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Muzza
31-12-2001, 09:50 AM
G,day,
I was wondering if anyone knew people who use handlines when fishing from boats. Down
my way we have an older couple who catch more fish consistently, than most other people and
use handlines exclusively. Mainly flathead and snapper offshore. I was fishing off Port Stephens on
a reef and me mate rigs up a handline and pulls in a 5 kilo jewie. Just interesting to note you don't really need expensive outfits to catch a lot of the smaller bread and butter species from a boat.
Me, I'll stick to me rods and reels cause I luv playing with all the gear and buying new stuff.
Cheers
Muzza

Luke
31-12-2001, 01:12 PM
Hey Muzza,
we use handlines a lot fishing for diver whiting and I also always have one beside me in bream season while I have a rod in hand. I have a mate from New Guinea and he reckons that handlines are all his family ever used to use for any species.
Cheers Luke

Muzzy
31-12-2001, 04:22 PM
Mate love haning a big live bait off the bottom with a 100lb hand line. It dont sound all that sporting but try it prior to comment. Some times the fish has ya all over the place with a hand reel and unlike rods the handline some times bites us anglers back.

If its fishing its fun me thinks.

But I cut my teeth with 100lb mono and squid and will never stops bouncing the bottom, my grandpa would shoot me any way...

Muz

Rumpig
31-12-2001, 06:22 PM
Some people swear by them, a lot of the older blokes use them exclusivly with springers for jewies and snapper, I've never caught anything really big on a handline but I reckon they're the best tool for yakka fishing and they're great on bream too, I've had some very memorable sessions with handlines on private wharves LOL.
I find that handlines just give you a much more hands on feel for fishing, you can feel the lightest touch which would be missed if you had been using a graphite rod.

Mick

Volvo
01-01-2002, 05:55 AM
:)Although Rod n reel man meself i still carry a 50lb,70lb &80lb handline onboard when i go out especially if Trout are on the chew ey, just ta get em off the bottom in a hurry.
Cheers

Muzza
01-01-2002, 10:20 AM
Hey Volvo,
One of the funniest things I've seen was two big men, my dad and uncle, close to 250 kilos,
with a real heavy line on a handline trying to pull in an absolutely huge stingray at innisfail many years ago. In shallow water, it was back and forth and back and forth, geez it was funny.
Cheers
Muzza

Jim_Linden
01-01-2002, 12:20 PM
G'day Muzza,

Since becoming an honorary banana-bender, I've been out several times with the neighbour who's a local up here. He fishes with a rod mostly (with one of those bloody great Alveys on it that Queenslanders seem besotted with). I fish the usual short boat rod with overhead (Penn 320GTi).
When things are quiet (which has been most of the time since we arrived here six months ago), he holsters the rod, and drags out the hand-line. And when he does, he whups me every time. This has been on Parrots, Pinkies, Sweetlip, and Bream.
I was raised on a hand-line catching bream and flatties at Greenwell Point in the south, and Tea Gardens in the north. First time I think I ever saw a rod was when the missus and I moved to Albury in '68 - all the freshwater fishos were using them, for obvious reasons, and that's when I got my first rod.
Kinda gotten used to using them now, but I know deep down that there is no substitute for the "feel" that you get with a handline - and there's no question that's what gets results. There's no nicer feeling than having the line on your digit finger as a big black bream slowly picks up the bait, mulls it over, and then decides to get to hell out of there with it. Now that's fishin' !!
I've found that changing over the bottom-bashing rig to braid has given me back some of the "feel" but it's still not the same. But the rod is so damn convenient, and tidy, in the wind and when fishing deep water. I also find that the rod affords better control over a fish, particularly once they're close to the boat.
Still keep a couple of bream lines on corks in the tinny, though :-).

Cheers
Jim L.

krazyfisher
01-01-2002, 02:10 PM
I use them alot my fav is 200 lbs 6/0 to 10/0 big snapper sinker whole squid for jew catch 15 to 30kg always but some we just can't stop also an 80lbs on the reef is good better feel and you can get them away from the rocks and coral quickly.

fisho
02-01-2002, 04:39 AM
I haven't used them a lot offshore but my father ALWAYS has a handline in play whenever we are out together - he likes the direct feel the handline gives him - he goes all right with it too - a killer in really deep water though! ;)

Touchy - R.I.P.
03-01-2002, 05:49 AM
G'Day Muzza,My son(25)still prefers a handline on a big wooden spool when livebaiting for flattie(drifiting Kalanga Bank at the "Pin")& mostly kicks the old mans arse as well !!!& I have a Jewie handline that I set up with 4/5 loose loops on the floor of the boat with the last "loop"just trapped with the edge of the spool,quite a buzz watching those loops peel out when a decent size fish moves off with the bait,Tho' must admit it aint' happened for a bloody long time *VBG*Cheers Touchy

Volvo
04-01-2002, 07:46 PM
:)Muzza we got on a patch of Black jew one night around the Pylons. Thought we would have some fun and use the Rods :).
We had our fun allright but buggered if we could land any of the buggers as they were gooduns and kept goin for the pylons and barnicles and yep ya guessed it ::).
Moved the boat our further so we could drag em away from them pylons but nu-uh.
Soon as we changed to the 80lb handlines we had fillets onboard and gotta agree tis a nice feelin doin battle with a jew whos hell bent on bustin ya about the pylons and ya cant give him an inch and fight im all the way up :).
Lather of sweat and a whoppin big ;D when ya get him onboard i can tell ya.
So yep there is still need for the handy handline ey.
Cheers