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My first fishing experiences were fishing for Bream on the Moore River 80 kilometres north of Perth. My family rented a house there every Christmas and my Dad and I used to fish for Bream most mornings and afternoons. Using short six foot rods, cheap eggbeaters and light monofilament line, even the smaller fish used to pull like trucks, well for a 8 year old anyway. Real dirty fighters, if you gave them an inch, well more than likely you'd be into the snags. I had a lot of fun doing battle those little fish all those years ago, before all the bream competitions, before the cult following they have now. On light tackle their fantastic, nothings changed.
I don’t think we ever kept many for the pan, living in the country some hundred and fifty kilometres from the coast, we weren’t big fish eaters. Smoked cod once a fortnight, smothered in white sauce was about it, besides a couple of times during the holidays when one of the locals we knew were heading up to three mile reef, me and dad used to tag along and always bring home a feed. This is probably were my love of surf fishing was incubated. Big Sting rays and bags of Tailor were common, and a Mulloway or Two would normally make some lucky fisherman’s Christmas during the two weeks.
As I grew older and started going fishing by myself or with mates, it was this kind of nocturnal surf fishing that consumed most of our time. We were rewarded with Tailor, sharks, stingray's, shovelnose, countless bread and butter species and a very, very occasional mulloway. It’s only been over the last four or five years that my fishing has changed from being a pass time into a full blown affliction, and I’ve started to enjoy more varied kinds of fishing, Saltwater spinning with Poppers, Metals, Stickbaits, Slugs, and Minnows chew up a lot of my spare cash, but also more recently, Soft plastics.
It started with a packet of Atomic paddle tails I picked up in Blue Water tackle while I was stocking up for a few days at Cape Range Nation Park. It made a great change from Metal slices and Poppers, and I had some success on them. My biggest problem was I was using a spinning set-up that was perfect for heavier artificials, but when I tried to work the plastics, I was really over gunned. Excellent time to buy more gear!
When I returned home I headed straight to my local tackle shop and bought a six foot six graphite rod, and a 4000 size reel spooled with 10 pound braided line. I was returning to my roots, I was champing at the bit, I couldn't wait for my first light tackle battle in nearly twenty years, they were going to feel like Mack trucks once more. And so it began, my new addiction, soft plastics. Jerk shads, Minnows, Grubs, Flick baits, Paddle tails, and the list goes on. Not only was I catching plenty of fish for the table but I was also keeping a healthy supply of bait in the freezer, and all while have an absolute ball with light tackle.
Unfortunately it wasn’t long before I was just itching to go lighter again, do the fish justice, give them every opportunity to flex their tiny muscles and beat me on their terms. Herring, Whiting, Skippy and small Tailor, all plentiful and within ten minutes of my home and all just waiting to show me what they were made of.
So that brings me to my latest purchase, a Shimano Stradic 1000fh. I am an avid user of our network of fishing forums here in Western Australia and have made many friends, learnt more about fishing than any book could teach, and have picked up many bargains.
This was one of those bargains. The fh model is a few years old now but when it was released in 2003 it was part of a new generation of light tackle reels that included the Diawa Capricorn. The reel still feels very smooth and came with two spools, one with 2 kilo line and one with 4 kilo line, it was a good buy. It has its original box and schematics and looks like its has only had moderate use. Obviously there have been a lot of improvements to reels in the last 7 years, and even the new Stradic fi makes the fh look like a dinosouar, but for my needs it will be perfect.
I have chosen to match it to a new Phlueger Trion 2.13 meter rod in 2-4 kilo. I’ve chosen a slightly longer rod for the weight class as I may have to contend with some swell when fishing from the shore near where I live and prefer to have something that will give me a bit more casting distance if I need it. together the combo feels really nice in the hand.
At the time of writing this post i havent even put it to use yet and im champing at the bit once more. I hope this new combo scratches my itch for a good long while as the next step down from here is a roll of cotton!!!