Is my line too thick?!?

[jay83091]

Hi Experts,

I was fishing from southern part of Maroubra this morning around 6 am.

After 1 hour of spinning + jigging, I could see massive school of bonitos chasing the white bait. I casted right in the middle started jigging. However, even after 30 minutes of hardwork, they wouldn't even bite or look at my lure properly.

Is this because of my line thickness? or lure type? or the way I jig?! Going crazy here with sore arm from jigging all day.

I am using 50lb braid for the mainline and 40lb mono for the lead (2.5m). Used blue samaki metal 100g, blue/green fishraider metal 100g, Red/Shiny silver Surecatch metal 100g.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

[jordan.widz]

some days they won't eat anything you chuck at them, no matter how light you go and others they not fussy at all. but the gear your using is certinly overkill for bonnies, try smaller metals such as 65g or plastics (they look more natural) and don't go above a 12lb leader, i've caught them on 6lb no probs. also use a lighter mainline so you can cast further. hope this helps

Cheers, Prawn Star

[jim77]

Sounds like your lure was way to big mate.

Have you heard the saying "match the hatch"? If they were eating whitebait you need to be using a lure that looks like that.

Even a 65g metal is often too big. Try using a really small metal - like a 5g halco or similar - and light line so you can cast it easy and far and you should hook up the bonnies pretty quickly. Also when you say jigging were you vertical jigging for them? You will catch em like that but your better option is just a fast retrieve back towards you.

[jordan.widz]

woops. I stuffed that up... 65mm for plastics NOT 65g hahaha. And with most fish... the lighter you go the more chance you will have of hooking up

[hooklineandsinker]

agree with jim77 here

from land i was throwing a 65gram raider at fish that were busting up in botany bay and they did not take notice i knew that my lure was to big and down sized accordingly when they came into closer range

mick

[jay83091]

Only reason why I used such a heavy gear was because there are heaps of decent kings swimming around (you can actually see them lol). Funny thing is, they followed my lure all the way to the edge and just stare at it no matter how hard I jig.

It seems as though they were curious.

I think I will bring an additional rod next time with lighter settings (perhaps 20lb braid + 16lb mono) and use smaller lures

Thank you for your replies

Awesome!

[PRED-ATOR]

Mate definately agree with matching the hatch,

if there hitting white bait try using a laser pro/blade style metal lure and work it on the surface. In relation to line, for school bonito you dont need anything heavier then 10-15 leader.

When i chase bonito at port kembla my set up is a daiwa zero 4-10LB stick matched to a daiwa exceller 2000DA spooled with 6lb braid and 10lb leader. you might say its a bit light but catching bonito on light gear is awesome fun.

Lure choice is rapala x rap in the pilchard and mackerel, sure catch metal slicers. (no bigger than 60gm) and floated skirts (will post pictures up for this later - my best way of catching bonito)

Ive found that the rerieve should be constant but not to fast and no pausing - well thats what works for me anyway. let me know how u go

[The_Stig]

100g is way to big for the bonnies. 35g or even a 25g are the go for them.

How big were the kingies? Might have been worth down sizing your lure & then throwing a live bonnie down & hang on...hehe

[NickF]

It wasn't the line or leader, it was the lure. You needed about 20-30g lure max. To throw a metal that small you will need lighter line and leader, for bonnies something like 14lb or maybe 20lb braid and 20-30lb leader. I was getting them on 30lb braid and 40lb leader on trolled Rapala CD11's so it doesn't put them off having heavier leaders generally.

That said, to get them on light tackle your rods and reels have to be of decent quality.

[Jewhunter]

You're missing one thing mate & it isn't just the size of your lure.

It's SPEED!!!

When fish are busting up like that you have to excite them.

Letting your lure sink a bit & then cranking it back flat out & even faster if you can will get you hits.

The 65gram raider will do it but a 30gram laser or raider cranked fast would be ideal.

So will a big surface walker like a mega dogx skipped along the surface.

Cheers,

Grant.

[boy53]

Kinda happen to me at beginning as well.

I was using 65gram metal and I couldn't catch anything so i switch to 40g. Once I switch to 40 gram metal. I couldn't believe that I got one even 1 or 2 cast

Play with the speed as well. Sometimes, I wouldn't catch anything on fast speed then i'll try to slow down bit.

[NickF]

Nothing beats tossing a Halco Roosta into a busting school of fish and watching the mayhem and madness that ensues!