Rob81

Right handed, wind right hand. The argument with many right handed ppl that wind with left is that its slower as you have to switch over. Made no sense to me as they are fully abled ppl, surely they couldnt be that slow to switch hands whilst their rig is in the air. Plus I find my left arm has more control over the rod and is more sensitive so I can feel more minute taps. I also see that more right handed ppl that wind with left tend to be more vocal about it, being the "Correct" way to fish. Where right hand right winders arent as often fussed about it.

There's a big difference between a 6000 size Saragosa and a 4000 sized Sustain. Between the 2, you should pick the one that fits the rod (Eg Balance, Reel seat etc). 4k Sustain is 285g, whilst the Gosa 6k is 455g. You wont fit those 2 reels on the same rod (comfortably).

When they're around, I just use small metals making sure to keep tension once they're on, They can come off easily with smaller hooks. If they don't seem to wanting the metal, try a slower retrieve or add a few pauses in between. On some days, they'll take anything and everything at any speed.

Every airline was different. I used a homemade PVC tube for mine, they didn't bother weighing it each time and it went through the sports equipment category (different check in location usually). The main issue back then that I had to measure was the length. Different airlines had different length requirements.

If you must go for something along those lines of rigs, then personally I would probably go: Main Line -> swivel -> Split Ring Rig: Solid Ring -> Leader/setup You'd need split ring pliers just to get them on and off though. Just feels more secure. But in saying that, there's been plenty of ppl out there that have managed to get some nice sized fish on that same rig.

Congrats on your first legal. Another advice would be, if you want to keep your bucket clean from blood, you can always dig a hole in the sand and stick it down head first, helps with removing blood. You want to do this where the water still reaches, but now too low that the waves can rip it back out again. The water helps flush it and keeps it fresh (also out of the sun). From there you can continue fishing.

Coconut works well, just gets tiring after a period of time.

Most of my rods are 10ft for casting lures off the stone. Personally I like the 9'6, but for the specs I wanted at the time, the only options were 10'0's. You get used to it after a while, the only issue you get is when you're on a ledge where the wall is directly behind you and you end up hitting the tip of the rod on the rock, but there aren't too many places like this anyways.

They're two different types of rod, Daiwa is a seabass rod (oddly enough the same name as the type of rod it is) which tends to be light duty, and the prevail is more a medium duty rod. The seabass rods tend to have more of a bend towards the mid-length to upper 3rd length of the rod, where the prevail is a little more higher up. The power of the Daiwa is down to mid-low where the Penn is higher. The action on lures would also be different between the two.

Some lines come with them. For example Varivas Ocean record Shock leader. However, their spools are thicker than a few others. You can just fit the spool band on a fisherman superstealth spool, although its very snug. The main advantage of this type is that it is Velcro, so you can tighten as the spool shrinks from usage. You could also just use your own velcro and insert a hole in the middle. Those elastic versions I've used in the past tend to stretch over time and loses its ability to hold you line on spool nicely. Example of varivas band

As Green hornet says, PE rating is for braid thickness only. Not a scale used with mono or leader materials. Varivas line in general is pretty good. Most of main ones anyways. With the leader rating, might depend, best to fish appropriately for target/environment. Rocky/reefy areas a little thicker, less structured areas fish lighter. Chasing kings heavier, chasing tailor a little lighter. You'll have make a judgement. for PE2.5 Id might use something between 25lb to 60lb based on the above factors. Going "Lighter" or thinner braid, I think it all depends on environment. Too many ppl fuss too much over having a higher breaking strain on thinner line. Yes it is nice to have a high breaking strain on thinner line, but if you're fishing areas where there's plenty of oysters along the sides and risky having your line go over or through it, then PE1.0 is more likely to break easier when rubbing along the oysters compare to PE1.5. It might be a bit but it could make the difference between having your rig or not. Although, in most cases, fishing off a safe place like a wharf for bread and butter, its a good advantage to have the high breaking strain, especially if a hard fighting bycatch comes along.

It should be fine. Depending on brand/make of braid, PE3 is anywhere between 30lb and 48lb. Most braid brands would show you PE thickness anyways, if that makes it easier for you to decide.

If you're using prawns, I'd rather cooked prawns over salted prawns. Cooked prawns is a gun bait for bream and one cooked prawn you can cut them down to 6-8 pieces on average. I used to only salt baits that don't freeze well or go mushy.

I personally think you should just go the overhead and get it over and done with. I understand you want one reel to cater for many different types of fishing, however I cant remember reading a single post from you that wasn't fishing on a kayak. The other thing with OH, you'll may find it a little more manageable on a kayak as the reel sits on top of rod compared to a reel that sits on bottom.

I bought a cheap one from kmart or big w many years back and its still going now. Requires the odd knock the side every now and then to get it going, but still works (Probably a lose part somewhere). The only part that has rusted is the screw used to hold it together (required to undo when changing batteries). Unsure if they sell the same one now as its been a while. Sometimes the less fancy ones last longer as less parts to it.

A few main features for long cast/Surf type reels: - Longer spool - Shallower Spool - Closer nit line lay (less crosses when laid) - Angled spool lip (most reels have this feature anyways) Most of it is in the spool design. Only the line lay is via the body through the worm shaft cut. Edit: Also, I believe the angle of the reel foot (how it sits on rod), makes that little bit more of a difference.

There is a store in Croydon (I believe I cannot mention their name), they might have stock, but its best to call up. Their website is currently showing no stock for the 3pce Coltsniper BB, however the website is only based on the Croydon store stocklist and they have 2 stores (one in Eastwood), where they might have stock. Website does show that one of the 3pce Coltsniper XR models is available, however it is almost double the price of a BB model.

Be happy the rubbish you caught was a maccas cup. Ive witness a condom caught there before

The amount of wraps usually depends on the line, like the lighter the line, the less wraps required. The main part also is making sure it is tight, also, for those that use hitches in the knot, the first hitch is the most important, so making sure that one is the tightest.

The 4k sustain sounds a bit light, I don't know too much about the okuma, but briefly looking at the specs for it, it looks like it might be a bit heavy for it. An unbalanced setup feels really odd trying to use it. You should give it a test in store before making any purchases.

The main thing I see in your box is top water and sub surface type lures. Get a few jigs for the lower columns cause some days youre just not gonna see any top water action. I'd recommend some jigs, like the Palms jigaros. Weight would depend on your rod specs/type.

I would consider "General Purpose" gear as middle ground gear. But you would have different levels of middle ground. Eg, Light, medium or heavy. Middle ground gear is something Id say, has no true belonging to a set of specific task or role. . Myself, I have target specific gear, as well as gear for certain types of environment chasing certain types of species, but above all that, there is a set of side gear that I would consider general purpose in my lot, in both light and medium range. This is also the stuff I don't bring out as often these days, and I considered my "bash setup" (gear that if the fish takes it or is broken, I am not heartbroken nor will I suffer any form of mourning period of my life). Most people starting off usually buy cheap gear anyways (or so I would recommend anyways). Loss is kept to the minimum. Some might spend a little more, but I find those same ppl wouldn't listen to advice of spend cheap to start off with either way as they always want the "Good stuff" or "pretty items". Back to topic, you could slug out mid-weighted metals for your 2 targets you mentioned on your gear. I don't own any Penn gear myself but have played with some of my mates. But I do find the reels tend to be heavier and also the tip of the rods in the lower ranges to be extra soft, but I couldnt be sure on your specific rod. This might impede the idea of using heavier slugs. The other thing is, you're most likely going to get really tired quickly, as I also noticed the gear ratio you're running 4.1:1, which is more power in crank and less speed. For top water, ideally you want a little more speed over power. But that just my opinion, some people like the slower speeds.

I wouldnt launch a boat off Salt Pan creek. If you see anyone launching there, it would be kayakers. You'd prolly only be able to get in and out at high tide for a small boat (at best).

Yeah they're nice reels, I was looking at them and the Soare some time ago, but ended up going Soare Ci4+ in the smallest size.

Wow a complex XR, nice reel. First time I've seem or known about one here.