Beach Fishing Bloopers

[GreasePit 0]

I have recently picked up beach fishing as of about 4-5 months ago and in the 10 or so outings i have been, i have discovered a few peculiar little occurrences which arise.

So about 1 month ago, i decided to try give it a go even though there was a big swell going on. I had a little drive to a few headlands to see if i could suss out any gutters, but the surf just covered everything in whitewash, making it a bit too hard for my inexperienced eyes to spot the gutters.

After a while of searching i decided to just throw a quick line in at Narrabeen, but the current was ridiculous. Was running a heavy star sinker and still couldn't have my line in the water without being washed up to shore in under 2 minutes or so.

In the end i decided to just find the most sheltered southerly corner that i could, with the smallest surf possible.
So i set-up shop at Collaroy. The current was still fairly strong there, but the waves there were all breaking within 10 or so meters from the shore, with the bank being really steep.

Now for those of you who know Collaroy well, that southerly corner is particularly Kelpy.
Just on dusk, one of my two rods started going off, i let it have a little line and 'set the hook'.
After a 10 minute fight and 150 meters up the beach, i finally got it close to the shore, i could feel it come closer as waves came over it and pull drag again as the waves receded. I thought it might have been a big ray just wallowing around in the waves, not really giving two sh*ts about the hook in its mouth, but i didn't have my head torch on me at the time so i couldn't really see to much of what was going on.
Now I'm not a big bloke, and a 15 odd minute fight on a 12 foot rod while wearing about 4 layers of clothes on the top, and 3 layers on the bottom, including a pair of wading overalls had me pretty buggered.
At this point I tried to tighten my drag up a little so that i could stop it from taking line as the waves receded, and yeah you guessed it, snap... all over red rover.

Now during the fight, in my head i thought it could have been one of two things, a ray, or a jewfish which was my target species.
So i walked back up to the rest of my gear, tired, shaking from the thrill of the fight, sweatier than a sparky's 'coin purse' and a little bit pissed i didn't get to see the fish, admittedly yelling more than my fair share of obscenities.

By this point it had gone dark, so i reeled in my other rod with the heavier gear to check it and it hadn't had a touch. Feeling pretty done with the trip i decided not to redo my small rod which had just been busted off, so i threw out the heavy one for that 'last cast' tradition while i packed up all my stuff.

About 5 minutes later, the big rod starts going off, along with my adrenaline levels, but before i get to the rod i chuck on my head-torch so this time i can maybe get a glimpse at the big tucker. After another draining fight which consisted of the same style as the previous, but with the bigger line i get it in with a wave onto the bank just enough to see what it is. It was big, probably the biggest thing i've hooked onto ever. A monstrous mother ball of friggin kelp.

That's right folks, the hardest fighting fish i've hooked onto in my life so far is this massive bundle of kelp which had been all wrapped up in my line, i reckon it probably weighed at least 10kg, paired with the really strong current, and a really steep bank makes for a tough fight. I mean it was pulling drag off a 12000 Shimano reel with 20 odd kilo mono.

Anyway, after all that effort for absolute donuts, lost gear, and general disappointment i learnt that
6ft surf+Sh*t tons of kelp= F*&% that, never again.

Since that, i haven't been back to the beach for a fish since as it is quite a big effort, fitting all my gear into my little coupe, doing the hour long drive from the sticks to the ocean, and probably not going to for a couple weeks more.
But hey, that's fishing, another lesson learned, and another story to tell other fisho's.

[Guest 4myson]

Great read mate ... Don't be too dishearten , it's happened to all of us that have taken up beach fishing at some stage . Just convince yourself that the lump of weed was actually a Jew .... What was CHOPPER READ famous words " Never Let The Truth Get In The Way of A Good Story " Hang in there mate ......

[GreasePit 0]

Great read mate ... Don't be too dishearten , it's happened to all of us that have taken up beach fishing at some stage . Just convince yourself that the lump of weed was actually a Jew .... What was CHOPPER READ famous words " Never Let The Truth Get In The Way of A Good Story " Hang in there mate ......

Yeah don't worry about that, i'm not giving up on it, just taking a much needed break

I'll get that Jew off the beach even if it kills me!

[Guest 4myson]

That's the SPIRIT !!!!

[fragmeister 111]

Great read.

I've had many a good fight with the bottom of the ocean myself!

Better luck next time.

Cheers

Jim

[Crossfire63 2]

Ahhh the dreaded kelp fish.......Seen many blokes get excited at the prospects of a monster fish only to be disappointed at the end of a long hard fight.

I reckon its propagated out there by tackle store owners. I've seen blokes break so many rods trying to drag the damn stuff in.

Stick with it and one day you might convert it into a fifh

[flatheadluke 112]

Great read mate. I've also had a fight with kelp. Only things more annoying are Rays and bloody Wobbegongs.

[SgtBundy 0]

Done the same thing at Collaroy - I took at as confidence that my gear could stand up to that sort of weight and drag.

