devoker Posted Sunday at 11:55 PM Share Posted Sunday at 11:55 PM (edited) Your name: Matt Your Location: Sydney Lower North Shore Fishing technique: soft/hard plastics Availability: Weekdays at night or some days around dawn, weekends also Preferred location: anywhere within 30 minutes drive, might go further on weekends for longer sessions Provide your own gear? Yes Provide your own boat? No I had fished all my life using deadbaits and have been trying recently plastics but I am getting no hits. I don't know where and when to go fishing and it is pretty random right now. I am looking for someone to go fishing with, preferably landbased because I don't think having a boat or a kayak is a possibility in the near future. Also I didn't grow up in Sydney so I am still a newbie in terms of location, tides (I am from Mediterraneans o tides are a very new variable for me), ideal times to fish etc. I have already bought a few soft plastics and hard bodies and I am open to suggestions if I need to buy more. I am obsessed with catching fish on lures and won't stop until I master it. Right now spending hours a day reading stuff and watching videos but I believe having an experienced fishing buddy to show me how to do it correctly will be much more effective. Edited Monday at 12:04 AM by devoker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekD Posted Monday at 01:27 AM Share Posted Monday at 01:27 AM (edited) Hi @devoker, Welcome to the site. That was an impressively detailed introduction. Respect. I help several people a year and am in the lower North Shore so might be able to assist with your request over the coming months. There is a lot of stuff I end up covering repeatedly to the point I created several articles related to this. Have a read of this one about your first light lure outfit to start with and then branch out into the links I've included. There is also a section on hardbody lures further down the same post. Getting the right gear for the task is the first step. Then we get into the ergonomics of effective casting, various retrieves and then the most important aspect, the mental aspect of fishing. This is probably my most important post but also one of the hardest to really process and put into action. Work your way through these and then we can sort out some time to meet. I'd also like to know what outfit(s) you have. Rod material, rating and length, reel size, line (braid or mono) and rating. A lot of what I teach can be scaled up but my preference is to start with the light outfits and the right outfit makes a big difference to the enjoyment you get out of this style of fishing. Regards, Derek PS. What suburb are you in. I take it that you are over 18 and have transport? Edited Monday at 04:45 AM by DerekD 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devoker Posted Monday at 05:02 AM Author Share Posted Monday at 05:02 AM Thanks mate, I have already read all if those before creating this post, some of it a few times actually I live in Chatswood, and 35 so old enough to drive. I have a few medium-heavy rods for casting metals which I love doing in the mornings at Blues Point, but recently bought a daiwa legalis 3000, and ordered a 2-4kg rod (veritas 4 7' 2-14 cast weight) because casting light lures was really hard with my 6-10 kg rod. I am also getting a 6lbs braid and a 10 lbs leader soon. I have a few different size soft plastics like grubz, shrimps, and 1/0, 2/0, 3/0 jigheads ranging from 1/2 to 1/6 (I know they are heavier than ideal but it was the only way I could cast with my previous rod). I can get some lighter ones and different plastics based on advice. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter K Posted Monday at 05:12 AM Share Posted Monday at 05:12 AM (edited) 10 minutes ago, devoker said: 1/0, 2/0, 3/0 jigheads ranging from 1/2 to 1/6 (I know they are heavier than ideal but it was the only way I could cast with my previous rod). I can get some lighter ones and different plastics based on advice. If your in a pinch, find some rocks, concrete or pliers or a rasp file and you can grind the lead away on a heavy jighead to make it lighter, takes less then a minute, make sure you you keep it flat and the pressure even or the grind will be lopsided hence, the lure won't sink evenly. Edited Monday at 05:13 AM by Peter K 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekD Posted Monday at 05:18 AM Share Posted Monday at 05:18 AM Hi @devoker, Location is perfect as I am down the pacific highway from you at Lane Cove. Don't buy anything new till we have caught up and you understand the why. What is your Saturday morning and Sunday looking like? I'm thinking of heading down for a topwater fish on Saturday morning in the inner west and I haven't worked out what I plan to do on Sunday. Maybe chase some pelagics in Sydney harbour. Regards Derek 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faker Posted Monday at 06:08 AM Share Posted Monday at 06:08 AM 1 hour ago, devoker said: Thanks mate, I have already read all if those before creating this post, some of it a few times actually I live in Chatswood, and 35 so old enough to drive. I have a few medium-heavy rods for casting metals which I love doing in the mornings at Blues Point, but recently bought a daiwa legalis 3000, and ordered a 2-4kg rod (veritas 4 7' 2-14 cast weight) because casting light lures was really hard with my 6-10 kg rod. I am also getting a 6lbs braid and a 10 lbs leader soon. I have a few different size soft plastics like grubz, shrimps, and 1/0, 2/0, 3/0 jigheads ranging from 1/2 to 1/6 (I know they are heavier than ideal but it was the only way I could cast with my previous rod). I can get some lighter ones and different plastics based on advice. I also fish north shore and do rockfishing as well and am happy to assist if @DerekD is busy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bennyg78 Posted Monday at 06:18 AM