Christmas Luck - Mackerel, Squid and Sea Sickness on telescopic rods

South Australia Fishing Reports
Aimless
Rank: Cephalopod
Rank: Cephalopod
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2019 2:41 pm
Location: Near CBD
Has liked: 15 times
Likes received: 68 times

Christmas Luck - Mackerel, Squid and Sea Sickness on telescopic rods

Post by Aimless » Thu Jan 23, 2020 3:20 pm

Hey all,

Though I am best known here for asking for advice, and then failing to catch anything, going back home to SA usually delivers for me.

As it did again this Christmas break! I had less time to go fishing than I planned, but most of it was pretty spot on for me.

First trip was out on the boat with my parents and wife, just out of North Haven fishing around the suburban beaches. My parents usually just go for crabs - and we did pretty well with 15 or 20 nice blue swimmers.
IMG_7775.jpg
I wanted to fish though, and it was a great move. I was flicking tiny soft plastics (AliBaba special - honestly very impressive for the money!) and it seemed like every cast I was getting hit with a mackerel. Soon, my success inspired everyone else with my mum and wife baitfishing off the boat and picking up plenty of mackerel on cockles or squid.

It was absolute madness - they are pretty good fighting fish on light gear honestly, and with so many coming into the boat things got chaotic. Most times the bait fishoes were getting double headers with fish flapping all over a pretty small boat. Mine were dropping off the hook getting into the boat but I didn't mind - no need to be greedy.

My mum gets into fishing frenzies and would dehook the fish, then put her rod straight back in, getting more bites while I was left to deal with the fish. So crabs, nets, fish and lines started to get tangled up. We lost one fish under the boat's floorboards and that could not be recovered - I guess that just adds to the boat's character, right?

In the end we headed back in with almost 40 fish or so, one of my best days out like that and loads of fun. Spent the evening filleting everything, then smoked some of the fish, pickled some japanese style (Shime Saba) and grilled some on the Weber later. Mackerel is a great eating fish if you treat it right, especially fresh.
IMG_7796.JPG
As mentioned, I was better equipped for this trip. I asked on here for rod advice before Christmas, specifically if there were any good telescopic rods as I am chronically short of storage space in my Melbourne apartment so it all lives in the car. People advised against it, but I scoured the weird parts of the internet for reviews and advice and ended up going in a couple of directions. I had two cheap jarvis walker telescopic rods to replace, real pieces of junk.

I got one Kastking Blackhawk II tele rod from Alibaba. These have so many fake reviews online it was really hard to tell if they would be any good at all - but they were also immensely popular and some people seemed to genuinely like them. I saw a few reviews of people catching decent fish on them and for forty bucks or so, I couldn't help but try one out. I got the 6'6 ML rod and honestly, it performed really well. It's a whole new world compared to the rods I had, which probably cost about the same. Eight or nine guides including some floating guides, light construction, pretty solidly built, I would say a reasonably soft action but good enough for what I need. I caught all the mackerel on this and the squid that shows up later and it's loads of fun.

Also, as my christmas present from the wife, I asked her to order in a 'good' telescopic rod from Japan, a longer one that could double as surf lure launcher. The range of options was eye opening, with all the big brands like Daiwa, Abu, Shimano producing a pretty wide and cool range of tele rods. The prices on Amazon Japan were pretty good but they stopped delivering to Australia, so I searched far and wide and found a decent vendor and put in an order. I settled on an Alpha Tackle 'TrGr' Tip Top 906MH rod. I went for the Tip Top because it was the most reasonably priced semi premium option and fit my specs pretty well. It came in about $120 or so, all Fuji guides, carbon fibre construction, lure weight 5 - 45 grams, etc etc. This thing feels a lot more premium than the Blackhawk, for sure - probably the nicest rod I've ever had to be honest!

