The fixation with 'stump pullers'

[Pukka]

Hi Breamers,

I don't know about you guys, but I've noticed a re-occuring theme when describing the 'ideal' breamrod.
It seems in an effort to gain 'bream rod nirvana', there has been an increasing interest in rods that are able to throw 1/32nds and yet still have enough power in the butt section to pull a small car.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this fascination with the 'stump puller' originated with the guys who were fishing for big bluenoses amongst the oyster racks in competition. After getting blown away numerous times, these guys, or at least some of them, demanded a rod that could throw the light stuff yet still 'rip' a fish off a rack, with a fully locked drag, in record time.
Now I'm all for rod's designed for a specific purpose but this hankering for 'low end grunt' seems to have worked it's way into every new bream rod designed, and I'm not sure half of us breamers need that grunt in the first place.
I think with the present day materials and rod building techniques it's impossible to make a bream rod that covers all the fishing styles and eventualities, and does them as well as a rod specifically designed for that purpose. That is why most of us who fish a lot, and in many diff' situations must have a 'quiver' of rods, (it's not just 'cause I like collecting them - honest! ).
What do you guys think?

Pukka
(Proud member of the 1-2kg rod club )

PS Just an added note to my post... our very own Dave W did extremelly well in the Forster ABT comp' fishing the flats - no need for a 'stump puller' there. Also, Tim Morgan who won the event, fish the racks but didn't use a 'rip and wind' technique either, preferring to 'chase' the fish down. No need for 'grunt' there either... maybe it's a guy thing, you tell me.

Pukka, interesting thoughts you have there, I would tend to agree with to a certain extent.

Cheers Samurai

[Ravin]

Your talking common sense I reckon Pukka. I have a few different outfits & yeh I have a stump puller its a 6'9 St Croix blank I had built up. Its used around the natural snags here where I get hit by Jacks a bit as well as bream.

To be honest the extra grunt in the butt hasn't made the slightest difference to the outcome on the Jacks Its been a win - win situation for them that is. Its a good outfit for targetting big flathead & the different types of Trevally around here as well where a bit of power comes in very handy.

A lot of my fishing is done on flats & around weed beds & around a few pontoons & the 2 rods I use for this a 6 footer for the pontoons & a 7 footer for the flats are not big in the power department but they do the job very well. My most recent outfit is a Strudwick 1-2 kilo ultra light spin rod with a Stradic 1000 & its a pleasure to use. Taken some nice Lizards on it to 2 kilos & a few good bream & it handles them with ease.

Good post Pukka I reckon this will be an interesting thread with a few different points of view.

I reckon you can count me in as a member of the 1 to 2 kg club (until Jack & GT season )

[Dave W]

I agree mate

You'll always need a rod for heavy work around nasty structure (if you choose to fish there ).

But for the majority of work, even around bridges , jetties and pylons you can use a rod as sloppy as you like, makes a bow and arrow cast a lot easier too

One of my favorite rods is the 602LFS Procaster-X. Not exactly a brutal kind of stick, and the action lets you 'lob' a jighead in certain circumstances, rather than having to outright drive a cast if you were using a really fast rod....

If I was in the market for a new rod, I'd definitely look at a Heartland 'Midge Direction' - I just love this stick but I can't justify spending the dollars when I get my rods from another source

I thinkyou've got that one Nice choice - and the butt looks sexy

Cheers,

[Pukka]

Thanks for the comments Warren, be interested to know your thoughts too.

Rav' I hope you manage to pull in one of those Jacks. I think I might be sensible and leave the 1kg tackle at home when I get the opportunity to chase those beasts

Dave you're right mate, I bought the 'midge' a few months back and at the moment it's the first rod I pick up when I'm off for a 'sesh' - I love it, but don't tell her indoors, eh!

Joe

[Ravin]

Pukka your right about leaving the fairy wand in the rod locker Trouble is Jacks love a nicely presented bream lure or plastic. Wish they were as keen when I target them with the elephant gun

Hi Guys, most of the bream fishing I do is done with a 2/4 kilo stix,
but there are quite often times when targeting bream up north (yes we do fish for bream in the north, when the barra are a bit quite) you need that heavier stix because of the type of terrain the bream live in up north, as you can see by the attached pic, anything lighter than a 4/6 and you can kiss your lures bye bye.

