I Want To Fry Bigger Fish!

[Corinne]

Hey guys and girls.

How're you all doing? I'm loving this site, I never knew fishing was so interesting and addictive!

On that note, I am going to Shorncliffe again this weekend (a pier that goes out into Bramble Bay North of Brisbane). I have a novice rod that takes light action 2-4kg and measures 6' 0". This is the only tackle I have and the only weights I have are '1's'!

What is the biggest fish I can 'angle' for with those specifications? And should I use something other than prawns as bait?

God I sound useless dont I, but come on now, when I am on the front cover of 'Anglers Times' I will give you guys all the credit I promise!

Corinne )

Edited April 20, 2006 by Corinne

[Jewhunter]

Hey there Corinne, glad your enjoying the site

I'm not sure where you are heading off to but here are a few basic tips that should improve your catches.

Your outfit should be fine for some of the more prolific fish you will catch. Make sure that a fish can pull line off the reel before the line breaks ( set your drag!! ). Try using size 4 up to -1/0 suicide hooks. Run you sinker on your main line onto a small swivel. Then attatch a 50-60cm trace from your swivel to your hook. Generally the smaller the sinker the better. Remember that from a pier most of the fish there are attracted to the structure so you don't have to cast out far at all.

Instead of frozen prawns try to buy some live nippers or blood worms or something live or very fresh from a local tackle/bait shop.

Most importantly get to your spot at either dawn or dusk & into the evening. You'll find that the tiddlers will eat up all of your nice bait during the middle of the day in most spots. When you get to your spot mix up some old bait & old bread in some water in a bucket & throw a cup full into the water every 10 minutes.

From a pier I like to fish a high tide around these times.

Ahh, all this reminds me of when I was starting out as a kid!! I still love it!

I hope this helps a bit & I am looking forward to your next post. Good

Grant.

[Corinne]

Thank you so much! I do have the swivel on my line too I might need a better hook though!

I will definitly get some 'real' bait as well!

When you say 'set your drag' what do you mean? I was 'easing' the line down into the water and pretty much letting the wind catch the sinker to cast out. I was then turning the dial on the top of the reel to lock it. Should I not do that? I found that the if the reel spun too fast, all my line was getting tangled up and it's a pain in the arse having to cut it all and start all over again!

I hope you guys have been through all that too. It would make me feel a lot better! I understand now why you boys want to retire and just fish every day! I work in a posh Jewellers in the City and instead of drooling over 2 carat diamond rings, I'm dreaming of Shroncliffe pier and pulling in a 10kg fish on my 4kg rod! Hehe, I know you lot have done that too!

Oh dear. I think I might have to approach Rexie to do a reality show with me. "Teach A Chick To Fish In 5 Days" What do you guys reckon?

[Guest crow]

Corrine,

You will have success reel (pun intended) soon if you are thinking like this after spending about 2 seconds in this past time

As for the Rexie thing how about "teach a chick to flick + 10000000 men too", just a thought as i could cetainly use a cameo in your episode....LoL

[Jewhunter]

All setting the drag means is turning the dial on top of your reel until you can pull the line off without breaking the line. The line shouldn't be too easy to pull off but when you do hook that 10kg fish you don't want to break your line.

Good luck.

Grant.

Edited April 20, 2006 by swordfisherman

[Corinne]

All setting the drag means is turning the dail on top of your reel until you can pull the line off without breaking the line. The line shouldn't be too easy to pull off but when you do hook that 10kg fish you don't want to break your line.

Good luck.

Grant.

Grant,

Do you mean pull the line off the reel without breaking it? Women are not known for being visual and I cant get the image of what you mean mate!

I think some of you fellas need to come up to Brizzy to show me what to do! My treat, it's worth a Pommie fry-up in the morning and lunch on the pier!

[Jewhunter]

Yep, line off the reel without breaking the line. The rod should bend like hell & line will come off the reel before the line breaks. Having a good fish on with the rod doubled over & line pouring of the reel with the reel singing in protest is what fishing is all about.

Just take your time to tire the fish out when you do hook the big one. People lose big fish when they try to haul them in too fast.

Cheers,

Grant.

[Beach Fisho]

Thats good advice Jewhunter. I lost my PB salmon @ the beach this way, he just weasn't ready to be beached. Same was for my pier fishing in SA a couple of months ago. Lost the biggest one most days getting busted off at the end.

I try now to take some beep breaths and relax, let the rod do the work, easier said than done.

I'm normally fishing for small to medium fish, so when i hook the big one, it's very tempting to get it in quick.

I find another factor is the bait presentation or choice. other Raiders have talked about bait chioce (fresh is best), but if not presented properly, your better off fishing with bread. There are plenty of articles and books on rigging baits, they might be worth a read.

Good luck,

Cheers, BJ

Edited April 21, 2006 by Beach Fisho

[Corinne]

You guys are brilliant! Thanks so much! I had better reel in a big one this weekend to prove I was listening to your advice!

