Fishing Victoria Forum

Hosery wrote:

Bugatti wrote:

Hosery wrote: I admit I used to chock up the hook (bigger bait-bigger fish thing) with hook covering amounts.

Once you learn to pin the bait only in the corner etc and up rod not strike circles will be your friend.

Yeah, Hosey, amazing how it is hard to change the habit of loaded hooks. I never loaded hooks to cover the pointy catchy bit even with normal hooks, never had the hook point not exposed for a hook up, but yeah a slightly nibbed up bait works, just need to get used to it with confidence.

But the really hard bit for me was the not stricking and letting the loaded rod or loading the rod do the trick. I was fine with the smaller fish (whiting bream etc) , , , , but with the larger fish like Snapper and Gummies, when you hear that sweet sound of the drag , , , , zzzzzzzzzzz , , , , we instinctively strike. I now refrain BUT what has helped me (and with less toothie bite offs) is a firmer drag with a lighter tip rod with still a good back, so the combination of the lighter tip to allow a "take" and the firmer drag with the action of the rod on it's own seems to load the fish up to give me a better rate of hook ups and in the corner of the jaw

What size rod you using

smile0784 wrote:What size rod you using

G'day, smile. Not sure if that question is for me, but the rods I have are what I would say are "decent quality" not high end but not cheapies either (not that there is anything wrong with decent entry level "cheapies" which I have some and they still work and I still use too).

But for the big stuff my favourite is with my Nephew (as he loves it and is using it for Snapper, fishing with his Dad). But that rod is similar but softer tipped and a few class kilos lighter (6-8kg from memory) to my next favourite, which I use now. That rod is a Abu Muscle Tip MT-701 SWM, 2.1m long and 8-10 kg rating. This rod isn't as soft as the other but ok for the weight class.

Hope that helps.

Cheers, Bugatti

I have done ok with brush cutter line. Its really hard so seems resistant to teeth, although probably not a bronzies.

dezza68 wrote:I have done ok with brush cutter line. Its really hard so seems resistant to teeth, although probably not a bronzies.

That's very resourceful and makes sense :thumbsup: