Tasmanian Surf Fishing Tips

by Carl Hyland on 25 Jun 2012 Surf zones in Tasmania have many different species of fish lurking, there really is no excuse as to why you shouldn’t be out there amongst them. Here are a few tips that just may help you out.

Salmon and tailor have extremely sharp teeth so regardless of which rig you choose a wire leader is advisable but not essential. The best bait rig to use is a paternoster rig. (Two hooks and a sinker) The wire leader length should be around 18 inches between hook and swivel. Put a weight slide on the main line and then tie the main line to the swivel. Salmon have very good vision so a free lining rig helps the bait look as natural as possible. Salmon and ‘chopper’ tailor are ferocious feeders and travel in large schools hunting smaller bait fish, so for live baits try small salmon, mullet, prettyfish ,crabs or squid.. They will also take most cut fish baits, with mullet being a favourite.

How to tie a dropper loop (paternoster rigs)

Lures

The majority of surf fishermen prefer to use artificial lures to catch salmon. There are many lures you can use; popular ones are surface poppers, jigs and slices. A fast stop and go retrieval will work the best for these fish, especially when using surface plugs. My personal favourite is a heavy silver slice which will cast a good distance and retrieve at speed. A good tip is to lace the hooks with a mullet or similar cut fish strip, this will add a strong scent trail as you retrieve. Another alternative is to spray your lure with Stimulate bait spray which will have the same effect.

The average size of a school fish is around 1-2 kilos, and light spinning tackle will give you some great sport. The salmon or more important tailor have very strong jaws and extremely sharp teeth, so when you do land one take great care when removing the hook, or use long nosed pliers.

Surf fishing lures are a topic of much debate among surf anglers. The multitude of different sizes and colors make choosing the right one a little confusing.

The object of the large metal lure is to resemble a large bait fish such a prettyfish or mullet, and most are chrome or bright silver. When using a large metal slice most surf fisherman will be after salmon, bream or flathead, but almost any fish will take them. These streamlined 4-15 gram slices will reach out past most shore breaks with ease. Jigging the slice on a medium fast retrieval tends to bring good results. If you are after salmon, shark or tailor, remember to attach a 12 inch wire trace before the lure.

Tying the Rapala loop knot, a must for silver slices and lures.



The smaller metal surf fishing lures are great for use with light spinning tackle, a seven to nine foot spinning rod and a reel loaded with 10 to 12lb mono-filament or braid main line will allow you to use this type of lure to its full effect. The lure itself is designed to resemble a minnow and when used on a fast retrieve will attract small to medium sized fish. A very slow retrieve keeping the lure close to the bottom will produce flathead and smaller salmon.

Don't spend too much time on end rigs, a good surf fishing tip for rigs is to:

Keep It Simple.

The less you have to worry about or get tangled the better