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Back to the roots

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Raffey View Drop Down
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    Posted: 28 Mar 2016 at 11:01pm
Zoe and I went down to South Durras to visit mum on the weekend, and I decided to do a bit of old school fishing that, to be honest, I haven't done nearly enough of over the last decade. I blew the dust off one of my retro 13' custom pacific composites blanks, found a few floats I'd made a while back, and fitted the old shakespeare centrepin.

Now, this isn't lure fishing as all of you know, however the chaos that followed was as much fun as I've had fishing in ages. The standard half a dozen Luderick that have always been pretty easy to pick up didn't disappoint once again, but the real excitement began when the Drummer moved in and started feeding on the rising tide. I was only able to land two of them between 2-3kg on my Luderick gear. The rest were simply too powerful. I could have hooked onto a passing car on the highway and had the same outcome. Ridiculously powerful and dirty fighters - straight through the kelp and underneath the rock ledges. I must get back and do some more of this again soon. I grew up fishing this way with my Dad and it's a great way to reminisce.





Cheers,

Danny.
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Steve B View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Steve B Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2016 at 11:12pm
Hi Danny
Love Luderic fishing, used to do a lot of it when I lived south, great pics, gotta be happy when you get stretched on light gear, Love your work
Cheers Steve
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nativeman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2016 at 11:24pm
great story, great results....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Raffey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Mar 2016 at 9:58am
Cheers Steve and Sel.

Steve where did you chase them when you were living down south? I hope this style of fishing comes back in a bit more in the future. Centrepins and longer whippy rods are a little harder to come by these days, however Alvey still have their "Ludrick Special" and they also have a bit more of a purist centrepin out too. An underrated table fish I think (if dispatched and cleaned properly) and when your by-catch is Drummer (a superior fighting and eating fish I think) then how can you go wrong?

Cheers,

Danny.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hooknose Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Mar 2016 at 11:05am
Top stuff Danny, grass roots fishing trip, lot of satisfaction to be had there, good on you mate
cheers Steve r
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Alistair Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Mar 2016 at 11:07am
Very nice, sounds similar to my past where I only found some of my home made lathed cedar floats in the shed a week ago. I spent a lot of time at The Entrance (Central Coast) chasing them. Have the Alvey Luderick special and the 2 piece Pacific Com 'Luderick' in the rod rack which looked a bit strange when I used to take the Honda CBR over to fish with the rod sticking straight out the back. Used to have my 'secret' weed spots with soft to wire type weeds. It aint lure fishing but just as intense watching that float, counting slowly before striking. Lots of fun.
 
PS, the Luderick rod makes a good beach whiting rod with a small eggbeater as well I have found.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hooknose Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Mar 2016 at 11:25am
ahh and figuring out just how many split shots to rig for your particular float !!!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote steiny Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Mar 2016 at 11:36am
Never tried it Danny, but it sounds interesting and fun. Thanks for the report!
cheers steiny
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Raffey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Mar 2016 at 12:08pm
Thanks Steve. Great fun and so simple, except as you said the split shot - in still/calm water you only want it resting an inch above the surface however in rough conditions that same float will need a lot less weight or it spends 90% of its time bobbing under as the swell roles through.

Steiny it's awesome. If you can master a baitcaster you will excel with a centrepin too, although it's more so based on a smoother arching momentum on a horizontal plane as opposed to more of a quick flick with baitcasters. Slowing it down as the float lands is the same though to avoid over run, however it's the outside edge of your palm that's the break, instead of your thumb.

Alistair it sounds like we've shared some similar haunts. Apart from living on the Northern Rivers like you when I was a kid (Friday Hut Road near Tintenbar) and then Moreton Island, I spent a large part of my childhood in Gosford, so the Entance area was one of our main destinations. Great Luderick and Drummer fishing there. Your choice of transport would have looked hilarious with that setup. Like you said, it's not lure fishing but something very different that's for sure. Like you, I also really enjoy watching the float disappear. Especially when you start counting....get to two....and the rod is nearly ripped out of your hands - for what you thought was a Luderick feeding calmly in the water column was in fact a Drummer that now has your home made float as a souvenir in its underwater lair. I think I'll make some more floats but with modern lure painting and finishing techniques and products. Hopefully they'll look a treat. And yes your average Luderick rod is an excellent light beach rod - you can nearly throw it to New Zealand, although maybe that's a disadvantage as most of the Whiting we catch off the beach on fresh beachworms are literally at our ankles just inside the shallow breakers. Great for control and when longer casts are required too.

