip of the rod meets the blank. The line at a glance: Braid and not mono. Stick with major brands. Colour up to you. Highly recommend 0.06mm diameter for a compromise between strength and casting distance. As a starting point consider Berkley X5 4lb (0.06mm diam.) or Shimano Kairiki 8 6lb (0.06mm diam.) or Daiwa J Braid 6lb (0.06mm diam.). I’ve been also pretty happy with Shimano Power Pro 4lb (0.08mm diam.) Now in more detail The transition from monofilament to braid in the last 20 years has been a game changer. I’ve been advised that mono has a 10% stretch versus the 1% stretch of braid. This lack of stretch means any bites or twitches of the rod are transmitted directly up or down the line. Braid is skinnier and lighter than an equivalent breaking strain mono so it means you get better casting distance out of the light lures. It is often more susceptible to nicks and cuts than mono hence the use of a leader at the working end. It is stronger than you think so go lighter for added casting distance. I think the reason that most braids overtest is that it puts a safety margin in to allow for the strength reduction factor of knots. These days I’m mostly using X5 in Crystal and the breaking strain shown on the box is 4lb USA or 6.4kg (say 14lb) Europe or 14lb Asia. If you are concerned about the strength of the braid unroll out about 60cm and wrap it around your fingers then gradually load it up and try and break it before you cut yourself. Don’t snap your hands apart as this is not a real world scenario. When a fish hits your lure in the real world that shock is taken up partially by the leader and mostly by the rod tip flexing. Essentially in the real world that load up is fast but it is smooth and consistent. I haven’t had anyone break the 4lb braid I use when demonstrating the strength of braid. This guideline also applies to testing knots, gradually load the line up to what you consider a fair breaking stress rather than snapping your hands apart. When I started the best value braid was Berkley Fireline but it was a fused braid with all the fibres stuck together. The problem I found with that was that over time (say a year hard fishing) the line started to fluff up resulting in two problems. It created weak spots which cost me some fish I should not have lost and it had a tendency to grab multiple loops on the way out creating a birds nest. Not sure if they have changed their manufacturing process but the lines I used these days are woven and less prone to the fluffing. While colour choice is up to you, I like white (crystal) braid as it is easier for me to see when fishing. So in addition to feeling the strikes through the line and rod I also have some visual feedback. Other people fish some bright colours for similar reasons but the ink in most lines will fade after prolonged use. On a side note I use jigging braid (colour changes every 10m or so) on several of my heavier outfits. It allows me to work specific depths when on a boat and gives confirmation on the effectiveness of my casts when shore based jigging. For the distances involved with a light lure outfit this probably won’t be needed so one colour all the way. Follow up note: since getting into light topwater hardbody lure fishing the multi-coloured braid (Siglon) I've been trialing has been useful for allowing me to see how far I can cast specific lures and helped me to refine my casting technique to get maximum distance. It might only be a few extra meters but the instant feedback helps. I’m going to say this once more because of how important I consider it. BRAID OVERTESTS most of the time and usually much more than you think. You initial tendency will likely be to go heavier. Hmmm 2-4kg rod so go 8lb or 10lb braid.... Please don’t. I’ve seen people I’ve mentored do this and they have noticeably less casting distance on like for like small lures. The other thing is that if you go too heavy and do hook that awesome fish you can start to deform your guides – it is highly unlikely but I have seen it happen. There is a learning curve with braid. You may start out with ultralight lures (say less than 1/8oz) because the advice that you read says fish as light as possible. If you don’t wind the braid on under tension sooner or later a few loops will come off at the same time sometimes resulting in a birds nest. With patience this can be untangled (I keep two pins in my tackle box to help with this) but it cuts into fishing time. For your first season you will likely be losing a bit of line until you work out the idiosyncrasies of braid but please persist as the payoff is worth it down the track. Starting out I recommend using jigheads in the 1/8 to 1/4oz range which will help reduce the frequency of bird nests. Backing: Unless you get a deal to fill your spool off a bulk roll at the shop that 125m to 150m of braid will not fill up a spool fully. We use mono backing to top up the spool to within 1-2mm of the inner lip of the spool. For my 4lb braid I use 8lb mono. The leftover 8lb mono can be used as leader material. The nice thing is that if you set the backing up properly the first time the next time you have to replace the braid you just strip it back to the joiner knot and load