# What to use offshore?



## aleg75 (Dec 20, 2005)

Hey all, reading a few old threads about fishing tackle etc offshore, I know the rod and reels that are suited, and also soft plastics, but curious what other gear is used, I know some troll and some bottom bash....being new to this and wanting to try when up in Forster I thought I would ask what people use *(lures, bait, sp's, metals)* to get an idea of what I might need to stock up on (yes have money burning a hole in my pocket again).......

Ash


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

mate... keep it simple.

most of the stuff you use for estuary fishing is fine for offshore. Line strength in the 10-20lb range is fine for 90% of the action you'll get.

I guess it all depends on what you're going to target, but if you're fishing offshore in mid-sth coast NSW you'll likely encounter snapper, tailor, salmon, kingfish and the occasional 'other'.

For the pelagics (salmon, kingfish and tailor) I troll hard body lures from 7-13cm long. These include the Rapala CD (Countdown) range in 7,9,11 and 13cm models. Also good are ones that dive a little deeper and I've recently been getting most of my fish (pre mojo blues) on the jaysea lures that I got at Barlings Beach - agaon around 9cm long and dive to around 3-5 metres...

Soft plastics in anywhere from 3" to 6" range will work on the kings and salmon (you can cast and retrieve, troll or let them bob up and down while at rest).

Snapper are a bit more fickle but prefer soft plastics fished over reefs. The Berkley Gulp 5" Shad in Nuclear Chicken is probably the gun sp snapper lure at the moment - just use a jig head that alows you to get down to the reef and hang on!

theres no need to upgrade your tackle unless you're livebaiting for big kings or cobia etc. have fun..


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## aleg75 (Dec 20, 2005)

Cheers Dave, thats pretty much all I needed to know!

Shall invest in some SP's (and big jig heads) for trolling, bobbing....if there is good wash or bait fish action on the surface I have a couple large poppers and plenty of metal to throw their way, I should be covered, have 10 lb braid set up with 15lb leader, should do okay!


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

No worries - you're welcome to raid my tackle box at Forster if you want to - my assortment of rusty lures with bent trebles is magnificent!

Also dont forget that small lures/baits often catch big fish- my pb flatty (80cm) Salmon (66cm) and Kingfish (62cm) were all caught on 3" PowerBait Minnows (Pumpkinseed colour) fished on 10lb line. I also have caught a few kings on the humble Gulp Sandworm (camo colour), so occasionally it pays to fish as light as possible offshore.


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## victor-victor (Jan 12, 2006)

From my trip to Barlings I had the problem of being too heavily setup on gear wise, 20 kg line and SP jig heads too light that would not reach the bottom as the line would keep them a float.

The gear you have should be fine, if you have plenty small jig heads you can just add a sinker about 12" before SP. Others suggest Jig head around 1/4 oz should be fine.

Here is the link I started
http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6234

Victor


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