ShimsMan's Basic B&B Fishing Guide

[ShimsMan 1]

Hey everyone,Thought we could do with some more good info threads on S&H, so it's time to post one! I'll be focusing on smaller, tastier, land based species: Tommies, Mullet, Salmon Trout and Garfish mainly. This is a guide for Land based fishing from wharves, jetties and breakwalls etc. and is mostly for the newbies, but hopefully some of our forum members can get something out of it too!Let's get it started!It all starts with the rigs, it pays to keep things simple but versatile if possible, So I use 2 hook paternoster rigs; made from quality terminal tackle:Attention to detail helps a lot in rigging for smaller or spooky species in clear water, in this case; good quality fluorocarbon and very sharp hooks are the main areas I spend money on. I use mono for main line and terminate it with a small snap swivel so rigs can be changed without any tying.To make my rigs, I tie a surgeon's loop in the line and 2 dropper loops using a dropper loop pegboard (pictured in the video.)The rig is a regular double paternoster except that I cut one of the “legs” off each dropper so that it's no longer a loop, then tie on the hooks with a blood knot.At the sinker end I leave about 50cm and tie on a snap swivel so that sinkers can be changed as needed. When you're fishing over rough ground, you can take the sinker off and use a clip on float; but I fish the bottom for these species 95% of the time, so the float is an afterthought.The sinkers pictured are 1/4oz(7g), 3/8oz(10.5g) and 3/4oz(21g) with 3/8 being the most often used; I wouldn't recommend anything heavier than 3/4oz, as this style of fishing seldom requires much of a cast, if at all. Hooks are Daiichi suicide size 10, short shank; any smaller and you're going to end up with more gut-hooked fish!http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5sLQH_N3BM Bait is maggots most of the time for me, I've noticed long life ones are often a bit more lively and worth the extra dollar or so over the bran packaged ones. with the maggots, I thread on enough so that I can only see the barb of the hook, they last ages this way and you can fish for longer without re-baiting.Worms are a bit too expensive for me and I personally only use them when chasing whiting, though you can harvest your own if you're time rich and can get the technique down.Pilchards are a great universal bait, but as far as smaller species go, I use fresh frozen (not brined) pilchard cubes unweighted on a fluoro trace and 4/0 suicide hook for Salmon Trout and it works very well for me.Mince is a great bait for mullet, regular beef mince thickened very slightly with wheat bran or breadcrumbs and some curry powder, garlic, aniseed or 5 spice mix added in works well; squash it into a ball shape on the hook and gently cast or drop it in and you're good to go.Lots of other baits can be used for these species: cockles, prawn, squid etc but these are my “go to” baits and they get me good results.Burley is a must for these smaller species and can make the difference between going hungry and home made fish 'n' chips on most days. A mix of pellets and small burley log in a plastic burley bucket just below the surface of the water works very well for me and the fish normally show up within the hour, depending on the tide. Arguably the best burley I've used is from Arthur at betta price tackle, so that's where I get mine!First thing I do when I get to a jetty, breakwall etc is always to get the burley bucket in the water and tied off; then set up and get some bait in the water within about 15 metres downdrift of the burley bucket. Most of the time I'm aiming for tommies, sometimes gar if there's weedbeds around; occasionally I'll drift out the unweighted pilchard cube for salmon trout instead of the maggots. Tommies are my main target a lot of the time as they're not size restricted, so they're great for use as bait and burley and make good live baits.As soon as the first usable fish is pulled up, it goes either on a squid jag or is used as a livebait (depending on what jetty I'm at.)Tommies make decent livebaits but squid love them, so if I'm at a squidding jetty it goes onto the squid jig instead. I rig my livebaits using this technique:4/0 hooks are used and the mouth hook is only threaded on the line instead of tied, the end hook snelled; this ensures that the fish can swim freely and can be adjusted for any size fish. until recently I was using a single lip hook, but I missed out on a lot of good Snook as a result (they seem to love striking at the belly of livebaits instead of the head.)For chasing landbased snapper or big salmon, I kill the first fish and use it whole on a pulley rig with the same 2 hook config as above, using up to 6/0 circle hooks if the bait is big enough.So that's my usual game plan for a day's fishing. I hope there were some helpful bits in there!Thanks for reading,Shimsman.

[bjorn2fish 4,612]

Great write up ShimsMan.This will definitely help out those who may be new to the game. I use slightly different rigs so I'm going to give your rigs a go.

