Fishing tackle technology over the years.

[Sebb]

Like everything these days, everything is refined.
Back then a doctor is a doctor but now there's specialist for pretty much everything.
Back then, a car is a car, a mode of transport. Nowadays there's sports cars that can take you to places as much as a ford focus hatchback.

Surely some of them are good and possibly improve the catch rate, or at least psychologically makes us feel good. Some might just be good at marketing stuff.

I remember I caught my first pinkie on a $40 combo from aussie disposal. Yes I landed it, but now I enjoy catching pinkie on a much more modern gear that cost me more 5x of that combo.

The end story of that $40 combo was the reel broke when I hooked a decent fish, the curly mono line tangled in the spool, all sorts of disaster. Lost the fish of course. Could be different story if I had better gear.

But then again, I remember I got outfished by an old man on a jetty with kmart rods and reels and nothing else but mono line, 4/0 hook and big sinker. I was using my 9ft $300+ gear with fluorocarbon etc etc. Outfished by 1 to 5 ratio.

There's just too many factors in the variables that we don't know of. That's why fishing is challenging and fun! It's never the same and we're trying to crack the code!

[rb85]

Old tackle can have new methods introduced take the shaolin handline technique when targeting mega red for example.

[Troy McLure]

My favourite fishing memory probably was catching loads of decent sized mullet on a hand line in the Tambo about 35 years ago. I wouldn’t even consider using one now. Maybe I’d catch more if I did.

[colnick]

It depends on what you're fishing for. Throw a double pilli patto rig on a handlinein 18m off Carrum and you'll eventually catch a fish.

If you want to cast lures then there's minimum gear you'll need. That minimum gear changes as the fish you target and where you're targetting them change.

In 6 years since i've taken fishing back up, i've gone from spinning salmon at gunners on an $81 dollar catana / solstace combo to driving /walking / climbing into unimaginable spots using a $500 assassin popping / sticky rod and a saltiga for almost everything.

The situation demands the gear, not the other way round. What you get out of it comes from the situation.

Good day Dougie,
I really enjoyed your recent post. I grew up in Coffs in the 1950's - we lived in a house backing onto Coffs Creek not too far up from the bridge. I caught many fish in some of the places you photographed with gear you, and I, would laugh at now. I still have family up there and get back reasonably often.
Getting back to this thread - I am a bit confused. You seem to be suggesting that because of the wonderful difficult spots you now get into, only $500 gear will do the job. The question really is, would you still catch fish there with a $100 combo?
Cheers, Col.

[purple5ive]

With the advance in technology comes more refined gear at the cost of $$$ ofcourse.
a 30 year old combo will struggle to cast a modern finesse lure, but is perfectly at home casting out a sinker with some bait on it, doing what it was designed to do...
they both will still catch fish.
fishing these days are probably considered more of a hobby rather than a source of gathering food. gone are the days of sitting and waiting with baited breath and welcome to the days of casting lures, actively finding fish and catch and release fishing methods.
people are constantly pushing boundaries on ways to catch fish and what to catch them on, and necessity being the mother of invention means retailers are pushing the boundaries to invent something new to make $$$$
be it the latest fish finders, motorboats, engines, braided lines, lures, clothing etc..

i started my fishing using a bamboo pole, mono line of meter lengths joined together (they were sold in 1m lengths) a bit of pebble for a sinker and a small hook.
these days i much prefer the more refined graphite rod and reel combination.
i caught fish 30 years ago on the most primitive of gear and im still catching fish today on more advanced fishing gear.
one thing i can say is though, once you have a taste of the quality stuff its hard to go back. and in saying that sometimes its great to just sit back in a deckchair and relax soaking some baits!!

[SteveoTheTiger]

I will generally fish with fairly cheap gear. $100 to $200 combos. But then the fishing I do doesnt really tax modern equipment much. If I was spending big bucks on game fish I would spend more to make sure my gear isnt going to fail.

Other than newer materials, it's not really much different to what I used as a kid in the 80s.

Although I do have a $1500 sounder which would have been like something out of Star Wars back then.

[Sinsemilla]

No it isn’t necessary you will still catch fish with basic gear. But it is my belief that when the fishing is tough the modern gear comes into its own and will save a day. Plus he who dies with the most fishing tackle wins.

Nude up is spot on. I'm trying my best to win.

[DougieK]

I still have family up there and get back reasonably often.
Getting back to this thread - I am a bit confused. You seem to be suggesting that because of the wonderful difficult spots you now get into, only $500 gear will do the job. The question really is, would you still catch fish there with a $100 combo?
Cheers, Col.

Of course you would.

Now lets do a test. Go pick up a Fin Nor lethal 100 and put it on a $100 24kg gladiator spin stick. Now spool it with 80lb Fins. It's going to weigh literally twice as much as the assassin/expo or assassin/bio 10 combos i'm using with high quality tasline. The rod isn't going to have the same casting power, the reel the same smooth drag or drag capacity or retrieve rate, the line the same abrasion resistance or durability. If you're unfit you might be able to make 15-20 casts with the heavier combo until you're cooked. Pick up a bio 10 and any rod on a high quality blank and you can spin for much longer, cast much further for less effort, work different lures in different ways, be confident to stop bigger fish more often and not have your line break the moment it touches anything other than air or water.

I've used a dozen different large sized reels for land based game spinning, about half of which have broken or melted within a year of purchasing them and have actually broken a daiwa Saltist hyper 962 at the join. There is a huge difference between 'my drags gone' on a boat, where you can take another reel (that you didn't have to carry an hour) out and put it on your rod and 'my drags gone' when you're 5kms from your camp, 150km from a tackle shop, and down a ledge you have to literally climb into.

If you want to catch a fish you can cast literally anything with some bait on it at the water. If you want to fish the way I do, you 'can' fish with gear 1/4 the price of mine, but in the end it's going to catch up with you. High quality, light weight, durable gear is absolutely essential. A Saragosa with a 250 rod will 'do'. but spinning the hours I often do on these trips it's worth the extra $ to be more comfortable. Plus an awful lot of the time when i'm livebaiting for kings, there's also a chance of hooking a Marlin up north or an SBT in VIC.

This is actually a really interesting conversation that I have with a couple of the other guys i'm fishing with quite often. At what point does the cost of the gear outweigh the benefit that we're getting? Might be worthy of a new thread all together.

When i get a minute i'll put together a comprehensive list of spin reels i've destroyed in the last 3-4 years since we started rock fishing properly.

[Sebb]

one thing i can say is though, once you have a taste of the quality stuff its hard to go back.

Haha this is true.
You know what's best when you had the bad ones and then tasted the good ones.

[dazz999]

I manly lure fish so i love the modern stuff more feel and cast further