My old man is catching all the fish down there right now so don't bother going this weekend there will be none left
Best bet is probably Betka for surf it's down the airport road and it's very easy to find.
20 pound sinkers, geez if you manage to cast them they will hit New Zealand.
First thing I do is go into the fishing shop at Lakes and buy some of his long barrel(ish) sinkers (he's one of the few east of Melbourne I've seen selling them) with 4 long legs on them, they are absolutely brilliant for the rougher water because you can bend the legs and by **** do they hold in the sand when you bend them right, but do it gradually, going to far first cast and you'll wonder what the hell you've hooked as the sinker buries itself.
Secondly I'd piss off the wire rigs, they are good for a few casts but apparently there is a lot of crabs down there right now and they will just chew the crap out of the wire and wrap it around it's self and once it's kinked it's almost useless. If you've got the time replicate those rigs with some 50-80 pound leader and you'll have a much easier time. (might be an idea to take a few more than 2, anyone learning to surf fish is bound to loose a few pieces of lead).
4/0's will be fine but remember that you can always catch big fish on small hooks, it's harder to catch smaller fish on big hooks. Many of the bigger than legal sized frogs and salmon down there will happily take a 2/0 and given that in most cases in surf fishing you'll let the fish hook itself rather than sitting on a Jetty when you can reef the hook out of the fish's mouth with a big TV lift it's often better to give them a small hook that they swallow. Also consider that the bigger the bait the more the crabs will chew it. To save wasting bait in the quiet times buy a few "surf poppers" (the guy at Lakes knows exactly what they are) stick on baited hook and one popper, you'll be surprised just how often the fish takes the popper.
thanks