[4THALOVE 45]

that's excellent Shimsy nice work like Bjorn, I too fish differently I rarely use a double hook set up these days just personal preference though will definitely help the novice and even some more experienced fisherman with those tips well done cheers 4THA

[ausea 4]

You left out background information about yourself

[Squid Flaps 5]

Good work. Thanks for taking the time.I would only add that using fluoro is a luxury option especially if you're going to be cutting off one half of the loop to make your dropper. Good old clear mono will be fine especially for novices.

[Ale 301]

You left out background information about yourself

Didn't realize this was a dating site? Shims has gone to a lot of effort to provide some great info that I'm sure many will find helpful. He puts in a bit of effort around the site trying to make it a better place than what it already is.Kudos and many thanx to all who add great value like this. :clap:Top effort Shims

[ShimsMan 1]

Good work. Thanks for taking the time.I would only add that using fluoro is a luxury option especially if you're going to be cutting off one half of the loop to make your dropper. Good old clear mono will be fine especially for novices.

heya squid flaps' date='Cutting one end of the dropper only wastes about 4-5mm of the line and doubles the length of the dropper; it's just a way to make the droppers longer without resorting to 3 way swivels.Here's a pic to clarify:[img']http://i.imgur.com/Xf7c4gv.gif[/img]I agree that most will do fine on light mono for rigs, but I sometimes go for whiting and spooky gar over sandy bottom so using fluoro helps in those situations; I think it's a worthy investment as I use pretty modest rod and reel combos, so I have a little money left over for good line.

[Squid Flaps 5]

Gotcha Shimsman and i actually like that idea. Only peril would be getting bitten off on the droppers means the entire rig is gone.My preference for quick replacement droppers for those pesky puffers and LJ is a loop knot on the trace and on the droppers.

[fished out 0]

Great Right up Shimsman! Very good basic guide for the majority of people who go land based fishing.1 thing I would like to add is that, in shallow water/Calm Beaches no sinker is required. A burley spring full of burley used as casting weight which gets dragged every 10 or 15 seconds is killer on whiting, Mullet and Tommies!

[ShimsMan 1]

Great Right up Shimsman! Very good basic guide for the majority of people who go land based fishing.1 thing I would like to add is that' date=' in shallow water/Calm Beaches no sinker is required. A burley spring full of burley used as casting weight which gets dragged every 10 or 15 seconds is killer on whiting, Mullet and Tommies![/quote']Thanks fished out!Only reason i don't personally use the burley sinkers often is that if I cast out too far, I can accidentally lead the fish out of the burley bucket stream; plus sometimes people have a habit of setting up too close and fishing in my burley stream, so I try to keep my fishing contained in a smaller area.Just a preference on how i do it FO, also, i'm a bit too slack to load up a burley spring every few casts!

[jimbojames 285]

It is a great write up shimsman with some great info there and the style of live bait rig can be different to what others use and is always good to have another person point of view to try on the day . Dont worry about the negative people on here as they are all talk and no fish . I too ask myself what has your background got to do with any thing ? Some people hey . I have posted up on here a few how to videos but unfortunately there are a few c@#$heads that spoil it for the rest . Persevere and conquer , look forward to some more hints and tips from your self as a second point of view never hurts and we are always learning ?

[ShimsMan 1]

It is a great write up shimsman with some great info there and the style of live bait rig can be different to what others use and is always good to have another person point of view to try on the day . Dont worry about the negative people on here as they are all talk and no fish . I too ask myself what has your background got to do with any thing ? Some people hey . I have posted up on here a few how to videos but unfortunately there are a few c@#$heads that spoil it for the rest . Persevere and conquer ' date=' look forward to some more hints and tips from your self as a second point of view never hurts and we are always learning ?[/quote']Thanks JimboJames,We're all here to learn, and good info will bring new people to this forum I hope!I think that since FSA shut down, it's up to us to take up the slack and become a better forum: focus less on talking about buying the latest and greatest rods, reels, braid etc and more about how to catch the fish we're looking for, where to find them and so on!The guide was by no means gospel, it's just where I am in my fishing journey and what works well for me personally, but it has been great to see people come out of the woodwork and voice their opinions too!

