Biggest fish so far...

[rlac]

After catching my first legal fish I continued giving a go to beach fishing. Had a couple of unsuccessful attempts, always catching one crab and one undersized flatty. During those trips a couple of "funny" things happened, like the top half of my rod going into the water while casting (which made evident that I had to work on my casting technique), and also some dogs peeing on my insulated bag and also on the rod holder 🤨. 

The main issues I identified were:

- My casting weight needed to be very light because my rod casting rating was only 7-21g. 

- Baiting was hard as I had to keep my bait in my bucket that for some reason was always at least 30m away from me. 

- Since I had a bucket plus insulated bag and tools on the sand, it made it a little bit cumbersome moving from one spot to another. It also forced me to keep an eye on those dogs.

So, I decided to upgrade my rod from (10'6", 3-5kg, 7-21g) to (12', 5-10kg, 28-130g), still using the same reel with 10 pounds braid. On the other front, to stay mobile I got rid of the bucket and insulated bag (who needs ice when you aren't catching any fish 😅) and got a wading bag and a bait belt. It's a totally different fishing experience now, much easier! With the new setup I had my last unsuccessful trip. 

That's the context for today's trip. Headed to Greenhills beach and had my first casting at 6:00am. No bites for almost two hours. Then something starting pulling line. I tried not to despair and played the fish bringing it to the shore. It was a flatty, and seemed to be quite big. I was a bit hesitant because one of the undersized flatties I caught previously stung me while handling it, so I wasn't sure if I really wanted to handle this big one. Anyways, tried to wash it using a wave, but it wasn't big enough so pulled the hooks. I was both sad and relieved at the same time 🥲.

No more bites for another hour and a half. At around 9:20am something big bit and started pulling line. It bit me off. Something similar happened during my previous trip down there, so that pissed me off. I tried again and... fish on! It started pulling line, and after a while I saw a big Australian salmon close to the shore. I tried to wait for the right waves and there you go, it was mine! It was a 62cm Australian Salmon. Super happy with it! It took me a lot of time to dispatch it and and be ready to cast again. 

Had a cast and in about one minute fish on again. I got to it with the same intensity I handled the big salmon, and before I realised there was a 30cm bream on the sand. 

Casted again and after a couple of minutes fish on. For the way it pulled line it seemed to be the biggest of the morning. It ran a lot and after a while bit me off. I didn't like it but I already had two fish so wasn't too upset about it. 

I was surprised because people usually tell you to go fishing early in the morning, but today all the action was packed at around 9:30 with the last hour of the run in tide. 

Anyways, after today I'm planning to upgrade my leader from 5kg to 10kg, because I've noticed that it isn't strong enough even though I'm snelling 2 hooks as @Larkin suggested in a comment to my previous post.

And here at the pictures:

 

 

Edited August 29, 2022 by rlac

[Little_Flatty]

Nice fish @rlac! Great to get a good beach session in. Water's not too cold either.

[saltrix]

Good report and a couple of nice fish.

Do not overcook the salmon or it becomes very dry.

I am sure a 10 kg leader will be best in the surf.

[Isaac Ct]

Great job mate, salmon is a very underrated table fish as many don't bleed it and look after it properly.

Keep at it, well done.

[Larkin]

Well done, couple of nice fish!

I find the last couple of hours on the run in tends to be the most productive on the beach - especially if it coincides with early morning or within the last two hours before sunset.

[masterfisho7]

Great fish top report well done 

[big Neil]

Now that's a great report @rlac. A superb description of a successful outing. Special because you stuck it out until you caught something. You also demonstrate that you are learning from experiences. Changing the gear, fishing lighter and taking note that the "bite window" is often related to tide rather than JUST time of day. Playing the fish and using the waves to your benefit is another important factor.

Keep going mate. One thing about fishing...there's always something to learn. That's one of the things that make it such an interesting pastime.

Cheers, bn

[Rebel]

Top report.

Nice fish.

Keep at ii.

Well done.

[Fried Rice]

Yeah, nice fish mate. You can handle them by sticking a thumb in it's gob. DO NOT do this with a Tailor. To dispatch I just cut through the throat latch and bend the head back to break the neck. Bleeds them at the same time.

[noelm]

 Not too sure I would use such heavy leader, getting bites will suffer, using the waves will see you land most fish (in my opinion) never been a fan of shelled hooks either, but that's just me. Fresh, Filleted, skinned and all the blood meat cut away, Salmon make OK eating.

[rlac]

22 hours ago, saltrix said:

Do not overcook the salmon or it becomes very dry.

Thanks for the tip @saltrix

My wife overcooked it a little bit for lunch and it tasted to nothing. After reading your comment I cooked it lightly for dinner and this time it was much better. 

[Restyle]

great well earned fish mate! good job! Salmon isnt to bad when its eaten the same day its caught, but once its in the freezer it becomes disgusting. 

as with tides off the beach, i find tides dont matter as if you find a good gutter, fish it until the tide goes up or down and as the gutter becomes less ideal you just move to a new one 

[rlac]

4 hours ago, noelm said:

Not too sure I would use such heavy leader, getting bites will suffer, using the waves will see you land most fish (in my opinion) never been a fan of shelled hooks either, but that's just me.

Thanks for the tips @noelm, wasn't really thinking about how the diameter of the leader would affect bites 🤔 Considering that I'll go with 15 pounds fluorocarbon instead of 20, I've found one that seems to be quite strong and abrasion resistant and it isn't too thick.

Related to your point about snelled hooks, I might use a single hook for a couple of sessions and see how it goes. To be fair, had two incidents with the double hooks that made me reconsider them: 

1. One of the times my leader snapped it broke right next to the closer hook (the fish went away with the other). I'm not sure if this happened because the fish bit the line right there or because the knot in that hook created extra strain in the line and it snapped. 

2. The salmon was gut hooked on the further away hook, and while I was handling it the other hook went into its eye and the fish started moving like crazy for a while. 

Anyways, I suppose during this time I have to try many things and stick with what works for me. 

[Drunkenfisho]

47 minutes ago, rlac said:

Thanks for the tips @noelm, wasn't really thinking about how the diameter of the leader would affect bites 🤔 Considering that I'll go with 15 pounds fluorocarbon instead of 20, I've found one that seems to be quite strong and abrasion resistant and it isn't too thick.

Related to your point about snelled hooks, I might use a single hook for a couple of sessions and see how it goes. To be fair, had two incidents with the double hooks that made me reconsider them: 

1. One of the times my leader snapped it broke right next to the closer hook (the fish went away with the other). I'm not sure if this happened because the fish bit the line right there or because the knot in that hook created extra strain in the line and it snapped. 

2. The salmon was gut hooked on the further away hook, and while I was handling it the other hook went into its eye and the fish started moving like crazy for a while. 

Anyways, I suppose during this time I have to try many things and stick with what works for me. 

I agree mate, I took lots of advice when I was not having any success beach fishing, but I always learnt the most when I was actually out there fishing. So if unsure, you can only try!

[bessell1955]

Keep up the effort you will be well rewarded.