DerekD

Hi Mat, People rave about braid for a good reason. Better strength for diameter results in improved casting distance. The sensitivity is such that I can feel a bite from 100m away. Supposedly it has a 1% stretch compared to mono with its 10% stretch which means I can work my lures without that spongy feeling. It also helps set the lures. I've been using it for over 15 years. That you had such a bad early experience suggests something was not quite right. Maybe a nick in your runners. Maybe cheap braid. Maybe incorrect line class. Maybe poor knots or a combination. When teaching someone on the 4lb braid I start with I ask people to gradually load it up till they snap it and then point out they will likely cut themselves before they can. It doesn't like shock loading but that is difficult to achieve when fishing (rod flex won't allow it). Line twist may have been a reel issue - were you using an Alvey? When I started with braid the general consensus was at least a rod length of leader. In practice I could feel the knot (double uni knot pass through the runners) which indicates there is repeated impact on casting. When I snagged up the line usually broke at the leader meaning I lost several metres of fluorocarbon unnecessarily. The solution to both issues was to shorten my leader to about 80 to 100cm maximum depending on which rod I use. Think about why you are using the length of leader you have in mind. I've caught plenty of fish on 10 to 15cm of leader when I figured I could get one more lure change out of it. With the exception of being able to handline the fish up when it is at your feet on say the rocks or of some of the superlight bream fishing lines I haven't heard a justification (yet) for a long leader that made sense to me. Mostly it seems to be people repeating what other people have said. The trendy knot these days is the FG which is an elegant knot and one of the stronger ones out there. The method I now use as it doesn't require special tension and 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: Now the finish of the knot can be found at a little after five minutes on this link: 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. It will cast out through the runners but in my case it can catch on the top runner on the way back in but as I use a leader just long enough not to pass through the runners it is a non-issue. There is so much competition out there in the braid market that if you are not at the top of your game it could hurt your reputation. Don't buy ebay just because it is cheap. I stick with major brands such as Daiwa or Shimano or Berkley as I won't go too far wrong. Personally I'm using PowerPro, Berkley X5 and X9, YKG jigging braid, Platil Millenium, YYKG jigging braid and a couple more. The MorningTide fishing crew do a lot of fishing off the rocks up your neck of the woods. Worth watching their videos on YouTube to see what they are doing. Why use a swivel (or if I do it is at the lure such as Halco twisty)? It is a great way to damage a rod tip when ripping a lure back if your timing is off. If you have to use a swivel then the palomar knot two or three times through with the braid is a very strong knot. I'd be rethinking your idea for wire. I do have a flexible shielded line for the working end of the rod but I think mono leader should work for most circumstances. People with a bit more experience up your part of the world will be able to give a better answer than I can. To answer your other questions can you tell me the line and lure rating on the rod.

Sweet corn on a size 1 or 1/0 hook. Throw some extra kernels in the area you are fishing. Say 5m straight in front of you. Maybe a running sinker. Two rods if you can. Back the drag off. Usually only a waiting game for the carp there. For the bass the genuine Celta (Rublex) spinners in size three on a light bream rod with braid are pretty effective. Cast out as far as you can and retrieve as slow as you can without snagging up. They are very aggressive. Just watch the gill rakes when unhooking. Consider flattening down the barbs.

Hi Rebel, Please elaborate?? No offence meant to the ladies as the following comments could apply to either gender. Everything you learned in the past about how things work may or may not work - there is usually a learning curve. It isn't quite as good as the expectations you have from the sales brochure (Tinder comes to mind). You are short of money and can't work out how you ended up with all these accessories. All shiny and pretty the first few times till things settle down and honeymoon period is over. Could also go the other way but it was too open a statement.

