Anglers in the Sydney region are very fortunate to have a great array of fish species to target. There are different target fish all year round, and although the natural tendency is for the fishing to slow down both in numbers and species as winter approaches, a change of tactics and species can bring the versatile fisherman good rewards.
Photo is of thick bubbly green algae collected from South Curl Curl rocks
Luderick, or blackfish as they are often known, are one of the most abundant slow season fish. They are fun to catch, challenging and good table fish. They are also easy to catch and the gear required simple and inexpensive. Big talk considering all of the words penned about blackfish over the years, but nevertheless, the point of this article.
When it comes to float fishing for Luderick, the centrepin reel is the best tool for the job. Debatable perhaps, but in my opinion, and for the purposes of this article lets assume that this is correct.
Photo 1 - TopLeft Grice & Young Avon Royal Supreme, TopRight Okuma Aventa Pro, BottomLeft Alvey 475B, BottomRight Grice & Young Golden Eagle
I prefer to use a centrepin for a number of reasons. Centrepins give you the ability to let a float drift unencumbered, they let you maintain your line easily, they don't introduce line twist, they allow direct contact when playing a fish and they are easy to maintain. They do have one disadvantage in that they are harder to cast, and you will never get quite as much distance as you could get with a sidecast, for example.
