I suppose they are like a lot of fish these days, much smaller on average than when the name was given. On this particular day they were up to their usual trick of pretending to be smaller than they really were. The first series of bites were judged to be pickers until, by jerking my line away from the tiny bite, I accidentally hooked and landed a reasonable fish. Fishing over reef, even shallow reef as we were, calls for something like 8kg line or heavier. Rods need a flexible tip coupled with stopping power for when the fish realises it's hooked and heads for home.
Abrasive snags are common and anglers dedicated to hand lines have an advantage.
They can let line trickle through their fingers while the bait is being investigated yet clamp down as soon as they feel a run. This is a difficult thing to do with the needed precision using rod and reel. Straight away he pulled up a 4kg monster. A tricky bettering the old 8 lb is a rare fish. I explained this to him in words such as more arse than class.