Hello.
After leaving Laurieton on our Chrissy break we loaded our kayaks into the tinnie and on the way home dropped them in to my daughters place on the Central Coast.We’d promised to lend them to the grandchildren as Jordan the eldest at 8 had never caught a fish.
With no time to hang out we left them and said a silent prayer that they would score a fish,even something small.
Late yesterday we got a text with this pic of a cracker flattie caught at Errina creek on small prawn h/b immitation.
Shows you don’t need a lot of super expensive gear as it was caught on one of the Jarvis Walker combos from K/mart at $12 we gave them.
The beaming face says it all!I think he’s hooked!Clic on pic for zoom!

Many times now I’ve offered ‘newbies’ advice regarding choosing a rod/reel combo. Usually I quote two ‘rules’; the ‘Rule of 3’ & the ‘Rule of 1/3’. The ‘Rule of 1/3’ dictates that we need a reel that will deliver at least 1/3 of line weight in drag. Why? Recommended drag settings for fighting fish are usually around 1/3 of line weight for lines over say 8kg & approx ¼ line weight for lines below 8kg.

However, a reel doesn’t maintain the same ratio during all stages of a fight. Obviously we start with a near full spool, but if was have a decent size fish on we may loose quite a lot of line to him before we gain control. Many years ago AFTCO (the guide people) carried out some interesting studies regarding drag.
They found that if a reel drag was set at a specific weight (for the sake of argument we’ll say 2kg) then by halving the amount of line on the spool we actually double the drag it takes to peel line off the spool.
So with a full spool set at 2kg, ½ a spool would require 4kg to take line, & ¼ of a spool would increase the drag fourfold.

Now if we have correctly set our drag (2kg) at ¼ of line weight (8kg) then once we get down to ¼ of a spool we suddenly find we have reached the breaking strain on the line. This is not good obviously. It means we’ll end up breaking our fish off if we get down to ¼ a spool of line doesn’t it? Well, actually no, it doesn’t, but how can that be? Have the laws of arithmetic changed? No. Let me explain.

Another study was carried out. This time a boat took 220 metres of 24kg line straight out the back of a stationary boat, with the drag set at 2kg. The moving boat then turned at approx 165 degrees, thus simulating a fish swimming away from the stationary boat at an angle. The drag at the ‘fish’ end increased to over 10kg whilst the reel drag remained at 2kg. The drag of the water on the line increased the weight the fish was fighting considerably. This means that our reel that get’s down to ¼ of it’s 8kg drag setting, & hence is now set at 2kg is actually transmitting over 10kg to the fish. The further out the line gets the more the drag of the water against the line increases.

Imagine our boat is steaming into a stiff current & a fish takes our trolled lure. He swims down current (away from our boat). The current is actually assisting him to fight us. It’s pushing the fish & effectively reducing the drag he has to fight against. But if we could turn say 90 degrees & motor past him we could easily increase the drag considerably & turn the fight in our favour.
The fish would then be working against the considerable drag of the line through the water.
If the fish is only capable of fighting against say 6kg of drag then we have effectively reduced the drag at the reel & thus avoided reaching the breaking strain of the line.

So, in summarising we can clearly see that without altering our drag setting we can influence the drag the fish is fighting merely by manipulating where our boat sits in relation to the fish. This is knowledge marlin boat Captains have gained over many years of fighting these huge fish. It’s the reason why good captains are regarded with such awe. They can make or break a fight with a big marlin by knowing how to manoeuvre their boat to best advantage the angler. So next time you head out to do a little fishing have a think about how you can use currents & the drag of the water to your advantage. Don’t think this theory & practice is limited to just boat work either. Check out the canny surf fisher that works his fish along the beach making the big fish he’s hooked fight the current as he goes. Think about your access when fishing that river bank or lake shoreline.

There’s a whole new world of physics out there just waiting out there to help you land that fish of a lifetime.

Snapper reels - some suggestions

Hi again all.

Seeing ‘Big Red’ season is well & truly here , I thought I’d just share a few of my own thoughts regarding reels suitable for snapper. There are no doubt squillions of suitable reels avaiuable for snapper fishing but I thought I’d pop a post or two in regarding the reels I like to use.
First is the Penn Jigmaster.
These were first desinged/sold way back in the early 50s.
They are a classis of American reel manufacture.
There are now many ‘cutom’ parts available such as frames, etc, made by compoanies such as Tiburon & Newell. Customising our Jigmaster with a nice frame & a few other goodies can really turn these older reels into absolutely lovely pieces of fishing hardware. Tiburon even offer a ‘laser engraving’ service. So you can have your name, or any other niceties, embedded on the side of your reel.

