DerekD

I think there is also another factor at play. I've found technique is just as important as correct spooling. I can get a well spooled reel to birds nest with poor technique. If you are not winding the line on under tension (especially happens with ultralight lures) then you create loose loops and risk birdsnesting.

Almost overfull but not quite. I'd probably knock one mm of it but it will happen naturally if it is overfull anyway. Generally looking at 1 to 2mm below the inner lip of the spool. This is one of mine which is as close to overfull as I'd want to get.

Loved this report. Thank you for sharing.

Hi @big Neil Congratulations on the new vehicle and I hope it takes you on many adventures. I love technology when it makes my life better but think we are getting too clever sometimes. When my car was in the panel beaters earlier this year I got a courtesy vehicle. It was a popular car from the rental company but I disliked it intensely. Firstly, to be fair it was a well built and spacious vehicle which would be good if you had a family. I'd gone from a 2.5 litre manual to a 2 litre automatic. The lag time relatively when I put the foot down was horrible. Then the lane assist annoyed the heck out of me. Turns out the car didn't like the lines I was taking and I often fought the steering. My day to day driving style is to take lines in the middle of the lane with plenty of space on either side rather than cutting in on curves. Still not sure what I could have done differently. I couldn't be bothered to go through the manual to work out how to turn it off. Fuel costs went up. I was extra glad when I got my car back. Not sure what my next car would be but I hope that is a long, long time off. Talk soon. Derek

Hi @AlbertW Nice report and I enjoyed the fishing session with you. Sorry if I came across as a little grumpy at a couple of times but those little habits you picked up weren't the way I taught you. I hope it hit home how getting a little lazy on technique was impacting the efficiency (most result for least effort) and effectiveness (distance and accuracy losses) in your casting. In lure fishing the ability to cover ground is often (but not always) a big factor in your success. That extra consistent 10m minimum extra casting distance you were getting out of those heavier lures, once we'd tweaked your technique, can make the difference in getting fish. More importantly extra distance without the accuracy to put the lure where you want it to go is often wasted (ask any golfer). That jigging braid that I use on several of my outfits makes it very easy to see what sort of distance improvements minor changes can make. Fishing lures generally involves lots of casting and in the heavier gear an efficient technique can make the difference between being very tired and very broken after a long session. Additionally, those habits you'd picked up meant you were wasting time in getting the lure back out there. Sometimes you only get a short window of opportunity with the fish feeding on the surface and the quicker you can get the lure out the more chances you have on the fish. I will push you harder than I will other people as I want you to be the best that you can. While you are willing to learn I am willing to teach you. I see a lot of potential in you and I respect the maturity and desire to learn I've seen since I started mentoring you. The afternoon session where we just fished for the fun of it (with a couple of pointers - can't help myself) was a pleasure and I'm looking forward to more topwater sessions as the water warms up and the fish get more active. Regards, Derek

Hi @nutsaboutfishing Welcome back. Hope to run into you in the coming months as the water and days begin to warm up. Regards, Derek

Hi @faker Nice report. In this digital age with platforms such as YouTube we have an opportunity to learn more about different subjects at a faster rate than ever before. I'm impressed at how far you've come since our first brief session. The hard thing with this sort of fishing is knowing when you have reached a point where you have mastered something and there is very little left to improve on. It is why I still watch how others do things. If someone is catching more fish consistently than me. How? If someone can cast further. How? If someone can work a lure more effectively. How? It is more satisfying working stuff out yourself and you may work out things that other people miss but sessions like the one we had are a great reality check too. I'm glad all those little details we discussed bought out some noticeable improvements in your technique on the day. I also hope that you get good enough at it that you can help others in the future as they go through a similar journey. Regards, Derek

Hi @AlbertW This will be the first of many over the years as your technique improves and you spend more time doing it. Be warned. Topwater fishing is addictive. Seeing that strike adds a visual impact to your fishing sessions. I enjoyed the running commentary when you were talking to me over the phone while this was happening. Thanks for letting me share in the moment. I'm looking forward to our topwater lesson with the heavy gear on Sunday. Regards, Derek

