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Kimtown

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Posts posted by Kimtown

  2. Swains reef

    in Saltwater

    Posted

    Well this came up quickly. Going there in 3 weeks. 
     

    Quick question for those who have fished the Swains: is it worth throwing some squid jigs / bait prongs in? 
     

    Are squid a frequent catch out on the reefs? Mostly looking at it for fresh bait purposes. 

  4. Swains reef

    in Saltwater

    Posted

    18 hours ago, Daryl McPhee said:

    We weren't really there at the best time of the year for spaniards but Max nailed the only one that was caught. There were a couple of school yellowfin caught too. Plenty of GTs around the back of the boat at times. The whaler sharks were scared of them but the GTs were scared of the lemon sharks. A very high chance of any GT hooked being taxed at the top marginal rate in those circumstances. 

    Cheers for info!

     

    what time of year did you go?

  5. Swains reef

    in Saltwater

    Posted

    On 26/1/2022 at 9:25 AM, Daryl McPhee said:

    Plenty of good fish on that trip. As well as the usual trout and RTEs, plenty of gold band snapper and a couple of monster pearlies and snapper. 

    Any GT or Spaniards?

  8. Swains Oct 2021 Pt2

    in Saltwater

    Posted

    Unreal read

    I’m heading up there on the 28th of October next year with big cat also. Great to hear the vessel performed in the slop, and even better to hear you fished well!

    I wasn’t really going to bother with soft plastics up there until I read your couple of threads, but I’ll be definitely making sure I take a good selection now. 

  9. Swains reef

    in Saltwater

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Drop Bear said:

    Hey mate,

    Love it up there. Have a great trip.

    I like to go a little heavier than normal on these trips. The fish don't see too many baits and there are lots of good fish that will dump you in the coral... and plenty of sharks. 

    Sharks always take the best fish... well confirmation bias proves they do haha. 

    I don't mind a short rod on those boats. They help you get them off the bottom and the boats I have been have low enough gunnels to let you lean over the side. Fish brought up from a depth are pretty much done for by they get to the boat and ready for the gaff. Tuna and sometimes mackerel can be different to this as they seem to play up for longer. 

    Big baits = big fish. You will likely catch a stack of hussar. cut the head off and put the hook through the lip so there is plenty of hook showing. Great for big trout and Red Emperor. Not sure if you get large mouth nannies that far south? If so, they love them too.

    You will still get plenty of shark mackerel and a few Spanish. When you anchor up, ALWAYS put a pilly out under a balloon with a steel trace. 

     

    Awesome advice mate 

  10. Swains reef

    in Saltwater

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Junky said:

    Talica' a good reel. 

    Rod is on the shorter side but will still deliver line. 

     

    I'd be taking a big casting outfit out there. Can still troll with a big spinner. 

    Yeah for sure, I’m taking an 8 foot / 14000 outfit for GT

     

    as well as a medium casting outfit, a medium bait rig and some various other rods. 

  11. Swains reef

    in Saltwater

    Posted

    7 hours ago, tugger said:

    You should see alot of coral trout, red throat emperor, spangled emperor, tuskies and hopefully some red emperor. That's on the bottom dwellers then trolling will pick up what said.

    Awesome, sounds like it should be an excellent trip then with some prized table fish on offer! 

  12. Swains reef

    in Saltwater

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Andrew_P said:

    Can’t control fish around the boat. Hard to keep lures/sinkers away from the boat when you are dropping. To each their own but short rods are better left for the tenders

    I mean that combo would mostly be for trolling for game Pelagics anyway 

  14. Swains reef

    in Saltwater

    Posted

    Hey guys

    Heading to Swains reef 27th of October 2022. Just doing as much research as I can now.  

    I’m wondering, is this a decent guide on what species to expect there for that time of year?

    https://www.fishingcairns.com.au/fishing-calendar/

    I know it’s Cairns but I figure the species should be somewhat similar?

    if not, is there another guide / almanac out there I could read?

     

    also, what are peoples thoughts on a Daiwa demonblood 5’6 - 6-8 paired with a Talica 12 2spd with 65lbs braid for trolling for the game species there… dog tooth, spaniards, sail fish, small marlin etc 

     

    if anyone can give me any more valuable knowledge of the Swains that’d be awesome. Heading there with bigcatreality, looking forward to it. 

  18. Reef fishing charter gear recommendations

    in Tackle, Rods and Reels

    Posted

    11 minutes ago, Ed. said:

    Yes, you are right, 230gm is a lot but it is spec'ed to handle lures up from 90gm, I made a heap of  20cm poppers and I was surprised that none went over 150gm, averaged around the 120gm weight and I used large 4x trebles, (probably because I used a very light Silky Oak wood).  230gm is about 8oz in the old parlance, I am not sure what the weight of store bought poppers/lures are.

