Need some advice on catching Drummer off the rocks!

[honky007]

G'day guys!

Going to try my hand at the drummer off the rocks around the Northern Beaches of Sydney and was hoping you guys could give me some advice...

My questions are:

I have a 8 foot rod, do you think that's long enough or should I be looking to break out a 12 footer for this type of activity?

Should I be using a float, or a small sinker or both? I've seen those black long floats should i use them?

I hear it's good to have your rig half way down but not actually on the bottom.

My friend and I tried last week but he had a 6' rod and just kept getting snagged. Maybe his sinker was too big but it looked like he just wasn't getting far enough out from the platform.

I had a few bites on Ab gut, so I was getting excited, but ended up bailing as my friend was snagged 2 times in a row. (Used a burley of bread and chook pellets wizzed up in a blender).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks heaps, and I hope this winter brings some drummer onto your plate :)

[Bashir]

Firstly get rid of that rod for a number of reasons:

~ its unsafe
~ more control with a longer rod

In some very shallow snaggy areas floats are great. Use the small bobby corks or anything cheap like a piece of foam. Blackfish floats are too expensive and you will lose a few most probably. If you use a float then yes normally you will need to ballast it with a sinker.

Keep your bait off the bottom otherwise you will catch rubbish. If you don't use a float then use a tiny sinker or no sinker. Long casts are not needed, in fact casting is not needed normally, drummer live in rock crevices right at your feet. Just lob your baits in the washes and with the help of bread berley (make sure it is soaked very well in a bucket) hopefully the drummer will come into open water.

The mustad 542 1/0 is the ultimate drummer hook I have found. Cheap and string as, just remember to sharpen them.

[imnotafish]

yeah 10 foot minimum unless you are fishing a hole right at your feet, and even then handlines are probably better.
the standard rod is an fsu 5120 or 4120, fished with an alvey or reel you can take and give line with so as you can keep the line close to taught in the wash, cos there aint no time to hesitate.
unweighted ab gut or bread good baits. mix of both makes a good berley. after berleying up, cast your unweighted bait at the likely wash, let it slowly sink, and retrieve and start again when it gets too close to the bottom.
or just use a float like bashir says!
his hook choice is spot on........
you're gonna need some fat string 4 trace too
15-20lb very minimum
them rocks they sharp
at the moment there are small to med sized pigs off north mona head, as well as queensy, for you to have a shot at