DerekD

How did you know? Are you psychic? Am I being monitored?

What @volitan said. You can catch them but it can be really hard work. I did find the size of the fish to be larger on average in the winters. If I had to. Live baits and fresh squid on a downrigger at places like long reef. Cover ground. Use the fishfinder. Look for structure and bait holding on the structure. Similar applies to the harbour. They are moving around and will often do circuits. You have to find one of those circuits and then put the right bait in front of them. Give each spot say 30 minutes. Then shift to another likely spot. If you hook up in a location then give that location another 20 to 40 minutes for them to come back. Also worth reaching out to @Pickles for some advice as he does it slightly differently from what I understand. He seems to use a berley trail method a lot of the time but I haven't been fortunate enough to get out with him on his boat yet to see him in action. Did get out with him on a charter which was an awesome day. Just a warning too - we went out from Pittwater this week. Struggled to find livies (actually couldn't) but also came across big schools of leather jackets which ate through the braid.

Overachiever!! Ha ha ha. Well done. Did you make your parents happy and did you keep it this time?

Hi @AlbertW Just realised this morning why you are probably losing so many lures. If we'd covered bass fishing you'd probably be having less issues. Not sure if you will get anymore sessions over there but if you do... Most of what I taught you is rod tip down due to the wind and the nature of the areas we normally fish in Sydney. In shallow water at distance try starting with having the rod tip high (say, way above your head). This will create a slight upward trajectory on the lure and keep it above the snags. As you wind the lure closer and closer you can gradually lower the rod tip as the lift becomes less important. This method allows you to fish shallow waters of say 50cm to 1m deep. A lot is by feel - if you start feeling bumps against rocks or similar then lift the rod tip higher and or wind a little faster. With the Celta spinners we try and wind it back as slow as possible without hitting the bottom. It is a balancing exercise and this is what we would have been doing for bass. Hope this helps. Derek

Hi Albert. I'm really proud of you on multiple levels. The effort you put in to learn how to cast more effectively from our first lesson, That you think about what I'm trying to teach you about lure fishing and come back with well thought out questions That you give everything I been teaching you a go (even when I push you that little bit further). That you used what I said for this trip and then did the research That you persisted for the trout and rescued the lure. That you didn't get downhearted and learned just as much from what wasn't quite working That you weren't afraid to ask for a little guidance. That you caught and released that beautiful fish. Well done and looking forward to seeing your fishing knowledge grow even further. Derek

I second what @noelmmentioned. Another aspect is that with heavier braid you lose casting distance. I've seen several meters difference in casting distance when the people I was mentoring were using 8lb or 10lb braid versus the 4lb braid I was using on like for like lures. Braid overtests most times anyway and the 4lb I use was more like 12lb actual breaking strain. They were probably using the equivalent of 20lb breaking strain. While lure fishing is not necessarily about casting distance it is about covering new ground and with lighter line you get that advantage. The other thing I've noticed is that when you get significantly heavier on the leader it can impact on the movement of the lure.

Shouldn't be a problem. Unless you are trying to skulldrag a fish you'd be surprised at how big a fish you can land with light drag and a bit of patience. So what if it takes a bit longer to land - it is not like you are picking up huge fish every second cast so you may as well enjoy the fight when you are fortunate enough to hook a good fish. I'm kind of with Isaac on the 2500 but I do own 2x 1000 reels. One was a present as a thank you from someone I spent a lot of time mentoring and the other I bought as I wanted to set it up with 3lb fluoro all the way through. I use them in the inner harbour for topwater bream and whiting but would feel confident hooking pelagics on them too. BTW have you looked at the Shimano website at the various specs for comparison?

Raider is a little heavier and just enough to be noticeable.

