What is a good cheap setup for luderick? - New Beginner

[JamoDamo]

Hey guys! Just wondering if any of you guys have any cheap good rods for luderick and reels. Oscarthebeagle told me a good starting point. I asked my sister if its in stock and she said no, unfortunately they won't continue to make this rod so i am asking for a little help from you guys if you would be kind enough to point me in the right direction. Also if i find one myself should i buy a 10ft rod for estuary blackfishing or smaller or larger rods?

Thanks again, JamoDamo 

[DerekD]

Hi JD,

Unless you have money to burn I'll suggest another approach to the blackfish to start with. Do you already have a spinning rod with 4 to 8lb line and preferably monofilament?

I like chasing the blackfish when the pelagics are not around in numbers. Rather than buy gear that I won't be using all year round I use my 2-4kg bream rod. I'm nowhere as good as the people that focus exclusively on luderick but I do get my fair share if they are around.

Go out an look for something called a floatstop. It is a rubber bead which transfers on to the line. This video shows what they look like and how it is done

They come in different sizes but buy the smallest ones that you can which will (A) pass through the guides of the rod and (B) is still large enough not to pass through the guides of the float. The float stop should be a snug fit on the line because it acts as a friction lock.

Thread this on to your mono and run it up the line about 1m. Then thread your float on. Then your sinker and then tie off to a (very) small swivel (needs to be larger than the hole through the sinker or put a small bead above the swivel). In my case I've spend some time finding a float and sinker combination which works perfectly. I bought every one of those floats I could find and a few bags of the sinkers. My floats end up being only slightly positively buoyant.

The float stop can be moved up and down the line to set the depth in the water and it will cast quite well. From the swivel downwards use 30 to 40cm of 0.2mm line as recommended by @wazatherfisherman down to a gamakatsu panfish hook in size 6 (you can go up or down depending on the size of fish in the area but #6 is a nice go to). In my case I've often skipped the swivel and run the line three times through sinker for a friction lock and then the 30-40cm to the hook. The advantage of using the swivel arrangement is that you can use really fine line to give yourself the best chance of hooking the fish but if you get busted off you get the rest of your gear back.

At times the line will whip around the float but all you do is wind it back up and re-cast. If you use a pendulum cast it is easier to manage the line. You want to set the height of the floatstop so that when the bait has settled in to its resting place it forces the fish to come slightly up into the water column, take the hook with weed and then turn back down, dragging the float with it.

Floatstops $3, Float $6-8, Sinkers $3, Swivels $3, Hooks $6. Line you should already have. Under $25 and you could be chasing blackfish.

If you find you are hooked (pun intended) then you have had time to save more money and you'll have worked out what you want by then. You can keep using the float and hooks.

Regards,

Derek

Edited September 6, 2019 by DerekD

[BUG89]

1 hour ago, JamoDamo said:

Hey guys! Just wondering if any of you guys have any cheap good rods for luderick and reels. Oscarthebeagle told me a good starting point. I asked my sister if its in stock and she said no, unfortunately they won't continue to make this rod so i am asking for a little help from you guys if you would be kind enough to point me in the right direction. Also if i find one myself should i buy a 10ft rod for estuary blackfishing or smaller or larger rods?

Thanks again, JamoDamo 

its my 1st season of this type of fishing i just got my self a wilson black fish rod from a shop its pretty good got it when it was on sale then any spinning reel you have spare laying around. next season i am going to go for a center pin reel. then any float that your local tackle shop sells. the only thing i would say to get is the sunline leader i found i had most success with this leader but thats what i found. its a very fun different type of fishing

cheers Bug

[chokpa]

theres a guy on youtube called sticky fishy fishing, he has some good lude vids.

 

agree with the others, i dont think it needs a specialised rod. any long soft rod will do. also depends where you are fishing, casting etc. you cuold get away with a 7ft rod in some places, but a 10ft soft rod would be fine. in my opinion no need to spend big bucks

[BUG89]

11 minutes ago, chokpa said:

theres a guy on youtube called sticky fishy fishing, he has some good lude vids.

 

agree with the others, i dont think it needs a specialised rod. any long soft rod will do. also depends where you are fishing, casting etc. you cuold get away with a 7ft rod in some places, but a 10ft soft rod would be fine. in my opinion no need to spend big bucks

for 120 bucks you cant go wrong with this https://www.a shop.com.au/p/wilson-blackfish-spinning-rod-10ft-2-piece/112078.html

and sticky from that youtube channel uses the same rod now as well as you see on he channel he uses it for bream drummer and assorts of fishing too.

[wazatherfisherman]

39 minutes ago, DerekD said:

Hi JD,

Unless you have money to burn I'll suggest another approach to the blackfish to start with. Do you already have a spinning rod with 4 to 8lb line and preferably monofilament?

I like chasing the blackfish when the pelagics are not around in numbers. Rather than buy gear that I won't be using all year round I use my 2-4kg bream rod. I'm nowhere as good as the people that focus exclusively on luderick but I do get my fair share if they are around.

Go out an look for something called a floatstop. It is a rubber bead which transfers on to the line. This video shows what they look like and how it is done

They come in different sizes but buy the smallest ones that you can which will (A) pass through the guides of the rod and (B) is still large enough not to pass through the guides of the float. The float stop should be a snug fit on the line because it acts as a friction lock.

Thread this on to your mono and run it up the line about 1m. Then thread your float on. Then your sinker and then tie off to a (very) small swivel (needs to be larger than the hole through the sinker or put a small bead above the swivel). In my case I've spend some time finding a float and sinker combination which works perfectly. I bought every one of those floats I could find and a few bags of the sinkers. My floats end up being only slightly positively buoyant.

The float stop can be moved up and down the line to set the depth in the water and it will cast quite well. From the swivel downwards use 30 to 40cm of 0.2mm line as recommended by @wazatherfisherman down to a gamakatsu panfish hook in size 6 (you can go up or down depending on the size of fish in the area but #6 is a nice go to). In my case I've often skipped the swivel and run the line three times through sinker for a friction lock and then the 30-40cm to the hook. The advantage of using the swivel arrangement is that you can use really fine line to give yourself the best chance of hooking the fish but if you get busted off you get the rest of your gear back.

At times the line will whip around the float but all you do is wind it back up and re-cast. If you use a pendulum cast it is easier to manage the line. You want to set the height of the floatstop so that when the bait has settled in to its resting place it forces the fish to come slightly up into the water column, take the hook with weed and then turn back down, dragging the float with it.

Floatstops $3, Float $6-8, Sinkers $3, Swivels $3, Hooks $6. Line you should already have. Under $25 and you could be chasing blackfish.

If you find you are hooked (pun intended) then you have had time to save more money and you'll have worked out what you want by then. You can keep using the float and hooks.

Regards,

Derek

Just a tip if you use the rubber stoppers Derek suggests- you can buy a tubular version that are coloured red,green and yellow. Put 2 on your line rather than 1- Reason?- Often you may adjust your depth, until the fish are located, that involves going deeper /shallower from your originally intended depth. By moving only the bottom stopper down if you try shallower, you still have a visible location on your line to 'where you were at'- if you want to go deeper you move both up, then the top one roughly the distance up again, that way you again know where you were at. Might sound a bit silly, but if you are fishing deeper water and the fish are 'holding' at a certain level, gives you a visual 'reference point' of the depth you have tried - a lot easier than just moving it up and down without knowing what you have tried

[JamoDamo]

Thanks to all of you again. Been researching all the time and have come up with a quite a collection of decent blackfish weed and cabbage spots. Will blackfish take cunjevoi as i heard they have but this is a bait more suited for pigs. I think for my first session i'll try either como baths or gunnamatta baths as i have seen some stonker luderick there at least the biggest 44cm which is insane. Good thing about there is bait is pretty easy to go and collect and botany bay has lots of spots and the georges which i had been investigating for more spots. Anyways thanks again all of you ur input into my quest for blackfish is extremely helpful. 