up another spool of the braid you had before. Leader: This is used for chaff resistance and shock absorption. It is usually easier to tie knots in for changing lures and generally cheaper than braid. I use fluorocarbon on my light gear but have no hesitation recommending monofilament. There have been a number of people I respect (and I’ve done so too for my heavier outfits) switching back to mono for the improved nick resistance and suppleness. The big selling point for fluorocarbon was that it has a refractive index similar to water so it makes it more difficult for the fish to see but clear mono in the diameters we are talking about is difficult to see anyway. As a general guideline the leader I like to use will be 50% to 100% more than my mainline. So for the 4lb braid I use 6lb or more often 8lb leader. If the pelagics are around I will even go up to 10lb leader as it gives me a bit more control when I get them in close to land them. I’ve heard some people like to use lighter leader than a mainline so it acts as a breakaway but I’m not a fan of this. There is an expression that points out that “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link”. The braid overtests so that 4lb braid will be closer to 8lb breaking strength which will be pretty close to the leader strength I like to use. If I use 4lb leader it becomes the weakest link by a substantial amount with no real benefit. What I’m finding these days now that I use the FG knot and the uni knot at the terminal tackle is that when I snag up and lose the lure I still get my leader back. The uni knot is weaker than the FG knot. Some people like to tie the braid to a swivel and then run their leader from there. The danger with this is that if you are ever winding in really quickly and the swivel hits the rod tip you can damage the guide. A main line to leader knot has a better chance of passing through the guides without damaging one on the way through. Take the time to learn a good joiner knot. Another point is that if you ever learn the FG knot (and I highly recommend it) the way the knot works is that the wraps of braid bite into the mono leader. Going a larger mainline to a lighter leader makes it difficult to tie this knot so that it holds as the braid wants to slip over rather than bite into the leader. I have seen a few methods of tying the FG knot but haven’t really been happy with most as they require various ways of keeping the tension in the lines and usually have a fair bit of line wastage. The method I now use can be found in this video but I use a different finish than the half hitches shown and you will see that in the second link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQmUN0L4F6c Now the finish of the knot can be found at a little after five minutes on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDip4_e4c0U I can manage to do it with the really fine lines but that has taken a bit of practice. With 10lb braid or heavier it comes up a treat. Generally my leaders are 50% to 100% more than my main line. Leader length RANT HERE: When I started out the general advice was use a rod length or more of leader. At the time (over 15 years ago) the recommended knot was the uni to uni. After a learning curve I came to the conclusion that this advice was stupid for several reasons. Firstly, I could feel the knot bumping through the guides and was pretty sure it was not good for the knot (BTW, even an FG knot can catch on the way back in on the V of the top guide). Secondly, we are fishing areas where there was structure so you could snag up. When loading up the line it would often break at the leader knot rather than the terminal tackle so you just lost several meters of relatively expensive fluoro. With maybe the exception of the people fishing competitions for bream, what is the advantage of using such a long leader (and these people have the option of fishing fluorocarbon straight through)? The braid is skinnier than the fluoro so is not that easy to see anyway. The chafe resistance of the leader is usually only needed at the working end. You don't need that much shock leader for casting as the rod tip flexes too. I'm of the opinion that most people repeat it as that is what they have heard from others and never questioned it. I discussed this topic with @wazatherfisherman several months ago as his fishing knowledge is encyclopaedic and we came to the conclusion that it came across from the International Game Fishing Association where they allow wind on leaders. I use leader to the length that the knot does not enter the guides (say 80cm) and if I'm feeling really lazy have let this get down to 10cm and am still catching fish. If anyone can give me a genuine reason for using one to several rod lengths of leader with a well thought out reason then I would genuinely love to hear it as I couldn't work it out. One other Fishraider mate pointed out the reason he likes a longer leader is that he can make a lot of lure changes before having to re-tie his leader. What to buy for your first outfit – these are a starting point I recommend to the people I mentor. If you buy them and you take the time to learn to use them properly they will suit you for years to