What do you think... The Gear or The Fish

[Gad]

From Fishing Worlds Email Newsletter 8-9-11

Lose the glamour, catch fish!

08 Sep 2011

By Sami Omari

IS it just me or have modern day fishos become obsessed with using only the latest and greatest techniques and tackle?

What ever happened to sitting down with an honest and not so fancy rod and reel, some of that stuff they used back in the dark ages - monofilament - and a fist full of prawns fished through a berley trail for bream?

Surely, bream still eat bait don't they?

Heaven forbid someone should dream of putting on a big hunk of lead and dropping a bait to the bottom and drift fishing a reef – seriously, have these bottom donkers spent too much time in the sun – are they bottom donkers or just plain bonkers?

By now those old timers that use handlines and finger stalls while drifting big slabs of stinky fish flesh must know that snapper prefer flashy pieces of plastic and metal, or do they?

Fishing manifests itself in different ways for different people – one person's prized technique may be cause for another angler to shake their head in disgust. I was recently privy to this elitist attitude when planning an evening session fishing for snapper. My sanity was questioned when discussing the plan of attack with my fishing mate. I had intended to anchor and lay out a berley trail while setting a couple of handlines.

"Handlines! ... what the? ... are you mad Omari"?

Fly fishing seems a novel way of delivering a light weight "lure" to a fish – the elitists may turn their nose up to using scents on flies but is it wrong if you want to maximise your chances? What if you wanted to fish an unweighted bait or micro soft plastic? Surely a fly rod would be a decent delivery tool?

And wait for it ... what about using bait on a fly rod... Gasp! I can sense the laser dots lining up my forehead and the bullets that will shortly follow – before you shoot, however, is it wrong to shun the glamour and try something a little different to maximise success, even if it may appear a little uncool or uncouth? Sacrilege to some may be a saving grace for others!

A packet of servo-bought prawns and a bustling suburban pier may be a far cry from the flashy boats and exotic locations we often hear and read about, however, for many young and novice anglers, easily accessed locations and convenient frozen baits provide the same joys and experiences that a hip fishing pro may recount after a day on the water. The thrill of the chase and personal satisfaction that an old bloke fishing handlines or a young fella using department store tackle experiences is no less important than the joys of chasing trout on a dry fly or snapper on cool soft plastics.

I don't think there should be "rules" to govern how we enjoy our fishing experiences.

What do you think, are some styles of fishing more important than others or is it ok to be uncool out on the water?

[Surfingant]

As long as you're out there I reckon, but there is something sweet about using good quality gear

[sehrguht]

I use both lures and bait, i think i get a little more satisfaction out of catching a smaller fish on a lure but when it comes to the big ones its all good as long as they fight hard!

[tugger]

To me fishing is what it still was what it was originally intended for and thats the hunt for a feed to bring home to the imediate or extended family now people fish and don't even eat them at all.

The gear i use do the job but don't brake the bank balance and never let me down i've been using some of my gear for over 20years now and its still going strong.

High end reels handle big fish on them so anglers are using lighter lines and fight fish for long periods but in the end if you want to keep it the stress these fish are put through must ruin the flesh to a degree.

So i'm still old school monofilent line only that is heavy enough to bring what i'm targeting quickly enough to either release undersize fish well or keep good qaulity fish for the table.

[BassTracker]

Mate that was very well put. I fished with my dad and grandad as a kid who used the same well looked after gear year after year, in fact I still have my grandads favorite rod, although he's been gone a while I go and have a whitting fish with it from time to time as a reminder. Sometimes I go fishing with guys and almost feel the pressure to appologise for my array of old rods and less than the best reels but I catch fish, I do it pretty consistently and Ive got some trophys on set ups that cost me under 50 bucks taken from garage sales and specials.

I will say this though, I do pride myself on that fact because thats what fishing is to me. Bream fishing for Granddad was taking a library bag with bones and chicken frames with a brick and throwing it out on a rope an hour before fishing, using bread at times (if too lasy to get prawns or not wanting to spend beer money) Handlines were the name of the game for bigger stuff around the reefs and you were called a "Mexican" if you had a flash spin reel of any discription, I liked the simplicity or doing battle with a big fish in that simple way.

Only yesterday I got a nice 1.4ish meter black tip shark on the hand reel, the cuts and scrapes are worth it (I cant complain about the drag system not being up to task)

Sometimes it seems like your not fishing if its too simnple, like some of my biggest threadies (1.31- 1.39) were caught on pillies, they love them but its almost like some people think its not legit unless it was on a maskvibe 60 or similar (I have caught them on those dont get me wrong)

Thanks for writting that up mate for a while there I was thinking it was about the gear but fortunately I still come accross a lot of people for whom the gear is the tool and secondary to thrill of the fish caught.

Brad

[BassTracker]

Just noticed it wasnt you but thanks anyway!

[BassTracker]

PS I have a special rig for pillies when fishing for threadies and Im not tellin... now thats oldschool

[Old Scaley]

Like most things it is a case of fit. If you are buying a car and only want to drive to and from the shops, get a second hand Barina, but if you are going to be in it all day and driving through sweeping bends and mountain passes, buy a Ferrari.

If you are fishing often, buy the best gear you can afford because you will enjoy it much more. I fish with mid range gear, and every time I am tempted to lash out on stuff I really can't (or shouldn't) afford, I ask myself when was the last time I lost a fish because the gear wasn't up to it. Having said that, if I had lots of spare cash I know where a lot of it would be going

[woody1]

I know my catch rate has definately increased since I started using lures, but whats even better with the light gear is even the undersize and vermin are a lot of fun and give me a buzz, doing something all the time means I can be out there for hours and not get bored.

Ive got stella taste on a stradic budget but I know I wouldnt catch more fish on the nicer gear, and I'd rather spend that money on an electric motor or save for a bigger boat, something that will actually help me hook up on more fish

As far as Im concerned anyone who enjoys the hunt and the tug of a fish on the end of their line is a fisherman

[aussie123]

Nice expensive rods and reels are nice to use but in reality that is all they are as I can catch the same fish on a $100 outfit that I can a $1000 outfit.

I still have a shed full of old rods like Snyder Glass M1's which were our pick for fishing 1kg 30 years ago and I could dig them out tomorrow and catch as many fish on them as anyone that uses a rod worth hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

Expensive gear doesn't make you a better fisherman.Knowledge and dedication with a willingness to adapt and learn is what makes you a better fisherman.

[Angus]

I have always supported entry level people not wasting big bucks on "flash" gear. I also firmly believe there is always a good time to soak and chill out while fishing...

However...

The ADHD child in me loves all things fishing, especially the technology. Take bass fishing, I would be dead set bored sitting on the bank for more anymore than an hour soaking a bait. However walking a bank, changing lures, working out new techniques and stratagies, I can (and do) undertake these missions for anywhere up to 12 hours straight. This same logic can be pretty much applied to all forms of fishing I partake in.

For me its not a question of "can I catch a bream by sitting here soaking a bait" but more "what other interesting and different way can I manage it".

Another example, is the fact that I am heading to the Ribbons in 1 week! Now apparantly I copuld sit there all day on the ribbons catchin reef fish from the bottom on bait. Yay. However the exhileration of bring a large popper in over a ledge and then seeing it with my own eyes get molested by a huge GT is to much to pass up! Win or loose the battle with that fish and its awesome either way.

At the end of the day I dont always fish for a feed and thus am not always looking for "the best" way to catch fish but sometimes the more challenging intentionally. By doing this though I have been in many situations where I out fish signficantly any sorrounding bait fishers by just applying I guess something the fish in that spot may not be attuned to.

Angus

[Do$tylz]

Good discussion here that comes up occasionally

Personally... I love the bling factor I liken it to the car analogy just like Old Scaley. I could buy something that does the job, or I could buy something that does the job better and looks frikking awesome at the same time Come drive up and down a mountain in your stocko falcondore and I'll take my car. They'll both make it up and down but I'll get through it faster with a lot more fun

But... expensive gear is occasionally needed to cope and deal with particular styles of fishing. Massive GT popping.... try that with the largest jarvis walker rod and reel from kmart and it will get blown away with the first fish or 2. Try it with the largest mid-range gear and it'll last a little longer. Do it with top end gear and not only will it last longer, it will fight better, handle better and be much better for you to handle so you can last longer casting big poppers all day long.

bream tourney fishing - again, bring me your jarvis walker with silstar crystal tip rod and yes, if you're breadx-40'ing it you'll catch heaps of fish. But if you want to catch them with lures you'll be struggling. You'll be struggling to get the casting distance and accuracy, you'll have a tough time feeling the smallest of hits and bumps and knocks.

Bottom bashing, flathead chasing, baiting with a burley trail... high end expensive gear is just not needed.

Also.. kids that just go straight into the high end gear of the world... I think people think badly of it because they reminisce about their own earlier days fishing and the innocence of line on a can with a hook, float and bread. They think that kids are missing out on the basic joys of fishing... and I believe in that too.

[Bi_polar]

Good quality gear doesn't necessarally mean that it has to be new. I still regularly use various reels that that are up to 37 years old.

Most are ABU baitcasters and are extremely well made and i can still buy all the parts for them and have upgraged them with ceramic bearings and Carbon drag washers.

I can not rate these reels high enough for bang for buck.

But by the same token i still like my newer gear and own some outfits that cost me over $1000.00 and love the feel new age carbon rods give.

But at the end of the day i still catch the same amout of fish on them.

For bigger stuff i still have an old Penn 950 threadline that i have caught some fish over 100kg on and it handled it easily.

So If its all about your budget then sometimes Good second hand gear is the way to go.

The biggest thing is regularly servicing your reels and always wash your rods and reels down and wipe them off and wipe you reel bodies down with an inox rag after going out.

Like Aussie123 i still have a couple of Snyder M1 rods and some of the best fishing i can remember was over 20 years ago chasing 2kg bream with the old Rebel Crawdads in knee deep water on these outfits and watching 4 or 5 of these monsters racing each other to the lure.