Hi @Jersey PL I assume this is your first trip to Sydney (at least for fishing). I'm also guessing this is your first time for kingfish. In that case some pre-reading so you can plan your gear and tactics. The fishing guide is an excellent idea as you will learn a lot by paying attention to the how and why but it can get expensive. There are a lot of opportunities for kingfish from the shore in Sydney harbour. They will cruise around looking at things and often do loops several times. Essentially you pick a spot that they are likely to cruise past and work it for a while (say a few hours) and if not successful consider another location. Ferry wharves are an excellent option as the proximity to shore often funnels them past but the water is deep enough to set your baits or work your lures. Don't get fixated on spots as just a day apart at a particular location could be all the difference between the donut and best fishing session ever. When I had a boat I used to sit on a mooring for up to an hour. If we hooked up I worked on the theory they were cruising past that spot that day and would probably come back so then I gave it a bit longer. Those loops could be 15 to 20 minutes apart. Some observations I made about kingfish behaviour years ago to someone asking about fishing for them amongst the moorings. Most of this can be made to work from the shore. Read this one: https://community.deckee.com/topic/86184-how-to-fish-sydney-harbor-moorings-for-kingfish/ With your gear you can fish bait or lures. First consider bait. One gentleman I know that is pretty consistent on kingfish heads down to our local wharf before dawn and gets a lot of yellowtail scad on light gear and keeps them alive in a bucket. He then puts them live under a balloon and then fishes the rest of the morning away. Pretty well every time I run into him he has caught salmon or kingfish or tailor. Effective but I don't do it as I don't eat fish and fish for the joy of it and consider this too much work. If using bait I prefer self caught squid. I can put them (whole or strips) under a balloon so they hang in the water (I prefer mid water column thus making it easier for the kingfish to spot the bait and it keeps it away from the pickers) or I can use them like a plastic by casting out and then letting them sink through the water column in a saw tooth type pattern. I prefer to use them in strips as I can get multiple baits out of a single squid. For further reading on catching squid read this one: https://community.deckee.com/topic/91551-article-squidding-and-suggestions-on-how-to-use-them/ NOTE: Squid in the harbour since the heavy months of rain in early 2022 have resulted in them being a bit harder to find. My personal theory was that a lot died to starvation. That year I heard from a lot of people that they were struggling to catch them as easily as they had in the past. There are places which are more consistent for catching them but most are better accessed by boat. They can still be found throughout the harbour. Lures (generally my favourite way of targeting them). They can swim much faster than you can wind in a lure but speed often helps because it forces that flicker of interest into a bite or risking the food imitation getting away. One of the people I taught took this literally to heart and spent a summer fishing halco twistys in silver in 30 and 40 gram with a similar outfit to what you are bringing. All he'd do was rip out a cast as far as practical. Let the lure hit the bottom and retrieve it as fast as he could. A lot of work but it was extremely effective that year. He was frequently catching kingfish, salmon, tailor and several of the mackeral species we see in Sydney harbour. A little bit less taxing are the flutter jigs which you will be learning if and when we catch up. Essentially using sweeps of the rod you can create the impression of a shiny and darting snack sized baitfish. I teach several different ways of working these. The more they can't hit the lure the harder they try for it. I know plenty of people (me included) that behave the same way. Fear of missing out is not just a human behaviour and we can use it against these species. Some of my favourites are the Sluggo/Slapstix type lures. Some people prefer using these with a wormhook but I prefer a weighted jighead as it casts a little further and allows me to work the full water column more efficiently. I can make that lure dance. I can get the following movement out of a 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9 inch minnow or slapstix type profile. Change speeds, throw in some pauses, accelerate it away and it becomes an extremely effective retrieve for the pelagic fish which stalk our magical harbour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjGS6SjfDUs Then we have the hard body lures but that is another lesson. Just some things to think about when planning your trip out here. A trip to a local fishing shop should be included in your schedule. Regards, Derek

Hi Jersey, I'm at Lane Cove North which is an easy drive from Epping towards Sydney harbour. How long are you out here? What dates? Reach out a few days before you get here and depending on my other commitments we may be able to organise a fishing session or two. The kings will have hopefully started moving into the harbour in numbers giving us a chance from the shore. You will need a fishing licence which you can sort out on line. We should also be able to get in some shore based jigging with your current outfit. Beach fishing on the other hand is not my thing. Regards, Derek PS. If we head out early enough in your stay then you can use what you learn from me to head out by yourself.

