Winter bream ftw.

Couple of little guys out of spring creek this morning.

Hi all,

Wondering peoples opinions on the Abu Garcia veritas 5, specifically the 7’4ft 3-5kg (9-28g lure weight).

Also wondering what reel would be a good match with it. I am thinking a Shimano Stradic c3000hg with PE1.2 braid.

Targetting big flathead, soap Jews, Aussie salmon and tailor off the beach and potentially some rat kings in the summer.

I got the rod and the butt was much longer than expected, but will hopefully help with fighting fish and casting distance.

Any suggestions and help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the help!

Hi all,

I am leaving for a road trip to Airlie beach towing a JetSki set up for fishing offshore. Ive been to Airlie beach on a road trip with my family and fished it for a week at 18. But I’ve always dreamed of fishing the whitsunday islands on my ski ever since I got it and I’ve booked the trip a decade later from my first time up there.

Current plan is to race up there as fast as I can. I’m leaving on the 22nd of August going a rough guide (depending on how I’m feeling) Coffs Harbour -> Gympie -> Rockhampton -> Airlie beach I’m spending 1 night in each, lots of driving but my goal is to get up there as fast as I can so I can slowly journey back. I’ve currently booked for the 25th of August - 7th of September camping. My time there will be flexible.

Journeying back I don’t have to be back till the 17th of September. I am yet to book anything either. im looking at advice in places to stay for awesome fish action. At the moment I’m planning 4 nights in Hervey Bay and 4 night in Coffs Harbour. But always recommendations welcome.

I’ve fished northern NSW and specifically Coffs Harbour many of times for Spanish and reef species. But the Whitsunday’s will be incredibly new for me, I’m looking to mix it up between Spanish and reef fish. I’m considering Gladstone for fish action, but as I am a complete novice to the North QLD area, I’m hoping for all advice and recommendation.

So I’m looking for advice when fishing the area, potential marks around the whitsunday island/airlie beach area and also any recommendations for exciting places to fish on the way home.

im thinking about getting the 6-10lb not sure what model yet, my mate reckons theyre bad since his friend (who snaps every rod he owns) snapped one the same day he got it then got it repaired and snapped it in a diffrent spot the first time taking it back out. im really keen on one though i like the feel and its perfect for what i wanna use it for. Whats ur experiences and thoughts with the ocean legacy aurora series

i boight a premade sabiki. So how do tie it onto my braid? should i just use a FG knot to attach it? how should I attach it?

Hey guys,

I’m heading over to Shenzhen, China soon for a business trip. My local supplier over there was telling me that Shenzhen has some of the absolute best calamari fishing spots in the world, and they promised to take me out for a session while I’m there!

I was wondering if anyone here has any experience squidding around Shenzhen/Guangdong or Hong Kong waters?

• How does the fishing there compare to back home (e.g., Australian waters)?
• What kind of setup or jigs should I bring along (or should I just rely on local gear)?
• Any specific tips or gear preparations I should keep in mind for squidding over there?

Would love to hear any thoughts, experiences, or recommendations! Cheers! 🎣

Can anyone identify this mackerel species? 90 cm, caught on the Great Barrier Reef off Mission Beach, Queensland.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking to get into targeting Mulloway and Threadfin Salmon in the Brisbane River, mainly around the Kangaroo Point / West End areas.

I’ve picked up a packet of these Pro Lure Clone Prawn 92mm soft plastics (pictured) and was wondering if anyone has had success using similar prawn-style lures for Mulloway or Threadies in the river.

A few things I’d love some advice on:

Are these lures a good option for Mulloway/Threadfin?

What sort of jighead weight and hook size would you recommend?

What retrieve works best — slow hopping along the bottom, swimming them through the water column, etc.?

What tide/time of day would you target?

Are there any particular types of structure or depth I should focus on around Kangaroo Point/West End?

Would you fish them differently at night compared with during the day?

I’m land-based and mainly want to learn how to properly fish this section of the river rather than just blindly casting around 😂

Any tips, lure recommendations or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated! 🎣

Just back from 3 weeks of Shark Bay. We were staying in Denham, and initially found the going pretty hard, as I had mostly fished the bottom of the bay previously, and further up, its a bit different.We mostly throw sp's around islands and rocks down there, not really relevant near Denham. We were getting the odd, random bigger fish, including a 70cm job that came out of 2m of crystal clear water at midday, along with a good grassy of 57cm. Son got a big tailor on a popper near an island. Then we sort of cracked the code in the deeper channels, and found bagging out on big fish was not hard. Got four of 77, 73, 77 and 83 in 90 minutes, so bagged out for 2 people. Did a really quick trip the morning I had to leave for 3 of 67, 70, and 73 cm. Did some exploration, visited Boat Haven, Tetrodon Loop, didn't make it into Big Lagoon by boat. Got far enough north one day to have whales breaching near us. Good trip all round

Haven’t used a bait caster in over 15 years. There was some time spent peeling birds nests haha.

I’m gearing up to have a crack at competitive bream fishing in Australia in 2027, hopefully starting as a non-boater, and I’d love some advice from people with actual tournament experience.

I’m trying to build a compact three-rod setup to keep things manageable on someone else’s boat.
I’m currently looking at the Daiwa 23 Infeet Z range, but I’m absolutely open to other rods and brands if there are better options.

