Captain Spanner

You could check out the Terez split but rods have a look at both the white and black series The 1-20lb and 15-30lb models. There isn't a cast rating on them but they would be around your range. The white and black models are slightly different in the hand to each other so look at both. I like my white 10-20lb one but you might think that the action is a bit slow or not like the feel of the reel seat. For something different the Crucis 7'10" travel rod goes ok. It is in that weight range and casts those weights you are talking about well. Its a 4 piece so hides well in the car or cabin of your boat, fits in a suit case, straps to a backpack. I use both of those rods described as my snapper plastic rods. The terez is good for drifting squid jigs too

Looks ok to me to give a try. If you think they are getting in and getting out you could attach the float rope to the other side so the entry holes are higher off the floor of the trap but then they will be higher off the floor of the river too for the crabs to walk in to start with. Either would probably be ok

I think because the crabs normally walk on the bottom and the entry holes are elevated above the bottom, when the climb in the hole and fall down onto the bottom they stay on the bottom and don't jump/swim up in the water to climb out of the hole. Plus the other thing to think about is if the crab is inside the trap and can now reach the bait, why would he want to get out of the trap while it is sitting on the bottom? I think it is likely that the PVC tubes are the correctl length to hold everything tight and that the entrance holes are big enough so that the crab doesn't feel scared to walk in.

If you are specifically chasing kings and jewies then you really want live fresh squid or squid that you have caught yourself and frozen. If the $45/kilo stuff from the tackle shop is fresh from the trawler as a bait squid it is probaby a much better bait. The food stuff and particulary the tubes have been cleaned and normally had contact with fresh water which is no good. You will catch fish on it but not as many good fish. If you are only going for short trips for bream and flathead etc you can buy a 1kg back of good quality frozen hawkesbury prawns and keep them in the freezer. If you drop the bag on the concrete they will seperate and you can just take what you need for a single trip in a clip lock tupperware container. Just make sure they are kept in a sealed/airtight container in the freezer so they dont burn

I put a swivel on the split ring on the front of my chromies and i make sure there is a swivel somewhere in the system, even a snap swivel, if trolling skirts or christmas trees but not for plastics, stick baits or hardbodies. If trolling a hardbody that i know misbehaves on occasion i might have a swivel 1-2m above the lure so the line doesn't twist as much if the lure keeps blowing out. Just tie the leader to the braid with a leader knot and then the leader straight to the jig head.

Agreed, After bleeding and chilling, the most important bit is to keep as cold as possible so it stays firm, fillet, skin and cut all of the bloodline out as soon as possible so you end up with 4 nice clean white strips of flesh

You could try fishing a big ball sinker instead of a star sinker and run along the beach with it until is swings onto the sand but sometimes is is just too difficult to fish even if you are casting house bricks.

I would suggest pulling the head and guts out and keeping as one or two baits, skinning the hood and keep the wings in tact for a bait each, cut the hood open down one side so it opens like a big triangle and cut it into strips, normally from the tip down so you end up with long triangle baits. I put the top hook in the tip of the strip, make sure there is a bit of slack line between the two hooks so the strip stays straight. This will make sense when you do it if it doesn't quite make sense now.

You are in a good spot for them. My favourite bait for them off the beach is fresh squid or fresh squid strips. I take self caught frozen squid to use as strips as backup in case i cant catch a squid on the afternoon i'm fishing. If squid are hard for you to come by then fish with metal lures or pilchards on gang hooks to catch a tailor and send out strips from him. Your outfit is fine. I would fish a rod length of 30-40lb shock leader and then a running sinker rig with either a ball sinker or a star sinker on an ezy-rig style sinker clip. I tie a little piece of rubber band half a metre above the sinker or sinker clip to stop it sliding too far up the line and tangling the leader knot, it is better if it doesn't go through the guides when casting. I would fish a 40-60lb trace from 40-40cm long with two snelled 6/0-8/0 octopus or octopus circle hooks to suit the size of the bait. Try to find a gutter that looks at least waist deep close to the beach that has deep water access like where the surfers paddle out between the sand banks. Try to fish a high tide around dark or up to a few hours after dark. You will catch fish on all moons and all tides so fish whenever you can but if you have a choice these times might be favourable. Tailor are easiest to catch at dawn and dusk. So ideally if you get to the beach an hour or so before dark to try to catch the tailor and have high tide an hour or so after dark then that would be convenient. Beach worms are also good bait but get alot of pickers, whereas the squid strips will survive the pickers better. I find i get less sharks on squid than fish baits.