Hi Leon, I know you mentioned the Nasci but can you confirm the budget or price range you have in mind. On my 1-3kg I'm using a 1000 reel but in the 2-4kg outfits I like the 2500 sized Shimano reels. Shimano Sedona 2500 at around $90 - $95 is probably a good starting point. You won't cry too much if they get a dunking. For the $40 over the Sienna you will notice a difference in smoothness. Regards, Derek

Sienna 4000 on a 1-3kg rod?? A bit over-gunned and it probably won't balance well or did you mean 2500?? I use 4000 series Shimanos on the 5-8kg rods with 10 to 15lb braid.

Hi Jacob. Advice I had many years ago and this is generalising. If I'm fishing for kings I fish about 4m of the bottom in middle harbour in about 10 - 12m depth of water. Being mid water column it puts it in their line of sight. When I'm fishing for jewfish I like to fish the bottom 1m of the water column. I try and find locations where they are likely to swim past. I've had both kings and jewfish in the same session a few times. I also like to stagger my baits through the water column. Regards, Derek

Hi APM, Welcome to the forum. If you are fishing down near Brighton then learning to catch your own bait is a good way to start. There are sandflats near Dolls point where you can go Yabby pumping on dropping or low tides. One video showing how to do so is: I put them next to the holes rather than on top. At a slight angle from vertical but pointing towards the hole. The intention is to collapse the hole. If I keep these somewhere cool in a bucket of saltwater I can use them for fishing the next day. Whiting and bream love them. A few things. I like Wilson or Alvey yabby pumps. I've got one of each which are decades old and still going. Stainless and made to last. The longer ones might look good but from what I understand they can be a bit hard to handle. When I start I tighten up the wing nut inside to compress the washers and loosen it at the end of a session. A quick flush with water and it gets put away. When rigging you can use a running sinker up to a swivel. I like using size #4 or #6 long shanked hooks and feed it either up through the poop tube and out the chest or from the head down. Cast them out then with 10 to 15 second pauses move them across the sandflats about 30cm at a time to create a small disturbance to attract the fish. When I go yabby pumping with the nephews I put the bucket down and the kids have a ball picking them up and putting them in the bucket for me. The youngest one tries to let them go at the end of the bait gathering session so I have to watch that. Regards, Derek PS: This guy also shows how to rig them:

Hi Jacob, Glad to hear you got out there. I've noticed over the years that sometimes store bought squid can have a pinkish or purplish tinge to it. While it may only be part of the freezing process they use I find I get that same colour as the squid goes off in the sun. One of the reasons I'm a big fan of catching my own is that I know how it has been handled. Regards, Derek

Hi all, Potentially an item for the fishing bucket list. I saw a small clip of Jeremy Wade from river monsters chasing something called a Taimen. Curiosity piqued and I found this website: https://www.wherewisemenfish.com/holidays/sweetwater-lodge/s3475/ Hoping posting it is not against the Fishraider guidelines. Technically it is an advertising page for a Tour company but practically because of the remote location and prices they charge I don't think it will be in competition with any of the site sponsors. Scroll down the page to section 8 and click on one of the photos to open it into full size and then you can start clicking through them. The size of these fish and the scenery is amazing. There is one photo from above where the fly fisherman is behind some weeds and you can see the fish at the other end of the line. I still have to check out the videos. Regards, Derek

