MAH

Vietnamese style salad with pickled squid, topped with crispy fried onions (I buy a large container from the local asian supermarket)

34 minutes ago, yellow door 1 said:

after mucking around with those slimey mullet the other night - the time has come for a dedicated fishing rag with caribeena

I do a similar thing. When my partner deems the bath towels are too old/worn and need replacing, I take them and cut them into 3-4 hand towel sizes, overlock the edges to stop them fraying and sew on a small loop to attach a carabiner. A couple of bath towels makes 6-8 fishing towels. I've got a box full of fishing towels, and take one for handling fish and another for wiping my hands. I give them soak in napisan/sodium percarbonate when I get home as they get pretty stinky and my partner doesn't appreciate me chucking them into the laundry basket.

Also, you can easily catch squid from Port Hughes jetty, which would be another readily available bait.

13 hours ago, Fiona said:

Hi there I'm in Port Hughes for work over the next 6 months and wanted to know where I can catch beach worms on the York Peninsula?

Can't help with the beach/bungum worms, as I'm terrible at catching them. But there are two other types of worms that are easily collected, seaweed worms and a type of lug worm.

Seaweed worms are small worms that look a like garden worms. They can be found in the beds of seaweed washed up on the shore. You are looking for areas where the seaweed beds build up over time, not just what washes up after a big blow. You dig down to where the weed bed meets the sand underneath and will find the worms in the bottom layers of the seaweed. Don't be fooled by their small size, they are a gun bait, I've caught plenty of big YFW on these small worms.

The lug worms need a bait pump, but are also easy to collect and are definitely around Port Hughes. They are a bigger bait, but don't keep as well and can get a bit mushy. They also secrete a yellowy brown ooze that stains easily, making your fingers look like your a pack a day smoker.

The other option is pumping for nippers, which are plentiful around Port Hughes.

Shimano Sephia Sui Sui Dropper Flash Boost

Unfortunately only available in #2.5. Would love a red head flash boost in a size #3.0

These are the type of jigs I used as a kid. Cast, and then a slow roll back in. We would also have a hand line out with a tommie on a spike under a float. 90% of the time I still take a rod and hand line, but now I normally use a jig under a float instead of the tommie/spike.

Another aspect of the expensive jigs is you can buy them with different sink rates, so you can have slow sinking jigs for shallow reefy/weedy areas. This gives the jig more time in the strike zone and also reduces the chances of snags

If on a budget, you can instead use a float rig in these areas. By using a slip float you can set the depth so you don't snag the bottom, cast out and still use a jerking style retrieve, to have a similar effect as the Japanese style of jerking and ripping the jig.

If anyone wants to try an expensive jig but at a wallet friendly price, I have some #3.0 Shimano Flash Boost jigs for $12 each.

I spend quite a bit of time squid fishing. I have lots of expensive jigs (but I don't pay the expensive prices ). If fishing a new area I'll put on a cheap jig until I'm confident that I'm not going to just get snagged all the time.

When squid are plentiful, it doesn't really make much difference what jig you use or even what technique you use.

But overall, I do think the more expensive jigs make a difference, particularly when land based fishing. Firstly, they are better balanced, so are much less prone to tumbling when casting and you get better distance. They are also better balanced in the water, so when working the jig you get a better darting action which can get more strikes from timid squid. The build quality of the expensive jigs is also better and tends to last better, the crowns are less likely to rust and I find the cloths get torn up less (not an issue if fishing nude jigs).

But I'm not paying $20+ for expensive jigs, I'm paying $10-$12.

1 hour ago, Softy said:

I've only ever gone a rod length of leader.. Don't like the knot on the spool and possible memory in the leader being wrapped on the spool?

Actually surprised to hear you run that much leader Kuerschie..

I'm the same, I don't like the leader on the spool. The leader has a tendency to want to "spring" off the spool unlike the braid.

