Soobz

That's not the Australian model as that is available from Tackleworld only and does not have a spare spool, plus the colours are different. I do wonder about those Aliexpress reels, as in are they actually genuine Daiwa? Also currently at sub $200 delivered consider the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) it's 175g, 76cm retrieve, fully magsealed, long cast spool, monocoque body, very well built - it's the same reel as the Ballistic MQ as sold in the US. The JDM version has the higher gear ratio we don't get in AU. As far as I can see, a second spool from JDM is available as a Daiwa SLP Works

Brilliant post Des. If the garden hadn't wrecked my back yesty it would have inspired me to be out today.

I thought I'd posted about my leashes but couldn't find it so wrote it up;

I have been using bungee leashes for a while, they are reasonably tangle free, cheap to make and you make them to suit the item being leashed. eg. the basic leash It's a bowline loop at each end. the carabiner end is a smaller loop usually, and the larger loop is for rods/handles. eg. I've found the bungee holds on to the EVA great if you make the loop snug for your rod, and I don't usually slide it very far down, but you can if the rod butt allows. I did try putting it around the reel stem for super security but it gets in the way. I've never had the

Leashes are cheap and easy, Bunnings has what you need, 4mm bungee cord and stainless snap hooks. Bowline or perfection loops at each end, sized for the rod butt (ie. smaller than), about 1m long or a bit shorter depending on what suits. Don't bother with the coiled leashes, they are expensive and tangle easy. I leash everything pretty much, never had a serious issue with tangles. For that setup I'd be bugging a scuba mate to retrieve. I'd do it but my gear is out of test. Sorry for your loss

The wife's Emeraldas MX with Pitbull+ PE0.8. I fully admit to aiming for a pretty+light setup for her, though the 68g Murasame rod is still on it's way. Awesome drag on this reel.

SA can dream they'll wake up here and do the same one day.

Please share the Euro stores you've had success with. I like to buy local, and I do want to support bricks and mortar shops and local sales jobs (for their knowledge/support) but I get quite pissed off paying twice the price for a lot of fishing stuff and then AU stores not supporting me, by failing to make available a lot of gear here (eg. left hand wind, higher gear ratios, models). I'll also add that one of the reason JDM is particularly good now is the Japanese printed oodles of Yen to cope with covid and so the Yen vs AU$ is about 10-15% better than the longer term average.

I promised in another thread I'd post the guide. It's covered in these 2 videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wQ66LXFFJw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR3iW2dvai4 As previously stated, really it's the high end reels/rods that make most sense, those items under $300 here won't be any cheaper usually. But over that they can be half the price. However, braid/leader can be way cheaper, so can most terminal tackle. If you do buy a reel it's often free freight, so always buy a reel with line. And that's the main point, freight can kill the prices, so buying with mates m

I got my wife a new reel, a nice Emeraldas MX 2500, and she wanted pink so I went with Platypus X9 20lb which says on the packet .25mm. When I only managed to fit 40m I thought I'd better investigate. It's supposed to be 0.25mm. The green thicker one is Sufix 832 30lb and is supposed to be 0.29mm. The thin green is Daiwa Morethan PE0.8 (JDM) and is PE1.5, and should be .205mm according to the gou chart. The silver wire is 0.2mm, the copper wire is .15mm so the camera is calibrated correctly and should be for $30k. This is 100x zoom so the edges are not super sharp, but I measured it multiple t

I'm same as Softy though mine is the Dreamfish one which seems to be the same and was about half the price of the fisheze delivered site is down atm but is www.dreamfish.com.au

That guys spams all the facebook fishing groups. IMHO a bit of PVC works just as well. You only want the tube to go a little past the head, say 10cm, then slice the PVC tube in half lengthways and mark the length lines on the inside of the PVC. I have my doubts the fisheze will measure salmon trout or gar, or possibly anything other than whiting.

Just to be clear, the flash boost reflector is inside the jig and is on fine springs so wiggles for ages after any movement of the jig.

