North Head 4lb line

[2kgline]

Went out for quick one Sunday at North head (Sydney) as usual only had light gear max 6lb line . All fish were taken on 4lb line (see photo). Lost a lot of fish mostly kings and salmon, also lost a lot of line had to re spool. I guess that’s the price of light tackle fishing.

[Terms]

Went out for quick one Sunday at North head (Sydney) as usual only had light gear max 6lb line . All fish were taken on 4lb line (see photo). Lost a lot of fish mostly kings and salmon, also lost a lot of line had to re spool. I guess that’s the price of light tackle fishing.

Well done & yes it is the price you pay with light tackle

but its also alot more fun.

[Keflapod]

Mate, thats' a thumper salmon for such light tackle.

You must be a stunt-fisherman.

That would have taken a good 15 minutes to land.

That leaping bonito would have been no pushover either.

Did you lose lures or just hooks on the bustoffs?

Tony

[2kgline]

The salmon was about 30 minutes and 200m + of line out

All caught on bait. Nothing was taking lures some days are like that.

I must admit when on lures I do use 6 lb and if I lose to much gear then move to 8 lb

Best king on 6 lb is 83cm

PS I always have a big live bait down this time of year on 100 lb braid for the big kings. Not to sporty but a mans got to eat.

Mate, thats' a thumper salmon for such light tackle.

You must be a stunt-fisherman.

That would have taken a good 15 minutes to land.

That leaping bonito would have been no pushover either.

Did you lose lures or just hooks on the bustoffs?

Tony

[PPSGT]

Hi 2kgline,

Just a question and dont take offence, as this is a genuine question, and you seem to like your light tackle fishing

- did it really take 30 minutes to land your salmon?

I often read posts on fishraider about epic battles with harbour kings and salmon, but I am yet to encounter one

I use a Tierra 2500 on a Excelor rod and 6lb Platypus line straight to the lure or hook (squidding outfit) and set

my drags on a spring balance to get the maximium drag, a little over 1/3 so maybe 1kg

In Clear water I have landed plenty of big Salmon, rat kings

on 5gm Halco Twistys when chasing the surface action and have caught legals on Pillies/squid strips at anchor with the outfit

all fun but nothing epic

I have set the stopwatch on hookup,and not once has the fight gone for over three minutes, most are well over by 2 minutes

and if it is a bigger fish they have already found structure long before that.

I used the same outfit with 10lb braid, and even near structure can stop rats and just legals easily, I have also stopped a 86cm king

on a $20 rod, cheap 8lbs line no leader and a reel that came with my magazine subscription. I posted on fish raider and put the stopwatch time and it was well under 3 minutes

Is 4lb that much difference?

Have you tried 2lbs line on salmon/kings? I bought some for my yakkas rod

I find the fish run out of puff very quickly even on 6lbs and once they have had to pull against the drag dont have the stamina for any

length of time they cant do it. People have told me that this doesnt happen with metre plus fish (i have hooked but yet to land anything over 90cm)

On the other hand I have nearly been pulled out the boat by a king on 80lbs and max drag while livebaiting

Look forward to your (or anybody elses) thoughts as i really like muckind around with the light stuff

Jason

[2kgline]

No offence taken, It takes so long because when you catch a few bigger fish even the size of Trevallie pictured the line becomes weaker and more like 2lb by the time the salmon was caught. The line was so weak it would break if you checked you knot on the hook by pulling to hard. It’s a trade off between re spooling, the challenge of using really weak line, changing up to heavier gear (we prefer a light as possible) or when the fish are on mucking around changing tackle or having fun. I use vanish line that starts of strong but after a few trips on bigger fish loses its strength. When the line is new you could expect to land a salmon of this size in 5 -10 minutes.

And yes there is a big difference between 4 lb and 6 lb line just try to break a piece of each you will notice the difference, give the 4 lb a try some time (but expect to loose fish). Watch the cast even on small lures or big bait, one stuff up and you loose you lure/bait before it even hits the water.

Also we do not use any leader.