Kaktis

Went out today in Pittwater for a relaxing yak fish on the flats chasing bream, flatties & whiting on the flats, on surface lures.. Ticked 2 of the 3 boxes, but couldn't find any flathead willing to play the game. As the tide made the flats inaccessible I moved on to the moorings in deeper water flicking SPs... nothing but pinkies but still fun The wind picked up, so I tied up to a vacant mooring buoy and continued flicking when BANG zzz.... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.. knew I had something decent on, and assumed a good sambo, but no jumps, just long hard runs down deep. This could be a king, I thought... before thinking, oh... I'm in big trouble aren't I? Only took about 5 minutes to bring it boatside which surprised me, but another 10 to get it into the net. As you can see in the pic, he took a zman grub in watermelon (I think), on a 1/12 jighead. 4lb braid and leader, on a 1-3kg dropshot and Soron SX 20 While he was only about 55cm I'm STOKED with this capture as I don't fish areas known for kings and don't use the recommended gear or lures for chasing them, so had resigned myself to the fact they'll be a fish others catch! Would've gotten a better picture, but some clowns were wakeboarding right near me while I was trying to dehook and take pics, in a no wash zone no less. Got a beast of a pike not long after too Went about 50-52 cm, (in fact, I thought I'd caught the same king again when he came into view, same colours on the flanks and yellow tail).. fought like a wet paper bag though, so knew I was mistaken. Strangely enough this couldn't top my previous catch. Only the pike met a sticky end, which involved a very happy cat, everything else was released.

Went out early in perfect conditions on Friday for last 2 hours of incoming tide in Careel Bay on the yak. Started off flicking 80mm wrigglers around the mangroves, but no success other than a bump from what I'm thinking was a pike. Having caught a stack of these in the last few outings, I'm getting to know what their MO and bite is like, so I'm happy to have had him spit the hook. Moved further into the mangroves for nothing but snags, both in and out the water, god I hope no-one was watching me catch my limit of branch-fish, in record time... all legal length of course. Finally started getting into some fish after switching to hardbodies, firstly a cheapie that I can't remember the brand of, but has Super Bream branding on the bib... replaced the trebles and split rings and it does the job. Caught and released a bunch of flatties, best going ~55cm, but released all as I wasn't in a position to eat them fresh & the cat still has pike from previous outings. I did however hook up to this luderick.. my first... approx. 35cm caught on an Ecogear SX40. Fat as and full of beans, he was great fun and gave me a run on 4lb braid, 4lb leader. Sent him back swimming too. Had plenty of follows from bream too, both big and small, but they were just too spooky. The water was like glass, and I could see them clear as day, so assume they could see me just as clearly.

So finally took the plunge and bought a kayak to fish from. Not sure of how I'd go, or how much Id like it, I opted for the cheaper of the 3 options I was looking at. An OK Prowler Ultra 4.1, OK Tetra Angler 12 or a Canoe and Kayak Sports Talina Angler. The first 2 of these started with a $400 premium over the Talina, but had better storage and mod options, but like I said, not knowing how much I'd like it, I didn't want to pay money that was going to go down the toilet. I also got $100 off due to some slight markings on the hull of the Talina. I'm now really, REALLY regretting that decision. Absolutely LOVED being and fishing on the yak.. my dodgy back has even been OK with me loading and unloading from car roof solo, which means I can go more often. Being out a few times, I'm now thinking I should've gone with the Ultra 4.1 Has anyone tried to exchange or sell on consignment so soon after purchasing a yak? Be interested to know what kind of hit I'm going to take depreciation-wise. The guy in the shop seemed to think this will be a loss of about $200-$300... but that was BEFORE I handed him the cash.

Mentioned already, but the Soron SX on a Jewel is a pretty hard to beat combo. I have an SX20 on a 7'6 Jewel and it does the job very nicely for land-based HB, SP, & blade flicking. Comes in 2 piece too. I believe there are deals to be had on each too at the moment.

That is disgusting behaviour. I think you did the right thing in packing up and going.. safety first. If that's the level of respect they felt appropriate after you were friendly towards them, I can only imagine what they'd do if they thought you were in their way. Fortunately for you, you were able to leave them behind.. hopefully to never see them again... they'll be stuck with the pleasure of their own company for the rest of their lives. ***kers.

Just a suggestion... It's quite often new members coming in to ask about their chances at a particular location that are doing so in the wrong section.. They want to maximise their chances of getting the post viewed, right?... so they go to where the bulk of the posts & replies are. These stats are visible, and point to Fishing Reports as the most highly trafficked. Maybe if you could mask these stats from members until they hit 'X number' of posts, they'd have to put a bit more thought into where to post their question? Educate and re-educate too of course, but this might help a bit..

No can do. On kiddy patrol tonight... Good luck though! Where are you hitting up?

Just had drag set fairly loose.. no freespool or baitrunner mode... the idea being; if I've got my hands full flicking lures & this one goes, I'll have early warning & time to grab that rod before it goes over. I suppose a $20 rod holder might not be a bad investment after all.

Thanks guys, mack may just have nailed it... I use inline circles, and don't strike, but I don't have my reel set for fighting drag... which now I think about it, is really bloody obviously the problem. Oh, and yes, unless someone chimes in with news to the contrary, I'll stick to public wharves and jetties... I'd feel a bit funny about it anyways to be honest! I know how I'd feel if I walked out on my jetty and I was there. Have tried tailors point a few times of late for not much joy, but I should give it another go given what you guys have said. Thanks again!

