Bloody rock cod

[dobbba]

Hey guys, been reading these forums for a while now picking up tips and the like.

Been out a few times over the past week since getting my 12ft fishraider rod and reel setup from kmart for $55.
Uses a 20lb, 200m mono line, I have tried a few rigs, particuarly liking the paternoster with double hook and a smallish star sinker. Also alternate a bit with gang hooks when I put the whole pilchards on.
Been losing a heap of tackle but having a heap of fun and catching a few fun little fish, so heres how today went.

Down at Gordons Bay around the north rocks, casting into the wash, with moderate swell. Pulled up red rock rock (i think) again and again, pulled about 5 out in 20 mins. Moved off around to an area a bit deeper, stoped pulling in cod, but started getting some real decent bites, but couldnt convert any of them.

Apart from a lot of catch and release rock cod, including a 40cm brown one down off the rocks at Garies beach last weekend, I cant seem to pull in any of the 'typical' fish that I thought I would be catching off pillies and squid. Anyway just thought Id chuck up a post and let people know how nicer spot the rocks are at Gordons Bay, perfect conditions for what I would expect from my continuous research to containg some good fish.

Cheers, Brendan

[dododog]

Mate, you reminded me of the time when I start fishing........ rock cod after rock cod, but the main thing is that you had started......... paternoster rig give you more feel but you need to get the line out further to avoid rock cod.

Also try to prawn instead of pillies and squid, b/c drummer and groper don't eat them, Bream and travelly also love them, pay attention to tide and dawn and dust will help you get into the better fish.

[SMn]

Also you could try suspending your bait off the bottom with a float and ball sinker underneath, swivel then 1-2m leader then hook. If your using prawns try cooked ones, stay on the hook better than mushy servo prawns. Be happy your catching fish mate, enjoy it, it's all part of the process. Good luck.

[krause]

Hey boss, cant coment on gordons bay, but i can help with garies. If youre catching cod there then chances are youre fishing the wrong bit.

First thing i have to say about garies is be bloody careful! Thats a slipery self and the waves can be deceptive. Watch the swell for a while, and be smart. If in doubt move yourself back from the edge, you can easily fish a few metres back with a 12ft rod, just watch your slack line doesnt hit the rocks. If it un fishable then just go of the beach, just as good as the rocks on an average day. If you were catching cod, then youre likely to be fishing the north or south side of the self over dark (rocky/reefy) bottom. This may produce a bream or drummer, but will ultimately end in snags and cod, kelpfish, eels etc. Good fun for a beginner, but nothing beats a silver fish! Try going of the east edge of the self. It is sandy bottom and typically holds a constant stock of trevally and salmon. Most guys aim square for the middle of the sand and cast as far as possible. In my oppinion, you have better luck casting south-east-ish, where the rocky bottom meets the sand. Still try to hit the sand but being near the structure can really help. Stick with the patternostter if thats what you like, but most rigs will do ok in such an environment. Pillies or prawns will work well, try both and see what works.

Cheers

[Devil Ray]

Dont buy prawns from the servo, green king prawns from major supermarkets at around 17 bucks a kilo are the go

[Linc]

Dont buy prawns from the servo, green king prawns from major supermarkets at around 17 bucks a kilo are the go

X2 for that. Just make sure they are Aussie prawns

[dobbba]

Thanks heaps for the tips guys. Really appreciate it. Heading down south on sunday for a fish with a few mates so will definently add some prawns to the kit. Was always wondering if the coles ones would be ok, spose if they're good enough for us, must be for the fish. Will take some cooked ones too, see how they go, although havnt had too much troubles with bait falling off hook.

I think the whole floater rig to suspend the bait is an awesome idea, but anytime I make the rig too big I just cant cast it far enough, especially in the wind. But from what everyone seems to be saying I just need to get a bit better at targeting the good water. Was hard down at Garies since the waves were too big at the high tide to go on rocks that were past the reefy/shallow area.

Cheers!!

[dododog]

Sunday look good for fishing

(1) Cut prawn in half, peel off the shell otherwise, Leather jacket will steal the meat left you with shell and hook, expose the hook point, use shell and head as burley, 1.5 kg of prawn for 3 person

(2) Forget about cook prawn - personally

(3) floater only good for gang hook rig - Pilly for salmon and Talor, unless you targeting drummer but its difficult to find the right depth for starter, use size 1 - 2 ball sinker much better and easy to re-tie, use 20LB-30LB leader if main line too thin

(4) Generally target 5-30 meter out, strict Zone for most rock fish, less than that = lost tackle, eel, small rock cod - ( depend on location )

(5) Also a tip is , when you wind the line back, lift the sinker up first by lifting the rod then wind, don't just wind back the sinker, if you feel the sinker is kind of stop , do the same thing: lift the rod don't just wind, imagine sinker running on rock ocean floor, sooner or later its going to stuck

Wait for your fish report :banana:

[Paikea]

Another good rig when fishing the rocks is a ball sinker right on top of the hook. Keep the sinker as small as you can for the conditions.

This is the rig that I use to catch Drummer. Also use bread berley and you will find that you will catch both Drummer and Bream if they are around. Just place up a few loaves of bread in a large bucket, add some seawater and mush it all up. I then use a kitchen ladle to throw the burley in the wash at regular intervals.

