Brodie_S

Well, I now have three project rods on the go.
(The Jarvis Walker is now finished aside from restoring the wooden butt.)
The 15 - 24 kg two piece popping stick is progressing.
The Sabiki rod has started.
and now an old Wilson that has a nearly identical curve to my FT67's (Wilson may have made it on the SnyderGlas mandrels they aquired when they bought them out) - this one is for Margie. She decides on all our designs and which colours are used - and as this is hers, she wants metallics!
All will have to fit in between the repairs - I currently have 6 on the trot and another 4 due to come in.
Sooo, I think I will be busy .... none less, I will post pics and updates as we progress.
 

Nice work @Sylvathorn! It takes a certain type of person to rescue rods in that condition!
Restorations and rebuilds are like renovations - you pay to pull it apart and to put it back together!
Give me a new blank and guides any day. 

Had a good day at the western arm despite some rain. I can report that my rain jacket did a fantastic job of absorbing every drop that fell on it. Will have to proof it when it dries out. Had a few heavy showers and a nice rainbow but no pot of gold. There were plenty of small bass at first until we found some better quality bass between 38 and 45 cm. Watched a toga trying to catch what looked like a small barred grunter with both fish leaping out of the water about 6 times before the toga finally caught the fish mid leap. Finished up with over 50 bass and donated a good feed of barred grunter to the eagle

Maybe try livebaiting some of those yellowtail .

big ball sinker attached to sinker and 80 pound leader on a single or snell rig, live yakka for bait.   alternativly padanosta rig. 

Search back through Timmy turtles videos on YouTube. 
He got a stonker jew off the wall at Yamba a while back. 
He is casting for them so the old 100/1 comes into play, Casts/fish. 
 
 
I have caught kings as by catch in the boat, and found they feed similar to tuna when schooled up. 
We would tie one off at the boat using 200lb so he sits nicely under the boat and not stressing out. He will have several mates with him. Simply drop chrome slugs down and wind them back up fast. 
 
Not sure how that would go on a rock wall,  it they definitely hit chrome halco twisties. 

I would be livebaiting if I were you, with a setup like that, probably going to be hard to flick around plastics or hardbodies. But if you do have a lighter setup and want to target those mid-size models, I'd say plastics are definetely the go. Off rockwalls I run 3-4" plastics on my 1-3kg nordic stage sharpshooter paired with a 2500 and pe 1 braid. Switch between 14lb and 10lb depending on how hot the bite is. Heaps of people would probs disagree with going so light but i reckon you definetely have a better hookup rate and its easier to tell whats going on at the end of your line. 

Being consistent catching jew off the breakwalls is not a thing.
Yes you do get them from the breakwalls but definitely not all the time.
Best results is when there is a big flush happening....run large hard bodies or soft plastics through the suds and shearlines. They tend to react better to constant walking pace retrieves during floods when the water is filthy.
Catching soapies like in the photo tend to be patchy....you need to be onto an actively feeding school....jew do not eat all the time and they mill about in schools for large parts of the day.
They tend to feed better towards a change of tide, dawn and dusk....smaller tides can see them feed at any time.
20lb main line is fine for anything up to about 1.2m...i would be using 40lb line for bigger models. leaders anywhere from 20lb to 80lb....30lb is my usual jew leader.

Was wondering if anyone knows how to consistently catch Jewfish or kingfish off breakwalls or just a few tips.
Me and my mates are using the same setup a 750 Penn Spinfisher matched to a 6-8kg 8 foot fiberglass rod. Reels have a few hundred metres of bright 20lb green mono i usually tie this to a running sinker rig with a swivel and use clear 70lb mono for leader. Not sure if this is overkill but there is a lot of structure and hazards in the water so i want to be safe. Been using freshly caught yellowtail or whole frozen pilchards as bait. I'm not sure if this is the best tatic for jewfish and kingfish but giving it a go. 
Any tips or advice appreciated. 
my mate managed to catch a small jewfish on sunset the other night but that was it. We kept getting baited by what i presume to be pesky bream and left shortly after as we fished all day on lighter setups for bream/trevally and also baitfish.
 
45cm jewfish caught on a whole pilchard using the running sinker rig.

Was wondering if anyone knows how to consistently catch Jewfish or kingfish off breakwalls or just a few tips.
Me and my mates are using the same setup a 750 Penn Spinfisher matched to a 6-8kg 8 foot fiberglass rod. Reels have a few hundred metres of bright 20lb green mono i usually tie this to a running sinker rig with a swivel and use clear 70lb mono for leader. Not sure if this is overkill but there is a lot of structure and hazards in the water so i want to be safe. Been using freshly caught yellowtail or whole frozen pilchards as bait. I'm not sure if this is the best tatic for jewfish and kingfish but giving it a go. 
Any tips or advice appreciated. 
my mate managed to catch a small jewfish on sunset the other night but that was it. We kept getting baited by what i presume to be pesky bream and left shortly after as we fished all day on lighter setups for bream/trevally and also baitfish.
 
