Tackle News

Bent butt or straight butt? Compare rod-holder angle, fighting position, trolling, deep dropping, electric-reel use and boat compatibility using years of offshore experience.

November. It’s when things heat up, in the fishing world. Mackerel start their long ride down the East Australian Current, to NSW. Kingfish head in closer, to the shallow reefs. And it’s the beginning of the east coast game fish season. Glenn McHenry, last weekend:

"G'day Andrew, we just won the Whitsunday light tackle gamefish tournament last weekend using your downrigger to our advantage. Out of 28 boats we caught 25% of all the billfish on your downrigger"

Congratulations Glenn that’s a great looking trophy too! Sailfish and marlin are suckers for downrigging around bait schools. Here’s Paul, three weeks ago. You can see his downrigger handle and spool on the left:

"Andrew, just another endorsement on the downrigger. I sent a picture a few years back with a nice marlin at Exmouth using the downrigger and your braid. I dragged the boat up to Karratha with work getting in the way and fished the Archipelago using the same rod, line, and lure on the downrigger, with the nice pink teasers I got from you that brought mackerel to the boat. This was the result. Cheers, Paul in WA"

What a buzz. When it all comes together downrigging’s the best. Here’s Darryl hooking up off Sydney’s South Head, last summer:

And here’s how the fight ended up:

So how’s it work? You set your lure or live bait behind the weight and, using the supplied line counter, drop it down to the optimal depth. I start half way to the bottom. Work around a mark you know is likely to hold fish. Watch for arches on your sounder screen:

and suddenly wham! You’re on. On a big one with a heavy drag setting, it can even be hard to get the rod butt out of the holder. Here’s a quality mackerel:

Don Cummings, with a chunky kingfish:

Chris on our boat with a king downrigged at Mugs Reef, off Manly in Sydney:

Why is downrigging so deadly? Simple. It’s the best way to present your bait to an open water predator. And it's not only for saltwater. Here’s a client downrigging Dartmouth Dam, earlier this year:

It delivered:

It’ll deliver for you too. Here’s how it works. Our downrigger goes straight in your rod holder:

No mounting plate or drilling required. Why? Downriggers are handy bits of gear. But you’re not always downrigging. So you don’t want them in the way when they’re not being used. Storing ours is simple. You just unclip the weight, fold the arm (which locks upright automatically) and stow it away. It can go in your overhead rod rack if suitable.On small boats, or when you’re fishing solo, the downrigger can be rotated on its base, to point out to one side:

Where clearance isn’t needed, you can even trim the boom arm:

If your rod holder doesn’t suit, we have a great detachable base option:

Here’s how that works. Downrigger attached on the left, base plate installed on the right:

So what’s in the package? Everything you need to get started. You don’t have to buy our downrigger then spend another $100+ on mounting plates, weight, release clips etc. It comes with everything:

Wondering if its for you? Here’s how to get going when you’re on the water:

And here’s how to set up the business end:

Like to place an order? Give me a call, or click here:

Click here to buy now

Like more information? Send me an email and we’ll pop a free downrigging DVD in the mail:

Contact Us

Thanks for reading and get back to me with any questions whatsoever,

Andrew Hestelow
Managing Director

https://www.downriggershop.com/
http://www.downriggershop.com.au/
Tel. 0402075000
Fishing and angling politics reports
100+ videos on Youtube
https://www.instagram.com/downrigger_shop/
How-to audio clips
Multiple daily fishing updates on Facebook

Dave writes this morning, about fishing at Texas reef off Terrigal on Saturday:

A practical guide to micro jigging with 40g metal jigs, built from Downrigger Shop trips from Terrigal and Sydney to Hervey Bay and Mission Beach.

