THROUGH the 1980s blackfish seemed to lose the massive appeal they’d held for anglers since well before World War II. New species and light tackle techniques became fashionable … small hard-bodied lures, soft plastics, saltwater flies and blades … generally fished from small boats, canoes or kayaks. Suddenly spots which might have attracted 20 or 30 blackfish anglers every Saturday through the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s were virtually deserted, with only a few mainly older practitioners “keeping the faith”. Fishing magazines and broadsheets once devoted huge numbers of column inches to blackfish, and any species or technique based guide published during that time would have whole chapters on the intricacies of blackfish fishing.
Times change, as do gear, techniques and fishing fashions. But anglers seem to be drifting back to blackfish angling, with fishers with Korean or Chinese backgrounds being well represented in the ranks these days. And why not? Blackfish fight hard, are still pretty numerous, bite well right through the daylight hours and are very good to eat if properly prepared.
So here are some thoughts based on about 50 years of chasing the elusive luderick, holding faith with the best of the old methods while taking advantage of the innovations that new tackle technology can offer.
Gearing up
The old tackle guides were really prescriptive on what gear to buy. Rods from 9 foot to 10 foot 6 inches. Centrepin reels from 4 to 4.5 inches. Six pound mainline, 4lb leader. Flattened sneck hooks in sizes 8, 9 or 10. Vaseline to grease your line. Cord keeper nets to keep fish alive until cleaning time.
How much of that remains relevant? Probably only the centrepin reel bit … and, let’s face it, plenty of blackfish now get taken on threadline reels, particularly baitrunner styles, and sidecasts. While sidecasts are direct drive like centrepins, they twist the line when married to a blackfish float rig. I’d argue that in reefy, kelpy areas, there’s nothing like a centrepin for line control and handling big, strong blackfish. And if you want to have the ability to regularly land rock blackfish (pigs) or silver drummer on blackfish tackle, a direct drive reel is without peer.
Old Avon and similar English centrepins are cherished by their owners. Okuma and Alvey make great modern alternatives, with ball races rather than pin systems.
Rods
Thinking on rods has changed dramatically. Carbon fibre means you can easily hold a 14 foot rod (in the old measure) all day, where a 1960s solid glass 9 footer or even a 10’6” Slazenger early hollow ‘glass number would feel like a barge pole these days.
Interestingly, most blackfish rods are still described in feet and inches rather than metres, which probably says something about the age of the anglers they’re aimed at.
A long rod on the ocean rocks allows you to pick up a great length of line on the strike. As most of my rock fishing is at water level, I use a relatively light 13’4” Loomis float rod as my main choice these days. It’s rated for 4-8lb line and is in fact built for centrepin fishing for steelhead trout in the USA and Canada. My “back up” is a very similar 12′ Silstar, and a mate has been using a 13’6” version of the same rod for several years. Sadly Silstar no longer brings these rods into Australia, nor does Okuma, which has a similar range advertised on US and UK websites.
Other anglers have moved to long, telescopic Japanese ISO rods as alternatives. Originally these were hideously expensive, but selected tackle shops now seem to have some cheaper versions from around $150. Some are in-line rods, with no runners. They appear to work pretty well.
Using these light rods is fine at water level, where you can wash or slide your fish out. If your favourite spots are higher off the water you either need a rod with a bit more muscle or a long handled landing net. Two good “muscle rods” are those built on Pacific Composites PPG Blackfish (MT4144G) or FSU4144G blanks.
For estuary work, shorter rods are better and there’s a wide choice. Shakespeare’s Agility 10’6” IM7 graphite 1-4kg rod is great value at about $90.
Line
While blackfish reels haven’t changed a lot, and rods are essentially hi-tech versions of traditional models, lines are a whole new game.
Some anglers now swear by braid main lines: don’t rot, float, make striking easy. Fine if you’re targeting fish at the end of long drifts. I experimented with braid and fluorocarbon leaders quite successfully until a day when I hit a patch of big blackfish sitting virtually at my feet. No stretch meant bust off after bust off.
So I went back to the alternative: co-polymer float line. Siglon made the first of these that worked well (it was called Siglon Float Line) but it went off the market for a few years. It was replaced by Siglon F, then Fine Float. These are usually a fluoro colour – yellow, pink or green. They also don’t need vaselining like the old monos did, although after a lot of use the first few metres seem to lose its flotation and need to be discarded. They’re also very tangle resistant. Lately, though, my line of choice has been 12lb Dango Wax – an orange coloured float line. It doesn’t seem to lose its flotation qualities over time.
