Newby on the beach

[JonD]

Took the same young lad I took out in the boat in one of my recent reports to the beach in hope of getting him educated in catching salmon. It couldn't of worked out better in the fact they were hard to find at first but then turned up in a gutter on our way back to the car. We must of walked 6-8km and though my had son had pulled a few half a dozen fish from random gutters we couldn't find a solid patch where they could both simply hook them consistently. When we did find them they were literally only 20-30m out and fighting for the lures. The newcomer kept two which I cleaned and prepared for them but he was stoked to of clocked up a total of 28 fish all together, my son would of released up around 40 fish.

Received a phone call from his mother who simply couldn't believe how good they were to eat (prepared properly). I feel confident he will be able to find and manage these fish on his own now and hopefully provide a few meals for his family. By the way I find the smaller salmon better for the table.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Yowie]

Good work there Jon.

I was heading back from Victoria last week, and stopped overnight at Narooma for a break. I took a rod with me, bought some pillies at the tackle shop and headed to the beach just north of the river, for a couple of hours until dark. There was a good gutter in close to the beach but it was quiet.

Dropped a reasonable salmon in the wash, and landed a little one about 25cm 😡. Which beach were you fishing? The photo looks similar to where I was fishing.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Yowie

[Scratchie]

“Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he’ll eat forever”. 

Nice work JonD. I love teaching people how to fish. A Very rewarding experience! Kudos to you! 
 

cheers scratchie!!! 

[JonD]

5 minutes ago, Yowie said:

Good work there Jon.

I was heading back from Victoria last week, and stopped overnight at Narooma for a break. I took a rod with me, bought some pillies at the tackle shop and headed to the beach just north of the river, for a couple of hours until dark. There was a good gutter in close to the beach but it was quiet.

Dropped a reasonable salmon in the wash, and landed a little one about 25cm 😡. Which beach were you fishing? The photo looks similar to where I was fishing.

 

Most beaches fish well for them locally, this was Brough beach which tends to have very deep gutters and constantly fishes well. Another almost guaranteed spot is Tilba beach just south of Narooma.

[masterfisho7]

Well done some top fish there

[Nathan81]

Hey JonD.

Any chance you know what his set up was, it looks smaller than everything I tend to read about beach set ups. 

I am hoping that something that I have will be suitable for the once a year I am near a beach and able to fish. Rather than buying something new that will rarely get used.

Thanks

[JonD]

1 hour ago, Nathan81 said:

Hey JonD.

Any chance you know what his set up was, it looks smaller than everything I tend to read about beach set ups. 

I am hoping that something that I have will be suitable for the once a year I am near a beach and able to fish. Rather than buying something new that will rarely get used.

Thanks

It was just low end Kmart gear with Jarvis Walker line, I believe the rod was 7ft. You really don't need anything to fancy, though something like my sons Daiwa saltist 8ft rod is far easier to cast longer distances. I would recommend halco twisty lures in the 40-50g as these lures give a good action simply by reeling them in which excites fish to attack better. 

[noelm]

Funny how people think a beach rod has to be 12' long, and have the worlds biggest threadline reel on it! Most of my beach fishing is with a 7' rod and a medium threadline, now and then I might take the longer rod, depending on the conditions.

[Nathan81]

8 minutes ago, JonD said:

It was just low end Kmart gear with Jarvis Walker line, I believe the rod was 7ft. You really don't need anything to fancy, though something like my sons Daiwa saltist 8ft rod is far easier to cast longer distances. I would recommend halco twisty lures in the 40-50g as these lures give a good action simply by reeling them in which excites fish to attack better. 

Thanks.

I have a couple of 7-7 1/2ft rods with 4000 reel. Makes me a little more confident with using them next time I'm away. I have avoided hitting the beach because I thought I needed a 12ft rod and I can't justify getting one to only use once a year at most.

[JonD]

10 minutes ago, Nathan81 said:

Thanks.

