The problem going away on a trip with my fishing partner Neil Tedesco, is two fold. Firstly, he's a gun angler so invariably he catches more fish than me and I'm the one left holding the camera. Secondly, when away he transforms into a complete insomniac. Unfortunately  I require an obligatory 8 hours shut eye a night or I become not only dysfunctional but totally non functional. On one of our last trips to the eastern beaches in South Australia, I had visions of a ‘Weekend at Bernie's' situation developing. By the end of the trip I could see Neil dragging me around the sand by one leg, then waving my hand at passers by pretending everything was OK. Anyway, such is the lot of the angler willing to travel.

Most of the surf fishing we do in South Australia is done around the Murray River mouth and its surrounding beaches and the target species is Jew fish or Mulloway. The town of Goolwa is about 14km from the mouth of the Murray and is a good base to use for restocking supplies and is about an 8 hour drive from Melbourne. We've fished this area a number of times and mainly we do it as a weekend trip, leaving Friday night and getting back Sunday. ‘Not much time to fish' I hear you say. Well the best thing about fishing this area is that the beach on the western side of the mouth is a national park and with a permit from the local shire, you can camp on the beach. So when its time for bed it's just a matter of winding in your rod, walk 30 meters up the beach to the tent then hit the sack.

We generally fish the last 3 hours of the rising tide then the first hour of the ebb and sleep the rest of the time. The perfect existence - fishing and sleeping. Neil of coarse has to take this a little further. You can actually fish the mouth of the Murray on a run out tide, hence the title ‘insomniac', because when you fish both beach and the Murray mouth itself there is precious little time left for sleeping. I suppose this is the great thing about fishing this area with a group of fishing buddies. You can set your own agenda. If you want to fish you fish, if you want to sleep, just walk up to the tent - sweet.

As I just mentioned you can fish the mouth of the river itself. Now a word of warning. This is not for the ill equipped, poor swimmers or the faint hearted. To fish this area properly, you need to have your bait positioned out beyond the breakers. This means wading out 100 meters or so from the shore and standing in water up to your chest. People drown here regularly trying to do this without taking the proper precautions. You will need a good life jacket and a wet suit if you intend fishing the mouth. Because you fish the run out tide here, one false move and you will be swept out to sea if you're not correctly attired. Speaking to some of the locals you hear all sorts of stories about people who wander out towards the breakers in their jeans, get swept off their feet then have to be rescued by another angler casting a lure out to them on heavy braid, grabbing it, then being brought back in. Ouch! Imagine the cuts from the braid! So the rule here is simple, use the right safety gear or keep the hell away from the mouth.

When looking at gear for fishing, the set ups vary according to where you fish. When fishing the mouth, a 9 - 12" surf rod matched to an over head reel is the best choice. This is because the bait is drifted out in the current beyond the breakers as opposed to being cast great distances, and you'll need a reel that allows you to free spool a bait in this manner. On the beaches on the other hand, baits need to be cast out to the gutters and although over head reels can do this, because we fish with braided line, a good quality thread line is more effective. Once again a surf rod in the 9-12" range is ideal.

Terminals vary also. When fishing the mouth, a ball sinker around 2 oz is fished above a rolling swivel and a 60 Ibs leader runs down to a couple of 8/0 hooks. Only a fairly light sinker is used so that the bait can wash around in the current and hopefully drift pass a waiting Jewie. Jewies have hard mouths, so do yourself a favour and use the best quality hooks you can afford. Whether fishing from the mouth or the beach, we use the same style and size of hook, the Black Magic 8/0 KS. Now when it comes to sinkers for beach fishing more weight is needed and a dropper is run down to the lead in a paternoster style. Some of the locals use very heavy lead on the beach with hooks protruding from the bottom of the sinker. After they cast out, they wind the slack line in, the hooks on the sinker bite into the sea floor, and then the rod is held in a solid rod holder with the rod loaded up with pressure. Personally we found it more successful to use lighter sinkers in the 3-4oz range, and hold the rod while the bait drifts around in the tide. Most of the fish we have landed have been hooked within 5 minutes of casting a bait out. So after this amount of time we generally retrieve the bait, check it over then recast it out.

Having the right bait when fishing here is a must. The two baits the locals use with the most success are bay trout or small Australian salmon, and medium sized mullet. Other baits such as pilchards and tommy ruffs are also used but, are nowhere near as effective. One bait we always bring from Melbourne are freshly caught calamari. I don't know many fish that turn down a feed of fresh squid and mulloway are no different. We fish these whole, in large strips or as heads. With any bait, securing it to the line is improved using a hosiery product like Ghost Cocoon. Because we only have limited time to fish, preparation for each trip with regard to bait is a must. Apart from catching fresh calamari, we also go to the local fish markets on a Friday, when all the weekend stock arrives and buy a couple of dozen mullet and bay trout. Provided it's fresh, buying these fish baits before you go is much easier than having to catch them and the money spent is negligible - particularly if you get somebody else to do the shopping.

Lure fishing is another option here both off the beach and in the Murray mouth. Basically there are two types of lure that are the most effective here. The first are the large metal slug type lures like the Laser or Raider lures. These can be rigged with two sets of trebles on the same split ring on the bottom. One set of trebles are the standard ones then an extra pair two sizes up are added. Jewies for the uninitiated, have enormous mouths, like a barramundi, and getting a solid hook up is one of the hardest things to achieve. Hence the extra set of trebles. These lures are best worked along the sea floor with a rapid erratic retrieval. The lure is ripped through the water before it's left to sink to the bottom, and then the action is repeated. The jewies tend to hit when the lure is sinking.

Large soft plastics with big jig heads are the other lure option. Paddle tails or other soft plastics with long tails are among the most effective. These lures are worked along the sea floor under a slower retrieval. As the jig head bumps along the bottom it draws the attention of any fish in the area. These lures also get hit as they drop into large holes on the bottom that regularly hold fish. Often you will be working a soft plastic back to the shore, feel it drop into a deep hole then, whack! As with other styles of fishing, depending on the time of the year and other factors, you may have more success with lures than bait fishing and vice versa. We always discretely try to sound out the locals to see what's working.

Other fishing equipment helpful is a small gaff that can be attached to the belt which is particularly useful when fishing in the mouth. Also a small bum bag to keep extra bait in again while fishing in the mouth, which saves having to wade all the way out of the water then walking back to the esky to get more.

Perhaps the most important piece of equipment that cannot be over looked is a four wheel drive. On this particular beach four wheel drives are permitted but, be careful driving on other beaches in South Australia before checking with the local council. Standard two wheel drive cars aren't permitted on the beach and even with four wheel drives you still see a fair share of vehicles getting stuck in the sand. We always deflate the tyres to around 20-25psi before hitting the sand and this minimises the chances of becoming bogged. Sticking to the more solid parts of the beach and following previous vehicles tracks when on the soft stuff reduces any problems.

Whenever other people come away fishing to the South Oz beaches they invariably over pack, especially when it's only a short trip. Living on the beach means you don't need much in the way of clothes. Most evenings are spent fishing so including you best clothes for picking up at the local pub is a waste of space. A large good quality esky is a must and can be regularly restocked with ice from the local servo.

It's all pretty easy really. A weekend away with the boys, nothing to do but eat, drink, fish and sleep. Sometimes I wonder if Victoria's northern neighbours know just how good they've got it.