What is TOR kit ?
Never heard of it, but sounds very similar to my setup when wandering the beach,if anything, yours is a bit heavier than mine, boils down to fishing as light as you dare in any given circumstances. I always have a backup rod in the car,that has a bit more beef in that situation.

Just in case

Dave

Adit....... just read the above, the rod has a bit more beef, not the car !

 

ijjwag I think you might need to contact TTA.

 

ijjwag I think you might need to contact TTA.

LOL I know what you mean, an addiction worse than gambling, smoking or drinking.

JJ

 

I know only too well what you mean.

I must use only around 5%, or less, of the tackle that I own.

But would I get rid of the other 95% or so ? ................. He'll no !

It was bought for a reason, it is just that at the moment I have forgotten what the reason was.

I am sure that I need it, just in case, you know what I mean ? lol

 

My list of 'wants' is as long as my arm, but one of them is a carp rod for smooth ground bassing.
As I age, I realise it is not the size of the fish that excites so much as the size of the bend in the rod.
A 4lb bass on a beach caster is nothing compared to one a nice lure rod.

 

Most defiantly fishing to heavy. I fish big surf, reef, rocks etc and use less than half the sized tackle to most reports I see on here for fish much bigger. There are quite a few threads going around on this at the moment but for the beach on fish up to 100 lb I use 20 lb line http://www.worldseafishing.com/foru...ralian-smoothound-gummy-shark-mustelus-antarcticus-for-attention-jon-d.2242515/

Everyone to their own, if you are happy using 50 lb line dont let me try and sway you, for me 20 for the beach and 30 for the boat.
JonD
[URL=http://s1170.photobucket.com/user/JonDP/media/_MG_0678_zps574e7df7.jpg.html][URL=http://s1170.photobucket.com/user/JonDP/media/IMG_0643_zps1d84fc4b.jpg.html][/URL][/URL]

 

@JonD
My God, your fishing is just amazing.
Everytime you upload pictures I consider emigrating!


Normally I totally agree, though fishing in kelp forests is seriously tiresome on 20lb main.
You would be horrified to learn I have upgraded to 106lb braid on an Avet for some of my more serious marks, and 66lb on Ultegra for the normal heavy long casting ones.
20lb just drives you nuts, losing shock every time you snag your 50lb hook snood.
On beaches and your ground I totally agree though.

 

Conditions, Tide, and ground all contribute to how we fish. It would be pointless fishing light lines in boulder strew or kelp covered areas. In Ideal conditions I like to fish as light as possible, but also keep the heavy guns for conger and huss etc. No point in catching a fish and losing it to the wrong choice of tackle

 

Most of my fishing is over reef covered with all sorts of sharp obstacles or over heavy kelp beds. The ground I fish here is much the same as where I targeted fish in the UK most of my life only here the fish try to get you back into the reef so heavy drags to stop the fish in the first part of the fight is a must. In-fact my wetsuits never got torn and damaged like they do diving here. Today I was among the kelp collecting rock lobsters, by the way kelp isn't a deep water weed so shouldn't be an issue from the boat.

A point I keep trying to get over is that with the right knots Im able to use light line to its max. As many of you know most 20 lb braid breaks around 40 lb, with this in mind I use 20 lb with drag settings around 15-20 lb. This might not sound that heavy but try filling a bucket with water to 15-20 lb of water then lift it with your own rod and reel and I think you will find many of your outfits with heavy line will struggle. (by the way don't blame me if the rod breaks) my light rods are tested to dead lift much heavier than this which means I have a good safety margin in my gear.

A reel manufactured with 15-20 lb of drag like many of the avets could possibly end up the same way my slosh's did when I first moved out here and used 50 lb braid on my beach gear (broken from big rays and sharks on the beach). With drags as tight as I could turn them and my thumb burning on the spool soon ended in a pile of broken gear. Don't get me wrong Im not trying to convert anyone, I just don't see the point in using line way above the capabilities of the rods and reels they are on. Thinner line is more sensitive and cuts through the tide better as we all know.

Just because I now live in Oz I haven't forgotten about the 30 odd years of fishing I did back there.
JonD

 

i use heavier lines not for the strength but for the abrasion resistance, if you used 20lb braid from some of my marks you in for an expensive day as i found out while testing braid (went through a 300m spool of 40lb fireline exceed in a few hours fishing).

