Using Iso fishing accessories with a Pen Rod Goliath

I recently got into Iso Tsuri, unfortunately the weather conditions were not safe those last couple weeks so I'm still yet to have tried my Iso gears on the rocks. Next Wednesday, the OZIsoFishing forum members are organising a members trip in the Central Coast, I will be joining them and hopefully catch my first legal size Blackfish or Black Drummer!

In the mean time, I've been trying my 5.3 meters Yong Sung Naiad #2.0 rod at the local estuaries and find it quite a sensitive rod even though it is a size 2.0 rod. Even an undersize bream feels good on the rod, I can imagine what fight it would be to get a nice drummer on this.

As everything is about finesse in Iso fishing, the terminal tackle and various accessories are actually very suitable for my pen fishing rod.

Firstly, my favorite add-on is the HDF Hook Keeper, Iso fishing rods are thinner than their rock fishing counterparts. Which makes this hook keeper a match for the Pen Rod Goliath. I can now walk about with the rod extended and not having to hold the rig or have it dangling around and getting tangled.

Iso terminal tackle are pretty cool too. Their #8 swivel is very small and ideal for light lines. Their floats (in various sizes) are pre-weighted, you only need to add the equivalent splitshot sinker to neutralise the float's buoyancy so the fish won't feel anything on the bite.

The triangular yellow accessory you can see in the picture, underneath the float is a rear float cushion stopper. This one is shaped like a v-cushion, making it acts both as a bottom float stopper protecting the float hitting against the swivel, also reducing the lost of floats when the line breaks, as the stopper hold on tightly to the line and keeps the float from sliding out, the V shape helps pulling down the rig when by the use of bottom currents.

Above the float is a plastic stopper bead and a float stopper (pink) thread. Those stopper threads are made of a type of wool and it is very soft and slide through the tiny rod's top guide very easily instead of getting blocked like other plastic/rubber stoppers.

I've been testing this setup, targeting creek mullets and it works a treat using a 4lb flurocarbon leader with no splitshot as I needed the bait to float right under the water surface.

Homemade berley scoop

Something I rarely do but I should do more regularly is to use burley/berley. Most of the time the water I'm fishing is very wide, so the chance of a good fish finding my bait is little unless I'm lucky to be in a spot where fish are hanging around. The purpose of a burley is to attract the fish in the neighbourhood but not to feed them.

The subject of this post is not the burley itself, but a DIY berley scoop. I'm planning to explore the world of Iso fishing and burley is one important aspect of it. As you are fishing from the rock, the burley need to thrown accurately and sometimes at a distance, that is why Iso fishermen use a berley scoop with a long handle.

A good burley scoop costs around $30 - $40, the cheapest I've seen is around $19. Alright... fishing is an expensive hobby hey!

I've spent enough and need to save to buy an Iso landing net (it's a lightweight, telescopic 5 to 6 meter long landing net), because an Iso rod wouldn't be able to lift a big fish off the water and from the rocks you have no other easy way to land your fish. So this is another opportunity for a DIY project :-)

So I need a scoop and make it long enough. So I went to Coles and see what I could find and saw this:

OK, it's more a spoon than a scoop but it should do the work. To add length to the handle, I've used a piece of wooden stick I've found in the corner of the garage and used a length of soft rope to attach it to the scoop handle using the same knot as you would use to make a float stopper knot which is similar to a Uni knot. I left a length of rope at the end of the handle to be use as a leash to attach the scoop to the bucket, it's probably be a bit short so I might need to extend it a bit in the future.

The spoon is not very deep as opposed to a scoop, but let see how this homemade burley scoop works. Another option is to use an old ice-cream scoop instead.

Total cost: $3

Iso Tsuri (磯釣り) a rock fishing style from Asia

It's now nearly a year and a half since I've started fishing in Australia and less than a year doing occasional sessions from the rocks. Back when I was still living in Artarmon, my favorite locations were North/South Curl Curl and Manly. I did tried to catch some school Kingfish without success but regularly brought home some nice Tailor, Salmon or Bream. But my main fishing was from one of the Northern Beaches so my rock fishing gears were actually beach gears which does the work as they are 11ft and 13ft rods with either a spinning or 650 Alvey reel.

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:

http://isofishinglifestyle.com.au/learn-iso-fishing.html

http://www.fishingworld.com.au/news/iso-the-new-age-of-rock-fishing

http://www.fishing.net.nz/how-to/iso-tsuri-techniques-part-1

http://www.fishing.net.nz/how-to/iso-tsuri-techniques-part-2

http://www.british-rockfishing-association.net/rockfishonline/ISO

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.

Fishing kayak rigging part #3 - Car roof rack and first test

It's been a week I've bought this new kayak and today will be the first day I'm taking it out on the water. But before I can go I need a way to transport it. although it can fit inside my Honda Odyssey 2004 the problem is I can then only take my son on the childseat and my wife would have no space to sit, but most importantly, the kayak is so wide that it will hide my left side view making it a dangerous drive.

