Welcome to land based fishing for beginners. This article is perfect for those who are new to fishing or those looking for a few tips to catch more fish. Alan has fished extensively land-based fished all around Melbourne and this article will walk you through simple key repetitive techniques to help improve your catch rates.
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Watch a detailed video on land-based fishing for beginners below
Rod & Reel for land based fishing
When starting your fishing journey you won’t need an expensive or extravagant fishing rod combo. In fact, the vast majority of fish that you will catch land based fishing around Melbourne will be between 25cm and 45 cm. So you want to buy something that’s appropriate for that style of fishing. We would highly recommend a fishing rod that’s around 7 foot in length. This is a great size 7 and you should avoid really long rods above 8 foot which are difficult for beginners to cast. The rod should be a 2-4 kilo class which is perfect for land based fish. Then pair the rod with a 2500 size reel and spool the reel with 8 pound monofilament or braid fishing line.
As you become more experienced you may want to tackle bigger fish and more challenging conditions such as fishing at the surf. At this point, you can move your up the scale to heavier and longer rods and larger reels. That being said I have caught plenty of good size fish using the 2-4 kilo rod recommended earlier.
Rig set up for land based fishing
We recommend starting with a simple running sinker rig. It’s easy to set up and very effective.
Thread a small running sinker through the mainline shown in blue, which is usually around 8 pounds. Then tie a medium swivel to the end allowing the sinker to run up the mainline freely. Then tie on the other end of the swivel 50cm of 8-pound fluorocarbon leader (the leader is shown in grey ). Finished with a hook. I generally use a size 6 bait keeper hook or size 10 long shank which is perfect for corn kernels or scrub worms, however, you can also use small treble style hooks which is a better setup if you using bread.
Get started with basic baits
When fishing it’s important to understand the area you are fishing and more specifically what fish species you are targeting. Different fish respond to different baits. Fish willl happily take a wide variety of baits including the following
- pilchards
- scrub worms
- maggots
- yabbies
- tubeworms
- peeled prawns
- raw chicken
- bread
- whitebait
- pipis
As per our video above we would highly recommend starting with pilchards and scrub worms. This will allow you to target species such as snapper ( pinkies ), bream, flathead, mullet, trevally, whiting and more.
Do make sure that you thread the bait on the hook properly ensuring that the hook is completely exposed to maximise hookups.
How to cast a fishing rod
Casting is a simple technique that does take some practice to master. Doing good casts consistently can be the difference between catching fish or not by getting your baits in the optimal area. The biggest thing to keep in mind when beginning is to keep it simple. Don’t try to cast too far. Nice, simple and smooth technique.
Place your index finger on the line, lift the bail arm. Place the rod behind you positioned at 9 o’clock then a nice gentle cast letting your index finger go and finishing at 3.0 o’clock. Practice is the key.
Accessories for land based fishing
You will need the following accessories when starting
- Fishing Net
- Rod holders
- Pliers
- Scissors
land based fishing spots around Melbourne
For starters have a look at our detailed fishing locations guide. Which walks you through how to catch fish at 200 different locations around Melbourne.
- Werribee River
- Maribyrnong River
- Footscray Buddhist temple
- Dynon road bridge
- Lynches bridge
- Pipemakers Park
- Flemington racecourse
- behind the anglers tavern
- Canning reserve
- edge water estate
- Riverside park pirate ship playground
- Essendon rowing club near the visible drains
- around the Highpoint shopping centre.
- Yarra River
- Docklands
- West Gate Bridge
- Crown Casino entrance
- Bolte Bridge
- Patterson river
- Barwon river
- Bemm River
- Marlo
- Lake Tyers
- Hopkins River
- Mitchell River
- Tambo River
Additions or Corrections for this fish species
Thank you for reading our land based fishing for beginners. If you feel this fish species guide is missing key information or needs any corrections. Then please let us know by emailing our team at enquiries@fishingmad.com.au with specific details in the email. Thank you