Thanks again, JamoDamo. 

Also i will probably be starting more stuff the get more needed info from u guys thanks!

[JamoDamo]

i have a small 5ft kmart combo with 2-4kg line which i am sure is equivalent to 4-8lb. Although that won't cut it. I will be going on a holiday with my family to caloundra on the sunshine coast and i cannot wait, all i'll be doing from dawn till dusk is fishing. There is so much on offer there including some stonker whiting and flathead. Man i cannot wait! I'm going to have to buy some new gear soon ie hooks,sinkers, floats all that lucky my birthday is coming up! I hope that rod is still in stock! If it isn't i'll be pretty disappointed but thats life. I think if i end up really liking blackfishing which i did on my debut i'll invest in some specific blackfishing gear. How many packets of hooks and new gear do you think i'll need? I am thinking on joining a fishing club so i can learn new stuff from like minded people. Anyways thanks again!

Thanks JamoDamo

[rickmarlin62]

I do a lot of blackfishing  using old school traditional float  2 trace  centrepin  setup  ive just gone to sunline floating line  instead of smearing vaseline on my nylon....quite often i take a spare rod for other people to try  on this one i use a spinning reel with 8lb braid as braid floats  small bobby corks and chemical sharpened short shank hooks  or 540 mustard french hooks    rod length depends on location  in the boat i use 7ft  in estuary  9ft  on rocks  10 _12 ft    if your lucky keep your eyes open on places like fb marketplace  i bought a bundle of rods n reels the other day  and discovered one rod amongst them was a mag bream  which make great blackie rods.....any soft slow action rod will be fine   blackies tend to tumble n dive in there fighting action and fast stiff action rods will pull hooks or break traces......as said before you can start with minimum gear   just enjoy it

Edited September 7, 2019 by rickmarlin62

[DerekD]

7 hours ago, JamoDamo said:

i have a small 5ft kmart combo with 2-4kg line which i am sure is equivalent to 4-8lb. Although that won't cut it.

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss this rod. It isn't what you had in mind and it almost certainly won't be where you end up but if you want to get out there this rod with the rig I explained earlier should allow you to do so very quickly. A whole weekend of fishing is coming up. The mono will probably come off the reel in loops but you can straighten these by running it through your fingers for the heat of friction to take out the curls.

[DerekD]

8 hours ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Just a tip if you use the rubber stoppers Derek suggests- you can buy a tubular version that are coloured red,green and yellow. Put 2 on your line rather than 1- Reason?- Often you may adjust your depth, until the fish are located, that involves going deeper /shallower from your originally intended depth.

Clever idea Waza. I'll have to try that. Thanks for sharing.

[Koalaboi]

Hi JamoDamo,

I reckon spend a bit of money and get the right gear right from the start. My father used to tell me that only a rich man can afford cheap tools and I have found that the same applies to fishing gear. 

Get yourself a centrepin, they are the best IMO for blackfishing as they give you so much control when playing a fish. They do take a while to learn how to use but the effort is worth it. Here's a bit of a rundown on reels:

http://www.macman.id.au/index.php/luderick-fishing/66-centrepins-for-luderick

New ones can be dear and seem to be hard to find in tackle stores. Alvey seemed to have stopped making them though i know some store still have them on their shelves.  You can find them second hand on the net, garage sales and markets. Try searching FB marketplace and some of our sponsor tackle stores.

Rods are much easier to pick up second hand. I got a sportex the other day at a market for $20. I prefer 2 piece rods as they are easier to pack up and transport. My go to rod i bought a few years ago for about $65 but is now over $150 new.

For gear; I use nylon mono for my mainline around 12 to 15lb breaking strain. I grease it with vaseline each time I go fishing.

I tie a stopper knot using a bit of 30lb mono:

I find it better than the rubber stoppers  which perish in my tackle box and are a bit slippery on the mainline.

Floats come in all types and sizes. It's easy enough to make your own but you don't lose that many anyway so buying a few is ok. You'll need ones that are medium at least in terms of the lead they need to cast with a centrepin. I mostly use a running float setup though fixed is OK too as long as you are not fishing too deep.