Hi again, It was good to get out on the water. The people I know who were out on the water had to work hard today. Two jewfish (69 and 75cm) and no kings. Problem with going for kings or nothing there are days with nothing. Though I only fished with one mate today we have built a nice little network up over the years which lets us know where our best chances are. First question - if land based fan your casts out. Maybe try a second jig then move along. If on the kayak you can cover ground more easily by casting parallel to the shore. In my opinion Kings have earned their reputation but don't let it worry you too much. I chase them on bream gear (4lb with 8lb leader) at times. Takes a little longer to land but it is a blast. In addition to the 50lb outfit I went out with a 15lb outfit today and I've also landed plenty on that setup. Your 25lb outfit will be fine. Just make sure you have a smooth drag. When I head out with the 15lb rod I have a swivel with duolock clip on it. As I am heading from A to B I can troll a deep diving minnow (I like the Yozuri crystal minnow with large bib). When I get to B to put a bait down I pull out a pre-rigged swivel to 50lb line with heavy ball sinker (pass line 3 or 4 times through sinker to get a friction lock) and then 6/0 circle hook. I unclip the lure and then clip to this and send down a bait. The heavy ball sinker keeps it in the zone I want to be as I slowly cruise forwards. On the heavy outfit my 50lb braid runs to a short length of 80lb leader. I pass the leader through the eye of a snapper sinker and tie off to a swivel. From this swivel I have about 80 to 100cm of line and 6/0 or 7/0 hook. I'll see if I can get some photos at some stage. Considering it can take a while to catch a squid unless it is a snack sized version I prefer to strip them as you get several baits out of it. The head goes on the heavy rod and a strip goes on the 15lb outfit. Shore based for kings we will either send the squid unweighted through the water column or hang it underneath a water bomb type balloon to hold it in the zone. Shore based can be very effective. My biggest confirmed fish to date is the 104cm jewfish caught in Middle Harbour from the shore. I'm getting RSI here. Too much typing. More later. Derek PS when a birthday or similar comes around I'm going to suggest getting a 2-4kg braid outfit. Once you know how to fish that I think you will find your overall fishing will improve dramatically. PPS Google fishbrain and Vlad Voda or fishbrain and Oscar Moore. These are two people I've been mentoring here and there over the last few years outside Fishraider. They have put the work in but have a look at the quality of fish they are catching in Middle Harbour and some of Sydney's other waterways. I don't know where fishbrain gets its summaries from. It keeps calling kingfish as amberjacks.

Squid move around. I generally don't worry about time or tides when fishing for them. It is not that the tides don't play a part at some locations (e.g. back eddy balling up some baitfish) but most areas I fish I strongly believe it is a matter of luck if the squid are there at that particular moment. 15 minutes could make all the difference so I work an area and then move along. On your kayak it will be easier for you to catch them as you can cover ground. I have many longer explanations but if I had to summarise my technique for squidding: I like a 2.2 or 2.5 as a general go to size. Big enough to cast, small enough for most squid to pick on it. After seeing how many squid have attacked my white plastics over the years I buy pink or orange jigs with a white belly. If I can see it from 10m away then I'm pretty sure the squid can too. Fish it as close to the bottom without getting snagged up. If over weeds count it down to stay above the weed. If over sand then let it hit the bottom. Short sharp aggressive flicks to get their attention. Pauses to allow them to grab the jig If they grab it without you knowing the short sharp aggressive flick won't give them time to let it go and it will set the tines of the jig A soft hand when fighting them. Watch out for ink when they come at you. If it gets your mate it is the funniest thing ever. If it gets you it is not funny. You can find my method for preparing them in some of my past posts. How does this play when using your kayak? Follow the shoreline and cast ahead and about 3 to 5 m off the shore. You will cover a lot of ground easily. I have a kayak from which I often fish for squid at the start of the session. It is extremely rare for me not to get any. I head out with 3 rods on my kayak. A 2-4kg rod with 4lb braid for light lures and squid jigs. A 5-8kg rod with 15lb braid for trolling and flicking a heavier squid jig around and then putting the squid baits down when chasing bigger fish. A heavy outfit, usually my 50lb with poor mans downrigger (heavy snapper sinker) 6/0 or 7/0 hook and squid head or strip which gets left in the rod holder behind me on a light drag. That rod has caught a lot of kings just sitting there. When it goes off I put the rod in my hand into one of the other rod holders then reach back and grab the big rod. If fishing for kings I like the bait mid water column. If fishing for jewfish I put a whole squid (ideally 15cm hood) out on the bottom with 6/0 snelled hooks and a light drag. I work on the theory that small fish can nibble at it but only a big fish can take it. I've seen the bait mouthed and dropped a couple of times (hence the light drag) before being able to load up gradually and set the hooks. I've also picked up a few sharks this way. To be continued - heading out on kayak on Middle harbour this morning for my exercise.