 

M



My braid doesn't get among the rough ground thats what the 25-30ft leader is for. Ive got 150 lb saltiga braid (on my deep drop electric reel) which would cut as easily as 10 lb braid among the oysters.
JonD

 

Speaking of which,

Time for cockys-scottish-ruffgrounder

http://www.worldseafishing.com/foru...m/forums/scotland-catch-reports-advice/368180-cockys-scottish-ruffgrounder.html

to be resurrected from whence it was culled, I'd like to make some up for the winter thx...

 

Never understood the use of light tackle. I fish to eat therefore use the heaviest tackle necessary to get a fish in quick without it suffering too much before it gets knocked on the head and gutted. Getting the fish in ASAP to minimise stress is of utmost importance for me. Heavy tackle all the way for me.

 

You still don't seem to be getting what I mean, Im able to get fish to the boat way quicker on the light gear Im using than the heavy gear of yesteryear. The recent tunas my 13 yr old daughter caught were back to the boat in less than 10 mins and these fish are capable of 80kph +, they would tow a blue shark of equal size backwards. She was using 30 lb Jerry Brown braid with a drag setting of 10 kg (20 lb+) on a spin reel, try this on your own heavy outfit to see if it can actually put out out 10 kg of constant smooth drag. The spin reel can put out far more pressure than this but she's not capable of holding on to much more than this. 10 kg is more than 3x 3 lt drink bottles which is alot of stopping power on most species, what are you targeting?

Reel shimano saragosa 10000sw, rod Jigging master capable of 24kg dead lift power (tested). My own favourite rod for most light game is the jigging master three kings ultra light with a blank of just 3.3 oz and a dead lift power of 22 kg, don't knock it unless you've tried it. You are more than welcome to join me in my boat to compare gear, I think you would be very surprised how much power you can put on a fish without wearing out the angler.
JonD

 

You still don't seem to be getting what I mean, Im able to get fish to the boat way quicker on the light gear Im using than the heavy gear of yesteryear. The recent tunas my 13 yr old daughter caught were back to the boat in less than 10 mins and these fish are capable of 80kph +, they would tow a blue shark of equal size backwards. She was using 30 lb Jerry Brown braid with a drag setting of 10 kg (20 lb+) on a spin reel, try this on your own heavy outfit to see if it can actually put out out 10 kg of constant smooth drag. The spin reel can put out far more pressure than this but she's not capable of holding on to much more than this. 10 kg is more than 3x 3 lt drink bottles which is alot of stopping power on most species, what are you targeting?

Reel shimano saragosa 10000sw, rod Jigging master capable of 24kg dead lift power (tested). My own favourite rod for most light game is the jigging master three kings ultra light with a blank of just 3.3 oz and a dead lift power of 22 kg, don't knock it unless you've tried it. You are more than welcome to join me in my boat to compare gear, I think you would be very surprised how much power you can put on a fish without wearing out the angler.
JonD

John, thanks for that info. I have never used light gear before. I suppose I have always been under the assumption that heavy gear was better for getting fish in quickly. The way you explained the physics behind it has made me think though. It's always good learning new ideas, this site is great!

 

When I moved over here I brought all my sharking gear as well as all my beach gear thinking I would show the locals how we did it back home. I would love to bring some of the gear I now use back for some of you guys to try out. Just take a look at this relatively cheap JM rod which would bend well with a single mackerel but still able to dish out 10 kg dead lift. By the way member dkonig82 is now bringing in some quality gear at very competitive prices (based in London I think).
JonD

 

Heres dkonig82 web link http://www.adventureangler.net/
JonD

 

"FREE DELIVERY IN THE UK FOR ORDERS OVER £350"

ROFL.....

hint, if I'm spending over £350 then the last thing I'd actually want Is "free" delivery for my £350+ worth of goods...

 

Jon D,
If your "20lb braid" breaks at 40lb, then it is 40lb braid isn't it?

Den

 

There are two major differences when comparing boat and beach fishing. When boat fishing you are not casting and you are not dragging your tackle and possibly a fish across the sea bed. It's also a lot easier keeping a fish out of snags when you are directly above it as when boat fishing.

