numerous bites, no fish

[Oceandonkey]

well i bought myself some 8lb fireline on saturday and loaded it on ready for a full day on the plastics at wello reef. i kept getting hits all friken morning but just couldnt hook anything.

i lost 4 tails of the 5\" berkley pink shine (i think thats what they were called). i dont know what size hooks are on the jighead but they stuck out of the plastic anywhere from 2-4mm. Was this my major problem? should the hook barely be sticking out at all? I even made sure i was threading it on so there was as little room as possible between the plastic and the hook head.

On the 5\" do you need to buy longer jigheads because the hook was coming out around about the 1/4 mark of the plastic. I was using 1/12 and 1/8 due to current/depth.

Ps to anyone that fishes like i used to plastics on mono cos you thought braid/fireline was to technical or whatever i thought go and get some TOOOOOday. people say \"oh you can feel every bite, every this every that\" and i though pfft yeah right but dead set its no BS never fishing mono again on plastics. I only got one wind knot success : ) i thought with my slow shimano spooling reel id get them all the time but it actually wasnt to bad.

[Angus]

Hey one way to minimise wind knots is every 10th cast or so, fling it out as far as you can and retrieve at a rapid pace. This will ensure the line is nice and tightly spooled on the reel. Due to the nature of plastic fishing you often fish with loosely bound line and this is a key problem with wind and braid knots. And we all know those knots in braid can really suck.

Hook size should be more fish dependant than plastic, within reason. The hook sticking out of the plastic in your scenario though should not have been a major issue. I would put it down more to lots of small fish.

Loosing the tails i would put down to those sea toads that seem to in large numbers in the bay at present and leather jackets.

Sorry for babbling, i could be wrong thats just my thoughts.

Angus

[Oceandonkey]

Mate even if you think you are babbling....your babbling is all knowledge taken on board with me lol

[ellicat]

G'Day OD,

Good to hear you're enjoying the braid. Do you use a mono leader still ?

As there is no stretch in braid it is quite common to pull hooks and strike to early. It takes some getting used to. A length of mono at the end of your braid can help with this. Use either a uniknot or a swivel to connect the two lines.

Cheers

Post edited by: ellicat, at: 2007/06/18 09:57

[Cowfish13]

Try downsizing the SP's. Even with 4\" I miss strikes all the time. What happens is a fish will attack from the tail and it will miss the jighead. Try getting some 3\" with 1/0 jigheads with what ever weight. 1/8 is pretty good for the 4m areas. Also, what kind of SP's were you using, as in what kind of tail did they have? (paddle tail, just a stick bait, etc)

[bootyinblue]

As with Elli, I use about 2 metres of Berkley Vanish as a leader. Its undetectable in the water, gives a little bit of flex down at the business end and I think it allows the plastic to swim more 'naturally'.

Can someone drop me a PM about where this Wello Reef is, as I have never fished in that area but wouldnt mind a cruise out there one day...

Cheers,

Greg

[Feral]

Not hard to find, it starts next to the boat ramp.

Launch at Wello point ,when you get to the last set of channel markers, your in the middle of the reef, just go left or right, which ever takes your fancy.

[Oceandonkey]

I always go left head towards the red beacon, there will always be boats there.

yeah elli i was using a 30lb leader about 1.5 rod lengths (is 30lb to much), the biggest problem i have is the double uni knot hits the last eye and is reducing my cast length i imagine by a little bit. Do you get this problem? or is it because im using 30lb mono leader (knot on 30lb is bigger than a knot on 20lb)

Cowfish thanks for the tips mate i was using the jerkshad

The worst thing is when i switched over to bait i didnt want to get snagged and waste my precious fireline so i found myself just dropping over the side of the boat, hitting the bottom then winding up a few turns.

[Oceandonkey]

Wow if you press submit twice it actually does submit it twice lol

Post edited by: Oceandonkey, at: 2007/06/18 13:01

[ellicat]

Yep, too heavy I reckon. Drop down to max 20lb. Go as low as you're comfortable with - even 10 or 12 lb if you think you're patient enough:whistle: Also reduce length of leader to max from rod tip to reel. Unless you're bottom bashing bait I'd go as short as 1 metre.