Hi DF, I mentor several people on light gear each year and I've put most of them onto the ArrowZ range or alternatively the Raider Bream Finesse 762 (2-4kg 3-12gram lure weight). I own three ArrowZ in lighter ranges. Estuary Super Ultralight, Bream Surface and the Estuary Ultralight. The frustrating thing with the Frogley website is that you have to jump around to see the various options. So you may not be aware of the full range available to you in what you are asking. I put pretty well all of them onto the Estuary Ultralight as it is the most forgiving in the range with 3-10lb line and 3-14gram lure weight. In my case I've matched it with either the Sedona or the Stradic (post Covid present to myself). It is a sweet outfit. I'm a big fan of the short butt which allows me to work the plastics without hitting on the meat of my forearm. Where are you based? If anywhere near the lower North Shore can show you what they are like.

Not Terrrigal but I think technique is more important than the water clarity. As for a master class in squidding have a look at this one:

Hi Richard, I enjoyed catching up with you over the weekend. Hopefully all the tips made sense and give you something to practice until the big schools of pelagics turn up again. So after using some of my gear is there any more on your shopping list in the foreseeable future? Regards, Derek

Hi GG. With this retrieve I can get the Nemesis plastics (wriggle tail) darting from left to right when rigged straight. The built in drag of the paddle tail on the other hand makes it really hard to get this darting action. I think it is less critical to rig some of the others types of plastics straight but if it only takes me 10 seconds longer to rig them straight I'll put the effort in to do so. Once you've rigged them also take a little bit of time to see how they swim. If you can get access to a swimming pool or somewhere there is super clear water it is a great way to see the differences in behaviour of the final rigged lure. When mentoring people I will take the time to show how different lures behave as part of the learning process. I want people to imagine what the lures look like when seen by a fish. Came across a couple of underwater videos showing fish reacting to different lures which has been interesting viewing.

Very good question. I use a hard body lure called an OSP bent minnow and the movement is very much a dying baitfish as per the video below. Very effective on top water when pauses are thrown in. With a plastic you generally need a jig head which will force the plastic to sink (wormhooks are an exception to this) so it is a little harder to hold in the water column. My big thrill is chasing the pelagics on bream gear in the summer when the baitfish schools are around so I recommend rigging the minnow type (match the hatch) lures as straight as possible. The spinning of the plastic in the "poorly rigged video" to me doesn't look right. With the well rigged plastic we can get that darting from side to side which I believe catches the attention of the predators and fires them up to chase. Furthermore, the more they can't catch it the more they want it. Throwing in the pause gives them the chance to hit it which they will often do. For the people I taught that retrieve to the majority of the hits were on that deliberate pause. Our hook up rates on pelagics went up dramatically when we rigged the plastics as straight as we could and then switched to that darting retrieve. Be interesting to try side by side with someone fishing a straight rigged minnow against a poorly rig minnow.

Hi Albert, My pleasure. Glad to see a huge amount of growth in your technique since our first lesson. I'm impressed at how dramatically your casting has improved. To be continued.... Derek

Hi Neil. Here is the messed up and beautiful thing. Exactly the same rod action is used with all the topwater lures. About all we vary is the aggressiveness of the twitching, how many twitches we use and the length of the pauses. The twitches of the rod tip have to be tight (say 5 to 8cm maximum) and in a direct line away from the lure. Most of the action comes from a vigorous but tight shake my arm rather than flicking my wrist. The sub-surface plastic is a different retrieve.

There are "no fishing" signs at the wharf area. Most people go to the point near little Manly beach where there is 7 hour parking. Most of the rest of the Manly peninsula is 2 hour parking.

Hi all, Many videos I've seen of people working lures are done with a GoPro or similar. While these cameras are fantastic at what they do it is difficult to see what is happening at the working end of the action - specifically the lure. I've got some nice telephoto camera gear and have been playing around with Topwater fishing lures so as to demonstrate the action we can get out of them. Don't think there is just one way of working some of these lures. A recentish fishing session with @Niall opened my eyes to another way of working the MMD splash prawn which is what I have tried to show here. MMD splash prawn worked gently: https://youtu.be/uIAUF8Lam5w OSP Bent Minnow (played back at half speed): https://youtu.be/X10dJQ1A_Xk Gladiator Smash Popper: https://youtu.be/qSh4VfYxvTQ For those that haven't seen the action that can be achieved with a Sugapen have a look at this: https://youtu.be/WY9CBQ61pDQ On a side note: This is the action you can achieve with a soft plastic minnow with the right jighead and good technique: https://youtu.be/WjGS6SjfDUs To do well in this sort of fishing it is understanding the action you are trying to achieve which will help to increase your catch rate. Often it is not till you see someone else doing it slightly differently that you realise you may have overlooked an opportunity. Hopefully this inspires a few more to get into this. Please note that the season seems to be be getting quieter but it is a visually spectacular way to fish in the Summer months. Regards. Derek