45cm jewfish caught on a whole pilchard using the running sinker rig.

Was wondering if anyone knows how to consistently catch Jewfish or kingfish off breakwalls or just a few tips.
Me and my mates are using the same setup a 750 Penn Spinfisher matched to a 6-8kg 8 foot fiberglass rod. Reels have a few hundred metres of bright 20lb green mono i usually tie this to a running sinker rig with a swivel and use clear 70lb mono for leader. Not sure if this is overkill but there is a lot of structure and hazards in the water so i want to be safe. Been using freshly caught yellowtail or whole frozen pilchards as bait. I'm not sure if this is the best tatic for jewfish and kingfish but giving it a go. 
Any tips or advice appreciated. 
my mate managed to catch a small jewfish on sunset the other night but that was it. We kept getting baited by what i presume to be pesky bream and left shortly after as we fished all day on lighter setups for bream/trevally and also baitfish.
 
45cm jewfish caught on a whole pilchard using the running sinker rig.

Was wondering if anyone knows how to consistently catch Jewfish or kingfish off breakwalls or just a few tips.
Me and my mates are using the same setup a 750 Penn Spinfisher matched to a 6-8kg 8 foot fiberglass rod. Reels have a few hundred metres of bright 20lb green mono i usually tie this to a running sinker rig with a swivel and use clear 70lb mono for leader. Not sure if this is overkill but there is a lot of structure and hazards in the water so i want to be safe. Been using freshly caught yellowtail or whole frozen pilchards as bait. I'm not sure if this is the best tatic for jewfish and kingfish but giving it a go. 
Any tips or advice appreciated. 
my mate managed to catch a small jewfish on sunset the other night but that was it. We kept getting baited by what i presume to be pesky bream and left shortly after as we fished all day on lighter setups for bream/trevally and also baitfish.
 
45cm jewfish caught on a whole pilchard using the running sinker rig.

