What Gear You Use !?

[smashed crabs]

Gday people

I was in me local tackle shop the other day and i asked the chap what gear do i need to chase grunter, he was more than helpfull to run over and say here these are good , as he reached for a bunch of lonely hooks stuck high on the shelf.

Well i was wondering did he really give me the gear i need or some crap from the stone age that no one uses just so he can sell the crap gear, me has a feeling that many a simple fisherperson like me self has been tricked into buying the rubbish that really are not going to do trick , sure i might catch a fish or two but there is nothing like have the right gear in your tackle box specific to catching the fish your chasing

So to conclude i would like to ask what fish do you chase and what gear do you prefer to use and how do you rig it.Try to be specific on brands of gear to which you think have no equal


Here is my contribution for one of some of my fav fish to catch........
Red Emporer > 150lb main line ( snider ), paternoster rig with two 10/0 mustad suicide hooks , rig joined to main line with 230lb crane swivel, bait cuttlefish , fishing depth 60m to 120m.

Coral trout > 40lb hand line (snider) , 7/0 kendal kirby (mustad), running sinker, bait pilchards or small ox eye herring, fishing depth around 25m.

Mackeral > 150lb main line(jenki) down to 12feet of 90lb multi strand , multi strand connected to main line by a 110lb ball swivel(sea horse), two ganged 12/0 saltwater (mustad) with homemade wog using pink and green fire tail, bait large sea gar. Troll speed 5 to 6knots , if macks are not at surface i reduce speed by a knot or two and do tighter circles over bottom structure , this will get the bait down deeper without any effort, i also use the same set up for coral trout on top of reef , troll speed for this 6 to 7 knots and dont stop if you get a trout on the line keep going and head of the reef, a big trout will go straight to the bottom the moment he takes the gar, common size of trout using this method is around 5kg and up, good fun but to big to eat. With this set up i will troll up onto the reef then i will make my way off the reef , once the gar is close to the edge of reef slow right down and let the gar fall down the edge then speed up before the gar gets grounded, it is common to catch a mackeral then a trout followed by another mackeral and so on using this gear, i know the gear is heavy but bust ups are rare.


It will be interesting to see if particular brands have it over others brands and what floats your boat when it comes to hunting your favourite fish, next time i visit the tackle shop i will know if the chap behind the counter is pulling the wool over my eyes and it would be great to hear it from the horses mouth for once

Cheers SC

[WestOzDesertFisher]

Good thread SC. Without a doubt, my current favourite outfit for 'light' sportfishing applications is my Nitro Mag Butt teamed with a Daiwa Luvias 3000 and 20lb braid. Although you'd find much nicer reels out there, I believe this rod has no equal in terms of value for money @ $330. The reel could probably use a small RCS knob instead of the standard T knob and a bit lighter and nicer braid (16lb Sunline Castaway PE ) but over all, this combo is simply awesome! The drag on the Luvias is super smooth (am considering a carbontex upgrade for peace of mind) and the Mag Butt has some serious grunt with the outfit already accounting for meter+ broad-barred spanish and shark mackerel. This setup is ideally suited to throwing hard bodied, metal and plastic lures for species such as tailor, queenfish, salmon, trevally, tuna, mackerel, snapper, trout, emperor and many more. If I had to pick one setup to take on a trip anywhere, this would definitely be it.

Damo

[ronnien]

sc,
grunter hey? i only chase them out in the bays, try a sinker that will just get you to the bottom, a 4/0 wide gap hook, 20-40lb leader now the trick with the leader is to have it no longer than 10cm... why cause they are bottom feeders. have your drag backed right off, when you get a run let it run for a few sec's than set the hook! use fresh squid, fresh prawn, fresh mullet strip or gar strip. this is how i fish for them & these are fish 2kg-7kg. have fun mate.

ron.

[smashed crabs]

Thanks to WODF and Ronnien for you contribution

Goes to show there is a lot to note from people and their personal exsperiences , i gave the grunter a go and your set up works fine Ronnie and totally different than what the guy at the tackle shop sold me, there is fishing and then there is fishing and the right gear and technic to use that gear accounts for everything.

