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Just cruise every section, read every thread and dont be afraid to ask questions
Mike
Hi Guys,
A few mates of mine and myself have been wanting to start fishing for a little while now.
We recently went out and bought us some beginners rods - i'm not at home at the moment but I think they are the Abu Garcia ones for about $50 from BigW/Target.
We live around the northern beaches of Sydney. On numerous occasions we've gone to Davidson Park (Roseville Bridge) and Church Point. None of us have caught anything yet!
We usually go equipped with a bit of prawn bait from the service stations. We attempt to attach sinkers and floaters (why both? I don't know...).
Basically if someone can even suggest a section on this site that would help us if you do not have the time to tell me all the info that i need.
Also, where is it possible to find out the appropriate bait to use for fish found in the above 2 places?
Kind regards
Sameer
Just cruise every section, read every thread and dont be afraid to ask questions
Mike
G'day
Good call mike,
What species are you wanting to catch?
For bait, try and get local stuff, squid, yabbies, prawns, even some mullet flesh. Hooks you'd want anything from size 4 to 3/0 for a river and sinkers, size 00... keep it really light.
As for leader, nice and long, 12lb leader should be sufficient for an average river system.
Ask many more questions and you will get many more answers.
Dave
As Marlin Mike said
Also have a read through this section
Becoming a better fisherman
http://www.ausfish.com.au/babf.html
Regards
Steve Brown
Thanks guys.
What is a swivel? Is it that 1cm gold thingy in my tackle box? If not, then what is this gold thing?
Cheers
yer m8 the gold thingy is a swivel you attach it to your main line with the sinker above it then attach the leader to the other end of it and the hook on the other end of the leader and your bait goes on the hook (lol sorry m8 had to be done) have a search around this site to find out a bit more about different types of set ups and good luck with the fishing O the swivel is there to stop your main line from twisting. cheers Snas
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Live life like a dog,If you cant eat it or hump it ,
pee on it and walk away.
Mate, for local info try fishraider, it's a bit all in at times but it's local. For general info stay here. First thing go to the knots section and learn a couple of basic knots. Maybe start with the uni and blood knots they'll cover you for most things. If you truly want advice take some good photos of the area you're trying in, preferably showing the structure around the area. Also down load a photo of the area from google earth of where you are at and post it. There are some wise heads on here who can read the area for you and give some likely approaches after that it's just time on water to get it right.
Okay,
So Saturday night (11pm-3am) me and a mate went fishing around Roseville Bridge again.
Nothing!
There were a couple of guys getting on their boats saying it was going to be an awesome night (for fishing)... they were advising us where we could find stuff (plenty of flat head around that corner there, plenty of brim under the jetty thing...). they were so positive that fish were out there but we didn't even get a bite!
A bit closer towards 3am... for about 20 minutes all we could see were splashes in the water about every 4-5 seconds within about 5 metres of our rods. So the fish were out there but how come we couldn't catch anything?!
Another fisherman that was finishing when we were beginning gave us all his leftover bait (alot of prawns, which we had already bought some anyway) and if he was successful with them how come we were not?
When I cast, am I supposed to leave the line in the water for a long time? Do I reel it back in straight away hoping fish will see it moving? When do I know whether or not I should be using sinkers or floaters?
Really lost! n.e.e.d. t.o. c.a.t.c.h. a. f.i.s.h.!.!.!.!.!
Sameer
Last edited by dh0licious; 06-02-2007 at 10:06 AM.
Hi mate,Originally Posted by dh0licious
I used to live down there myself.
The area you are fishing (middle harbour-Roseville Bridge) is home to some HUGE bream,Flatties and Jewfish...You can easily target all three species land based...either with bait or soft plastics.
If you want to target the jewies you will need to do some homework on moon phases and tides.The best fishing I had down there was always around the full moon (4 days either side of it).You are better off using livebaits for them such as mullet or yellowtail which you can catch there.
Fresh Squid is another gun bait.
You should go to a more specialist tackle shop and have a chat to them in there rather than the likes of Big w etc....You may think you are saving yourself a few $$$ but can easily walk out with the wrong outfit for the job and no extra knowledge.
I have a mate Andrew who works at 'Ottos bait & tackle' at Drummoyne.
Go in there and have a chat to him and he will point you in the right direction.
Cheers
Pete
Heya Dh0licious
Sounds like you are spanking brand new to fishing not knowing what a swivel is.
If you give good details of how you are fishing we might be able to refine your technique a bit for you. Ok you were using prawns near a bridge on the run out tide with what sounds like a few mullet jumping about, got that.
