Territory Lad

For rods & reels I stick to proven brands and am very much a quality over quantity person.

For the most part I work to a price range of $150 - $200 p/item. If there is something im seriously keen on that is outside that range, ill wait till its on sale (Boxing day, Easter, Fin Year etc.).

Reels I tend to gravitate towards Shimano, in particular the Stradic. 

Rod wise Im a mixed bag, Shimano, Samaki, Atomic etc. but my preference is currently Samaki. 

Terminal tackle I stick to proven brands, Owner, Gamakatsu, BKK, Decoy etc. 

TL

Personally, im a quality over quantity person and for the most part I stick with proven products / recommendations.

HBs are my personal vice, with preferences geared towards YFW, Flathead (I hear they exist ) and Bream, in that order. 

In terms of types, im landbased and mainly target the flats so Im genrally looking at surface or shallow --> medium diving. 

Stickbaits for YFW, Minnows for Flatties and both cranks and small minnows for Bream.

Havent purchased any SPs in ages, but if I did I would probably start with Zman or Ecogear.

TL

Congrats Vogon

3rd crack - 126

125

124

Holy smokes! Well played squire, cracking fish!

Your right, they are great bags for rock hoping. Sounds like you had considered most if not all options before settling on the Wading bag, so im sure it will tick all your boxes. Hopefully you will fill it with a few YFW soon enough.

For what it is worth, those rapala sling bags are a great (there would be other brands / versions that do the same) alternative to a wading bag. Holds more than enough tackle and supplies. Slides around to the front for easy access and even doubles as a work table. You can clip on a fish / scale / keeper bag to the D ring on the bag as well.

Whilst I have upgraded to a tub with an esky for my flats wading, I still use the sling bag for all my other land based fishing, especially where mobility is key.

Another idea I know others use, is a fly vest. Its lite, everything is accessible and again, you can carry a keeper bag attached to your waste.

For what it is worth, that Atomic Arrowz rod you got, if its the Bream Surface rod, its a great rod, especially for the price. I have one in my arsenal of wands epecially for wrangling YFW on surface lures. I havent been dissappointed.

Thanks for the advice everyone! New toy arrived today

On advice from the store, paired it with a 2500 Stradic for balance purposes. Whilst I wont get a chance to christen it for a while, initial thoughts are:

Pros:

Definately has the softer tip I was after. Length seems good at 7'3. No micro guides, so hopefully no/less guide wraps. 2500 seems to sit well on it.

Cons: (all minor and nothing game breaking)

Noticeably heavier outift weight wise than what I have been using. Makes sense given upsizing from 1-3kg with a 1000 up to a 2-5kg with a 2500.

Overall:

Time will tell, but initially appears overkill for what I was after, although may end up being a great all rounder for wrangling lighter estuary species (Bream, Flatties, YFW, School Jew/Mulloway etc.).

Cant wait to get it wet!!

TL

@IamDangerous I feel your pain. I have spent two years chasing Flatties for a grand total of 1 (albiet a bloody good one!!). I will continue working at these beauties until I crack the code.

What everyone has said about persistance and patience is 100% accurate.

The only point I would add to this is - have a back up plan / 2nd option. Either carry a 2nd outfit to target a different species, or carry some other rigs and change it up.

I chase my Flatties (albeit unsucessfully) by wading the flats, flinging HBs around. These flats also generally hold YFW. Whilst I have failed miserably on the Flatties front, I have successfully wrangled a number of quality YFW. To the point now where I am confident I can chase Flatties and fail, but still come home with a feed of YFW.

I have never targeted or caught Gar, but if your chasing them from a Jetty, it wouldnt hurt to carry 2-3 squid jags and maybe some rigs for Whiting. Even a crab net. A small seafood basket of squid, blueys and whiting would make a failed gar drip a lot easier to swallow I would think.

Best of luck.

Thanks for the info Des, much appreciated. 

I probably didnt articulate overly well what I was after. What Im looking for is:

1. A slightly stiffer rod that can handle the larger YFW lures, yet soft enough tip to not regularly pull hooks

2. Light enough to wade the flats and cast all day

3. Specifically looking at something in the 7ft 3 range as I already have a 7ft and a 7ft 6. I get that they are all different rods and the length is not the be all and end all, its more about finding a happy medium between castability vs handling (especially with guide wraps etc) whilst in knee - thigh deep water.

I spoke to the guy over the phone at the shop today (they are based in QLD) and had a chat. He seems to think it will do exactly what I want - but he has a vested interest in selling a product, so yeah...

I have also spoken to stores that no longer stock them and they rave about the blanks, so they must be a good rod (especially as they no longer have a vested interest in selling them).