It's a shame no one else wants to contribute to this thread, just maybe most of you that have read this thread don't actually have a clue??or quite possibly a tight fisted "blank"

Iits not as if im asking a person to cut of their right arm or even too sleep with your mum or anything! but since it seems quite difficult for you to contribute i mose as well go a head and ask then.

Can i sleep with your mum??Please , i said please!

SC

[Pazz01]

Sorry, read the thread the other day and meant to reply.

Mainly fish for Trout and Big Mouth and Reds. I'm a handliner, although other people in the boat have began using rods, especially for the Reds and have been doing well. But I have been killing them in the trout department.

Trout - 70-80lb schneider main line to a 80lb brass barrel swivel, then about 12 inches of the same strength main line with a running sinker to an 8/0 true turn hook. Usually use squid and pillie and fresh slab bait. Usually fish 20-40 metres

Reds - 80-120lb schneider main line to a 120lb brass barrel swivel. Rig the paternoster rig with either doubs or single hook. Depending on fish size. If average fish 8/0 true turn or if they are big 12/0 mustard suicide (don't make them this size anymore. Have got an old box of them). Again big squid, flesh bait usually fish around 50-80 metres.

Pazz

[LostNearBribie]

I haven't fished bait for a while, but my favourite (i.e. only) offshore plastics rigs are:

Egreal Bear S10 with a Certate 3500 Hyper Customer loaded with 40lb Harimitsu SURF MAX PE Braid (PE Tackle!) leader can be anywhere from 30lb to 80lb Black Magic depending on circumstances, TT Jig Heads from 1/2oz - 2oz. 7" Gulp Jerk Shads.

Samurai NV9 with a Shimano Sustain 8000lb loaded with 50lb Tuffline is the second outfit.
I have used this for everything from plastics to trolling and it is excellent.

I have a rod being built by Stu at Precision Rods at the moment.
It will be a big jigging / popper rod.
I have a Saragosa 18000 with a spool of 50lb Harimitsu SURF MAX PE Braid and a spool of 80b Tuffline ready to work on it.
Can't wait!

[onerabbit]

Iits not as if im asking a person to cut of their right arm or even too sleep with your mum or anything! but since it seems quite difficult for you to contribute i mose as well go a head and ask then.

Can i sleep with your mum??Please , i said please!

SC


HMMMMMM..........

You will catch more flies with honey SC,

I fish 60-250 mtrs, ugly drop rig made with 80lb mono, 3 3-way swivels and only Big Gun hooks, target species varies from snapper, pearlies, ect, to Bar Cod in the deep water. Same rig, same hooks 3/0 - 4/0.

Works for me.

Muzz

[smashed crabs]

HMMMMMM..........

You will catch more flies with honey SC,



Muzz

Mr Onerabbit

Do you mean like a free set of steak Knives with every post?

SC

[googarra]

Shimano Tekoto 700 overhead, a strong rod from the collection that I have not snapped in half yet, 80lb braid onto about 1 1/2 metres 80lb mono leader. No swivels or fancy rigs, just paternoster, hook bigger than 8/0, huge big assortment of squid, fresh fish & pillie cocktail as much as you can fit on the hook

Deeper water Alvey deck winch, 200lb braid, 12/0 hook on a steel wire trace, lock the drag as tight as you can get it.

Back up onto the reef, up current side where depth sharply rises from 60 metres to about 30 metres, drop down line and hang on tight. Catch the usual reef species, trout, reds, spanglies, sweeties and emperor in the deeper water

Deckie mate has the ugliest old mono hand line, thick as, twisted and rough, uses a paternoster onto any old hook he can find, smoke in mouth, beer within grasp at all times, mumbles and swears as he is talking to the fish, "come on you &^#%& dont just ^%$#%^& the *&^%$$ take the (&%^$$ thing" is about the norm.

In 2 years no one in my boat has ever out fished him on any species and we have bagged out many times.

[sagair]

Have any of you blokes tried cooked prawns as bait for grunter? I have only tried them once and the grunter seemed to prefer them to cut squid and mullet that day. Fishing was slow but my wife caught the only two that were legal size to take home. Walters IGA had cooked prawns for $7.99 that week on special. cheers

[BR65]

Deckie mate has the ugliest old mono hand line, thick as, twisted and rough, uses a paternoster onto any old hook he can find, smoke in mouth, beer within grasp at all times, mumbles and swears as he is talking to the fish, "come on you &^#%& dont just ^%$#%^& the *&^%$$ take the (&%^$$ thing" is about the norm.

