Fishing World – September 2019

There are plenty of good reels on the market
these days to suit surf fishing, from long-cast
threadline reels to overheads. Some fishos still use
Alvey reels for bait fishing in the surf too. At the
end of the day choose a reel you are comfortable
casting repeatedly and has good line capacity of
around 250 metres minimum. Mainline can vary
from 10 or 15kg mono to 40 or 50lb braid, once
again depending on personal preference.

THE BITE
The old conundrum “to strike early or let the
fish run” has been debated many times over,
and it’s a valid question. To my way of
thinking, if the fish has the bait in its mouth,
then set the hook – drive it home. Big jewies
can be cunning creatures and are likely to drop
a bait as quickly as they pick it up if they feel
any resistance. It’s a def lating feeling to miss a
good bite, and to find molar-teeth marks
around the bait. If I get a bite, I’ll only wait a
few seconds before striking, and I strike hard.
The mouth of a big jewie is quite bony, and you
want that hook point to find its mark.
The bite can vary a lot too, from subtle
fumbling bites to solid strikes. On our last
mulloway mission I had three bites in two days of
fishing, landing two of the fish and dropping the

BEACH FISHING

48 fishingworld.com.au | September 2019

third. The first was a fumbling bite – the fish

picked up the bait in its mouth and didn’t move.

I could see some subtle movement of the rod tip

and then the line went slack. Carefully lifting the

rod from the holder I struck and came up tight.

This kind of bite is harder to detect at night.

The second bite was totally different – a classic

grab and run with the rod doubling over in the

holder. The third bite was a slow run, which I

struck and came up tight, but the hooks pulled

mid-way through the fight.

We would average around two bites and one

good fish landed from two full days fishing in the

surf. It doesn’t sound like a lot of action (and to be

honest there’s a lot of waiting in between bites)

but that’s why there’s such elation when a big

silver slab is pulled from the surf.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE

To summarise the above into a few dot points it

would be (a) focus your time on good windows of

weather and tides (b) use big, fresh baits for bigger

fish and (c) use suitable gear to handle the surf

environment and the rigours of casting large baits.

But be warned, chasing silver slabs in the surf

is addictive. That bar always seems to rise – there

is always a bigger jewie out there with your name

ABOVE: A big jewie hits the sand. on it... ●

P int

STRAIGHT

TO THE

Designed for Australian

species and anglers with the

most advanced materials,

including Fuji components and

performance focuses

full-graphite blanks.

PRECISION - POISE - POWER

Featuring tailor made ranges for both

EDLWDQGOXUHȴVKLQJDVZHOODVIRU

HVWXDU\R΍VKRUHEDUUDDQGEUHDP

specialities. Arrowz is equal parts

precision, poise, and power.