Good Beginner Spots

[GABBA]

Hi. I have been into fishing for a long time and am trying to slowly add tackle to my collection, that being said I am very inexperienced, and as such have never caught anything decent. I've only really ever caught small Bream. I've tried fishing off the beach a few times the best I did was catch a stingray, although my friend once caught a decent size bream.

Anyway, I know people don't like to give away their spots but can someone tell me any places in Sydney where I might have some better luck. I am not after anything in particular (I gave done a lot of reading on the forums already, so I have got some ideas).

[trentafi]

They have been catching some decent sized jewfish off wanda beach down cronulla.

get there about 20 mins before a changeover of a tide on a full moon. If you have some fresh squid you could throw that out or go with some pilchards on ganged hooks. If you are not to fimiliar with surf rigs most tackle shops will sell beach rigs these days that have ganged hooks and a popper to get any flatties or whiting that are around. If the jewies arent on you may hook up to a salmon. Beach fishing can be very hit and miss sometimes but you just gotta be patient and put in the hours it can be very rewarding.

[kiwineil]

Hi. I have been into fishing for a long time and am trying to slowly add tackle to my collection, that being said I am very inexperienced, and as such have never caught anything decent. I've only really ever caught small Bream. I've tried fishing off the beach a few times the best I did was catch a stingray, although my friend once caught a decent size bream.

Anyway, I know people don't like to give away their spots but can someone tell me any places in Sydney where I might have some better luck. I am not after anything in particular (I gave done a lot of reading on the forums already, so I have got some ideas).

Mate - all depends where you are based, and Im assuming Landbased ...

- narrabeen lake

- clifton gardens

- balmoral

- clontarf beach

- under the spit bridge

- bobbin head

- under roseville briodge

no secrets to any of those and its all pretty accessible ...

[Siesta911]

You can try Clifton Garden, Balmoral Jetty, Little Manly (Spring Cove side on the rock) early in the morning – around dawn time.

If you can get the point around 5:00ish, you should be able catch something decent size for a couple hours.

Remember to use burley while fishing mate.

[bennoz]

its not just spots - but your rig and method of fishing.

A good example of this was a few months back where i was fishing small and light, catching undersized bream and baby snapper. Lots of pickers and i didnt think anything else was about.

a bloke rocked up and started fishing whole ganged pillies - and just as i suspected, he was getting destroyed by the pickers.

Anyway he kept at it and after an hour he hooked up to a nice salmon. soon after caught a big Trev. next cast was a nice flatty.

[night_rider]

Hey mate,

Have a poke in and around Gladesville bridge.

Had quite a few decent sized whiting, flatties and bream as of late.

Cheers

M

[barberonhigh]

Head up the entrance , fish the north side of the bridge, use life worms(any) try to be there before sunset use size 4 long shank hook, running sinker and a meter line from sinker,

U will catch a whitting or bream for sure

Cheers

[ginko]

If you're going off a beach, then spot selection is vital. Fish want shelter, food, and not too many hardships (e.g. huge waves crashing onto shallow sand). They will not hang out if they are missing one of these three. I fish all the northern beaches, and so long as there is a good gutter or rip, they'll all produce the goods most days.

At the beach, I start with live worms at the corners, as close to the rocks as I can cast without snagging. Also with worms, any gutters (darker water) that run along the beach and then go out to sea are worth a go. Whiting tend to school right up at the leading edge of these gutters where the water comes off a shallow part and is "eroding" the beach as the deeper gutter moves up the beach. The eroding exposes worms (like yours) so the leading edges are good bets. I like to cast just onto the shallow section, let the water take the worm down over the edge into the gutter, and then even let it drift along in the gutter to the point where the water is flowing out to sea in a rip (especially if this is at a corner of the beach or over some rocks/structure in the beach). I find a spherical running sinker, as light as possible, a long shank #4(small) hook and light trace are best. You'll need a swivel between your main line and the trace/sinker/hook to avoid twisted line. Mono is probably better at the beach, and 6lb is enough for whiting. Braid gives more sensitivity, but has serious drawbacks at the beach. (It breaks if it touches an oyster or rock, it tangles worse and much more easily than mono does, and worst, it costs a bomb.) I prefer very light rods for whiting, about 7ft. You may also pick up flathead, and can target these in the same gutters with an 8lb trace and soft plastics (I find pink works best).

If you're after bigger fare than whitings, try pilchards on three ganged #4 (big) hooks. I use the following rig: mainline (20lb), swivel, trace (20-30lb), a swivel threaded onto the trace and running free along the trace (more on this later), a snap swivel, a snapper sinker if calm or a star sinker if rough (3 oz). From the swivel running on the first trace, I tie a second trace, and put the hooks on the end of that. I use "ghost cotton" to wrap around the pilchard after I've set it on the ganged hooks: without this, the pillie will just fall off an you'll think there are fish taking your bait. 20lb may seem heavy, and it definitly leads to fewer hookups, but I like to know that when I have a fish on, it's going to come up through the surf without my trace snapping. I like this rig since it lets the bait wash around in the current, even while I hold the main line tight and steady in the waves. This rig works best to cast into the rips at dawn and dusk and with a high tide. Cast to where you can see a good current in the rip. I have better fishing casting into rips regardless of depth, than casting into current-less deep holes at the beach. Many times, the fish prefer a bit of "wash" over them when they are hunting at the beach. You're most likely to catch aussie salmon or tailor, but you can also get bream, flathead or other species from time to time. I have a 7144 rod,(about 10 or 12 feet) which is a great size for getting decent sized baits out past the breakers.

Also, an important practice: if you can't id your fish as edible, don't eat it! In fact, avoid even touching fish you don't know. Common fishing by-catches such as red rock cod, catfish, stingrays and numbfish all have their own delightful ways of giving very nasty surprises.