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Drummer Fishing Technicques


Mondo Rock

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Hi Raiders

With winter nearly on us I've turned my attention back to drummer fishing and started poking around at the spots I found last year.

Had a session yesterday that was a bit of a disappointment (three drummer landed - all undersize) but it did start me thinking about techniques and drummer habitat. The spot I was fishing (near Julienne) has a lot of cracks, holes and tunnels under the rocks and walking around the area you often find yourself stepping over a deep crack with water gurgling away at the bottom. Yesterday, for the first time, I started dropping my bait into these cracks to see what happened.

Well, most of the time nothing - but occasionally I'd get utterly hammered by what I assume were big drummer that were swimming up into these cracks, crevices and holes through underwater tunnels and caves. I was completely undergunned for this type of fishing and every single fish hooked using this method rubbed me off on the rocks within about 1 second of being hooked. It was hilarious fishing when I think about it - me 10 metres back from the water using a 12ft rod to drop prawns into cracks in the rocks - and then getting completely smoked after one second of a thumping hook-up.

I'm going to gear-up and try again with 30lb fluoro leader to see if I can't extract some of these monsters, but I thought I'd ask if anyone else has tried this form of fishing?

I think I've heard it referred to as 'pot-holing': anyone with any tips or experience?

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Hi Raiders

With winter nearly on us I've turned my attention back to drummer fishing and started poking around at the spots I found last year.

Had a session yesterday that was a bit of a disappointment (three drummer landed - all undersize) but it did start me thinking about techniques and drummer habitat. The spot I was fishing (near Julienne) has a lot of cracks, holes and tunnels under the rocks and walking around the area you often find yourself stepping over a deep crack with water gurgling away at the bottom. Yesterday, for the first time, I started dropping my bait into these cracks to see what happened.

Well, most of the time nothing - but occasionally I'd get utterly hammered by what I assume were big drummer that were swimming up into these cracks, crevices and holes through underwater tunnels and caves. I was completely undergunned for this type of fishing and every single fish hooked using this method rubbed me off on the rocks within about 1 second of being hooked. It was hilarious fishing when I think about it - me 10 metres back from the water using a 12ft rod to drop prawns into cracks in the rocks - and then getting completely smoked after one second of a thumping hook-up.

I'm going to gear-up and try again with 30lb fluoro leader to see if I can't extract some of these monsters, but I thought I'd ask if anyone else has tried this form of fishing?

I think I've heard it referred to as 'pot-holing': anyone with any tips or experience?

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hi mondo

did a bit of potholeing on the high tides at night i would pick out the deeper holes in the day at low tide and put a wire burley cage filled with stale bread and a dash of tuna oil weighted down with a heavy rock so it did not move as the tide came in

as the tide comes in start fishing 1hour before high using bread [dough]or peeled prawns

have caught heaps of bream drummer and blackfish with this method

i used 15lb mono little or no lead

do it to a few different holes in the same area and see the ones that produce the most fish

peter

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Hi Mondo are you referring to fishing into the cracks where the water has eroded whole sections of the corner rocks away at South Maroubra? you can also get a good supply of lobsters in that area.

Cheers

jewgaffer :1fishing1:

...................................................................................................................

"hi mondo

did a bit of potholeing on the high tides at night i would pick out the deeper holes in the day at low tide and put a wire burley cage filled with stale bread and a dash of tuna oil weighted down with a heavy rock so it did not move as the tide came in

as the tide comes in start fishing 1hour before high using bread [dough]or peeled prawns

have caught heaps of bream drummer and blackfish with this method

i used 15lb mono little or no lead

do it to a few different holes in the same area and see the ones that produce the most fish

peter"...............................................................................................................

There's some top advice there Luderick59 :thumbup:

Cheers

jewgaffer :1fishing1:

Edited by jewgaffer
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Thanks Peter - that technique sounds like a good one and I'll have to give it a go.

It's not quite what I am talking about though. From your description it seems you're talking about fishing in low-lying rock pools at high-tide which, productive though it may be, is not what I was doing. Similarly, although I know the eroded corners at South Maroubra that you're talking about Byron (and agree that they're probably excellent drummer haunts, I'm not actually fishing these.

No - what I'm trying here is far stupider than that. I'm talking about those crevices and holes well back from the water's edge that just look like a deep crack with water at the bottom - but as you watch the water level you realise that it's rising and falling with the waves, meaning that the crack is connected with the ocean somehow. Some of them are no more than a foot wide. They're similar to blow-holes, but without the actual blowing.

I'm going to try to get some photos so that I can show you what I mean.

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well the areas you describe could also be home to those lovely moray eels and without a real heavy line they would smoke you once they tie themselves in knots

i did a lot of pigfishing in my younger days of the nthn beaches

30lb line to a running ballsinker to a 2/0 hook with a nice lump of cunji

always exciting

even a 2kg drummer would try and drag you in

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well the areas you describe could also be home to those lovely moray eels and without a real heavy line they would smoke you once they tie themselves in knots

i did a lot of pigfishing in my younger days of the nthn beaches

30lb line to a running ballsinker to a 2/0 hook with a nice lump of cunji

always exciting

even a 2kg drummer would try and drag you in

When fishing this style of rig, are you casting out or just dropping your bait directly down and holding your bait just of the bottom?

I have been trying to Target pigs of late. I have been persisting with a black fish rig, would I be better of ditching the float?

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When fishing this style of rig, are you casting out or just dropping your bait directly down and holding your bait just of the bottom?

I have been trying to Target pigs of late. I have been persisting with a black fish rig, would I be better of ditching the float?

never used a float for pigs

just fished the wash off the rocks if the drummer are there it never hits the bottom

we just used the weight to a:cast out far enough without losing bait

and b: to get it down to the bigger ones quickly to beat the small scavengers cunji only lasts one bite!

on occasion we would bread burley

some lovely platforms off bilgola /whale beach/avalon etc

got a monster silver drummer 10kg plus

most blacks were 1-5kg

drummer love cunji

and also crabs

thanks to there love of crabs was the reason i found my secret dont get wet and catch lobsters spot!

if you want to know where that is

pm me and ill tell you NOTHING

Edited by mtcolah
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I wondered about the possibility of catching eels as a by-catch using this method - I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens!

Am going to try this again on the weekend and take some photos so that you can all see what I'm talking about. If it works it could be a good new technique!!

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  • 2 years later...

If your are going for drummer next year go to beatue bay rocks and have your line down as far as you can and every now and agin bring your line in just to check your bait and I am sure you will get a drummer :1fishing1:

Edited by caleb156
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