It also performed well, but I'm not used to such a long rod so it took a while to get used to. I have started rigging up my rods in a new way too, which has really upped my enjoyment and how quickly I can get fishing. Braid to fluoro leader with a double Uni knot. At the end of a leader, a simple 00 or 000 round snap. I can pull out some line, open up the rod, clip on a lure or jig and I am fishing within 30 seconds. Likewise, I can unclip my lure at the end of a session, collapse the rod and reel in the snap and I am ready to head back on the road in about 20 seconds!

This set up served me well on the trip, although I lost a couple due to bad Uni knots which I've only recently learned to tie.If anyone wants a review of the rods, or maybe some of my research on tele options, just say and I will happily post something up.

Back to fishing.

I had a morning fish down Port Elliott way, from the jetty at the Bluff. It was a beautiful day and this was a great spot. When I arrived it was empty, the water is completely clear with beautiful rock structure and lots of sea life below. It did pick up with a lot of fishoes and loads of divers and snorkellers passing through before long. I caught a nice little squid, again on the BlackHawk rod on a 2.5 jig. I lost a nice 3.5 due to one of my bad Unis as mentioned.

https://i.imgur.com/1p9tDP4.jpg picture was too big to attach sorry.

I was chased in by a few other squid but they were skittish and with the divers around, I couldn't always cast out to chase them again until it was too late. I had to rush off to a family event so my trip was cut short. A kid was snorkelling around picking up lost lures, he reckoned he had thirty of them within half an hour. Apparently he does it every day during the Christmas break and has more then enough lures and jigs for the year - I don't doubt it.



Next trip was New Years day, up to Yorkes Peninsula with the parents. My wife had to head back to work and I did my best not to rub in my extra time off and fishing trips. They have a little shack near one of the boat ramps, and a couple of cray pots. The fishing down there is usually awesome, and the weather was supposed to be good.

We had a go from the Marion Bay jetty, about twenty people after squid, with some really bad wind. No signs of squid at all, which is rare. Lovely weed bed with crystal clear water though. I ended up throwing my mackerel destroying plastic off the end of the jetty and hooked a big snook first cast, which copped some **** from the other impatient fishoes! I had a few more chase me in but no more action. By the time I left there were a few people on the end of the jetty trying the same thing.

Next morning we went out at first light, the weather was awful the boat was bobbing around like a cork. I don't get seasick easily but this set me off in record time. Once we stopped the boat to check the cray pots, I was turning green in minutes. Nothing in the pots either! We went back in instead of trying for any fish.

I went and had a lie down. Tragedy struck. I came out a little later and realised the boat had been put away. As I was woozy, I hadn't cleaned my gear off the boat. Well, the boat was backed in with the rod still in the rocket launcher. Snapped clean at the handle. It's a real bummer, and the store I got it from didn't have any other stock, so I am outta luck on an exact replacement.
IMG_8020.jpg
I spent the afternoon wading around, plenty of sea life around me, saw about 10 rays and some big schools of mullet which had no interest in my plastics. The wind was rough and tides strong so I couldn't stay out for long. Had a go the next day in the kayak and ended up just getting blown around so packed it in. Parents went out early to check the pots and came back with a cray, so they were happy. The neighbours had been catching tuna out there too.

Back to Adelaide. I spent my last day attempting to fix up my rod. Razored off the broken edges, got a dowel that fit the gap, used a load of araldite to secure it. Then wrapped that in blind cord and araldited that to hell, and then shrink wrapped over it. Feels fairly solid and luckily it's not a structural part of the rod. Obviously I lost some length and I wouldn't be keen to test the join, but I am not expecting any huge fish. The downside is the dowel blocks the rod from fully retracting.

Then I drove back to Melbourne in a day. I was planning on spending a few days camping and fishing along the coast (asked for tips on where to stay here too - thanks and sorry I didn't take advantage of it!) but time was ticking until I had to go back to work and I would have been rushed.

