Peter K

Hey Neil. I'm currently making a fishing rod cabinet, out of Tasmanian Oak and Jarrah. It is going to look similar to this photo attached below. I'm going to incorporate some driftwood I collected from the Georges River, NSW. It is some type of eucalyptus and has been effected by shipworm which have borer out all those holes in the photo. It provides some really interesting textures and appearance.

Hey cool video. A few things I've notice from my experience in making a pitiful 5 custom rods: When they are in the stage of apply the sticker or paint for the rod name and specs to then wrapping and epoxying guides there is a step that seems to have been missed. Usually once a blank has been polished the rods need to be tested to find the ideal bending point. I would typically hold the blank about 45cm from the tip and hover the rod butt off the ground, slowly twisting the blank from the tip, the butt will then do an up and down bobbing movement, you will then need to be consistently watching till it is going completely straight up and down not wavering in an oval shape if that makes sense. By finding this bending point the rod will then assembled in the most ideal direction so that when a fish is hook the rods bend can occur straight down not down but with a twist because the rod is out of alignment. Additionally, before and after wrapping on guides they should be tested for alignment with the reel seat. You can make small adjustments after the wrapping has occurred, once your sure they are aligned the you should apply epoxy. If you watch carefully (14:50), when he holds the rod up to the lighting and against a white wall he is checking alignment after epoxy, this is dumb because if a guide is out of place it can't be restored and therefore that rod isn't produced to the ideal standard. Anyway, just my 2 cents, I'm not knocking the video, it was quite good they were just two things I noticed being different from what I would normally do. Cheers, Peter.

Good Afternoon all. I have some queries regarding a rod which my old neighbour gave to me after moving out of that suburb. He gave them (a few rods, 4 good nick one) to me approx 3-4 years age. I looked at the first one and it was an old bamboo rod and didn't look good so I didn't touch them for 4 years. Recently I was cleaning up and opened them all and to my surprise were some really cool older rods in great condition. The rod I'm most intrigued by is the Daiwa Sprinter : Model SP-602 ML 6"0' (1.83cm) 4-8lb line 2 piece rod Above was the only information I could find on the rod itself. After researching a bit I could find nothing about the Daiwa Sprinter rod range, although I saw some older reels with Sprinter on them. I don't have a photo of the rod but I can get one if you will need it. The rod is a navy blue and silver colouration. I'm wondering if anybody knows any more details about this rod or the sprinter range in general, additionally what would be the best application for fishing a rod like this, I've typically only used 7"0'so I'm not sure where its best used, kayaks, structure, narrow creeks?? All assistance is greatly appreciated. Cheers, Peter

I purchased the book, Swainston's Fishes of Australia, a few years back for helping me ID smaller fish that I catch on rock walls etc, having spotted the fortescue in the book and reading the info on it compared to the bullrout I've found in my area (Georges RIver, Sydney). Below is a photo of one I caught, was only about 3-4cm. (In a small display tank).

Hmmmmm....just saw this, try looking up a 'fortescue' they are certainly a SW fish not FW and are commonly mistaken as being a bullrout, they normally max out at about 15cm although they can be a bit stripy which your fish isn't, however each individual is different and environmental factors too.

mangajack, they are quite further south and I don't think they fish this area. Rebel, same thing as mangajack, Snowy is quite a few hours south, very different area there. Thanks for your help though, I'll keep looking around. Peter

Good Afternoon all. I've made this thread to ask a few questions. I frequent the Southern Highlands, NSW, mainly around Bowral. I've only ever fished saltwater in Syndey and am looking to try freshwater fishing down in the highlands. I would like to try out the Nattai Creek Dam or Lake Alexandra these are the only spots I've heard of holding fish. The dam having bass and the Lake having carp. I've also heard about the Wingacarribe River around Berrima holding carp. Does anybody have some suggestions or knowledge about these areas or something with 10-15minutes of these locations I could catch a fish at. Additionally, I've never fished fresh so what would be the best baits and or lures to try out. Kind Regards, Peter

I have learnt the art of swinging from my DIY rod, a dried bamboo pole with a few zip ties and about 2 metres of line with a float. Landing many blackfish/luderick, best was 23 luderick in 1 hour, biggest was 43 cm. All of the sea walls and pontoons in my area. The bamboo rod has no reel so you just have to fling the fish out of the water, it seems to always work no matter the size, but when I try with big flatties, it's just not the same. I'm sure with more practice and experience I'll get the hang of it.

Thanks Hweebe, that's an interesting suggestion. "the pendulum swinging motion" is something that always seems to work for me with the flatties under 40cm but any larger and they come off, perhaps a heavier rod weighting might be the solution, I'll have a try next time I'm out.

Alright, thanks for the insight, I'll have to look into gaffs a bit more. Cheers.

