longhairedwahoo

Hey guys,
Went chasing some snapper offshore from the bay islands on thursday on the new (2nd hand) kayak. Pulled up a nice mixed bag of small cod, sweetlip and also kept a great size blacksaddle goatfish (my first one and very impressive on the chew) and a squire. Was using a relatively heavy telescopic rod that I imported (see previous posts) and one of the cheap as reels in size 6000 from BCF which meant that when the reel started screaming with something huge (thinking possibly a kingy or a shark but who knows) I had had no hope of stopping it. After about two mins it had me around the bottom and that was the end of that :_( Still a great morning on the water with no one out but me and the whales.
On the kayak I really try to keep my rigging as simple as possible because doing any rigging while on the water is a giant pain. This is why I spool my reels with mono and run that straight to the hook, with a sinker sitting directly on the hook. After missing that fish I'm going to look at upgrading my setup to a Penn Spinfisher VI in size 6000 but want to know what size mono I should rig it with keeping in mind I wont be using leader. Because I'm fighting fish on the yak I dont think I need as much line capacity because when the fish really start running I can set the drag high and just get towed so I am more concerned about fishing too heavy line that reduces bites from smaller demersal species. Im currently thinking 30lb and rigging this to a set of gangs to trawl pillies on.
In short is 30-40lb a good size albeit on the lighter side to land pelagics up to the 10ish kg range and am I an idiot for not using leader? Also if a mackerel does get hooked in summer can the gang hooks act like wire trace or will it still find away to get its teeth on the line?
Cheers legends

Hi, I started kayak fishing at Green island from wellington pt. Plenty of variety to be caught there all year round from Tuskys and snaps to the occasional mac. Its a decent return paddle but for about 60% of the journey you are just following the sand bar to king island (see google maps) so you can always get out of trouble. From there I would look at hitting offshore reefs which are quite popular like palmy or brays as you should never be to far from trouble.

Hey, if your going plastic can definetly recommend viking kayaks. I have had a nemo 1 man, a nemo two+1 and a 4.5m profish and they all lived very hard lives but did not show it at all. If your looking at tandems I would probably look at the viking tempo though as the nemo is definetly a bit crowded with two adults with not much room for storage of large items. Otherwise they are bulletproof, stable as and there are **** loads about on marketplace second hand if you dont want to pay heaps.

Sent back to the bottom with release weight.
 

After a donut at NPD on Sunday the Hinze western arm turned it on for the 3 of us today. Very cool breeze first up but we persevered and headed down to the bay past the bay with the red float.  About 100 yards before  the first tree I spotted a few fish on the sounder and hit the spot lock. We pulled around 40 or so bass from there before it went a bit quiet around 8 o'clock. We then tied up to the tree and ran out of around 10 .30. We had to fish the shallow side of the tree ( 28 to 30 feet) as the deep side ( 45 feet ) was producing the odd fish with barotrauma. Tally was 100 bass when we ran out of live shrimp. Only 6 fish just over to 40cm mark and 14 under 30cm. All tagged and released except 2 bleeders that went to the eagles.

Hey, if your going plastic can definetly recommend viking kayaks. I have had a nemo 1 man, a nemo two+1 and a 4.5m profish and they all lived very hard lives but did not show it at all. If your looking at tandems I would probably look at the viking tempo though as the nemo is definetly a bit crowded with two adults with not much room for storage of large items. Otherwise they are bulletproof, stable as and there are **** loads about on marketplace second hand if you dont want to pay heaps.

Go as light as possible. I think people fish way too heavy for snapper/mackeral.
My equal PB came on 10lb braid/16lb leader and i've even caught 60cm fish on 6lb/12lb.
I use 15lb/20lb for plastics/metals and 30/40lb for livies.
You will get more bites and lose the odd fish but i'd rather hook them then not at all.
Lot more fun too.

Hey guys,
Went chasing some snapper offshore from the bay islands on thursday on the new (2nd hand) kayak. Pulled up a nice mixed bag of small cod, sweetlip and also kept a great size blacksaddle goatfish (my first one and very impressive on the chew) and a squire. Was using a relatively heavy telescopic rod that I imported (see previous posts) and one of the cheap as reels in size 6000 from BCF which meant that when the reel started screaming with something huge (thinking possibly a kingy or a shark but who knows) I had had no hope of stopping it. After about two mins it had me around the bottom and that was the end of that :_( Still a great morning on the water with no one out but me and the whales.
On the kayak I really try to keep my rigging as simple as possible because doing any rigging while on the water is a giant pain. This is why I spool my reels with mono and run that straight to the hook, with a sinker sitting directly on the hook. After missing that fish I'm going to look at upgrading my setup to a Penn Spinfisher VI in size 6000 but want to know what size mono I should rig it with keeping in mind I wont be using leader. Because I'm fighting fish on the yak I dont think I need as much line capacity because when the fish really start running I can set the drag high and just get towed so I am more concerned about fishing too heavy line that reduces bites from smaller demersal species. Im currently thinking 30lb and rigging this to a set of gangs to trawl pillies on.
In short is 30-40lb a good size albeit on the lighter side to land pelagics up to the 10ish kg range and am I an idiot for not using leader? Also if a mackerel does get hooked in summer can the gang hooks act like wire trace or will it still find away to get its teeth on the line?
Cheers legends

