in-shore beach work?

[nickb123]

Try walking brighton pier and rock wall mate and flicking the sand beds there plenty of flatty around that area you'll also pick up pinky they are swarming around the bay everywhere at the moment

[Denada]

thanks, my cousins came over for the weekend and we went to princes pier (again) on friday night and gem pier on saturday arvo, @ princes pier there were 5 - 10 or so people fishing, all we caught was 3 baby flatheads (finger size) all released and on saturday we went to the nong (tavern's angler area) and the current was too fast and extremely windy the water was really murky too, can't imagine how fish survive down there! so we went to gem pier and manage to catch two salmons 24 and 26 cm, it was probably the first fish my cousins ever caught so that was fun, later mum steamed it :>

now I wanted to ask about retrieve technique with SP. the goal is to cast, and let it sink to the bottom and retrieve at a steady speed to keep the SP AT THE BOTTOM right? I'm using 1/4 oz jigheads which I've been told its too big (they are the tt ones) but if I use anything lighter, I can't really cast any further than 10 metres, I've got a mh 803 sephia bb r, and its got a really good casting stiffness along with 14 lb braid and 5.5/ 14 lb florou leader. so that is my first question if I should stick with 1/4 tt jighead or get another brand that offer the same weight but smaller in size? ( if it even exist)

2nd question is about the retrieve with these jigs. its easy to say " reel slowly to keep it at the bottom " but can anyone advise how "slow" I need to reel to keep it at the bottom, its not that I don't have the patience, but reeling too slow I'm imaging the jig would look awkward down there (like spamming the brake driving) but reeling too fast would mean lifting the jig from the bottom. argh!

[frozenpod]

Flathead can swim quite fast so speed wont be a huge issue.

You can feel the SP hit the bottom and run along the bottom.

A simple but effective method is to use lift and drop.

Cast out let the sp sink to the bottom then lift the rod tip and wind in the slack.

Then wait for the sp to hit the bottom again once on the bottom repeat. You can mix up the wait time between zero and 3 seconds.

[shazdoggg]

thanks, my cousins came over for the weekend and we went to princes pier (again) on friday night and gem pier on saturday arvo, @ princes pier there were 5 - 10 or so people fishing, all we caught was 3 baby flatheads (finger size) all released and on saturday we went to the nong (tavern's angler area) and the current was too fast and extremely windy the water was really murky too, can't imagine how fish survive down there! so we went to gem pier and manage to catch two salmons 24 and 26 cm, it was probably the first fish my cousins ever caught so that was fun, later mum steamed it :>

now I wanted to ask about retrieve technique with SP. the goal is to cast, and let it sink to the bottom and retrieve at a steady speed to keep the SP AT THE BOTTOM right? I'm using 1/4 oz jigheads which I've been told its too big (they are the tt ones) but if I use anything lighter, I can't really cast any further than 10 metres, I've got a mh 803 sephia bb r, and its got a really good casting stiffness along with 14 lb braid and 5.5/ 14 lb florou leader. so that is my first question if I should stick with 1/4 tt jighead or get another brand that offer the same weight but smaller in size? ( if it even exist)

2nd question is about the retrieve with these jigs. its easy to say " reel slowly to keep it at the bottom " but can anyone advise how "slow" I need to reel to keep it at the bottom, its not that I don't have the patience, but reeling too slow I'm imaging the jig would look awkward down there (like spamming the brake driving) but reeling too fast would mean lifting the jig from the bottom. argh!

1/4oz jighead is massive landbased in the bay. I would drop right down to 1/8 max and preferably around 1/12. The landbased section of princess pier isnt that deep so you dont need massive jigheads. Im not 100% familiar with your setup but it appears it might be a squid rod. IMO theyre not great for sp fishing. Theyre ok-good for metal slugs but you need to whip them quite fast during casting to get tip speed to get your sp out. Would also drop line class if your fishing for sp landbased in the bay. 6lb is great 10lb max to get good casting distance. Use the same in f/c leader and you will have a much better chance.

You know when your sp is at the bottom when your line goes slack. If you use lighter line, it will be heaps easier for you to know when the lure is at the bottom and when its receiving attention from a fish!! A simple lift and drop approach while maintaining contact with youre lure is a good technique when fishing the bottom. A slow retrieve with a few small twitches can also be good. Mix it up and see what works on the day. My first fish on sp was at princess pier so will always have a soft spot for the joint. Best of luck denada!!

[Denada]

Hey you two, thanks!

you are definitely right its a squid rod, I picked up fishing when I was in hk doing squid jigging, but living closer in the cbd here in melbourne, I'd have to drive an hr to do any squidding so now I'm leaning towards fishing, are squid rods extra stiff? or could you explain the physics behind a squid and non squid's rod to casting? If I DO have to buy a new fishing rod to flick these 1/8 / 1/12 what should I aim for in feature? I personally love my sephia bb r cos its my first proper rod (with alot of dough thrown at it) its got massive cast distance when flicking a squid jig, but yeah casting anything under 1/4 is frustrating, my reel is kinda a mirror to the rod but bought separately, Shimano Sephia BB C3000-SDH Spinning Reel, with the double handle.