come. You don’t have to buy it but I want you to at least look at these outfits and use them as minimum standard for whatever you end up buying. If you are really on a budget then look at the Shimano Sienna Quickfire 7 foot 2-4kg combo with 2500 reel. This retails for around $99 at the time of writing. It is a little heavier than I like but it is a solid little outfit. Throw in some 4lb braid for under $30 and a 300m roll of Platypus Super 100 clear mono line to use as backing and leader for about $20 and then some lures you are out fishing for a relatively inexpensive amount. My go to rod these days is the Atomic ArrowZ AAS-270UL which is a 2 piece rod and has a 3-10lb line rating and 3-14 gram lure rating. Generally around the $130 but have seen them for $100 on special. I also own the Bream Surface in the same series which has a slightly lighter lure (2-12 gram) and line weight (3-8 lb) rating. An alternative I’ve recommended for years and still do is the Shimano Raider 762 2-4kg 2-12gram rod in 2 piece. If budget is an issue for the reel then consider the Shimano Sienna 2500 but if you can go a bit more I'd suggest the Shimano Sedona 2500 (RRP $99). You will feel the difference between the two. If you want to spoil yourself then consider the Shimano Nasci or the Shimano Stradic. General advice: The gear you are buying is mass produced and shipped in bulk. There may be some manufacturing or transport issues. Before you walk out of the store check everything you can. Are the guides all aligned and not bent. Has the top guide been broken off (it happens). Is there a problem with the finish. Do the pieces go together smoothly and tightly. Pick up the reel and look for dings. Wind it fast and slow to feel for rough spots (close your eyes if you have to). Do several fast start and stops during the winding (as if you were working a lure). How much play is there. It is far easier to sort that out in the store than argue later that it wasn’t your fault. If you do find an issue please do me a favour and raise it with the staff to help the next person coming along and not catching the problem. A little care goes a long way: More fishing gear is damaged by poor handling or transport than to fish. Most of my rods go in a soft case and then into a hard case which I can then leave in the back of my car. The soft case stops them rattling around which helps if you store more than one rod in a case. I use Seahorse rod tubes but found over time the handle broke so worked out a way of replacing those. I put a different sticker on each case at one end as it allows me to identify which rod is which and it lets me know which end is the butt end of the rod in case I decide to store them vertically. Shimano make some nice rod tubes with a sling. I’ve also made my own for one of my larger traveller outfits by heading down to the hardware for some pipe, end caps, foam and PVC glue. My reels go in a neoprene cover so they don’t bang against each other. Mostly I use Shimano ones as their current design allows you to keep the reel handle in working position and it is suitable for left or right hand applications. When in use I don’t put my reels on the ground as I don’t want to get dirt or sand in the mechanism or scratch the outside. If I’m dealing with a fish I’ll rest the butt on my shoe and then lean the rod into the crook of my arm thus freeing up both of my hands. If I want to put the rod down I’ll find a convenient vertical surface (e.g. tree or wall) to carefully rest it against. The metal eyes of the guides are less prone to damage than the rod blank so I use that to my advantage. If I have to I’ll balance it across my fishing bag. At the end of the day I’ll back my drag off so I can turn the spool with minimal resistance. The drags in the spools are made up of metal washers separated by oiled felt washers (or carbon based washers in higher end reels) which allow for smooth operation. If the drag is left tight the felt washers compress permanently and become less effective over time as they need to be able to compress during use to do their job properly. Over the years I’ve heard differing advice about how much cleaning a reel requires. I’ve had people pointing out to me that they wash them under a shower (or even dip them in water) and never had a problem but they also go on to say they will do a full strip and re-lube of the reel afterwards. My less expensive reels (say under $100) are treated as a consumable as I generally fish them every couple of days in summer and would have to clean them more frequently than I can be bothered so I don’t. My more expensive reels or less frequently used (e.g. overheads on the game outfits) get carefully wiped over with an Inox moistened cloth. Rather than get into arguments on this topic I’m going to refer to Daiwa and Shimano advice. If you want to argue with the manufacturer about how to best look after a product on which they have spent years of development then feel free to do so. From the Daiwa website: https://daiwafishing.com.au/blogs/news/how-to-clean-your-reel-daiwa-tech-tips A more detailed guideline from Shimano: https://fish.shimano.com/content/dam/shimanosnaffish/pdf/Spinning Reels maint.pdf Starting tackle - a suggestion only as you will learn more through trial and error I'm someone who often has everything including the kitchen sink with me (at least in the car) when I head out fishing. It gives me the opportunity to change up how I fish depending on what is around on the day. The nice thing about a light outfit is that it gives me the chance to go minimalist (for me anyway) with my gear and cover a lot of ground. The first thing that helps is a light tackle bag which you can swing out of the way when casting and working the lures. I found a Daiwa shoulder tackle bag for $70 which I liked so much for this that I bought another for my fly fishing gear. It has a main pocket in which I keep some small tackle trays for hardbody lures. It has another pocket in which I keep my plastics and other odds and ends. There are two smaller pockets in which I keep my leaders, scissors, scent and a couple of other things. There is also a slot for my stainless needle nose pliers which I use when removing trebles. This is the bag. If you are starting out you will probably want hooks and sinkers which pack small enough that storage won't be a problem. You can also get little tackle packs complete with their own storage tray. As I use my outfit for lures I keep a minimal selection of hooks and sinkers and keep them in the packs they are sold in as they take up less room. The rest of my suggestions are based on the assumption that you picked up the light outfit primarily for lure fishing. Soft plastics are a good place to start with lures. They catch a wide range of fish (once you learn how to work them). They are relatively inexpensive so you aren't left crying if you lose one to a fish or snag. I classify my soft plastics into the following: Grubs: relatively short round body and big curling tail. Very effective as everything seems to pick on them. They come in various sizes but I'm a big fan of the 2 to 2.5 inch for daily fishing. I rig them with the tail up and I believe the reason they are so effective is that the movement of the tail gets the predators attention and they are small enough for most fish to pick on. Wriggle/curl tails. A bit like a grub on steroids. The longer tail stretches out behind the lure and it looks like the plastic is swimming. Paddle tails: the larger paddle tail on these seems to slow this lure down and creates a lot of motion. Not a bad thing as it gives the fish a bit more time to decide it wants to eat the lure. Minnows / jerk shad. I'm a big fan of these as they match the profile of many bait fish. The problem with them is that you have to work the lure more to create the movement you need to get the fishes attention. They have been extremely effective for me when the pelagics are in Sydney feeding on the schools of bait fish. A couple of notes. Some plastics do not play well with others. If they get in contact with others they start to melt. The Z-Man bite resistant plastics are well known for this. This is not to say don't buy them but keep them separated. I just keep them in their original packaging and pull them out as required. In the case of the Z-man grubs I use I will put the used lure complete with jighead back in the original packet till I need to use it again. You will come across Berkely Gulps. While I think they are genius in that the are a biodegradable fish shaped lure, I don't like that they dry out after one session if not kept in the liquid they are packed with. The liquid is also a risk as it can leak out into your bag. If you get into these then consider double packing them to prevent leaks. You will hear people say it does not matter how straight you rig a plastic. A badly rigged plastic will still catch fish. Having said that it only takes a little more effort to rig it properly and then get the benefits of it. I said I am a really big fan of the minnow profile. This is how it swims when poorly rigged. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgD9OS4FiOQ Now look at the difference in movement when it is rigged properly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjGS6SjfDUs You can buy pre-rigged plastics which takes the guess work out of it but a lot of the ones I see in the store don't look right to me. The hook and body profile just feels off. You are also missing out on the real benefit of plastics which is to be able to mix and match plastics and jigheads as required. My go to is the Berkley Powerbait 3" minnow profile. A packet of 15 costs $8 to $11 depending on where I pick them up. I've worked out they match perfectly with a TT jighead (pictured below) in size #1H (heavy gauge hook). I buy these jig heads in three different weights. 