Hi Jacob, Firstly Middle Harbour is an awesome fishing location that fishes pretty well all year round. You have some access to some good locations but as you said it is your skill sets you need to build up. Last year in June and July people were getting multiple big kings in a session. Up to and over 1 meter. I've caught my first jewfish there and to date also my biggest jewfish (104cm) in Middle Harbour. Our best session was 6 jewfish. I saw two lads one afternoon land a 116cm jewfish. There is usually somewhere out of the wind. I suggest starting to learn to catch your own bait - especially squid. When you get good at that then you will always have bait in the fridge ready to go unless you decide to eat them instead. As to your bull shark question. The last known death from shark attack in Sydney was in Middle Harbour but before you get worried about it read the story: https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/actress-marcia-remembered-for-tragic-final-role-in-harbour-20130127-2dewb.html This happened in 1963. They got her into the ambulance but somewhere else I read the clutch burnt out (really steep road there) and she died from blood loss. From memory over the years I can recall about 4 kayak versus shark incidents in the Sydney region. Get yourself a mentor or ideally more than one. Under the Fishraider guidelines we should not be arranging a meet up with anyone under 18 unless you have an adult and with the current situation there are other risks. Not to say we can't help you but demonstrating something is far easier than trying to explain by correspondence (but I have done it before). Homework (or home play). Use the filter on the site to look for articles on squid fishing. There are some good pinned ones. I've also done a few over the years. Watch some of the videos. This one from Yamashita is a pretty good starting point if are happy with sub-titles: BTW what fishing gear do you have? Depending on the answer it allows me to refine my suggestions. Regards, Derek

Hi Lungfai, Pliers have arrived. Looks pretty interesting with the Teflon coating. Plan on taking them on my next kayak trip. Thanks for the suggestion. Regards, Derek

"film it" - I hadn't thought of that one. The FG is an elegant if not beautiful knot and I'll continue to use it over the GT due to its slimline profile. When I start to lose fish regularly because of knot failure then I'll consider changing. I've heard multiple claims the FG is the strongest knot out there and it will give 100% breaking strength to the point it is almost a mantra. When claims that the GT knot was stronger came out, of course I'm interested. If it can beat the FG knot that has a 100% breaking strength how is that physically possible? Is the GT knot 110% or is the FG knot actually sufficiently weaker that to be noticeable? It is only after reading that even the IGFA can only get up to 82% out of the FG knot on proper test beds with three knots submitted for testing that I had the aha moment. It is food for thought and another example of not taking everything as gospel. Do I care sufficiently to test it - Yes! Am I going to spend days and weeks doing so - Nope! Rather be fishing. It is the questioning of what I do and the small iterations and improvements that help me get better at fishing.

Hi Mate, I'm also hovering around the 110kg mark plus fishing gear, fishfinder and battery on a Hobie Revolution 13 (load rating 159kg). The Hobie Outback has an even higher load rating (about 190kg) so it will be fine. It is a little heavier to carry than the Revolution but that is about it. The stability will be good. The fin drive is pretty easy to service yourself. I can send you the links for that if you do get one. Mine is a 2010 and I find the flat cushion seat fine but friends that have the later model with the chair rave about it. In the older style some of my mates have bought the blow up cushion attachment. Depending on the year and condition I consider $1,200 to be pretty good. Mine was $2,300 new in 2010. These days they are over $3,000 new from what I've heard. Generally they hold their value pretty well. If it hasn't been done then upgrade the fins to the square tip turbos and get the larger rudder. Happy to answer more questions or you can PM your number if you want to talk through it. Regards, Derek