So that's it! Adelaide delivers, bit of good luck and a bit of bad. I am better equipped than ever before and have a neat new fishing style for whenever I can grab a quick moment to fish!
Attachments
IMG_8105.jpg

smokin_reels
Rank: Premium Member
Rank: Premium Member
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:23 pm
Has liked: 308 times
Likes received: 318 times

Re: Christmas Luck - Mackerel, Squid and Sea Sickness on telescopic rods

Post by smokin_reels » Thu Jan 23, 2020 5:13 pm

Nice work mate.
Out of curiosity, why telescopic Rods and not a comparable travel rod?
I’ve lost fish because of sections collapsing one me, is this something that’s happened to you?
There is always more to learn , fish to catch , places to see and friends to make.

User avatar
Sinsemilla
Rank: Gummy Shark
Rank: Gummy Shark
Joined: Fri Apr 29, 2016 2:35 pm
Location: Northern Subs
Likes received: 272 times

Re: Christmas Luck - Mackerel, Squid and Sea Sickness on telescopic rods

Post by Sinsemilla » Thu Jan 23, 2020 6:49 pm

Great write up mate, cheers.

I've never had blue swimmer grab before.. They don't look like they'd have a lot of meat on them. How do you usually prepare them?

Anth

Aimless
Rank: Cephalopod
Rank: Cephalopod
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2019 2:41 pm
Location: Near CBD
Has liked: 15 times
Likes received: 68 times

Re: Christmas Luck - Mackerel, Squid and Sea Sickness on telescopic rods

Post by Aimless » Thu Jan 23, 2020 8:28 pm

smokin_reels wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 5:13 pm
Nice work mate.
Out of curiosity, why telescopic Rods and not a comparable travel rod?
I’ve lost fish because of sections collapsing one me, is this something that’s happened to you?
Fair question, I was definitely advised against it when asking for rod recommendations.

I liked my old tele rods so much even though they really sucked. The bad things: poorly built, badly glued guides and only 4 of them, didn't cast that far, everything rusted, heavy, just generally shite. Good things: Could leave them rigged at all times, take up no space, easy to cover large distance with them (e.g. walking and hiking, they fit in a backpack), good for dense scrub e.g. walking along rivers, easy to store in the car.

I was considering a travel rod, 3 or 4 piece, but don't like derigging stuff 'cause I'm lazy.

I also figured if I was used to such bad rods, and the tele rods were only just okay, they would still seem like a big step up. And they were! So I was happy enough already.

I was also given a second hand Shimano Raider Snapper rod, a heavier 7' or so, two piece (best Christmas I've had in a while hah!). That travels pretty well and I've managed to leave it rigged, and honestly I can't really feel much of a difference with the tele rods.

I heard they're much more popular in Japan because people are more likely to travel on trails or by bike to go fishing, so there's been years more work and R&D put into them. I gotta say the Tip Top is really nice quality.

Never had a problem with the rods folding in on me to date, with my old bad ones or the new ones. The new ones are much more nicely built, the tolerances are very close. You are meant to extend them slightly further than you probably think, so they fit in really snug. Not like some of the multi piece rods where you just sit them sorta loosely together.

The one issue I did have with my newer ones is that the floating guides came loose once or twice. These are the loose guides near the tip of the rod that they put in there so they don't need a separate section for each guide (e.g. mine have 8 or 9 guides but only 5 or 6 sections). But that's a two second fix and just user error, I was meant to pull them down tighter.

Aimless
Rank: Cephalopod
Rank: Cephalopod
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2019 2:41 pm
Location: Near CBD
Has liked: 15 times
Likes received: 68 times

Re: Christmas Luck - Mackerel, Squid and Sea Sickness on telescopic rods

Post by Aimless » Thu Jan 23, 2020 8:35 pm

Sinsemilla wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 6:49 pm
Great write up mate, cheers.

I've never had blue swimmer grab before.. They don't look like they'd have a lot of meat on them. How do you usually prepare them?

Anth
Just like any crab, I have always (grew up doing it this way) just boiled them, ideally in salt water. They are a little lighter on meat than a sand crab I'd think, but not too much work to clear them out. They have nice flesh and it comes out pretty easily once you know how to eat them.

