Lures at Night

Hi Peeps,

Here's a good question for you all. Do all lures work at night??? Do soft plastics work at night? If so, are they as deadly at night as they are in the day???

Interesting stuff. I must admit i dont flick lures at night as much as i should but a few of my fishing mates love flickin lures at night. They have good success on the regular species of bream, flathead, jews and whiting. But from my limited experience i would say that not all lures work at night. Some are more deadly than others. Lets see some exampleas and why...

1) Soft Plastix are a good allround performer. I would say that they are the best of the night time lures for salt water estuary species. But within the range of softies some perform better than others. Usually in the day i mainly use stickbaits or jerk minnows. The in-built action of shads, fish tails or grub tails can turn shy fish off the bite in the day. The in-built action in the lure transmits a vibration that attracts fish from long distances. This is extremely helpful at night or in murky low-vis water. So using a plastic with some tails action seems to catch more fish than subtle presentations of jerk minnows.

2) Top water lures are also another good night time producer. Usually they are used for aussie natives like bass or perch but some switched on anglers are starting to use poppers at night in the brine. Once again the attraction is the noise the lure makes as its worked. Also another consideration is popper colour. As fish look skyward for a meal a black or dark lure sillouettes better with the light of the moon making it more visable.

3) Metal blades are also making a splash at night now. I mentioned in an earlier blog that some guys are catching blackfish at night. Once again the vibration these lures transmit make them a deadly weapon at night. i dont think colour matters here, just as long as the lures is working correctly it will attract fish.

There we have it. I think the lesson is a clear one. Lures that make noise, vibrate, rattle or hum will catch more fish at night than quiet finesse lures.

Get out there and give it a go. Im sure you'll be surprised at the results.

Sydney Harbour Kingfish

Hi People,

Just want to highlight for you all the remarkable kingfish numbers that have filtered in to Sydney harbour this season. If you live in sydney you would be no stranger to the fact that the kingfish are so thick you can walk across the water and not get wet! Seriously the fishing has been phenomenal...

The overall size of the kingys have been small. There are no doubt good specimens around but the ravenous little rats are beating the bigger, more weary fish to the lure or bait. Livies are getting the better quality fish but the fun factor is still squarely with chucking lures. Nothing beats the flick of the lure only to be met witha crunching halt and a screaming drag. My good mate Sami Omari helped popularise the concept of flicking poppers for kingys in the harbour. In the December Fishing World he penned an article highlighting a few techniques. Since that article came out poppers sales have gone thru the roof in sydney. Every marker in the harbour has been hit with every top water lure imaginable. The fish are starting to wise up to things. They are increasingly becoming gun-shy and catching them requiring more cunning and stealth.

Funny thing is even Sami is finding catching the kings harder. Dunno if he will be giving away so much gold to punters in an article next time!

The recent performers have been Halco Roostas in 110mm, Cultiva Tango Dancers and Cotton Cordell pencils. But in saying that, the trend has been that lures that the kingys havent seen have been getting atention. Basically get out all the old top waters you havent used in ages, dust em off and get ready to throw some lures at some markers.

Also softies are still donking a stack of fish too. The technique is to sink the lures down past the marker, give a few twiches and retrieve back to the boat. The kingys are also busting up here and there so keep a keen eye out for bird activity.

So basically, if you live in sydney, or close to it, get off your arse and get going. While the fish are mostly undersize, on bream gear they are a heap of fun. Just goes to show that after 5 years of removing the kingfish traps haow impressive the fish stocks have rebounded. How can they tell me that rec fishing decimates fish stocks???

Viva la kingfish....