I think you need to change your approach. The problem you described will continue to be a problem if you continue to use pilchards or a soft bait. The other thing is the nature of the way you are fishing. The analogy I use is it is like a bbq with a whole group of families. Put food on the table and it is all the little kids which rush in first. Then the bigger kids then the adults. There are more smaller fish in the areas you are fishing and they are most likely to find the food first as you have found. Several ways to get around this. Switch to a more robust bait such as squid (or livies as suggested by @Little_Flatty) or switch to lures. The flathead is an ambush predator waiting for food to come to it rather than actively hunting. You need to cover ground with your lure or bait.

Hmmmmm.... I get that it is our responsibility but having to check daily to see what rule changes might have been bought in is not realistic either. Wonder if they should get in the habit of making new rule announcements on the same date every year. 1st of September look up the rules - "no change" or "new rule(s)". Yep now I'm up to date on the rules for the coming year. It is when they are changed throughout the year that you struggle to keep up if it is not well advertised and you don't know what to look for.

hi @big NeilProbably only 6 or 7m away and it was on the monopod (takes most of the weight but allows me to swing the camera pretty quickly). I had the camera lens wound right back to the low end of its capabilities but it lets me snap away without disturbing the subject matter. I took several bird ones at the dam too.

Flat out like a.... Taken with a Canon 80D and Sigma 150mm to 600mm lens.

Hi @faker That was a very candid post but I think referring to mistakes is a bit negative (that is the best way I can think of putting it). There is a quote attributed to Thomas A. Edison relating to multiple attempts he did at making a practical light bulb. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work". Learning to fish can be a journey of a lifetime, especially with a continuous improvement approach. I get an immense amount of pleasure trying different techniques (and then passing on what I have picked up on to others). I expect false starts but that isn't a negative if I learn something from what I try. I've taken the time to work the stuff out but I wouldn't be where I am without the knowledge of those that have gone before me. I only have to be smart enough to work out how to use the equipment - smarter people have designed it in the first place. I don't think you have made any mistakes. You are on a journey of learning and you needed a starting point before you could refine what you do. If you could go back in time you'd probably change your starting point but then with another 12 months of learning under your belt there would be even more refinements. I'd love to go back to me in 2009 with gear and a day to teach myself what I've picked up in the years since. I've been impressed by your dedication at trying to pick up information up as quickly as possible. While I think you are trying to run when you should still be walking this is your journey. Keep at it and looking forward to seeing further growth in your fishing abilities. Regards, Derek

The Hobie designed jacket had a lot of well thought out features. I'll see if I can get some photos of it. It was still comfortable enough to fish in. There are some foam ones which will still save your life but they are a pain to wear. Cheap is not worth it in this case to save a few dollars. Look after your properly fitted jacket and it will last for years. If you do go rock fishing then also get some suitable rock cleats. I've got boots with metal spikes but I've also got some slip on ones for my wet shoes. There is also an emergency application called what3words which is worth loading on your phone. In an incident will you have the clarity of thought to describe your location well enough to organise a fast rescue. What3words has split the worlds up into 3m x 3m squares which can then be referenced by three easily said random words (e.g. arch.going.opens). Based on those three words the rescue people know instantly the location and the related environment (e.g. land, air or sea rescue). Minutes could save a life. For more reading see: https://what3words.com/products/what3words-app