Hey guys, I normally use lures, but when I'm in my sorry excuse for a boat, I like to have 2 rods going... the second with bait. Been using circles for doing this (2/0 and up) to minimize damage to any smaller fish that may be tempted, but I'm finding I'm still gut-hooking most of them, and losing a stack of hooks in the process. Can someone give me any pointers to avoid this? I thought circles were supposed to be foolproof.. (said the idiot)... Secondly, I'm hoping someone in the know can confirm private jetty usage... in Pittwater specifically.. Been very tempted to use one, but assume 'private' means just that, so haven't had the nerve. Then I see some dude stroll on up to one, like it ain't no thang, and proceed to fish off it... He'd come from the public access direction, not out the residence behind the jetty.. Any ideas?

Think he was just referring to the heads and frames, not the whole fish.. Some nice tailor there, good going! Glad to hear they're still around on the northern beaches too, was just talking to my old man about that very topic this afternoon! Hopefully we'll get to have a crack at em this week.

I've got the Classix 1062 surf, and I love it. 2 piece, very light, within your budget... I know you specified 9', but this model nearly doubles the maximum casting weight of the 9' which makes it really very versatile. Never used a Jewel, so can't comment there, but I've heard good things!

OK, so with minimal time to spare, which is very rarely at prime fishing time, I’ve been doing it pretty tough, but have had a couple of outings to have a crack anyway, just to get out if nothing else. Have taken my 3 year old boy to chase some undersized pinkies (purely to all but guarantee some hookups) and he (we) had a blast! A fish a cast on each outing, and in fact they were so thick each time, there was no time to build up any anticipation and he got over it after number 5 or 6! All hooked in the jaw, quick pat, and back they all went. MY success rate on the other hand has been woeful… I’ve yet to hit the beaches this autumn, but if my estuary performances are anything to go by, I may take up knitting and canasta & stay indoors instead. Found a tidy little jetty that I hit up in the afternoon earlier this week, and there were bloody fish EVERYWHERE! Schools of tailor on patrol, luderick getting their freak on in the weed-beds, bream cruising around too I think… also a decent-sized flatty just chilling out amongst the weeds… all this I could see from where I was standing, & I was salivating as realized I had a rod in my possession, but you think I could tempt any one of them? BAH! Actually, that’s not true, I got a very solid run on a 10g twisty, must’ve been one of those big tailor, stripped off about 20 metres in short order, but the treble fell out about halfway back before I could ID… also got 2 little pinkies on a blade… & a squid even followed my ‘no-name’ black hard-body right up to the surface, which I thought was odd, but that was IT. I all but stood on my flipping head for Mr Flatty, throwing every SP, blade and hardbody in my possession at him, but he just wasn’t having a bar of it. Was dead calm… no wind, water like glass, so maybe he saw me flip him off & was teaching me a lesson, who knows. Donut. Decided to head back a couple of nights later to soak some baits for an hour or 2. Had high expectations given what I’d seen previously, and the fact that it was just before high tide, but apart from an unexpected octopus taking a servo squid, I had not one touch. The octopus fell off too, may I add, which is just as well, because I’ve heard you have to beat the s**t out of them and I wasn’t feeling particularly violent that night. There was some serious phosphorescence in the water too, which I’d heard, and had experienced first hand previously, made for tough fishing... As I was packing up, I chucked the remaining bait I had into the drink, as is my custom, and when I looked down into the water, with the aid of a torch, to see what was eating it if anything, there was not a single multi-celled organism down there. No bruiser blackfish or tailor, no bream, no bloody pickers even… could just see my servo squid, & a lone pillie, lying undisturbed on the bottom… it was absolutely barren… I didn’t know whether that should make me feel better or worse, so I thought about something else & left with my second donut in a week. Never targeted them before, but think I might take a shot at those blackfish in the coming weeks. (Welcome any tips, particularly on bait gathering, as I've never gone looking for weed and don't even know what it looks like!)

From what I know, the advice so far is on the money. I'd also suggest after putting on your SP, just swim it or look at the action you can impart to it at your feet, or boatside. If it looks like a lump of plastic flapping around to you, it will to Mr Fish too most likely. Re-rig it if you have to. Minnows and wrigglers and the like are great for beginners especially as the tail movement may enhance any action you're able to impart through the rod... they're a bit more forgiving on that front... unfortunately, the tails are particularly susceptible to toadies, tailor & other pickers. Can't beat the advice of getting your plastic to where the fish are though. That's THE most important aspect of any fishing. Failing all that, use bait occasionally to keep it fun & keep your confidence up if you find your bite/hook up rate better.. no shame in it... then use the experience and knowledge gained in doing that on your lure fishing. Good luck with it!

I can only suggest that you try lighter line, and/or leader. If your mate was hooking up and you weren't, this could well be why as the general rule is the lighter the line, the better your chances of getting on. Depends on what you're targeting though too... sure you could haul a 1-2 kg bonito up a sheer cliff with 20lb mono, no sweat. Trying to do the same with something heftier may be different story. Sorry, not much help, I know.