My car already has roof rails but no cross bars, seeing their price brand new, I decided to make my own. So I went to Bunnings again, and bought four U bolts and two Cypress pickets, they are 65cm wide and 1.20m long and thick enough to carry the kayak. Back home I started to measure where I should drill the holes for the bolts. All nearly perfect on the first attempt, the holes were just a tad too small so I had to tweak them a bit.

Here is the kayak before going to water:

I couldn't film myself yet as I haven't yet created my camera pole and then my wife was busy running after the little one so that will be for the next time.

Here is a footage of the missus trying giving the kayak its launch inauguration:

After the session, a little shower is required to remove all dirt. I bought a 2m garden hose with a universal tap adapter, very handy.

Next step, the camera pole. I used to do a lot of photography and have this monopod that can be extended. I will be putting my Nikon P7100 inside its underwater case and that will be my action cam hehe. I will check where to mount it, the easiest would be the rod holder that I have attached to the milk crate. We'll see.

Fishing kayak rigging part #1 - Rod extenders and anchor pulley

Before going out trying my new fishing kayak, I need to get some more items and rig it up with some accessories. So today, after work, I headed to Bunnings to buy some PVC tubes and other stuffs. Man, everything is so expensive in Australia! Hic! Oh well, I won't save too much but that's not bad.

I bought some 25mm and 32mm PVC tubes with some tees and caps, trolley wells, axels, bolts, 3mm ropes, snap hooks and 20mm pulley.

For this first update I wanted to build a kayak trolley that would fit inside the scupper holes, an anchor pulley system and couple of extensions for the fitted rod holders.

To my surprise the 25mm tubes were not 25mm! The sticker and painted text is saying 25mm but when I measured the inner diameter it was 30mm? what the ... ? Oh well, will take them back and exchange for 20mm ones then.

So I ended up making the anchor pulley:

The loop at the bottom will be replaced by a metal ring when I'll find one.

A snap hook at the front and back allow me to attach the pulleys to the carrier cords that comes with the kayak.

I now need a metal ring and an anchor.

And the rod holder extensions. I just want the rod to be a bit higher so they won't get too much splashed with water.

The 32mm (I measured 38mm on these..., don't understand the difference between advertised diameter and actual one) PVC tubes slides in perfectly, I added a 45 degrees elbow so the rods would stick out at an angle. Each of the tube sections are about 25cm long.

Fishing kayak rigging part #2 - PVC trolley

So 25mm PVC tube is not really 25mm in internal diameter for god knows what reason...

I went back to Bunnings for an exchange and took the 20mm instead, which are about 23mm...

After an hour of calculating the dimensions, sawing the tubes with multiple adjustments, I finally built my kayak trolley in about an hour.

Here is the result:

I just need to apply some PVC cement to finalize it all. I will also probably buy some pool noodles and wrap it around the horizontal top tube to protect the kayak's hull.

All these DIY creations are not my designs, I found some tutorial on the internet and adapted them to my needs.

My kayak fishing adventures begin

After several months looking around gathering for info and thinking if it would be something for me, I decided, with the approval of the missus, to buy a fishing kayak. I was hesitating between getting an inflatable boat and a kayak with a budget of about $380.

There are pros and cons for each.

The inflatable boat does not require space for storage and would allow more than one person on it. But on the other hand it takes times between parking the car and getting on the water. Being inflatable means there also is a risk of getting punctured. A friend of mine just bought one and it just confirmed that it is not for me.

A kayak does require storage place and for transportation, but I personally feel safer on it. And paddling with a kayak is easier too. For my budget I can only get a single seater 'yak but I'll be on my own most of the time. If the missus wanna join we can always change turn or hire one. 

So there I went going to that warehouse that had a kayak in discount for $320, the reason was people usually don't like its color, camo finish sells quick but not those blue uni-color ones.

The only thing that bugs me a bit is storage. But it was easy enough to take it into the unit in the second bedroom we are using for storage. And owning a Honda Odyssey, the 'yak can fit inside. I'll get a roof rack anyway cuz once inside the car, only me and my son on his child seat can be inside.

Now it's time to get some safety gears. I will build my own flag pole with an old fishing rod, I need a PFD, setup some first aid kit and other stuffs. For those interested in kayak safety, here is a great website:

http://modernkayakfishing.com/articles/safety

I'm lookng forward my first kayak fishing session!

Re-spooling my Alvey reel

After using the 630 A1 "Surf Champion" my cousin gave me, I decides to change the line. The current one is a high visibility yellow fluorescent that I find awesome as I can see it event fishing at night from the beach. So I went for a Talema Super Hi-Vis 6.6 Kg 500m.