2017 and New South Wales is experiencing perhaps the windiest winter, in a decade. Day after day of strong westerlies, broken once a week or so by a howling southerly. Usually at this time of year we chase salmon, using light gear. Big schools of hungry salmon are found under the cliffs protected from the wind, in spring:

But this year it hasn’t happened. Despair was setting in when, a fortnight ago, some red hot intel arrived. Two Facebook readers who work on the ferries sent cell phone videos of big schools of salmon, which had arrived in the Harbour. I headed down to North Head lookout to confirm:

… and posted the video to Facebook within the hour. That’s helpful because hundreds (if not thousands) of readers have been facing the same problem - where to fish and what to fish for, when it’s blowing 20 knots every day. The salmon move around the Harbour depending on tide and time and are often in sheltered bays, out of the wind:

For those not experienced with them, salmon are one of the most common pelagic fish in southern Australia. They are tough fighters known for leaping out of the water when hooked. Note the angler on the left is hooked up too:

Giant schools enter estuaries on the east coast during winter. Once there they focus on tiny fish fry called eyes, or glassies. Their messy feeding attracts big numbers of seagulls and terns, meaning the schools are easy to spot from a distance. Note the school in the background of this pic, taken on our boat last week:

We’ve been fishing for them regularly over the past two weeks and they’ve saved the day when the winds are blowing too strong, to go wide:

Let’s run through the gear we’ve been using. The salmon are feeding on tiny fish, around three centimetres long. It’s crucial to match the hatch. When multiple boats are trying to hawk up fish from the same school, you’ll see all kinds of bait and lures being used. Many don’t work. These do. Flies with resin heads and eyes:

Tiny soft plastics:

And transparent soft plastics:

Needless to say it can be difficult-if not impossible-to cast these tiny lures in a strong wind. So what you have to do is to add casting weight while keeping the lure in the strike zone-which is the top 30 centimetres of water. The way to do that is with a bubble float. This is a float made from transparent Perspex which you can weight using salt water, by opening a little stem valve:

Tie that on your leader - 6 to 10 kilo fluorocarbon, because multiple fish mean a lot of wear and tear. The salmon don’t seem to mind the float. Rod and reel should be our 802 Blue combo, spooled with six kilo line:

For the rig order and a choice between metals, flies and tiny plastics, see our Australian salmon guide.

You can go lighter than six kilo, especially if you’re fishing solo. But three kilo line can mean a fight lasting more than 10 minutes, on a good one. Fighting the hooked fish will draw you away from the school, meaning other anglers on the boat will be out of casting range. This combo is the perfect mix for soaking up the head shakes and sudden powerful runs. But it’s not a heavy action. It’s particularly good at distance casting and can often make the difference in who gets the hook ups:

Rod: our 802 Cuttlefish. Eight feet two piece with split butt, and a medium to fast action. Really good for long casts, which are the key to success in the wind. Loads up beautifully on a good one:

But has grunt to spare for the end game:

Reel: HG 3000, our number one reel. Nine ballbearings, for super smooth winding. Carbontex drags, for supersmooth fighting. Big comfortable handle made from polished aluminium –because there’s nothing worse than a little plastic reel knob you have to hold in the tips of your fingers. Spooled with 200 metres of six kilo colour change braid joined to 3 metres of 10 kilo fluorocarbon leader for you, with an FG knot:

Accessories: two bubble floats, two soft plastic salmon lures, two correct size salt water flies. All you have to do is cast. Price? Just $95 for everything. Click here to order and type BLUE 802 in the 'note to merchant' section:

Click here to buy the Light Combo

Or, just send me an email:

Click here to contact us by email

Last but not least I should mention this combo is handy for more than just salmon and kings:

I’ve been using mine off the rocks:

For everything from squid, to drummer:

Send me an email with any questions whatsoever and thanks for reading,

Andrew Hestelow
Managing Director

https://www.downriggershop.com/
https://downriggershop.com/
Tel. 0402075000
Fishing and angling politics reports
100+ videos on Youtube
https://www.instagram.com/downrigger_shop/
How-to audio clips
Multiple daily fishing updates on Facebook

Our crew has a pretty standard plan for fishing off Sydney, during winter. Watch the forecast until it predicts an early morning westerly which lightens up, by the middle of the day. Head for Brown’s Mountain, 22 miles…

With Cyclone Debbie’s evil influence bringing destruction to Australia’s eastern seaboard fishing opportunities have been heavily limited, for most of our readers: