Newbie Questions.....

[deancreus]

Hello Guys,

I actually joined this site a while ago but due to various things, including laziness, I never got around to getting myself set up to fish! That is hopefully about to change......

I am in Boondall and apparently there are a few local places worth checking out. I went for a drive to Nudgee beach today and ended up at Jackaroo Park which looked like a nice little place to spend a day.

After having a look on the net I see it is a good spot for Bream, Whiting and Flathead. I would be more than happy with that as I just want to get out the house a bit more really so species isn't a big concern right now. I only ever did some lake fishing back in the UK years ago so I really am new to the whole thing over here. Are these fish easy to catch?

I am just unsure what equipment to start with, I didn't realise there was such a wide range of rods! Based on what I have said, is there anybody who could recommend me something basic but half decent at the same time? I don't have a boat so would just fish from the jetty or the beach during midweek.

Thanks,

Dean

[crazywalrus]

Hi

I am no expert at fishing this area however just be careful where you fish over that way. There are few Green marine parks that way. I have added a link below but its not real good however the best I could find quickly. I have a user guide I picked up from the local fishing shop and it is a great free reference.

Good Luck and I will leave it up the other experts on the site to give you recommendations. Heaps of great advice if you read back through the forum threads as well. When I joined earlier this year I spent ages reading back the last few years of posts.

Cheers Ted

Green Zones

[crazywalrus]

This is the user guide in PDF

User guide

[deancreus]

Thanks Mate - I will have a closer look at that.

The area in Jackeroo park had a little pontoon and signs indicating you could fish there so just assumed it was ok but will have a check on the map.

[MoparKevUk]

I started off with a 6' 6" Jarvis Redbone General Purpose rod combo with 350 reel and a tackle box starter kit, both from KMart and the Brisbane Tide Guide book (approx $65 all in). These did me well, learning knots, how to cast, stripping and cleaning reels, and catching some decent fish etc etc! And if you break it you're not $1000s down! Once I got the bug I upgraded the reel, then the rod etc etc, now me shed is full of stuff! Good Luck and keep us posted with your successes.

[HookedOnTackle]

i too started out with a cheap lil sienna 2000 and 2-4kg fibreglass rod. you can check bcf, tackle stores, kmart... just when you enjoy it you start to upgrade like Kev and drags and smooth reels start to become important, and filling niches in your rod rack, like a fast action 2-4kg 8ft graphite rod to chuck surface lures on flats as opposed to a 2-5kg med taper for using soft plastics in 2-10m water

[daveylad]

Welcome Dean you'll get some great advice here and plenty of people on the site from your neck of the woods to help you, Mate one thing you wont need that they have in the UK is one of these(See picture)

Best of Luck

Davey

[paulymassy]

Hey mate,

I would go to any fishing tackle store and check out a sienna 2500 as HookedOnTackle said above and get any cheap fibreglass rod around 6-7ft. that should get you set for your rod and reel and depending if you want to start using bait then get a basic starter whiting and bream kit or if you want to start on the more modern fishing! Soft Plastics and lures you might want to check out some of BCF's kits that include some jig heads and plastics to get you going! hope that helps if you need any advice feel free to PM me

cheers

[deancreus]

Thanks so much for all the help guys. It is all appreciated and I will hopefully pick up a rod sometime this week.......

Just another couple of quickies. I am a complete newbie as I adhered too so is there a good book/website or something I can use to read up on setting up the rod in terms of bait, rigs and basically anything which will be on the line?

And just out of interest, do people tend to eat the fish caught from places such as Nudgee beach? I anticipate just catching and releasing but was just curious what most tended to do?

[robin]

I have brought a book from boarders called Australian fishing, great book.

As far as what you catching and eating, I only keep the fish that i am going to eat over the next 2 days, if i know that i can't /wont eat it with in that time, i will not keep them, or if i dont feel like eating them i will release them also.

But in saying that i have not fished at Nudgee

[vaughan]

Go to Amart and get a rod and reel 6' combo for $30.

Upgrade to 8k mono

2 size sinker

3-4 size long baitholder hook

Go fishing

I've caught bull shark, bream, trevelly, flathead, catfish, cod, whiting and jacks all on that setup.

Rod and reel combo usually lasts up to a year and then I just go and buy another.

Works for me

V

[deancreus]

I went into Big W today to have a look at rods but the selection was shallow to say the least. I was probably going to pick up a sub $100 rod to start with but I was just going to ask if it is worth spending more? For instance I just looked at BCF online and see in the next sale they have this for 159 which is apparently 80 off. (Is this the Shimano 2500 that was mentioned in this thread a couple of times?)

Symetre 2500 Spin Pack

1 x Symetre 2500 spin reel

5 anti-rust ball bearings

1 x 6'6 Sahara Graphite Spin Rod

I was happy enough to go basic for now but if there was a good value deal around I would be equally happy to go for that if that makes sense!

[Kenshin]

depends on what you want to target and how much your willing to spend, if your after bream, whiteing, flathead and anything around that size i suggest go with a light graphite combo shimano sienna 1000-2000 size with a 2-4kg rod and you will be set, can get it spooled with cheap mono or if you want to start using lures you can get it spooled with 6lbs braided line anything between 6-7ft in length will do the job nicely think you can do a setup like this for about or under 200 if you get a starlo stix and sienna