Bob9863

The trick is to be gentle and not to twist or bend anything too tightly or it breaks. But it's definitely cheap enough and flexible for this purpose. I'm just building a bracket to mount a roof top tent on the trey of the Ute atm, once I'm done with that job the men I will give this a try. Maybe even make a video.

I'm thinking about making some out of stainless MIG welding wire. Just some small spring shaped holders much like in the picture but I think it should do the job.

Ah, that would definitely be a problem then, if there's one thing the redfin are brilliant at its breeding. Shame the bass aren't as good, even the yellow belly have no hope of competing against the redfin.

Your best bet too is not to go from a capital city, stop in and visit some smaller coastal towns.

I wish they let bass go here instead of redfin, they seem to breed almost as well in impoundments and are at least native.

What areas will you be travelling in as there is a big variety between the states, especially in regards to fish in season and what fish are available. Severe storms are a problem in some areas to atm.

This is the rig, or close enough to what I use when fishing for Mekong catfish and Siamese carp. (top pic) But I found another way to do it that would work brilliant for cod especially with a circle hook. (bottom pic, obviously) You could make this easily by buying these on ebay ect, then tie them the same way with a large circle hook, then do the Bardie grub mold thing but push the wire spring bit into the cheese. I like that idea so much I'm going to order some. I might even tie some burley cafes up like that on my next trip over to Thailand.

A good tip is to get a, wire spring to slip over your hook and glue or soldier it into place. Then get a Bardie grub cheese mold, nuke some Mozzarella in it (I like to add a hint of parmesan cheese in with it) then while it's melted stick the hook in so both the eye and good length of the barb is exposed. You can do it without the spring but it stays on much better if it's got one. I use rigs like that when dough bait fishing overseas. Another trick that might be worth trying come to think of it is another technique that I use a lot over there and must try here. I have various size burley cages with a swivel at the top, short length of line and a hook tied a couple of inches from the bottom. Sometimes 2-6 hooks depending on what I'm fishing for. You could melt the cheese, press it into the cage while soft/sticky then you pus the eye of the hook into the top of the bait with the barb exposed. I've caught fish a hell of a lot bigger then most cod with some laughably small hooks fishing like that. I usually customise my own with bigger circle hooks. You could cut a short length of pvc pipe a few mm bigger then the bait cage, melt the cheese in that and then press the cage in with the hook up the top so when you push it out the hook is already set and point exposed. I'm definitely going to try that out.

Yes you need big hooks and plenty of exposed hook. A loose drag or bait runner is good with a circle hook, then tighten the drag and let it hook itself. Cod aren't the most aggressive biters, they can take the bait but hold on for a bit before heading off. But for the most part you don't seem to be doing anything wrong, I like an 8/0 tuna circle as stated cod have huge gobs.

Nice haul there and sounds like a great day.

You could go a 600-6000 size depending on what the manufacturer calls it, or use a super thin braid with your current reel. How badly were you spooled, could you pull it up at all or did you hook into a freight train that was just unstoppable? You might have to go bigger simply because your rod can't handle any more drag so more line might be your only option. You could try very thin braid and squeeze a bit more line on, but that's, expensive line to loose. As it is you should be able to put about 200 yards of 20lb braid on it so if your getting spooled then it might be time to upgrade both the rood and reel for that spot, maybe even go to an overhead?

The free trade deal with China was a big killer too. Now our market gets flooded with cheap crap that our local manufacturers can't come close to competing with, that then kills off our manufacturing and worse still we loose the skills base needed to start it back up. If covid taught us anything it's that we need to be more self reliant not more reliant on foreign made goods.

Our new PM doesn't care about Australian jobs unfortunately, it will be more of the same outsourcing our manufacturing industry to lower wage countries. It's a shame, great Aussie made products are dying out every year with nothing to replace them.

Oh those "cats" I was thinking a completely different kind of land based fishing.

That's a very blocked up stretch of water, the weather doesn't look the best either.

One thing that used to work for me was fishing near drainage after the rain, floating a bait where the dark run off meets the clearer water always seemed to produce.

