DerekD

Hi @telescopic_rodd What is your outfit and of particular interest to me is the braid you are using. I noticed you commented on my "first light outfit" article so I know you have read it. It sounds like it comes down to the way and where you are working the lure. Are you always in contact with the lure. Are you winding or flicking the lure? Have you worked out how to work the lure in a subtle way with small flicks as well as larger ones. Are you letting it hit the bottom (watch for the sag in the line). Are you teasing the fish - remember it is not bait or actual food so we are usually pushing for the reactive strike. Easy meal or the lure is getting away (in little darts). Certainly worth persisting but it does take a while to crack the code if you are self-taught. It is more satisfying to work it out yourself but if you continue to struggle reach out to me or some of the people I've helped mentor (it is good for their growth to teach someone else as it helps crystalize what they have learned by having to explain it). BTW - if I absolutely have to catch fish I'm using bait but lure fishing is way more satisfying to me and generally I found the quality of fish went up. Regards, Derek

Hi @The Asian Squid BTW did you read this one yet?

Depends where you are fishing too. We use them when we head out on a charter and they are very effective. We find the bait schools and have a slightly heavier sinker than you would expect on them and we send them whistling down into the depths. We can control the descent with our fingers till we find a speed that seems to work. They would look like a school of fleeing mini baitfish which seems to trigger the attack response in the predators (yellowtail scad and slimies). If they get hit you feel it and then you wind it up and put the fish in the bait tank. If you don't then wind it up above the bait school and send it again and again till you hook up again.

Hi @The Asian Squid, I agree with @Restyle that squid are a visual predator so movement is probably a far more effective way to get a squid's attention. By the time the squid smells the scent the lure is probably meters away and again it comes to sight hunting. There are probably a lot of other scents in the water so why would they zero in on yours. Early in my squidding career I tried using scent but then decided I didn't like the way it stains my jigs so stopped using it. How well a scent works is a difficult question to respond to as you have insufficient information to make an good decision. Considering the only data points you have are you and maybe a fishing mate, how do you test the effectiveness of a scent? If you cast it out without scent and don't get a squid then is it the lack of scent or are they not there or not playing. You would have to head out multiple times with multiple jigs with a mixture of scented and unscented and then cast to the same location and work the lures back in the same way to start to build up some data. Personally I couldn't be bothered so this will likely remain an academic question for me. The biggest impact of the scent is probably on you. Maybe it gives you that extra bit of confidence so you work that lure a little better. Maybe the scent convinces the squid to hold on that bit longer but if they are close enough to grab the jig then they usually will at some stage. Good luck and I'm interested in how your data collecting goes. Regards, Derek

Maybe but while @Mike Sydney has the story I didn't see a brag mat so it makes it difficult to claim. How do you measure an octopus anyway?

Hi @Fobbie Here is the current record. Just write to the moderators to ask. Suggest starting with @mrsswordfisherman and @Little_Flatty though they are usually on top of that sort of thing. Maybe go back and add the rod details to your report with the edit function. The one other thing, please go back to your photo and look closely and zoom in. While I might be wrong, based on that photo I make it out that while the head is dead on the 48cm the tail is on the 1cm marking making your bream 47cm and not the 48cm you originally thought but it still puts you in equal first. If you agree with me then make some slight corrections to your report and then request. I would hate to see a cloud put over what I think is a great story, a beautiful fish and well deserved record. Regards, Derek

Hi @Fobbie, I'm both envious (huge bream) of you and feel sorry for you (will probably take the rest of your life to do better). Awesome result. Suggest you put in a request in the records as you should take number one or two spot for this species. You've done the story and included a photograph with a measurement so the hard part is done. Congratulations, Derek

I'll ask around. The guy was a rock climber in a past life so was pretty good at reading routes.

Hi @FlickNAnthony, It was a pleasure meeting the both of you on a day when the fish were biting (for me at least) but it was a slow day. I was impressed at how quickly the two of you picked up the theory of the topwater techniques I was showing you. Mastering them will take a while longer as the movement is a bit like patting your head and rubbing your stomach. Combining that staccato wind with the shaking of the rod tip will feel awkward the first few times then muscle memory will kick in and you'll be wondering why you ever had trouble with it in the first place. I'm looking forward to more fishing sessions with you and Brendan in the future and I've a few more tricks up my sleeve which I think you will appreciate. Regards, Derek

Hi @FlickNAnthony, When I showed you how I fish the topwater lures I was really impressed at how quickly you grasped the concepts I was showing you. When I then inadvertently ran into you and Brendan a week or so later and you told me about this fish it put a huge smile on my face. You've now seen how effective a pause can be when teasing up these bream. I am kind of jealous of this fish and kind of pity you at the same time. That fish would be the fish of a lifetime for many people. The record on this site for yellowfin bream is 47cm and only 1cm more than that horse you landed. It is good to know there are bigger ones out there but I hope it doesn't take you a lifetime to better this one. Looking forward to more discussions with you on fishing theory and even more fish. Well done. Derek PS. Brendan took a cracking photo.

Hi @Alkor, Welcome back. Hope you enjoy going through all the articles and reports since you were last here. Some of our members have been very prolific in their writings. In particular @wazatherfisherman who managed to get his own section in the library due to the amount of pieces he put together. Regards, Derek

I had a friend who went down to Bluefish point recently and also mentioned that the chains had been removed. Not sure about the new fence and gates but that sounds pretty likely.

Hi @XD351 Excellent observation and thanks for taking the time to put together such an informative response. On a side note I can do the FG knot with 4lb braid and a 8lb leader easily and very consistently using the method in the video link I posted. I'll now have to try it with 4lb leader and get back to you. Regards, Derek

Ok. Submitted. This is what I went with. Maximised the use of 200 characters: My issue is that this ban appears to be an emotive response to illegal spearfishing incident(s). Bad precedent! Where is the supporting study/science validating this new law? PS: I don't chase groper.

It is not that I can't tie a leader effectively and efficiently, it is that I don't get excited enough about it to want to have to redo it frequently. I also dislike unnecessary line wastage. Sure it is only a few cm at a time you lose each time you change a lure but over long fishing sessions it all adds up. Especially with frequent lure changes. Getting good at something is about mastering the big and the little things. This article is about one of the little things - tying on lures and terminal tackle with a uni(versal) knot with minimal line wastage. Over the years I've worked out how to minimise line wastage to the point I very rarely need to trim my tag each time I tie something else on. This video is intended for people who trim off 3 - 5cm (or more) of tag end every time they tie on a new lure or terminal tackle. This is especially applicable to most people using a locked half blood knot. My tags are typically around 10mm long. Two epiphanies I had when tying the uni knot are: 1) It is a sliding knot so I can tie it with the lure (and thus any related hooks, especially trebles) away from my hands and lock it down afterwards. 2) With a bit of care I can consistently end up with a tag end of plus or minus 10mm which almost never needs trimming. The first part of the trick is to keep the loop and tag end small while tying the knot. Every time you feed the tag end through pull it forward enough so you can feed it through the loop and grab it on the other side. The second part is rather than pull the slack out by grabbing the tag end (I'm sure that pulling the loose end of any line is hardwired into the human DNA) pinch the tag end against the top part of the loop and then start pulling the slack out from the lure end. Work the bottom part of the loop with your fingers if you have to. Once it is closed up enough then slide the knot down the line and lock it into place. With practice you can get consistently small tag ends which won't need trimming (for the record this video was done in one take - that is how confident I am in getting a short tag most times I do it. Additionally, I have bugger all experience editing so I didn't want to have to redo it). Just think about this... Every time you and I change a lure you are losing 3 to 5x the amount of leader I am which means you have to tie a leader 3 to 5x more often than I do. For the record I feel the same about line wastage with the FG knot. For the method I use I typically finish up with about 5cm excess of the mono and about 10cm excess of braid. This is the video which introduced me to the technique I use and it doesn't require me to cut off the circulation in my fingers or face west on a Saturday afternoon at 3pm while hopping on one leg:

Looks like you can respond as to why you disagree to the ban but there is a 200 character limit. Drafting and re-drafting my response as to why I disagree with this ban. My biggest concern is that it appears to be an emotive based response to illegal spearfishing incident(s) without a scientific study behind it. I understood and for that matter agreed with bans for threatened species like the grey nurse shark but from the reports of others (not first hand experience) there are plenty of groper out there. Additionally, I've always liked the fair/sporting chance method of harvesting. Speargun on a lobster isn't fair but grabbing it by hand is. Groper on fishing line is a fair chance but spearfishing isn't. These rules made sense to me. I've never been interested in chasing groper personally and probably never will but if we move forward on "the feel" or "the vibe of it" rather than the science for bag limits and marine management then that is a big concern. The thin edge of the wedge so to speak. Also found this about a spearing incident back in 2002 on DPI website: https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/content/archive/news-releases/fishing-and-aquaculture/2012/groper-killer-caught#:~:text=The Blue Groper became the,to this method of fishing.

