Rock fishing essentials – What do you need?

by Gary Brown on 18 May 2013 Now this will depend of what type of rock fishing you are going to do, so for this article I will concentrate on chasing bream, drummer, salmon and squid. To be able to explain to you what those essentials are I will be doing this through the use of a number of pictures in this article. As they say, 'A picture will tell a thousand words'.

Picture one shows you what I would be taking along with me to target bream, drummer, salmon and squid off the rocks. There is a 3.6 metre, six wrap Shakespeare Ugly Stik Gold rod mounted with a 7650ss Infusion threadline that has been spooled with eight kilo monofilament. This outfit would be use when fishing for drummer and salmon. The next outfit is a 3.6 metre four wrap Snyder Glass Mag Bream mounted with an Alvey 500 side cast reel that is spooled with five kilo monofilament line.

You will also find a head torch which is essential for getting into your favourite spot just before the sun rises and for when you are coming home just after sun set. The large back pack is for transporting the small tackle boxes, the shoulder bag, bait holder (cut down milk container), keeper net, knife, bait and any other items you may like to take along. Maybe a camera to take a few shots.

There are also two pairs of footwear that I use when fishing off the rocks. The sandal and the boot. Both are worn with thick army socks to stop any rubbing. The sandal is usually used for walking in and out of a spot and the boot is used when the chosen spot is very slippery underfoot.

Picture two has four small tackle boxes. One to hold the sinkers, hooks and swivels, one for the metal lures for the salmon, one for the various different set of ganged hooks and the last box is for small bobby corks and float gear.

Picture three shows a close up view of the sandals and boots. The boots have fixed stainless steel spikes in the soles. I have seen a number of anglers screw stainless steel screws into the rubber knobs on the sole of the sandal.

Picture four shows a range of large to small bobby corks that can be use either when targeting salmon and tailor over rough terrain. The large bobby corks are great for this as you can put on a set of ganged hooks and cast it out into the wash without the fear of getting snagged. You could also try suspending a squid under one of these floats for a squid or two.

The smaller bobby corks are general used when target drummer and bream in shallow washes or chasing those bronzed sided luderick during the cooler months of the year.

Picture five shows Dave with a nice pair of drummer that were caught in the wash in the back ground of this shot. If you look closely the wash is just above the drummers head on the right hand side of where Dave is kneeling. Dave used the shoulder bag to bring them back to where the back pack and the rest of the gear was stationed, well away from the edge of the rocks.

Picture six shows Aaron with a drummer and a bream that were caught during the middle of the day. Don’t forget a wet weather jacket for the spray and a wide brimmed hat for the sun.

Picture seven indicates how important it is to pack in a few squid jigs for the trip. You never know when the squid come out to play.

Picture eight is the result of a well planned strip to a rock platform somewhere on the south coast. These fish were caught in a four hour session on peeled prawns while berleying with bread. If you look closely to the left of the picture you will see an empty white bucket. This was full of bread on the way into the spot and will now be full of fish on the way out.

I hope that this short, but picture filled article has help you to understand the essentials when rock fishing for what I call bread and butter fish species and I hope that you are amazed at what you can learn from just a few photos.