I'm looking forward to when I can do beach cast offs for those flatheads people been saying, if I was to go princes pier again I think I'm gonna bring bait, on friday night when we were there, there was a family there, the dad had 5 - 6 rods out (he had a wife and 3 kids so it was legit) all on bait, and caught a few decent salmon. since at princes pier, there is only one casting spot and its quite narrow too (towards the log) probs sit and bait would be more productive. I did a lot of cast and retrieve to the right ( facing webb dock) and didn't have a thing, same with facing station pier.

as for the sea bottom thing, I know when the jig hits the bottom, I meant more, how do you tell if your reeling speed is "slowly enough" to keep it at the bottom while reeling in. I don't mean to be in patient but yeah if possible I'd like to cast fast and retrieve fast and cover as much area as possible but at the same time "cover as much bottom " as possible too. thinking of making fishing a regular thing after work but yeah gotta be quick

and yeah I'll try stick with the 12 lb braid (I'm seriously not gonna go and buy 10 lb braid just cos of the 2 lb difference >_< the 12lb costed me 45 aud ;( ) as well as the 5.5 lb flouro, i'll just have to keep an eye on abrasion, I lost a 1/8 grub on saturday from casting, when I knew there was abrasion on my flouro after landing the first salmon... sigh.

cheers fellas!

[shazdoggg]

Hey you two, thanks!

you are definitely right its a squid rod, I picked up fishing when I was in hk doing squid jigging, but living closer in the cbd here in melbourne, I'd have to drive an hr to do any squidding so now I'm leaning towards fishing, are squid rods extra stiff? or could you explain the physics behind a squid and non squid's rod to casting? If I DO have to buy a new fishing rod to flick these 1/8 / 1/12 what should I aim for in feature? I personally love my sephia bb r cos its my first proper rod (with alot of dough thrown at it) its got massive cast distance when flicking a squid jig, but yeah casting anything under 1/4 is frustrating, my reel is kinda a mirror to the rod but bought separately, Shimano Sephia BB C3000-SDH Spinning Reel, with the double handle.

I'm looking forward to when I can do beach cast offs for those flatheads people been saying, if I was to go princes pier again I think I'm gonna bring bait, on friday night when we were there, there was a family there, the dad had 5 - 6 rods out (he had a wife and 3 kids so it was legit) all on bait, and caught a few decent salmon. since at princes pier, there is only one casting spot and its quite narrow too (towards the log) probs sit and bait would be more productive. I did a lot of cast and retrieve to the right ( facing webb dock) and didn't have a thing, same with facing station pier.

as for the sea bottom thing, I know when the jig hits the bottom, I meant more, how do you tell if your reeling speed is "slowly enough" to keep it at the bottom while reeling in. I don't mean to be in patient but yeah if possible I'd like to cast fast and retrieve fast and cover as much area as possible but at the same time "cover as much bottom " as possible too. thinking of making fishing a regular thing after work but yeah gotta be quick

and yeah I'll try stick with the 12 lb braid (I'm seriously not gonna go and buy 10 lb braid just cos of the 2 lb difference >_< the 12lb costed me 45 aud ;( ) as well as the 5.5 lb flouro, i'll just have to keep an eye on abrasion, I lost a 1/8 grub on saturday from casting, when I knew there was abrasion on my flouro after landing the first salmon... sigh.

cheers fellas!

To answer your question about squid rod tapers its probably best to speak to the resident egi guru Paul Carter aka Ecofreak! I could offer my opinion on the matter but it would be a grain of sand compared to the knowledge you would receive from him. Personally, I would get a 7ft rod in 2-4kg and use the same reel you have know. Not sure if you have become accustomed to the dbl handle, but if you like it stick with it I say.

If you want to catch flathead on sp you will need to work your lure slowly. The lure needs to be hugging the bottom most of the time. You can twitch up a few feet so it can see it from a distance, but it needs to sink right down. As mentioned earlier, flatties can move very fast over short distances but they will rarely take a lure moving very fast. Rather than working as much bottom as possible(no dirty comments please :lol: :lol: ), I would be concentrating on working certain areas really well. Fanning casts out in flatty territory(edge of sandbanks, edges of weedbeds and sea grass, channel drop offs etc) working the lure slowly along the bottom would give you more purpose rather than casting blindly all over the place IMO.

The spot which is the biggest opening in the pylons at prinny pier is pretty good. You can fish the other gaps but you just need to be watching your rods that bit more to make sure your rod doesnt get snagged or pulled in by a fish. Hot tip, mussel and live shrimp(catch yourself) is a gun bait there. Fish them on fine gauge small hooks on running sinker and you wont go wrong