Captain Pugwash Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Help please everyone. As much as I love fishing, I have never fished from the beach. I'm off on hols next week and will get to spend a full week on the beach. I have purchased a beach rod and an Alvey reel but there my knowledge stops. I need ALL the help I can get. Line strength, rig types, bait, lures, how to recognise a "gutter", etc , etc. All help gratefully accepted. I'll pay you back in photos, I PROMISE!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pugwash Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 Nothing? Pretty Please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitto Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 A gutter is where the water runs away from the beach ... it is usually calmer water (no waves) OR, Go hire a tinnie and fish the Hacking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jewel Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Which beach mate and what would you like to catch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pugwash Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 Thanks fellas, I'll have a surf (pun intended) around the net and back thru this site. Jewel, I'm actually going to be in Durban, South Africa so I have no idea what I'm chasing, only that I WANT to fish. Cheers, Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jewel Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Very nice! From my limited knowledge elf (tailer) and kingfish (jewies) among other standard aussie beach species are availible. So your standard beach fishing techniques should work ie. a pilchard on a gang hook or slab baits cast into the gutters and rips. The basic rig of sinker, swivel and leader set up should work fine (and if nothing else gives you a reason to hunt down a local tackle shop and have a yarn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pugwash Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 Very nice! From my limited knowledge elf (tailer) and kingfish (jewies) among other standard aussie beach species are availible. So your standard beach fishing techniques should work ie. a pilchard on a gang hook or slab baits cast into the gutters and rips. The basic rig of sinker, swivel and leader set up should work fine (and if nothing else gives you a reason to hunt down a local tackle shop and have a yarn! Cheers and Thanks, Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluecod Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Pete, with an alvey use two swivels about 60 cms apart - sinker in between [helps reduce line twist] If line twist is becoming a problem, hurl a cast as far down the beach as you can [avoiding people obviously] remove the terminal tackle and wind back in - this will remove most of the line twist. what line to use - 15 lb Schneider will suit most Australian species - go heavier if your rod can handle it and you are only targetting jew. keep in mind that if you've got a 550 Alvey or larger then you will have at least 500 metres of line on it and that will be sufficient for most fish. in the surf you do not want to anchor your bait solidly to the bottom, you want it to move around a bit but keeping in close contact with the bottom fish in the surf will congregate where the food is and they usually hit the bait pretty hard [competition? hungry?] try this technique - lay out what you consider to be an average cast and let your bait sit there for a minute, if no bites wind in five turns and let it sit again repeating this process and counting the turns until you get a bite - after that it is just a matter of laying out an average cast and winding back the number of turns to where you got the first bite. if you're using ganged hooks and pillie bait and targetting tailor that are known to be in the gutter, I like to maintain a very slow retrieve after casting - I've found the tailor tend to hit the bait and if they don't immediately hook up they will turn and have another go - don't strike at the bite but wait until you feel the weight of the fish. Have a great time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pugwash Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 George, thanks mate, that's excellent. The line detwisting is an excellent idea. What is the fishing equivalent of "FORE" to save hitting a sunbaker in the head! If I manage to get anything I'll try to get into an internet cafe and post some pics. Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veck Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 all the info above seems spot on, however i like running the sinker down to the hook, with a beed seperating the sinker and hook.I find this helps with the tangles and is less labour intensive. Also keep inmind the fish arn't always very far of, i have done some of my best fishing in waiste deep water. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo Rock Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Captain Pete There are some good general beachfishing rules, particularly if you're going to target bream, whiting etc (i.e. the smaller beach species), and they are: 1. Fresh bait is absolutely vital. If the beach has pippis then use them. If the local area contains an estuary with prawns, then use them as well. If you can get hold of local beachworms or nippers then, you guessed it, use them too. 2. High tide is the go. Whilst you can occasionally pick up good fish at low tide, by far the most productive time to beach fish is up to and just past high. It's when the bigger fish come in, and it's also when the smaller fish start to actively feed. 3. Gutters/holes are easy to find - just walk the beach at dead low tide. and mark the locations. 4. You don't have to cast out far to get amongst it. Sometimes the gutter is right at your feet. 5. Beach fishing requires surf in order to be any good. It is very uncommon to catch fish on a beach if there is no surf at all. All the beach species require foam and sudsy water for protection from predators and also to wash the food out of the sand. It doesn't have to be huge, but there does need to be some white water before beach fishing turns on. Hope this helps Mondo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pugwash Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 That's sensational thanks fellas, I am pretty pumped about getting into them over there. Telebroker, your comment about after dark is very valid. I've been to Durban several times for Rugby tests but never venture far at night becaus eof the obvious. Guess I'll have to target high tides during the day and of a nightime. Thanks again everyone, Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Hi Captain Regarding Bluecod's tip for line untwisting on an alvey. Another way to do it, which is a bit quicker & more practical if there are other people on the beach is to cast out into the surf then wind the line back in backwards! When you cast back out again, the line will be twisting in the opposite direction and the twist will be gone. I think I saw a photo of a massive GT that was caught off a beach in South Africa some time last year. This thing was absolutely huge! Have fun Cheers Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pugwash Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 Hi Captain Regarding Bluecod's tip for line untwisting on an alvey. Another way to do it, which is a bit quicker & more practical if there are other people on the beach is to cast out into the surf then wind the line back in backwards! When you cast back out again, the line will be twisting in the opposite direction and the twist will be gone. I think I saw a photo of a massive GT that was caught off a beach in South Africa some time last year. This thing was absolutely huge! Have fun Cheers Tim Tim, so you basically trap the line on the alvey with your finger and start winding backwards? Obviously it won't effect the next cast because of the nature of the reel. It will just keep peeling off. Makes sense, thanks for that Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest johblow Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Wow, there are flathead and jews in South Africa?! Hi Captain - Im a novice beach fisho myself, and my old man has given me two good tips for using an alvey that you may be interested in. The first one is: before casting, as you swivel the spool to 90 degrees, have your left thumb (if you're a right-y) on the rim of the spool so that once the spool is at 90, the line passes around your thumb in up the runners. This stops the spool from unwiding and also is a good way to hold onto the line without actually "holding onto the line" (which can have some decent lead on it sometimes). The reason this was important for me is because i was trying to hold the spool with one hand and the line and rod in the other, which is a pain (and a bit silly - i must have thought i was using an egg-beater!). This frees up the right hand for casting too i guess. The other tip was using the forefinger of your non-winding hand to guide the line onto the spool when reeling in so that you get good line distribution on the reel... Have a ball mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pugwash Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 Cheers, thanks joblow, Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshGTV Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 Cheers, thanks joblow, Pete Mate, Just to add one thing to the wise words already said... you'll never get line twist on an Alvey if the closest piece of terminal tackle to the rod is a swivel OF THE RIGHT SIZE. A lot of people use swivels that are larger than they need, therefore the swivel won't turn and you might as well not use one. I almost gave up on Alveys before I was taught this, now I use the lightest swivel possible and have never had a twist again. Cheers, Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest johblow Posted December 11, 2005 Share Posted December 11, 2005 This has been a very interesting post. Just a quick survey... what size first runner do all you alvey users have on your main beach rod? Have heard that for an alvey a nice big first runner helps cut down the friction due to the large spool diameters. Anyone else got any thoughts or measurements? Mines probably only 5cm dia... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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