Help a new guy catch some fish...

[FishNewb]

Well, I have been fishing on and off for the last maybe, 15 years? (more if you count fishing with my old man when I was a kid). Mostly off wharfs, jetties and beaches but have also done a bit of deep sea fishing (and caught marlin and tuna) and some freshwater stuff (some trout, mostly carp though).

I've moved to brissy recently, although have been coming here for the last 10 years visiting family. I've fished at Coochiemudlo (off the beach), Raby Bay (in the canals), Wellington Point (off the jetty) and a couple of other areas too. I've tried lures and bait, but the problem is I never really catch anything!! It's always a 4 inch bream or something as equally disappointing, but never anything to take home (and I mean NEVER).

I don't really know what I am doing (obviously) but I seem to be doing what everyone else is doing at these places - so I can't be too far off. I'm currently using a Silstar rod (196cm) with a Silstar reel and 6-8lb line (whatever came on the reel). I want to start taking my fishing more seriously, so would appreciate any help you guys can give me.

I don't have a boat, nor access to one, so would only be able to fish off jetties, wharves and beaches. I also have a surf rod if that helps (only ever caught one fish with it about 5 years ago).

I've tried fishing at low tide, high tide and in between with lures, bait (prawns, squid, pippies, worms etc) but still no luck. I've tried casting and reeling in slowly, dropping the line over the jetty, floats etc, still nothing. Can someone give me an idea of where, when and with what I can catch some fish??

All I want is to be able to catch a legal sized bream or similar that I can gut and take home and eat.

Help me please, I am desperate.

[badboygibbo]

What rigs, hooks and sinkers do you normally use with bait? If you have the wrong selection this could be a big factor in the lack of fish.

What id recommend that really helped me to get started is to pick a certain jetty or part of beach and keep fishing it. After a while if you try different baits and hooks etc. you should start to get some sort of result and knowledge of the area you're fishing in.

The place i started doing this was from the little rock walls and beaches at raby bay outside the mouth of the canals. For a fair amount of time i wouldnt catch too much there but then i started getting the hang of it and found a few things that worked.

From there i found that the all the good fishing was around the high tide. In summer, i would use a running sinker rig with a leader and size 6 worm hook with a small length of worm as bait. I would catch a fair few whiting here and a few big ones too.

Also, with about a sunset high tide throw out an unweighted half pilchard and leave the bail open to let it drift. I would get a few nice flathead from this with the best going about 55cm. For the bream, i found the best bait is small hardiheads that i caught in my drag net.

Hopefully this could help you out and give you a good spot to learn.

Paul