A little help?

[Bonefisher]

Hi all,

I'd like to do a little afternoon beach fishing. I have never tried it before, and am a very keen but inexperienced angler.

Does anyone have any basic set-up ideas for me to get started?

Looks like Longreef might be a good spot to try, so...
1) Should I be looking for incoming tides?
2) Do I try to get my bait into a gutter?
3) How heavy should sinkers be?
4) Worms? Half a pillie? Whole pillie? Prawns?
5) Should sinker go right down to the hook or should I have a swivell in there too?

Thanks guys,
Mark

[imnotafish]

bonefisher

couple of hints might help you get started:

try the beach between narrabeen and collaroy
look for a spot with not much sideways movement, a good gutter/hole and a bit of a rip.
use only as much lead as you need - if you cant keep the bait in one spot try walking up the beach with it as it moves.
you should use a swivel - with the sinker above it - but you can use a paternoster rig as well especially with bigger baits or to present two baits at once.
this will allow you to use a star sinker to lodge your rig in the sand better.
using different baits will target different fish - worms on light gear will find you a few whiting and bream, as well as the occasional jewy, while pillies are more likely a target for salmon and tailor - for example.
there are a couple of decent books to help you with this, one of the many beach fishing books, and geoff wilsons book of baits and rigs are good to start on
good luck
stef