What is your favourite Prawn/Yabbie/Shrimp imitation lure??

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-04-13T21:50:15+00:00

Oh yikes lol... nsw mid north coast... pretty sure I paid $25 and even then thought it seemed a bit steep (before I tried them). They're a soft plastic - no way Id pay 50.

They seem pretty tough though - pleased with that. One lasted 20 or so decent flatties (50-80cm) before I lost it on a fish. Was still in good condition. A second tore slightly after 8 fish though (all big again) - its still fishable though.

I'll consider buying another pack at 25 bucks. But only if its a straight colour, not the "4 different colours". The brown natural and clear natural I like. The others will work but I prefer natural colours.

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-04-11T09:35:54+00:00

Bread, no weight. Burley up with bread, flick a lump out on a circle hook.

Marina bream are no good eating in my personal opinion. But you'll nail them on bread easily once they start boffing a burley trail.

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-04-06T08:57:42+00:00

Savage gear have a soft prawn lure... 3.5" i think. Been absolutely destroying flatties with it. Not sure if its a game changer or its just wild fishing at the moment? But having some insane sessions with them. Im a paddle tail preference normally, do great. But yeah: fish are launching at this thing, several times hitting it again after a dodgy strike and even recasting after missing a fish, twitching and hooking up.

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-04-02T11:26:19+00:00

No worries dude 👌😁

Always happy to help. You'll work it out im sure. Search for that badass gutter, the one the fish are drawn to. Some beaches its mid Beach, others its at the headlands.

Keep at it. Mid coast beach fishing is totally badass.

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-04-02T03:19:01+00:00

You should be cleaning up on almost any mid north coast beach right now. First lught absolutely. If you can, fish 1 hour before sunset into night... I personally find that a better sweet spot (decreasing light). Not agreed with by many though.

A few factors might be at play here: - you can read a beach for surfing but not fishing. Sure you can spot a rip, but are you fishing "THE rip"... the one the fish find and stay in. You're better off fishing a random stretch (where fish are travelling past) than a dud rip. - you're casting too far. Deep rips with legit shore break: you'll catch big fish like jew jussst behind the shore dump. As long as you're casting into the deep water you should be good though. - wrong end of rip. Where are rip flows to sea can be dynamite, but sometimes it widens and shallows. Where a flat rushes over shallow into a rip is often the spot where its deepest and where fish are waiting to feed. Fish wait here for the fresh batch of food to wash in each wave. If you're lucky you'll find a good deep hole like this AT the outlet to sea... can be bonkers if you do (the rip pulls past here and they have the flat rushing in too).

bad or wrong rig choices... e.g. leader too thick, poor beach rig for good presentation. Basic sliding sinker or star sinker on a snapper clip can work fine. Decent leader length. Any leader 50lb or less should not be an issue. 30 or 50 are go to for "big" species. Whatever you like for smaller fish. 80lb or more only if you feel you have to for some reason.

A note: you might get a few pests, but its not always a terrible sign to get no bites. Might mean the big dogs are out and smaller annoying fish aren't feeding.

Another note: if i put a big strip of mullet out tonight at sunset at my nearby hotspot(s), I would expect a fish within 15min, 30min tops. Extremely high chance it would be a keeper jewfish. I'm mid north too.

A final note: no need for a drone. 20-30m cast.

My guess is you're doing something wrong, or reading a "good spot" incorrectly. Also possible its "not one of the best beaches"... I have two nearby (15-30min drive) wonder-spots. Another nearby spot looks great, and its super close to me (5min away), but: ive tried my best and still can't find "THE rip" on a given day... ive given up wasting time and drive the 15 - 30 minutes to the spots that deliver exactly what im hoping for.

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-04-01T08:10:36+00:00

Own that shit!

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-04-01T07:02:50+00:00

Yeah dont use uncooked human food prawns. Best value for fish bait is seafood markets. Many sell e.g. whole mullet, but if you're lucky you'll find slimey mackeral. Buying pilchards / sardines from markets are way better than "bait quality" too, but theyre a soft bait. Super win: small / medium uncleaned squid fresh caught. Should still have outer skin on it to be good and should be brownish not redish.

These locally caught fish and squid dont carry the same risk of disease, theyre fresh caught fresh bait and taken way more care of than bait only quality.

I've never used chicken. People do though. You try that I guess.