Hey guys,
Went chasing some snapper offshore from the bay islands on thursday on the new (2nd hand) kayak. Pulled up a nice mixed bag of small cod, sweetlip and also kept a great size blacksaddle goatfish (my first one and very impressive on the chew) and a squire. Was using a relatively heavy telescopic rod that I imported (see previous posts) and one of the cheap as reels in size 6000 from BCF which meant that when the reel started screaming with something huge (thinking possibly a kingy or a shark but who knows) I had had no hope of stopping it. After about two mins it had me around the bottom and that was the end of that :_( Still a great morning on the water with no one out but me and the whales.
On the kayak I really try to keep my rigging as simple as possible because doing any rigging while on the water is a giant pain. This is why I spool my reels with mono and run that straight to the hook, with a sinker sitting directly on the hook. After missing that fish I'm going to look at upgrading my setup to a Penn Spinfisher VI in size 6000 but want to know what size mono I should rig it with keeping in mind I wont be using leader. Because I'm fighting fish on the yak I dont think I need as much line capacity because when the fish really start running I can set the drag high and just get towed so I am more concerned about fishing too heavy line that reduces bites from smaller demersal species. Im currently thinking 30lb and rigging this to a set of gangs to trawl pillies on.
In short is 30-40lb a good size albeit on the lighter side to land pelagics up to the 10ish kg range and am I an idiot for not using leader? Also if a mackerel does get hooked in summer can the gang hooks act like wire trace or will it still find away to get its teeth on the line?
Cheers legends

Cheers for the advice legends. Fairly new to trolling on the yak so will defintely take your advice on the swivel though have seen gangs where the first hook comes with one already rigged straight to it so might just go with them for simplicity on the water. Also just thought I'd clarify that I have been doing all my fishing offshore of straddie, so am outside the bay but I think all the advice would still be the same

Cheers for the advice legends. Fairly new to trolling on the yak so will defintely take your advice on the swivel though have seen gangs where the first hook comes with one already rigged straight to it so might just go with them for simplicity on the water. Also just thought I'd clarify that I have been doing all my fishing offshore of straddie, so am outside the bay but I think all the advice would still be the same

Cheers for the advice legends. Fairly new to trolling on the yak so will defintely take your advice on the swivel though have seen gangs where the first hook comes with one already rigged straight to it so might just go with them for simplicity on the water. Also just thought I'd clarify that I have been doing all my fishing offshore of straddie, so am outside the bay but I think all the advice would still be the same

Hi guys,
Quick run after work which is great to be able to do after changing jobs recently and a much earlier finish time.
Grabbed the rods,the dog and a couple of beers and shot down to the Broadwater. 
Tried for some squid early which I've never really targeted so not surprising I donuted.
Had a troll for tailor on sunset and only got a couple of small ones. Lots of bait but I think I left it a bit late for them as the would have been well upstream by then. 
Looking good for the rest of the week and keen to work these squid out.
So relaxing and a good recharge after work. Hopefully back out tomorrow. 

30lb sounds good to me and like the others have said, add a swivel for any trolling. Gangs should be fine for most bay mackerel. Good luck 😎.

Sounds like you've been having some good fun! I know people who catch squire in the river who use 40-60 pound leader (fishing for threadies and bycatch) and it doesn't seem to be an issue so I'm sure thirty pound would be fine in the bay too. 
Cheers Hamish

Yes, like @Hweebe said - definitely put a swivel in the line to prevent a massive twist up, maybe a couple of metres above the hook.

