Fishing tackle

[incisor]

Welp, i gotta get out more my doctor tells me...gotta get a hobby away from puters and underneath of cars...

apart from landies i like my fishing, or did when i was right into it 20 years ago...

whats the best gear to be getting these days?

i like to beach and esturary fish, bream and flathead talior and dart etc etc

i used to use a 13" synderglass bream rod with a shakespeare 6000 series reel and 10lb line

the rod has seen its day at 30+ years of age and not much use in the last 10 or 15 :P

whats the go in this day and age?

braided line worth the extra money?

whats a good quality reel to get?

any one know where to get 1/0 titanium live bait hooks ?

i used to use them to great effect but havent seen any in any of the local tackel shops, and nothing used to come close to being as good as them with a small whiting live bait for mongrel bream and nice flathead....

[abaddonxi]

I've got a bamboo flyrod if you're looking for vintage tackle. The company closed in 1955, so it's at least that old.

:D:D


Not sure that fishing counts as exercise, though.

Cheers
Simon

[one_iota]

I've got a bamboo flyrod if you're looking for vintage tackle. The company closed in 1955, so it's at least that old.

:D:D


Not sure that fishing counts as exercise, though.

Cheers
Simon

For some people it is contemplative and lowers the blood pressure.

For others (like me) it has the opposite effect even when tying a hook onto a line.

[Michael2]

I hate fishing - too boring. But building an amphibious Land Rover with which to go fishing might be therapeutic.

[Bush65]

My situation is similar. Fishing used be my pastime and was the reason that I got into 4wd.

After some years away from fishing, I am getting into saltwater fly fishing (a more expensive and frustrating way to catch less fish).

Braided lines are definitely worth the money. Because of the very low stretch, you have a much better feel of what is happening at the other end. They are also much smaller in diameter for the same breaking strength.

Also consider the soft plastic lures. For a lot of species, they are more successful than bait.

[Yabbie]

AAAaaahhh fishing,


See the recommended part about fishing isn't the act of catching a fish.

it's about clearing the mind of all of the day to day **** that builds up. Yes going home with a feed is great and catching the big one is great too, but like 4wdriving fishing is more about the journey then the destination.

Somehow the act of relaxation while fishing is lost on those who don't know how to relax.

Try it next time take in the sorroundings let everything go become one with nature (grasshopper!!!) Watch all the things that happen around you and ask yourself when was the last time I noticed something so simple as a fish jumping. Allow yourself to relax clear your mind of everything including the hunt for fish.

For me fishing is like sitting on a wharf watching the world go round, you'll be suprised just how relaxed you can be with a rod in your hand.

Strange thing about fishing is I can get out of bed at sparrow fart to go fishing without even setting the alarm yet ask me to wake up at the same time to go to work and you'll need TNT to get me up.

I can't remember te last time I brought home my catch as I tend to give it away except for when I go PRAWNING LUV PRAWNS. But I can stand up to my chest in water dipping a net for hours and go home as the sun is coming up and feel like I just came back from a weekend away.

A change is as good as a holiday, not everyone can afford a holiday but I'm sure everyone can afford to go fishing. Just depends of I you live in NSW what with licence fees and all.

[Yabbie]

whats the go in this day and age?

braided line worth the extra money?

whats a good quality reel to get?

any one know where to get 1/0 titanium live bait hooks ?




What are you fishing for? Pleasure or food?
Braided line......... IMHO save your money tried it don't like it.
Shimano have a good range of reels!! How big are your pockets??
Hooks....
Have a look online : http://www.fishouttawater.com.au (http://www.fishouttawater.com.au/Default.asp)

[crump]

Welp, i gotta get out more my doctor tells me...gotta get a hobby away from puters and underneath of cars...

apart from landies i like my fishing, or did when i was right into it 20 years ago...

whats the best gear to be getting these days?

i like to beach and esturary fish, bream and flathead talior and dart etc etc

i used to use a 13" synderglass bream rod with a shakespeare 6000 series reel and 10lb line

the rod has seen its day at 30+ years of age and not much use in the last 10 or 15 :P

whats the go in this day and age?

braided line worth the extra money?

whats a good quality reel to get?

any one know where to get 1/0 titanium live bait hooks ?

i used to use them to great effect but havent seen any in any of the local tackel shops, and nothing used to come close to being as good as them with a small whiting live bait for mongrel bream and nice flathead....