I don't have a deck wash but a mate does. You only need one water pickup and intake pump for the live bait tank and deckwash but then you would probably have a 3 way tap or line splitter and a tap on each the bait pump and the deckwash side of the fork so you can easily have one, the other, both or none open. You will also need a deckwash pump kit that creates the pressure needed to spray the deckwash out of the nozzle. I'm sure someone on here can fill yo uin on details

Sorry mate i forgot i hadn't sent my reply before and shut the window. You will get yakkas and herring at that pontoon but not necessarily every time. With small jigs you will sometimes get arrow squid when the water is clean (more likely top of the tide) but they are not reliable. I still think that herring outfish yakkas for jewies around that area. There are alot more herring than yakkas there and herring are alot softer for the jewie to inhale and digest than a spiky little or even worse a big yakka. The herring just are't as durable as the yakkas for keeping alive, transporting, casting and in the current.

This is what we do because of time restraints. If you are fishing anywhere from Captain Cook Bridge upstream then I would pick a Herring over a Yakka every time. You can catch the herring around the bridge Pylons with a tiny bait jig, make sure you take a few bait jigs as the little chopper tailor make short work of them if they are around, that spot is better at night for bait and fish. Be extremely careful in a Kayak around that bridge, especially at night it gets alot of boat traffic, not everyone is looking properly for kayaks, not everyone has lights on and some people drive too fast through there. There are yakkas and herring around that pontoon as well. You can take soft vibes and plastics as mentioned above and tea bag them around the pylons if you cant catch bait. If you are limited on time you might be better off just going straight to that technique anyway if you intend on spending the majority of your break time chasing jewies. Otherwise I would be spending your 1-2 hour study breaks chasing and stockpiling squid and then have a dedicated Jewie session when you are prepared and the conditions are right. This same technique can be used at any of the bridges on the Georges, all will have simliar safety issues. Off the jewie track, this would be a good time of year (while the water is still warm) to be throwing or towing little metals and plastics around the Hacking for Bonito, talior, salmon, Kings and the like, you can fish for squid while you're there too. Just make sure you paddle around that 3m bull shark they caught the other day.

You're not giving up that easy. Which area of the Georges are you planning on fishing? If you tell us that we can try to tell you where you might be able to catch poddies where you launch your kayak so you don't spill salt water in your car driving your livies around and giving them a headache. You will be able to trap poddies at most places that you are able to launch your kayak. Herring on tiny bait jigs are another good option around bridge pylons but a bit less reliable to catch. Another option is to dedicate one or several trips to go to the hacking or kurnell and catch squid, keep it in snaplock bags in the fridge and use it that arvo/night or the next day. Or catch it one day, freeze it in snaplock bags and take it as a backup bait for when you can't catch livies, or just use the squid or try both. If you take the squid for bait you have to use it for bait that trip or keep it cool and eat it that night, it will not re-freeze well enough for jewies. We often catch just as many if not more school jewies in the Georges on self caught frozen squid than livies, partly because you always have it and you don't always have livies. Fishing squid strips is much more economical on bait and strips are more durable than whole baits. Any squid with a hood longer than your hand should get 4 strips out of the hood, one big or two smaller baits out of the head and two wing baits.

You have probably been hit by something with sharp teeth like a tailor or small shark, possibly mackerel if you are up the coast. The baitrunner wouldn't have helped you here, only a second hook down near the tail. The baitrunner more suits fish that turn the bait and swallow it whole like kings and jewies. In saying that jewies will take the thing whole anyway if it fits in their gob, as discussed in comments above.

