But recently, my mate had me tried his Iso outfit and I caught a just legal Black Drummer off Avoca ledges. It was quite an experience. I then tried again with my own gears but the Alvey outfit was way too heavy and bulky for float fishing and my spinning outfit was better but a tad short when I needed to stay away from the ledge to avoid the swell. And then holding it for long period is a strain on the arm, as the 8000 reel's weight is not negligible.
After two weeks of looking around for more info about Iso fishing (there is not that much english info out there), I decided to go to Shin Shin Tackle shop in Eastwood (owned by one of the admins of Iso Fishing Life Style website & OZIsofishing forum) where I met Gabriel a well known figure in Iso fishing in Australia. Thanks to his kind help, I've decided to go with a mid range outfit that is not too heavy as I will be targeting Breams & Blackfish but not too light either as I'm also interested in Drummers and occasional pelagics. Although my experience with the pen fishing rods would help me handle decent size fish on light gears, I didn't want to worry too much at the beginning as Iso style is a lot different, as Gabriel said it's like speaking another language. Maybe in the future I will save to get myself a lighter rod.
So here is my shopping for the day: a Yong Sun 2-53 (size #2, 5.3m in length when extended) and various Iso accessories (floats, swivels, stoppers).
So what is Iso fishing? "Iso tsuri" means rock fishing in Japanese. It's the main style of rock fishing back in Asia. From what I understood, in Asia, it's much more difficult to catch a fish. Maybe because it's over populated and everyone try to catch fish and a lot of people even keep undersize fish. So fish are shy. So in order to up their chance to hook up, asian fishermen came up with this style rock fishing that rely on finesse and presentation. Everything is calculated with detail. They also have specialised tackle: floats, ultra long landing nets etc...
I'm a complete newbie to the subject so the best I can do here is give you some links. But here are the basics:
- The fishing rod is long, usually 4.3m or 5.3m, some of them can even be zoomed from 4.3m to 5.4m. This length is to provide ability to steer and control the fish off the ledge but also allows you to stay away from the edge when needed, for safety.
- The fishing rod is light, I think my 5.3m rod is around 242 gr, this allows you to fish long hours without getting wrist strain. The more expensive the lighter the reel
- The fishing rod is balanced, with this length there need to be a good balance, the weight is usually at the back of the rod so that if feels even lighter. The more expensive the better balanced the rod.
- Use of smaller tackle: smaller hooks, smaller floats, smaller swivel, smaller line, splitshots. This is important as you want to hide them from the fish's view. Using fluorocarbon leader is also a must. You want to encourage the fish into taking your bait, right?
- Use of burley to attract targeted fish in the vicinity.
For more info, hit these links:
Watch these big Silver Drummer caught on Iso gear:
As for the gears, I highly recommend you head to http://isofishinglifestyle.com.au/ and if you can, pop to their store in Campsie or Eastwood. And check out their Iso FishingTV videos on Youtube.
Sweet!!
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