Hi all
Well I'm back at school now but had a four day weekend this/last week so decided to make the most of it. I saw some nice fish get caught but didn't catch too much myself, but that's alright as it can be like that sometimes. The first session was on Saturday, in hopes of a thready or jew.
After arriving by about 6:00AM, I was a bit disappointed to see the jetty trashed and a whole heap of people who had been fishing overnight still there. I still managed to push my way in and get a couple of baits out though, which took some time to catch as it was the last of the runout tide. I had live mullet and biddies, but the fish weren't biting. It is also worth noting the group who had been there overnight had half a bucket of prawns, so I'll have to try that soon at night. Anyways, I fished for a couple of hours for two catfish, and it wasn't long before Andrew and Michael arrived. They got some baits out, and seeing as though the tide had turned we managed to catch a fair few herring on the bait jig and in the cast net. 
To sum up the session, we basically caught no fish except a couple of seatoads, and apart from a few little nibbles which were probably just bream anyways, we didn't have any good action. I think I will probably give this spot a break until it cools down and hopefully deters all the crowds. I finished up at about 3:15PM too, and got the ferry and train home. 
Stats of Trip:
Tide: 5:30AM, .6M, Low, 11:10AM, 2.9M, High, 5:20PM, .5M, Low
Moon Phase: Just after New Moon
Bait Caught and Used: Herring, mullet, silver biddies
Humidity: 74% (dropped to 54%)
Air Pressure: 1017
Fish Caught: Catfish x 2
Gear Used: Abu Garcia Ambassadeur on Ugly Stik, Shimano Aero 6000 on Kmart rod, Shimano Baitrunner DC on Surf Rod. 20 and 30 pound braid mainlines, 30 pound leaders, size 4 star sinkers, 6/o circle hooks. 
Overall Success Rate: 10% - dismal session
The next morning, I went for a fish with @Thorbjorn Hale at a new spot for me. I arrived by about 8:30AM and caught some herring, and it wasn't long before we had a bunch of lines out. Another guy who was fishing with us, Steve, was the first to hook up for the day, and it only took about five minutes. After a fast take, he managed to pull in a medium sized jewfish, which didn't fight too hard but did take a very fast take. Unfortunately, as we were trying to land it in the dilly, it managed to get free and kick back away. All good, we thought, now just to catch another one. Next, it was Thorbjorn's turn. His rod went off, and after setting the hooks he started the fight. It didn't take any runs, but eventually we had a slightly smaller jewie on the jetty, coming in at 45CM. Nice. After we released that, we continued catching plenty of herring on the bait jigs, but the bite went a little quiet. 
It wasn't too long before Steve's rod screamed off, and he set the hook to something alright. I had just pulled in a rather large seatoad, so after getting that off I was watching the fight to see what would surface. The fish was taking a couple good runs, and we were all pleased to see a good thready surface. Thorbjorn got it in the dilly before long, and after a quick photo and vent it was released on it's way. A little while later, Thorbjorn hooked up to another solid fish, and after a few headshakes and a run or two, we had another jewie, just a couple centimeters undersize, in the dilly and on the jetty. After this, it went a bit quiet, and as it got later in the morning the bigger fish seemed to stop biting and we just kept getting pickered. Eventually, the tide changed, and to save myself from a completely fishless session I caught a 40CM tailor, which Steve kept for a feed. As the bites continued to dwindle, we left at about 2:30PM, all pretty happy with the session as a lot of good fish were caught. 
Stats of Trip:
Tide: 6:15AM, .7M, Low, 11:30AM, 2M, High, 6:00PM, .5M, Low
Moon Phase: Two days after New Moon
Bait Caught and Used: Live herring 
Fish Caught: I caught 1 x tailor, others caught 3 x jew, 1 x threadfin
Tackle Used: Abu Garcia Ambassadeur on Ugly Stik, Shimano Aero 6000 on Kmart rod, Shimano Baitrunner DC on Surf Rod. 20 and 30 pound braid mainlines, 30 pound leaders, size 4 star sinkers, 6/o circle hooks. 
Air Pressure: 1018
Humidity: 63% (dropping to 47%)
Overall Success Rate: 65% - saw some great fish caught, not on my line though 🤣
The next morning, you can probably guess where I went, and seeing as though I didn't have school I was hoping for a thready or jewie. I arrived by sunrise, and Steve and Thorbjorn were down around then too. We got bait in no time, and with our lines out we were hoping to replicate the previous mornings session. It wasn't long before Steve brought in a 45CM tailor, and after the tide turned and a decent wait Steve was on again. This time, it was a 65CM jewie, and it put up a decent fight before being dillied, vented, and released. We had high hopes now, and continued fishing and jigging bait. Steve also had a pike on the bait jig munched by a 60CM+ tailor on the surface (I saw it happen too), which was cool to watch, so maybe next time I'll pack a rod with a slug or jig. 
I was only allowed to stay till eleven that day, so I tried to catch at least something before I finished up. Unfortunately, the last part of the rising tide only produced several vermin fish including catties and toadies, but Thorbjorn did nab another nice high forties tailor, which was good to see. Anyways, I got the train and ferry home and managed to convince my parents to let me have one more go at a local fishing spot. 
Stats of Trip:
Tide: 7:00AM, .8M, Low, 12:00PM, 1.8M, High
Moon Phase: Three days after New Moon
Air Pressure: 1019
Humidity: 75%
Tackle Used: Abu Garcia Ambassadeur on Ugly Stik, Shimano Aero 6000 on Kmart rod, Shimano Baitrunner DC on Surf Rod. 20 and 30 pound braid mainlines, 30 pound leaders, size 4 star sinkers, 6/o circle hooks. 
Bait Caught and Used: Live herring
Fish Caught: I caught a sea toad, others caught one jew and 2 x tailor
Overall Success Rate: 65% - some more good fish caught
Today, I arrived at a local spot at about 10AM, to see one other family fishing there. I got bait in my net easily enough, and managed to get my three rods out with live mullet in hope of a thready. It wasn't long before another family came down, and seeing as though this is a rather small jetty it was really packed already. I hooked up to a 40CM or so catfish early on, which was a waste of my mullet, but continued to fish.
A bit of rain hit us and one of the families swapped with a new one coming, so it was still crowded. I wasn't getting any bites, and I think the most exciting thing I encountered was a small sand whiting in the cast net. I gave it another 1.5 hours, but eventually two families came down, putting the total up to about 20 people on the jetty. This was way to crowded for me, and I headed off shortly after with nothing to put a smile on my face for the day. 
Stats of Trip:
Tide: 1:40PM, 1.5M, High
Moon Phase: Four days after New Moon
Bait Caught and Used: Live mullet
Fish Caught: 1 x catfish
Tackle Used: Abu Garcia Ambassadeur on Ugly Stik, Shimano Aero 6000 on Kmart rod, Shimano Baitrunner DC on Surf Rod. 20 and 30 pound braid mainlines, 30 pound leaders, size 4 star sinkers, 6/o circle hooks. 
Air Pressure: 1019
Humidity: 81%
Overall Success Rate: 15% - dismal session, should've gone elsewhere
Anyway, even though it was a few quiet sessions for me, it was good to see a couple good fish get caught, and also learn some new techniques and a new spot. Hopefully next weekend I'll manage something decent before school gets too busy. Thanks for reading,
Cheers Hamish

Tailor - @Thorbjorn Hale may have some more photos if he does a report or posts them somewhere. 