Cheers,

Danny.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Alistair Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Mar 2016 at 7:54pm
Friday Hut road, know it very well. I am 4th gen Lennox boy and married a 3rd gen Lennox girl with Family still down there but have to say that the town does nothing for us now. Tintenbar would be my choice of places to live but to buy into the area now is ridiculous and out of reach for a few acres.
.
 
Will look forward to seeing some lace patterned floatsWink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Raffey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Mar 2016 at 9:30pm
Ha yep - floats that catch fishermen, not fish

You and others like Paul Kneller are in a great area. The close proximity to areas where northern and southern species overlap is phenomenal. I drove back to Friday Hut road two years ago and found our old house. It's like stepping back 20 or more years in time - just like Luderick fishing

Cheers,

Danny.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Steve B Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Mar 2016 at 10:06pm
Hi Danny
Born in Grafton and moved to Tweed Heads in 69, fished around wharves, jetties and rock walls around there, later around Newcastle, Sydney, Seal Rocks etc. love getting the local green weed or cabbage off the local rocks at low tide, local weed works much better than anything bought There's a subtlety to this kind of fishing, it's really not understood by all, I know it's not lures, however it's still fooling the fish with an imitation. Love it.
Cheers Steve
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Raffey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Mar 2016 at 11:10pm
Awesome Steve, there's some great spots in the areas you've mentioned. I totally agree there is subtlety - right down to getting your cabbage or weed to move naturally on a long light leader with the swell on the day. I really missed it when I was in the Territory. I think what I miss seeing the most in today's coastal fishing shops (especially in places like you mentioned - Sydney, Tweed Heads etc) is the selection of beautiful hand crafted sea floats that were special to that area. The old timers that made them and stocked them in a couple of stores close to their haunts are all gone these days and are just a wonderful part of history now. There was one particular old fellow that I remember when we used to fish from "The Carpet" (a long platform around from Thomsons Bay in Clovelly, Sydney). He had all the old gear and I'd listen to him tell stories from WW2 in Africa and New Guinea. It got to a point where he couldn't get down to the rocks anymore, and I remember giving him my catch to take home one day when I was 12 or 13 years old. That was the last time I saw him. These old champions are almost all gone now, and with them a lot of the purist Luderick fishing. I have some of the old floats that dad bought from a store near Bondi in the mid 90's. I'll never use them, their history is too rich to lose.

Cheers,

Danny.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Alistair Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 2016 at 11:38am
Was out chasing cod on the weekend with my youngest son and something that occurs often made me think of this post. Is it just me or do many luderick fisherman when chasing freshwater fish with lures maybe hundreds of km's from the closest Luderick think to themselves when they pull up nice crispy freshwater wire type weed hanging off their lure " Gee this stuff would go well for the luderick " and actually consider bagging some to take home?LOL  I recon I came across at least 4 variations of this weed that would have worked great under a float.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Raffey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 2016 at 12:08pm
Ha Alistair you're not the only one. We have found variations of it too - in areas no where near the coast. When I lived on Moreton island as a kid I'd collect it from the edge of the tidal areas and lay it on a bed of wet sand covered with a damp hessian bag. It stayed fresh and didn't dry out for days. This was clearly a salt tolerant and possibly dependent species. However in Sydney I'd find very similar stuff in mossy crevices feeding down rocky cliffs along the coastline that was clearly in 99.9% fresh trickling/seeping water. Both types worked a treat. I reckon the stuff you found would too. I think luderick are more opportunistic feeders than some realise. It's more about the presentation I think. When you are cleaning one off the ocean rocks it's contents will often show numerous types of weeds (green, brown, branch) as well as sponges. This is in areas that are predominantly green cabbage. Such a great little fish. Friendly when you snorkel around them in wash zones.

