Going Beach Fishing For 1st Time With Proper Gear Tomorrow, Tips Please?

[mattycoss]

hi all

have only really been beach fishing once before, and that was on my standard spin outfit not really designed for the surf at all.....my main focus has mainly been estuaries/rivers/still water basically

but now i have a proper surf rod and some 15lb line and would love to catch something decent.....have got the alvey 600 light surf model which im told is a good introduction rod for surf fishing and i wont be using it heaps anyway, but still hopefully as much as i can this summer..and got it for a good price so im happy and thankyou to everyone who offered me advice on here as to what rod to get too, helped me come to my decision

basically though, im at a loss as to what to do to maximise the chances of getting something decent - i dont really know how to look for the gutter spots or anything like that, especially as itll be pretty dark as i get there around sunrise

im thinking ill have this surf rod cast out with a pilchard or something going for hopefully a big flathead/salmon/jewfish or something? no idea........and then have my usual 6ft spin outfit just in the surf closer in as obviously cant cast as far going for bream/whiting/whatever else is around using some beach worm or something on normal long shank/baitholder hooks

basically i could really use some advice as to what i should be doing with my surf rod/what kind of hook i should be using/bait/rig etc, how i should be berleying into the surf, and whether there are any good or bad beaches? im thinking mona vale as its the closest but if i go to narrabeen then i was thinking i could also perhaps put my crab trap in the lake there near the caravan park and hope for some blue swimmers as im assuming there wouldnt be mud crabs around there.....or arent blue swimmers really found up that far either?

anyway thanks very much in advance and would love to hear from some of you soon

cheers and have a good night

matt

[donjuarez]

Hi Mate,

I'm not the most experienced on the nbeach, having taken it up myself earlier this year, but have had about 10 beach sessions..

At Narrabeen, near the surf club/carpark where 'the pines' are as you face the beach, about 50 metres to your elft there is fairly deep hole and gutter.

You can spot the gutters at night by looking for the spots where the waves aren't breaking

fairly obvious I think as it it looks like a rip, and the motion/direction of the water is usually not uniform/running across the beach.

Fairly early in the moon phase at this stage, so should be alright, but if the bite is slow, try and target the edges of the gutter where some of the wash from the waves breaking is creeping in..

I've heard some bream and whiting have been on the chew near the entrance of the lake, some shallow gutters about 30 metres to the right of the entrance of the lake.. Apparently worms are the way to go there, but I don't know how to get them on the beach.. haven't tried I guess...

2/0 or 3/0 ganged hooks with Pillies and I usually use a running star sinker to a swivel, with about 50-80 cm of leader.

I have also tried using a 2 hook paternoster rig with a 2/0 or 3/0 and a smaller 1/0 or 1 longshanks trailing with mixed success when failing to get hookups.

Haven't fished mona vale beach before... so can't help you there..

Could get together for a night mission sometime, I usually go the crazy hour sessions solo

Good luck! AJ

Edited December 1, 2008 by throw me a fish

[luderick59]

hi matt

allways look for blue water [deeper water] they are your chanells and gutters cast into the edges where white water is spilling into them [waves]

d.y.beach where the lagoon runs out to the right is a good spot for salmon and tailor bream and whiting just find a gutter pilly on ganged hooks get there before dawn should pick up a salmon or tailor

good luck

peter