Aliexpress and Ebay are my most used ones and certainly my 'I don't know this bottom or depth' jigs, as I don't like to lose a $20 jig to a snag. I've tried a few of the more pricey options and they don't fish any better than the $3 ones. But the flash boost is a game changer IMHO, it creates extremely good 'movement' without needing any real movement of the jig. The tiniest vibration, eg. I had it on passenger seat with car engine running, creates a motion that looks like small fish finning. I think the best use for these jigs is the rod holder if you have even a tiny bit of boat/ya

Cloth, Pink Chart. Apparently the clear 'pink' also good (it's kinda multi colour). At least they are the 2 most popular at TW.

How late am I to the party? Well, I figure I won't be the only one so others who are yet to discover the Sephia Flash Boost squid jigs, check them out. Tried one out yesterday, and even in the murky atm Seacliff area (some kind of shore works pumping sand into the cove) and a shit tide it still caught squid when the other lures did diddly squat. Video doesn't do them justice but:

I'd love some tips on filleting snook. I'm not happy with the way I am doing it myself. As for eating, fresh snook is on par with KGW IMO. In both cases this of course varies with how they were treated/processed and the size of the fish and where they were caught. And whilst we're talking snook, why is it some snook fight like hell and some give up after 5s?

Tackleworld Adelaide have another 20% off atm, obviously to match SFS. I'd happily buy from SFS but *every* rod I was interested in was out of stock even before the sale. Anyway, enough head scratching, time to buy, and the winner was; 21 TIERRA 702LXS Light 2-10g 7'0"/213cm 1.5-3kg 2 section ,Extra Fast taper, ~90g Wasn't actually on my list, but the same grip as the Infeet won me over everything else I handled. I also liked the extra fast taper, more backbone than the Infeet but pretty much the same tip from the last 2 guides. Somehow 20% off $179 came to $119, could not say n

I'm terrible with over-researching gear, but it keeps me amused when I can't go fishing. I'm ignoring anything butt section or 1 piece. Possible candidates still in the running with some of the suggestions above; Murasame 722M - very lightweight and I like the look of the grip, but can't find it locally. I bought the 632ULS for my wife as I'd been looking for a super light rod for her for a while and found it at near half price, it's 70g, 1-6lb 1-12g. Daiwa Rebellion 742ML+FS, 4-8lb 2.7-14g, on clearance in some places, rating seems heavy but reports are it's very light and sensitive

That's pretty much how I do it, though I use a M8x50 machine screw with 2 mudguard washers. I'm curious what "freestyle" was. What I do need to make is a spool holder that keeps light tension.

Oh, meant to say I wish spinning rod manufacturers would do what fly rod manufacturers do, ie. replacement tip sections are at basically freight only cost, just send back your old one and it's usually a no fault breakage warranty too. I'd happily pay $500+ for a top rod if I could get that safety net in a spin rod. Dobyns do a fixed price replacement at about half the original cost which is semi tempting but they are pricey to start with and the bottom end Fury doesn't excite me over a TD Black. Miller rods interest me, but again very pricey and I'd be scared of breaking it, and you

I am meaning KGW but kayak/boat use, however something that could be used for YFW too of course. Light weight as in light to hold. I know there's a price to pay in durability. The breakages are my fault for being lazy, a rod case is on the list now. If I could get a light weight fibreglass somewhat on par with carbon fibre I'd be interested. Personally I am leaning to the TD Zero range, but TW Adelaide are being really slow to get them in. I was going to go with a TD Black Scratchy, and still might. The rod I broke was the Arrowz, no idea how I did it either, I'm yet to break a rod o

Having just broken another lightweight spinning rod I'm in the market again. I'm curious what other people's favourite whiting rod is... FWIW, the Diawa Infeet 732LFS was mine but not getting another butt section rod.

Perhaps 316 MIG welding wire, it's pretty strong though so a bit hard to bend.

Braid doesn't seem to suffer from twist like mono can. Then again I don't bait fish and the lures don't seem to spin either. I have used swivel clips on the end of the leader but noticed no improvement in anything, even in heavy surf. Maybe if you have rigs with droppers it's more needed?