Hey guys,
Went chasing some snapper offshore from the bay islands on thursday on the new (2nd hand) kayak. Pulled up a nice mixed bag of small cod, sweetlip and also kept a great size blacksaddle goatfish (my first one and very impressive on the chew) and a squire. Was using a relatively heavy telescopic rod that I imported (see previous posts) and one of the cheap as reels in size 6000 from BCF which meant that when the reel started screaming with something huge (thinking possibly a kingy or a shark but who knows) I had had no hope of stopping it. After about two mins it had me around the bottom and that was the end of that :_( Still a great morning on the water with no one out but me and the whales.
On the kayak I really try to keep my rigging as simple as possible because doing any rigging while on the water is a giant pain. This is why I spool my reels with mono and run that straight to the hook, with a sinker sitting directly on the hook. After missing that fish I'm going to look at upgrading my setup to a Penn Spinfisher VI in size 6000 but want to know what size mono I should rig it with keeping in mind I wont be using leader. Because I'm fighting fish on the yak I dont think I need as much line capacity because when the fish really start running I can set the drag high and just get towed so I am more concerned about fishing too heavy line that reduces bites from smaller demersal species. Im currently thinking 30lb and rigging this to a set of gangs to trawl pillies on.
In short is 30-40lb a good size albeit on the lighter side to land pelagics up to the 10ish kg range and am I an idiot for not using leader? Also if a mackerel does get hooked in summer can the gang hooks act like wire trace or will it still find away to get its teeth on the line?
Cheers legends

Hey guys,
Went chasing some snapper offshore from the bay islands on thursday on the new (2nd hand) kayak. Pulled up a nice mixed bag of small cod, sweetlip and also kept a great size blacksaddle goatfish (my first one and very impressive on the chew) and a squire. Was using a relatively heavy telescopic rod that I imported (see previous posts) and one of the cheap as reels in size 6000 from BCF which meant that when the reel started screaming with something huge (thinking possibly a kingy or a shark but who knows) I had had no hope of stopping it. After about two mins it had me around the bottom and that was the end of that :_( Still a great morning on the water with no one out but me and the whales.
On the kayak I really try to keep my rigging as simple as possible because doing any rigging while on the water is a giant pain. This is why I spool my reels with mono and run that straight to the hook, with a sinker sitting directly on the hook. After missing that fish I'm going to look at upgrading my setup to a Penn Spinfisher VI in size 6000 but want to know what size mono I should rig it with keeping in mind I wont be using leader. Because I'm fighting fish on the yak I dont think I need as much line capacity because when the fish really start running I can set the drag high and just get towed so I am more concerned about fishing too heavy line that reduces bites from smaller demersal species. Im currently thinking 30lb and rigging this to a set of gangs to trawl pillies on.
In short is 30-40lb a good size albeit on the lighter side to land pelagics up to the 10ish kg range and am I an idiot for not using leader? Also if a mackerel does get hooked in summer can the gang hooks act like wire trace or will it still find away to get its teeth on the line?
Cheers legends

Hey guys,
Went chasing some snapper offshore from the bay islands on thursday on the new (2nd hand) kayak. Pulled up a nice mixed bag of small cod, sweetlip and also kept a great size blacksaddle goatfish (my first one and very impressive on the chew) and a squire. Was using a relatively heavy telescopic rod that I imported (see previous posts) and one of the cheap as reels in size 6000 from BCF which meant that when the reel started screaming with something huge (thinking possibly a kingy or a shark but who knows) I had had no hope of stopping it. After about two mins it had me around the bottom and that was the end of that :_( Still a great morning on the water with no one out but me and the whales.
On the kayak I really try to keep my rigging as simple as possible because doing any rigging while on the water is a giant pain. This is why I spool my reels with mono and run that straight to the hook, with a sinker sitting directly on the hook. After missing that fish I'm going to look at upgrading my setup to a Penn Spinfisher VI in size 6000 but want to know what size mono I should rig it with keeping in mind I wont be using leader. Because I'm fighting fish on the yak I dont think I need as much line capacity because when the fish really start running I can set the drag high and just get towed so I am more concerned about fishing too heavy line that reduces bites from smaller demersal species. Im currently thinking 30lb and rigging this to a set of gangs to trawl pillies on.
In short is 30-40lb a good size albeit on the lighter side to land pelagics up to the 10ish kg range and am I an idiot for not using leader? Also if a mackerel does get hooked in summer can the gang hooks act like wire trace or will it still find away to get its teeth on the line?
Cheers legends

Day 1  20/08/2022
We started the day by pike fishing at the pier it was bad and I got tangled 3 times my mates pike lure was even snapped off 😬. We thought that we would have to try yakka. Mg mate left to go back to his place. Since the spit was bad with a 1.4m swell I went on the drift near the pipe in 3 casts it felt like I was snagged but no it was 3 yakka all nice size I was so happy. I ran up to the runway and I did my first drift and then my second no bites I did my third not even a tickle and I did my fourth. I was pretty confused at this point the jewies were not attacking it as much oh well everybody has donut sessions even with bait another day another learning experience hopefully a silver ghost will hit the ground running on my 30lb 