I no longer use flurocarbon for leaders and use a good quality monofilament. The price difference between flurocarbon and mono is significant, and I couldn't detect any significant improvement with fluro. I like how mono is more supple and I feel this makes my knots better.

4 hours ago, Soobz said:

Seacliff - launch in front of the Surf Lifesaving Club, head towards the black pole to the SE. Good squidding there if it's clear water, no need to go past the pole. Keep an eye out for lazy/stupid boaties that sometimes come too close at speed and throw up big wakes.

Do yourself a favour and practice a capsize recovery in shallow/calm water before taking on any waves, particularly if you are not a strong swimmer.

Seacliff is a very good spot to practice. You don't need to be far offshore to catch squid and you can also pick-up other species like snook. It's a very popular spot so there will likely be others around you plus there is the Surf Life Saving Club and yacht club adding to activity and eyes on the water.

However, practicing capsize and re-entry can't be over emphasised. Self rescue should be considered your primary method, never assume someone will be there to help, you must be able to save yourself.  I'm pretty confident on the water, including multi-day self supported tours  circumnavigating islands in West Papua. I still practice capsize and re-entry. As a kid we owned and sailed a Mirror dinghy, the same principle applied and my sailing school made us practice all the time. Even if there was no wind, they would tow us out and we would drill capsize and re-entry over and over again. I've had to call upon my skills many times and would have been in serious trouble if not well drilled.

I make my son practice regularly, even though he hates doing it. One thing I drum into him is never let go of the boat, not only is something you can rest upon, but a kayak is more visible than a person bobbing up and down in the water. Remember that once you flip your capsized kayak back over, if there is a strong wind or swell. your kayak can shoot off from you much faster than you can swim.

It sounds boring, but always plan for safety first and fishing second. Have a plan for the day, where you will be fishing, what time you will launch and return, etc, and make sure someone knows your plan. if you change your plan, let someone know (take your mobile phone with you in a waterproof pouch). Make sure you have all you safety gear packed before you start packing fishing gear. And do a safety check before you launch, bung in - check, hatches secure - check, etc.

It was mentioned earlier about lures tumbling through the air. I think this can have more of an effect on distance than spool diameter.

I can ping a 15g tear drop sinker that flies nice an straight noticeably further than a #3.0 squid jig tumbles through the air and moves with the direction of the wind.

There is a technique in squid fishing for reducing the tumbling of jigs. You place a bead on your leader, straighten one of the prongs on the bottom crown, then put the straightened prong in the bead, so the jig hands head down with the weight at the end of the line. After you cast, the first jig of the line releases the squid jig so it's point the the right direction again.

Salt Strong looked at reel size. Using identical 7'6" rods, one with a 1000 Diawa Fuego and the other a 3000 Diawa Fuego, both spooled with 10lb Power Pro and using the same weight. They conclude there was a noticeable difference, but it looked pretty negligible to me.

They were casting what looks like a 28gm teardrop weight, so different to your use. I suspect the difference would be even less with lighter weights.

When I go fishing, if I'm fishing from the shore or with a tub in tow across the flats, I often carry a spare reel in case I have a session ending wind knot, then I can just swap reels (if only spare spools were readily available and affordable!). On the occasion when I have swapped out a reel, I haven't noticed much difference when swapping out a larger reel for a smaller reel.

What is more important, water protection or spare spool?

Declaration, I prefer Shimano reels to Daiwa. The only Daiwa reel I currently own is an Emeraldas LT.

When it comes to Daiwa magsealed reels I'm so-so. I like the concept, it provides pretty good protection to the anti-reverse clutch. My two gripes are;

1. I'm not as confident about self servicing the reel and need the special oil
2. The reverse switch is weakness in terms of water protection

So although the magseal is good keeping water out, the reverse switch is a weakness if the reel gets dunked.