Cheers,

Danny.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Alistair Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 2016 at 1:01pm
We have found them to be very particular on some days as I normally run a 2 hook rig so as to present 2 types or weed (normally what we would refer to as crispy (fresh green) and wire (similar type stuff but older and more wirelike, harder to break, darker and thinner) Even at times found they would only take the older stuff that had been used, refrigerated and used again over anything else. This was generally along the wall in front of the old putput boats (gone now I think) at The Entrance rather than ocean locations.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Raffey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 2016 at 9:53pm
Agree Alistair. Calmer sheltered locations can be very tough fishing for them sometimes. Running two different offerings is a great idea. In the estuaries on some occasions we'd find they'd remove enough of the weed from the hook to expose it, then they'd spook and dismiss the whole offering, having not taken the fine quill float under. However, put a fresh estuary bloodworm in front of them in the exact same location and they'll nail it. They deserve more respect than they get I think. Great little fish.

Cheers,

Danny.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Apr 2016 at 12:42pm
Back when I was a little tacker, my grandfather caught a 3 1/2 pound (about 1.8 kg?) luderick on a yabby. A few years later I went fishing with a bloke and his father in a deep hole in the Tweed River, we were using yabbies on them and they were all of the bigger variety.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Raffey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jun 2017 at 7:09pm
Went down the coast with the family on Friday night and got away for a quick session Saturday morning. Picked up half a dozen nice blackfish and drummer, plus a bunch of nice big squid in a few hours from the rocks. Timber lure fishing is great, however it's nice to just go back to the basics sometimes - some simple squid jigs and a handful of green cabbage. The cuttlefish pictured had some of the most stunning colours and patterns I've ever seen. It was released.











Cheers,

Danny.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ducks Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jun 2017 at 7:14pm
I was with you til you mentioned releasing a cuttlefish
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Raffey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jun 2017 at 7:21pm
How do they compare to Squid on the table Ducks? I've seen docos on them. I think they are smarter than me.

Cheers,

Danny.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ducks Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jun 2017 at 7:26pm
I don't consider it much different. I'd do everything the same. Some people say they are a bit stronger flavoured but tastes about the same to me with a salt and pepper dusting haha.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Raffey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jun 2017 at 11:55pm
Yum. Thanks for the tip. I think I might release the next one into the esky.

Cheers,

Danny.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Danny Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jun 2017 at 12:50am
Hey great post Danny, I'm a barra addict through and through but take me back to my bass/flathead days and geez there was some fun to be had. The old man used to do a lot of it (black fishing) around Yamba and Harwood Island where I grew up. it never really caught on with me but in recent times I've spent a bit of time visiting my newly found grandparents in Laurieton and while talking fishing with my 84yo grand dad I was also eyeing off his blackfish gear and told him ild love for him to show me as hes to old to go on his own now. Ill definitely spend a bit of time doing it on my next visit. Like you said, its not lure fishing for barra but its still exciting all the same.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kayargh1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jun 2017 at 9:40am
This great post made me think of two things. The first is the number of fly fishermen who are also keen on catching luderick. I started out using a threadline reel and it wasn't until I went to a centrepin reel that the cross over struck me. It is line control. You have to keep tight to the float with a centrepin as you do with a fly because there's no gearing to help you quickly re-establish contact of you let it get away. The second thing was that lovely cuttlefish. If you can't bring yourself to take it they are the number 1 live bait for kingfish, if you like kingies. Regards, Ken.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Raffey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jun 2017 at 1:38pm
Thanks guys.

Dan it's extremely simple fishing. A tiny container to hold small hooks, swivels and split shot, plus some leader, floats, pliers and a knife is all one needs to carry in a back pack. Making the floats is fun too. I reckon you should definitely give it a go next time you have the chance.

Hi Ken. You're 100% right about the centrepin. My favourite part about them is they will let line out for you just from the float pulling with the current, which you can then control with the outside of your palm. It is one handed fishing until you hook up.

Cheers,

Danny.
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