Hi Mate, "Greater than 100% breaking capacity" is a big call. Maybe against on the box line rating but the consensus from most sources I have seen braids usually overtest and the question is by how much. I have a 4lb braid which gives a US, a Japanese and a European rating. These are dramatically different and is probably based on the testing method. I suspect the US method includes a knot reduction factor in its rating and the Japanese rating which is over double of the box rating is probably actual breaking rating. So if I understand what you are saying you are using a heavier, say 10lb, braid mainline (which probably breaks at 20lb) with a lighter mono leader of say 8lb which probably breaks at 10 to 12lb lb. Your results are not that surprising. If you have a line test bed at home and have done extensive testing then I will concede this point. 😄 I found an article on the IGFA knot testing with the results. Interesting is how the results change depending on line classes: https://www.sportfishingmag.com/strongest-fishing-knots-braid-to-leader/ Even the International Game Fishing Association only achieved up to 82% breaking strength with the FG knot so where did you get the 100% from? Have you actually tried it against the GT in a direct head to head as I suggested or are you quoting the mantras and results from other people (as I just did)? Did you pause and look at the IGFA tables in the top video - according to that table the FG rates below the GT? The FG is a far more elegant knot and less clunky than the GT but in my case it lost twice with the header and leader I mentioned above. In your case as the leader you use has a lighter rating than the mainline it may have a different result. I would like to know from a real world test based on how people actually tie their knots under fishing conditions rather than the more perfect conditions of a testing laboratory where probably nothing is rushed. I'll probably continue to use the FG knot as it does the job I need it to but it is nice to know the relative strengths. BTW my testing the knots only twice is not a good sample - 5 or more times would have been better. Hence my reason for reaching out to other Raiders. I would love to hear your actual test results - also please double up the braid when creating the GT knot. When all this shit is over if we are in the same area I'd like to catch up for a fish and then do some further testing with you and have a friendly drink on the results. Regards, Derek

Surprised at the palomar failing if done properly. I find it to be a very strong knot for braid to terminal tackle such as swivels but I won't use if for mono/fluorocarbon (too much line wastage and easier knots). Try looping it through the eye a second time before completing the knot. On a side note I generally try to avoid swivels at the braid to leader join because there is a risk of damaging the top guide of the rod if the swivel runs into it. How far were you fishing down? I've seen that double line arrangement when the sounder picks up both my sinker and my bait. The consistency in the spacing between the two lines suggest that it is two tethered objects. My sounder will register 10cm undulations. Most likely you moving up and down on the waves relative to the bottom of the water column.

Bouncing around between some knot videos while doing some further research I came across this video which is the most elegant way I think I've seen for someone to do a bowline (pretty sure she pronounces it bow-Lynn ). Actually the whole video was a bit of an eye opener and well presented. Her fastening method for the tarp was also clever.

Hi Centrepin That was a wonderful report. When are you releasing the DVD. Where can I buy it?? I loved the detail and photography you put together. Thank you for sharing. Derek

Hi Donna, I've tapped out on this one - so what are the last four we are missing (#14, 18, 34 and 35.)? Thank you for putting this one up. Regards, Derek

Hi KC. For the strength of the PR knot watch the first video link - very early on there is the IGFA result table. GT knot was listed as 100% but the one next down the list was the PR knot with 99.5% rating. Have you seen a method of tying it without special tools (bobbin) or better yet do you have a link you would recommend for it. I'd like to try it while I have some time. Happy to test it against both the FG and GT knots I've been playing with. I can now do the FG knot on a bobbing boat out on the ocean without having to put the rod in a holder to get the needed tension so it passed the practical test for me. While I genuinely appreciate the effort that the IGFA and others have put into testing and rating all these knots I'm coming to the conclusion that for most of us this tug of war method is more practical. It gives us a chance to compare knots that we would personally tie under what for us would be normal conditions. Found a couple of mates testing the PR against the FG Regards. Derek