Share Posted Monday at 06:18 AM @DerekD is your man to get you started on the path! Be warned @devoker once you go down the light tackle rabbit hole you won’t ever come back out 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devoker Posted Monday at 07:59 AM Author Share Posted Monday at 07:59 AM (edited) 3 hours ago, DerekD said: Hi @devoker, Location is perfect as I am down the pacific highway from you at Lane Cove. Don't buy anything new till we have caught up and you understand the why. What is your Saturday morning and Sunday looking like? I'm thinking of heading down for a topwater fish on Saturday morning in the inner west and I haven't worked out what I plan to do on Sunday. Maybe chase some pelagics in Sydney harbour. Regards Derek Saturday sounds good but first I need to ask my wife's permission She might also be interested in joining us if it is ok with you. She is probably more interested in eating the fish, but it won't be a good idea to eat anything from inner west. Sunday I am free until noon probably or later after 7-8. I am still waiting for the light ros to arrive but I reckon it will be there by the end of the week. Thanks a lot. Edit: looks like we have olans for Saturday afternoon between 2-6, but I am happy to go in the morning. Or we can plan for next week or weekdays after work, I am usually at home by 5 30. 2 hours ago, faker said: I also fish north shore and do rockfishing as well and am happy to assist if @DerekD is busy Thanks for the offer. I have no safety equipment for rock fishing unless it is relatively safe inside the harbour with no big swells. Edited Monday at 09:14 AM by devoker Change of plans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekD Posted Monday at 10:02 AM Share Posted Monday at 10:02 AM Hi @devoker, For either day happy if you bring the wife along. This will be an intro and a good chance to see where you are at with the basics. I've got all the gear. I'll send you a PM with the locations I have in mind for Saturday. Final decision will be based on wind. Provisionally, looking at an 8am start in the Drummoyne area till about 11:30am. Sunday we can discuss on Saturday. Now with your southern European background I'm guessing you wind with the left hand.... Homework beforehand is to spend some time with the tide charts to learn the 4 week cycle. Also I want you to look at Seabreeze on the day to check the forecast wind direction and strength. I'll probably also give you a call over the next few days. Regards, Derek 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devoker Posted Monday at 12:22 PM Author Share Posted Monday at 12:22 PM (edited) 2 hours ago, DerekD said: Now with your southern European background I'm guessing you wind with the left hand... Almost true, except only a tiny part of my country is in Europe most consider it a middle east country which is unfortunate due to obvious reasons. I am one step ahead about the moon phases and tidal movements, already did my homework. The only part about tides I am not experienced with is the relationship with the fishing activity. I use tides4fishing to check the tides and the wind. Do you have a better source instead? Looking forward to meet you! Edited Monday at 12:24 PM by devoker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekD Posted Monday at 08:19 PM Share Posted Monday at 08:19 PM Hi again, Part of what I try to do when mentoring people is getting them to really think about fishing. Tides will be one of those discussions. I look at the tides (and wind) to decide where I will be fishing for the day. Some places it doesn't matter. When I am fishing sandflats it does. I am after a sweet spot in water depth of about 20cm to 1.2m. If the tide is totally out and I am casting onto a stretch of sand I'm not going to catch anything. If it is a super high tide then the depth in some areas may be 3m or more which is generally not conducive to chasing bream and whiting. I use seabreeze because it has tides and wind direction and strength during the day. Regards, Derek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devoker Posted Monday at 10:51 PM Author Share Posted Monday at 10:51 PM 2 hours ago, DerekD said: Hi again, Part of what I try to do when mentoring people is getting them to really think about fishing. Tides will be one of those discussions. I look at the tides (and wind) to decide where I will be fishing for the day. Some places it doesn't matter. When I am fishing sandflats it does. I am after a sweet spot in water depth of about 20cm to 1.2m. If the tide is totally out and I am casting onto a stretch of sand I'm not going to catch anything. If it is a super high tide then the depth in some areas may be 3m or more which is generally not conducive to chasing bream and whiting. I use seabreeze because it has tides and wind direction and strength during the day. Regards, Derek Got it. I suppose you chose the location based on the wind direction not to cast directly into the wind. Finding good spots is my biggest problem right now because I am not familiar with the whole area and don't have heaps of time for scouting. You can trust me on the research as I am obsessed in researching things and love digging deeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekD Posted Monday at 11:34 PM Share Posted Monday at 11:34 PM (edited) When you get the chance follow some of @linewetter posts. He is someone I have spent a fair bit of time with and he has gone through a similar journey that you are now following. He got a lot of knowledge and somewhere along the way I picked up a good friend. This was his first report after a short session with me and he has grown a lot since then. https://community.deckee.com/topic/97684-how-an-hour-with-derekd-improved-my-fishing-significantly/ Edited yesterday at 01:41 AM by DerekD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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