I used to have the trusty old egg beater reels, but in the past few years have gone to overheads, ABU Garcia.Once you get the hang of it, allows much easier casting and accuracy.Tried braid and hated it, stick with mono.The beauty of baitcasters is you have much shorter rods, so less hassle to carry, useless for surf though.Hooks, hardly use them, just flick lures and plastics.

[VladTepes]

I bought a surf rod and a eggbeater reel a while back but my mate hasnlt been up the beach of late and I havent the first (or perhaps 2nd) clue about how to catch fish. I'll have a go but it might be nice to go along with someone who knows what the hell is happening.

You got a Bribie beach permit Inc ? I'll come fishing with you mate.

I ended up getting the rod and reel combo from, of all places, BCF. Turns out they were good for something after all.

[incisor]

i surely do....

yell when you want :P

0416173522

[Disco_Drivin_Dude]

Hmmmmmmmm......fishing, my favourite way to waste an entire weekend.

I notice a few replies stating.... "tried braid, didn't like it, stick with mono". One word springs to mind when I here people make statements like this.... paradigms.

IMHO using mono is like being a Land Cruiser owner, you bought it, but every time you get blown away at the lights or passed by that disco towing a boat down the highway, you know your Cruiser is no where near as talented as the Rover. All it took for me to be a totally converted user of braid lines, was for me to use it just once and all the advantages of such line became evident (exactly the same way I became a totally converted user of Land Rover). :)

There are a few things that can help catch fish, such as keeping in direct contact with your bait/lure, being able to feel the "bite", and how long it takes for you to remove the slack in the line on the strike to set the hook in the fish. Braid is surperior in all these areas. It's almost non-existent stretch, gives you the ability to actually feel your live prawn kicking on the hook and be able to tell how nervous the prawn is. Braid's thinner diameter for a given breaking strength, means longer casts, and less "bow" in the line, which in turn keeps you in direct contact with your bait/lure, and takes less time for you to remove the slack in the line on the strike to set the hook and then keep in more direct contact with the hooked fish.

There are a lot of other positive reasons to use braid, but, and there is always a "BUT", there are negatives aswell. Like, the no stretch, can actually pull hooks because of the lack of ability to absorb shock from head shaking of the fish. This can be a big problem when chasing meter plus barra. One solution is Platypus "Bionic Braid", as it as a built in stretch of 5% and the use of quality leader lines (can anyone say "Jinkai").

Buy quality braid, and you will NOT be disappointed. Just remember, until you use braid, your using the Toymota of fishin' lines.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, as I am almost exclusively fish with a "catch and release" mentality, I prefer hooks that are chemically sharpened, but will rust in a hurry, for when I have to release a fish with the hook still in it. I will only try to remove the hook from a deep hooked fish, if it can be done without injuring the fish further. Having said that, it wouldn't be the first time I have had a flathead hooked deep through her throat with a 5/0 Tru-Turn, only to have her spit the hook while looking for the scissors to cut the line.

Anyways, thats my rant.

[seqfisho]

We may have to organise an AULRO beach fishing trip/weekend away up to DI or Teewah etc.

[incisor]

i'm in.....!

[seqfisho]

I suppose now that I've opened my big mouth I will be the one who has to organise it:D

[incisor]

I suppose now that I've opened my big mouth I will be the one who has to organise it:D
how could you expect otherwise :o

[Xtreme]

Any of you fisho's know anything about the stocking of the dams around Gladstone (Awoonga etc.) with Barramundi?
More to the point I guess, have any of you caught fish in them?

Roger

[Coastie]

Been to Awoonga several times several 120's caught whilst I have been there. I still haven't become a member of the metre club but have been in the boat when others have. At times in the last few years there have been claims of five to one catfish to barra, but in three visits only seen one catfish to over forty barra.

We usually go in November when there is a closed season up north. Good camp grounds, vehicle access all night to the boat ramp now, used to close at 7pm. Still the boat can be left in the dam and a walk back to the camp ground when your are done.

Permits etc required for impound fishing, lures, sounder, map or GPS needed for a great time. Lots of areas to explore. Redclaw and fish in good supply.
Pete

[Xtreme]

Thanks Pete. I assume by the fact that you have been to Awoonga a number of times that it is better than the other dams in the area.
A few more questions, if you'll bear with me, as you seem to be quite familiar with the area.
Have you tried the bush camp near Boynedale at upper reaches of Awoonga and if so what did you think of it?
Do you think a canadian canoe would be suitable to fish from or is a tinny or something larger advisable?
Is there a best season/time of year when the Barra are really 'on' in the area?