BCF and Anaconda sell fishing gear but they aren't real tackle shops, you need to go to a good local tackle only shop to get good advice. Prices are the same, the selection is usually better and the knowledge is there.

Many Asians target undersized fish because of how they eat them. They can them, brine them and then dry them.. They then eat them like sardines bones and all but that only works with the little ones. For natives especially our sea fish this is very bad, but with pest fish it's actually a good thing. Lake Hume gets raped of 3"-4" redfin every summer, bags of 100 fish like that can be pulled out in a, day, but that actually helps both the redfin and especially our native species. But it used to really PMO when I was in Darwin and you would see them just pillage every fish that got hooked. In just a two year window of that I saw good land based spots dry up and it resulted in bag and size limits finally being brought in.

I wouldn't ask either, go to a good tackel shop and ask their, they will know what's working in your area. If the tide is strong and it's 20m deep then you might need to jump up to at least a 1/4oz jig head. I use heavier then that with bigger plastics in fishing ponds let alone in deep current. But the hook size will really depend on the plastic, sizing them by eye is the best but you might even wsnt/need to go up to a #1 or #1/0 size with a 1/4oz jig head for that situation.

I haven't seen them so hard to say, but I usually use 2/0 for my 3" plastics, I like a good chunk of hook exposed so line some up see what size give a good bit of clearance. For a lot of mine however I like to run treble stringers to the back so it does not matter how short the hook is as it's usually there just to hold the plastic on for me.

Then you can get away with lighter line, I usually fished either a 1/8th or 1/4 jig head depending on the water depth and current. Windy conditions generally require a 1/4oz head if casting into the wind but it's best to go as light as possible. I'd definitely try a 1/8 to start with, and only go heavier if the conditions require it. If your fishing light and can get enough distance then even a 1/12th would be worth trying. Concealed weight heads are also brilliant for working the top and mid water columns or along grass beds. I find it's best to experiment with a few different combinations to find out what works best in your area. Once you start catching then you can hone in on the style that works for you and in your area.

A bit light for GT's but otherwise pretty good, you can definitely get them on a 6kg rod although I prefer an 8kg one. The main reason besides their pull is that they love poppers and a light rod with a big popper has a bit to much flex in it. I also run 30lb braid at a minimum, and a 40-60lb fluorocarbon leader. But I fished them in Darwin where there's plenty of structure for them to use against you. All shore based to so that didn't help. If your fishing more sand or open water then 20lb braid is fine and you can go a 30lb leader, you always get more bights the lighter you fish but in some situations less bites but more catches is definitely better then getting broken off all the time. What sort of water will you be fishing?

King Fish and tayler, fast moving metal lures work great, as for soft plastics, I always liked a long blue shad type with a slow retrieve and big drops. But I mostly did that for queen fish, for other species you can slow roll curly tails or paddle tails with a bit of a flick or drop, even the prawn ones go pretty good. I've used them on bream and golden trevally. The 4000 should be fine, the only difference between the 4000 and the 5000 is the later has a deeper spool and a big handle. 30lb thin braid and a 30lb fluorocarbon leader should match pretty good, it depends on the structure more then the size of the fish.

I don't like the combos, but for a 4 year old it's a good place to start. I wouldn't get a kids specific one as they are universally rubbish and won't last long, but some of the slightly better starter packages are good value for money. Get one that has a good rod as it will last, then upgrade the reel later if he's still interested and it wears out. I'd go a Ugly Stik Tackleratz combo from BCF, it's about as good as a kids outfit gets.

I believe the line broke as I was putting a lot of force on new line and some of the residue built up on the bail arm. That might have cooked it or just developed a sharp bur. I don't pre-set like you do a lever drag, I just adjust the drag to a pre determined weight and leave it there. That way when fishing big fish you don't accidentally over tension the drag in the heat of the moment. I only do that with reels that hold stronger line then the weight the rod is built for, 7kg for an 8kg rod, 8kg for a 10kg rod ect. I don't do it so much with the finesse gear as I'm fishing lighter line then the rod. I started doing that after seeing a bloke using the fishing Park gear break a rod by over tightening the drag, 8kg rod, 65lb line and about 10kg of drag. That's not something I want to do and loose the fish of a lifetime by making my gear fail.