Fishing tips

goofyfoot wrote:

Far out supa that sounds nuts. That would be fucking scary!!

Sounds like a crazy area for diving/fishing.

You getting many waves over there?

Got here on the 11th December and had uncrowded 2-4 ft for first 5 days then it’s been 1-3 ft lately and xmas crowds arrived a few days ago . It’s a gutless swell at the moment but I hadn’t surfed since last time here in July so I’m just trying to get the body back into condition . I was a total kook first 3 waves but been doing some yoga and stretching and the old body is starting to respond well. Doing a few missions later this year so I need to be ready. At my age if I don’t keep on top of things it’s so easy to lose strength , flexibility and balance.

Vertical Tides
Lombok Strait / Sill

I hope the DPI take this muppet to court.
RIP Gus the Groper
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The tailor are loving the swell and possibly the overcast weather last few days. Some hectic bite sessions on the lead up to high tides Lost a few big ones throwing lures as they jumped and my last bibbed hardbody lure to beast
Back to poppers and metals for a few days

Good to hear, been too much swell to access the rocks around here- water has warmed right up though.

Quick question for the fishos from a fishing kook:

Anyone got a recommendation for a basic, affordable reel for surf fishing? Got a bit more time on my hands and figured I’d give it a shot. Been getting a few on worms in the close in gutters at my local with light gear and 6-7’ rods, but would like to start getting a few longer casts in and potentially throwing some lures. There’s a couple of rock platforms at the north and south ends of the beach but I’m not planning on hitting them yet.

The array of reels and gear is frankly bewildering. Don’t want to spend heaps of cash, don’t need to go cheapo entry level, but want something reliable and proven.

Any ideas on a basic starter for gear to step it up appreciated. Lures / sinkers / line etc. got a bit of stuff, but it’s all light gear.

Cheers.

I'd go a Penn.

Pretty rock solid and reliable if not as fancy as Shimano or Daiwa.

They tend to come very well greased which leads to long life in surf environments.

I've had a couple of these and they are still going strong.

https://www.motackle.com.au/species/tailor/penn-fierce-iv-spin-reel.html

Drag is good and you can handle anything you can hook on one.

freeride76 wrote:

I'd go a Penn.

Pretty rock solid and reliable if not as fancy as Shimano or Daiwa.

They tend to come very well greased which leads to long life in surf environments.

I've had a couple of these and they are still going strong.

https://www.motackle.com.au/species/tailor/penn-fierce-iv-spin-reel.html

Drag is good and you can handle anything you can hook on one.

Thanks FR - that’s awesome. What size should I be going for?

4000 or 5000 would do the job.

I always go a little bigger in case I hook a tuna off the rocks but 4000 would do the job for 99% of applications with 20 or 30 pound braid.

Yeah if your going to go for something in the $100-$200 range there is good bang for your buck in Penn and Shimano range. Penn will probably cope better with the surf fishing environment. But they need to be looked after, especially if properly dunked. Alvey the only option if you're not into reel maintenance in that environment.

Yeah. Alveys are indestructible if you want that.

Bit harder to lure fish with but not impossible.

Thanks and thanks FR and tiger - I always rinse my gear off in fresh water and dry it out properly when I’m done. Habits learned from previous life experience. Anything else I should be doing?

“gear before beer”

Give it a spray with INOX or something like it every month.

It's easy to pull apart a Penn and regrease it once a season.

But to be honest, if all you do is give it a rinse you'll get at least 5 years out of one those Penns- they are pretty indestructible.

Yep, they’re like russians ;);)
- spinfishers are the goods ;)

OK, got it done. Upsold a little to the Penn Battle because the Fierce wasn’t in stock, but happy to support the local store and it wasn’t that much more. Braid loaded, got some recommendations on lures and a couple of bait rigs.

Thanks for the advice.

Looking forward to hitting the beaches. But off to see the Cosmic Psychos and the Externals tonight.

Battles work fine.

Caught 30kg long tail Tuna on 'em.

Just make sure you loosen the drag knob after every session- otherwise the drag gets very sticky.

Thanks FR.

Davos fishing online often has specials on Penn reels and rods

SA update with a bit of a cameo from JS https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-19/calls-for-overhaul-of-recreation…

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/eAn5Gzp6QJR9k1gB/?mibextid=xCPwDs

FR, saltman, tiger.
Thanks for the tips on getting a setup.

Got two chunky Australian salmon tonight, just before dusk. Both 65cm and fat. 450m from my front door.

Recommended Penn setup worked a treat.

Still have no idea what I’m doing but things are starting to come together I suppose.

Sounds like you have figured something out Etarip.
If you can catch a fish, you're onto it.

On lures?
Did you eat the salmon- how's your fish processing skills?

Knowing where the gutters and rips are probably helps. Went for a body bash yesterday morning before work and noticed how deep the gutter right out the front is.

Caught them on whole frozen pilchards on gang hooks. Threw it about 25-30m into the deep gutter behind the shorebreak.