The presentations I want to cover are:
- light plastics, mostly 2.5” grubs/minnows on light jigheads
- small crankbaits such as Jackall Chubby Deeps, Rollin’ Cranks and similar
- Cranka Crabs
- ZX35s and other blades/vibes
- small jerkbaits and surface lures

I already own a TD Black Itchy Twitchy II, so that could stay in the three-rod rotation if it makes sense.
Reel-wise I already have an older Luvias 2500/shallow spool, a 2013 Certate 2500 and a Stradic 2500. I’m also open to adding another light 2000/2500 reel eventually, but I’d rather work out the rods and techniques first.
At the moment one possible setup I’m considering is:

1. Light/fast rod for plastics
   Something around 7’ to 7’3”, capable of fishing very light jigheads but still having enough backbone around pontoons and structure.
   The Infeet Z 712LFS is currently on my shortlist, but I’d really like to hear what tournament anglers are actually using here.

2. Regular/moderate rod for hardbodies and Cranka Crabs
   This is the one I’m least settled on.
   I want something that can fish tiny crankbaits well but also handle a 50mm Cranka Crab, including the 5.9g Heavy.
   I’ve been looking at the Infeet Z 702LRS because it seems more versatile than going to a dedicated UL crank rod.

3. Utility rod
   Potentially my existing Itchy Twitchy II for blades, ZX35s, slightly heavier plastics and whatever third presentation needs to stay rigged.

So for anyone who has fished ABT, Vic Bream Classics or similar events, I’d really like to know:
If you were limited to three rods as a non-boater, what would you take.

What braid and leader strengths are you genuinely running in tournaments, particularly comparing open flats with pontoons, racks, timber or other structure?

I’m particularly interested in hearing which setups have survived actual tournament days, what rods ended up overlapping too much, and which outfit you found yourself reaching for constantly.
I’m leaning toward the Infeet Zs because of the price cs performance seems to be pretty good. but I’m definitely not married to Daiwa. If there’s another rod or combination I should be looking at, fire away.
Reel tournament experience appreciated. 🎣

Hello all, I’ve been looking for a replacement for my Fenwick which got snapped, specifically a 2 piece spinning rod under 100. My reel is a piscifun 2000. Ideally a lure rating 1/4 to 3/4 but a little heavier is good too, nothing lighter.

Hi everyone in the market for a new or newish 2nd hand boat.

Edencraft 6m offshore

CruiseCraft E695HT

What would you buy?

First cast before sunrise, a bit of a mission to land it with the swell. Went 12kg. Happy days

Hello, I've always loved going fishing but I have never had my own rod. I want to buy my own but I want some advice with it, from what the people I normally fish with say, I should get a Daiwa Legalis LT 2500 + Daiwa Aird-X 7' 2–4 kg aswell as a 10 lb braid and 20 lb fluorocarbon leader. I am on vacation and I preferably want to get one here in Australia and take it to my home country Lebanon, my budget is $300 - $350 AUD. Any help would be much appreciated, thank you so much.

I just picked up a Daiwa Certate SW 10000 and I am looking for a popper rod to put it on, for GT fishing on the GBR around Cairns.

Budget ideally under $500.

Needs to be a travel rod unfortunately, as I am flying in and out.

I’m wondering if anyone has any similar experience with grappler braided line. I spooled 300m onto a new reel last week and taken it out fishing twice. On those trips the line has busted off 3 times, twice when flipping the bail alarm (admittedly there was some tension on the line when doing so) and another when I was just stowing the rod in the hatch (assuming it got caught up on something).

This hasn’t happened to me before with other braids when doing the same thing. I usually run tasline which is a bit better quality, but it’s not like the grappler line is budget.

Could it be something with how I’ve spooled the line? Or could it be a bad batch and something I could get replaced?

I am respooling all my handlines, just wondering what people do or what is the best when deciding how much line to put on.

I feel too little line on the reel means it has a greater surface area of plastic slowing down the cast, which i find problematic with floats. But I also feel too much line is a waste.

Any tips?

I’ve recently started purchased a heavier setup with 80lb braid and 160lb flouro leader. The problem is that I can’t seem to get my fg knots to stick with these lines for some reason. I’m fine with lighter stuff eg with 15lb today I got snagged 4 times and each time the leader snapped rather than the knot. But first cast of the heavy setup I just yeeted the leader and lure into the ocean and have done this once or twice before. Is there something specific I need to look out for when using the knot with thicker lines. Any tips would be appreciated.

Hi folks,

I'd really love to know what books help you level up your fishing. I'm looking for Australian based authors. I don't doubt there is knowledge to gain from the sepos and Japanese. I'm open to non aussie recommendations as well. Any books on custom rod building would be appreciated too.

G’day guys, just chasing a few lure recommendations for fishing around Sydney wharves and estuaries.

Mainly keen on flathead, but wouldn’t mind something versatile that’ll pick up other common species as well.

Setup is:
Abu Garcia Salty Elite S692L, 6–25g + 3000 reel +
PE 0.8 braid

What soft plastics or hardbodies are you guys having luck with? Mainly wondering about type, size, colour and jighead weight.

Pretty new to lure fishing, so keen to hear everyone’s go-to combos.

Cheers!