1/4oz, 1/6oz & 1/8oz. I'll start off with the 1/4oz to cover ground, or in deeper water, or when the pelagics are around. No hits then I switch to the 1/6oz and then maybe finish up with the 1/8oz for more hangtime but reduced casting distance. The fact I'm using the same sized hook means the hook comes out in the shoulder of the plastic which looks right and still gives the tail enough room to move properly. For the grubs I'm a big fan of the Gamakatsu round 211 ball head jigs in either size #1 or #2 (gape slightly different) as pictured below. These are a special order at my tackle shop so I pick up several packets at a time. You will probably hear the advice - fish as light a jighead as possible. When starting out I advise against going lower than 1/8th oz as it increases your chances of bird nesting the line. The light lure weight means that there is often too much slack on the line as it comes on to the spool meaning there are loose loops which have a chance to come off all at once = birds-nest. You will need something to store your jigheads in. Mini trays like the Surecatch Compartment Tackle Tray Small 12x8.5x2.4cm are a good staring point. in Sydney harbour (at least) over the summer months you can often see schools of fish feeding on small anchovy on the surface. Essentially they are a silverish fish with a translucent belly. This is when metal slices are your friend. They are a silver profile and for the light outfit 10 gram Halco Twisty is a good starting point. It casts like a rocket allowing you to cover a lot of ground and it matches the bait fish profile. The one change I often make to this lure is to change the trebles to a large eye single hook of about the same physical length as the original. The trebles have a tendency to tear the fishes face up. The singles are generally stronger and result in a cleaner hookup and easier release. I'll also use a small profile swivel and duo-lock clip (preferably) black to reduce line twist and for added protection against fish with teeth. Duolock clips - I prefer these as they seem to be less likely to come undone than other designs I've seen. I generally have to buy the swivels separately. Vibes are also a pretty good lure to start with. Essentially when lifted through the water column they vibrate hence the name. Fish have lateral lines and can pick up on this. When you first buy one drop it in the water at your feet to the depth you can still see it. Lift it up and down slowly and then faster till the point you can feel it vibrate. Move the rod from side to side and then put in some up and down movements to see how the lure behaves. I don't use these in areas where I know there are lots of snags as it can get expensive but they are great on sandy bottoms. The way I fish them is to cast them out as far as I can then let them hit the bottom. Once there use a fast enough lift to get them vibrating but I only like to have them vibrate say 3 to 5 times. We are trying to get the fishes attention rather than shouting (so to speak) at the fish and scaring it off. I then lower the rod at the same time I wind in the line so I have no slack and am always in contact with the lure. My preferred lure are the Ecogear ZX range in the 35, 40, 43 sizes for the extra casting distance. The size 30 works well but I sacrifice casting distance. These come with assist hooks reducing the chances of snagging up. Over the years it has been a pleasant surprise at how many species I've hooked up on these including, bream, whiting, flathead, salmon, kings and so on. Last summer I picked up a 73cm flathead on one of these. https://ecogear.jp/en/ecogear/zx/ There are also soft vibes. For these I'm using the Samaki Vibelicious in the smallest size. It has been effective but the downside is that the rear treble sometimes twists over the body. Fishing these less aggressively (almost tea bagging them) seems to get around this issue most of the time. https://samaki.com.au/collections/vibelicious The light outfit is also suitable for squid fishing with squid jigs up to size #2.5 or a little larger with a bit of care when casting. I pick all my lures on the basis of the lure weight rating of the rod. For more information about squid jigging see this article. I use the same duo-lock clips for squiding. Hope this has helped inspire you to get into light lure fishing. Regards, Derek

Blackfish (Luderick) fishing another (2) way(s). It also works for other weed eating species such as drummer. When I take a newbie fishing, very often we start with blackfish. They are all around the harbour and can be caught year round consistently. I have some reliable locations for cabbage weed (not sharing but I’ll make suggestions about what to look for). It is a great visual way of fishing as you can watch the float go down and react accordingly. They put up a nice little fight during which I can explain the notion of playing a fish. They are also a beautiful fish with those stripes and light sheen of purple. Please note that this article is not meant as disrespect to the traditional way of chasing of blackfish with long rods and centerpin reels but more of a way of opening people’s eyes to other ways of doing it. On a side note there are excellent articles on this topic on this site already but I’d like to add to the pool of knowledge. For a more detailed article see: I sometimes hear about people wanting to give luderick fishing a try but then raise concerns about having to buy new gear for something they may not really get into. The problem is most of what they have probably heard is about the traditional way of doing it. The great thing about the traditionalists in life is they are using methods which through practice and repetition and learning have had most of the kinks worked