30lb is a good all round diameter in the bay. Before the advent of braid running straight mono to hook was normal.
The ganged hook will give you some protection for mackeral, i don't use wire in the bay, better hookup rate without it imho.
Just wondering if you plan to troll baits whether you would benefit from a swivel (reduce line twist) to fluoro (and fluoro benefits)

Hey guys,
Went chasing some snapper offshore from the bay islands on thursday on the new (2nd hand) kayak. Pulled up a nice mixed bag of small cod, sweetlip and also kept a great size blacksaddle goatfish (my first one and very impressive on the chew) and a squire. Was using a relatively heavy telescopic rod that I imported (see previous posts) and one of the cheap as reels in size 6000 from BCF which meant that when the reel started screaming with something huge (thinking possibly a kingy or a shark but who knows) I had had no hope of stopping it. After about two mins it had me around the bottom and that was the end of that :_( Still a great morning on the water with no one out but me and the whales.
On the kayak I really try to keep my rigging as simple as possible because doing any rigging while on the water is a giant pain. This is why I spool my reels with mono and run that straight to the hook, with a sinker sitting directly on the hook. After missing that fish I'm going to look at upgrading my setup to a Penn Spinfisher VI in size 6000 but want to know what size mono I should rig it with keeping in mind I wont be using leader. Because I'm fighting fish on the yak I dont think I need as much line capacity because when the fish really start running I can set the drag high and just get towed so I am more concerned about fishing too heavy line that reduces bites from smaller demersal species. Im currently thinking 30lb and rigging this to a set of gangs to trawl pillies on.
In short is 30-40lb a good size albeit on the lighter side to land pelagics up to the 10ish kg range and am I an idiot for not using leader? Also if a mackerel does get hooked in summer can the gang hooks act like wire trace or will it still find away to get its teeth on the line?
Cheers legends

Steve and I headed out twice this week with both Tuesday and Thursday proving to be pretty tough to get a fish.
Of course Tuesday the 16th we were raring to go after the snapper closure finished Monday. We couldn't find any livies before we headed to Mud. We fished Mud until late morning then headed over to the Rainbow to chase some schoolies again. Steve got a nice squid on a bait. That was it for the day. Home we went.
Today we got up at the crack of farcical and headed out to Harry's where we dropped some livies in and fished plastics until about 10am before leaving defeated. Over to Mud we went. Very quiet. I had a hookup but dropped a half decent fish. Then around midday the reel spun and I landed a 56cm snap. That was it for the day. Got back to the ramp just before 4 disappointed for Steve who managed a few unders and a just legal tusky that was thrown back.
I know all the workers are struggling to feel the pain here, but your turn will come. 😂


 

Real late reply but only just got through testing them all in earnest fairly recently. 2 of 3 are have broken from slamming while collapsing them. The last surviving one (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002654525394.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.828e1802OXtFrr) is definetly a bit weaker then what I was after, not too different from what you get at kmart in terms of power but a bit better build quality.
Took this one out off straddie on my first kayak fishing trip dropping pillies on some offshore rocks. Was crap weather for the kayak (15+kn and 1.5m swell) and i was the only person out but ended up being the most productive mornings ive had in ages landing a dozen or so good squire a few of which I kept and my first grassy sweetlip as the highlight. was a lot of fun on the light and crappy gear. The grassy really gave this rod a run for its money and so its definetly not going to be the mackeral weapon I was hoping for but would be ideal for your bread and butter fishing. Currently looking at this https://www.bcf.com.au/p/penn-spinfisher-ssm-spinning-combo/M622381.html combo in 5'6 as my new budget combo to beat up on the kayak but will miss being able to cram the rod in the hatch like in the photo though.
This was before the snapper closure btw for anyone concerned.

Real late reply but only just got through testing them all in earnest fairly recently. 2 of 3 are have broken from slamming while collapsing them. The last surviving one (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002654525394.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.828e1802OXtFrr) is definetly a bit weaker then what I was after, not too different from what you get at kmart in terms of power but a bit better build quality.
Took this one out off straddie on my first kayak fishing trip dropping pillies on some offshore rocks. Was crap weather for the kayak (15+kn and 1.5m swell) and i was the only person out but ended up being the most productive mornings ive had in ages landing a dozen or so good squire a few of which I kept and my first grassy sweetlip as the highlight. was a lot of fun on the light and crappy gear. The grassy really gave this rod a run for its money and so its definetly not going to be the mackeral weapon I was hoping for but would be ideal for your bread and butter fishing. Currently looking at this https://www.bcf.com.au/p/penn-spinfisher-ssm-spinning-combo/M622381.html combo in 5'6 as my new budget combo to beat up on the kayak but will miss being able to cram the rod in the hatch like in the photo though.
This was before the snapper closure btw for anyone concerned.