Did make for a very frustrating night though.

[Scratchie 540]

Very funny chris! I'm sure we've all had our fair share of mystery fish. I know I've had a few meter+ flathead that turned into small logs!

Cheers scratchie!!!

[mikei000 2]

I've had my burley bucket swept out to sea only to catch it again half an hour later! The fabled bucketfish

[krause 0]

Yeah don't worry about that, i'm not giving up on it, just taking a much needed break

I'll get that Jew off the beach even if it kills me!

Bravo! Join the club [emoji14]

[towrag 0]

Ah yes the old seaweed fish

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

[Ryder 28]

I feel for you, it's a reel pain.

If the is kelp on the beach, there is kelp in the water.

I had an epic battle with an anchor rope off Dee Why.

Watch those waders, they're not recommended beach fishing attire.

[GreasePit 0]

Glad i'm not in this alone haha
Cheers fellas

I feel for you, it's a reel pain.
If the is kelp on the beach, there is kelp in the water.
I had an epic battle with an anchor rope off Dee Why.
Watch those waders, they're not recommended beach fishing attire.

Only reason i really wear the waders is to keep sand from getting all up in my business, much easier to wash off a plastic boot and chuck her in the car compared to my hairy legs which just want to retain as much sand as possible.
Also good to stay dry when trying to catch beach worms

[krause 0]

^Problem is if you go down your just a play thing for the waves. Waders are basically sails and not easy to swim in....

[GreasePit 0]

^Problem is if you go down your just a play thing for the waves. Waders are basically sails and not easy to swim in....

I don't go deep enough into the water for falling over to be an issue, only really go ankle deep at most.

Off the stones i can see them being a big problem if you go in though.

Appreciate the advise though mate

[piratesgold 0]

did you find my rig in the 'weedfish' it sounds like one of the ones I caught recently, brown in colour and kinda ugly? lol

[GreasePit 0]

did you find my rig in the 'weedfish' it sounds like one of the ones I caught recently, brown in colour and kinda ugly? lol

Brown in colour and very ugly, could have even been Old Gregg from the Mighty Boosh.

[Crossfire63 2]

I don't go deep enough into the water for falling over to be an issue, only really go ankle deep at most.

Off the stones i can see them being a big problem if you go in though.

Appreciate the advise though mate

I've had to rescue a bloke off Nrh Entance beach who lost hi footing in shin deep water.

His waders filled with water and he was unable to stand up. With the waves washing over his face it wouldn't have been long before he drowned.

The amount of water a pair of neoprene waders can hold is unbelievable. It took two of us to lift this bloke up.

You can drown in two inches of water

[flatheadluke 112]

I've had to rescue a bloke off Nrh Entance beach who lost hi footing in shin deep water.

His waders filled with water and he was unable to stand up. With the waves washing over his face it wouldn't have been long before he drowned.

The amount of water a pair of neoprene waders can hold is unbelievable. It took two of us to lift this bloke up.

You can drown in two inches of water

That's hectic!!!

I reckon you can't go past gumboots for winter beach fishing. I wear thick woolen socks when it's icy. Bunnings sell them for $20.

[Guest 4mydad]

I remember 1 night I was with dad & I got so excited when I saw the rod bend but it happened to be nothing but seaweed .

[piratesgold 0]

neoprene chest waders have a lot of buoyancy, but unfortunately float you upside down if you try and swim in them, and are not easy to get off! many years ago my father (commercial fisho) fouled his prop and got washed on the rocks, had to swim for it in oilskins and waders, only a couple of metres then a vey heavy climb out of the water, he said it was a hell of a struggle, and he was a fit man, had to cut his waders down to booties in order to climb the cliffs,

[Twinfisher 4.9 0]

I think we could all provide enough tales of "The Fish That Wasn't" to write a book. Some years ago I took a mate, relatively new to the sport and we were flicking some plastics around and there were a couple of other boats anchored near us. As I was keeping an eye on what he was doing, saw his cast land about 20m just past the bow of an another boat........what was coming was inevitable! He announced he had hooked the biggest flattie ever as the other boat was moving about in the swell it was putting up a great tussle. I decided after 10 mins to put him out of his misery and said I would lift the anchor so we could chase his "fish". I motored over to the front of the other boat and gently lifted some of his anchor rope so he could see his Sqidgie firmly hooked into 10mm rope.

It's embarrassing at the time but a good chuckle afterwards. Fishing is like sex, sometimes it doesn't quite go to plan, just have a sense of humour and don't give up! Never fear, we have all done it.

[Mike89 1]

Yeah good read! I'm just getting started on beach fishing though I'll have to buy a new outfit specifically for the job pretty soon before I can really give it a good bash.

Very funny chris! I'm sure we've all had our fair share of mystery fish. I know I've had a few meter+ flathead that turned into small logs!

Cheers scratchie!!!

Haha. I had a big flathead on the hook yesterday that turned out to be a towel.