out of them. They are using a system which has been refined till the point it has been optimised for what it needs to do. The problem with this is that you might miss opportunities that arise due to changing circumstances such as equipment improvements. The other issue is that people who want to dip a toe in the water end up having to buy specialist gear because they are told it is the ONLY way to do it and it can end up being a waste of money or restrictive for those on a budget. One of the advantages the long rods have is it is a little easier to set the depth as you have a lot of line out to play with. It is also argued that the extra length helps keep the fish away from structure. Another comment I’ve heard is that you can feed line out and bring it back in by winding the centerpin reel backwards or forwards as the fight requires. While they might be fair comments I don’t think I’ve ever felt disadvantaged fishing for this species with spinning gear instead of the traditional outfits. I’ve worked out some ways of fishing for this species with spinning gear or fly rods which allows you to get out there and start catching them with minimal outlay (under $25 if you already have a light spinning outfit). If you get more and more into it then feel free to try the traditional way but if you want to try it to see if you like it then I hope the following helps you. Before I go into how I do it think about what you are actually trying to do with the gear. At its simplest we are trying to put a bait (usually cabbage weed or green weed) in the strike zone in such a way that firstly it is held at the desired depth. Secondly, the rig needs to be balanced so that when the fish takes the bait it feels minimal resistance and won’t spit the bait. Thirdly, that you have a good indication as to when to strike as generally I find they won’t hook themselves. The depth can be adjusted by using a float stopper and the other two goals can be achieved with a properly weighted blackfish float. This is my checklist for the gear required assuming you already have a 2-4kg outfit with some monofilament line floating around. Blackfish float $6-8, Floatstops (silicon rubber – get the smallest ones you can which won’t pass through the guides on the float but can pass through the rod guides) $3 Sinkers (will take some experimentation to find what combination works best to have the float only slightly positively buoyant) $3 Swivels (optional depending on how you rig your sinkers) $3 Hooks (Gamakatsu Panfish – recommend size #6 but can go size #4 if chasing bigger fish or size #8 as required) $6 Line you should already have. Suggest 8lb for the mainline and maybe 6lb (0.2mm diameter or less) for a leader if the fish are bite shy. This is how we set it up. I have a spool filled with 8lb clear mono for my fishing but if you only have braid on your rod then you could put 4m to 8m of 8lb mono as a leader (depending on the depth you are fishing) and then the rest of the rig is the same. The lovely thing about this approach is that if you decide down the track to get the traditional long rod and centerpin reel you already have most of the terminal tackle you will need rather than starting again. The reason I use mono at the working end is that the silicone float stops grab quite nicely on the mono and usually stay where you put them. The float stop is what allows us to use a spinning outfit. Ideally the float stop can pass through the guides. This is how we put a float stop on the line. As I have a dedicated spool I leave my float stop permanently on the line. A couple of additional notes to this rig. One of my friends likes to use something called a waggler float which is fixed to the line at one end only. The advantage with this is that it is less prone to having the line wrap around the float when casting. Personally I'm not a big fan of crimp on splitshot sinkers as they can potentially damage the line when being crimped on. The advantage of these sinkers is they allow you to make minor adjustments to the buoyancy of the outfit. In my case I've taken the time to find sinkers which match almost perfectly to the floats I use to give me that slightly positive floatation. The swivel rig has the advantage in that you can downsize the leader diameter if the fish are getting spooked. @wazatherfisherman through years of trial and error worked out the sweetspot was a line diameter of 0.2mm or less. If you find yourself busted off you will generally only have to re-tie from the swivel down to the hook. Gets you fishing quicker. The rest of the gear to consider bringing along for your blackfish expedition Ziplock bag or container for cabbage/green weed when you go to your weed location. Cutting board and knife to cut weed into small pieces - big enough to get the smell into the water but small enough that it is a struggle to eat it so your bait becomes the focus point. Bucket for sand/burley and slightly moist sand - mix the cut weed into this. Recommend large spoon or similar for flinging sand - saves getting your hands sandy and having to wash them each time you throw out some burley. Recommend a second larger bucket to keep your odds and ends in and for water to wash hands As to