Old days

[noelm]

Just thinking, when we got "big" boats, some a whole 17' a trip to the banks was a mission, fuel and weather checked for such an expedition, now, it's really quite close in with what we have available.

[Blackfish]

I remember one morning in Winter, all the land marks were obscured by fog but we found the Peak and no one was on it, every one was about 1-2 klms away. Got a mate on the Radio and told him. Next minute the flotilla came racing toward us like the start of the Sydney Hobart.

In those day if someone looked like they knew what they were doing every one attached themselves to them ... still see that happening.

[Berleyguts]

2 hours ago, noelm said:

Yeah, back in the late 70's and into the 80's jigging was all the rage, but not with light weight gear available today, heavy glass rods, with fast tapers, 4/0 Senators or the smaller Jigmasters, big 8 ounce jigs, it was very hard work, and no funny fingerless gloves, shirts with every brand name on them, $500 sunglasses or 12" colour sounders or GPS to be seen! I still have a JS980 jigstick I built decades ago, the JS signifying Jig Stick, the 980 meaning 9 wrap and 80" long, very fast taper and very strong, you could just lift a decent King straight in, I will get a photo of it later, unfortunately the Senator got stolen years ago, along with some other very sentimental gear that I would love to have back.

I still have and use a rod I built using a JS980 blank. I built it in 1981 as a 10kg trolling/jigging/livebaiting stick and used a Daiwa Sealine 400H on it., Fuji guides and AFTCO(?) roller tip. I now fish 15kg on it using a Shimano Tyrnos 30 2 speed. It’s a 6’ rod so I must have trimmed 8” off it. I can’t remember but I assume a bit off both ends. Dick Hanks at Bluefin Sports when it was on Forest Rd at Hurstville helped me with the design. It’s had a tough working life and still going strong!

[noelm]

Yep agree, the best fishermen (in my opinion) start off young, catching Mullet, Nippers and Squirt Worms, then just learn and move up, fish off jetties and beaches and continue to observe and learn, it's a great sport, and can often be a great leveller, plenty out there that have big money, but couldn't catch a fish if you threw it to them.

[noelm]

3 minutes ago, Berleyguts said:

I still have and use a rod I built using a JS980 blank. I built it in 1981 as a 10kg trolling/jigging/livebaiting stick and used a Daiwa Sealine 400H on it., Fuji guides and AFTCO(?) roller tip. I now fish 15kg on it using a Shimano Tyrnos 30 2 speed. It’s a 6’ rod so I must have trimmed 8” off it. I can’t remember but I assume a bit off both ends. Dick Hanks at Bluefin Sports when it was on Forest Rd at Hurstville helped me with the design. It’s had a tough working life and still going strong!

For 10KG you would normally leave the tip as is, some of my old ones are still in use and you could fish 24KG if you wanted, they were a very powerful rod in their day, high sticking was a non event, unless you somehow damaged the rod, you will never break one fishing.

[Yowie]

A squid jig from the 1960's, and an original Wonder Wobbler lure, not quite as old, but this one has never been in the water.

The squid jig was just bounced on the bottom, and the squid would grab it an become hooked. A bit of weight in it, so it does not float down like the prawn shaped jigs of today.

The Wonder Wobbler is named because of it's spoon shape. It is retrieved slowly and fish would grab it because it appeared to be a wounded small fish. Similar styles are used to today, but just caused wobbler lures. Of the fish I have caught on lures, just about every species I caught on a Wonder Wobbler, including squid, cuttlefish and occies, and one blue swimmer crab that was swimming just under the surface. One of it's nippers was firmly clamped across the body of the lure, and would not let go until it hit the bottom of the boat. (for those that don't know, blue swimmers will swim well off the bottom, just paddling along with their flippers, not all that common but it does happen)

[frankS]

Some great memories from this thread, I will try and find some of my old gear. Have given most things away over the years but think I still have some old stuff laying around somewhere.

Frank

[Yowie]

1 hour ago, Blackfish said:

I remember one morning in Winter, all the land marks were obscured by fog but we found the Peak and no one was on it, every one was about 1-2 klms away. Got a mate on the Radio and told him. Next minute the flotilla came racing toward us like the start of the Sydney Hobart.

In those day if someone looked like they knew what they were doing every one attached themselves to them ... still see that happening.

In my teenage days when I fished at Windang on Lake Illawarra, I used my grandparent's 8 foot row boat, red and white in colour, so it stood out like dog's doovers.

I quite often had other boats follow me, so if I saw them, I would  anchor in a spot that I knew had no fish, throw out a line and pretend I was getting bites, and dip the landing net into the water on the other side of the boat to make it look like I was catching something. The boats would anchor nearby, and when they were set up, I would up anchor and row away to a spot where there were fish. A bit hard to out row a motor boat at times.