The packaging is cool, the spool is in a plastic box you can reuse for tackles.

What surprised me is I wasn't expecting a thin line it's a 14.5 lb and seems like a 6 or 8. Usually 15lb mono are around 0.33 - 0.38mm this line is 0.23mm, good for distance casting.

So as Alvey recommends, I dunked the spool in water before reeling it on the reel. Trying to make the line at an angle facing out for easier unspooling when casting:

That's it, ready to go. One more thing:

Ball bearing swivel and snap swivel for twist management and ease of rig change. The swivels are rater 15 and 10 Kg, more than the line rating but they are the smallest I could find.

Pen Rod Goliath combos

Just received two pen fishing rods combos from penfishingrods.com, I already own one but wanted a backup combo and a fly combo.

These microlight fishing rods are tougher than you might think. I got decent size breams, trevally and flatheads on them ưith the biggest being a 55cm flattie.

These reels are the Pen Rod Goliath version, they are telescopic and extend to 1.6m long! Once collapsed they can fit in a pocket or anywhere so are always available.

Here is the fly combo once mounted.

There is 8 yards of double 0 float fly line and 4lb leader. Still waiting for my prawn flies then I will head to Narrabeen lakes for some practice.

Hitcase turns your iPhone to a waterproof actioncam

I recently killed my iPhone 5 after getting submerged by a wave while beachworming. So I decided to get myself a waterproof case. While looking for one I stumbled accross the Hitcase which not only protect the phone against waterdamage but also turns it into an action camera you can attach to your chest and various places just like a GoPro camera which it is also compatible with their mounts.

So I ordered it from their US website http:// www.hitcase.com/ and to my surprise it arrived here in Australia 3 days later!

The package I ordered is composed of the Hitcase itself, a lens cap, their StickR mount and ChestR mount:

First impression, it seems quite robust but a bit bulky, it's not a case you would leave on all the time although some might want to. Inserting the phone can't be any simpler and once inside you can still use the touch screen and access all buttons except the mute switch which is not critical. You can also use your earpiece or cover the headphone hole with the cap that comes with the case.

I don't intend to use the StickR mount that came by default, the extra ChestR mount I ordered was the mount I wanted. This will be awesome to take fishing or beachworming footage.

The image quality at first glance seems quite decent thanks to their glass wide angle lens. The image is sharper at the center but very acceptable around the edge. This is not a definitive answer, I have only tested it in bad light indoor conditions:

As the fish will start to bite I will be doing more tests. In the meantime my iPhone will be safe when I'll be out there.

First day with an Alvey outfit

Woke up at 5am today and headed to Dee Why to try out my new Alvey ROD650GTS / 630 A1 reel combo.

It's no more winter times and the light was on earlier than me! Hmmm

Anyway, my first impression is that I can definitely like/love Alvey gears. The combo is surely heavier than my Saratoga Mawler Spin / Shimano Aerlex 8000 XSA combo, but it is well balanced so that is compensated and being an Alvey reel and a 13.4 ft rod the cast distance is being increased while decreasing the effort. Although, currently, I can cast farther with my 11 ft spinning combo but I think with time I will be able to cast much further with the Alvey.

Thanks to my mate who lent me his outfit during our other session together, I didn't have difficulties with casting. Today I managed to "master" casting by holding the line with the thumb instead of the index (not sure if one is better than the other). After a few casts I got used to synchronizing the release of the line and positioning of the right hand high up the rod.

Laying the line on the reel with my left hand fingers was much less painful than I originally thought.

One thing I noticed is I usually have my reel handle on the left side with spinning reels, but it doesn't bother me too much on an Alvey. But I'll try to mod my reel to have it on the other side an see if my right hand fingers are OK with laying the line on the spool.

Near the end of my short session, I reeled back the line and noticed that I hooked a small whiting but didn't know it cuz the rod was not sensitive enough, it's not made for small fish anyway!

So far so good, just need to hook a fish!

One other good point is being telescopic, it fits well in the back of the car.

It's now time to go to work. It'll be a bit tough this afternoon as this is the first day I switched back to waking up early!

Alvey vs baitcaster

I've seen few fishermen using a baitcaster for pier fishing and just one for surf fishing. As I understand there are benefits in using a baitcaster such as casting distance and accuracy. But the cons is the learning curve.

I also met couple of people using an Alvey outfit and my cousin keeps bashing around with the pros of using Alveys. He then bought some Alvey gears from an old lady whose husband was a fishermen and gave me an old 630 A1 reel. 

I managed to have my hands on a old Shakespeare Sigma Series baitcaster reel and bought a cheap rod on eBay for testing it. After a whole session practicing it, I think baitcasters are not made for me, it feels ackward with the weight on top of the rod and too troublesome to learn the cast. I also fish more often late nights or early morning before sunrise so it makes it even harder to learn.

