plankton

A bit of a late reply, but I have that 9'6" Seabass and it's a great little rod. I find it prefers to cast 20g, you can go a bit heavier but the rod won't be working its best. Daiwa often overstates the optimum casting range of their surf rods. But it will throw a 20g metal lure as far as one of those will go, and it's great fun catching salmon of all sizes due to the light weight.

Good advice mentioned above. Personally I never did very well squiding from metro jetties, and you're not going to get many squid off sandy bottom. Make sure your jag is getting down into the weed. If you want to stay local and catch heaps of squid my best advice would be get yourself a kayak.

I grew up in the US, and using spinning gear (threadline) it was common practice to hold the rod with the right and wind with the left, so that's what I've always done. As I got to be a better fisherman I started using casting (overhead) gear too, but those are the other way around, holding the rod (and thumbing the spool) with the left and winding with the right, so I learned how to do that too. I say do whatever works for you and don't worry about it.

I prefer overheads for most things above 10-12lb. I find they are better at casting, managing your line and keeping in touch with your bait. They are also better when fighting larger fish and usually smaller and lighter than spinning reels with comparable line capacity. Many people shy away from them because they don't want to take the time to learn how to use them. But everyone is free to make their own tackle choices.

Overhead rods have smaller guides, especially closer to the reel seat, and won't cast very well with a spin reel. If you're just dropping bait straight down then it doesn't matter as much.

I fished the Onk for a couple years before I got my first mully from there. Warmer months are better, and you're correct about fishing around the tide change. Just keep at it, they'll come eventually.

Any one who fishes a decent amount, especially in the saltwater, should know how to maintain their reels. Breaking down a reel to clean and service it is not very difficult, and it's why reels usually come with an exploded diagram. Anything you might need to know about reel maintenance can be found here. https://alantani.com/

There are some campsites you need to book ahead of time and there are others along the back of the beach that are first in. Either way you need to pay online before you go. You should be able to find everything you need here. https://www.parks.sa.gov.au/find-a-park/Browse_by_region/Limestone_Coast/coorong-national-park

I find reports to be pretty useless anyway. They always say the same thing depending on the season. In winter there's salmon at Waitpinga and any Southern Metro beach, in summer there's bream and mulloway at West Lakes and the Onk, etc. Anyone who spends much time fishing knows these things already, and fish tend to move around.

Usually the Abu 5500 size doesn't have a ratchet, but all the 6500's will. Although for livebaiting I would also strongly recommend the Penn Squall 12 which is about the same size as the Abu but comes with magnetic braking which can be quite handy when casting lighter livebaits. It also does away with the levelwind which is unnecessary on a bait reel IMO. Both reels are excellent casters and have smooth, reliable drag systems. You can't go wrong either way!

I'm unfamiliar with that rod, but if you're looking for a reel of similar size and function to the Calcutta then it's hard to beat an Abu Ambassadeur. Depending on what line capacity you need, either a 5500 or 6500. If you need a reel that is considerably different to the Calcutta then we would need more info about what you want.

Yeah they brought them back after years of complaints from a bunch old guys with the "everything older is better" mindset. They're also still fishing with (heavily modified) Penn Squidders and cried foul when production moved to China. Some people just fear change.

Those Penn Z reels were a poor design externally though. The cup that surround the spool would get all clogged up with sand and salt. The Van Staal style vents are a bit of an improvement by allowing things to drain a bit. There's a reason they were discontinued and replaced by the Slammer reels, which IMO are the best surf spinners ever produced by Penn, all the best features of the earlier reels and none of the drawbacks. I pack mine with boat trailer wheel bearing grease. The Van Staals were definitely a response to people needing a more reliable reel that could be submerged regularly

You'd think for the price they ask for those reels they would have decent drag washers in them already. They were popular with guys in the Northeast of the US where I'm from originally. A lot of times in order to get to where the fish are you need to be in the water a bit. Being waist deep also helps on those rocky shores when trying to land a fish, you don't have to drag it up on the rocks and many practice catch and release anyway. Some guys took this a step further and rather than waders started wearing wetsuits. They will often swim out and stand on rocks further out, so their reels

If your reel's gears get damaged winding on line under tension then it's a piece of crap.