Hi everyone,

I’m Ryan and I joined the forums here at Fishwrecked a few months ago; I’ve done a lot of reading in the meantime but this is my first time posting.  

I used to do a bit of fishing as a kid but I hadn’t done any for years. That’s changed in recent months after I bought a little 1-3kg Pfleuger Asaro combo which has been great at catching some flathead, bream and some small chopper tailor in the Swan. With that experience behind me I was ready to move up to something bigger so last week I bought myself a 12” Timber Wolf beach rod. I thought it was a good deal for a full carbon rod that was fairly stiff and quick at $114 but I’ve been eager to put it to the test. I had to opportunity to do so this morning, fishing with my Dad at Pinnaroo Point.

We got there just before sunrise which was at 6:50. Conditions were good with a mild southerly breeze, a rising tide and only two other fishermen in sight half a kilometre up the seaweed-free beach. I had my new rod paired with my ~13 year old D.A.M VSI 650 reel spooled with 30lb braid.  It was overkill for our target species of tailor but I plan to use the set up to target larger fish like Snapper and Mulloway in the future. I also wasn’t sure fishing in the morning would prove successful because I’d always heard tailor were usually only active around sunset. My Dad was using a 9” Shimano Classix Shorespin rod and size 4000 Sedona reel combo. We were both fishing using Scaly Mackel for bait.

My bait wasn’t getting much attention but after around half an hour my Dad landed a 43cm tailor. After another hour after some cunning fish had managed to dispossess my bait from my hooks a number of times, we were close to running out of bait and I thought all I’d get out of the trip was some fresh sea air. But then I felt a tug on my line and reacted instinctively to set the hook.  On the 30lb braid I was far from sure I had succeeded but wound in and found I had 33cm tailor on the end my line. Brilliant! The first legal sized tailor I’ve caught in years. Dad then hooked up to another the same size as mine minutes later and we decided to call it, that was a little before 9. Nice morning’s fishing and although the bites weren’t exactly thick and fast I was glad to learn that tailor don’t mind a feed in the morning.

Overall, I was pretty satisfied with the rod but I think I may need to look into getting a smaller reel for this sort of fishing. In the meantime I guess I’d better figure out the best way to cook up some tailor. Suggestions welcome.