DerekD

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.

I found this article on gear and retrieves for whiting: https://hookedonflies.com.au/hofblog/2016/03/08/target-whiting-poor-mans-bonefish/

goldilocks. AU - gold. That is gold too - nice one Scottyboy.

There is an expression that lures catch more fishers than fish... These are some of the ones I've picked up here and there for the sandflats fishing (with a few more on the way)... Top 3 on the left are a shrimp pattern. The green one is referred to as a baited breath. The upper 3 on the right are designed to imitate worms and the three lower ones on the right are a crazy Charlie. The one lowest on the left I've forgotten. I'm trying to find similar but with smaller hook sizes. Now to actually catch some fish with them this spring and summer season...

One of a kind, definitely - like every other person on the planet though...

Hi KC, Was that an F or a C?? (C) See (IM) I'm (10 C) tense works but I can't work it out F in this case...

That is true regardless (with the heavy winds last weekend I didn't even get around to wetting a line but all was not lost as I went to a fishing shop instead). I live in the lower north shore and used to work in Kurnell. About 45 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes to an 1 hour and 15 in the the afternoons. These days I work in Matraville so it is 25 to 40 minutes each way depending on the traffic. Gives me something to do. One new number plate to the list every few days slowly adds up. Then there are the ones I've forgotten by the time I get to entering them.