Before and after work - beach and rock

[Leon C]

I hit my nearest sandy beach before dawn this morning. Swell was up a bit, just coming up to the top of the tide. There was a bit of a shore dump and I was not sure where the gutters were, if any. I had a few casts with two Berkely sandworms (50mm) on a paternoster, but got no bites. This is the first time I have tried this approach after reading that some people consider these plastics a fair substitute for live worms.

Once there was enough light, I moved down the beach a bit and switched to a Halco Twisty 30g in gold. 3rd cast got a nice tailor. After a few more casts I lost the lure, its leader and a bit of braid right out behind the break, when a knot formed and hung up on a line guide as I cast. That was pretty annoying. I don't like losing gear and particularly hate leaving line in the water. I re-tied my leader and switched to another metal and kept spinning, until the dog walkers and swimmers brought the session to a close.

This afternoon, the wind was still quite calm so I went and had a go off the rocks in Ulladulla harbour. I cast a couple of different metal lures for a while, before switching to another gold Twisty. I hooked a small tailor and released it. I also flicked a soft plastic grub around the rocks with no result. I had to leave my spot before I was cut off by the rising tide. Flicking the grub in from the sandy beach in the harbour resulted in a tiny flathead - my first ever fish on a soft plastic.

All in all, a pretty good outcome for a work day. I'm keen to keep after the tailor, I'm very new to spinning for them but have come home with a feed more often than not over the last few sessions. The Halco lure seems to work, but I am finding the treble is a bit destructive for releasing fish. Does anyone have any advice on this? Should I just de-barb or would it be better to change to single or assist hooks? Any other lures I should consider?

[Leon C]

[Leon C]

[Lungfai76]

If you spinning more for the fun than the feed then debarb the trebles, same hook up percentage but reduce landing due to thrown hooks. 

Switch trebles to single if you want less exterior hook ups. Reduction in hook up rate but less damaging on fish as its usually mouth hook ups. 

[kingie chaser]

Good on you for getting out early on a cold morning.

Yes in a lot of my metals I change out the treble for a single hook, makes dealing with sharp teeth so much easier.

I also switched all my beach reels over to mono.

Wind & line overrun will always tend to result in knots in braid when long casting.

Is that a BG your using?

If you got a spare spool then spool one with mono for the beach.

Edited May 5, 2020 by kingie chaser

[Leon C]

 

7 minutes ago, Lungfai76 said:

If you spinning more for the fun than the feed then debarb the trebles, same hook up percentage but reduce landing due to thrown hooks. 

Switch trebles to single if you want less exterior hook ups. Reduction in hook up rate but less damaging on fish as its usually mouth hook ups. 

I am fishing for a feed most times, just the undersize ones I need to release. Would you attach a single hook directly to the split ring or use an assist cord? I don't suppose there is any reason to use singles with inline eyes on a lure like this?

 

9 minutes ago, kingie chaser said:

Good on you for getting out early on a cold morning.

Yes in a lot of my metals I change out the treble for a single hook, makes dealing with sharp teeth so much easier.

I also switched all my beach reels over to mono.

Wind & line overrun will always end in knots in braid.

Is that a BG your using?

If you got a spare spool then spool one with mono for the beach.

The BG is on a lighter setup I was just using for the small soft plastic this afternoon. With the metals, I'm using a 3m rod, 5-8kg rated. It has a 40 size reel. When I bought this setup a couple of years ago, I spooled it with 15lb Platypus braid. I had no end of trouble with casting knots. I thought I was winning if I had half a dozen casts in a row without some sort of hang-up.

About a month ago, I changed over to Gliss line. It has a similar strength rating but is a much smaller diameter and seems way smoother. I also switched from the Alberto knot to the FG for my leader. Since these changes, my use of this combo has been totally transformed. The tangle today was maybe the second or third in several sessions. It has made spinning from the beach or rocks actually enjoyable!

A spare spool would be a good idea, although this reel has a mechanical defect so is not worth getting another spool for unless I repair it.

[masterfisho7]

Nice report well done Leon 

[LandBasedKeith]

Nice report. Same feeling about losing lure. I tends to lose them before the tailors destroy them. Even lost a few on the first few throws.

[Lungfai76]

21 hours ago, Leon C said:

 

I am fishing for a feed most times, just the undersize ones I need to release. Would you attach a single hook directly to the split ring or use an assist cord? I don't suppose there is any reason to use singles with inline eyes on a lure like this?

Definately inline hook on the split ring. As for assist hooks, haven't tried using the twisty as a shore jigging jig, might give it a go 😁

[Rebel]

Great report. Super photos.

[big Neil]

Hi Leon C. I'm with KC on using mono for beach fishing. It functions well and is a heck of a lot cheaper than braid. bn

[Leon C]

On 5/5/2020 at 9:37 PM, kingie chaser said:

I also switched all my beach reels over to mono.

Wind & line overrun will always tend to result in knots in braid when long casting.

Is that a BG your using?

If you got a spare spool then spool one with mono for the beach.

 

3 hours ago, big Neil said:

Hi Leon C. I'm with KC on using mono for beach fishing. It functions well and is a heck of a lot cheaper than braid. bn

Ok, I might pick some up. Do you have any preferences for brand? I've been using 8kg braid - would that be about right for mono? I wonder if I could get away with lighter line. I'm realistically only looking at tailor/salmon with lures and maybe bait fishing for bream/whiting/flathead with this setup.