Processing skills aren’t great. Filleted them both, decent size steaks but I probably left a lot on the fish. Not pretty. Cleaned up the fillets to just the lighter meat and had two medium plastic takeaway boxes full. Not efficient or quick tho.

Baked a few chunks in foil with garlic chili onion coriander and lime juice. Air fryer with some home cut chips. Decent feed.

Think I’ll turn the rest into Thai fish cakes. Unless anyone has better recommendations?

This guy has some good filleting videos.

https://www.filletfish.com.au/info/filleting-styles

A good fillet knife is a wonderful investment if you are regularly doing it.

I like a thin, flexy 7 inch blade.

I have a 9 inch blade for jewfish.

Fresh gummy coconut curry from last night. 8/10

Bloody hell that looks so good GF

x2.

Never caught a gummy, but heard they are good chewing.

Yeah they’re nice. Not super fishy flavour

for filleting and knife tips follow keefish on Instagram this guy is amazing https://www.instagram.com/keefish_/reel/CyFvctyve3u/

goofyfoot wrote:

Yeah they’re nice. Not super fishy flavour

Just don't forget your prep work otherwise you get a super ammonia flavour!!!

garyg1412 wrote:

Yeah they’re nice. Not super fishy flavour

Just don't forget your prep work otherwise you get a super ammonia flavour!!!

Yeah head straight off

Lucky fella. Lucky boat.
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Geez so lucky he didn't get sliced and diced, no lanyard kill switch

Holy fuck that is one scary situation, I hope he is way less, not more brazen as a result.

Holy fuck that is one scary situation, I hope he is way less, not more brazen as a result.

Last Saturday Morning before sunrise was throwing lures off the rocks is a light drizzle, it was looking very quiet
Until schools of fish erupted on the surface just 50 - 80 meters away, getting smashed on the surface by Tuna and some Mackerel. Hooked up second cast but the leader was bitten through by another fish as the fight started

Threw out a popper and got chased first cast and smashed - spectacular - and another fish decided it wanted the popper and hit the lure hard and chomped right through the leader again!

Was a hectic 25 minutes, lost 3 lures landed nothing.

Sounds like an action sport saltman.

I’ve had no luck with lures, but doing OK on the bait fishing off the beach.

Can confirm that Aussie salmon goes well in Thai fish cakes. Kids smashed them like those fish smashed your lures.

I went out this arvo, just took light tailor gear and of course a long tail Tuna came in and started smashing gar everywhere.

Was tempted to try and hook it, but that story ends very badly.

Will make sure I take proper pelagic gear out from now on.

Hi Steve, what type of lures are you using off the rocks? What sort of action are you doing on the retrieve? Different for different lures I suppose.

All different types Seeds, from metal spinners, to hard bodies to stick baits to poppers.

Pelagics will hit almost anything, imo.

What kind of rod / reel / line set up are you using FR?
Same type as you recommended (spinner with 30lb line?)

I've got a few set-ups.

This light rod I use for tailor is a Shimano Stradic, Daiwa Sensor sandstorm rod and 15lb braid.

Heavier set-up is a Penn Clash, Penn rod and 30lb braid.

Got a 50lb set-up with Daiwa rod and reel.

It's all mid-range stuff that can take a beating on the rocks.

Little knowledge here Steve. I know poppers in fresh water the fish hit when a small pause occurs on retrieval. Do you do little pauses? Are you casting into where the whitewater dissipates where the feed is stirred up as in beach fishing.

Depends on the day Seeds. Sometimes a bloop and pause gets the hit, other times it's a faster, splashing, non-stop retrieve.

I’m just going to have to flick and learn. Trial and error. I like the idea of no bait.

Thanks FR. might have a crack off the rocks at some point.

etarip wrote:

Sounds like an action sport saltman.

I’ve had no luck with lures, but doing OK on the bait fishing off the beach.

Can confirm that Aussie salmon goes well in Thai fish cakes. Kids smashed them like those fish smashed your lures.

etarip

The bad rap Australian Salmon gets as a table fish is crazy. As a fresh fish I rate it up there with some of the best. It's easy to catch and simple to fillet. A few tips for all the non believers as follows:
1) Bleed it straight away - just snap it's neck right there and then as soon as you have that hook out its mouth.
2) Once skinned and filleted with a really sharp knife shave off all the blood meat - the red bits. There's not a lot of it and is easy to get rid of. This is the part of the salmon that puts people off.
3) On bigger fish the fillets can be really thick - butterfly them into thinner fillets - they cook better.
4) Egg, dip in flour mixed with a packet of Tandaco fish coating, shallow fry for a few minutes, dry on a paper towel, some salt, lemon and potato wedges with sauce and you're away.
Best fish for fish cakes too as you mentioned.

Check the eyes on this dogtooth speared off nusa penida , the caption on facebook said blind dogtooth.

garyg1412, my wife loves them, eats the lot including the red bits.

Wow SF, do you know if it was blind in one eye only?