where to find the weed: Cabbage weed is found at inter-tidal zones or the waterline of floating structures. Seems to need to be close to both air and salt water so where the ocean swells wash over rocks is a great place to start looking. You will also find it growing in shallow pools in these areas. To use it I get a piece of say 3cm x 1cm then either roll it up or fold it up into a small bundle which I then ease onto the hook. Blackfish have small mouths so I want them to be able to eat it in one bite. Here are some examples of what it looks like: Green/string weed is often found at points where there is nutrient rich run off such as drain outlets. I ease it into long strands and then put the hook halfway along and then weave each half over the hook. Here is what it looks like: Fly rod outfit and artificial flies. It turns out that blackfish will take a well made fly. I have several fly rods and with a bit of trial and error worked out how to do pretty well at this. My go to outfit is a 7 weight 9 foot flyrod with a floating fly line. I found that an intermediate fly line would drag down my strike indicator. You can pretty well use any weight fly rod (e.g. 5 to 9 weight) with a floating line as all the critical adjustments are made at the working end (leader, tippet, fly and strike indicator) to suit the conditions. I like a tapered leader as I need the thicker part of the line on which to fasten the strike indicator. I prefer weighted flies as the unweighted ones take a little too long to get into the strike zone. A very small split shot could be used near the fly in lieu of a weighted fly. The first challenge I had was to solve the strike indicator issue. There are foam ones you can stick on the line but the glue diminishes as you slide it up and down the line to suit the depths. There are commercially made ones (the green/red/orange/yellow ones in photo below) but I found the thick O-rings had a tendency to kink the line. My solution was to hop on ebay and find o-rings with a 5mm inner diameter and an 8mm outer diameter. I then get about 4 to 5cm of strike indicator yarn and feed it halfway through the O-ring and then lash it it with 50lb braid. The finished product can be seen in the photo below along with the wet and dry versions of the fly I'm using. To fasten them to the fly line I double the leader and push the loop through the o-ring and then over the strike yarn and pull both ends of the mono. This will kink the o-ring instead of the line. The friction between the O-ring rubber and the line locks it into place. The strike indicator will get soaked after a while so every now and then I dry it out with some false casts and then apply a floatant. I like Loon Outdoors Lochsa in the black bottle. A drop or two worked into the indicator with your fingers will do the job. I can put on a tippet of several feet to suit the location I'm at. I join it to the leader with a uni to uni knot. I usually have a spool of 8lb and 10lb fluorocarbon in the tackle bag to use as leader depending on the location. The result of a successful session with the fly rod. Please note that while burley helps it is not critical. This means you can head out and start catching with minimal preparation. If you can find the blackfish then they will take the fly without burley. I've had sessions of close to 10 blackfish caught without burley and many were legal. My biggest blackfish to date was 44cm on fly without burley and I'm aware of others doing even better using the fly rod approach. On a cheeky side note: I realised that I wasn't quite practicing what I preach. I say you don't need a super long rod and centerpin reel to chase blackfish but technically that is what I am doing with my fly outfit.

One of @big Neil's non-fishing (yeah I know - bite my tongue) passions is pottery. He gets great joy in trying different things and as a result often ends up with more than what he knows what to do with. He has come up with a wonderful solution to this issue. He gives it away to people who deserve a little more than just a genuine thank you. For example, the office assistant that makes him welcome at the local doctor. The server at the restaurant that takes the time to really look after the customers. In this day and age these random acts of kindness probably catch a few people off guard but the joy that it brings would be worth it. Over the years I've been fortunate enough to get a few pieces of his beautiful works and this trip has added some to my collection. This one was made specifically for me to hang on the wall (there is a wire hanger on the back. This one with its several owls is meant to represent the sharing of knowledge. With my passion for chasing squid as well as one of the tasks I've helped Neil tick off fishing bucket list this piece is especially appropriate for me. This one is just a lovely piece and a functional way to keep my miscellaneous pens a place to call home. Thanks Neil they are all appreciated. Hope the colours have come out well enough in these photos.

Hi @BluebenbombI think we could take several people combined and still be behind. What @wazatherfisherman showed us on the evening with @big Neil was only a small part of his collection.