[Cal 480]

Great writeup Shimsman A question if i may,,, where did you get those daiichi hooks?Cheers

[ShimsMan 1]

Great writeup Shimsman A question if i may' date=',, where did you get those daiichi hooks?Cheers [/quote']Thanks Cal, I get them at Fisherman's Paradise:212A Gouger st in the cityPh: 8410 0454

[TT 2]

Just too good mate!Loving your work. Should be great way of the novice and some more 'experienced' anglers picking up a few tips!Should be a great resource. Hey! May even spark a few more specific rig topics. i.e. 'How to fish for Whiting' etc and this can be stickied by the mods so people can have a set location to find out how to go about their fishing.Once again well done! And a big THANKYOU! TT Oh and if you have any fishy pics that you have caught on these rigs. Chuck them up as well!

[Poppa Snake 1,399]

Good work. Thanks for taking the time.I would only add that using fluoro is a luxury option especially if you're going to be cutting off one half of the loop to make your dropper. Good old clear mono will be fine especially for novices.

heya squid flaps' date='Cutting one end of the dropper only wastes about 4-5mm of the line and doubles the length of the dropper; it's just a way to make the droppers longer without resorting to 3 way swivels.Here's a pic to clarify:[img']http://i.imgur.com/Xf7c4gv.gif[/img]Thanx for the info Shimy.Query - I tie loop knot then loop the pre tied store bought long shanks loop through this and have always wondered if this doubling of loops etc is loosing me "feel" of the bite? The way you do the loop looks like it would give more direct/instant feel of the bite? please discuss/advise

[ShimsMan 1]

Thanks TT,I Would love to see some guides for specific species too, Especially regarding their behavior, feeding habits, migration, breeding, territory and so on! We have a few guys already (e.g. Des "The Whiting Whisperer") that know particular species very well and they're a great source of knowledge and inspiration to many of us!I don't snap all that many pics as I only have a lousy phone camera, (had to borrow a proper camera for this guide) but I have a couple of good ones that you may or may not have seen before:First one is from using the rig I mentioned for a Tommy bait session, bagged out and got a lot of bait and about a dozen good size eating fish as well!Second pic is From the earlier days. Casting unweighted pillie cubes for salmon in the St Kilda channel on a morning outgoing tide, bagged out in less than 2 hours that day!Of course, not all days are like this; but that's fishing!

[ShimsMan 1]

Hey Poppa,I've used droppers with pre snelled hooks before like you mentioned and I can see how you could think they're less sensitive; when you thread the loops together they can still slide on each other a bit and the rig might feel a little less rigid, (never noticed it too much myself) but the main reason i cut the loops is so that I can use the hooks that I want.By cutting the loops, you do get choice in hooks and (maybe) more sensitivity; but as a tradeoff the hooks do sit a little closer to the main line instead of sticking out due to the stiffness of the dropper loop.The rigs stay free of major tangles so it works out pretty well all round I guess!You have a good eye for detail Poppa, keep experimenting and be sure to let us know if you discover some nifty tricks!

[lex.d 0]

gday shimsman thanks for the great post always good to listen to how others do things and hopefully learn a thing or two.I was actually wondering the same thing as Poppa and was already thinking about cutting the dropper loops as you said. do you make an extra large loop so as when you cut it the hook it is a reasonable distance of the rig? or have you found it doesn't make too much diiference? cheers mate

[ShimsMan 1]

Heya lex,I tie the droppers with a jig, so they're pretty constant in length; 15-20cm works well for me with most lines up to about 30lb (final length with hook tied on.) have never seen the need to go longer really...All you have to do is tailor the line to the weight of the bait, if you're using heavier bait like half pilchards, use 20lb or so; if you're using gents, 8lb is enough! The heavier, stiffer lines (especially fluorocarbon) let the bait sit out from the main line a bit more so that's what i use. If they try to wrap around the main line while fishing, just shake the rod left to right and they'll free themselves, provided they're not too long!If i'm using something like a full pilchard or bigger (including livebaits), I just use a pulley rig: it's strong, reliable, casts a mile and is excellent for fishing rough bottom. Might do a tute on how I make these soon too.If it helps, here's a pic of my tying rig:the 4" nails are spaced 160mm wide and 70mm deep, I used heatshrink over the tops to protect the line from touching metal when tying, threaded rod and wing nut are 3/8" and just using a leather backed wood washer to keep it down (will replace this with a fender washer soon.)Ignore the 19mm holes, they're for dog mounting on my bench to keep everything still!