[ozeash]

Welcome back Corrine, jewhunter has given you some great advice to begin with. Only wish I'd joined this forum in the days when I was learning to figure out what all the darn knobs on the reel meant!

Here's how I taught Ash Jnr -

Rule # 1: Learn to tie a good knot. If you're a beginner, rather than learning the blood knot, you might be better off learning the Uni knot, a much better knot. You will have much more faith in your ability to land a fish if your knots are good.

Rule # 2: Fish with as little weight as possible (i.e.) match the sinker to the conditions around you. More often than not, especially from a pier, you'll find fish right under where you stand, so you don't need to break the casting distance record.

Rule # 3: Hook selection is critical and it's important to 'match the hatch' (i.e.) choose the hook that your target fish can take. For example, no point using a 5/0 hook to catch a bream! When you do catch a fish (and it's met its maker), pry open the jaws and see how big it can actually open its jaws to eat your bait. Sounds weird I know, but very effective because you can then judge what hook you need.

Rule # 4: Present the bait well. For example, if you're using a prawn, the prawn should look real enough for the fish to be tempted. No point having the prawn all curled up along the hook, because that's not how they look in their natural environment. Same with any other bait. I have my boy put the bait on and ask him to think if he were a fish, would he be tempted to eat it?

Rule # 5: Keep your rig as simple as you can. I primarily fish for bream, flathead and whiting and my rig for all these fish are almost identical. Fish get spooked very easily, so keep it simple. Here's what I use - Sinker on the main line to suit conditions (sometimes none at all if it's very calm), followed by a swivel. Then to the other end of the swivel, I add a 'trace' which is essentially a 60cm length of line and a hook at the bottom of the trace. Simple. This will catch you any number of feeds.

When you're confident with catching the common fish, you can begin experimenting with other rigs, knots, line types etc. Hope this helps.

Keep the pictures coming.

Oh yes, before I forget, you might want to fish Redcliffe, just off the pier on the Western end. I've had some sensational fishing up there.....

Cheers,

Ash

Edited April 22, 2006 by ozeash

[KINGvirgin]

Grant,

Do you mean pull the line off the reel without breaking it? Women are not known for being visual and I cant get the image of what you mean mate!

I think some of you fellas need to come up to Brizzy to show me what to do! My treat, it's worth a Pommie fry-up in the morning and lunch on the pier!

Im heading up to Brissie in the next month or so if you are keen to catch up for a fish.........

[Little_Flatty]

Rule # 1: Learn to tie a good knot. If you're a beginner, rather than learning the blood knot, you might be better off learning the Uni knot, a much better knot. You will have much more faith in your ability to land a fish if your knots are good.

I've been using the uni knot since I was very young and I am still using it for practically everything to this very day:)

Apart from what everyone else says I'd say make sure your hooks are sharp - either buy chemically sharpened ones or sharpen them yourself.

Some great advice here. If any of this is confusing I'm sure a good tackle shop will be more than willing to show you how to follow it in real life.

Good luck!

Mike

[Corinne]

Im heading up to Brissie in the next month or so if you are keen to catch up for a fish.........

I would love to! Where will you be going? I will have to get your number so I can call you and arrange it or if you prefer email my address is corinneharrison@optusnet.com.au If you are on msn messenger, my ID is coz1981@hotmail.com

My hubby is really not keen on fishing so he's not the greatest help nor likely to come with us so it will just be little ol' me! Will you be coming down with anyone else?

I guess that's enough questions for now! Let me know the details!

Cheers

Corinne )

Thanks so much guys. You are all so helpful. The worrying thing is that it all makes sense! Maybe fishing is genetic!

I was only saying to my husband last week that I think it would be better to use live bait and 'present' the bait as it would appear naturally! He was just bunging the prawn on the hook any old way and said to him "if you were a fish, would you eat a prawn that looked like it had a head growing out of it's arse'?!?

You can imagine the reply, but hey, ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer!

I have been sending your replies to my Dad and he reckons I am in good hands! Thank God for Google search!

[Corinne]

Kak weekend for fishing boys! Hubby had to work from home and as I dont drive cos of my epilepsy, the results of a days fishing were 'off the menu'! Poo. I just watched some lucky bugger on channel nine hooking a Ciguatera-ridden Chinaman (yum, come on, it all adds to the 'flavour'!) and the most beautiful red emperor. Grrrr. Makes me Lucky git.

Anyway. That's as interesting as it got. Must say though, my little princess was 100% engrossed in the program! Every time the were lifting the fish out of the water it was "Wow! pretty fishy"! I wouldn't have been surprised if she had said "Oh, oh, we've got colour"!!

Oh well, I keep myself entertained I spose. Good old eBay. Hehe. Gonna make my hubby do the ironing for my trouble! UNDER THE THUMB? U BET! And he's also from any extra cirricular activities he maybe interested in! (You know what I mean)

Speak to you next weekend fellas. Will hopefully have some fishing news cos I'm gonna make him feel really bad all week, then he'll take me to Bribie!

Edited April 23, 2006 by Corinne