Holiday Beach Basics by Jamie Robley

It's that time of year again when we can get out and enjoy the great outdoors. Sun, surf and sand are part of our culture and along with swimming and surfing, beach fishing is one of our more popular warm weather pastimes.

There is, however, a difference between fishing a beach and actually catching fish from it. So after reading this article you'll hopefully be catching fish at the beach rather than just casting out and hoping for the best.

There are basically three categories of beach fishing available to NSW anglers: Light tackle, medium tackle and heavy tackle. Light tackle is best suited to the middle of the day and the main fish you'll run into are whiting along with bream, dart, flathead and maybe a stray tailor or salmon. Suitable tackle is a light two- to three-metre rod matched to a small threadline or sidecast reel spooled with 3kg or 4kg line. I recommend 3kg Schneider or Maxima for the task although 6lb Fireline also works well if you prefer to use braid.

A small tackle box with a few hooks, sinkers, swivels and maybe a lure or two can be thrown in a bucket or shoulder bag along with some pliers, bait knife, rag for wiping smelly hands and, of course, some bait (we'll get to bait in a minute ). Hat, polarised sunnies and sunscreen complete the kit.