Rock Fishing Gear
Rock fishing in Australia involves a lot of different species of fish,
and the fish can vary in size from 1 kg to 20 kg or more. Most
rock-hoppers (anglers who ‘hop’ the rocks to fish) use lighter gear for
species like Luderick, and heavier gear for fish such as Drummer.
Fishing Gear for Luderick
Rock fishing for Luderick is truly an Australian favorite. These fish
most often must be taken on light tackle. This can be a real problem
because they put up a good fight and you will have to earn the fish. The
gear is not as common as it is for other fish.
- 3 m long rod
- centre pin or side-cast reel
- 3 kg line with a lighter cast of 2 kg, or just a 4 kg line
Fishing Gear for Drummer
When rock fishing for Drummer you can use any one of a lot of good
rods available to you (3.5 to 5 m), but most experienced anglers choose
- Alvey brand reel (center pin) of 6 cm or more
- large hooks 1/0 or 2/0 to stand up to their sharp teeth
Fishing Gear for Groper
Groper require stronger tackle.
- a stiff rod
- 9 to 22 kg line
- an Alvey brand reel (center pin) of 6 cm or more or Penn
threadline reel.
- extra strong 4/0 hooks
Fishing Gear for Bream
Bream hang out along the edge of the rocks and scavenge around for
food. It’s best to keep the bait up a bit so they can find it. This is
done by using a method called ‘bobby corking’. A small cork is place on
the line above a small split shot and a 1/0 hook. You can move the cork
up and down depending on how deep you want the bait to be. You can peg
the hook in place by breaking off a toothpick between the line and the
cork in the top hole of the cork.
Fishing Gear for Trevally
This is going to be the primarily the same rock fishing tackle that
you would use to catch Bream, but you would do well to have a reel with
a higher speed of retrieval.
Tailor
A lot of rock fishermen use a method commonly referred to as
‘spinning’ but the bait that is used does not actually have a spinner.
In earlier years, these baits had a propeller which would spin, but
they’re not used as much anymore.
- 3.5 m or more rod with a stiff body and a faster action tip (the
tip is for good lure action and the stiff body is to haul the fish
out of the drink and onto the rocks)
- reel choices vary – purists like the overhead multiplying type
but they have their drawbacks (bird nests), many like the Alvey
reels, the best choice might be the heavy duty threadline reel
- 28 g torpedo or bean
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