I find the same applies with barra fishing, I would normally use a 4/7 kilo but always carry 5/8 and a 8/10 depending where I'm fishing or if I intend doing any deep water trolling (I hate trolling)

Cheers Samurai

Great pic there Warren!
I thought we got into tough terrain at times!

Dave

Thanks Dave, we do a lot of luring like that with softs, when that pic was taken the boat was pulled in under the mangrove canopy about thirty feet. you don't cast just strip the line lol.

Cheers Samurai

[fatman]

I prefer the "quiver of rods" rather than one all-rounder. I use a Pacific Composites AF 107 Ultraspin spooled with 4 lb Fireline/6lb leader for light work, and a heavier Serengetti 20006 with 6lb Fireline/10lb leader for around heavy structure and oyster racks.

FATMAN

[pw-bream]

I have caught so many Bream and Flathead on a custom rolled rod on a Butterworth FMT72L blank (a very light, soft blank) that I don't think you need a "stump puller" either. Even at Docklands the rod works amongst the structure there. In fact it is a bit like a short stroker, most of the length follows the line leaving a short section doing the levering.

A longer rod that stays out straight under load might give more ability to lead a fish round an outboard leg or similar, but I don't think it "pulls" a fish out toward you any quicker/better. In fact the principals of leverage would suggest that it is worse.

[Mick]

I tend to think that the light tip/low grunt trend in bream rods is a good thing. Due to the nature of the fish it self, there will always be a myriad of rod actions for different situations but when you get down to basics I feel that a good bream rod is one as you described, a stick that can cast a light weight but still able to drag a decent fish from structure, but of course this is only a personal opinion and Im sure others will disagree.

The bream spin revolution has also brought about a new revolution in rod building. It’s good to know that if you buy a custom bream rod you are getting a rod designed to catch bream, not big mouth bass, small mouth bass, striped bass, blue gill, crappies, walleye, trout etc etc.

A light slow action “whippy� style of rod is perfect fishing friendly country over sand flats, weed beds etc. But I feel its shortcomings would quickly become apparent fighting fish in racks, around wharves, boats and moorings, reefy areas and other rough country.

At the end of the day I think most bream fisho’s will have a few rods in their arsenal but if I had the choice to choose only one type of rod to fish all of the above mentioned areas, I would go with the light tip/low grunt action model rather than a light whippy wand.

Although I have a couple of lighter slower rods, most of my fishing is done with fast action models which have helped me catch a fish of two in the past.

[dan_WA]

....The only stump puller I want is for 'da back of da hilux' to tow me boat !!

[Richo]

I think its important to have something in your arsenal that will stop a fish anywhere in its tracks, I fish with a Breamreaper (which has these capabilities), and a Jerking Special HLZ and then the Finesse Solid SLim HLZ 4-10pd for the biggies.

The solid slim is mainly for my stump pulling and avoiding dangerous looking mussel incrusted pylons.

Thanks to skipper CraigS I managed to get out and give it a go on the weekend, It managed to nail a fat 41cm and another tall fat 45cm in 3 casts, and neither fish really made an impression on the rod - for their weight this was suprising - and to say the least I was a little impressed. I then hooked something which took more line than the 2 blackies before it but just didn`t have the weight - I was thinking Blackie, nah couldn`t be a smaller blackie that was stronger than the other 2, then much to my suprise out came a lil 30odd cm Sambo tough lil sucker.

I still think a few different rods suited to different situations (flats, snags, leases, jetties) is the way to go. But I never leave home without the Stump Puller.

By the way the day you forget your camera is the day you have a ball. and get nice fish.

cheers

[Craig_S]

Yes Richard, nice tip that...do NOT forget your camera.

Me and Richo are standing in the dark ready to launch the boat and he says that he's left the camera at home. With a laugh Richo tells me that we'll probably end up with hooters on account of that...30 minutes later Richo is lifting the best bream I've seen in a fair while and what waould easily have been his Swan River PB. No scales, no camera but still 2 very excited anglers.

Still, I saw it mate and it was a corker.