Need some basic advice please!

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    Posted: 16 Dec 2018 at 11:46am
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Hi all,

I'm brand new to this forum, and brand new to fishing. I've caught like 10 fish in my life, off rock, and have had no idea what I'm doing.

I've recently purchased a simple fishing kayak, anchor and 100m longline.

My goals are pretty simple. Just want to be able to catch a feeed without spending hours upon hours on the water and only come home empty handed.

I've been the last 2 weekends on the kayak, and go no bites. This is in Waihi. My longline was out for 2 hours yesterday, and I just lost some bait, that's all.

I'm going camping at the top of the coromandel in Jan and just want some basic tips to help make sure I can get a Snapper or 2 when I go out!??

I plan on taking a whole bunch of salted baits, I'm going to bring, a mixture of Pilchard, Mussels, and Squid, just for variety. I also plan on dropping the long line (with 25 baits) and some casting off the Kayak. 

Specfically, 
Is there a few fundatmendel tricks to success?
i.e. Times, tides, close to rocks, drifting, baits, rigs????

I just want to avoid, spending 3-4hours on the water and have nothing to show for it..

Any tips would be really appreciated. Even some links to useful threads.

In the mean time, I'll have a look over this forum.

Thanks in advance



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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote smudge Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 2018 at 12:01pm
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OK, with your long line:

you need to make sure it is fully extended and not dropped in a heap. put the first float out, then the first weight. Make sure the baits are small about 50mm long and 20mm wide. hook the baits only once through the end of the bait, not the middle.Paddle out as you feed out the line so the long line is more or less pulled reasonably taut.Don't leave it in for more than an hour. Don't set your long line over foul ground, just over sand or mud.

For your fishing use a strayline rig with only a sinker heavy enough to get your baits on the bottom. A strayline rig just has a sinker sliding down to the hook. Up that way I'd try fishing in close to rocks with some deepish water nearby.
Best gurnard fisherman in my street
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Dec 2018 at 7:08pm
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As above..  plus always have the barb end of the hook well exposed...

Do your baits sort of tangle up a little?
 If so it is usually due to baits not hanging tidy on the hook and the hook goes into a airplane propeller mode... spinning up making a hard 'target for the fish to hit it....
 When you cut and hang the bait, think in your mind if it will spin up or lay out neat...

 Study the place you are going to target on google maps and google earth.. looking for reefs / foul..
 And if not clear , look at the archived pics...

Fishing is not luck
" Luck is directly proportional to the effort put in"
 Mark Twain.
From how the bait hangs thru to sinker weight, home work on the grounds you intend targeting, and where fish hang out at what part of the yr or even day.
 Personally I prefer the evening light, about 20 mins after the sun strike starts on the water.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote jngriffiths@gmail.com Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Dec 2018 at 3:13pm
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Thanks for the tips. I'm going to Port Jackson and have now researched where the reef is and got some GPS coordinates.

With the longline. Is it fine to set it off the reef out over sand?? I. E. Will fish find their way to it? Also the kit i bought came with size 4/0 hooks. Shud i swap them out with size 5/0 or 6/0??
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote BananaBoat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Dec 2018 at 7:16pm
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while close to shore, tip yourself out of your kayak & learn to get back on it again
not as easy as you might think, there is a technique to do it, once learned its easy as

have all your gear tethered off so if you tip out unexpected, all your gear wont be lost

PJ (port jackson) reef, be careful as there can be a SE ground swell coming over it even on a calm day... have fished it in a boat, not a kayak
Stay in close to the rocks where the weed is, look for tide lines on the water that go into or close by weed, a bit of berley or even dry berley works well too in the water with some strayline baits fished down current should produce results, aim for change of light
There will be other kayakers up there, head out with them

Check out the bop kayak forum on here too, good luck
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote jngriffiths@gmail.com Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Dec 2018 at 10:24am
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What about my longline? Should I just set that within say 100m of the reef over sand to avoid snags?
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Dec 2018 at 8:40am
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Long line, I only know from our boat, used on hard fishing winter days to ensure a reed.. 2 or 3 times a yr.

