Secret Luderick Business

[Brad K]

I tried a different rig for Blackfish today, and had reasonable success with it (three keepers). Reflecting afterwards I started to wonder about the effectiveness of different techniques and rigs for this humble fish.

Now I know that Luderick fishing is a secretive business, with as many tricks and gimmicks as fish in the sea, but I think its time for the weed specialists to spill the beans.

The setup I used today was very simple. I put a float stop on the main line followed by the float, then another float stop, then enough lead to balance the float, a small rubber bead, a small swivel, then a light leader finishing with the hook. The whole rig was balanced by the lead just below the float without any split shot on the leader. It was a bit of a challenge to get the balance right, but was very easy to fish with once achieved.

So all you float watches out there open up the vault and give us mortals a glimpse into this specialised world.

Cheers Brad.

.

[Guest Lord Loser]

I have large plastic drum out the back full of water, all my floats are pre tested and balanced to save stuffing around a wasting valuable fishing time, after that you only have to fine tune slightly with weight as the floats sit higher in salt water.

[Stapo]

My set up.

Stoppers I use 2

Bead then float

Swivel

300mm of intermediate line where the sinker sits

Another swivel 3 way if you want to use a double rig

Leaders to hooks.

Size 8 swivels and hooks.

Main line 14 lb floating line leaders 12 lb

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Burger]

My rig is the same as yours Brad K and I pretest my floats like Lord Luderick.

[blackfish angler]

I have large plastic drum out the back full of water, all my floats are pre tested and balanced to save stuffing around a wasting valuable fishing time, after that you only have to fine tune slightly with weight as the floats sit higher in salt water.

Top idea must give it ago .

[Ryder]

This is no secret

You can find it herehttp://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=23679

[big Neil]

There you go. Problem reported, problem solved. That's what Fishraider's all about, eh?

[Brad K]

The pre-test water drum is genius, i'll definitely be giving that a go.

[luderick -angler]

No secrets about rigs mate the biggest secrets are where's the weed! Where's the fish what tide, how deep you fishing etc etc etc.......lol once you work a few spots out stick to them keep a diary on tide wind depth etc and you will get fish but you will still have your donut days! I do!!!

[DMG]

I use no.8 green Mustad hook,1 meter 3kg light line for trace up to a small swivel.

then I use a sinker heavy enough just to have the stem of the float and a very small amount of float foam above the water so that it goes down without any resistance,then I use either a stem or small bobby cork type float on a rod made for blackfish,reels i have used all types,egg beaters and side casters but the line i use is very important i use float line,its yellow and floats on the surface of the water so you have direct contact with your float and when you get a down its as easy as just lifting your rod up.

oh and i use either aquarium air hose or a bit of wool as my stopper,cut small length of wool tie it to the line where you want your float to stop,make sure its tight and wet,slide it up and down where and when you want works for me.

I only use cabbage from where im fishing.

kick or scrape a bit of weed in as burley every now and then with your cleats into the water.

some tackle shops sell the float line but most dont,you can get it on Ebay and its made it Japan.

Edited September 24, 2016 by D.G

[Guest Lord Loser]

oh regarding pretesting your floats ,I hope your using salt water cause things will float better in salt water rather than fresh water.

you can do it on site,just dont put your leader on till your float is weighted properly for the conditions your in.

I fish the same spots and everytime I go there i have to set up my float according to the conditions on the day 8/10 I have to use a small bobby cork due to it being to rough for a stem type floats.

No my floats are tested in fresh water, but I clearly stated minor tuning is needed in salt water as the floats sit higher. We also build stem floats to suit rough conditions, we also use bobby corks but on the days with a decent swell and fair bit of chop with a 25 plus metre drift to get out the back you can't beat a stem float.

[Burger]

I'm not so sure that there is all that much difference myself . . .

Pure freshwater wieghs 1g/cc and that is pure distilled water, not your Sydney tapwater which will be the tiniest bit heavier . . .

Typical saltwater weighs about 1.025g/cc.

When a float is close to neutrally bouyant in tapwater, I don't think the 0.025 g/cc floatation difference in saltwater will make much difference.

[Green Hornet]

I pre-weight my floats in my neighbours pool.

Simply put one in that you already know is weighted correctly and match the buoyancy with your new float.

Works every time.

[luderick -angler]

No my floats are tested in fresh water, but I clearly stated minor tuning is needed in salt water as the floats sit higher. We also build stem floats to suit rough conditions, we also use bobby corks but on the days with a decent swell and fair bit of chop with a 25 plus metre drift to get out the back you can't beat a stem float.

I won't argue with the Lord on this it's what my father did for 50 years I have for the last 30 and the lord seems to catch fish and so do I do it must work!!!!

Edited September 21, 2016 by luderick -angler

[DMG]

ah sorry didnt completely read everything,just flicking through.

[Mike89]

I use split shot on a 1m trace below a single swivel (stopper-bead-blackie float-stopper behind) but sometimes find this creating problems with casting tangles. Usually I put three about 30cm from the hook and fairly close together. The shot will move a lot when you start hooking up.

I've recently gone from I think a size 8 to a size 6 mustad sneck hook as I was losing a fair chunk of the big ones on the smaller hook and would always find that they swallowed the hook.

I'll try out the two-swivel method and perhaps a shorter trace.

[stormy]

I never use split shot due to that very problem of causing the leader to tumble around during the cast and often causing tangles. I have used one small length of sheet lead on the trace, about 30-50cm up from the hook, for the past 45 yrs and very rarely get a casting tangle.

[rickmarlin62]

I mostly fish the rocks and always use two traces..one 80cm one 50cm...known as Newcastle rig..by the way I get plenty of double hookups and u have the luxury on long drifts to leave your rig out there if u miss one down as u usually still have second bait still attached..i fish cabbage with a hitch round weed...rick

[Rock Drummer]

Guys,

I am heading off to Newcastle next week with my family. Will be taking my fishing gear with me and try to catch some luderick. Is there any spot anyone can recommend and where can i get cabbage or strand weed in that area. I will be staying in Honeysuckle, Newcastle for 2 days only. Any guidance will be much appreciated. i enjoy rock fishing and mostly go towards cronulla and bondi.

Cheers all.

  

[Guest Guest123456789]

Ditch the float stoppers and bead, use a fixed float.

[rickmarlin62]

some of my spots I fish 14ft deep so a running rig is necessary..i use a small bead above my float and use two small lengths of nylon tied on as stopper knots..you can slide one easily but the two together are very hard to move.just wet them and slide one at a time

[blackfish angler]

I also have gone to a larger hook I use a number 6 Mustad for the bigger fish.

[Guest Guest123456789]

See if you can wrap your head around this bad boy

[Wellzy94]

The only issue with that, Flatheadluke, is the fish might not be at the depth you've set your float to. The (huge) advantage of using stoppers is you can adjust the depth until you find the fish.

[Guest Guest123456789]

1 hour ago, Wellzy94 said:

The only issue with that, Flatheadluke, is the fish might not be at the depth you've set your float to. The (huge) advantage of using stoppers is you can adjust the depth until you find the fish.

Slip the rubber tubes off the ends of the float and you can adjust depth. I have the rubber tubes just the right pressure so I can simply slide the float along the line with some small force. Much easier than messing around with float stoppers.

in fact fixed float like this is better than a running float in that you can change floats without cutting the line. It's also less that can go wrong when casting/retrieving.

the only reason you should use a running float is if you need greater depths than you can cast, which for me never happens. I have a 10'6 rod and I can cast out a fixed float that will put me 12 feet deep.