Hi. This was covered under the free rock fishing initiative held by surf life savers association and a number of other government entities. First thing is DON'T get an inflatable life jacket for any serious rock fishing (ocean facing rather than inshore). Look at a comfortable and properly fitted foam filled one. Several reasons why. Firstly the only way to find out if the inflatable life jacket is actually working is to test it but that then requires depressurisation and a new CO2 canister. During the demonstration of an inflatable life jacket at the initiative the pull string broke - highly unlikely to happen but why buy something with a risk of failure when you could buy a foam one which has very little to go wrong. The inflatable ones do have a manual fill point with a blow in mouth piece but not something I want to be doing in an emergency either. Secondly, You see a wave coming just in time to inflate the life-jacket and get swept along the rocks. If it hits any oysters then I'm betting on them slicing the jacket thus negating the effectiveness of inflatable jacket. Could even be more of a hindrance to keeping yourself afloat. Alternatively, if you don't see that wave coming and don't have time to activate the life jacket how is it going to keep you afloat if you are knocked around or unconcious. The foam one is designed to keep your head above water and breathing and doesn't need activation to do so. Something else to consider, if you get swept off your feet and get bounced around the rocks the foam one gives you a degree of bounce and cut protection. As @JustJames pointed out an inflatable lifejacket has to be inspected annually. You manually inflate jacket to check for wear points and test that it holds pressure for 24 hours. You check the CO2 cylinder for corrosion and should weigh it (I've got chemical laboratory scales at work) to check it is still full of gas. On completion of the course we all got a FREE properly fitted Hobie foam filled life jacket. The four theoretical parts of the course and then the Surf Life saving presentation was worth the 3/4 of a day to do. They even gave out free pizzas for lunch. I believe this was the incident and video which kick started the rock fishing initiative. This was within a week after several people had died at the same location. https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/news/group-knocked-over-by-waves-one-day-after-fishermen-deaths-video/news-story/3db75889dc4d748de1764004aeca47d3

Yes they do and as @Little_Flatty said it will turbocharge your learning. We chased squid and livies (yellowtail and slimey mackeral) before heading out to the local reefs. If you pay attention you will learn a lot. How to catch and prepare the bait. Where they go (local reefs like long reef, Dee Why and several others). How they downrig the baits. How they drive the kings off the reef so you can fight them in deeper water and get a better chance at landing them. The gear. The rigs. I bought my own gear and it was a bit more satisfying a 1m plus fish on my own outfit but they have everything you require. My good mate had a very good relationship with that specific charter operator (who has since semi-retired and moved several hours north of Sydney) but there are several other good operators working the same way.

Probably head out on one of the Sydney kingfish charters. There were several operators working together to help get their clients on fish sustainably. The one we went out with several times had a boat rule which saw every king over 1m tagged and then released. Each person was allowed to keep two legal kings under 1m. All others were also tagged and released. Went out for my birthday several years ago with same operator, a good mate and a fellow Fishraider (also a good mate). We boated 19 kings of which 3 were over the 1m mark. I got my 110cm one that day. This was it. You can even see the tag in it before it was released.

Hi @JariR Congratulations on breaking the curse. Some gorgeous photos there and I'm a little jealous. Fishing with a bunch of good mates always makes for a good day. Looking forward to hearing more of your reports as you start to crack the codes for these sort of areas. Regards, Derek

Hi all, I've heard for years that bream can get educated but it was not till yesterday that I realised how significant that piece of knowledge actually was. Went to Cottage point yesterday for lunch with a couple of friends. While sitting upstairs overlooking the water I dropped a piece of banana bread down on the usual school of bream sitting by the structure. There were some super large bream in there and there were a lot of them too. Bread was smashed by several fish and didn't last long. My bird's eye view made it very easy to see them and how they moved. A little later a competition style fishing boat complete with electric motor came into the area. The two gents were expertly skimming plastics into the area. Someone pointed out where the school was and a shrimp type white plastic lure was promptly flicked into the water above the bream. I saw the fish swarm and then a bream race off with the lure in its mouth. The gent hooked up and made an easy show of bringing the bream out. It happened to be one of the smaller specimens of around high twenties. On releasing the bream he had a couple more flicks into the same section of water. Not a single bream went for the lure this time. In fact I couldn't see a single bream there. It really highlighted the importance of covering new ground when chasing bream. On a downside, unfortunately I also dropped my favourite Shimano fishing cap in the general area and by the time I realised I wasn't going to be driving back. Looks like a trip to the fishing store is in order. Regards, Derek

Hi @Ragnar, Congratulations on cracking the half meter on a bass. 53cm will be a struggle to beat but the record on Fishraider is 58cm so they are out there. Looking forward to seeing your PB increase incrementally. I enjoyed the report and thank you for sharing. Regards, Derek

