Allow Me To Introduce Myself

[Green Hornet]

Welcome @telescopic_rodd there’s plenty of good info on the gear you’re looking to purchase in the Library/Articles section and don’t overlook using the search function as well. Post anything more you need to know for a good unbiased opinion, something that seems to be becoming hard to find elsewhere on the net these days.

[Little_Flatty]

1 hour ago, telescopic_rodd said:

Hello.

I've had plenty of hits from this place when Googling various fishing related things over the years, but have never actually gone that step further and joined - primarily because I'm really only occasional / casual observer, and have generally only dipped a line in on breaks and holidays. 

When I was a kid I recall getting some good results on classic servo prawns up in the Cottage Point / Coal & Candle Creek / Akuna Bay area on a few occasions, and since then I've fished casually all up and down the NSW coast - always using the same tried and true servo prawn method. I've never really had a chance to learn fishing as an art, and I'm looking to change that this year. 

Currently I'm keen on purchasing (an affordable) light spin outfit and learning how to use SP's to target bream and flathead, with Parramatta River and Sydney Harbour likely to be the usual locations.

Cheers, and thanks to all the many contributors over the years who have made this place such a great community and resource.  

 

A very warm  to you @telescopic_rodd!

I would say that SPs and lures for bream and flathead is this community's bread and butter. Any questions, let us know.

[spraka]

Hey Everyone,

I'm so happy I found this place!

I'll be moving permanently from Toronto, Canada to Sydney and have been fishing the Canadian lakes for over 20 years but never fished oceans so this is gonna be a fun challenge to undertake! 

I've purchased 3 different rods, one setup for your light - medium action, another for medium - heavy rock fishing and lastly a light setup for squid.

If anyone has any tips or resources I should be checking out to learn more about how to find spots and techniques please let me know.

Lastly if there are any Ice Hockey fans and wanna grab a beer to watch a game, hit me up!

[dirvin21]

3 hours ago, spraka said:

Hey Everyone,

I'm so happy I found this place!

I'll be moving permanently from Toronto, Canada to Sydney and have been fishing the Canadian lakes for over 20 years but never fished oceans so this is gonna be a fun challenge to undertake! 

I've purchased 3 different rods, one setup for your light - medium action, another for medium - heavy rock fishing and lastly a light setup for squid.

If anyone has any tips or resources I should be checking out to learn more about how to find spots and techniques please let me know.

Lastly if there are any Ice Hockey fans and wanna grab a beer to watch a game, hit me up!

Welcome 

You'll find plenty of information and people willing to share 

Loads of fishing opportunities in Australia 

[SpeedyGiraffe49]

Hello everyone!

I’m a land-based estuary fisherman in Sydney, Australia that uses bait and lures. I’m always down for mutual knowledge sharing!

My Dad introduced me to fishing as a little boy by taking me to the central coast to catch anything off bridges and other structures. He didn’t really know anything about it at the time, other than what the tackle store guy had told him. I just enjoyed being out with him and catching the occasional fish - they always looked massive to me at that age!

Fast forward to 15 years later, I found my Dad’s old 8ft 5-8kg fibre glass rod, and broken 4000 Shimano spinning reel in the garage. I restored the reel with screw drivers and odd tools we had at home, and I started to go fishing with uni friends and by myself. I really enjoyed the thrill of having something pull on the line. It was rare for me to catch anything over 15cm in those days.

I then lost interest for a few years after I graduated and started working full time. Ironically during this time, I came across a Youtube channel called Sandflats Fishing Australia - I attribute a very large portion of my learning, and my rekindled passion for fishing to Karl Attenborough from this channel. Sadly, he’s removed his videos and closed the channel since.

1 year ago, I decided to pick up fishing again - this time fueled and inspired by the learning I’d had from Karl and other online resources. I bought a yabbie pump, and this is when things really took off. I started to have the rare catch of a legal sized bream! I remember wading sand flats with that same 5-8kg rod, 4000 reel, a backpack and a tupperware full of yabbies HAHA. Everytime I wanted to rebait, I would take the box out of my bag and juggle the rest of my gear to get it on the hook, zip it all up again and then recast. Wildly inefficient and extremely cumbersome, but I learned a lot about where and when to fish from those experiences.