A few ball sinkers plus a range of split shot to get the buoyancy of the float nicely balanced.

A ring or swivel then 6 to 8lb fluorocarbon on nr 8 hook. and you are good to go.

A very small tackle box is all you need, scissors and pliers, bait bucket (easy to make from, a plastic container), keeper net, knife and scaler.

KB

 

 

[Green Hornet]

I agree with what all has been said above, however if you do find you need a rod with that extra length to fish some spots, the Jervis Walker Black Queen is a good beginners rod, check the link.

https://www.dinga.com.au/jarvis-walker-black-queen-solid-series-spinning-rods-blackqueenrods.html

Match it to a small spin reel or centrepin and you're well and truly on your way.

If you want a centrepin reel you can do a lot worse than a Steelite. Most blacky fishos start out with one and you can find a good second hand one on the net for about $25.00. They no longer make them so second hand is your only option.

Edited September 6, 2019 by Green Hornet

[Waza]

+1 for the steelite reel, I still have mine and a 3 wrap slow taper rod. 

Its been a great combo and caught 100s of fish , I will definitely been worn out before this outfit.

I prefer the old orange bobby cork and bud lead to a swivel and then trace with sneck or suicide #12 hooks. I don’t know if those bobby corks are still made , but they were great.

[Rebel]

Thanks everybody for the Info.

Cheers.

[Rebel]

Hi,

To the Luderick experts.

On the luderick website he has swivel sinkers.

Are these an advantage to have or will I stick with the barrel sinkers and the normal swivels.

Still learning about Luderick fishing.

Cheers.

[Green Hornet]

51 minutes ago, Rebel said:

Hi,

To the Luderick experts.

On the luderick website he has swivel sinkers.

Are these an advantage to have or will I stick with the barrel sinkers and the normal swivels.

Still learning about Luderick fishing.

Cheers.

Hi Rebel

The swivel part of the sinkers is pretty much useless as it is far too large to be effective on light, blackfish lines. That being said the swivel sinkers are simple to rig with the floats advertised on the same site and depending on the turbulence of the water you're fishing, you'll still need to add a small split shot for fine tuning.

You can buy similar swivel sinkers of the same weights elsewhere online for far cheaper, though you'll just have to wait for shipping from China.

I'll send you a PM of where to get them from.

[frankS]

Hi young fella. In the next couple of weeks I will be selling heaps of fishing gear, amongst the items will be a 11 ft Jarvis Walker estuary rod and centre pin reel. All brand new I have never used either item.

Not state of art material but seems as how it is your birthday coming up I will sell it to you as is for $100. Maybe the other guys here that know more about Blackfish gear could inform you IF this is a good deal or not. If not then there is no pressure to buy.

Reel is loaded with for memory either 9, 12, or 14 lb mono line.

Frank

[Koalaboi]

$100 for the setup that Frank is offering is a fantastic deal JamoDamo.

Take it! Maybe ask your folks to get it for you for Christmas.

Look after that gear and it will last you a lifetime,moreover,because it is from someone who is supporting you, the gear comes with a story and connection and so it becomes a special part of your fishing lore.

Such gear brings good luck I reckon!

KB

[rickmarlin62]

Jump on it young fella  perfect starter

[JamoDamo]

I will definitely consider it, I'm in the market for a new blackfish rod anyways. 

Thank you for the thought Frank, 

I will let you know asap regarding it. 

Cheers

Jamo

[frankS]

Jamo. I have given you a couple of weeks to think about it. I will wait till Friday for your decision, after that I will separate the reel and sell it by itself and keep the rod and use it for a Bream rod.

I precisely stated it was an 11' rod. It is a 3 metre rod sorry about that.

Frank 

[JamoDamo]

I'd love to buy the reel if thats okay?

 

[frankS]

30 minutes ago, JamoDamo said:

I'd love to buy the reel if thats okay?

 

Jamo. Check your PM's .

Frank