The Jigmaster is my current #1 favourtite snapper reel.
Now these aren’t the most technologically advanced reels on the market but they just suit snapper fishing so really well, although there’s usually a few mods’ I do to improve em a bit.
They are a very well desinged, basic, robust, extremly reliable reel that is easilly serviced & maintained by a fisho with minimal mechanical knowledge/experience.
Everything a good fishing reel should be IMO.
The jigmaster is a basic overhead reel suited to mono lines to approx’ 30lb.
The standard drag is rated to 22lb so they should be suitable for heavier lines/fish but this brings us to the first weakness of these reels. The gearsleeve.

The gearsleeve is the tube that the handle engages on that transmits drive to the drag mechanism.
Handle turns gearsleeve.
Gearsleeve drives via drag clutch to main gear.
Main gear drives pinion gear.
Pinion gear is engaged on spool shaft.
The gearsleeve also has a 2nd small gear machined onto it to engage a spring loaded ‘dog’ that prevents it from turning backwards (unless disengaged). Hence you can turn the handle/gearsleeve quite easilly whilst the fish can only turn it by overcomming the drag friction.
However, as the gearsleeve is made from brass, any more than 8 lbs of drag will see the gearsleeve ’round off’ where the handle engages the flats on the gearsleeve that drive it (gearsleeve).
This is easilly fixed by purchasing a stainless steel gearsleeve.
Problem eleviated & heaps more drag now available.
Just one more word here.
There are two gearsleeves available.
One with a fine thread for the drag star nut, & one with course thread.
Most reels have the course thread as standard unless it has been previously changed to the fine thresad model.
I believe the fine thread sleeve is the better option as it offers greater drag adjustment range, but if you have the standard course thread sleeve fitted there is certainly nothing at all wrong with it. It works fine.
If you want to change to the fine thread sleeve you’ll also have to purchase a fine thread drag star nut to suit.

Prob #2 - standard drag is crap.
Plastic friction washers & brass drive washers.
Again easilly fixed as a ‘Carbontex’ drag kit is available, complete with stainless drive washers, for about $4.50.
Lube the Carbontex friction washers with either Shimano drag grease or (my preference) Cal’s Drag Grease during installation, & you now have one of the best mid sized drag setups in the fishing reel world.
The legendary Penn HT100 drag. This drag design has set the standard for mid sized game fishing reels & has really shown it’s worth when used with Carbontex friction washers.

Spools. There are several Jigmaster models available. Some have plastic spools & some metal.
It really doesn’t matter which you have as these reels were never designed or built to handle braid.
The clearance between the spool & frame is such that loose braid can easilly tuck under the spool & jam the reel.
For that reason I recommend only using mono on these reels.
I do prefer the metal spools purely because they tend to maintain momentum better when casting.
Hence they cast a bit further with the metal spools I think, but that’s just my opinion.
As I dont see any need for braid lines when fishing for snapper, unless in very heavy tidal currents, this really isn’t a mjor problem IMO. They work brilliantly if spooled with one of todays modern quality mono lines.

The Jigmasters do have some interesting characteristics, both good & bad.
Most jigmasters have little thumb screws fitted for easy disassembly.
These are one of the easiest reels you’ll ever come across to disassemble & service.
The ‘S’ model jigmasters were a budget variation & dont have the thumb screws.
They had standard slotted head screws that require a screwdriver for disassembly - nothing wrong with that. Just the thumbscrew models are so easy to work with - no tools required.
It’s just a matter of turn the thumbscrew & rotate the gear plate. The whole lot comes away from the spool/frame for easy access to the workings.
Another interesting characteristic are the ‘lube points’.
Just about everywhere you’l find little spring loaded brass ‘valves’ in the covers
Just push the ball off it’s seat with anything that has a fine tip (even a pen works ok) & dribble a little light oil in for everyday maintenance - so easy. What brilliant forethought.

Then there’s handles. The supplied handle is a standard length counter balanced handle, but there are extended handles available from custom parts companies that will give extra cranking leverage.
Personally I like the standard handles as, being counter balanced, they are a dream to use.
Also I am not one for heavy ‘cranking leverage’ anyway.
I believe all the reel should do is gather line, store it, & offer resistance to it’s being taken back out by the fish. It is NOT a winch. It’s the ROD that drags the fish up, the reel just gathers & stores the line as the rod is again lowered for another bite at the fish. So why the need to ‘crank’ a reel handle. ‘Cranking’ a reel like a winch shows poor fighting technique IMO.

In summary the Penn jigmaster is an older design reel that still works brilliantly for snapper fishing with mono lines. There are a few minor design problems that are very easilly overcome by applying modern technology. These mods transform the Jigmaster into a truly brilliant reel IMO.
They hold ample line, having a capacity of approx 380 metres of 30lb mono (430 metres of 20lb or over 500metres of 15lb). With the above metioned mods they can deliver 22lbs of drag (USA made reel hence the imperial drag rating). That’s enough for some VERY big fish (using the ‘rule of 1/3′ & the ‘rule of 3′ we could deduce a max line weight of 66lbs/25kg & max fish weight of approx 200lbs/75kg).