Eventually the end guide on that poor old rod (2 decades old by this point) separated from the rod tip - it was finally time to buy my first ever rod and reel combo. A 3-6kg 7ft Atomic Arrowz rod carbon blank with a 2500 Shimano Stradic FL. In hindsight, I would have gone for a 2-4kg rod for the kinds of fish I was targeting but I did the best with what I knew at the time. Regardless, it still feels so easy to use and as light as a feather after using that old combo for so long.

Nowadays (26 years old), I feel fairly confident going out with yabbies to catch a legal sized fish to take home about 80% of the time (not in winter though).

I’ve also started using lures in the last 6 months. So far I’ve caught some small fish on topwater hard bodies, many tailor on metals, quite a few flathead on jerkbait hardbodies and ironically less fish than I can count on my hand on soft plastics!

If you’ve made it this far - thanks for taking the time to get to know my fishing journey. I’m intending to post the occasional fishing report to give back to the community here since I’ve gained plenty from reading the forums.

I can only really offer sound advice on sandflats and fishing with yabbies at the moment, but I’m happy to discuss my experiences and learning with other forms of fishing as well.

Coming into winter, I am looking forward to trying my hand at spinning metals for tailor and salmon off our beaches. If anyone reading this enjoys that style of fishing and would be interested in having some sessions together, feel free to let me know.

Best Regards,

Speedy

Edited April 4 by SpeedyGiraffe49
Add photo

[wazatherfisherman]

Welcome to the site- good intro and there's a gold mine of info here

[DerekD]

Hi @SpeedyGiraffe49,

That was one awesome introduction. Welcome to the site and I hope you get a lot of pleasure out of being here over the coming years. I miss the Sand Flats Fishing videos too. It was one of the recommended viewings for people I mentor in topwater fishing.

Looking forward to seeing your reports.

Regards,

Derek

[Little_Flatty]

6 hours ago, SpeedyGiraffe49 said:

Hello everyone!

I’m a land-based estuary fisherman in Sydney, Australia that uses bait and lures. I’m always down for mutual knowledge sharing!

My Dad introduced me to fishing as a little boy by taking me to the central coast to catch anything off bridges and other structures. He didn’t really know anything about it at the time, other than what the tackle store guy had told him. I just enjoyed being out with him and catching the occasional fish - they always looked massive to me at that age!

Fast forward to 15 years later, I found my Dad’s old 8ft 5-8kg fibre glass rod, and broken 4000 Shimano spinning reel in the garage. I restored the reel with screw drivers and odd tools we had at home, and I started to go fishing with uni friends and by myself. I really enjoyed the thrill of having something pull on the line. It was rare for me to catch anything over 15cm in those days.

I then lost interest for a few years after I graduated and started working full time. Ironically during this time, I came across a Youtube channel called Sandflats Fishing Australia - I attribute a very large portion of my learning, and my rekindled passion for fishing to Karl Attenborough from this channel. Sadly, he’s removed his videos and closed the channel since.

1 year ago, I decided to pick up fishing again - this time fueled and inspired by the learning I’d had from Karl and other online resources. I bought a yabbie pump, and this is when things really took off. I started to have the rare catch of a legal sized bream! I remember wading sand flats with that same 5-8kg rod, 4000 reel, a backpack and a tupperware full of yabbies HAHA. Everytime I wanted to rebait, I would take the box out of my bag and juggle the rest of my gear to get it on the hook, zip it all up again and then recast. Wildly inefficient and extremely cumbersome, but I learned a lot about where and when to fish from those experiences.

Eventually the end guide on that poor old rod (2 decades old by this point) separated from the rod tip - it was finally time to buy my first ever rod and reel combo. A 3-6kg 7ft Atomic Arrowz rod carbon blank with a 2500 Shimano Stradic FL. In hindsight, I would have gone for a 2-4kg rod for the kinds of fish I was targeting but I did the best with what I knew at the time. Regardless, it still feels so easy to use and as light as a feather after using that old combo for so long.