    The reason I chose that particular Anthem SW as that seemed to  be built right in respect to my reel, I looked at about 6-7 rods and when I fitted my reel on them, the first guide on most of them was too small, too close to the blank and or too close to the reel seat, which would mean that there would be a lot of line slap against the first guide. The diameter of the large spool and distance of the reel from the blank, would have too great a  line angle coming of it causing the line hoops hitting that first guide and the casting distance would be reduced.

    My GT popping rod is too long and too stiff (as it is a PE8-10) to be used as a jigging rod as the leverage against me would be quite bad, but I do have other and shorter rods which I use for jigging, so a 7ft one or lighter PE rod would be better, but I only bought mine for GT popping (distance and heaps of grunt). You should take your reel into a store and try it out on any rods that you are interested in to see if it suits and if the rod bends the way you want it to.

    Don't forget to check the rod guides alignment with the blanks' backbone before you buy any.

    Great post, thanks for the info!

  19. Reef fishing charter gear recommendations

    in Tackle, Rods and Reels

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Ed. said:

    Hi Kimtown, what weight lures are you thinking of casting? You could have a look at these:

    Shimano Anthems SW rods, there is an Anthem SW 692 medium to heavy spinning rod 60gm lures and 30-50lb line for under $300, that Anthem SW model range  has 12 rods in it both overhead and spinning.  I have the heavier 792 GT popping rod (under $350) which does PE8-10 and lure weight 100-250gm, I have the Penn Spinfisher SSVI8500LL reel on it, these are 2 piece rods which join at the butt, so easier to transport.

    Demon Blood 792XH PE5-6, 90-230gm,  2 piece spilt at butt, about $240-320  (just checked again and it may be sold out)

    Ugly Stik USBW-SP 701H 15-24kg 25-120g, I piece about $165

    Cheers

    Ed.

     

     

     

    I think I like the sound of the 7’ 3-5 PE demon blood a little more as a medium outfit rod, 230gm seems like a lot though?

     

    I’ll try and track down a anthems have a feel of one 

  20. Reef fishing charter gear recommendations

    in Tackle, Rods and Reels

    Posted

    On 09/07/2021 at 8:31 AM, Kimtown said:

    Medium casting:
    Bone OTLP771H OceanThug LightPop PE3-6
    10000 hg Saragosa
    50-65lbs braid

    I might substitute this rod out for something cheaper (it’s about $429.00)

    Can anyone recommend any 7 foot lure casting rods around PE 2 up to 6 that is more affordable?

    At the moment I’m looking at the Daiwa Demon Blood S702- PE 3/5 which is $389 but I think I’d rather just pay the $50 more for the Marusame 

     

    any other options out there? Pref 2 piece

  22. Reef fishing charter gear recommendations

    in Tackle, Rods and Reels

    Posted

    9 hours ago, Ed. said:

    It is much easier to add a rod tube that is 5'6 to flight luggage, than one that is 7-8ft, I have a 7'9" Shimano popper rod that is 2 piece and it breaks down to 5'3" at its longest, so even just sticking it in the car to travel with is so much easier than if it was a single piece rod. If it is a small plane you are going in, a small 5'6" tube should be no problem to fly with.

    Postage wise, I think that anything over 1m will be too long but Couriers aren't a problem.

    I’d have to look into it again but I’m almost certain they said no extra luggage on the small flight 

     

    Regardless, I’m going with the notion that I’ll choose the fishing gear that fits and then the transport method of said gear comes second  

  23. Reef fishing charter gear recommendations

    in Tackle, Rods and Reels

    Posted

    45 minutes ago, Terry H said:

    Shimano tubes come up to 2.2m which I think should handle single piece 7 ft rods: https://www.shimanofish.com.au/content/fish/oceania/au/en/homepage/productdetail.P-ROD_TUBES.html 

    That’s not the problem, the issue is they only have one of them tiny little Qantas planes that fly Melbourne > Bundaberg and they don’t accept oversize luggage (from my very little research), therefore, I need to post it up. And I think it’s just easier to post smaller length parcels… or something…. Actually it’s probably no different either way to post… I actually don’t really know why I’m looking at 2 piece haha

  24. Reef fishing charter gear recommendations

    in Tackle, Rods and Reels

    Posted

    On 11/07/2021 at 12:12 AM, Terry H said:

    Are you are flying up? If so, why not pickup a rod tube and fly with some of your existing rods? I have done this domestically and internationally without much hassle. 

    I am flying and I am planning on doing this, however I don’t own many 2 piece rods in the required sizes for this trip, so I’ll need to purchase. 

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