Sykes

Could be a Jinker? Kind of like a high top tractor that can drive through the water. There’s a few guys on the northern flats that use them to launch tinnys if I recall.

I also think the tagging competition could be adding fuel to the fire. Everyone heading there, in for a chance. 

The Rangers were there on and off and did educate some of do's and don'ts but they had other places to be as well and once they are out of sight anything can happen with out them as the temptation in catching one of the 1,000 Cod in there and on the dinner table.Signage is around the place re fish limits and rules but the public turned zombie and ignored common sense, I'm too avoiding the place for a while.

Some one took this picture this morning

Announced today opening soon

I've posted a couple of reports of local land based squid fishing and thought I'd give a run down of the rig I use.
So lets get the obvious out of the way, you don't need anything fancy to catch squid, and a handline with a jig will catch you squid. However, if you are land based fishing from popular metro spots, there are some upgrades that will increase your chances.
Rod
Number one item I would suggest is a long rod capable of flinging a jig a long distance. Every man and his dog will be covering the same area with their casts, but if you can cast further and search an area others can't reach, you might just hook into that big squid no one else has been able to tempt. My rod of choice is an 8'9" medium heavy Emeraldas. These are nice quality rods, good blanks, Fuji K guides and a good action for squidding. I've tried a 9' medium NS Black Water and a 8'3" medium light Atomic Arrowz egi rod. The Emeraldas has been the best all round in terms of quality materials, build quality and performance, however I feel the NS Black Water was a better rod in terms of performance (particularly for price), but the build quality lacked a bit (the rod joint was a little too lose). I wouldn't buy an Emeraldas if I was paying the local price of $250 for the entry level model and would opt for the NS Black Water instead. But I bought a rod built for the European market from OS for $165 landed.
Line
After the rod i think the next important part is the line. Again, I'm mainly interested in casting distance, so a quality 8 strand braid is the way to go. I'm using Platypus P8 0.14mm, Australian made and owned, and there is an Ebay seller who usually has it for a good price. When I bought it, the guy chucked in for free a small bottle of Line Butter line conditioner. For leader material I use 15lb Duel HD fluorocarbon. Ideally you would use a lighter mainline and leader for both better distance and sensitivity, but it's a trade off with strength for pull jigs out of snags.
Reel
The reel isn't too critical for squid fishing, it's basically just a winch for dragging in the squid. However you do want a reel that allows line to come off easily for long casts and also lays the line evenly on the spool when retrieving the line. It's hard to go past either Shimano or Daiwa. My reel is an Emeraldas LT 2500 double handle, not necessary, but I paid only $153 including shipping. The drag on the Emeralds is well suited to squid fishing, as it's nice and progressive, so you can easily dial in the drag for different jigs. When whipping the rod up to make the jig hop, ideally you want the drag set so gives a little so when you strike you don't lose the squid from ripping out the jig out or ripping off a tentacle.
Jigs
In my opinion, jigs are the least critical part of the set-up. You can spend a fortune on jigs, but I think it's more important to have a selection of reasonable quality jigs rather than just a couple of expensive jigs. Firstly you will definitely lose jigs to snags. Secondly, if you are not catching anything you might change your luck by changing your jig to a different color. Having several different coloured jigs should increase your chance of success when its slow (but you will also use the same jig 80% of the time and you only need a selection for the remaining 20% of time). I have lots of jigs (again bought cheap from OS or locally from Rui), different colours, different weight/sink rates). I've made a laminated cheat sheet for my tackle bag so I know which jig is which.
Terminal Tackle
Not critical. I like to use a quick change snap with a swivel so I can easily swap jigs. I'm currently using a snap swivel by Rui, but there are many other brands.
Occasionally I add chin sinkers if the current is strong and it's difficult to get the jig down deep. Strong wind can also make it difficult to get the jig down deep because it catches your line. You can use a small 00 ball sinker just above the snap swivel, but I'm currently using Nakajima sinkers which have a simple quick connect.

Unfortunately my potty mouth ruined the footage. So I can’t post it here. But here’s a still image of what took my pinky

With weather like today, how can you not go fishing. Was able to head for the hills this morning. Wasn't really fussed if I caught anything or not, happy to be outside in some sun.

 

Caught these two guys on a black and orange nymph. Tied half a dozen last night. Come home with two. Only using 2lb tippet. 

When I came across this guy, I knew for certain the hills where waking up.. 

Some ruff stuff. That gets the job done. Carry bunch of woolys and drys too 
 
 
 

I normally wait until spring for the first trout fish. After reading @styla report, thought I'd give it a crack myself. 
Expecting alot of water. Forecast only 11 degrees and the odd shower. 

Spotted and spooked a few fish before my first. All juveniles. This guy fell to a simple grub pattern. 

Another sitting in the fast wash 

Glad I got out and had a look. will wait until it warms up a little and flow slows before I try again.

This was a day (19th March 2021) when I was lucky enough to be in the Mersey River when there was a massive Mayfly hatch, the trout were having a great time sipping them off the surface. This was the best hatch I've seen on this river since 2009 when I was lucky enough to see a monster Dun hatch in the stretch of river..(see photo)
The trout fishing was tough going due them feeding on the Mayflys.. Actually seeing what I did was the highlight of the day for sure, the trout I caught were a bonus..

Massive dun hatch, Mersey River. Weegena. (25-11-09) 
cheers
Adrian
 
 

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but seeing it wasn't closed, thought I add my 2 cents.
Back in the 70's and early 80's we'd venture to the OH breakwater a couple of times year. Always in daylight. Night, lol, was too much like playing Russian roulette with the devil.
Aside from mulloway and snapper, if you were lucky, you'd hook up some decent size King Gorge Whiting too. Though, to be fair, in those days, fish were aplenty, locally.
Unless the breakwater has undergone repairs since, rock hopping was definitely a task you had to take care at.  The snail win the race on this one, that's for sure.