So now answer a few of these these questions, even a guesstimate might help if you don't know the exact answer to a Q
what size hook were you using?
what size line?
what size sinker?
was there much current (was your line being swept away in the water)?
do you think you were getting to the bottom?
were you casting a long way out? or very close to rocks or piles?
how were you putting the prawn on the hook? head first tail first other?
did you peel the prawn or use it whole?
were they green prawns or red prawns?
Ok so im pretty much fishing on a little pontoon/jetty thing that goes about 5-6 metres out into the lake. Its not actually under a bridge, but the location is called Roseville Bridge anway
Hooks - about 1.5-2cm long
Line - how do I find this out? I think its 6-12lb? Cmae with the rod
Sinker - whatever my mood isusually about 0.5-0.75cm in diameter
Current - yes, very little
Bottom - not sure if i was reaching the bottom. Don't know how stupid this sounds, but I was using a floater, then sinker, then hook lol. But the floater was still keeping me on the surface
Casting - as far as I could. Should I be casting closer to rocks/piles?
Baiting - just tearing bits of prawn (peeled & unpeeled) and trying to put it on the hook so that the stem and pointy part are still exposed (I read this somewhere here I think)
Prawns - green
Cheers
Heya Dh0licious
The hooks sound ok, get rid of the float, sinker sounds way too big with little to no current. Using a float you probably weren't hitting the bottom. Keep the point and barb clear of the bait is good practic keep that up.
This is for fishing off the pontoon again and targeting bream mainly. Here's a few things to try, if you can have a day trip because some of these will prove awkward till you get used to it.
Have a close look around the pontoon, and look for the thickest growth like oysters or barnacles, some rocks or a pile that is where you want to fish.
Put the point of the hook in near its tail, its bum is there and slowly push the prawn onto the hook till it the tail is over the eye (the round bit where you tie the line on) then put a little loop of the line around the tail piece only not the hook. If the prawn is a lot longer than the hook try and bend it out a little bit straight and take the shell off the section that isn't on the hook. That's it all you have is the hook with the prawn on it.
Drop the hook into the water and just let the line feed out slowly, you want it to feed down into the water slowly just wafting down and keeping within about 30cm of the piece of structure you are fishing. Afte 10 to 20 seconds the line should go loose and not tighten very quickly this means you are on the bottom.
If the line is drifting away from where you want it throw it out just a bit so as it goes down it settles where you do want it. If it still isn't going where you want it put your smallest sinker on right on top of your hook and try again for that 10 to 20 second slow drop to the bottom. If there are bream about you should at least get bites.
For flathead use the sinker you have been with a 30 to 60cm trace to the hook then a swivel with the sinker sitting on the swivel. Take the prawns head off and start hooking the prawn from the chest and run down the body.
If you can see weedy patches close by cast toward the edge of that area and let it hit bottom letting it sit for about ten seconds. Then with you rod pointing down to where you guess your bait is wind slowly for about 50cm then raise your rod up about 50cm then back down quickly.Keep doing this till the the line is up and down. If after 2 casts nothing hits then cast at a different section of water doing the same and keep trying new section after each couple of casts.
The reasons you are doing the above is for bream they usually like to stay close to cover but can vary in depth from the top to the bottom though most bites will come near the bottom. For flathead they lie on the bottom waiting for food to come to them most times the drag will stir up the bottom attracting their attention and the lift will do more of the same or excite them to make a strike.
When you feel comfortable doing that give it a try at night, and don't forget to let us know how you went.
Thanks Straddie... i was away for a while so couldnt reply.
I will try all of this this weekend !
Oh boy , didn't you come to the right place,
all I have to add at the moment is...
If you have bought a combo that already has line on the reel, the first thing you need to do is get rid of the line supplied, it's usually crap & when you do hook your first decent fish, it will break.
No need to go all out at this point, go back to Kmatr or where-ever you bought your gear, & get a budget sized spool of Jarvis Walker or Ryobi line in around the 10-12lb range for around $5 for 500 mtrs.
If you are fishing near rocks or snags I find a "harder" line copes with the abrasions better. A good way to test a line is to get it between your teeth & bite down on it gently. There are many good soft lines, but I find them less forgiving if they get rubbed.
Good luck, keep us informed,
Muzz
How good is this. Helping a complete andi mean complete beginner into fishing. I ook forward to future posts dholicious. And remember, the only stupid question is the one not asked. Go get em, tiger.
Jewie
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