Marion Reef 2008 - Tackle Recommendations

[Brandon Khoo]

Rods & ReelsLuresLineTerminalsWeight Limit

[Rob Ciotucha]

Awesome thanks again for a good run through Brandon.

Top Stuff

Cheers
Rob

[Chris Tan]

Thanks for the info Brandon. Just one question, why shouldn't we send our parcels by a courier company?

[Cam Foley]

More questions,does the mother ship have a spooling machine?

[Jon Li]

Guys ,

My experiences suggest shorter GT rod is better when fishing from dories while longer GT rods is better when fishing from bigger boat , when sea becomes choppy then shorter rods are more managable , especially when fishing on dories .

Another aspect of fishing from dories , too powerfull a rod with initial drag set of 13 kg may not be effective because the dory moves under your feet under intense pressure from big GT , it's different when you are fishing from 15T boat where you can exert pressure to the fish , the momentum of a dory is not just there as compared to a much heavier boat .

Certain rod are more suitable to be used with certain lure , big surface poppers require stiff rod , pencil poppers require soft tipped rod and stickbaits require rod with fast recovery upper section . 

Jon .   

[Brandon Khoo]

Chris - we have some very funny rules in Australia. If a item comes in by post, the limit is $1,000 as that is administered by Australia Post.

For Courier companies, the limit is $250. Goods in excess of $250 may very well attract a customs registration fee, customs duty and GST. Now the courier companies are inconsistent in how they apply this as I know some people who have had parcels under $1,000 let through but I have never had such luck myself. I recommend mail or EMS to be safe.

The problem you will have if you send a parcel here and they decide to charge is that you will need Nomad to clear seeing it is addressed to them and they won't know what is in it in the first place. If you cause Claire headaches like that, you may end up fishing in the dinghy!

Thanks for the info Brandon. Just one question, why shouldn't we send our parcels by a courier company?

[Brandon Khoo]

sorry Cam but no.

More questions,does the mother ship have a spooling machine?

[Brandon Khoo]

Jon - stop encouraging people to bring so many rods!! 

The dories are actually very good as the guys nearly always have the engines running and they are experts at manoeuvring them around when a fish is hooked. I fish about 15kg and have never had a problem where I felt the dory was being towed by the fish or that I couldn't exert the full force of the drag.

Where I will agree with Jon on this is that I find a rod like the Komodo Dragon (7'6") about the perfect length for the dory

Guys ,

My experiences suggest shorter GT rod is better when fishing from dories while longer GT rods is better when fishing from bigger boat , when sea becomes choppy then shorter rods are more managable , especially when fishing on dories.

Another aspect of fishing from dories , too powerfull a rod with initial drag set of 13 kg may not be effective because the dory moves under your feet under intense pressure from big GT , it's different when you are fishing from 15T boat where you can exert pressure to the fish , the momentum of a dory is not just there as compared to a much heavier boat .

Certain rod are more suitable to be used with certain lure , big surface poppers require stiff rod , pencil poppers require soft tipped rod and stickbaits require rod with fast recovery upper section . 

Jon .   

[Greg Burt]

Jon, do you rate SP78 EXH and SP78 UH as fast taper [fast recovery] rods and good for stickbaits?

[Jon Li]

Brandon ,

I am not suggesting the dory being towed but upon strike the momentum of the the fish pulling the almost no stretch line can and do move the dory sideway hence decreasing the effect of initial high drag set of the reel , on a big heavy boat this won't happen but you may find the angler's upper body got jerked uncontrolably for a few instance . Of course I am talking about big GT ( 100 lbs. min ) and not those average ones . Next time you fish on Nomad dory , watch it closely the boat position when one of the guy using strong rod such as SP78EX-H or UHL or WV80XH get connected with a big GT and then you know what I mean .

Manouverability of a dory is no doubt better than the bigger boat but some rods are just made for certain purpose or another , TBL series is very good for fishing on small boat and I presume likewise with your newly acquired SP80M which is very rarely found outside Japan at the moment . If that rod of yours is an improved version of SP79M , that rod is very good for casting lures as light as 80 gr. such as Tuna 80 .

Jon .

[Brandon Khoo]

Jon, I can only say that I have never noticed it and I have been hooked to some really massive fish from those dories, including on a WV83XH. The result, in the case of the WV83, is a permanent dent now in the rails of Nomad dory 1. I felt every bit of the > 15kg drag setting in that case on my ribs! I'm not saying it doesn't happen but if the impact of a high drag setting is decreased, believe me, I've never noticed it as I have been dragged from one end of a dory to the other.

I've fished from game boats for GTs on many occasions including the Nomad Blackwatch but I personally still prefer the manoeuvrability of the little dories. What I really like about them is their ability to get around in shallow water which would not be accessible in a game boat and this is a big factor in the areas we fish over here.

For jigging, I of course prefer the game boats.

[Rob Ciotucha]

With swivels Brandon, are the owner crane swivels ok or is it better off going with the BB type?

Cheers
Rob

[Brandon Khoo]

Hi Rob - just my opinion but don't waste your money on ball bearing swivels. They're expensive as the devil nd I've never found that they add anything. Perhaps they may add something to other forms of fishing but you don't need them for this.

What is important are quality swivels that are strong. The Owner 2/0 crane swivels are suitable. I think they are rated to something like 330lb. I use the Sasame or NT swivels myself which I have found to be excellent.

[Rob Ciotucha]

Thanks Brandon will stick with the owners.

Cheers
Rob

[Luke Wyrsta]

I've fished from game boats for GTs on many occasions including the Nomad Blackwatch but I personally still prefer the manoeuvrability of the little dories. What I really like about them is their ability to get around in shallow water which would not be accessible in a game boat and this is a big factor in the areas we fish over here.

I agree Brandon - i prefer smaller, more manouverable boats.

I would tend to select rods according to terrain and applications rather than purely on a length to boat basis. For example, big fish in tough terrain requiring high drag settings would most of the time call for a shorter rod, whereas smaller fish that require the use of lighter weights call for longer and lighter rods, or, targeting big fish where far casting distance is required calls for a rod that is somewhat in between. To clarify, these examples are very general but just an example of how i select rod for application rather than boat.

Regardless of the skill and knowledge of a GT angler and the luck he may have against big GTs - there is always a master captain behind him controlling the boat - everybody needs to understand this. Use of the boat in GT terrain is half the battle plan when targetting GTs on popper.