DerekD

Hi HenryNSW, Firstly, I’m impressed at your passion in pursuing this and the thoughts you have put into your post but it will take a huge amount of energy and time to get it going in the direction we would all like to see. Not to say it isn't worth it - saving one life would be a payback well beyond the energy expended. Deaths from rock fishing has been an ongoing problem which the authorities have been trying to resolve for decades. There has been a lot of research into it – in fact there was a report back in 2003 covering the years from 1992 to 2000 which broke each incident down into various categories relating to deceased information (age, gender, country of origin, etc) and incident information (conditions, postcode traveled from). Here is the link to the report. https://www.watersafety.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Publications/Reports-Historical/RockFishFatalitiesReport_Sept03.pdf I believe there used to be a pamphlet with your fishing licence warning people of the dangers of rock fishing. Furthermore from what I remember the warnings have been translated into many different languages to reach those for whom English is not a primary language. You mentioned increased signage. I occasionally fish a location near my work which has a sign advising of how many people have died there to date. The majority of people down there wear cleats and life jackets but I still see people come down there with thongs on and they are asking for trouble. Last year I had to help some seriously under-prepared people out of that location as they started getting knocked over by waves. For the record there are several ways in/out of that spot and they picked the worst considering the gear they were wearing. Also the waves were not what I would have considered dangerous if in cleats but they had no grip on the cabbage weed which grows there. I’m a little cynical in that I believe you can’t legislate against stupidity and I believe there is sufficient information already out there for those who take the time to research properly. A Korean friend of mine was interested in getting into rock fishing with his younger brother and some friends and he took safety seriously even down to the clothes, flippers, lifejacket, abseilers helmet, etc. He bought his mates down to catch up with me at one of the rock platforms and we didn’t go down. Just looked at what the water was doing, what resources such as seabreeze was saying about the swell at the time. Rock safety. Exit strategies. Etc. Even experienced rock fisherman can misjudge the conditions but they will have taken all practical steps to ensure they are not putting themselves or others at risk. You can put up all the warnings you want but if people do not take their safety as seriously as they should how can you stop that without affecting personal freedoms? What makes me really angry is that they can put other people (e.g. rescuers) in danger due to their lack of forethought and preparation. Good luck with this and please consider that this is a problem which authorities and people in the fishing industry have been trying to resolve for decades. Regards, Derek PS. Due to where I live and work I can get to various rock platforms in a reasonable time. If I decide I don't like the conditions and turn away it doesn't cost me much time. Now think about it from the perspective of those of have packed to make a whole day of it, then have a travel time of over an hour each way. They will often decide to start fishing even if the conditions look slightly unfavorable because they have taken so much effort to get there in the first place rather than walking away.

If want to have a chat to talk through little details feel free to PM me your number. Also if you get to the lower North shore of Sydney I'm happy to give you an introduction to soft plastic and similar lures lesson.

Hi Fab1, Going to try and compress 15+ years of learning and teaching people into a relatively short post (for me). I don't fish competition so I've taken it to the point where I am happy and feel confident of catching fish. I don't really go into the super finesse stuff with ultralight jigheads such as 1/24oz. I think Gulp are genius in that you have an edible, biodegradable lure in the shape of a soft plastic. I really don't like using them as they dry out if not kept in their liquid, the liquid can leak into your gear bag once opened, they are relatively easy to damage if/when a fish hits them. On a positive they will catch fish and are a good starting point. I'm also not a big fan of the trendy new kid on the block - the Z-mans. On a positive they are bite resistant. On a negative I find them a pain to rig on consistently straight as the material is so rubbery and resists going over the jig head. They also do not play well with other plastics. There seems to be a sort of chemical reaction where one will melt the other (usually the Z-man). The puddle of plastics which results does not fish well. If you told me to drop my plastics down to the minimum for my 2-4kg outfit I'd head out with: 2.5" grubs matched with a gamakatsu 211 ball head jig head in 1/8oz and size 1 or 2 hook. The short hook sits well in the grub. 3" minnows (my go to are Berkley power bait) with a TT tournament bullet head jigheads in the 1H hook (H is for heavier gauge wire) in 1/4 oz for range, 1/6 oz for a little more hang time and then rarely 1/8 oz if I want even more hang time. 4" minnow with 1/4 oz and 1/0H hook. Hold the jig head alongside the plastic and it has to look right. I'm a big fan of the TT brand and I wish I was sponsored by them but there are many other choices which will work. The reason I'm a huge fan of the bullet heads is because I've worked out a retrieve which results in a sub-surface walk the dog which turns out to be very effective on pelagics. Alternative plastics are the wriggle tails or paddle tails (like the squidgy plastics in your photo). Very effective for fish like flathead or bass as they create vibrations and movement in the water which the fish are keyed in to. The dicussion continues. Derek

Hi @Fab1, The short answer is yes you can. My first ever fish on a soft plastic was a silver trevally on a small white grub with a 2-4kg fibreglass tipped rod and mono. The fish and I were both hooked but in different contexts. As I learned more about it I gradually switched to gear more suitable to it. What you will find is that there is flex in the rod, stretch in the line and you don't have the sensitivity. Furthermore, setting the hook takes a touch more effort. It will work but once you make the switch to modern gear you will likely find yourself cringing if you ever try going back. Give it a go using the 2500 reel, light rod and say 8lb line but factor in that using the appropriate gear will make it a joy. The whip as you cast out a light lure. The little spray of mist as the moisture gets flicked off your line. The settling of the light braid on the water. The direct response of the lure to your every twitch. The feel of a bite as a fish decides it wants a plastic lure more than you do. Regards, Derek PS. What jig heads are you using. My personal opinion is that most people fish a little too light to start with and get in trouble with poor casting distance and birds nests.

Hi All, I work with a number of keen fishos with fishing connections over Australia. While we are good with our bread and butter species the occasional query comes up asking for the name of a species. Now in the past my go to Application has been a phone call or text message to @wazatherfisherman which has a really good success rate. Others are less fortunate and have to resort to a smart phone application. What application are people using for fish identification and would you recommend it? Specifically interested in Australian Species and NSW in particular. Regards, Derek

Hi Mike, That is a well thought out and comprehensive article. I took a lot of pleasure in reading it and will probably re-read it several times and refer others to it. I'm impressed at how much your fishing technique has grown since I "dumped over your gear and casting technique" and started mentoring you. I now find I suffer pangs of envy when you text me your latest catches while I am at work. Beginner you may be but I think you are well on your way to becoming an expert in your niche field. Looking forward to more sessions with you. Regards, Derek

Hi Kilp, Well written report and thank you for sharing. You did well putting all the information we went through on the day into practice leading to several luderick being landed and several more lost (you'll get them next time). It is often where I like to start people new to fishing as it is a very visual form of fishing and you can get some instant feedback when the fish are playing. It is also a lot of fun if you haven't fished for them before. Thanks for being such good company on the day and for the enthusiasm you had during the whole process. I'm confident you could now go out and successfully target them on your own based on what you learned on the day but it is more fun with company. Regards, Derek PS. We will also have to try you with the weed flies in some upcoming sessions.

Hi Pickles, Thank you for taking the time to put this together and I hope it ends up in the library as it will make a nice go to reference in the future. Regards, Derek

Congratulations FmFF. When you sent the photo to my phone I realised it was a good fish. What I didn't realise was, was how good a fish it actually was. It took me years to crack the meter mark (102cm - you are nipping at my heels with 101cm) and you have done it in an impressively short time. The sessions out with @Pickles would have helped with the learning curve but you still had to put it all together to make it work. Looking forward to our next sessions out. May have to try and get you on a mulloway before the end of Summer. Regards, Derek

Excellent report Mike. Looking forward to seeing more of them as the season progresses. "But anyway, later that weekend I spent a day with Derek who promptly dumped all over my technique and gear..." That sounds so harsh. Can we just call it "tough love" or "constructive criticism"? 😁

Hi Lungfai. We are using the 70mm Sugapens and the belly treble and rear assist hook combo is a pain as the assist hooks catch up on the trebles often enough to cut into fishing time. On the 90mm sugapens the separation distance between the two hook points is sufficient that this is not a problem. There are also sufficient commercially made lures such as the Jackson Ebi panic prawn or the Ecogear PX55F shrimp with treble and assist hooks arrangement that it is easier to buy one of them than start mucking around with the smaller sugapens. The other reason I have for leaving them as is is because some of the sandflats we are/will be fishing get visited by salmon and kings and the trebles are a bit better for hook ups - I do keep some long nosed pliers handy for careful dehooking. The trebles on a lot of my lures get changed out for singles but I have some exceptions - these sugapens being one of them. Regards, Derek

Head to the articles section in the Library of the Forum. Here is one to get you started:

Well done mate. Those Ecogear type lures are pretty effective. Waiting to see how your species count goes over the summer.

I'm a little at a loss for words ("as if", say those who know me pretty well). One of my philosophies in life is that it can be hard enough and even helping people in just a little way at the right time can make a world of difference. While not a formally trained teacher, I've had a tendency to say "can I make a suggestion" when I see people struggling with something that I may have mastered or am a few steps ahead of them on the learning curve. One of the joys of this site (thank you Donna and Stewy) is that you have a chance to help people wanting to improve their fishing knowledge. I try and help several each year in skillsets in which I think I am pretty competent. Not really a rule as to how I select these people but I do have a preference for those who come across as pleasant in their posts and are asking questions with a bit of thought behind them. A little bit cheeky doesn't hurt either. I've had a few reach out to me and I also reach out where I can to people asking for help where I can add value. If geography and schedules permit then we will meet up. On a personal level I've connected with and kept in contact with about half of these people. The latest person I've been mentoring is FMFF (Steve). Last Friday I had a lot of fun watching him grasp various concepts during the day. When you've been doing stuff for a long time you can forget how long it really took you to work it out so he did really well considering how much information I threw at him. Normally I'm happy with some good company, a chance to show off a little (I admit it), the flashes of joy when they have an aha moment and a paid for meal somewhere along the way. Steve went a fair bit beyond what I would have been happy with and organised a generous voucher to one of my local tackle stores. Firstly, thank you! Secondly, it is humbling when people are so gracious in their thank you when you help them with something which for me is fun. Each mentoring session usually takes at least a day and uses a fair bit of energy but I consider it worth it if it makes a positive difference in an aspect of their life. Looking forward to our next session and hopefully we can get your girlfriend out for a fish soon. PS - seems I found a few words....

It was almost a case of make him or break him. I was also a little footsore after 12 hours of tuition. I did go fishing the next day though. FMFF has gotten a few of the various walk the dog retrieves nailed to the point I'm happy with it and I feel he can use them with confidence. A few other things still to get a little more consistent but his skill set is growing.

Just stay away from the blue mackeral style Slapstix. They seem to use a different material for these which seems to tear relatively easily when jig head is inserted. The use of the weighted head makes it so much easier to work the full water column and helps keep the plastic subsurface when ripping it back for that reaction bite. BTW if you got to the 9" Slapstix then a 5/0 XS in older style or 7/0 or 8/0 in Headlocks seems to work pretty well. For these I'll use weights from 3/8 all the way up to 3/4 with my favourite being the 1/2oz.

Firstly I use TT jig heads in the bullet head. I've worked out a retrieve which gets the plastic moving between 30 and 60cm side to side. Essentially I'm creating an over correction with each bounce of the rod tip. It works from 3 inch to 9 inch plastics. I struggle with darter type jig heads but it is magic with the bullet heads. TT does some older style tournament jig heads in the yellow packet. With these I go for a 3/0 extra strong hook. Weight of head between 3/8 and 1/2oz. These are getting harder to find. I can also use them with the TT Head lockz but the hook size seems to have changed so for these I use a 5/0 XH. In the photo below you can see the size difference between the 3/0 and 5/0 of the head lockz compared to the 3/0 older tournament style.

PM sent.

BTW worth bringing some small surface lures such as poppers or even cicadas at this time of year as they will hit surface lures and it is a bit more spectacular when you see the hit.

Slapstix or similar sluggo type lures. Pink or white with a bullet head jig head rather than a worm hook as it allows you to more easily work the water column. A sub surface walk the dog type retrieve with pauses to allow them to hit it. If you feel a bump then rip it back as fast as possible to force them into a position where if they don't take it they will loose it. 6" ones are better value.

Rublex Celta Spinner in the 3.5gm. Excellent for rivers and the bass can't seem to help themselves hitting the lure. Retrieve it as slow as possible without snagging up. You might need to lift up the rod to start with to give it a bit of upward lift and then lower the rod as the lure gets closer to you.

Look specifically for the 762 5 to 8kg. They do a few rods in that series and there are slight spec differences. I've got one I've used for a very long time and still going.

Hi Mike, Generally for the boat you want a little shorter for ease of handling but enough length to bang it out there. I've been happy with stuff around the 7 foot as I also use the same gear shore based. Shimano Snapper Raider 762 (7 foot six inches 2 piece) 5-8kg 15-45 lure weight $100 to $130 or Atomic ArrowZ Offshore Spin AAS-270H 2 Piece 7' 14-30 lb Spinning 14 to 30lb 10 - 50gm lure weight $130 - $150 Shimano Sedona or better in the 4000 size. Will handle about 270m of 15lb or probably a skinny 20lb. $90 to $99 I'd spool it all the way with braid. For the minimal dollar savings you don't want to be worrying about a joiner knot. You could also consider a jigging braid for better depth judgement when using the sounder. Or if you want to spoil yourself look at the Shimano Stradics but as much as I love Shimano stay away from the CI4 series. They are lighter but I'm getting mixed feedback on these. Regards, Derek

The deliveries are starting to come in and a quick stop at my local tackle shop has rounded off the selection of flies for whiting. I'm mixing it up as much as I can. Some poppers, worms, crazy charlies (with red) and my favourite so far is the yabby imitation. The photos on the website (see below) for the yabbies looked a little better but the actual is close enough that I don't think the fish will care. Bring on the warmer weather and the whiting.... I also have a few bread flies so I will probably end up trying @noelm 's suggestion (thank you for that).

Cracked and "The Craic" - double meaning and that is really clever. Thanks for sharing that one.