You will lose a few for sure but the spots you fish and rigs you use can help.  Google the pulley rig as this will help keep your rig tight when retrieving and possibly save some tackle, use 100lb mono for your leader on this rig as anything less tends to fail after a hard days casting.  Depending on the swell you could get away with snapper leads but a star is a good all rounder no need for grapnels as if the swell is that big you will be in kalbarri;). Ball sinkers in line with your rig will work too.  Sinker weight will depend on what your rod can comfortably cast but you will need to go heavy

i got a guy in Morley to make me some snapper leads for the boat did a good job but had a lot of work on.

definatrly wear some rock hoppers and even a wetsuit halfway up or long pants at Wagoe as I have seen so many people get knocked over there the surge is very strong , no waders 

cheers, yeh was thinking about those grapnel sinkers, never tried them before, but like u said probably be at the pub if swells that big. Does anyone use those impact clip thingos? They look like a good idea

lol, well I didnt just mean the pub you could go fish chinamans or the river haha

imps work well but if its getting snaggy it adds a bit of expense to your rig.  I generally dont use them but where distance is premium they are certainly a good option in getting a few extra metres

haha well the pub is pretty good. But yes will be hitting up the river at some point, at least for some bream. Might get a few imp clips and try them out before i go

Ive bought bulk sinkers off gumtree, my last purchase has lasted me ages!!  Only cheaper option would be to make em yourself 

My last trip up north one of the guys was using chain links that he had.

Size will depend on conditions.  I carry a range of stars between 2-6oz.  Most used be 4 and 6oz

Thay come up over the reef easyer With single hook

And you can lock the sinker off by looping line twice thro ballsinker

Outfit too For mackie

Id like to try ballooning, would need to buy another reel tho as most line capacity i have atm is about 300m