The other thing, not sure if it's still a problem, but there was a vermin (rat) issue. Some where the size of small cats, and not scared to have a got at you, if you cross paths with them. Hence a good pair of solid boots, with a well gripping sole, and even steel caps wont go astray. Especially if those rats are still inhabiting the rocks.

On a family walk around Westlakes today and came across the below.
 



Majority of the school was 30 and above, with a few genuine brutes that too the eye were mid 40s!!
They were just milling about, with no obvious reason for them to be there. I sat and just watched them for about 15 minutes, completely mesmerised.
For those that target Bream often, is this a normal occurrence?  

Hi all,
So just got back from the holiday manged two salmon one 38cm and the other 40cm off the rocks and a small fiddler ray probably round 60cm
I caught three small flatty's and some kgw whiting mostly bloody trumpeters but I managed a couple of salmon trout and a mullet off the shore.
I also managed my first flatty on a small savage gear pencil lure which was exciting as this was the first time I had used the lure so I didnt really know if I was using it correctly, all I did was rod tip down and slow wind then bam little flatty jumped on.
Still beats adelaide fishing just a pitty there were heaps of trumpeters getting to the bait before the whiting.
heres a couple of photos of the trip
 
 
 
 

Veggie scraps aren’t cutting it - so its time for worm chow 
it’s only been 3 days but I swear they are getting bigger already

found the pics of my old Noarlunga PB
this was caught on a good old wriggler but memory and was released perfectly 

Still here. Will put up a report when I catch a sambo from the tinny 😆
Really haven't been fishing alot. Weathers been pretty ordinary on my days off. 

Got up early this morning to try for a squid or two off the Smoky Bay jetty only to find that it was burning.
Ratbags playing with fireworks last night must have started the fire and it had been smouldering for hours. I rang 000 and the local CFA unit responded very fast, but the damage meant that burnt planks had to be removed making the jetty a safety hazard. Who knows when it will be repaired.
 

This years Onkastomper Fishing Competition is on again at Perrys Bend, Onkaparinga River and Strike Hook is a proud supporter and donor.
A few of us Strike Hook guys will be there again cooking the sausage sizzle with soft drinks available too.
If you're a member of Strike Hook, come over say hi.
Date - Sunday 8th November Time - 7am - 12pm followed by presentations Location - Perrys Bend Onkaparinga River (Noarlunga Downs) Entry Fee - Donation to Childhood Cancer of your choice (Generosity encouraged for this great cause) Registration - Upon Arrival ********MAJOR SUPPORTER - Onkaparinga City Council******** Special Guests - Amelia Mulcahy (Channel 7), Chris Picton MP, Katrine Hildyard MP, Amanda Rishworth MP Rules and Fishable Area - explained upon registration but due to past numbers I am restricting fishing to 1 rod per person as I cannot extend the fishable area as in Onkastompa 12,13 and 14 Everyone who attends and donates receives a ticket into the many random draws for prizes. Categories - Biggest Overall Bream (Onkastompa Champion) Biggest Bream Men Biggest Bream Women Biggest Bream Junior 15< Biggest Mulloway (Open Class) Biggest "Other Fish" Senior Biggest "Other Fish Junior 15< BBQ and Drinks available with every cent going to the cause so please bring your thirst and hunger For Sale Table - Fishing and other goods will be for sale at AMAZING prices, again with every cent going to the cause. Card facilities available Merchandise - Polo and Hoody designs released in a few months A popular side event over the last 3 years has been Animal Relocation and Education bringing his animal matesThis has been poular with kids and adults alike. Tribe FM will be broadcasting live, which adds atmosphere as per the last 2 years. For the FIRST time a coffee van will be on site    

shout out to @AquaticResearch1 for the motivation from his previous post. Went up to the hills this morning to find plenty of small trout about. 

Thought I’d share a couple of pix shot with the drone from one of my favourite areas to fish. The West Coast 😎
 
 

Just thought i'd put a thread up of some of the other lures i have painted up at the moment. Originally my main goal was to mainly paint the topwater Lures for YFW and sell them just as an hobby sort of thing. However after watching countless hours of Youtube and reading forums I now know there is alot more i can paint/create and not to pump them out quantity wise. Instead getting creative and painting for Quality and doing it more for myself.
Unfortunately I have painted up most of the blanks I originally had. I have a few hundred dollars worth of blanks, films, stencils and bits and pieces i have purchased being held as  the coronavirus hit most of the areas I purchase my gear from. So am waiting for freight companies to resume there services so i can start painting up new lures..
My main blanks I am planning to paint will be for the upcoming season. So will mainly be Trout, Redfin and Salmon lures. I have a range of Stickbaits, and metals for the Salmon. The Trout and Redfin will be a range of minnows perfect for both dams/lakes and creeks and streams.   I will keep you all up to date with the processes and what I create.  In the mean time here are a couple I have painted over the last month or so ....
 





 

I fish the same lures and same areas a bit and havent had the problem so as mentioned you might just be unlucky, the bigger the school the more competition so the little fish are probably really competing for food and are more aggressive than usual. Perhaps try a plastic thats bigger or has  a thicker body, like the squidgy prawn imitation, or a longer flick bait.

I've hit the Port a couple of times in the last 2 weeks and small ST's schools are everywhere and hitting the plastics hard... I've only had one i needed to operate on to get my plastic back tho. Maybe you are just been unlucky.