My mum has a great recipe which sounds a bit like knock off chinese food but is pretty close to some Singaporean recipes I've seen. Cook the crabs as usual, break them apart (legs all separated, body in half or quarters) then use a heavy knife, or nut cracker, or hammer to slightly crack all the pieces so your sauce will be able to get inside the shell.

In a wok, throw some sliced up spring onions (long ways is best) and brown in oil. Then put 3 - 5 cloves of chopped garlic, some chopped or slivered ginger, 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce (the rosella stuff works fine), 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and a bit of sugar, all at once, to make a sauce. Throw the crab bits in, heat through (crabs can go in cold, no problem) and then eat with your hands.

The sauce gets into all the cracks and because you've partly smashed them, they are easy to eat with your hands! Real nice recipe.

Cooking is one of my hobbies, and I have read a few times recently that steaming is actually a better way to cook crabs... so that's next on the list.

User avatar
StarrangerAU
Rank: Premium Member
Rank: Premium Member
Joined: Sat Aug 19, 2017 2:02 pm
Location: Armadale
Has liked: 58 times
Likes received: 117 times

Re: Christmas Luck - Mackerel, Squid and Sea Sickness on telescopic rods

Post by StarrangerAU » Thu Jan 23, 2020 9:05 pm

Great report....and I just might check out some of the Japanese gear seeings youve given it a decent rap.

Nice job!

wem21
Rank: Australian Salmon
Rank: Australian Salmon
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 6:31 pm
Has liked: 42 times
Likes received: 39 times

Re: Christmas Luck - Mackerel, Squid and Sea Sickness on telescopic rods

Post by wem21 » Thu Jan 23, 2020 11:05 pm

Lovely report mate, the SA fishing is amazing compared to vic

purple5ive
Rank: Premium Member
Rank: Premium Member
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:59 pm
Has liked: 567 times
Likes received: 1011 times

Re: Christmas Luck - Mackerel, Squid and Sea Sickness on telescopic rods

Post by purple5ive » Fri Jan 24, 2020 8:07 am

Great stuff mate, well done on the outing and thanks for sharing.

i wonder where our resident SA guru is, he has been MIA for a while now.

Aimless
Rank: Cephalopod
Rank: Cephalopod
Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2019 2:41 pm
Location: Near CBD
Has liked: 15 times
Likes received: 68 times

Re: Christmas Luck - Mackerel, Squid and Sea Sickness on telescopic rods

Post by Aimless » Fri Jan 24, 2020 8:39 am

wem21 wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 11:05 pm
Lovely report mate, the SA fishing is amazing compared to vic
I thought I was just bad at fishing since moving here, but I do think there's less pressure in general, and the remote areas a bit more accessible from the city area. So I always seem to have more luck.
StarrangerAU wrote:
Thu Jan 23, 2020 9:05 pm
Great report....and I just might check out some of the Japanese gear seeings youve given it a decent rap.
I might write up a review or something... I was worried since people are so sour on that kind of gear. But then I spent a bit of time on Amazon Japan with the reviews translated and saw plenty of people catching big fish on those rods. I ended up buying my rod off a site called Asian Portal (extremely hard to navigate, search is broken, terrible site - but free shipping at $100 USD, good range and fast!) as well as some leader and a couple of lures to make it up to the free shipping threshold.
purple5ive wrote:
Fri Jan 24, 2020 8:07 am
i wonder where our resident SA guru is, he has been MIA for a while now.
Who's the guru?!

Lightningx
Bluefin
Bluefin
Joined: Wed Oct 01, 2014 4:21 pm
Has liked: 72 times
Likes received: 976 times

Re: Christmas Luck - Mackerel, Squid and Sea Sickness on telescopic rods

Post by Lightningx » Fri Jan 24, 2020 10:33 am

Enjoyed the read mate.
Those blue swimmers remind me of when I grew up in Adelaide :)
Cheers :tu:

Post Reply

Return to “South Australia”