Fishing - how to catch your dinner

The age old fishermans story...."the one that got away, it must have been 2 feet long, I had it so close to the net, but it busted my line, but boy was it big" ..sound familiar? I doubt there has ever been a fisherman who hasn't lost the "BIG ONE" at some time during a fishing expedition. The dream of every fisherman is to catch his favourite fish, my dream has been to land a big Jew Fish off the beach, but as of today, it is still a dream. One day....

Lets start with beach fishing. There are a few basic rules to beach fishing. The best time to fish will be at dawn and dusk, and during the night for the really keen fisherman.  A nice full high tide just on dark will nearly always produce a good feed of fish.  At low tide look for the gutters that run along the beach. The larger fish lay waiting to strike as the smaller bait fish swim across the sand banks and into the deeper water.  Pick a day when the waves are not too big, as fishing in big seas makes it very difficult to keep your bait out far enough for the fish to feed on it.

For the beach a longer rod is more effective. Anything over 9 feet will be fine. The idea of the beach rod is to be able to cast your bait out as far as possible to reach the deeper gutter and also to get your bait out past the waves. You cant go past the Alvy side cast reels, but a good size "egg beater" will do a good job. The line weight will depend on what you fishing for. If you are after Bream, Flathead, Tailer, Salmon go for about 12 pound line, if you are into night fishing and lookinh for the Big Jew Fish or Schnapper make sure your line is heavier. For surf fishing you can use a set of 3 hooks (gang) or just your typical one hook rig. use a running sinker, swivel, leader and hook. Pyramid sinker are best for the surf, as the round sinker will roll in the swell and end up tangling your line and hook together.

One of the problems a lot of fishermen face is often the hooks coming off when you have hooked a decent fish. Spend some time perfecting your knots, it is well worth it when you are landing a larger fish and you know your knot will hold. Follow the link below for a great site on knot tying.

http://www.wigglefin.com/knots/fishing_knots.html

There are literally dozens of different baits that can be used. Here are just a few.
Live White Bait - you probably cant go past this, fresh and alive, the fish love em!
Pilchards - Fresh Pilchards are good for using with gang hooks, will attract the larger fish
Squid - A good bait to use when the smaller fish are just picking. very hard to get off the hook for the smaller fish.
Worm - Live worms are excellent bait for flathead, whiting, salmon and bream.
Prawns - A good bait but, the smaller fish tend to remove them too easily
Lures, Poppers - Great for surface fish

You have the bait, the tackle, it's high tide and just on dusk. perfect conditions. One more thing that I would recommend is to burley up the area you are fishing in. This means throwing out some food to entice more fish to come to the area where you are fishing. Old bait or bread will help. You want to attract as many fish to your fishing spot as possible. Use burley whenever it is needed to attract more fish.

I think that's just about everything covered for beach fishing. But remember, patience is the key to a good fisherman. They don't always bite straight away, but if you can be there at the right time of day, have the right bait, burly up your area, the chances are you will have fish on the table for supper. If not, you have just spend a relaxing hour or 2 sitting on the beach watching the sun go down - either wau you win!