Paternoster rig will reduce your snags and also keep the bait off the bottom.

Cheers

Post edited by: ellicat, at: 2007/06/18 13:27

Post edited by: ellicat, at: 2007/06/18 13:31

[Plastic Man]

what sort of fish are you after because 30lb is huge i use 10lb mate and that does fine and as for all the hits and no hookups id try using a shorter plastic like 3 inch seam to do the trick for me

[STU]

loosing all those tails would be toadies or mp's or any other little pains in the arse that are around just keep moving around till you come onto some good fish

[woody1]

I have just bought a new setup i plan to be my plastics rod... I have 125yd of 10lb fireline. I am worried this wont be enough, Does anybody use backing line? or just spool it up with the braid. if so how much and what sort of line?

thanks guys

[bootyinblue]

Thanks for the navigation tip about the reef. Will be out there as soon as the Dr gives me the nod.

[Angus]

woody1 wrote:

I have just bought a new setup i plan to be my plastics rod... I have 125yd of 10lb fireline. I am worried this wont be enough, Does anybody use backing line? or just spool it up with the braid. if so how much and what sort of line?

thanks guys

Yeah you most often need backing. More importantly what size reel are you getting/got? The Ammount of line you need should be on the reel.

Tip for making your reel perfectly spooled:

Spool it onto a spare reel of the same size in reverse first. By his i mean say you have a 2500 size reel, use a spare 2500, and reel all the braid on, them top up with mono. Then wind this onto the chosen reel and you will have the absolute perfect ammount of mono backing. I always do this now as it making casting so much nicer. Its also one more reason to love reels that come with spare spools!!

Angus

[STU]

woody1 wrote:

I have just bought a new setup i plan to be my plastics rod... I have 125yd of 10lb fireline. I am worried this wont be enough, Does anybody use backing line? or just spool it up with the braid. if so how much and what sort of line?

thanks guys

yeah mate I always use some backing of mono because you will find sometimes that the fireline/braid can slip on your spool without any backing

[Feral]

Just be mindful, the doubling of mono from bought spool, to one spool to another can twist it up a bit. Try and plan on not ever actually having the mono come off the reel! Or it could go \"sproing\"

[woody1]

thanks for the info. That is a really simple but practical tip Angus, the reel came with a second spool so i shall give it a shot, but il keep an eye on the mono. Thanks Feral

[Oceandonkey]

Plastic Man wrote:

what sort of fish are you after because 30lb is huge i use 10lb mate and that does fine and as for all the hits and no hookups id try using a shorter plastic like 3 inch seam to do the trick for me

anything, i guess i just thought that with a 30lb leader the chances of me being busted of are very little. the only other line i have is 20lb so i will put that on for now and then ill prob downgrade to 15lb.

Catching fish on lighter gear isn't my goal like all the pro anglers.....ACTUALLY catching them is my goal :woohoo:

[ellicat]

OD, You WILL catch more fish with lighter gear. Provided you're patient and don't lock up your drag past the breaking strain of your line you will convert, barring being busted off on reef or snag etc.

[STU]

Oceandonkey wrote:

Plastic Man wrote:

what sort of fish are you after because 30lb is huge i use 10lb mate and that does fine and as for all the hits and no hookups id try using a shorter plastic like 3 inch seam to do the trick for me

anything, i guess i just thought that with a 30lb leader the chances of me being busted of are very little. the only other line i have is 20lb so i will put that on for now and then ill prob downgrade to 15lb.

Catching fish on lighter gear isn't my goal like all the pro anglers.....ACTUALLY catching them is my goal :woohoo:

you will find that you will hook more fish with lighter line fishing lighter has it's ups and downs

[Oceandonkey]

will do guys, gonna buy some smaller hook jigheads and move down to the 3\" and 4\" when fishing that spot.

[Cowfish13]

Once I was out using 6lb fireline with 8lb vanish and I only got 1 fish on SP's, but I don't get too many anyway. But the fish was a 29cm Cod and it only took out 1 click of drag, I never thought I would be busted off. 10lb mono is an ok weight of leader for the bay, but if you can get/afford it, try out 15lb Flurocarbon leader. Will dramitically increase strikes and hookups. The 30lb mono is way too obviouse