Tackle advice needed for trip north
Greetings all. First time post. I'm a Sydneysider, but heading over for a trip in late May. Heading to Port Smith Lagoon for a couple of days, and then up to Cape Leveque for a few days too. Then going on a charter out of Broome for a couple of days too.. going to be awesome
I'm bringing smaller casting gear with me, but I'm trying to work out whether Im going to be ridiculously under-gunned. Any advice would be appreciated.
My standard kit for Sydney pelagics (rat Kingfish / Salmon) is Daiwa Caldia KIX 3000, combined currently with a rod in the 2-4kg class rated for throwing 5-25gr lures. I get smoked on larger kingies, but that usually ends with me losing the lure on structure rather than getting spooled. Let's just say for the amount of fun I have on the lighter gear, I'm prepared to lose the 20% if I'm likely to hold onto the 80% I hook up to.
Intention is that I will fish the estuaries in Port Smith and around Cape Leveque (probably on foot). I will have some time in a boat also, and have larger gear available for trolling.
I will want to cast from the boat at times around the reef structure too, so I'm trying to work out whether the casting gear is too undergunned. Options would be to either:
- upgrade the line class on the Caldia, and get a new rod (if thats likely to get me into the 80% chance)
- If that doesnt make sense, then keep the existing kit I have for SPs in the estuaries, and buy new reel / rod setup in the 20g-45g lure class (which starts to get me into the larger sized poppers). Given I normally work threadline casting gear, I'd rather that type of reel, but would be prepared to go overhead if that made more sense.. and I'd be looking to spend $500-$600.
Any ideas? Many thanks I'm getting pumped..
crasny1
Posts: 6986
Date Joined: 16/10/08
For Port Smith and cape leveque this time of the yr
Your gear would be fine because from shore the likely culprits will be Queenies, rat GT and other trevs, Blue nose salmon and possibly threadfin. It would be fun to hook a metre thready on this but like you say hopefully wont be spooled. I would probably upgrade to something with a little more grunt as a backup and ask the popper gurus about casting to structure. (Pilbara Brad, Jay_Burgess, Kasey etc). I use a Tournament dropshot rated 4-8 with a Shim Saragosa 5000 and have a blast, and still get smoked every now and then here in Karratha and Dampier, from Ship and shore.
Hopes this helps a little
PS Brad will tell you to get a Stella so be prepared!!!
LOL
Neels
Flat seas!!!
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Jaso
Posts: 48
Date Joined: 23/03/09
Very handy feedback
Cheers for that.. that's pretty handy info.
I was actually looking at the Saragosas yesterday, but at the 4000 size.. I read that the 4000 and 5000 were both rated at 10kg drag pressure which I was reasonably impressed with. How does it handle with the out-of-the-box washers?
I'd love a stella obviously, but I need to be realistic unfortunately.
crasny1
Posts: 6986
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Love em
Out of the box with no upgrades I have 4 (well 2 belong to my better 1/2) We have the 4000, 5000, 8000 and 14. Havent got the 18 but also not needed yet. You will love them. Smooth drag that sings like a Stella IMO.
Neels
Flat seas!!!
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Liquidtension
Posts: 152
Date Joined: 05/03/08
Cultiva Tango Dancers are
Cultiva Tango Dancers are cool stick baits for about 17 bucks
fit them with owner trebles and split rings your laughing for smaller stuff!!
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Cheers Steve
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catchalittle
Posts: 1875
Date Joined: 04/09/08
Take plenty of soft
Take plenty of soft plastic's with you and a few spare spools of line
Life is short so live it fast
Nathan
Nathan
crasny1
Posts: 6986
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Cant agree more with the Tango dancers
The fish mentioned detonate them.
Neels
Flat seas!!!
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
damo6230
Posts: 2029
Date Joined: 07/06/08
4000 sized reel and 3-8kg rod rating will work fine
but as you indicate some unstoppables will arise.....
you can still take your 2-4 kg rood/reel but an outfit around the above will be handy.
last time i fished leveque we hired the tinnies(also had our own boat) and had a blast catching mostly GT's up to about 12kg, anything bigger just got sharked cause we were fishing "barra" gear. only really lost the lure (using halco as they are good and not expensive)
SP will work a treat.
still landed plenty of fish though.
the fishing up there is good, but remember the tide variance from low/high can reach 10meters.......dont get caught out and there are croc's obviously. the beach north carries fish and there is a river a few km/s up that holds fish. otherwise stroll south and plenty of beach/reef to fish.
don't forget the cast net and fish the beaches with livies......
hope you enjoy the trip and welcome to the site
welcome to PM
damo
the island on the point fishes well with the incoming.
RECFISHWEST Member
Jaso
Posts: 48
Date Joined: 23/03/09
Thanks heaps
All,
Thanks heaps for the welcome and the info so far.. exactly the type of stuff I needed.. I wouldn't mind PM'ing about the lures choice and fishing options on foot - only going for a short time, so I want to make the most of the time.
I'm looking at hiring tinnies a couple of times at Cp Leveque so that info is like gold at this stage. I looked at google earth and saw there's estuaries both east and south of the cape. There's plenty of posts about the one east, but can't find too many posts about the one south, and I wondered if that was local knowledge only..
I'm leaning into a 4000 rather than 5000 size and will look seriously at the Saragosa or similar. I'm prepared to risk having less line on the spool if there's a reasonable difference in the weight.
I've not fished the style of 'stick baits' before that a lot of fishos on this site seem to be familiar with so I'm keen to give that a go as they look the goods. I fish SP sluggos a bit which can be dynamite on pelagics at the top of the water column and they are often referred to as stick baits too so I had to double take when I saw the first hardbody picture! If there are other posts or tips on how to fish the HB stick baits I'd appreciate that. If they are fished like 'walking' style do they benefit from a rod with faster action?
Again - very helpful all so far - much appreciated.
damo6230
Posts: 2029
Date Joined: 07/06/08
jaso, the one south is closed to tourists....
bloody good rock bar though at mouth(we fished from boat), spotted some monster GT's but no chance of landing so happy to look
yeh the stickbaits generally require a softer tip to impart action
poppers are always good also
take your our fuel if you can......reliable and cheaper!!
you will need to book in advance for a camp/accom spot.
no problem to PM
thats what the site is about
RECFISHWEST Member