If water protection from the occasional dunking is a significant issue, counterintuitively, I favour simpler reels. I have a Shimano Sienna and a Sedona that I use when kayak fishing and they get a lot of spray and the occasional dunking. Both reels are poor at keeping the water out, but if dunked are super simple to strip down, clean and re-grease. Downside to such simple reels, is they are not are not very refined. The new Sahara FJ has a nice seat of features, including a screw in handle, but is still nice and simple (but the weight and line retrieve might not match you needs). You can buy one from an OS store for $105 landed, or buy 2 ($202 landed) and not only do you have a spare spool, but you have another body for spare parts!

Just my thoughts.

Headed to Marino Rocks this morning. Water was reasonably clear. Weather was a bit average, wind started to pick up and there a slight drizzle.

I had waders on so was able to get out to a nice little rock ledge and start casting around jigs.

I used slow sinking jigs, but still snagged a couple of times. Luckily I was able to clear the snag each time.

Caught 2 squid over 1.5 hours, not great but better than a doughnut.

As the tide dropped I saw a lure wedged in a rock, which turned out to be a 10g Halco twisty. Nice little find.

A good way to spend the morning.

Weather looks OK tomorrow and I thought I would try Marino Rocks for squid. I don't know this area for land based fishing, so would appreciate some advice on best time/tide to go.

Low tide is 10.45am and high tide is 5.07pm. Is it possible to fish this area on the high tide, or do you need a low tide to get out onto the rocks?

Cheers

MAH

I have a Maxer 27 SMD LED Prawn Light. It's reasonable.

It's light weight from the perspective that it doesn't require a large battery, as it runs of 3 D cell batteries. It's reasonable from the perspective it has the light output you would expect from something utilising 3 D cell batteries.

I don't use it for gigging, I use it for wading the shallows at night for crabs or dab garfish.

There was a special via the Columbia online store and I was able to buy the Tamiami fishing shirts for $29.85 & free shipping. So I grabbed 2 for $59.70.

Got the shirt I wanted at heavily discounted price!

51 minutes ago, Softy said:

I've learnt to only use low/mid range gear on the kayak it gets trashed way too easy.

Agree 100%.

The trickle down of rod and reel technology means you can buy quite good gear at reasonable prices. Shimano Nasci has a screw in handle, Coreprotect, Micromodule II, etc., and you can pick up a 1000 sized reel for $140.

I have the same attitude to taking good gear to a jetty. I've laid down a rod to get a gut hooked fish off, only to have someone tread on the rod tip.

No, not like that. But the fibers are very fine and the weave is not super tight like a business shirt, so it is very breathable, particularly in combination with the back vents. It's certainly worked for me.

However I will check out what you have suggested.

Cheers

MAH

1 hour ago, SurfcaztR said:

The only problem with shirts is when it gets hot humid day shirts get wet and stick to the skin and doesn't breathe,what does work better is a polyester shirts the one's that tradies wear with the cool dry fabric which is micro vented and loose fit.You can find a variety online in colours to suite or something from the BCF vented cool range.

The Columbia shirts are like this. They are also vented at the back to help stay cool.

6 hours ago, Des said:

$75 is good value. Considering they last for ages.

Your right. I've seen other shirts that are less expensive, but I'm not sure they will last as long. I've accepted that I'll need to pay the $75.

Just split an order through plat.co.jp with another Strike Hook member.

Including shipping and conversion fees worked out to be $10.60 per Flash Boost jig!

plat.co.jp have #3.5 flashboost jigs on sale. 6 jigs + postage would be about $60 depending on the exchange rate you get from your credit card or Paypal.

Any recommendations, anything you have been particularly happy with?

For several years I've worn Columbia long sleeve shirts when fishing and any outdoor activity. They have been excellent, lightweight, quick drying, roomy allowing free movement; but they are getting pricey. Cheapest I've found is $75, which is bit of coin when you want to buy 2 or 3.

If I can't find anything else, I'll just buy the same shirts again, because even if it's pricey, it's better than sunburn and the risk of skin cancer.