It is what makes you happy at the end of the day.  My reef combos now are around $1600,  Shimano Talica reel and a Wilson venom rod.  10 years ago I started with $500 combos, shimano tyrnos reel and live fibre rods. Both catch fish. Some are light then others to use. 

My Toyota Corolla fits most of my fishing rods in it as well as a full esky, and tows a boat too! Haven’t seen a Rolls Royce backing down the boat ramp - yet!
+1 on the stradics. The older ones were bulletproof. Saragosas are nice too. I have a Thunnus which is a beautiful baitrunner. 

i have Shimano overheads for trolling/reef work. From TLDs spooled with mono to Talicas with 80lb braid. Haven’t let me down. 
 
rods rods rods! I have collected a few! Anything from 50 year old Snyder Glas fibreglass to high end high modulus graphite blanks/titanium guides I’ve built myself. I’ve been building my own for a few years now and learnt pretty quick that quality is far more important than price point. I can spend up to 10 hours building a rod - why would I invest that time on cheap blank and crappy guides when I can get one down the road for $100.
I started a thread on here about quality products that don’t break the budget - will see if I can find a link to it  
 

From hand me downs to 2k. 
 
They all work for their purpose. 
The reason I spend big on outfits is because they last if you look after them, and they serve their purpose. More for the larger species. 
 
I have mid to high end reels that are almost 20yrs old and still in excellent condition. 
 
I don't really care what I'm using, so long as I'm not losing. 
Busting off due to equipment failure gets old real quick. It sends you mental.
My high end gear gives me confidence that I can lean on it and it will respond. That's my number one requirement. 
 

Stradics (not Ci4 models) and $150 max rods is all i use.

My lure set ups are all Nitro rods ($350-$450) and Stella reels ($1100-$1400) and my baitcasting gear is Nitro rods ($350-$450) and Diawa Ryoga and Steez reels ($800h-$900)
Ive got two cheap bait rods that aur Shimano rods that I cheap at $50 each at a closing down sale and Shimano Nasci reels I got for $150 each. 
I've also still got my old favourite rod from when I lived in Darwin am ugly stick with an Abu Garcia Ambassadeur C6500 on it. 
Honestly I could do all my fishing with those cheaper outfits an would still catch just as many fish. 
If your a serious dedicated game fishermen then it might be well worth investing in the more expensive rigs that can take more abuse, or are a serious finesse fishermen. Then buying a more expensive outfit world be beneficial to you. 
For me, I buy them simply because I like using top of the range gear, and to my thinking if I look after them and get them serviced every year. Then they should last me 20-30 years, or twice as long as a mid tier one would have and cost the same amount over their lifetimes anyway. 

Mate, My Grandaughter catches Bream on a $100.00 combo.
The fish don't know what you are spending on them.
I spend around $450.00 on a beach combo. I do a lot of beach & rock fishing. In saying that I always shop around for the best price.
Good luck.

You certainly don't need expensive gear to catch and land most estuary fish. However, if money isn't an obstacle and you like the top of the range gear, then go for it.

I try to get the most reasonably priced combo that will still do the job but also be pleasant to use, personally the most expensive combo I have is worth about $400. People spend thousands on their hobbies so there’s no reason you can’t spend that much on fishing gear! 

My cheaper light estuary combos are around $250 while my more expensive ones are around $800. On average it's about $400-$500 for most outfits. 
 
 
Some of my friends tell me that I am spending too much money on gear that I wouldn't even need 
 
While fishing enthusiasts around me have been telling me that it's worth investing in really higher end gear (e.g. Shimano Stella etc.) from the mid tier stuff that I use. 
 
 
I personally think that I am in the sweet spot for price to performance value but  I was wondering how much on average do people spend on gear around here?
 
 
 
 

Thanks, and I agree. It's my go to small paddletail. 

Think you guys are having the same crappy weather we are having in NSW, wind and showers for over a week now.😒
Good job getting out there in these conditions. Love the little slim swimz, that motor oil colour always seems to find a fish.