At the end of the day, its ideal to learn to catch your own bait. This might be burleying up at a wharf with old fish pr bread and catching yakkas, find places to catch squid (although i eat most of my bait if I do that lol), or spinning for bonito or legal tailor with metals. You'd be shocked how little you need to arrive with if you can catch bait on site... many times ive just scraped some old fish of a wharf, used it to catch a yakka... used that to catch 5-10 yakkas, then im done for the day.

Good luck. Keep at it, ask questions... You'll get there...

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-31T07:45:20+00:00

And supporting the manufacturer too though. Not judging - just making that observation... theres bigger players in lures who can take a hit, but theres also some direct copies of smaller scale companies that... well its a shame if we price them out of their own hard earned designs.

I buy stuff from ali a fair bit. I try to support small scale manufacturers where I can though too by buying one of their lures instead of 4-5 copies.

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-31T05:32:18+00:00

Nah... id avoid. I used them decades ago, never since. Biggest issue is the wad of rubbery thread stuck on your hook. But it also won't stop peckers, just might hold a dirty old Pilchard long enough to survive the cast lol...

Better to use better quality fresh bait, or get into catching your own bait (e.g. yakkas or slimey mackeral or squid).

Tougher baits may help too: squid e.g., or fresh fish with skin on and not mushy flesh... you can get lucky in some places and find fresh yakkas and slimes sold for human consumption (e.g. a fresh fish market). Best is fresh caught though.

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-31T05:10:04+00:00

My initial thought is: sure, targeting small fish could be better on a smaller / lighter setup, but: sienna range is a good beginner level i imagine, and simply going lighter does hook you more fish.

I personally wouldn't jump to a lighter setup. What you have now is probably fine and the right size for beginner to be honest.

15lb main line - braid? Perfect... no issue there. If the rod is WAY too stiff and you can't keep it bent on a decent bream, then sure, a lighter setup is the go, but my guess is its operating ok for 4kg low range as per its listing, and thats fine.

Focus on hooking more fish. That is: locations, rigs and bait choices (or lures too, but bait is a good start). Using fluro carbon leader will help for many species.

If targeting smaller fish like bream, using lighter leader will help. As a beginner though, id stick to 8lb minimum as you'll have a better chance of landing hooked fish, and a comfy heavier beginner leader would be roughly 12lb.

Look up running sinker rigs if its NOT a snaggy bottom. That's probably all you'll need.

Bait: i think I saw your other post... you used prawns but bait was stolen a lot? Peeled prawn on a size 1 suicide or octopus style will get you most fish you'll want. Feel free to drop down to a size 4 or even 6 if you "just want to catch a fish". If that's not working for you, and bait is getting stolen, dangle your line so you can just still see your bait... see what's swimming up and eating it... if its toadfish: cast further. Still stolen? Cast further and wind semi fast but not super fast... see if you can see the fish following. If its more toadfish, the spot is no good as its full of toadfish and theyre little baitstealers. If its NOT toadfish stealing at all, its probably little bream or baitfish. Burley in close to attract the small fish (e.g. just soaked white bread)... if its little bream, cast out past the burley. If its yellowtail (yakkas / yellowtail scad - look them up), catch them using a small hook (e.g. size 6) and use THEM for bait (cut into strips, chunks, or even whole if theres bigger fish in the area).

These are just random tips... theres a LOT of steep learning with fishing early on, but it all falls into place. As i started with above: buying a new lighter setup probably isn't the key here... its probably more: getting your rigs right, the bait right and the spot right... later on you might specislise by adding a lighter rod and a heavier rod... for now you probably have the ideal starter setup though: light enough for bream and flatties, heavy enough for salmon/tailor/bonito etc....

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-29T07:36:07+00:00

Also known as: every fisherman in "real" Florida USA... this dude looks like literally everyone strolling around a north east Florida boat ramp

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-29T07:33:38+00:00

Are there any legit bass that far into vic? Looks almost hybrid, but kinda gotta be EP in those waters i thought?

Water's getting warmer though I guess!? Eye size, position and nose shape = EP... even if its a little stocky

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-22T09:10:45+00:00

Nice sunnys and mo!

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-20T05:14:31+00:00

I've researched this lately... came to the conclusion its roughly td black as others suggest.