Nowadays (26 years old), I feel fairly confident going out with yabbies to catch a legal sized fish to take home about 80% of the time (not in winter though).

I’ve also started using lures in the last 6 months. So far I’ve caught some small fish on topwater hard bodies, many tailor on metals, quite a few flathead on jerkbait hardbodies and ironically less fish than I can count on my hand on soft plastics!

If you’ve made it this far - thanks for taking the time to get to know my fishing journey. I’m intending to post the occasional fishing report to give back to the community here since I’ve gained plenty from reading the forums.

I can only really offer sound advice on sandflats and fishing with yabbies at the moment, but I’m happy to discuss my experiences and learning with other forms of fishing as well.

Coming into winter, I am looking forward to trying my hand at spinning metals for tailor and salmon off our beaches. If anyone reading this enjoys that style of fishing and would be interested in having some sessions together, feel free to let me know.

Best Regards,

Speedy

Fantastic intro @SpeedyGiraffe49. Welcome to the community. I was younger than you when I first started out here and now I'm in my 40s! This is a very long-lived community as members are forthcoming with information and sharing experiences.

Plenty of advice here on topwater and light lure fishing here, look at @Niall for topwater and @DerekD (resident fishing coach) for topwater and many other forms of fishing. You will also find plenty of friends for casting metals on the beach.

Looking forward to hearing about your time on the water.

[SpeedyGiraffe49]

2 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

Fantastic intro @SpeedyGiraffe49. Welcome to the community. I was younger than you when I first started out here and now I'm in my 40s! This is a very long-lived community as members are forthcoming with information and sharing experiences.

Plenty of advice here on topwater and light lure fishing here, look at @Niall for topwater and @DerekD (resident fishing coach) for topwater and many other forms of fishing. You will also find plenty of friends for casting metals on the beach.

Looking forward to hearing about your time on the water.

Thanks @Little_Flatty - didn’t realise that the forum had been going for so long! That’s pretty cool.

Do you know if there’s somewhere specific I should post to ask about meeting fishing buddies? I don’t know anyone that shares my level of interest at the moment, particularly heading into the cold and wind of winter beach fishing.

While I’m always open to learning, I’m not necessarily looking for mentorship - just looking for like-minded people.

[big Neil]

2 hours ago, SpeedyGiraffe49 said:

Thanks @Little_Flatty - didn’t realise that the forum had been going for so long! That’s pretty cool.

Do you know if there’s somewhere specific I should post to ask about meeting fishing buddies? I don’t know anyone that shares my level of interest at the moment, particularly heading into the cold and wind of winter beach fishing.

While I’m always open to learning, I’m not necessarily looking for mentorship - just looking for like-minded people.

Welcome to the forum Speedy. Hope that you manage to find some like minded people who will join you for some fishing. There are plenty of members in and around Sydney so hopefully you will get to catch up with a few and enjoy some quality time on the water.

Looking forward to reading your reports down the track.

Cheers, bn

[DerekD]

5 hours ago, SpeedyGiraffe49 said:

Do you know if there’s somewhere specific I should post to ask about meeting fishing buddies? I don’t know anyone that shares my level of interest at the moment, particularly heading into the cold and wind of winter beach fishing.

Out of curiosity where in Sydney are you based?

[SpeedyGiraffe49]

1 hour ago, DerekD said:

Out of curiosity where in Sydney are you based?

Hey @DerekD, I’m based in the Westmead area. When I get married in November highly likely I’ll be moving closer to the Eastwood Epping area.

Regardless, I’m quite happy to travel anywhere in Sydney to meet up with fellow fishos for a session. To give you an idea of my level of flexibility, I fish both Pittwater and Port Hacking regularly 😆

Do you have something in mind?