Hi All, Something for those people going stir crazy stuck at home but with a passion for knots. As a joiner knot I'd used the uni to uni (or double uni) knot for over a decade as it was the recommended knot for the braid I was using at the time. Even came with instructions. Down the track I'd heard of an improved version where the braid was doubled up (the double double uni knot) and everything else was the same. Bit of a pain to tie and some line wastage but it worked. A mate of mine is a fan of the slim beauty. With his eyesight it was an easy one for him to tie. Out of curiosity one day we decided to test his knot and mine head to head. Braid (uni to uni knot) to leader (say 40cm) and then back to same braid (this time with the slim beauty). One end of the braid was still on the spool. The other end was wrapped 6 times around a smooth cylindrical pole and then pinned. This ensured that there were no sharp points to cut into the line. Essentially it was a tug of war arrangement and as we gradually loaded up the line to failure it would be obvious which of the knots failed first and thus being the weaker knot. It was then to be repeated a second time to make sure it wasn't a glitch. My uni to uni knot lost both times to the slim beauty. I then used the double double uni knot. This time the slim beauty knot lost twice. Moving on I found a method to tie the FG knot which I liked as all the tension was done between index finger and thumb and there was minimal line wastage. My mate has after some resistance taken some time to learn it only recently. A few days ago I got a smug sounding phone call from him telling me that there is a stronger knot than the FG called the GT knot and sent me the following link with an explanation of the background and how to tie it. He was happy as it was very easy for him to tie as he already used a component of it for his slim beauties. Or for an alternate video but with less wraps. The engineer in me kicked into gear. To me it looked like the figure of 8 knot from the slim beauty combined with uni knot for the braid part. Why was this stronger? Was it stronger? I have some spare Platil Millennium Hotfiber 3 in 15lb (which is what I use on several of my spinning 4000 reels) and some 30lb Japanese Yamatoyo Famell 100% nylon shock leader sitting around. I fish these as a combination on several of my snapper rods so I thought it would be a fair real world test for my fishing set up. This time I went leader to braid to leader. One knot was the FG knot. For the other I used his method. Now please note that it is a pretty well presented video. The presenter has also included a note at the bottom which is "all the knots tested and rated by the IFGA (sic) were tied to a Bimini Twist mono leader line. There is no guarantee in any of the knot strength ratings unless you tie the knot using a Bimini Twist leader line. In this demonstration, I did not use a Bimini Twist Leader line". Following his instructions the head to head test saw the GT knot lose twice in a row. I'd seen his note about the bimini twist (which I can tie) but I think he meant that the mainline braid had been done with a bimini twist and not the leader. I didn't think the bimini twist was critical but I did think the doubling up of the braid was. I repeated the knot and made sure that my double was long enough that I could pull both the braid tag and mainline back at the same time to cinch up the knot. I trimmed the mono tag and the loose bits of braid. The knot is more clunky than the FG but as I don't have my leader knot passing through the runners this is a non issue for me. This time the FG knot lost two times. Now I'd seen the effect of doubling up with the double double uni. My theory is that the 8 times turns with the doubled up line creates a bit of a bumper/cushion and prevents the braid from cutting into itself. Not sure how to verbally explain this but at no point in the loaded part of the line is there a really sharp change in direction to create a stress point (an overhand knot is what I'd consider an example of a high stress point). I still have to test this with one of my 50lb braid to 80lb leader setups. When restrictions allow I will also spend some time with my mate testing one of his go to setups. Rather than get into theoretical discussions, if any other people have some time on their hands please give it a try and see what result you get. Maybe my knot skills are letting me down. If other people can replicate my results then that is a bit of an eye opener. Now another two provisos. Firstly I'm looking at comparative strengths and not breaking point as a percentage of line strength. Secondly, what the video presenter called the GT knot may or may not be the same as what the IGFA actually tested. I found a far older version of this knot which was similar in concept but very different in execution. Happy tying and testing, Derek

That was kind of what I had in mind when I started the search. Most these days have the split ring part at the end.

Thanks Lungfai, I've just ordered some online and looking forward to giving them some testing when they turn up. Regards, Derek

Hi Lungfai, That looks viable. Thank you for that. Will look into those. Regards, Derek