Huge seas during the week and big tides meant that there was a good chance of there being fish around from the rocks, but access to weed and cabbage is a problem so I decided to fish from a high ledge, almost a cliff, down at Middle Head.There is a real skill in this type of fishing, or at least some good simple knowledge that is required. Cutting to the chase, the fishing wasn't spectacular, but I did hook and land 3 black drummer and 1 silver drummer. Only 1 drummer worth keeping, 2 were borderline and well, I'd rather eat just about anything rather than silver drummer.
Fishing into rough water using lightly weighted baits requires a couple of things. Firstly abrasion resistant, light strong line and secondly the ability to position your bait and maintain line. An Alvey really is the way to go, especially one with the handles attached directly to the spool. With an Alvey you can wind line in and let it out again just as easily, this allows you to maintain line as the bait moves around in the water without getting snagged. If the bait moves around eventually it will move where the burley is moving and right to the fish. The type of territory we are talking about is rugged and unforgiving when it comes to monofiliament. Try to find a monofiliament line that is both abrasion resistant and thin for its breaking strain. I am using one at the moment called Surecatch Krypton at 9kg. Its a bit heavy for bream fishing but perfect for black drummer and large bream. There is some malarky on the packaging about it being fluorocarbon coated, but whatever the technology it is very strong for its diameter and I can attest to its resistance to abrasion.
This Photo Shows the type of height you can fish from, this is during a lull in the sea, but you can clearly sea the effects
Today I was fishing with bread, the thing I like about bread is that you can berley as you go, using the fresh inside and berleying with the crusts. Fishing up high like I was today (about 3 metres off water level) hooking and playing fish is one thing, but landing them is another thing altogether. Again this is where a long strong rod and an Alvey really shine. Today I was using a 13 foot snyderglas and an Alvey 60A. You basically fight the fish to a standstill and then winch the fish up to a height where you can swing them up onto the ledge. To do this a reel with the handles attached directly to the spools is imperative.
Keeping it simple, An Alvey 60A, pea sinker directly on top of a 1/0 hook and 9kg mono, note the handles on the spool of the Alvey enabling direct wind.