Thanks for all the replies. I problem is the sea walls are all about 2 metres above the water mark. The pontoons for each house are about 1/2 a metre above the water, there isn't anywhere I could "beach" the fish. For lighter smaller fish lifting it out has worked 90% of the time. However in this case the line just snapped. Using lip grips or grabbing the fish by hand doesn't seem like a way I would be successful with. As for gaffs I have two at home but I have never tried using them on a fish like that. Nets seem like the most straightforward answer to me. I was able to get the fish to the surface and guide it to the most suitable landing spot, end of the pontoon, I can get the fishing close enough just couldn't get it out of the water... work best as I'm fishing up and down across approx 15 waterfront houses. Leaving the net in one spot seems like I would still end up with the fish but the net being to far away. Cheers all. Peter

Good Afternoon Everybody. I went for an evening fish last night, approx 8 PM, and was using 2.5 inch grubs. I landed a bream which was just legal and a the same for a flathead. Then I didn't seem to get a hit for 30-45 minutes before I this happened. Cast into 1 - 2m deep water between pontoons. Rocky and oyster infested bottoms. letting is drop slowly then a quick jig and small reel back in. Within a few seconds of sinking under the pontoon I wen't to flick the lure off the bottom, however, it felt like it was snagged, after trying a bit to get it 'unsnagged' I felt a few head shakes. The battle began, reeling it in but away from the oysters. It didn't give to much of a crazy fight but was quite weighty. Got the flathead to to the surface, only having a headtorch on but I could clearly see this was a new PB for me, it was well over 60cm. I saw the hookup was good so my only option was to try and lift it out of the water onto the pontoon, then tragedy struck, my 10lb fluro leader was snapped/shreaded, knots were fine though..... So, this is the 2nd time in a month I've had a decent flatty and not landed it. I'm privileged enough to live water front in Sydney and have access to approx, 150-200m of sea wall/water fronts my neighbours have allowed me to fishing along. I'm lazy and only have a big landing net I use mainly for on the tinny and for jews. Carrying it around back and forth gets annoying. I'm wonder if you have any suggestions for smaller nets I could clip onto my pants and let it hang from my shorts I could quickly grab off and scoop a fish out of the river?? All suggestions are greatly appreciated, I'm devastated I lost a great fish and am looking for ways to ensure this isn't likely to occur again. Regards, Peter

Thanks all some great Info, ive now tried a few of these methods but I feel the non slip loop knot just isn't as strong as the uni so Im willing for the uni to rub along the sharp spot of the split ring, I will have to try and find a good clip to use next time I'm at the tackle store. Thanks for your advice all, and the lure tuning worked well. Thanks, Peter

The second biggest for that fishing session would have been 30-31cm. However, last night or this morning, approx midnight, I hooked onto a 35.5cm bream, was over the moon my new PB. As for photos, do we have to have it attached in order to verify?

Caught myself 7 nice bream, smallest was 28cm, largest was 32cm. Also you can see 5 small leatherjacket. Smallest 9cm, largest 13cm (not sure if leatherjacket are apart of this challenge??) Made a beauty dinner for a family of 6. All fish are already cleaned in the photo. Hope the image has attached, i read that there are some issues at the moment, using the google doc/drive folder seems to not be working correctly for my account. I just copy/pasted the image below.

Im in, can I join south team?

Thanks ellicat, Im down to join, Souths team it is!

An additional question, when using my Daiwa Spike 44, i have been tying double uni onto the split ring connected to the lure. I noticed that when retrieving it always swimming to the right by about 1.5 meters every time, even if I cast with and against the current in any direction really. Could this be the knot causing it to swing off to the right and side? what causes this? How can I prevent it, I want it to swim straight inline with my rod tip. Thanks, Peter

Thanks @fatboy, I am using some Daiwa Spike 44's, Double Clutch 48's and Slippery Dog 65's, they all come with a split ring on the bibs. I have only used double uni knot my whole fishing experience, for hooks, lures, swivels, braid to leader and now split rings. I looked at the non slip loop knot, I'll have to give it a go. I can understand why the knot would be compromised if you open the split ring, because the ring and the line are in contact. Would doing the non slip loop knot really need a split ring or could you tie directly to the lure?

Thank for the suggestion, never seen them before, I'll have to have a play around and see what will hold up. Thanks for your replies. Peter

Thanks @ellicat I fish the estuaries, bread and butter really, bream, flathead, flounder, tailor, whiting I am interest in getting my first bass, trout and perch but I'll have to do some travelling to get out of the salty water

I've heard/read countless stories of snap swivels opening and the lure coming off, not sure if its true and how common it occurs, I don't want that risk when working $20+ lures. I could just take all the split rings of my hardbody bibs and have 1 ring tied on and just attach it each time, the main query I have here is, once a knot has been tightened on the ring, would using the pliers and spreading the ring open potentially loosen/stretch/weaken the knot? I'm using double uni. Thanks, Peter

Hi Everyone. Looking for some advice, new to fishing hardbodies. Just bought some Daiwa Spike 44's, Double Clutch 48's and Slippery Dog 65's. After tying fluro leader to the split rings attached to the lure, could I using a split ring plier and open it slightly while the knot is still tied to the ring, then slip a different colour way or lure onto that split ring. That would mean no retying when changing lures, just pop the ring open and attach? Would it still be ok with the knot tied to the split ring? Can be useful if needing to change from shallow to deep divers. Thanks for your assistance. Peter K

Good Afternoon all, I'm Peter, and as the title suggests I'm new to the whole forum thing. I've been fishing for about 6 years now. For the first 4 years I only used baits, then I ventured into soft plastics for the past 2 years, I'm now starting to try hard bodies. I live by the Georges River in Sydney. I hope to learn a thing or two and get some advice. Regards, Peter K