With the above mentioned mods I would not hesitate to go up to 40lb line class if I had to, but I prefer to stick to a max of 30lb due to capacity restrictions - no use using 40/50lb mono for big fish if you can only get 200 metres on the spool. The 30lb/380 meter capacity is a perfect match imo. For snapper I prefer the 20lb/430 combo, although you’ll never need 430 metres of line for snapper. I currently use 10kg berkley tournament mono as I also use these reels for gummy shark fishing. Matched to a rod such as a 7 foot long 6-10lb ugly stick they make a truly awesome combo to use.

Lastly - cost. Whilst new Jigmasters are still available, due to the Penns now being made in China most people prefer to shop for good 2nd hand reels. These are freely available over ebay for around the $50-$100 mark + postage. There are heaps of them available from the USA & due to postage they will probaqbly go for around the $120-$150 mark. The SS gearsleevs are approx $30 (up to $50 if you also want a drag star nut). Drag kits are cheap as. Spare spools are available at approx $20-$30.
For $150 to $200 you can have a custom reel that is a classic of fishing engineering.
yes there’s new reels available that are just as good, reliable, & work just as well (Shimano charter special for $175 f’rinstance) but if you’re like me a approciate classis desing & build then have a look at a Jigmaster. One of the finest reels from a master reel manufacturer. Is there any bigger name in fishing than Penn? (Well maybe???)

Ok, next up - the Shimano Baitrunner.

 

This is the reel that bought snapper fishing into the new millenium with a loud explosion.
With the advent of this reel snapper fishing took on a new ‘modern technology’ stance.
Prior to these reels, most were either using centrepin reels, overheads meant for mid game offshore/inshore fishing, or threadlines reels that has evolved from fresh water/small game fishing.
The baitrunner was inovative to say the least.
Coupled with Shakespears equally inovative ‘ugly stick’ rods, snapper fishing took on a whole new face & took the sanapper fishing world by storm.
They are as good today as they were when introduced over 20 years ago & still work just as well.

Tough, reliable, dependable, easy to use, with excellent drag & capacity, the bait runner was the threadline snapper fishos had been waiting for. They have now established themselves as a classis reel within their own right.

If someone wanted just one reel for all general (not offshore) saltwater fishing then the Baitrunner would come closest to achieving it I believe.
They can be set with 1-2kg of drag & fished in gear, or they can be dropped into ‘baitrrunner’ mode for light wreight fishing when the snapper are being ‘finicky’.
Yeah, you dont need a baitrunner. Guys were doing the old ‘tuck the line under the rubber band’ trick for years before they came along, but the bsaitrunner just makes it all so easy.

The 6500b is a bit big IMO for snapper IMO, being better suited to a heavier 8-12kg ‘gummy outfit’, but there’s not doubt it’ll do the job. The 4500b is about perfect for snapper IMO, whilst those wanting a slightly better balanced ‘light’ outfit may find the 3500b ideal.

About the only mod I would do with a baitrunner would be to grease the drag washers with Cal’s grease.
That done they are ready to go to work.

The Shimano Baitrunner was also undoubtably the inspiration behind another brilliant snapper reel - the Penn Liveliner.
These are simple in the extreme & tough as nails, with a smooth yet strong drag mechanism. They work beautiflly on snapper.

Just about all major reel manufacturers now produce this design of ‘baitrunner’ type reel, although there are many names now used for it. Okuma, Silstar, Shakespear,Daiwa,Mitchell, & Penn now all have reels inspired by the trusty ol Shimano Baitrunner. The pick of the two though remain the Shimano & the Penn, however, there’s a reletive newcommer on the block that’s well wortt consideration IMO.

Last season I bought a couple of Australian made ‘Tuff Tackle’ XTA5000s. These are made here in Melbourne & have some fantastic features. Extra strong gearing, ball bearings within the spool supporting the spool on a large diameter shaft, a great drag & baitrunner mechanism, lovely balance. These Aussie made reels are very much worthy of consideration as a serious snapper reel IMO. The other great thing about them is also - they are ‘Australian made’.

The Shimano Baitrunner has forever cememted a place for itself within the snapper fishing world.
A brilliant reel that works extremely well.

Thanks to Bill Allen for the above info!

Here’s some pics of the Penn range.Just love using these reels,beautifully engineered and still very functional in todays modern technology.Ther’e a blast from the past!

Penn sennator,jigmaster,levelwind and delmar.

 The Daiwa o/h and spin reel in Saltist are brilliant reels we use as well.

 

TACKLE AND TECNIQUES. Bottom Bashing !

