Fishing has been a passion for mo for over 40 years. Mostly salt water shore based.
All members of this forum should fish for it is an easy survival technique to master and a hell of a lot of fun besides.
As to a small kit and ideas for having a go out in the bush, here's my thoughts:
Line: fluorocarbon, monofilament or braid?
Fluorocarbon is strong for its diameter, springy, easy to tie knots with and the clear colour an advantage.
Mono is good, a little less strength than fluorocarbon, springy, but more stretch good for knots too.
Braid is incredibly strong and so you can have very light thin lines which cast well but tangle well too. Braid is limp and floats with zero stretch which makes it very sensitive when fishing by touch. As a handline I'd be worried about it cutting my fingers. It's not clear so you need a trace of mono or fluoro to tie to the hook so that fish don't see it. Braid is also very expensive. Braid also requires certain knots which are a bit more complicated than those you'd use for mono and fluoro. Attaching your nylon trace to a braid mainline needs a special knot. They are usually shown on the packet when you buy it.
All round I'd go fluoro or mono. Mono being the cheapest. You're looking at getting a feed not catching a record so 10lb line or thereabouts would be my choice.
Hooks? Again if you're just after a feed, I'd go no bigger than a 1/0 and probably a couple a bit smaller.
In the bush your baits are most likely going to be dough, bread, worms, grubs, crickets, grasshoppers etc. You might throw on a live yabby or make a lure out of a sinker and some feathers, bit of tin foil as well etc. Throw it out and pull it in...vary the rate and action.
In the saltwater, local shellfish, bread, dough, worms (earthworms go well surprisingly). If near weedbeds in the estuaries, tiny shrimp can be easily caught in the weed and they are a deadly bait. If near green weed and luderick are known to be in that area, throw some of that on with a tiny split shot crimped about 30 to 40cm above the hook (nr 8 to 10) and let it drift with the tide. You could make a float out of a thin stick. It'll float horizontally but stand up when a fish is on the bait. Luderick gut is a deadly bream bait too.
Catching live poddy mullet is easy with a clear plastic bottle and a bit of bread. Great bait for all sorts of things!
Finally, you'd be surprised at how many fish will move into shallow water that's dry at low tide looking for a feed on the flood.
KB