At times in Port Hacking, I would hook a fish on a handline, say something like a 60 or 70 or 80cm jewie, the fish would be tearing about under the boat, other fishos would stop or slow down to see if I was catching anything, and I would just pretend nothing was happening until they moved off. Never lost a fish that way.

Edited June 26, 2019 by Yowie

[Berleyguts]

1 hour ago, noelm said:

For 10KG you would normally leave the tip as is, some of my old ones are still in use and you could fish 24KG if you wanted, they were a very powerful rod in their day, high sticking was a non event, unless you somehow damaged the rod, you will never break one fishing.

Yes, I probably only trimmed the butt.  It’s a tough old stick for sure! 3 1/2 hours on a mega yellowfin on 10kg standing up in an old 14’ Quinnie off Narooma, only to have it roll up under the boat in the wire trace and leader and wear through the double! 😢🤬

[frankS]

Can someone ID this old thing ?.

Frank

[kingie chaser]

2 minutes ago, frankS said:

Can someone ID this old thing ?.

Frank

 

So no markings or symbols on it anywhere frank?

[noelm]

Don't know what it is, but I like it.......

[noelm]

I couldn't help myself, I would restore it, make a wooden handle and keep it safe.

[frankS]

No markings anywhere on it. It's Brass except for the stem that holds the wind knob and that is steel.

I would love to see it restored but I have neither the skills required or the inclination to do so.

If I could make a ID I would probably donate it to some fishing museum .

Frank

[noelm]

I used to have a solid brass pair of binoculars, that were supposed to have been used by my ancestors when they sailed here, I have the telescope that they supposedly used too, and it has a date inside from the 1700s the little screws in it are hand made, love old stuff.

[kingfishbig]

19 hours ago, Blackfish said:

Ahhh, the old Furno Paper sounder and the last photo is that a Iron Coffin, Joe Gospel era.

Great photos, brings back lots of memories.

It's not the Coffin - Henchman sounds right.

[noelm]

Just mulling this over, I think the coffin was kind of flat, the Taipan was just like an oversized metal paddle pop stick, there was also a flat elongated diamond shaped one, can't remember the name.

[kingfishbig]

5 minutes ago, noelm said:

Just mulling this over, I think the coffin was kind of flat, the Taipan was just like an oversized metal paddle pop stick, there was also a flat elongated diamond shaped one, can't remember the name.

The Coffin was flat and coffin shaped (I still have a couple). The Taipan was a Maverick lure not an Iron.

[Blackfish]

47 minutes ago, noelm said:

Just mulling this over, I think the coffin was kind of flat, the Taipan was just like an oversized metal paddle pop stick, there was also a flat elongated diamond shaped one, can't remember the name.

Weren’t Taipans from the Maverick range. ?

opps didn’t read the last past KFB

 

Edited June 26, 2019 by Blackfish

[Blackfish]

1 hour ago, kingfishbig said:

It's not the Coffin - Henchman sounds right.

Henchman May have been the Largest one that they released.

I have some at home......... buried somewhere.

when I get a chance I’ll have a look.

[Green Hornet]

That lure wouldn't be an Iron Undertaker would it?

I loved my high speed spinning off the rocks with a Seascape 6 to 1 and a Butterworth FMT8120 in the late 70's and early 80's.

If I remember both the coffin and the undertaker were 3 ounce lures and the coffin was a little boxier in profile than the undertaker. 

[Koalaboi]

I remember the high speed spinning days: Lyn Donoghue was a gun and he did a bit of pioneering fishing down at Jervis Bay...I worked with him in a fishing tackle shop Shappeare and Hoare in Top Ryde back in my uni days in the early 70s. Lyn took up hunting and seemed to lose interest in fishing. haven't seen him since those days.

I still have my 5:1 Seascape reel in good nick.

From memory, the coffin series of lures were meant to work well on pelagics using a slower retrieve.

KB

[New Signing]

Jigging with glass rods and tld20's for hours on end lol tough times

[Guest Guest123456789]

4 hours ago, Yowie said:

In my teenage days when I fished at Windang on Lake Illawarra, I used my grandparent's 8 foot row boat, red and white in colour, so it stood out like dog's doovers.

I quite often had other boats follow me, so if I saw them, I would  anchor in a spot that I knew had no fish, throw out a line and pretend I was getting bites, and dip the landing net into the water on the other side of the boat to make it look like I was catching something. The boats would anchor nearby, and when they were set up, I would up anchor and row away to a spot where there were fish. A bit hard to out row a motor boat at times.

At times in Port Hacking, I would hook a fish on a handline, say something like a 60 or 70 or 80cm jewie, the fish would be tearing about under the boat, other fishos would stop or slow down to see if I was catching anything, and I would just pretend nothing was happening until they moved off. Never lost a fish that way.

You could have helped them - i doubt you would have caught any less fish if you did.

[kingfishbig]

37 minutes ago, New Signing said:

Jigging with glass rods and tld20's for hours on end lol tough times

I used to jig with a 2 1/2/ 0 Everol.