Hi Anthony, Welcome aboard (in a visible sense). Thanks for sharing your backstory and I look forward to hearing more about your journey as you branch out into other fields. Considering how well you write and turn a phrase I'm really looking forward to seeing some of your fishing videos. I suspect there will be a great deal of thought and preparation in the final product. Regards, Derek

You are Australian born - should be in your DNA. It is something I do with all my overseas guests. @linewetter is from the U.S.A. and @Jakob Duus is from Denmark. Having said that... Whenever you are ready and have some time I'm happy to show you how to throw and then catch a boomerang.

Hmmmmm.... So do the yabbies (ghost nippers) also count as a species? Maybe your count goes up to 7 species caught in a day.

True but then if I don't use them as it was intended then I may as well not buy them in the first place. On a side note trying various lures is how I learn and grow and I can't take the money with me so I may as well have a lot of fun on the journey.

And there I was thinking the GME GX600 was some special custom and awesome spinning reel from a brand I hadn't heard of before. Seen them before on boats but didn't connect the dots.

Just want to encourage others to get out there and try this really enjoyable niche of lure fishing.

Thought it was funnier to explain the logic behind it. Had to replace one lure and while I was conveniently in the shop...... Oh and the mid-water hang time on the new OSP hinged bent minnow is seriously impressive. I'm really looking forward to experimenting more with that one. It is so perfectly balanced that using a heavier and denser 12lb fluoro slowly drags it down while using a 6lb fluoro allows it to slowly lift back to the surface.

Hi all, With shorebased kings being a lot of work for not a lot of joy I’ve switched to and been having a great deal of fun on light topwater this season. Between the usual mentoring and starting casual conversations with other people in the areas I’m fishing I’ve managed to get several other people addicted to this style of fishing. The sound and visual impact of a fish hitting a lure is a buzz each time. For some fishing company yesterday afternoon I reached out to three people I’ve been fishing with recently, @linewetter, @foxyfisher and a new Raider, Ethan (yet to post). They were all tied up with either work or family... Seriously wonder about their priorities at times... I hit the inner west knowing the tide was 44cm at 5pm. I knew some of my spots were not going to be practical to fish but I was using this as a chance to see where the deeper waters were and to see how they were fishing on the low. Drummoyne was not worth the effort but I took the opportunity to get some photos of all the channels and snags. Nield park had potential but was still a little too low. The rowers club wasn’t appealing but Lilyfield had some possibilities. After getting smoked on the weekend and having it cost me about $173 in lures (ok the one I lost was a larger OSP minnow at $35, plus two more replacements of the same bought the total up another $70, then there was the middle sized MMD splash prawn I bought to test, then the new OSP hinged bent minnow I had to try... adds up quickly) I decided to use my light rather than ultralight outfit to surf any fish out of the snags. A missed strike on the small MMD splash prawn early on indicated the area had possibilities. Then a few casts later and I pull up this little beauty in the high 20s. Naturally I took a photo and sent it to the three Raiders mentioned earlier. My petty revenge for them having other priorities. 😀 A few more casts then a swirl, a hit and line peeling off. With all the oysters in the area I kept the rod high for the fight and kept as much pressure on the fish as I could. Only one or two curly moments and then I lifted up this gorgeous bream. Being larger and fighting slightly harder than the previous one I took some time to measure it. 36cm. A photo before releasing and then a text message to my three absent companions. Must give them credit, they were supportive rather than insultingly jealous... I was going to have to work harder on getting under their skin. At this stage it was getting close to dusk so I hit Drummoyne for the third and final bream. In the high twenties so I didn’t bother measuring it. Obligatory snapshot to annoy the others and then released it. I love that we have so many fishable areas so close to each other in Sydney. To be able to consistently pull reasonable fish out of the water shows how good this fishery can be. The more I fish it and learn, the less I am restricted by the tides. I still have to take the tides and the wind into account but I’m getting more and more options each time I head out on a research mission. Regards, Derek