[Berleyguts]

7 minutes ago, Leon C said:

 

Ok, I might pick some up. Do you have any preferences for brand? I've been using 8kg braid - would that be about right for mono? I wonder if I could get away with lighter line. I'm realistically only looking at tailor/salmon with lures and maybe bait fishing for bream/whiting/flathead with this setup.

I use 4 or 6kg mono off the beach. Never found the need for anything heavier, unless perhaps specifically targeting big jew. Even then, jew on 6kg are manageable if you’re careful. Change the leader up or down as required. I’ve even fished 2 or 3kg if the whiting are about. I use Platypus Pretest - basically the only mono I use.

[kingie chaser]

1 hour ago, Leon C said:

 

Ok, I might pick some up. Do you have any preferences for brand? I've been using 8kg braid - would that be about right for mono? I wonder if I could get away with lighter line. I'm realistically only looking at tailor/salmon with lures and maybe bait fishing for bream/whiting/flathead with this setup.

I would be using 12lb-15lb mono.

If your just chasing Taylor/ salmon etc 12lb will be fine.

Brands, well Platypus lo stretch or Berkley trilene sensation is what I normally use.

 

You have to remember Taylor in particular have sharp teeth, go to light & they will chew through lines if not hooked through the mouth. 

 

Also don't forget when fishing off the beach you can come across lots of different species & some big salmon & taylor like in @JonD country

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by kingie chaser

[big Neil]

3 hours ago, Leon C said:

 

Ok, I might pick some up. Do you have any preferences for brand? I've been using 8kg braid - would that be about right for mono? I wonder if I could get away with lighter line. I'm realistically only looking at tailor/salmon with lures and maybe bait fishing for bream/whiting/flathead with this setup.

I generally use 15 lb MAXIMA ULTRAGREEN. It comes in 300m spools, is flexible and has good knot tying capabilities. It would be ideal for a 4000 size reel (or slightly larger). bn

[61 crusher]

Great report & photos, good on you for managing a feed most of the time, do you happen to use an fg leader to braid knot, ever since I switched over from a double uni casting lures I haven’t had an issue 

[Lungfai76]

11 hours ago, Leon C said:

 

Ok, I might pick some up. Do you have any preferences for brand? I've been using 8kg braid - would that be about right for mono? I wonder if I could get away with lighter line. I'm realistically only looking at tailor/salmon with lures and maybe bait fishing for bream/whiting/flathead with this setup.

If you are switching up between slugs, bait and jigs may I suggest a Hybrid line? Jack of all trades line 👍

I spool my beach gear with a YoZuri hybrid 12lb, good cast, good sensitivity, good knot strength and no need for leader 😁

[Leon C]

10 minutes ago, Lungfai76 said:

If you are switching up between slugs, bait and jigs may I suggest a Hybrid line? Jack of all trades line 👍

I spool my beach gear with a YoZuri hybrid 12lb, good cast, good sensitivity, good knot strength and no need for leader 😁

That's an interesting point. The Gliss line I am using now claims to be some sort of hybrid material. Could just be marketing but I will investigate. I must say it has been working really well the last few days.

[Lungfai76]

3 hours ago, Leon C said:

That's an interesting point. The Gliss line I am using now claims to be some sort of hybrid material. Could just be marketing but I will investigate. I must say it has been working really well the last few days.

Haven't used the Gliss, just did a search on them https://www.fishingworld.com.au/product-reviews/review-gliss-fishing-line

German made using Japanese materials. Can't go wrong with that combo 😂

My old man used to tell me "Don't buy line you can bite off in a controlled situation" To this day I still test line by biting it, store peeps always look at me weird 😏 Struggled to bite through the hybrid so into the tackle box it went and I've been using it for over a decade. 

[Leon C]

I was a bit suspicious of the stuff, since it often seems to be in the bargain bin at tackle shops. So far, so good though.

[joshGTV]

On 5/7/2020 at 4:58 AM, big Neil said:

Hi Leon C. I'm with KC on using mono for beach fishing. It functions well and is a heck of a lot cheaper than braid. bn

Also the stretch in mono is more forgiving when the surf is pulling at the fish you're trying to land.

[Yon]

I've started using Gliss for it's incredible casting - literally casts further than anything I've used before. I've got 300M of 20lb Gliss from Dinga for $15, spooled up with about 1.5M of 30lb Black Magic tough trace on my spin rod. I've gotten casts of well over 100M with the wind behind me, using a 40g chrome. 

Brought in a stack of fish over the rocks yesterday with extremely little abrasion damage yesterday, in pretty rough landing conditions. I was very pleasantly surprised with how well it performed. For the price you simply can't go wrong. I've just bought 300M of the 40kg to try on my cliff fishing setup which is a lot more punishing, but so far so good.

One thing to note is that the FG knot seems to really mess up the Gliss for some reason. A double Uni knot to connect the leader worked like magic. Just need a relatively short leader though as you're casting a bigger knot, so if you want distance, you need to have that knot outside your guides.

 

Just my 2 cents...