▲TopLuderick Fishing Sydney

I’m confident that by the time you read this all the pelagic action will be well and truly over despite the whole season running late. The salmon shouldn’t be too far away but in the mean time its time to turn some attention to that reliable winter stand-by - the Luderick

The tricky bit to blackfish fishing is in the control of the rig. Light floats, long drops, wind resistant baits and lots of sinkers add up to a rig that demands constant attention. There's two ways to go and they both have their good and bad points.

You can opt for the running float rig. This consists of a standard long stemmed blackfish float that is free to run on the line. It's stopped a certain distance from the hook by a split shot and stopped from running all the way up the line by a 'stopper'. The 'stopper' can be a piece of light string tied to the line or any one of a number of commercially produced rubber 'stoppers'. The main criteria for a stopper is that it clamps tightly enough to the main line to stop the float sliding any further than you want it to but still must be loose enough that it can be moved up or down in order to change the depth of the drop. It must also be able to be wound through the runners, sometimes even onto the reel and cast back out again without snagging. The main advantages of this rig is that the length of the drop from the rod tip can be as short as a couple of feet and the maximum depth of the drop below the float is infinite. This makes it an easy rig to cast and can be cast further than the alternative. The disadvantage is that it is prone to tangling due to the fact that the wind resistant bait is very close to the float during the cast.

The alternative rig consists of a fixed float. A split shot clamped above and below the float restricts its movement up or down the line. This means that the float is fixed on the line at the full depth you are fishing. The problem with this rig is that if you are fishing deep at lets say ten feet or more you will have that full ten feet of line hanging down from the rod tip. As you would imagine this would be difficult to handle. The big advantage with this rig is that is much less prone to tangling during the cast because the bait is so far from the float. This is the method I use most often. Obviously if you are fishing more than about twelve feet then this rig is not applicable, but this does not occur very often.

Weighting of the float is critical. Most floats consist of a thin stem with a stream lined float of either cork or foam about two thirds of the way up the stem. The float must be weighted so that the cork or foam section is under water leaving just the one third of the stem above the float showing. The float is weighted with split shot, running sinkers, strip lead around the stem of the float or a combination of all of these.

Whether conditions dictate the size and weight of the float you will use. In windy rough conditions you will need a big heavy float and in calm conditions the smaller the float the better. A quill float makes an ideal still water float.

The rods used in blackfish fishing are long and soft for a number of reasons. They are long because of the need to handle the long drop often used under the float as described above. The extra length also helps to lift the 'belly' out of the line when you go to strike. The term 'Belly' refers to an ark in the line between the rod tip and the float often created by a cross current or wind. On a long drift, the belly can become so severe that the strike only serves to lift out the belly and sometimes never reaches the float. The rod must be soft because the blackfish's mouth and the hooks used are small. This combined with a stiff rod would pull the hook clean out of the fishes mouth. The long rod offers the cushion needed to prevent this happening during the fishes strong lunges.

The choice of reel is up to you. I’ve seen egg-beaters, baitcasters and centerpins used successfully. Centerpins are still used on a traditional basis rather than on their practicality. If you opt for a centerpin then go for a side cast such as those made by Alvey. I use egg beaters as they offer open face casting, a fast retrieve which is important when picking up 'belly' before striking and the ability to feed line smoothly to the float to allow it to drift.

For the smaller river blackfish a six pound line and a no. 8 or 10 hook will suffice. The big ocean bronzies will require heavier tackle. A no. six hook would be more appropriate along with a ten or twelve pound line.

If you fish for blackfish in the harbour for long enough you will no doubt encounter the mighty surgeon fish. They are taken using the same methods as Luderick but you might consider upping the tackle a bit if you intend to fish specifically for surgeon and as mentioned before they are location specific. They are no where as abundant or wide spread as Luderick but they obviously do mix. Deep water bridge and jetty pylons are prime locations as are along deep reef edges in selected locations in the lower harbour. When prospecting for them I would strongly recommend fishing a cabbage bait close to the bottom (as well as your standard float rig) off a Paternoster rig as

They are caught in water as shallow as 10ft but are much more commonly in the 20 to 40 ft range. Given that we rarely present weed baits in these sort of depths it’s not surprising that surgeon fish are an