Edited April 5 by SpeedyGiraffe49

[DerekD]

Hi agian @SpeedyGiraffe49

You said you were struggling on the plastics (which is where I really started my lure journey about 2 decades ago) and I might be able to see where you can use some pointers. It is also the tail end of what has been a fun topwater season for bream and whiting and if you can hit the inner west (think Drummoyne, Abbostford, Rodd point) we might be able to see where you are at too. Be warned the topwater is addictive and I've got several more people hooked on it this summer. Unfortunately, they get their own back by sending me photos of the awesome fish they have been catching. I'm still waiting for @foxyfisher to his report on the three oversize bream he got fishing with his brother a little while back. Then there is @FlickNAnthony with this report after I helped refine his topwater technique:

 

Edited April 5 by DerekD

[linewetter]

7 hours ago, SpeedyGiraffe49 said:

Thanks @Little_Flatty - didn’t realise that the forum had been going for so long! That’s pretty cool.

Do you know if there’s somewhere specific I should post to ask about meeting fishing buddies? I don’t know anyone that shares my level of interest at the moment, particularly heading into the cold and wind of winter beach fishing.

While I’m always open to learning, I’m not necessarily looking for mentorship - just looking for like-minded people.

Welcome to the site!  I started fishing a few months ago only and have been in Australia for about the same amount of time so I haven't really experienced a full winter here yet...but I've at least bought some wet weather gear with plans to continue fishing into the winter 😅  Would like to meet up some time in the future since I am same as you, not many I know that are into fishing besides the people I've met on this site.

[SpeedyGiraffe49]

1 hour ago, DerekD said:

Hi agian @SpeedyGiraffe49

You said you were struggling on the plastics (which is where I really started my lure journey about 2 decades ago) and I might be able to see where you can use some pointers. It is also the tail end of what has been a fun topwater season for bream and whiting and if you can hit the inner west (think Drummoyne, Abbostford, Rodd point) we might be able to see where you are at too. Be warned the topwater is addictive and I've got several more people hooked on it this summer. Unfortunately, they get their own back by sending me photos of the awesome fish they have been catching. I'm still waiting for @foxyfisher to his report on the three oversize bream he got fishing with his brother a little while back. Then there is @FlickNAnthony with this report after I helped refine his topwater technique:

 

Hey @DerekD, that’s a kind offer 🙂 Like I said earlier - I have no expectations of people mentoring/teaching me but if you’re offering I would greatly appreciate your time, experience and company. I’ll send you a private message 👍🏽

 

1 hour ago, linewetter said:

Welcome to the site!  I started fishing a few months ago only and have been in Australia for about the same amount of time so I haven't really experienced a full winter here yet...but I've at least bought some wet weather gear with plans to continue fishing into the winter 😅  Would like to meet up some time in the future since I am same as you, not many I know that are into fishing besides the people I've met on this site.

Hey @linewetter, I’ve seen a couple of your past reports on here - nice work. I’d love to meet up and have a session together. I’ll send you a private message 👍🏽

[Little_Flatty]

22 hours ago, SpeedyGiraffe49 said:

Thanks @Little_Flatty - didn’t realise that the forum had been going for so long! That’s pretty cool.

Do you know if there’s somewhere specific I should post to ask about meeting fishing buddies? I don’t know anyone that shares my level of interest at the moment, particularly heading into the cold and wind of winter beach fishing.

While I’m always open to learning, I’m not necessarily looking for mentorship - just looking for like-minded people.

Hi speedy,

Yes it’s a very long lived forum.

You can post proposed trips here: https://community.deckee.com/forum/38-plan-a-fishing-trip/

When you move to the Epping/Eastwood area I might be able to help you get acquainted with the fishing in the area. Lots of light lure fishing opportunities in the warmer months, if you don’t mind catch and release.

[SpeedyGiraffe49]

7 hours ago, Little_Flatty said:

Hi speedy,

Yes it’s a very long lived forum.

You can post proposed trips here: https://community.deckee.com/forum/38-plan-a-fishing-trip/

When you move to the Epping/Eastwood area I might be able to help you get acquainted with the fishing in the area. Lots of light lure fishing opportunities in the warmer months, if you don’t mind catch and release.

Thanks @Little_Flatty, I’ll post in there next time I’m planning to go out.