I have a couple of 7-7 1/2ft rods with 4000 reel. Makes me a little more confident with using them next time I'm away. I have avoided hitting the beach because I thought I needed a 12ft rod and I can't justify getting one to only use once a year at most.

The area in red was where they were catching the fish. These same close areas can have bream, tailor, whiting, gummies, and jews in at times. Many people will cast way past the fish. Also bigger sharks like bronze whalers will hunt in those close gutters if you find the right ones, which makes senses as thats where the food is.

Casting to the furthest breaker and pulling the lure through the washy water is where we normally find them.

Edited June 23, 2020 by JonD

[Rebel]

Great report and Super photos.

[Nathan81]

16 minutes ago, JonD said:

The area in red was where they were catching the fish. These same close areas can have bream, tailor, whiting, gummies, and jews in at times. Many people will cast way past the fish. Also bigger sharks like bronze whalers will hunt in those close gutters if you find the right ones, which makes senses as thats where the food is.

Casting to the furthest breaker and pulling the lure through the washy water is where we normally find them.

Awesome, thanks for the tips. Now to find the time to test it out with the gear that I have.

[Yowie]

3 hours ago, JonD said:

 

Most beaches fish well for them locally, this was Brough beach which tends to have very deep gutters and constantly fishes well. Another almost guaranteed spot is Tilba beach just south of Narooma.

Thank you.

I will be heading back to eastern Vic (nowhere near Melbourne) in the next week or 2, so I might stop for another fish.

[Guest Guest123456789]

Nice work Jon showing the young bloke the ropes.

some nice little waves in the background if the fish weren’t biting the surfboard could have been an option.

[JonD]

2 hours ago, flatheadluke said:

Nice work Jon showing the young bloke the ropes.

some nice little waves in the background if the fish weren’t biting the surfboard could have been an option.

Unfortunately broke my neck when I was younger surfing and now have issues stemming from that which stop me paddling and looking ahead. Have to leave it to the dolphins now!!!

[Nathan81]

On 6/23/2020 at 3:21 PM, noelm said:

Funny how people think a beach rod has to be 12' long, and have the worlds biggest threadline reel on it! Most of my beach fishing is with a 7' rod and a medium threadline, now and then I might take the longer rod, depending on the conditions.

noelm. Sorry I am asking quite a few questions. When you use a 7' rod at the beach, what weight rating are you looking for? My main rod is 2-5kg, is this going to be sufficient or do I need something a little more behind it? Is a 4000 reel with 15ish pound braid ok or should I be using mono? 

Thanks again everyone for the advice.

[noelm]

Lots of personal choices, I never use braid on the beach (for various reasons) but lots do, most beach fish can be taken on 10kg line, I use 4kg, but I only fish for Whiting and Tailor. Most beach gutters are not far out, so a cast over the horizon is not needed, though you still see people with a department store combo, a giant Snapper lead, 30lb line and a chunk of Mullet on a big hook, hurl it it out of sight, now and then I spark up a conversation and ask what they're fishing for, they usually say, "anything" chances of a feed on a beach fishing like that is slim at best, I will offer some advice, some take note, some just more or less tell me to "get lost" those people I leave alone, the listeners often change tactics and fish alongside me, and quite often we both get a few, not always of course.

[JonD]

7 hours ago, Nathan81 said:

noelm. Sorry I am asking quite a few questions. When you use a 7' rod at the beach, what weight rating are you looking for? My main rod is 2-5kg, is this going to be sufficient or do I need something a little more behind it? Is a 4000 reel with 15ish pound braid ok or should I be using mono? 

Thanks again everyone for the advice.

My own personal favorate is a little Daiwa black bream rod with a ci4 stradic 3000. This has either 8 or 10 lb braid and casts 25-35g a fair distance. Ive landed legal kings on this outfit while trying to catch snapper out in my boat. The thing with salmon is when you go lighter it gives them more chance to put on a better performance rather than just haul them up the beach.

They arent fussy fish so you can quite easily up the leader to heavier mono if you like.