Hi Faker, Not sure where you are getting your data from. I wasn't aware of any line that is 0.006mm. The Berkley x5 in 4lb I like to use is 0.06mm or PE0.6 and as per packet below has a maximum breaking strength of 14lb. For people concerned about breaking strength I get them to try and break the line before cutting themselves. In a decade of demonstrating this I haven't had anyone succeed. Not to say it can't be done but the force required to do so is well beyond the claimed limit. The PE to mm conversion is a funny one as there does not seem to be an agreed standard for this and can be dependent on the material. As a quick dirty guideline I just multiply the PE by 10 to get the strength in pounds. BTW in the absence of a strength testing rig, a micrometer and a whole lot of time testing line breaking strengths I take the writing on the packet at face value then look at and feel the line. Has worked for me to date. I also know there should be a safety factor in the ratings to compensate for the reduced strengths of knots. Last summer I set up a 7 foot 8 inches outfit (I blame @Little_Flatty for introducing me to the Crucis Elite rod) purely for sandflats fishing light lures. I matched it with a Shimano Nasci 1000 for casting distance (line has less distance travel when coming off the spool) and had it packed to just below the lip (the shop spooled it twice to nail it and I appreciated the care they took for it). I set it up with the skinniest braid (Olltolos PEWX Finesse Shangrilla) they had in the shop, PE0.5 which still had a maximum breaking strain of 12lb. I can tie an FG knot with this line and for my needs it has not let me down. The line is susceptible to nicks so I have to fish it with a bit of care. Best fish to date was a 73cm flathead which was released. Skip the knot part and first check your braid for breaking strength by gradually loading it up. Then repeat with the knot. You get a feel for it over time. Regards, Derek

6lb braid or 6lb leader? Highly unlikely if it is 6lb braid. It will likely have a real breaking strength of around 12 or 14lbs. Just load it up gradually to cinch it in place and test it. Snapping your hands apart to test a knot does not simulate a real world scenario. As hard and as fast as a fish hits the working end of the line the initial shock is partially taken up by the stretch in the leader and mostly by the rod tip flexing.

