Black Fish My Early Days

[BillH]

Hi guys, as you can see I'm new to this site and might I add what a great venue. Reading Roberta's tutorial (excellent)on the subtle art of Blackfish fishing has really got me interested in giving it another attemmpt.

I was first introduced to fishing for black fish by my dad in the late 60s early 70's when he used to take us to Bruswick Heads on school holidays, he would head off every morning with his blackfish rod to fish the south wall while us kids would catch poddy mullet from the foot bridge, every day he would come back with a bag full of fish for mum to cook up for breakfast.

Of course we would head down to see how he was doing, and I remember the first time I saw him lift one out and into his net it was awesome, I was about 12 then.

We ended up moving from Sydney to Terrigal in the mid 70's by this stage I was more interested in fishing the beach or the river systems. Going through all dad's fishing gear for extra tackle I came across his old blackfish rod and what I thought at the time a little Alvey sidecast (well it was an Alvey and I had never heard of a centre pin).

The rod was long and very "whippy" much different to the big surf rods and estuary rods I was used to. I had a basic idea about blackfish fishing, you used a float and they liked weed, how hard could it be.

Armed with that I headed off to the Skillion, worked my way round onto the rocks picking up some weed as I went, to where two other guys were fishing. I noticed they both had floats out so I figured they too were after black fish.

I started to get my rig set up "hmmmm what kind of reel is this....it doesn't even swivel, bugger must be a fly reel of some sort" Feeling like a right twit I started putting it together, float, stopper, swivel trace No. 8 hook, weed........ now what? How the hell am I going to cast this thing? Ok I thoght, if it's a fly reel cast it like a fly, so I strip some line get a bit of swing happening and let it go.... well I go it in the water.

I couldn't figure out why I was getting weird looks from the old gents to my left. Needles to say I didn't catch any fish that day, or the next or the next or the next,this went on for two weeks, yes I was pesistant. The two old guys were there also for many of those days but I was to emabarresed to ask their advice 1st mistake. Finally one day, one of the guys was there by himself so I finally plucked up the courage to ask his help, and was pleasantly surprised that he was more than happy to help showing me how to put split shot on adjusting my float even how to hold my mouth the right way, and guess what. You guessed it still no damned fish, I was either striking to early or to late or to hard meanwhile he was just lifting them out one after the other. When I asked my father he would just say you have to have the right feel.....what the?

I then started reading every thing I could about the subject, I persisted for about 2 maybe 3 months before giving it away without ever having caught one. I know it's not long but hey fishing from the beach I always (nearlly)got results. And do you know I have never really attempted them since those early days. But now that I am in the Shoalhaven area and there a some good places to go I maybe just maybe tempted to give the old blackfish a go, especially with graet articles you have here.

Sorry for being long winded, I hope it was appropriate.

Bill

[Smitty]

Hi Bill, and to fishraider.

Thanks for the intetesting read mate, it made me think back to my early fishing days too......the lessons we learn hey ! One thing I also learned young was that you can never get to much information from the older blokes who have been doing it for years and have it wired!

Good luck with your blackfishing this time around, with an older and wiser head and all the info form Roberta and other Raiders you should have no trouble at all. The Shoalhaven area sure is a nice area to give it a try too . Looking forward to seeing the reports of your successful blackie exploits.

Cheers,

Smitty...

[arpie]

:1welcomeani: Bill - I feel your pain with all the effort you have gone to, trying to catch blackies ...... even the old fellas were novices once & they probably took a while to catch their first ones too!! I reckon it must have taken me the best part of 6 months before I started to catch regularly - & still have donut days, even now! But now, I reckon I can blame it on the fish, not me!! I nearly gave it away a couple of times too - I actually gave my centerpin reel & floppy rod to my brother in Sydney ...... until I tried with a spinning reel & haven't looked back since!

Try it with a spinning reel with 20lb braid on it. The braid floats & makes it a lot easier to both see your line & also make sure it is straight & not got a big belly in it so that when you DO get a down, you are striking at the fish, not just picking up loose line.

You live in one of the best blackie fishing areas out there!! That flat rockledge down Gerringong way is terrific for sea fishing for blackies - & you will get monsters there (plus drummer!) But make sure you are with someone before fishing it for the first 5 -20 times (make that ALL the time!)

If you ever make it up Forster way - let me know & we can hit the breakwall together! Our blackies are usually 'on' for most of the year - it is just easier to catch them some times & more difficult at other times!

Patience & practise is all you need ...... and heaps of time!!! Good luck - let us know when you get some!!

Cheerio

Roberta

[BillH]

Thanks guys, and I definatley will keep you posted of my success or lack there of. The good thing about these days is how easy it is now to take photos, I'll have to make sure I throw my camera in my bag next time I hit the beach (this weekend). In the past it has never been a priority for me, the only person who got to see my catch was the wife, but with a forum like this, where we all share a common interest it adds that element of self acheivement, and lets face it we all like a bit of praise now and then from our peers.

That's one thing I have noticed about this site as opposed to other sites I've seen, the ammount of encouragement and shared knowledge is a theme that runs throughout the whole forum. The 'Mentoring' concept is great, and I'm looking forward to be able to contribute in some way.

Bill

ps as soon as I can figure out how to add my posts and replies properly

[DGF]

im starting to think about giving blackie fishing another go too but my methods are differant D: weed on a blacky hook with no sinkers and no float just slack line floating down they end up hooking them selves soon as i see my braid start to straighten up i know they are on and set the hook