new and so many questions

[rinkerdink]

Hi all and hello,

I am new to Australia, arrived on the 12/9 and having sorted out all the usual set up stuff finally got around to getting a cheap spinning rod and going fishing. I am used to thumping a 170g lead out as far as possible and hoping for the best so the comparative light tackle used for shore based sea fishing is totally new.

I bought a cheap 8 foot rod from K-mart to get me started (I plan to upgrade this later) picked up a few hooks ands weights and went to Woody Point pier/jetty with the kids yesterday, amazed we actually caught: a puffer/box fish, leather jacket, bar tailed flathead and a couple of blue swimmer crabs. We were using prawn and pilchards. Only one of the crabs was big enough to keep but I gave it away to a fellow fisher who helped me out when it was going bananas as I didn't have a clue what to do with it, the rest went back.

I have seen the Gulp baits and wondered if they were worth a go and how to use them/ which ones to use? can you cast the same bait repeatedly? (if so it should work out cheaper than buying frozen bait). What baits do you use and where are the good spots? what rigs/ tackle do you use? basically please give me a few pointers. I am living in Bracken Ridge and I am keen to join a fishing club, what is the local one?

I've been to BCF today and bought one of the sure catch starter sets, now raring to go armed with loads of hooks, swivels and enthusiasm!

Any advise or recommendations greatly appreciated

[TIM D]

If you want to get into soft plastic fishing i recommend grabbing yourself a pack like this from BCF. The dvd is quite good and will teach you the basics.

/>http://www.bcf.com.au/online-store/products/Berkley-PowerBait-Soft-Plastics-Kit-.aspx?pid=119734#Description

The Kmart combo will probably be ok for bait fishing but for soft plastic fishing something like this would be better suited. Just spool up the reel with 8-10lb braid and your laughing.

/>http://www.bcf.com.au/online-store/products/Shimano-Se2500-Starlo-Spin-Combo-7-2-5Kg-2Pce.aspx?pid=326624&menuFrom=30301#Description

Also keep your eye out in the "Going Fishing" section as sometimes experienced plastic fisho's are looking for deckies, you can learn so much in a day from someone in the know.

Hope this helps

cheers tim

[Bri The Pom]

Welcome to afo mate, To answer all your questions, read through previous posts use the search forum, also use youtube and search things like soft plastics and bream and flathead, see what shoots out.Not a local guy so can't help on location but i'm sure other people will.

Good luck.

[John]

Welcome to the community

[rinkerdink]

Thanks for the replys,

I will have a trawl through the forum, I thought you just used the gulp stuff while bait fishing as an alternative to natural baits. So much to learn :cheer:

I'll be giving woody point a try again tonight with some prawns or mullet.

The plastics will wait for now

[blue09]

Hi all and hello,

I am new to Australia, arrived on the 12/9 and having sorted out all the usual set up stuff finally got around to getting a cheap spinning rod and going fishing. I am used to thumping a 170g lead out as far as possible and hoping for the best so the comparative light tackle used for shore based sea fishing is totally new.

I bought a cheap 8 foot rod from K-mart to get me started (I plan to upgrade this later) picked up a few hooks ands weights and went to Woody Point pier/jetty with the kids yesterday, amazed we actually caught: a puffer/box fish, leather jacket, bar tailed flathead and a couple of blue swimmer crabs. We were using prawn and pilchards. Only one of the crabs was big enough to keep but I gave it away to a fellow fisher who helped me out when it was going bananas as I didn't have a clue what to do with it, the rest went back.

I have seen the Gulp baits and wondered if they were worth a go and how to use them/ which ones to use? can you cast the same bait repeatedly? (if so it should work out cheaper than buying frozen bait). What baits do you use and where are the good spots? what rigs/ tackle do you use? basically please give me a few pointers. I am living in Bracken Ridge and I am keen to join a fishing club, what is the local one?

I've been to BCF today and bought one of the sure catch starter sets, now raring to go armed with loads of hooks, swivels and enthusiasm!

Any advise or recommendations greatly appreciated

I dont know about gulp bait, but using smallest possible banana prawns (slicing them through its lenght instead of silicing short thick parts), will be very good at catching bream and whiting.

Main trick is the casting distance as the quality fishes are mostly about 70-80meters far from the beach.

Windy days are timewaster as you wont be able to cast or retreive properly.

If there are people swimming or surfing around then there wont be any fish there.

Dont know your location but for quality fishes,I suggest you to go to off rock spots (beach) and have a few different types of lures ready.

(Off rocks behind a mountain with deep water are the best spots for fishing as the mountains block the wind and shade the water from sunlight) which you can easily find from google maps closest to your area.