Roger

[isuzurover]

My situation is similar. Fishing used be my pastime and was the reason that I got into 4wd.

After some years away from fishing, I am getting into saltwater fly fishing (a more expensive and frustrating way to catch less fish).

Braided lines are definitely worth the money. Because of the very low stretch, you have a much better feel of what is happening at the other end. They are also much smaller in diameter for the same breaking strength.

Also consider the soft plastic lures. For a lot of species, they are more successful than bait.

Any more detail on your gear John? I have done a reasonable amount of freshwater fly fishing, and still have an 8/9wt setup waiting for me for when I am back in OZ.

[Bush65]

Any more detail on your gear John? I have done a reasonable amount of freshwater fly fishing, and still have an 8/9wt setup waiting for me for when I am back in OZ.
Ben,
I use 9' Reddington CPS 8 wt rods. These are new design after Sage bought Reddington - some (including Peter Morse) say this rod is as good or better than Sage 8 wt (but half the price).

The lines I use are Scientific Angler "striped bass" taper, fast sink "dark gray" and slow sink "surf" (tropi-core in warm climes). 30 lb "fins" braid backing, 40 lb shock tippet.

My 4.35m Quintrex Hornet is set-up for fly fishing. I plan to modify the trailer for offroad, with better support for the boat, 16" wheels, rangie radius arms (as trailing arms) panhard and shocks with air bag suspension (to lower for launching).

[Bush65]

Any of you fisho's know anything about the stocking of the dams around Gladstone (Awoonga etc.) with Barramundi?
More to the point I guess, have any of you caught fish in them?

Roger
I'm booked into the caravan park at lake Awoonga for end of October - beginning of November. The week before the full moon, which is prime time in impoundments (week after full moon is also good, but better for very early morning, whereas week before is better in evening).

Gladstone Harbour and the Water Authority have a fish hatchery. Over 2 million barra have been released into Awoonga - about 230,000 each year. They grow to legal size (50cm) in 12 to 14 months.

Dam level is about 50% at moment, but it is a pretty large lake

Lake Monduran near Gin Gin is also good - the only place you can catch Barra and Bass. It is only a little over 30% at the moment, but it is a larger lake than Awoonga when full. You would need a few weeks to fish all of the bays at the moment.

There is more chance of catching 1m plus barra at Awoonga, than probably anywhere else you could go.

[Bush65]

Thanks Pete. I assume by the fact that you have been to Awoonga a number of times that it is better than the other dams in the area.
A few more questions, if you'll bear with me, as you seem to be quite familiar with the area.
Have you tried the bush camp near Boynedale at upper reaches of Awoonga and if so what did you think of it?
Do you think a canadian canoe would be suitable to fish from or is a tinny or something larger advisable?
Is there a best season/time of year when the Barra are really 'on' in the area?

Roger
They can be caught all year round, but are more active when the water warms up.

In cooler months you have more success in the bays where shallow water is warmer. Later in year they are caught in deeper water and good results are obtained trolling along the course of the original Boyne River from near the no-go zone (near the wall) up. Zig zag to try and cover the old river banks.

In salt water, the tides play a major part in their feeding cycles.

In the impoundments, they are lazy. The wind and the moon influence success rates. The week before and after the full moon is generally best. The week before, when the moon rises early, the good evening fishing hours are extended. The moon rises about an hour later each day, so after the fuul moon the good morning fishing is extended from much earlier in the morning.

A paddled canoe would not be good for trolling as the lure needs to be jerked as you go along. Should be ok for casting around the timber in the bays. But remember it is windy there (trade winds), so that may be a problem.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

can get quite rough on a good day---;)

[Xtreme]

Thanks for all the helpful information, John. It's exactly what I needed to know, especially the feeding habits, which I thought would be different to the estuary barra. I'm actually thinking of a trip sometime in 2007, maybe even an LROC (Sydney) club trip if enough members are interested - someone may even have a more suitable size boat! I do find it quite relaxing just casting around fallen timber etc in upper reaches of dams or just poking around a nice mountain stream. More into the freshwater fishing now - mainly trout and bass. The barra have been on my must do list for some time though so I need to do something about it soon.

Sounds like you have a nice set-up with the Quintrex - used to have one myself in the late 60's. Would be interested to hear how you go in Oct/Nov

Roger