Where to next with your light lure outfit...?? I’m a huge fan of plastics as I find them so versatile and the bang for buck is excellent. For $20 I can buy a bag of 15 berkley power minnows and 5 TT jig heads to match. With those I can chase fish throughout the water column. That same $20 is about mid range for a hard body lure. If you feel you have mastered plastics then consider hardbody lures. Each year I try and grow my fishing skill sets by trying a new niche area. I’ve done pretty well on the sugapens earlier and a few summers ago I got into bream on top water (thanks to a gentleman called @Niall on Fishraider). This expanded out into hard body lures in general. Before I start this, the way you retrieve a lure has a huge impact on how well you are going to do. There are lures with built in action (e.g crank baits) but a one speed retrieve is not necessarily the best way to work them. When you are shopping in your local supermarket for food you sometimes walk quickly down the aisle if you know where you are going and then meander when you are just looking. Fish are also not one speed or one direction. Learn to throw pauses in, change the length of the pause, skip the lure forward or crawl the lure forward. Watch how a baitfish or prawn moves along and try and imitate that movement. Don't be afraid to mix it up even in the same retrieve. A little skip forward might be just enough to trigger that strike. I teach people one retrieve which seems to work for all the topwater lures I've used. I'm hoping to do a video on it but essentially I shake my arm (rather than working the lure from my wrist) from side to side so I get the rod tip oscillating about 5 to 8cm side to side. I now turn 90° to the line and thus lure and then add in a stuttering wind to bring in the slack on each pulse. That straight line contact with the lure now nudges the lure forwards a few cm each pulse and then starts it flipping from side to side. Once I can walk the dog tightly then I can throw the pauses in as required. Here is me working a Sugapen with pauses This is the article from Niall which got me into it: https://community.deckee.com/topic/90391-bream-on-topwater-lures/ This is the video he linked to which got him started on the topwater bream: This was the follow up from Niall when he’d gotten far better at it: https://community.deckee.com/topic/92780-article-surface-fishing-for-bream-2021-update/ There are plenty of locations in Sydney where they are an effective tool. Think the bays in the inner west. The sand flats at Gunamatta bay, Sans Souci,Fairlight, Clontarf and the Northern beaches. Usually places where there are oysters or prawns or yabbies or baitfish in the shallows. It is where the larger predators will also visit. Please note that they fish far more effectively and consistently in the summer. When fishing them the general rule is to cover ground. Recommended starting point on topwater lures is the Bassday Sugapen in 70mm (there are about 4 sizes) and my preferred colours are CT287, CT394 & HF119. Bream, whiting, salmon, tailor, kingfish and other species. Price range $28 to $23 if you look around. https://products.bassday.com.au/products/category/JMSBCGBR-surface/SP70F-HF119--sugar-pen-70mm-floating There is a channel called Sandflats Fishing Australia that has done a number of videos on these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTzKm4ZfNio&t=131s Unfortunately he has pulled off the videos but hopefully he brings them back. I'll leave the reference in just in case. If you can get your hands on some I do recommend 70mm MMD splash prawn. It can be fished subtly to imitate a cruising prawn or aggressively to imitate a fleeing prawn. About $23: https://mmdfishing.com.au/collections/70mm-splash-prawn Video of the MMD splash prawn in use: For some of these topwater walk the dog lures people like to swap out hooks (smaller treble on the belly and assist hooks on the tail). See this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g95DezFfaU I don't recommend doing this because for some of the smaller lures the off the shelf assist hooks are long enough so that they have a tendency to catch on the belly trebles reducing the effectiveness of the lure and cutting into fishing time as you disengage the hooks. Furthermore, there are several off the shelf options which already have the assist hooks and are better price (when compared with original lure then assist hooks then smaller belly treble): Jackson Ebi Panic Prawns (I own several of these and apart from problem with the assist hooks catching on the belly hook as mentioned above, I really like them). In action: Daiwa Infeet Slippery Dog in 65F or 80F (these come with smaller length assist hooks and rarely catch on the belly hook). Problem is that if tailor around then it can get expensive having to replace the assist hooks. In action: Ecogear PX55 (preferred) or PX45: PX55 in action: If you’ve had your tax return or won lottery and really want to spoil yourself look at the OSP bent minnow (my preferred colour is G-28 Ghost shrimp). In action: If you are on a budget then Berkely do a cheaper copy called the Pro-tech Bender which also swims pretty well and the hooks look stronger but feel less sticky meaning they are less likely to hook up on a slashing attack: https://berkley-fishing.com.au/product/bender-76-100/ Popper type lures also work well for freshwater bass as well as saltwater fish. I’ve been playing with the Bassday Backfire which casts really well: Bang for buck I’ve been pretty impressed with the Gladiator Smash Popper (used to be $12.95). When paused the head drops nicely down to make a tempting target for a bream: https://gladiatortackle.com.au/products/smash-popper-colour-007 Another one I've done well on this last summer is the Zipbaits skinny pop junior. Slim profile and casts a long way. Last of all crankbaits. At its simplest it is cast and just wind back. You can get shallow or deep divers. Floating, suspending or sinking. There is a Sydney local called Shroom who has done some nice videos on this. Check out The go to brand is usually Jackall Chubby in shallow https://www.jackall.com.au/?page_id=28 or deep https://www.jackall.com.au/?page_id=796 Atomic do some better value ones (Hardz crank) https://products.atomiclures.com.au/products/category/SIMRRFAA-crank which can often be found at the bigger adventure stores and your local tackle shops. For all the lures I’ve mentioned above look around. There are some specials (relatively speaking) to be had. Check the specials bins at times. There are plenty more I can add to the list but wanted to inspire you a bit. There are a lot of links there but if you only watch one then the first link from Shroom is a great starting point. Both of his videos were at inner west bays here in Sydney and I fish them both pretty regularly when I can. Better on the upper half of the tide. I strongly recommend checking the wind and tides before you head out. Also check out each of your locations when we have a super low tide for structure and channels. Over time you will learn which areas to fish in which conditions. High tide and strong westerly then fish X, Y and Z. North easterly then maybe fish A, B and C. When heading home I can pass over the Anzac bridge or the harbour bridge. I look at the direction the flags are blowing at that helps me decide where I'm going to fish that afternoon. Little things but little things can make a big difference. Regards, Derek