 

 My preference is to fish the three way dropper rigs with two snelled 6/0 Owner black SSW Needlepoint hooks. A size 5 Owner bead is then pushed over the eye of the front hook (of the snelled hooks). I then use a 2” glow squid on the bottom dropper – the squid sits nicely on the soft bead and stops it being pulled over the hook”

Author: Joff Weston

Ever heard of the euphotic zone? That’s the part of the ocean from the surface to about two hundred metres.
The Euphotic zone (eu – good/ photic – light) is important because light can penetrate this far down and allows photosynthesis to occur. It is alsomost relevant to this article.
Now I certainly don’t have a degree in physics but I do understand that white light slows down when entering a heavier medium than air (like water) and then separates into individual colours – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.These colours have differing wave lengths and penetrating power – the red is less penetrating than the violet.
So some light manages to get down to two hundred metres but not all light. I can recall watching an acoustic video,filmed during the Samson Science project off Rottnest once that had managed to capture a jaw dropping amount of Samson fish swimming around in about one hundred metres of water.The thing that struck me instantly is the amount of light that actually penetrates that far down. Iguess most anglers would imagine,as I did, that it would be pretty dark down that far but there was sufficient light to cause shadows on fish caused by other Samson swimming above.

After watching that video my ideas about the use of luminous attractants like squid and the various beads available on the market somewhat waned when fishing offshore in depths up to about a hundred metres.I figured that if there was this much light down that far then how effective could “glowing anything’s” be??
A couple of very good anglers and fishing buddies Dave Woolford – from Tackle World Mindarie and Mick Antonello, had been keeping very tight lipped about certain tricks they were using. I finally got it out of them that they had managed to nab two twenty-plus kilo West Aussie Jewfish in as many weeks.
Actually to say “I finally got it out of them” that they were on a hot streak is not quite true. You see, that’s all we heard out of these two fishing addicts for almost a week after!!!
But to nab those sorts of fish in such a short time definitely warrants a fair whack of high nosing.Dave went on to tell me that they used a few different configurations for their bottom rigs but the main reason why they had been enjoying so much successwas due to the use of glow beads.
They ran swivels directly off the drop line, which were supported by two hard beads and crimped on either side of the bead. This was to position it in the correct spot – pretty clever.
A little while later I spoke to another local bloke who told me he had been using different luminous beads and had caught significantly higher numbers of fish since starting to use them.
The weird thing was that both parties fished mainly in water depths of fifty metres (or less) and swore by the use of a luminescent attractant. Apparently it doesn’t have to be pitch black for a luminescent object to work. They work as soon as the light is reduced – perhaps by white light dispersion?
It was around this time that we started to see the various Taikabura jigs hitting our shelves. These were all built to a similar theme but the ones that seemed to be selling faster and working better were the ones that glowed brighter when the lights went out.
The interesting thing was that the species most interested in the highly visible glowing objects were the ones we generally seek the most. Species such as West Australian jewfish and baldchin groper were becoming very regular captures on these new weird jigs and proved to me there was something about luminous material that works – even in shallow water.

All the gear you will need to tie this dynamite rig

A week later I got out with a mate in shallow country off Mindarie and got to experiment with these a little. It’s always hard to tell if the subtle changes made in the rigs we use does or doesn’t make a huge difference considering the large numbers of variables when fishing but that day we caught fifteen West Australian Jewish and they seemed to be hitting the rigs with beads over any of the other offerings. So much so, there was a flurry of sales the next morning as other crew members were hurrying to even the score.
Last month we fished off the Abrolhos islands and got a chance to really put these to the test while fishing a red hot bite on jewfish – those using these beads absolutely wiped the floor over those who didn’t.
I now always use Owner size 5 soft beads as shown on my three way swivels and have found they tidy up the tag ends of the knots very nicely and reduce the tendency for the rigs to tangle.
My preference is to fish the three way dropper rigs with two snelled 6/0 Owner black SSW Needlepoint hooks. A size 5 Owner bead is then pushed over the eye of the front hook (of the snelled hooks). I then use a 2” glow squid on the bottom dropper – the squid sits nicely on the soft bead and stops it being pulled over the hook.

Owner size 5 glow beads pushed up and over the tag ends of the Oyako crane swivel

The bottom bait is normally a whole squid with the bottom hook going into the head and the top hook going into the top of the tube.The top bait is a mulie which is normally pretty sacrificial unless you are on good ground. Being very soft, they have a tendency to be chewed to pieces by small fish but in doing so can entice other bigger critters.
As I have said above, light does manage to penetrate ocean waters deeper than fifty metres but how fish see these little glowing beads I can’t say. However, I would have to say that I am a convert to using them. They are relatively cheap and if they offer you an advantage, especially in hard fished waters, then they seem a pretty good idea.
Try them next time you’re on the water and I am sure you will be impressed ……
Ed/Some pics

For snapper or flatties to name a couple of species, add some of these jigs

The Lucannus jig system is another exciting alternative for snapper.