Serious Help

[vb4me]

Ok guys.
After some serious help or fishing retraining. I am beginning to forget what it is like to catch a bloody fish.
I am happy to get the bread and butter stuff but would also like to catch more specialised species if they are available. Went fishing this morning (early) 4am in the canals at Palm Beach on the Gold Coast, trying to target shark. Took my Penn 220 GTO combo rigged with 20lb mono. Attached to that is 1100mm of nylon coated wire trace-80lb with 2 8/0 Hooks rigged 80mm apart. Used a whole mullet as bait and burlied with another mullet that was cubed. Was fishing the last of the out going tide. Not even a nibble. A 3.5 kg shark was caught in the same spot at 9pm that night.

My other rod Alvey 600bcxl and Butterworth Noreaster 2.45m rod running 6kg mono running sinker then 70cm of 20lb trace with #2?? long shank hook. Bait was strips of mullet and fish off cuts (weird choice maybe but I usually use yabbies). Had one bite after about 20 mins. It felt strong, thought it may have been a stingray but it seemed to kick too much. It threw the hook when I almost had it in. the rest of the morning not 1 bite.

Looking under the bridge near where i was fishin I saw 2 fair size Jacks a dozen bream with some you could throw a saddle on and a trevally.

Wot am I doin wrong??

[armoz]

try a different spot an be prepared to put some hours in. Try some live bait from a cast net or find someone to fish with. good luck

[Deiter]

ha ha, mate you could be doing nothing wrong, thats why its called fishing and not catching. If you got fresh bait, sharp hooks, and a fishy spot at that time of morning, you at least gave yourself the best chance. As Armoz said, its all in the hours.

Damo

[Synful]

Ok guys.
After some serious help or fishing retraining. I am beginning to forget what it is like to catch a bloody fish.

<snip!!>
Wot am I doin wrong??

Evening VB,

Mate I'm like you, can't even get a bloody catfish lately!
Last year I was pulling in blue salmon, jew, a Jack and the odd flattie; I rarely went home without a feed - I know what it's like to be "cursed"

All I can suggest is that you keep trying and sooner or later you will get a decent fish.
Perhaps sit back and take in what other people are reporting here on Ausfish; there seems to be a lot of good reports emanating out of the Gold Coast and Brisbane in general.

My end of the world, people keep their successes to themselves for some reason; but it (the fishing) will improve!

Also, as Armoz said, give the livies a go - they seldom fail if the dead baits are being left alone.

Just remember even though you come home empty handed; it's better than working - you've just got to put up with the missus hassling you every time

[shin25]

have to agree with armoz and synful give the liveys a go maybee a spin reel and try a few lures poppers a nd prawnstars are a good start the prawnstar pack even tells you how to use em worked for me

[Matthias]

Maybe you should move around more. If you stay in the same spot then you are limiting yourself. Just think that every time you go fishing, regardless if you catch a fish, you are learning something.

Pete.

Ps. If you can see jacks swimming around they are def not easy to catch.

[smiley_doobinator]

Maybe the rest fo us like VB, and from what I have read there are a few of us, should get together and form a support group.

[Synful]

Maybe the rest fo us like VB, and from what I have read there are a few of us, should get together and form a support group.

Hmm, is that just for fishing ???

[Brett1907]

My missus has so much faith in me that last time I went on a day fishing trip, I came home to a feed of fish she cooked!! She bought the fish from the shop. I didn't bring any home!!LOL

Brett

[Deiter]

My missus has so much faith in me that last time I went on a day fishing trip, I came home to a feed of fish she cooked!! She bought the fish from the shop. I didn't bring any home!!LOL

Brett

Mate, you are not alone

[straddie]

Heya VB4me

Sharkies aren't a species I have ever bothered about targeting so this is just opinion having picked them up as bycatch and playing around.

I know they are toothy critters but I would still be losing the wire for starters if it was me, then only go to 15 or 20cm of wire if I got bit off twice in a row.
A 3.5kg shark is probably under a metre, and you have a bait with 2 x 8/0's stuck in it. Either it was a very big bait or else it probably drowned under the weight of metal. Smaller hooks and/or smaller baits might bring more interest.

If you don't have a heap of run, instead of cubing the mullet how about running a scaler lightly over the fillets and just scraping a sloppy mince like consistency off of it. The slop will spread over a much bigger area and big bits of burley just give the pickers an easy feed in most cases and are also competing for attention with your baits for other fish.

Looking under the bridge near where i was fishin I saw 2 fair size Jacks a dozen bream with some you could throw a saddle on and a trevally.

Fish where the fish are :-) but only within casting distance not on top of them.

[trueblue]

I used to catch 3 to 5 foot whalers off a beach in Townsville regularly with as small as a 2/0 tru turn hooks.

Just match the hook to your bait size, and don't worry too much about trying to use big hooks. Smaller hooks will catch a wider variety of fish. Just use good quality hooks that won't open up.

Cheers

Mick

[trueblue]

Regards your burley, a cubed mullet won't do much. As mentioned by someone above, lots of other things will just eat your cubes and then your burley is gone. When cubing, you need a whole bucket of the stuff and need to keep a constant supply going, which is more suited to offshore fishing than land based.

You would do better with a burley pot with an adjustable flow (From the tackle shop) that is filled with minced fish, scales, wheat bix or bread crumbs and tuna oil. Tie that to a rope and chuck that into the water well within your casting distance. (Weight it down with a rock to make it sit on the bottom) Fish of all sorts will be attracted to the source, including your sharks.

Cheers

Mick

[geoff72]

livies is the go,also like others said,dont limit yourself to one spot,you will surprised at how much or should i say how many better spots you can find.
good luck,cant wait for some reports.

[the gecko]

"it threw the hook" ??
2 usual reasons, no constant pressure on the line, and/or failing to set the hook.
I lost a few until I made ure I strike and set the hook before I begin the lift and wind. Just leaning back with your body weight and stretching the line is enough to set it. Going straight to skull drag isnt. Keep the rod tip high for proper pressure.

I reckon your spot is good. Try a change of hooks and sinkers. Use gammakatsu octopus circle hooks in 2/0 size with your mullet flesh. Change sinkers every few casts until you get the hang of what wieght will touch the bottom in current , and what wont. Use the minimum needed to hold bottom.

cheers
Andrew