I have decided to back my judgement in and get one, I figure if it does what I want then fantastic! If not, its another lesson learnt and I can always use it for other things like wrangling flatties or bream. 

Will let you know how it goes.

Cheers

TL

Hahaha thanks for the effort Doobs. Yeah the Atomic Arrowz they sell are great rods, especially for the price!

Hi Lads & Ladettes, 

Being eyeing off a new wand for wading the flats for a while and think I have found someone who is still stocking these. The particular one I am looking at is the 732 Light Spin (2 piece, 2-5kg). 

I have phsyically picked up and sampled the smaller 702 version with the same ratings and it seems a good rod in general and good option for surface YFW on the flats. Anyone have any experience with either the TK3Gs in general or more specifically the 732 Light Spin?

To give you some context on what I am comparing it to, below are my two current wands for wrangling YFW.

Samaki Zing Extreme, 7ft 6, 1-3kg + Shimano Stradic CI4+ 1000, 6lb Sunline Siglon

Atmoic Arrowz Bream Surface, 7ft, 1-3kg + Shimano Stradic CI4+ 1000, 6lb Sunline Siglon

Looking to add a 3rd wand to the stable that brings some slightly different characteristics but still maintains that soft tip required for the flats.

Appreciate any thoughts or advice on this rod.

Cheers TL

^^ This too!

Barra are just the beginning. Threadfin Salmon, Blue Salmon, Golden Snapper, Estuary Cod, Travs (various types), Queenies then you could get lucky woth the odd drive by from a Sapnish Mackeral, Black Jew, Jack, various reef species. Depends really on what land based you do and whether you are cbd based or in on of the suburbs. There are various estuary vs wharf locations.

There are two main wharfs in the CBD which you always see people fishing - if you want to see an amazing sight have dinner at the main wharf over sunset. Grab a seat hard up against the edge where the spot lights are directly below you. As the sun goes down and the lights come on the fish come out to play. Huge moon/bat fish, barra, trevs and various other fish school up on the surface chasing the offerings dinners drop in.

If you going to be fishing from the waters edge, it would pay to ask/keep an ear open for croc sightings. 

Enjoy! Darwin is a great place.

Spinning as in the line is twisting? Odd.

Sugarpens do roll side to side but they shouldnt be rolling over completely.

Does it do this even when you straight retrieve without imparting any action from the rod?

Cant help with the size / category range, but in terms of Samaki themselves, I own one of their ultra light flats rods and have no complaints. Good gear in my limited experience.

Mic drop....................

@doobie hahaha that was my exact thought too! 

@Hunter69 aggree with cooking majority skin side down, for the same reasons you have mentioned. I assume a smaller saucepan/fry pan would achieve the same result? 

Ill definately try it on the next batch!

Thanks guys - appreciate the responses. I figures it was either user error (my filleting process) or the size/age of the fish leading to a chewier/tougher flesh, which in turn curled. Glad to know others have the same experience.

RE: hot pan, maybe, but in the same pan at the same time are smaller fillets that dont curl. I had this same thought originally though so reduced the temperature and got the same result (curling) just without the crispy skin.

RE: weights / press with a spatula. I might give this a go and see how it fairs. 

I may also try just skinning the larger models and see if that helps. I do like the crispy skin though..... maybe just fry that off on the side!

Worst case scenario I may just release the bigger models and only keep the ~30cm models.

Thanks guys.

TL

Odd question, but any reason a YFW fillet (scaled, skin on) would warp/curl up when being cooked? 

Last few batches I have done, some of the larger fillets have curled up and the flesh tends to be chewier. Only seems to happen with the models to go above mid 30s. The smallers models come up beautiful, everytime. 

Im assuming it is something I am doing wrong, possibly during the filleting process? 

I know with squid and whole fish, you can score/cut the flesh to prevent / reduce curling, but I've never seen this with straight fish fillets.

Any advice / ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

TL

You could always ask your local store to order it in. If they have the larger model one would assume they have an account with the distributor. They should be able to get the smaller version in for you if it is still stocked / distributed.

@Yorky thats good to know. Hopefully Ill see an improvement by doing the same.

This is getting a touch frustrating.

Had another session on the flats last week and had two more failures. One snapped clean in half again and the other bent completely out of shape. 

The one that bent out of shape was new on the day and by the 2nd fish was a wreck. You can see in the pic below its been opened and is all twisted out of shape.

The whiting that did the above were both mid 30s, so good size but not absolute brutes.

A mate of mine had a few spare from the next size up (S) so I have placed a set of these on a few of my surface lures to see if the larger guage helps.

Time will tell.