But isn’t 12lb unnecessarily heavy? Yes, but it’s about diameter, not thickness, these days. This line is 0.288mm, perfect to cast from a centrepin and with the bonus that you can fish up to 10lb leader and not lose floats to rampaging pigs.
Same goes for leaders. In the old days 4lb mono was about 0.23mm. These days, 0.23 can be anything up to 10lb or so. And in fluorocarbon, it’s both harder for the fish to see and more abrasion resistant. Which adds up to far fewer bust offs and lots more pigs (and surgeon fish, silver drummer and big bream) landed on blackfish tackle. My favourite leader? Seaguar, in six or 8lb. Go the six when the blackfish are shy, eight when there are pigs about or conditions are rough or reefy. The leader should be about a metre long and attached to the mainline with a size 12 or 14 swivel.
Hooks
Back in the day, 99 per cent of old blackfish anglers used Mustad flattened 9070 sneck hooks in sizes 8, 9 or 10. They argued flattened hooks sat better in the bait than ringed hooks, and bait presentation is the single most critical issue in blackfish angling. You can master the basics in months, but getting really proficient in mounting a really attractive, natural looking bait takes years. That’s the main difference between anglers who might get three fish in a session when the old guy next door gets 20.
Flattened snecks are now gone, as are most of the old gun anglers who used them. You can still get flattened hooks in various panfish patterns, but truthfully I think they’re not crucial now we’ve got fluorocarbon leaders. Years ago I settled on a hook I keep going back to for its hooking and holding qualities: Mustad’s 92554 size 10, two times extra strong Suicide pattern
Bait
Good bait means good blackfish fishing. Green string or gut weed, sea lettuce or cabbage and fine brown weed all grow on rock platforms, in rock pools and on pylons and mud beds at various times. But rough weather, heavy rain or hot days can knock out whole areas for weeks at a time. You need to have a few alternative tried and true bait gathering spots.
String weed will keep up to a week and almost every blackfish fisho has his or her own favourite keeping method. Mine? Squeeze out every drop of water, and then tease out the weed so that air can circulate. Keep it in a cool spot in an open ice cream container.
Which bait is best? It’s different on a daily basis. Each of the three mentioned above will work best on a given day. Why? I’ve no idea.
If you’re fishing a rock platform, you can scrape locally growing weed or cabbage into the water for berley. If you’re fishing a wharf or sandy channel, you need to finely cut up about half your bait and mix it with a bucket of wet sand to get the fish going. Throw in a handful every 10 minutes or so.
Floats
Blackfish fishing is based on English coarse fishing. You use a lightly weighted float to pick up a drift and put your bait where the fish are sitting and hopefully feeding. Newcomers generally buy floats that are too big. Even in rough water, a float which will hold around eight No.1 split shot is big enough. In still water, a float half that buoyant is fine. While many anglers now use very small bobby corks, I still like a visible mast on a cork float weighted so only the mast shows above the water.
Tackle shops have plenty to choose from. I make my own using shaped wine corks on satay skewers, suitably painted. For still water fishing, I’ve got sliding floats with rings (made from cut safety pins) which get rigged under a stopper knot. For rough water I use a piece of flex rather than a ring on the bottom of the skewer to create a fixed float, which can be slid on the line according to water depth. Trial and error on a particular day will determine the ideal depth to fish.
Hooking & playing fish
You wait for the float to go down, raise the rod to set the hook, and then play the fish in. Sound simple?
Yes and no. Some days blackfish will take a float down two metres and you’ll still miss them. Other days the float will just twitch and if you strike then, you’ll hook up. Every day is different … you have to adjust and experiment.
Same goes for raising the rod, or “striking”. Some days it’s a simple lift. On others, if your float’s at the end of a long drift or it’s windy and your main line is bowed, you might have to step back a couple of metres and give a full on hit.
Whatever happens, once you’ve hooked a solid blackfish on your light tackle you’re in for a good fight. A big fish (a kilo plus) could take five or 10 minutes to play out and get ready to land. Then you’ve got to be patient: your leader’s light, your hook is small. You need to carefully net your fish or ease it out with the assistance of a wave, and resist the temptation to straight lift it unless there’s no other choice.
I could write pages more about these feisty targets. One great thing about them is their availability in the southern states …low cost fishing, even the bait’s free. For me, a top blackfish day on the Sydney rocks is as good as a top barra day on a NT river.
As previously noted, blackfish are good eating, as long as they’re bled and cleaned. Hence the need for a swim net for any fish you want to keep, a good filleting knife and a stiff brush for the gut cavity, if you want to keep your fish whole. Baked whole, or skinned, filleted and fried in Panko breadcrumbs (my favourite method), a blackfish is as good as a bream any day.