 I run a buoy each end.. must have your name and cell/ contact phone number clearly on them.
Buoy each end is if you do foul a reef or something like someone elses abandoned long like cause did not have 2 bouys.., pull hard enough to  break it, you can still pick up from the other end...
you can drop close to the  quite easy if the wind tide is suitable. 10m.
 So clip the 1st bouy on over a clear bottom.. no reefs.. 
 Feed out , then clip the 1st  end weight....and start to clip on the hooks, last weight, and end buoy. as you drift down the current/ drift line

Our long line is simple, cheap and robust.
3mm braid from the haberdashery.. has a huge breaking strain...With figure 8 knot loops tied in
The drop from bouy to  weight length is 1/4 to 1/3 longer than the depth we drop in.. allowing for current and tide coming in.
 The loops for the traces  set at a distance that works well to clip on and feed out, and when pulling up ..2 ppl remove fish, hooks , clean hooks , wind on...
I no longer bother with swivels on traces...
Reel , originally was  compact electrical extension lead reel.. as it started to corrode after a few yrs, got a better Nasan reel as a xmas present..

Our 1st  3mm long line, a brought  el cheapo turned very quickly into a tangle nightmare.. a plastic  bin with line coiled in the bottom.. a nightmare on the boat, on a kayak imposable.
 This is our current line (except the reel is now updated)
 The plastic container was from the original nightmare.. holds buoysabc and weights also.

 Do NOT drop it anywhere divers go, boats pass thru, swimmers..
 Just some very basic common sense and consideration


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote jngriffiths@gmail.com Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Dec 2018 at 8:50am
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Originally posted by Steps Steps wrote:

you can drop close to the  quite easy if the wind tide is suitable. 10m.
 So clip the 1st bouy on over a clear bottom.. no reefs.. 
 

Thanks for the post! Can I please clarify what you mean here?

Are you saying not to let it down near a reef, or are you saying I can quite easily drop it near a reef as long as the wind and tides are suitable?

I guess I'm after clarification on the best geographical location to drop the longline in regards to a good fishing spot with regards to using a rod, (i.e. I repeatedly get told to fish with a rod near a reef). So does it follow that a longline should be let down at least NEAR a reef. Or Can I drop it down 100's of metres away from a reef over sand somewhere?

I get it that if you drop it directly over a reef, I'll have snags and get in the way of other fisherman..
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Dec 2018 at 10:26am
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Thanks for the post! Can I please clarify what you mean here?

Are you saying not to let it down near a reef, or are you saying I can quite easily drop it near a reef as long as the wind and tides are suitable?

  The latter.. I would strongly suggest , initially .. till you get a good feel of how drifts go, wind currents, stay a good 20/30 m away...
 If you drop over a reef, rock or general foul, chances are you will either have the mainline go around a rock outcrop when dropping , or pulling up, or if a good sized fish on a trace...
We generally lay out over a shell bed or similar in a quiet bay/ a raised sand/ mud  area just off shore 5 to 10m depth.
 A 30 to 45min soak across slack tide.
 Thu as the yrs have progressed, and skills in maneuvering the Powered boat, between 5m gutters in a couple reefs, or righ down the side and wind tide right is always on.
 And yeah it has a few joins in the mainline fouling down there, and having to retrive from the other end.

A liitle thought... I have 2 professional made nylon line lines.. one with hooks and traces in good condition.. stored away that we have pulled up.. and also retrieved another 3 or 4 good for nothing and put in the rubbish bin.

 Have a close look at the clips in the pic...we have tried others, these , once get the knack of using ( hook and pull for on...twist and pull for off)  are the most popular with me and numerous crew that come out with us.
 And an old pic, at that point swivels where being cut off as traces got replaced, re made.

Making correct length traces is easy..
Cut flasher/ $2 shop feathers to length.
 hold hook, trace tag thru eye.. the 'wrong way' for suidice hooks...to bottom of the hook.
pick up the flasher, lay beside the tag,  and about 6 turns on the main trace line down.. tight after the 3 turn... then 3 turns up back to the eye.. then thru eye on the opposite side to the hook eye loop join... Which way you wind the trace down and up is critical
 put hook in the trace frame... measure off to other side.. squeeze a knick to measure... cut tag about 150mm too long.
 Now tie the clip on with a palomar... sliding the  knicked / marked bit to the clip eye, pull up and a finish knot... like a 1/2 hitch, but 3 times around the mainline and pull up up
 Now your new  flasher trace is exact length and stretch to hold in the trace frame.

Took me a few days to figure out how to do that...
 Fishing is not about , drop line catch fish.. its about homework , details right down to how the bait sits on the hook.
 And that's the diff between one person on a wharf or boat catching and the others dont....
 
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