Cape fishing in October... what gear to take?

[BJP98V8]

Gday!
Booked an 8 day fishing trip in October in Seisia. I have limited fishing gear. Most of my gear is light i.e. trout, flathead, bream, whiting.

I mainly use a 7' 2-4kg graphite egg beater, and a 5'6" 6-8kg baitcaster.

Any recomendations would be greatly appreciated in the moderate budget range!

Cheers!

Sent on the run... from my Garmin

[roverrescue]

8 days out of Seisia? Are you with Greg Bethune on Tropic Paradise or are you staying in Seisia and doing day trips?

Eitherway, the 6-8kg baitcaster will do good service for the creeks chasing rat barra, jacks, queenies and trevs.

Look into something like an 8-10kg spinning setup for chasing tuna and mackeral out the front. And unless you were taking fly gear that would cover most bases for fishing the tip. Maybe something like a 10kg trolling setup if that floats your boat?

Talk with your guide, they will set you straight!

Have a great trip.
Steve

[Pilbara130]

You lucky bugger.

As Steve said take your baitcaster for the creeks that is a perfect size combo.
But for out wide it all depends what you want to spend? If you want the cheaper option go into Kmart and grab a 330 Pen combo for about $170 spooled,I have had one of these for years and never lets me down great for Macky.
On the other end of the scale you could spend over $1000 for the quality gear like Shimano Stella and T-Curve rod.

Good luck and cant wait to read your report on return.

Tight lines.

[BJP98V8]

Thanks guys, im not a 100% sure on the fine details because it was a last minute decision. My father in law told me to book 10 days leave for an 8 day fishing trip.... lol i wasn't going to say no! I thoroughly enjoy using quality gear so I'll head out and get myself something decent. I have 2 shimanos and im very happy with them so i might just get another :) I'm sure i will have hundreds of photos and video and I'll be glad to share.

Cheers

Brenton

Sent on the run... from my Garmin

[Bearman]

Better throw in a couple of bottles of "Square Bear", thats 40 pounders of Bundy Rum to the uninitiated. Very fashionable up in that country and your body will probably appreciate it at the end of a long day after you have been skull dragging a few big ones in!:D:D:D

[Disco44]

Also it will be pretty damn warm up there in October,it's that crazy time that occurs before the rains.So be prepared.

[UNDEROVER]

Gday!
Booked an 8 day fishing trip in October in Seisia. I have limited fishing gear. Most of my gear is light i.e. trout, flathead, bream, whiting.

I mainly use a 7' 2-4kg graphite egg beater, and a 5'6" 6-8kg baitcaster.

Any recomendations would be greatly appreciated in the moderate budget range!

Cheers!

Sent on the run... from my Garmin

How's it going BJP98V8.

I think your baitcaster should be fine for most creek scenarios, but if you want an affordable spin outfit for offshore and limited creek fishing, an 850 Penn with a rod matched to the line class you are using (10kgs should be ample, IMO).
It will hold loads of line, has a pretty smooth drag for the money and is nearly bulletproof!
It lacks the finesse of the Japanese stuff, but will serve the purpose with ease.
Have an awesome trip. :D

[UNDEROVER]

As an aside, take a few "prawn stars" as they have the ability to be fished right in amongst the rough stuff and account for their fair share of fish.

One word of advice though, upgrade the hooks to a larger, wider gape XXX strong jobs so they sit a lot prouder of the lure body.
The hooks that come standard don't protude far enough and you'll have loads of strikes but minimal hookups. ;)

[roverrescue]

I would generally not recommend specific gear as everybodies taste is personal, but an 850 spinfisher will be way overkill for the west coast... unless you intened targetting the few beakies or enjoy pulling noahs. An 8000 series spinning reel with a nice crisp 8kg rod will stop everything pelagic that swims the west coast in October and be 1/4 of the weight of a 10kg setup with an 850 spinfisher.

8 day trip from Seisia Im guessing your on tropic paradise - youll get to see and fish some awesome country with great guides. If you dont fly fish I would chuck in your light stick and some ultralight plastics, will be great fun on the goldens and queenies at the creek mouths and you may even get yourself a pumpkin head (permit)!

Enjoy!

Steve

[BJP98V8]

Thanks guys! Its good to get some options. We're heading as quite a large group without guides AFAIK, some of the guys go religeously.

I like the idea of around the 8kg mark i think. I dont want to go too heavy as i like alot of feel but i am most certainly looking forward to going shopping though!

Ive just pulled my rods out of their storage from moving across state to Albury, only to find the top 40mm snapped off the graphite baitcaster! Not happy! Lol didnt pack it as well as i thought i did. Oh well might just do some extra shopping...... ;)

Cheers!

Sent on the run... from my Garmin

[UNDEROVER]

Something else I found to be effective in the tropics.

Have a range of lures at your disposal. Once the fish have gone off hardbodies, go to rattlin' spots, plastics or prawnstars or equivalent.
Depends on the order you are fishing them obviously, provided you are a lure fisho.
They soon wise up to a particular lure type, and being able to mix it up will keep a snag session going that little bit longer.;)

Cheers.