Re: Epping/Eastwood - sounds great! Will try to remember to let you know if that ends up eventuating 👍🏽

[nosignificantharassment]

Hi my name is marina.

Been trying out lures recently 

Have a ultra light rod and a medium surf rod

Like catching sharks, carp and reef fish

[mrsswordfisherman]

1 hour ago, nosignificantharassment said:

Hi my name is marina.

Been trying out lures recently 

Have a ultra light rod and a medium surf rod

Like catching sharks, carp and reef fish

Welcome to the forum Marina (presume you are female)

Where are you from? Australia? What state?

Are you a new, learning or experienced angler? Helps members to know when asking questions what level of experience you have.
 

[NewbFishn]

Hi! I'm new to fishing, having only started a couple of months ago, and I've only caught koi/carp and one bass. I'm from the Campbelltown area, so I mainly fish in freshwater lakes and creeks, but I've recently wanted to try saltwater fishing. I have two 2-4kg Shimano rod and reel combos (got them a couple of years ago at Aldi) and recently also got a 10ft 4-6kg Shimano rod and reel combo.I'm not familiar with lure fishing but got some metals like Halco and Stingers, as I've heard they're good for many species in saltwater, like Australian salmon and kingfish. I would like to try and catch any fish that goes for metals in Sydney Harbour, so any tips on how to use them and any beginner spots there are appreciated! Also, I'm not sure how to use saltwater rigs, as the ones I've seen online look complex, with multiple hooks and huge sinkers. So far, I've only a hair rigs for carp 😅
 

[Larkin]

On 9/16/2024 at 8:14 AM, nosignificantharassment said:

Hi my name is marina.

Been trying out lures recently 

Have a ultra light rod and a medium surf rod

Like catching sharks, carp and reef fish

Welcome to the forum!

good luck on your fishing adventures and hope to read some of your reports in the future!

[Larkin]

On 9/16/2024 at 8:35 PM, NewbFishn said:

Hi! I'm new to fishing, having only started a couple of months ago, and I've only caught koi/carp and one bass. I'm from the Campbelltown area, so I mainly fish in freshwater lakes and creeks, but I've recently wanted to try saltwater fishing. I have two 2-4kg Shimano rod and reel combos (got them a couple of years ago at Aldi) and recently also got a 10ft 4-6kg Shimano rod and reel combo.I'm not familiar with lure fishing but got some metals like Halco and Stingers, as I've heard they're good for many species in saltwater, like Australian salmon and kingfish. I would like to try and catch any fish that goes for metals in Sydney Harbour, so any tips on how to use them and any beginner spots there are appreciated! Also, I'm not sure how to use saltwater rigs, as the ones I've seen online look complex, with multiple hooks and huge sinkers. So far, I've only a hair rigs for carp 😅
 

Welcome Newbfishn!

good luck on your fishing adventures

Land based bait fishing, most would be fishing a basic running sinker rig. Running sinker on main line to swivel then 50cm fluorocarbon line to hook.

Lure fishing, u can run main line to a fast clip (if your using mono) or if your using braid - fg knot to a 2m or so fluorocarbon leader then to a fast clip - that way you can change lures quickly.
Soft plastics work really well. Basic ones like paddle tails and grubs are a good start.

[NewbFishn]

11 minutes ago, Larkin said:

Welcome Newbfishn!

good luck on your fishing adventures

Land based bait fishing, most would be fishing a basic running sinker rig. Running sinker on main line to swivel then 50cm fluorocarbon line to hook.

Lure fishing, u can run main line to a fast clip (if your using mono) or if your using braid - fg knot to a 2m or so fluorocarbon leader then to a fast clip - that way you can change lures quickly.
Soft plastics work really well. Basic ones like paddle tails and grubs are a good start.

Thank you!

[nosignificantharassment]

On 9/16/2024 at 9:46 AM, mrsswordfisherman said:

Welcome to the forum Marina (presume you are female)

Where are you from? Australia? What state?

Are you a new, learning or experienced angler? Helps members to know when asking questions what level of experience you have.
 

Australia NSW 

I'm a new angler