Playing a fish is only one consideration when choosing tackle. As pointed out, rough ground means stepping up on line strength not just to pull out of snags but also to combat line damage. There’s also another problem when fishing from the shore and that is getting the bait/lure far enough out to reach the fish. Here the sinker weight/lure weight and line thickness have to be considered.

I used to take a bass rod across to Ireland but found that I rarely used it and in the end stopped taking it. The problem was that I couldn’t reach the same distances with a 4oz bass rod that I could with a standard beach caster casting 5oz. The extra ounce of lead made all the difference when casting into the wind or casting out a delicate bait such the live sandeel that I used much of the time.

I've done some calculations and you have to create over 12% more speed using a 4oz lead than a 5oz lead to carry the bait the same distance.

Light tackle is fine in light seas and at shorter distances with baits that are not too large. I use a 1-2oz rod at times and a 4oz bass rod quite regularly when the situation suits. The standard 5-6oz beach caster has evolved as the most versatile rod over a range of distances and conditions.

 

Well, here is my take in it and I am more than happy to be shot down in flames.

At a guess, sea fishing was done as a means to catch something to eat. Then, we gradually began to find time for leisure activities and sea fishing became something to do for fun as well as food. During this transition some people wanted to 'enjoy the fight' from the fish they caught and thus tackle was developed to allow this to happen.
Whilst all this was happening, some still fished for the table and did not see the point in changing their methods, as their main aim was fish to eat.
Now we have a happy combination of the two. Each to their own and neither needs to justify their methods

Me? As heavy as possible. Drag it in, smack it on the head and get back out and catch another one

 

Jon D,
If your "20lb braid" breaks at 40lb, then it is 40lb braid isn't it?

Den

Yes mate that is correct but what most people don't realise is that almost every braid is mislabelled to the point that they nearly all break well over the stated strength. Check out this site to see what breaking strain the line you use actually is, also check out the mono and knot testing http://www.paulusjustfishing.com/4linetesting.htm

I fish 15 or 20 lb braid from the shore over much rougher ground than I did in the UK, nearly all shallow rocks are covered with razor sharp oysters, kelps, cunji, corals etc etc. If you get snagged among it it doesn't matter if you use 300 lb line, it will often slice like butter. The rods and reels are built with drags and lifting power to a certain point where once the gear gets above this you end with broken rods or reels as I did when I first moved over here. Two slosh's, one penn 545, abu 7500 as well as a few smaller abu's soon failed on the type of fish I now catch.

My jigging master shore game has a maximum lifting power of 13 kg but is perfect for casting 30 to 80 gm lures all day, match this with a shimano saragosa 8000 with 12 kg drag I have an outfit which has landed some 100 lb fish from the shore (rays and sharks) and not taking hours to do it. If I get snagged (which is always at the terminal end) I can break off part of my wind on leader and attach another rig. My braid to mono is done with a pr knot so that no strength is lost here and Ive never had the line break at the pr knot.

Heavy braid as we all know is thicker, also the knots used for heavy braid and mono joins are somewhat bulky. The bulky knots attract weed to gather at that point, every time that knot goes through the rings it has the opportunity to weaken and sometimes catch on the rings. The thicker line means if you do hook a big fish that wants to run you only have a small amount of line on the reel. Most beach sized multi's only have about 4-5kg of efficient drag. The salmon and tailor in my pic's are extremely common and average 8-9lb and though they fight much harder than bass they only take a minute or two to land (they then become bait).

Know-one can argue that thinner braid is far more sensitive to small fish bites. Im sure if more people realised just how strong their braids are with the right knots etc they would soon start dropping down a few sizes as the benefits are many. If I get snagged in the bottom it can be a nightmare trying to break the gear out (even with light line) which is why I have lighter sinker sections and lighter gauge circle hooks for the shore compared to the boat.

Please don't get me wrong Im not trying to tell anyone they should change what they are happy with Im just pointing out I fish rough ground for big fish on light gear with a much higher success than the gear I originally brought out here with me from the UK ( and I still lose many fish that smash me through the rough).

Tackle has come a long way.
JonD