You will still pick up rubbish fish but hey, if there are Drummer and bream amongst them who cares.

Also are you sure that you were catching Rock Cod and not the blue speckled "Wirra" or old boot? The way to cook that one is to boil it with a brick and when the brick is tender eat the brick.

The normal Rock Cod are red in colour, and taste great. In fact they used to be called the poor man's lobster for reason that when cooked the flesh is pure white and firm. Some of the shonky restaurants used to use Rock Cod as a filler to Lobster Mornay etc to bulk out the quantity of lobster flesh. That way they could get more than one Lobster meal from each Lobster.

Cheers

Paikea

[krause]

I've heard that about red Rock cod, and it always suprises me. Because they look bony as. How in the world do you cook them?

Cheers

[Paikea]

Boil them then remove the flesh. Don't overcook them, let the flesh cool in the refrigerator, great on sandwiches. Bones not a problem if you are carefull removing the flesh.

Lets know if you try one.

Cheers

Paikea

[LeoB]

Thanks heaps for the tips guys. Really appreciate it.  Heading down south on sunday for a fish with a few mates so will definently add some prawns to the kit.  Was always wondering if the coles ones would be ok, spose if they're good enough for us, must be for the fish.  Will take some cooked ones too, see how they go, although havnt had too much troubles with bait falling off hook. 

I think the whole floater rig to suspend the bait is an awesome idea, but anytime I make the rig too big I just cant cast it far enough, especially in the wind.  But from what everyone seems to be saying I just need to get a bit better at targeting the good water.  Was hard down at Garies since the waves were too big at the high tide to go on rocks that were past the reefy/shallow area.

Cheers!!

G'day

Make sure they are Australian prawns as cooking doesn't kill all the microorganisms which are rife in most imported prawns.

Cheers Leo

[Twinfisher 4.9]

A small bobby cork, small sinker 60cm above the hook, heaps of bread burley and bread for bait, or crabs or prawns. Regular small doses of bread and adjust the depth of your bobby cork and keep it in the wash or near structure ......it works!

[Paikea]

To catch Bream and Drummer you do not need to cast very far. Just lob your bait into the wash and let is swirl around, then hang on.

Some of the best places that I have fished include Dolphin Point just past Burrill Lake. There is a flat section of rock there with a small gutter that runs into the rock platform. Just dropping your prawn and a small ball sinker on top in the wash will get you hooked up. Not safe in a big sea or when there is no wash.

Cheers

Paikea

[dobbba]

Sunday fish was a good sesh. Added a few more fish to the trophy cabinet lol... Got a cod off my 6ft rod withing about 10 secs of casting out... Got a bit better, after catching a fairly big eel [never caught one before!!! woop woop] also pulled in a legal bream using some coles prawns as suggested but wanted to stay around for a while so let him go.

Had a few really big bites (serious movement on my 12ft rod, the little cod barely even move it) but couldnt convert them. Not sure what my issue is, at first just let it go for a while, and slowly lifted rod, started to reel in, but nothing. Then next couple of times I yanked the rod up trying to hook the fish, but instantly turned to nothing. Tried to read around on it, I think that sort of thing is below even a basic level of fishing knowledge, and from what I have read theres different stratergies for different fish, or it could just be my cheap Kmart tackel (jarvis walker brand) letting me down.

Anyway, I put some of the advice ive been getting from here into action and it definently paid off, cheers for that!! I feel im nearly ready to start listing my PB's as a footnote... 20's ugly rockcod, eel up to my knee, 28cm bream, etc lol

Been to BCF to get some gear, got a nice Fishing jacket and some mustad hooks, got some decent leader (just been using 20lb line cut from my Kmart reel/rod combo to make rigs). Going for a fish with the old man this weekend, considering i used to catch decent fish with him when I was younger. Feels he needs to help considering my fishing stories dont quite live up to his days living up at heron island, fishing only with hand reels lol..

[SMn]

Well done mate, the more you get out there the more you learn. I don't strike at fish, when I feel the rod load up, I lift the tip in a slow smooth action and give the reel a wind, depending on how the rod loads up depends on how fast I wind. I've seen a lot of people strike really hard at fish, has never worked for me. Maybe try circle hooks, that way the fish hook themselves, but generally I find if the rod loads up then a smooth lift and reel action should set the hooks nicely.

Good luck with your old man!

[krause]

^^^ got to agree. Fish will hook them selves more often than your action will. If the hook gets in the mouth, then good chance the fish will hook up. If the fish is holding only the bait then theres little chance. Best to let it sit and see if the fish will take a second run at it. Ripping it is only likely to spook tge fish.

Anyway good work and keep it up. Your learning curve will be exponential, as this is addictive stuff. Enjoy.

Cheers

[dobbba]

Cheers guys, yea I got some circle hooks from BCF, seem to be all people rave on about, looking forward to giving them a go, also ro try out the bobby cork rig.

[Linc]

I reckon your hooks could be a big part of the problem, what size hooks have you been using on the big rod? They could be too small (or too large)

.. or like you said too cheap haha.

If there's one part of your gear that is definitely worth spending extra $ on quality stuff it's the action end of your rig and it sounds like you've done the right thing by getting some good hooks and leader - now you're ready to land those big strikes.