New to fishing in AUS - need advice (Joon area)

[USFisherman]

G'day all. [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

My name is Pete, I'm a foreign exchange student this semester studying at Edith Cowan in Joondalup.

In the states I try to fish as often as possible - either river or lake, catfish or bass, crappie, trout in colorado, etc.

I'm here until june 15th or so and really wanted to get some fishing in - but I'm at a complete loss. In the states, I know where I would go to find particular fish - but here I have no idea. Also, I'm really limited as I have to use public transit...

I don't have gear, either. At home I have a baitcaster as well as spinning setup, so I'm used to either. The spinning setup is a lightweight setup, though.

Basically, here's what I would really appreciate from you guys:

I will fish off the beach, as that's the easiest for me. I can get to burns, mullaloo, and in between the easiest. Keeping that in mind...

1. Does anyone know particular spots in that stretch that would be worth my time?

2. Can anyone recommend me a surf rig. I will keep the reel (take it home with me) but will leave the rod here. Because of that, I'd be willing to drop $80 or so on a reel but wouldn't want to spend much on the rod. I looked at Kmart since I can get there easily. I know Kmart sucks, but that's all I have to work with!

3. Lures v live bait... because I'm stuck on public transport (buses), lures would be much more convenient for me. Any recommendations about lures to use from the beach? I know this will limit my success, but because of money issues I'd really want to buy a couple solid lures (4-6) and just work them, instead of grabbing 10-15 different $15 dollar lures.

4. Finally - I have no idea what type of fish I'll be going after. I dont know what the seasons are like here, and therefor don't know what fish are active at what times. I'd imagine the same as in the states, going early in the morning or right at dusk (dark) would be good.

Thanks a lot guys - I'm really excited!

[Lucky_Phill]

I would like to help, but I have no idea where Joondalup is.

Sounds like NSW. ?

Hang around, and I'm sure someone here will be of assistance.

Phill ( Queensland )

[USFisherman]

Sorry about that... Joondalup is about 30 mins north of perth, about 10 minutes from the coast. WA.

thanks.

[Cheech]

There are some great fishing around Perth. Not far from you is a place called Yanchep (not sure of the spelling as it has been a while since I have been over on the west coast. Went out once on a Crayfish boat and back a few times since. Is a bit of a fishing port.

Surf rods are pretty cheap over here so you should have no problems picking something that will do the job for $30.00 odd dollars.

Nothing wrong with kmart. But I suppose it will differ state to state. Here in Brisbane, as fishing is so popular, we have quite large fishing sections that have good quality equipment. Don't know how extensive it will be in kmart in Perth, but you only need it for a few months so probably no need to spend big bucks on something designed to last forever.

There is another website that is WA based. Sorry do not recall the name. A bit of surfing and you should be able to find it. Probably worth checking out. But not sure if they have a chat board.

Cheech

[Jeremy87]

Most of us live on the other side of Australia so I'm not sure how useful we can be. It would be safe to say that surf fishing could be productive and there are lots of rivers in your area. There are dams aswell that may or may not be stocked. If you can spare the cash there are some good fishing spots further North. I'm just guessing really. This is the cue for someone else to step in. If you ask around at local tackle shops someone should give you some good advice on the most suitable set ups and where to fish.
Jeremy

[USFisherman]

Thanks for the responses guys. I found another couple of sites that are dedicated to fishing the west coast... one of which was mentioned to me in an instant message. I'd like to reply to it, but it says I can't until I get 10 posts... haha.

In that case, thanks for the link. :-)

I'll post over there and see what comes up.

Thanks again for the attention and suggestions, guys.

[Maria]

Mate,

Welcome to our big brown lump of dirt in the south.

Don't be swayed by notions that K-Mart is crap. They sell some decent stuff, certainly stuff that will get you by for the time you're here. Personally, unless I was after some specialised stuff, I wouldn't go to a tackle shop as most of them have a very happy knack of going to great lengths to empty your wallet in the shortest period of time possible. Don't generalise by this remark though.

As Cheech said, get yourself over to K-Mart and you should be able to pick yourself up a rod that will do the job for between $30 and $50. That kind of price range will more than adequately suffice your needs.

As far as reels go, some beach fishos prefer a side-cast reel and some prefer a spinner. You'll see the brand name "Alvey" mentioned in pretty much every fishing shop you go to - top brand that specialise in side-cast reels. You should be able to pick up a 600B or 600BC Surf Champion (or similar) for around $70. I personally prefer them as they don't get buggered up by salt and sand, and I'd go to war with one any day. Just ask your local tackle shop guy and he'll be happy to offer you advice.

If you prefer a spinning reel, the list is endless. I'd suggest something like a Jarvis Walker, Shimano and Daiwa reel. They all make beach spinning reels that will do the job, for the price you want.

As far as locations and all that other stuff goes, can't really help ya as I'm on the east coast. Best bet would be to get into some west coast fishing sites.

Don't be affraid to plague your local tackle guy with questions. They should be up to date with locations, what's biting, baits and tackle advice.

Hope this helps you, and you enjoy your stay in our part of the world.

Kind regards

Ben

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Here's a link to a WA fishing site which should give you more relevant info for the area you are looking at.
http://www.fishingwa.com/
Good luck.
Cheers
Jeff

[agnes_jack]

Good stuff Maria
Buy all your gear from K-mart, And plague your tackle store for advice and info!

Regards, Tony ??? ??? ???

[USFisherman]

Good stuff Maria
Buy all your gear from K-mart, And plague your tackle store for advice and info!

Regards, Tony ??? ??? ???

I think I understand what he meant. If the shop is reputable, do business there and they will reward you with valuable info, etc. If the shop isn't, drop in to ask about local hotspots but don't give your money to the swindlers.

I deal a lot with car audio. When I didn't know anything and was first getting started, I got ripped pretty bad by a shop. Now, since I can do everything on my own and don't mind a non-existent warranty, I buy it online. For newbies, I always recommend they find a good shop they're comfortable with and go from there. I made the mistake of walking into a shop and not asking enough of the right questions... never again, for car audio at least.

Maybe I did make a mistake, though, with tackle... today I set out for Joondalup Fishing and Camping World. I found a floor guy and began to ask him questions. I told him what I wanted to spend and what I wanted to do. The reel I'll use in a saltwater environment for two months, then freshwater for the rest of its life.... but I still wanted a quality setup. The rod I didn't mind so much, but didn't want to go outrageously cheap.

I ended up picking a Okuma Quadra QF-60 and a 9ft Shakespeare rod. My light setup in the US is a Shakespeare reel on an Eagle Claw pole... both pieces carried by Kmart. It's lasted me six years. I've always found that with gear it's as much how you treat it as how it was built.

I caught the bus to burns beach and found myself a spot with some sardines and triple hook setup. Left two hours later having caught one small one, and had at least 3 bites that I didn't set. It's going to take some getting used to as this pole is bigger than anything I've ever used and the waves wreck havoc on line tauntness. Caught a lot of seaweed, too. Any hints there... other than avoid it?

I've attached the "catch" - and have not a clue what it is. I know it's small, but you cannot imagine... well nevermind I'm sure you all can... how good it felt to have a fish on the line. [smiley=2thumbsup.gif] It's been months since I hit the water with anything other than swimming trunks.


Thanks for the help mates... and if anyone has any opinions on the Okuma reels, good or bad, please speak up!

[blaze]

hi
the fish is an australian salmon (also known as salmon trout, cockies, and when bigger, blackback), they grow to about 20lb and are a good sportfish on light gear, going to have a crack at them myself tommorrow in tasmania (the big island to the southest of you
cheers
blaze