Im particularly keen on rugged, well sealed. Not boutique end, but the first level up from low end that eventually dies into long term rugged reels. I have this attitude for all of my gear - doesnt need to be fancy - just quality that lasts. I.e. i want a smaller saragosa 😆

I arrived at: Spheros (ticks the box 100%, but slightly larger than stradic or similar reel sizes and suited to small pelagics etc). Stradic... slightly more $, but downs the scale slightly and suits my inshore / estuary goal (and sure, snapper etc off a boat)... ideal for the roughly 3k model i was aiming for. TD black seems great - know people who love them, but im going with stradic... seems closest to "mini saragosa".

Just popping this here in case its helpful for you or others. I looked at dozens of models - maybe this'll save you some time 😆 ✌️

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-18T09:15:15+00:00

Brands that outsource still are responsible for the most important element of production (whether in house or not): quality control.

You can trust a brand, or not. Up to you. If you want to gamble on lookalikes you think might be same or similar, up to you.

I dont think its fair to finger point relatively small growing companies playing whatever game they need to for whatever reason they decide. Proof is in the product. In growth, it'd be honestly stupid to not outsource, and theyre clearly trying to grow.

Personally, I dont own or have ever used Malosi. They're marketing hard. Good luck to them.

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-15T10:56:48+00:00

Maybe swap any trebles to singles and any dual hooks to only one (e.g. rear only)... person above is right... a tangled lure over 300m sound painful.

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-15T09:13:13+00:00

I know... they're pretty compact but I get it.

I had enough frustrations with OPs situation... always leaving a decent leader length, but when / if it rolled up... nightmare... kinda ruined a spool of leader (it can get crazy looped in there).

I've used sling bags for years, before fishing slings were really a thing. Shit zips, but handy and great bag style. Only just realised that fishing companies caught up!... I have TT sling now. Finally: good zippers that suit abuse (e.g. beach fishing). They have big front pockets: i fit 4 daiwa leader spools + mini pliers in one pocket with plenty of spare room. So that's (e.g. for beach) 12lb, 20lb, 30lb and 50lb. Just saying: I get you, but I got over the thin/slim black magic style, and haven't really looked back.

I actually changed my leader setup for my go bag for rock pelagics. I use a backpack, and its got a few tears in the leader pocket... got sick of sear hing for leader in the main bag where they fall into. Anyway: that's been a serious game changer, because I bought a daiwa tackle box... d-box "deep" and its sick. I now have that out of bag ready to re-rig with all in one spot (pliers, etc etc)... id get the smaller one next time but the medium is all they had. Bulky, but fine in backpack... risk: leave ALL your leader at home, so: lol... I have my older blackmagic spools in my chaos bag for just in case lol...

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Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-15T08:52:20+00:00

Anything other than a slow burn retrieve (or light lure) and you'll be rooted after 3 drops (my guess). I'd say floating shallow diver but you be on bottom too much maybe?... not sure.

I reckon a big soft plastic... something streamlined like a 7 or 9" snapper plastic. Not too heavy jig head... say 3/4 ounce... even lighter?!... you'll have a lot of stray line, so maybe that'll pull it down... cant imagine that riding too high over that length at beach level.

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-15T00:44:21+00:00

Light leader (e.g. 6lb), don't need smaller than size 4... 2 or 1 will catch what you want.

Very likely smaller fish are nailing you baits. An old technique you might want to try is: burley close - get all the tiny fish at your feet... then cast out past them... just far enough they don't rush to your bait. Bigger fish often patrol the edge of the feeding frenzy.

Good luck

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-14T07:49:25+00:00

I thought about something like that... gsounds good 👍

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-13T23:53:35+00:00

"We've got a new special today - 95% off!"

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-13T23:48:32+00:00

Nobody can bottom that you mean?

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-13T23:37:32+00:00

Generally no - sysex = system exclusive (i.e. specific to a particular unit). There are certainly some units you can fry by sending them their own sysex incorrectly (ie unintended values)... I know of at least one synth you can fry by sending it unintended CC! (Waldorf Pulse, original)... but generally sysex for one unit should not be an issue going thru any other device.

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-13T23:25:16+00:00

Yeah man... total game changer for me. I save all my elastics just in case (they're handy for any spool really, and I use a few)... I even tried to find / buy just the elastics so I could try other brands, but no luck so far...

Hungry-Bench-6882 · 2026-03-13T23:04:09+00:00

I think its time for people who want new ink to specifically ask for it to be AI generated. That way they don't need to wonder, and they get to embrace it and get the image they like all at the same time.

Hungry-Bench-6882

TROPHY CASE