I think you will find if your radio isn't working properly then it isn't legal to start with. But forgetting the legalities the important bit it is more about safety. You shouldn't even be offshore without your radio. A couple of years ago we upgraded from a 27Meg radio to a VHF as we struggled to get coverage on the 27Meg at 12 mile. 12 Mile is about where mobile reception starts to get sketchy depending on weather and other stuff that you can't count on or control. You shouldn't be out there in a bigger boat without a radio either. You may find that your radio is fine and that the times you are talking about it not working you were in black spots like behind the cliffs, remember that the radio works pretty much on line of sight. We have had radio contact problems at both boat harbour and different places along the Royal National Park due to the cliffs and the radio was functioning fine. If you are after kings and dollies they have been in closer than the 12 mile and wide FAD anyway. If you are confident that your radio works then make a decision based on weather but i would imagine it would be easier to catch a king in near the cliffs or the harbour and i would try the closer wave rider buoys and FADs before heading out wider anyway. Basically when you show up to the FAD or buoy you want the water to be 22 degrees or warmer and blue with a bit of current running. Don't forget to log on and off with marine rescue.

I agree with all that stuff Jon. When i started fishing for jewies we used to catch alot of fish in the 2-3kg range with a few over 4kg. We were using whole squid and squid strips in the river. I think the fish hit more aggressively in the surf and i also think they hit a bait they can fit easily in their mouth more aggressivley too. We often use mono when bait fishing in the boat and think the stretch in the mono when they first swim off gives them plenty of time for the bait to get a larger bait into their mouth and be facing away from the rod.

I use 6/0 - 10/0 octopus or octopus circles for my main Jewie rigs. I just use 4/0-6/0 for the pillie rigs depending on the size of the pillies.

I used to fish with baitrunner mode for jews for ages, especially out of the boat but now i fish a set drag. I found that with a set drag you might miss the fish that pick it up and muck around with it because they feel the tension but you miss the fish that smash the bait as the line spews out of the reel and they drop it before you can pick the rod up. The bigger fish or fish in a school i found were more likely to hit it aggressively. I still use bait runner reels but mostly keep them in gear with dead baits and smaller live baits that fit in the fishes mouth. I still fish the baitrunners in baitrunner mode if using BIG livebaits (over about 35cm). Both because i think the bait stays happier if he can take line when he tries to have a bit of a kick rather than wearing the hook holes in his back bigger from jarring, I think they behave a bit better and are less likely to swim in a big circle where you don't want them to. I also let the fish take a little bit of line with the bigger live baits. Not alot but until they are accelerating or have a bit of speed up. If they wack it and dont move but there is weight on the line i will engage the gears and strike. When slow trolling livebaits for kings i use baitrunners in bait runner mode.

Jewies are normally our primary target when fishing the beach so I am too scared to use gang hooks even to get tailor for bait in case we hook a jew and the gangs open up. I have had salmon and kingies open gang hooks more than a few times. I snell 3 octopus hooks close together on 30 or 40lb trace if i need to fish for tailor for bait while jewie fishing.

I use the method in James's video. I use the same method for twin hook rigs. Tie the first hook, then second hook, then swivel.I don't do the couple of wraps back down the shank but, I just go straight back through the eye after the wraps up the shank. An important detail that sometimes gets overlooked with these knots is you need to pay attention to the way the eye of the hook is closed and do your first wrap on the other side, otherwise the sharp end of the hook steel can cut the end of the leader under pressure. A quick trial and error and you will see which side is best to wrap on.

I think the PE rating method has some merit but doesn't tell you how strong it is which i like to know. It would be fantastic if they had on all braids the tested or approximate real breaking strain for that line, the diameter and a roundness coefficient or a typical X by Y dimension of the cross section of the line because we all know how much the stated diameters and shapes can vary and also effect how much you can fit on the spool from how it lays. And while i'm being greedy, a buoyancy factor would be fantastic too. I have used some braids that are sinking braids and they are heaps better for squidding and plastics for snapper etc (IMO).

I haven't used fins but i have 30lb Daiwa J braid in 8 strand in colour change on a 5000 FG Sustain for casting lighter stick baits and heavier plastics and have not problems with it. I have only used it a handful of times in the last 6 months. Previous to this i have used Berkley Whiplash in 30, 50, 65, 80lb and have found it great. It is now very difficult to get. On 20lb and down i use Sunline Momentum which is great but now that is out of production too. I will probably be using J braid 8 Carrier from now on. Guys i fish with only use Daiwa J braid 8 carrier. They are fishing for mackerel and snapper with 30lb. The J braid is not the thinnest braid but it is pretty smooth and round which im sure counts for something with casting and water drag. I think one of my mates has fins and says it is thick and strong for the stated breaking strain, meaning it might say 30lb but be thicker than other 30lb braids and actually break at 40lb+. So it makes it difficult to compare on breaking strain.

A few things, the tangling probably happens if you let the bait and rig free fall down too quickly. With an open bail arm or complete free spool the bait probably has more water drag on it trying to sink than there is for the line to be pulled off the spool. This means that the sinker plummets to the bottom and pulls the mainline through the sinker/sinker clip/swivel as it goes down. This means that the mainline and and trace are running vertically next to each other. The water drag on the bait causes it to spin around and around the two lines twisting them together to your rig looks like the letter "Y" with the sinker at the bottom. You should definitely lower the bait down slowly to minimise tangling and also with livies so they don't get dizzy and sad. Other tricks that you may consider are to put some type of stopper above the sinker to restrict how far up the line it can go. You can tie a stopper knot with half a rubber band onto the main line which works well. The other thing to consider is how you attach the running sinker. You probably dont need a long dropper to the sinker but you can still have it as a sacrifice. depending on how heavy your main line is you could just use a sliding sinker clip like an Ezy Rig, I use them and i have stopped using sacrifice line attachements as i know the clip will break before the mainline if it gets snagged. You can also tie a swivel hard against the top of the snapper lead (with lighter line) and slide the other end of the swivel onto the main line so the swivel slides up and down the line and it will help against the snapper lead spinning and twisting the line. You can also use the swivel on the sinker trick with an Ezy Rig clip. I started to use torpedo sinkers for poor mans down riggers and trolling as the are much better through the water and just try harder not to hit the bottom. In any of these cases i use a rubber band stopper on my windon leader (with a leader knot not a fancy windon) to stop the sinker being able to slide over the braid to leader connection. To get a bit pickier, when using two hook rigs, especially withe squid strips slow trolling, drifting or anchored in heavy current you may want to consider using non-offset hooks like live bait hooks and paying careful attention to (and checking in the water before you drop it down) that the bait does not spin in the water. The fish don't always like it and it does cause tangles.

I've never tried down there but Bombo beach might be long enough and as mentioned Werri Beach at Gerringong and Seven Mile Beach at Gerroa would probably hold them

Thank you for that Howard, that is what i wanted to know. I run berkley whiplash in 65lb on alot of my reels and Sunline Momentum (now out of production) on anything lighter (20lb down to 10lb), I have recently got the 8 carrier Daiwa J braid in 30lb on a 5000 reel which works for me. Do you think that the 5500 would still have good casting distance with a quality 8 carrier 30lb braid or do you think it might be getting a bit bulky? Steve, I think you should be able to come in under budget there and get what you need/want. I haven't seen the Wilson Live Fibre Rods but their description reads well. I have decided that i like K guides so pretty much all of the rods i look at now have K guides on them. I would look at the Shimano Aerowave Graphite in the 6-10kg (they come in 12'and 13' and are 3 piece which is very handy for the car) and I would look at the 8-12kg Penn Prevails in the 12' and 13'. Both of these are in the $150-$200 range and i think great value for money. I don't own a prevail but have fished with them. I would also look at the Daiwa Sensor Surf Range to see if you like them enough to pay the extra (they are $300-$400). I own the 15' double extra heavy, it feels great in the hand, is light and strong, it is a bit overkill (you could probably cast a house brick if you needed to but you need to stop winding to check your fish is still on, even for soapie jews off the beach). It doesn't get anywhere near as much of a run as my Aerowave Graphite (K guide series 8-15kg) and Aerowave Composite (Old model 6-12kg). The Prevails and Sensor Surfs also come in heavier models and longer models that i haven't mentioned that you may want to investigate (10-20kg and 14'6" and 15' for the sensor surfs. Reels wise I can only comment on Shimanos but would think you could get away with a 5000 fishing 20lb braid and anything in the 6000-8000 for 30lb braid. (in saying that i have a 5000 sustain with 30lb J braid for the boat which is great but would not cast as well as 20lb braid. I would have a look at the 5500 Ultegra XTC Ci4 ( i am going to too), I would look at the Thunnus 8000 if you are not going to do alot of lure throwing, I would look at any reel from a Nasci 5000 up the range of reels (new ultegra FB i haven't seen yet, stradic FK, twin power etc.) to find your balance of feel/price that you are happy with. I think 200-300m of 20-30lb braid will work and pick the reel accordingly.