Most prepared yet least successful

[donutcrooks]

Good morning everyone.

I recently(28/12/2016) went fishing at Anglers Tavern with my best friend. We used very small long shank hooks that were rigged with either worms or peeled prawns. We had very big bites each time yet were unsuccessful in landing any. We were there for a solid 5 hours and felt like we had only hosted a Christmas lunch for the fish. To conclude, the day was long, sweaty and tiresome with catching no fish.

We are both quite new to the fishing scene and I am yet to catch at least one fish. We both have tackle and bait that could stretch across the Nullarbor and back but the thing I cannot do is use them properly and/or efficiently. 

I regularly fish within the Maribyrnong River and just found this Anglers Tavern fishing spot. 

I was wondering which bait/hook would be useful and would like to know any way of learning hook sizes and/or lure baits.