Hi there, I know this is where to come for some g

N

Nepptune

Sealiner
Hey Novice... I'd go with 12 or 15 pound Braid mate... It will give you the added abrasion resistance you might need on a big(ger) fish if yu lucky enough to hook into one..
I think alot of people make the mistake of matching the braking strain of braid to mono, rather than the diametre... I go somewhere in the middle usually... So 12 to 15 pound would be good.

Then get yourself a few spools of mono leader material.
I'd say 8lb to 10lb for grunter, 15lb for general, 20 to 30lb for small kob and Garrick...

That should do you well. Then just learn to tie a bimini ( practise now while you got time on your hands ) and Double uni, albright and GT knots for joing the lines together, and you are sorted..
 
G

Guest

Guest
    Awesome, thanks to Ajay, Bjorn and Nepps for all their help. Now hopefully I can just catch some fish. Will let you guys know how it goes......

Do any of you guys use circle hooks - i've read about them and keen to give them a bash. Just not sure how they would go in Estuary fishing - especially for someting with a small mouth and quite spooky like Grunter.

Kob - i'm not to concerned about, but Garrick - would it be useful on them too?

Cheers
 
N

Nepptune

Sealiner
Circles work well on most species, if the right technique is used...
The trick with circles is:
1 - Don't strike, just take up tension and let the fish hook itself as it swims off against your drag
2 - Hook Gape: Most circle hooks don't really match up in size to normal hooks... A 6/0 circle is about half the zie of a 6/0J hook on some brands... But the hook gape is important in that it is wide enough to get a grip round the target species lip/jaw.


They work well for Grunter in the Transkei where guys fish with Sardine fillets... Especially for weary species like grunter, you can let them take the bait, drop your rod tip down till they come tight and just slowly start reeling...
Rigging them in Prawns is a whole other story though, and another factor when looking at hook gape size.

For Garrick and Kob, Circles are the way to go with live and deadbaits in my opinion, especially as you should be releasing the Garrick, and circles go a long way to preventing gut hooking...

I could go on for ages about them, but try doing a search on Google, or on this site, for more info...

They take a bit of getting used to, make no mistake, but are incredibly effective once you make the necessary adjustments to technique...
 
G

Guest

Guest
Cheers Nepps,

Will do some research on those Circles for Grunter to make sure I select the right size with regard to the gape.

Once again, many thanks.

Cheers
 
S

Strepie

Sealiner
Look at this link as well.
http://www.sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=3161&forum_id=1&highlight=circle+hooks
or search sealine for more
 
H

Hooked

Senior Member
Neptune
Some advise pleas , this season im gunning for Kob.
What size full circle would you reccomend?
 
N

Nepptune

Sealiner
Hooked... hey man, tough question...depends on the size of the kob.... :)

Unfortunately, the standard sizing on circles is a p1ss up... not like regular j-Hooks at all...
So for me, as a rule, you want to try match the gape on the circle, to that of the J-Hook you would use in a similar bait/situation for your target species...
So if you would normally use a 6/0 J-Hook, try to find a Circle with a similar gape, which would probably be at least a 8/0 on some brands, and as much as a 12/0 on others...
I try fish light wire Circles where I can, as some of the bigger offshore Circles are just too heavy for livebait fishing... Mustad Demon Circles are a pretty good bet, in medium or light wire...

One of the big things with circles is to make sure that the hook is not buried in the bait, so that it has the gape and exposure to catch around the jaw...

You will see alot of offhore livebait Billfish and Giant Tuna fishermin, rig the hook almost completely separately from the bait... Grant this is usually in a trolling or slowtrolling situation, but they use a bridle through the eyes of the bait, which they then slip over the hook to allow the most free catching movement of the hook.

Hope this helps a little
 
G

Guest

Guest
Hey Nepps, just one last thing - can you tell me what the best knots are to join the braid to my flourocarbon leader?

Cheers
nov
 
N

Nepptune

Sealiner
Hey Nov - You opening up a can of worms here boet... this topic has been discussed and rehashed a bunch of times....

If you go into the Dropshot section, and troll through some of the posts on their, you should see a whole bunch of different options for you..

Personally, I always use a bimini Twist to crate a double line, and then depending on the thickness of the leader in relation to the Braid,for light tackle, I'll use the following:

Skinny Braid to Heavy leader ( Eg 12lb Braid to 25 lb Mono ) I will use an Albright, or a GT Knot.

Skinny Braid to skinny leader ( Eg 12lb braid to 10 or 12 lb mono ) I use a Double Uni usually....

But check through the posts in Dropshotting.... You'll find PLENTY answers there mate..
 
G

Guest

Guest
  Thanks Nepps,

Will give those a bash - tried the Bimini once and had to the get the Fire Brigade aorund too untieme - that double uni certainly is a bit easier!!

Cheers - have ordered my fireline and it should be with me shortly.

Cheers    
 
G

Guest

Guest
    Just loaded up my Exceler with Fireline Braid - think I got a decent price for it - Hope i wasn't ripped off!!!

I am super excited- please can the next 6 weeks fly by!!!!

Cheers and thanks for everybody's help.
Cheers
 
N

Novice1

New member
Have never used those Grapnels - do they sit 'vas' but when you yank them - ie fish on they tend to come loose - is that the point of them? Aplogies for the stupid question.
 
N

Novice1

New member
Hello all - as usual I'm making my annual pilgrimage to the Breede (bearing in mind I'm not the most jacked up of fisherman). I know the area's been hit by floods a while back - any latest advice? Anybody got any hot tips for me to catch Leerie or a decent size Kob this year?

Are the prawn flats completely stuffed?

Thanks for all your help chaps?
 
L

Longdrop

New member
[color=#006600]Novice1[/color] wrote:
Hello all - as usual I'm making my annual pilgrimage to the Breede (bearing in mind I'm not the most jacked up of fisherman). I know the area's been hit by floods a while back - any latest advice? Anybody got any hot tips for me to catch Leerie or a decent size Kob this year?

Are the prawn flats completely stuffed?

Thanks for all your help chaps?
Click to expand...

Hi Novice

Take a look at this post with some info on Breeda as well

http://www.sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=11263&forum_id=1
 
N

Novice1

New member
Hi chaps,

Anybody know what the current state of the river is? Are fish coming out again after the floods?

Cheers,
Novice
 
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