So my next target is the Alvey. I met a friend on Fish Raider / Facebook who is an Alvey user so I could borrow his outfit for testing and I immediately felt its potential. A bit weird at the beginning but much better than a baitcaster for my type of use.

So there I went on my favorite online store and got myself an Alvey ROD650GTS. It's a 13.4 ft telescopic rod which seems very sturdy. 13.4 ft is to my opinion the high extreme for me, but their next option down is a tad too short for my liking.

So there we go:

I'll be testing it soon in real life conditions, lets hope the fish are up for some good fighting.

Any tip is welcome!

My fishing gears

My little family has moved to Australia from the UK just a bit over a year ago as my Skilled VISA application has been approved after 2 years of preparation and 3 years of waiting... On approval we made the move 6 months later and landed in Casula at a friend's place without a job. With a 1 year old kid, you have to be careful with the expenses. I started to have some contracting jobs and was remotely working part-time for my previous employer (FT.com)

I got back into fishing after my cousin Tony took me for a fishing trip to the Saphire Coast (Merimbula, Tathra etc...). As a Christmas gift, he offered me a nice 6'6 Berkley fishing combo. I remember the first fish I caught were Yellowtail, Barracuda. We do eat the Yakkas they are good deep fried.

For a while, I used to fish the Georges River especially Chipping Norton, not knowing how unhealthy fish can be in the lake :-O. In one of my sessions there I met an old man who taugh me how to catch Herrings with a Sabiki rig. Seeing that I was a keen fisho he gave me some of his old gears: a bait net, 9 ft two rods, loads of sinkers and a torch. That was a real kick off for night fishing too. Herrings are also nice deep fried or filletted in Vietnamese style salad.

We then moved from Casula to Cabramatta West where we met Tina our landlady. A short while after, we moved again to Artarmon because I have found a stable job at SBS.

Balmoral Jetty was the closest fishing spot. At the time I also bought a Pen Rod Goliath from penfishingrods.com they are what we can call microlight fishing gears. You have to know how to handle a rod and play with the drag cuz even a yakkas will feel like a bream! Lot of fun really.

After we moved in, Tina, her partner Ron and her brother Chung came to visit us and went fishing at Balmoral and Cronulla. That was when Chung taught me how to catch beach worms to land some lovely Whitings. That was also when I switch from pier fishing to surf fishing!

Some people think that everyone living in North Sydney area are rich. It is true that virtually everything is expensive around here, but people living here do so because they work in the area and also for the life style that North Sydney offers. Rent in Artarmon is quite high and for a single income family it can be just at the limit of being tight. A lot of people we know would have stayed in the West and commute eveyday to workin the City, but I wasn't ready to do 2 hours a trip to/from work per day and my wife had enough of the boring life there. We'd rather tighten our expenses and have a better life style. Now I live 20 mins walk from work, 5 mins drive. That's a lot of hours saved per day to stay with the kid and missus or going fishing! Some weeks I would wake up everyday at 4.15am and head to Dee Why for a sunrise fishing until 7am when I head back home for a family breakfast and jump in the car for work. Some other weeks I would go at night or just take a break. Isn't that a dream life?!

So, being careful with our budget, I just can't justify buying $300 reels, $200 rods, not even half the price. But I needed to upgrade my gears for the surf, so eBay was my destination. In May, I ended up with a Saratoga Mawler Spin 11 ft rod + reel combo for less than $100. All felt good but the reel only lasted few sessions, after falling several times in water and sand, it just gave up on me. I reckon with more care and maintenance it would have lasted longer. But till today I'm still using the rod and it has performed way over my expectation. I replaced the dead Saratoga reel with Shimano entry level surf reel the Aerlex XSA 8000 for $99 from Otto's Tackle World in Drummoyne, these guys are great.

After a fishing session with Tina's family down south near Nowra, my gears got topped up with a 12 ft Shakespeare rod that Chung gave me and two Daiwa Regal 4000 BRi I bought from him for $100.

That is what I now use for all my fishing trips. For big surf fish I would use the Saratoga + Aerlex and Shakespeare + Regal. For whitings I would use the lighter Berkley combo or even the Pen Rod Goliath as most of the times whitings are hanging around just few meters from the shore.

Total expenses (on main equipments):

Berkley combo: $0

Saratoga + Shimano Aerlex: $193

Shakespeare + Regal: $50

Backup Regal: $50

Pen rod: $70

Total: $363

That would be approximately the price of a Shimano Stradic Ci4! And I'd say that the combo Saratoga + Shimano Aerlex 8000 would have been enough and would land very decent fish.

Here are some more photos.

The Berkley combo. The shark in the picture was caught with the Saratoga actually.

The Saratoga + Aerlex:

The Shakespeare (the Regal reel was on the Saratoga on the right of the picture):

The Pen Rod Goliath: