Surf Fishing (Vic)

BoB,
Congrats on taking up the challenge of surf fishing. Particularly given the current weather prevailing over Vic. ie cold wet n windy. I fear there could only be one thing worse than being up to your thighs in cold sea water this morning and that is unravelling the bunch of grapes that you are likely to end up with after your first cast. If the line is sloppy on the reel it generally means that it is either overspooled or under tensioned. I suspect the latter. Rather than fishing this morning I suggest you find a mate and ask him he feels like a 300m walk. Then start winding it in with constant pressure onto the reel. No, it is not like your winch. In 30 years I have never contemplated cutting my winch cable to save time in untangling it !!!! It has never left my truck with such speed that it turns itself into a thousand knots. There are numerous configurations for setting up the terminal tackle (the business end of the process). I am not sure what you are chasing but can I suggest that if your mate happens to be walking past a tackle shop on his 300m walk he ducks in and purchases a book on fishing / surf rigs. I fear you will be eating lots of chips and lemon with your current setup.

Good luck.

Ken

Beast

try this site: " target="EOF" class="lbg">www.fishnet.com.au/

Standard running rig is used by most people for most fishing:

Site Link

I agree that your line is wound on too loose and if cast will result in tangles.

Nothing for it than to take line off and rewind as suggested. As a tip for the future, some tackle shops will put line on for you.

I never put the maximum amount of line on because inevitably the reel is 'too full'.

Have fun,
EV700

Just take off the first 100 m in the park - that should be enough . Tie it to a tree and walk away , then walk back winding it in under slight tension . Not too much tension , just enough to make it sit tight on the spool .

Let the line off by opening the bail , not by loosening the draq - otherwise you will get bad line twist .

Buy some sinkers at a tackle store that do not roll . Ie not ball or bean type . They will advise you there of the type you need and how to rig it .

TIP - Tell them a friend gave you a surf rod and reel - don't mention you bought it at K Mart or you will get much less friendly help .

There's nothing wrong with buying gear at Kmart. The cheap reels there will last the average recreational fisherman who goes once or twice a year quite some time.

If you get a taste for it then go and invest in good gear - particularly reels - you'll not regret it. Just don't tell the wife how much you spend. :)

The reel needs to be filled until the surface of the line wound on already is about 2mm narrower in radius than the top lip of the spool. Any less reduces your casting distance, more and you end up with birds nests.

The next bit will sound a bit odd but get a snapper sinker or casting plug (practice weight made of plastic) and take your rod and reel down to the footy oval and have a go at casting. There's more to it that there seems.

I throw lures into snags chasing cod and yellowbelly in rivers and I use a casting plug to practice at work between jobs on night shift. It's a different style of fishing to what you are doing and baitcaster reels are harder to cast but I put a waste paper basket at different distances down the plant room and cast into it - like casting into the neck of a snag. Practice pays off on your hook up rate.

You'll need to learn a bit about reading beaches and water to find holes and gutters etc. Try getting a few books from the library or see if anyones flogging a few back issues of some mags on ebay.

Fishnet is a huge resource and a great site.

You'll get hooked if you learn to do it right.

Dave