Tintin - the two detectives in the series are called Thomson and ThomPson. The characters are doubles rather actual twins but for the sake of the guess the band sketch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson_and_Thompson I take it you are familiar with the band the Thompson twins though.... Hold me now was a pretty big hit of theirs. Apparently the band name came from the Tintin characters.

The Thompson Twins

Atomic ArrowZ - usually about $130 but can be found for less. They do a 7 foot (AAS-270H) and a 9 foot (AAS-290SS) model both with a 15-25/30lb line rating or thereabouts. Lure rating is up to 50gram. I own both and I've got reels with 10lb, 15lb and 20lb braid which I switch between each rod depending on my requirements for the fishing session.

Hi Mate, Call me when you get the chance and have a pen and paper ready. I'm non traditional in the way I chase these and it works. Head to head the traditionalists will probably outdo me but that doesn't bother me. Regards, Derek

Why bother with cheap braid? When I can get braid from a known manufacturer for $24 (Berkly X5 in 4lb for my bream rod as an example and I use others depending on which rod I am talking) which I can then fish for the next two years (assuming minimal wind knots) and then go out and find exactly the same braid easily what are a few dollars savings really worth. As @lastwormstated I can go into the shop and test the suppleness and strength in the store and see the diameter. To get cheap braid are you talking sight unseen off the internet or walking to the bargain bin? What breaking strain are you talking about? What is the budget and how much are the savings really worth?

I was told that one of the reasons they were banned from Sydney harbour was due to them doing something similar to fairy penguins. Never actually had this verified but I trust the person that told me this. Then there were these muppets using the jetskis to wash away the osprey's nest several years ago here in NSW. https://www.theleader.com.au/story/4231159/photos-authorities-act-over-destruction-of-ospreys-nest-by-jet-skis/

Essentially you are creating an over correction (think about fishtailing a rear wheel drive car). The first pulse sends it darting forward but it won't track in a straight line so swings across to one side. The second pulse pulls it forward and back towards the line but if you get the slack back in the line the momentum swings it over to the other side. Repeat. Practice this till it becomes second nature then start to throw the pauses in to give fish like a bream the chance to hit it. If the pulls are too long the lure just gets pulled forward and you lose the flipping from side to side. It is easier to learn with other larger topwater lures but to date I've found if you can nail it with a 70mm sugapen then the same retrieve can be used for multiple topwater lures including the MMD splash prawn and bent minnow. You just vary it a little (more aggressive or less aggressive or scale it incrementally downwards to imitate a dying baitfish) to get the movement you desire. BTW it needs a light line (I use 4lb braid or braid of 0.06mm diameter with say an 8lb leader) so it does not interfere with the movement too much. It scales up so I can use it with my snapper spinning rod or barra baitcaster rod and the larger 120mm sugapens. I worked out a similar walk the dog retrieve for subsurface plastics years ago. The strokes are a little bit longer but the slack is the key. Watch this video I put together with a mate and see the position of the lure relative to the line.

Hi Mate, If you have trouble getting the action then reach out. I'm on the lower North Shore but do fish several areas on the Northern Beaches. We'd cover sugapens, MMD splash prawns and the bent minnow. Try shaking your hand rather than flicking it. The slack is the key to a lot of the movement. Short sharp twitches (say 3-5cm) pulling in a line directly away from the lure then a staccato wind to take up the small amount of slack created each time. Relax the hand as the tendency is to stiffen up the grip. Even if you nail the technique your hand will feel a little sore the first few times after which it shouldn't be a problem anymore. Regards, Derek