In 2 years no one in my boat has ever out fished him on any species and we have bagged out many times.

LOL the fish whisperer!

[mouse71]

Have any of you blokes tried cooked prawns as bait for grunter? I have only tried them once and the grunter seemed to prefer them to cut squid and mullet that day. Fishing was slow but my wife caught the only two that were legal size to take home. Walters IGA had cooked prawns for $7.99 that week on special. cheers

used 'em a couple of times for no luck at all, get nearly all of my grunter on fresh squid, I use a running sinker, all the way to the hook, trick is to let the fish run for a bit then set the hook, my way anyway, seems to work fine

cheers Mouse/Dennis

[odes20]

Deckie mate has the ugliest old mono hand line, thick as, twisted and rough, uses a paternoster onto any old hook he can find, smoke in mouth, beer within grasp at all times, mumbles and swears as he is talking to the fish, "come on you &^#%& dont just ^%$#%^& the *&^%$$ take the (&%^$$ thing" is about the norm.

In 2 years no one in my boat has ever out fished him on any species and we have bagged out many times.

You make me laugh googarra!
Speialist gear is supposed to help us catch more fish ???

I use Daiwa Saltiga J40 on Shimano TCurve Jig 400 for all my reef or wide fishing. Loaded with 55lb Daiwa Saltiga Surf Braid with 60 lb mono leader then single hook 8/0 paternoster rig. Second rig is with Avet MXL 4.5-1 loaded with Powerpro 5olb brad and same rig on bottom. Awesome little reel that too. Incidently most deep reefies fight clean on hook over coral or rubble. Red Emporer, Large mouth nannygai all sweetlips. I have caught a lot of these on 30 lb mono on night trips over the years, but I prefer braid now in general. Trout and cod are the real test as we all know.

Cheers
John

[Scott nthQld]

Grunter, I use 40lb leader, sinker that runs straight to the hook, no swivels etc, simple most basic rig you can do. 5/0 gama wide gap hook for me, fresh squid is by far the best bait to use (and by fresh, I mean fresh, as in live just a few seconds ealier) usually fish for them when after fingermark, so bait is usually on hand at all times (hardly ever buy bait anymore). Now you can either do as Ron does (which I do most of the time), or when you notice you are getting bites, hold the rod, take out of gear/flip the bail arm over, and feed line out (grunter can be very finicky, even the big ones, so often spook very easily if they feel resistance on the line) maintaining just enough tension so that when the fish moves off with the bait it can take line off the spool with very minimal resistance, once the fish starts to move of, click the reel into gear and slowly lift the rod. Sometimes they can bite so lighty you will need to feed them heaps of line before they swallow it, so patience is the key here

Fingermark, 50lb braid, 60lb leader (jinkai), paternoster rig with the dropper about 1-2ft above the sinker, 6/0 eagle claw wide gap hook and live squid just pinned through the skin of the tube about an inch from the point. Use enough weight just to get the bait to the bottom and hold it there. biger the squid the better, mean no small nannygai pissing you off stealing your hard earned live squid. Fish with tight drags, and try to hold your rod at all times (uless your grunter rod is getting some attention), when fingermark are hungry you will get 2 hits, first to kill the squid, the second is when they turn around and smash it, as soon as they feel resistance they will bolt for structure, and I'm yet to find a fish that fights harder, hook a big one and 99.9% of the time it ends in tears, braid snapped, leader shredded, hooks pulled and/or straightened.

Reef I use 50lb braid, 100lb leader (jinkai) 2 dropper paternoster rig, on each dropper usually a 9/0 gama octopus hook or 2X 6/0-9/0 tru-turns (use only one bait and they count as one hook)

[MyEscape]

Smashedcrabs,

Some of the comments are a bit harsh aren't they? "or haven't you got a clue"

Really. We've had a cyclone come through the area around Mackay so hope you accept my apologies for the tardiness of my reply.

I usually fish for grunter using the fresh prawns, as big as you can get them. 3-5/0 hooks and usually with a sinker and short trace. Having said that also without a trace and just a running sinker.

Steve