Hi Peoples,
Wanna have a quick chat today about how we are spending our rec fishing license fees. Some good initiatives have come out of this like buying back commercial fishing licenses which have reduced the overall quota on catch rates..so they tell us...improvements to our boating lauching facilities like ramps, wharfs and pontoons...and the construction of artificial reefs in certain estuaries.
The artificial reefs are constructed out of concrete balls that are hollow and have multiple holes in them. The concrete is a special mix of god knows what but its supposed to promote marine growth on the balls, and hence the start of its own ecosystem.
I have had a chance to fish a few of these things already, with mixed results. I have visited the reefs at st georges basin and lake macquarie. The st georges basin reef balls have been there now for a while, not too sure of the exact time, but they fish pretty well. There is a good You Tube video of a diver with a camera showing the fish life. While i havent had too much success on them i know a few dudes that pull good reds off the reefs in the 2kg class, not monsters but quality for a basin.
The lake mac reefs are hit and miss as well. They do produce a good mix of bread and butter species but lack some of the quality fish the rest of the lake produces.
Other reefs are located at Botany Bay and a new string of reefs at Lake Conjola. This has surprised me a little. I wouldnt expect Lake Conjola to be a prime location. But the lake is devoid of reefs and fish holding structure so it may be a good choice, only time will tell. Also one has been touted for Merimbula Lake???
This is a good iniative. If it helps to promote fish life and give anglers a chance to catch better class of fish and more fish...its a good thing.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
8 things to remember about Lures.
Hi Peoples,
As most of you would know i do most of my fishing with lures these days. I do on the odd occasion hook on a live bait for jew...but it is rare.
So over the past 6 years what are the things i reckon are most important to successful luring??? The following are my experiences and are subject to change. Nothing in fishing ever remains static.
1) Go Light - I put this at the top of the tree, before action, technique or any other factor. I believe the lighter you go, the more natural your presentation looks, the more sensitivity you have, the more fish you hook. Now go light refers to the whole integrated system from your rod and reel, to your braid, to your leader and thru to your jighead. Everything should balance. Not only is this more comfortable but you will trick more fish too.
2) Be Stealthy - This goes well with point 1. No good going light and finesse then roaring into a spot just to spook the fish. From a fishes perspective a roaring boat must seem like a F18 doing circus stunt fly-bys at very low altitude. It's loud and it's scary. Pull into a spot gently, operate on an electric motor or use the tide and wind to cover ground. Keep banging the boat to a minimum. Remember if you can hear noise sure as hell the fish can too. Also i wont take the boat of the garage if the leccy isn't working!
3) Make Long Casts - Once again, ties in well with point 1&2. If you fish light you make longer casts, make longer casts you can be stealthier, and the best attribute is cover more ground. The whole premise of my lure fishing is ground coverage. I try to work as much water as possible till i find fish, stick with em, exhaust the opportunity and move on. Long casts help me achieve this. The more fish that see my lure in a given session the more fish i catch.
4) Be Patient - Not every fish eats all the time! Just like us, fish eat and rest, they don't bite all day. So be patient, soon enuf the bites will come.
5) Fish Where the Fish Are - I know this sounds a little obvious but the amount of times i see boats flogging lures in a barren wasteland astounds me. Have a reason to fish a spot. I know you here it all the time, fish structure. A fish needs somewhere to eat and rest, if you were a fish where would you go to eat??? Where would you go to rest??? Answer these questions and your well on your way! Think like a fish....
6) Slow Down - By this i mean slow the retrieve down. When things are quiet slow everything right down. Keeping a lure dangling in a fishes face a split second longer might just be the tonic to make it strike. On tought days long pauses are often the difference between fish and no fish.
7) Use Scent - These days i don't go out fishing without my trusty S-Factor and a handful of Gulps. I do use conventional sp's but smeared with S-Factor. It honestly makes a huge difference. My jew catch rate has doubled while using S-Factor. It's GUN!
8) Clear Water, Clear Lures - The simple philosophy for lure colour selection is clear water clear lures, dark water dark lures. In saying that i believe that lure colour is the least important factor in the whole system. Get the action and size of the lure right, use the right equipment and usually fish will follow. On some days though, colour can be a factor.
There you have it. 8 factors for my success with lures. Common knowledge stuff but a foundation i base all my luring by.
As most of you would know i do most of my fishing with lures these days. I do on the odd occasion hook on a live bait for jew...but it is rare.
So over the past 6 years what are the things i reckon are most important to successful luring??? The following are my experiences and are subject to change. Nothing in fishing ever remains static.
1) Go Light - I put this at the top of the tree, before action, technique or any other factor. I believe the lighter you go, the more natural your presentation looks, the more sensitivity you have, the more fish you hook. Now go light refers to the whole integrated system from your rod and reel, to your braid, to your leader and thru to your jighead. Everything should balance. Not only is this more comfortable but you will trick more fish too.
2) Be Stealthy - This goes well with point 1. No good going light and finesse then roaring into a spot just to spook the fish. From a fishes perspective a roaring boat must seem like a F18 doing circus stunt fly-bys at very low altitude. It's loud and it's scary. Pull into a spot gently, operate on an electric motor or use the tide and wind to cover ground. Keep banging the boat to a minimum. Remember if you can hear noise sure as hell the fish can too. Also i wont take the boat of the garage if the leccy isn't working!
3) Make Long Casts - Once again, ties in well with point 1&2. If you fish light you make longer casts, make longer casts you can be stealthier, and the best attribute is cover more ground. The whole premise of my lure fishing is ground coverage. I try to work as much water as possible till i find fish, stick with em, exhaust the opportunity and move on. Long casts help me achieve this. The more fish that see my lure in a given session the more fish i catch.
4) Be Patient - Not every fish eats all the time! Just like us, fish eat and rest, they don't bite all day. So be patient, soon enuf the bites will come.
5) Fish Where the Fish Are - I know this sounds a little obvious but the amount of times i see boats flogging lures in a barren wasteland astounds me. Have a reason to fish a spot. I know you here it all the time, fish structure. A fish needs somewhere to eat and rest, if you were a fish where would you go to eat??? Where would you go to rest??? Answer these questions and your well on your way! Think like a fish....
6) Slow Down - By this i mean slow the retrieve down. When things are quiet slow everything right down. Keeping a lure dangling in a fishes face a split second longer might just be the tonic to make it strike. On tought days long pauses are often the difference between fish and no fish.
7) Use Scent - These days i don't go out fishing without my trusty S-Factor and a handful of Gulps. I do use conventional sp's but smeared with S-Factor. It honestly makes a huge difference. My jew catch rate has doubled while using S-Factor. It's GUN!
8) Clear Water, Clear Lures - The simple philosophy for lure colour selection is clear water clear lures, dark water dark lures. In saying that i believe that lure colour is the least important factor in the whole system. Get the action and size of the lure right, use the right equipment and usually fish will follow. On some days though, colour can be a factor.
There you have it. 8 factors for my success with lures. Common knowledge stuff but a foundation i base all my luring by.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Bream on Soft Plastics
Hi Peoples,
Little bit of fishing report from the weekend. I went out chasing Bream in one of my favourite hot spots...Berowra Waters! I've been after a genuine blue-nose breamski in the 1.5kg weight class for a front cover shot in Fishing World.. last year i was hitting this class of fish pretty regularly and got some real monsters in the process. Ever since i have been trying to get one for noteriety and i can't get close..bloody frustrating.
The plan was to hit a few bream early using a combination of unweighted crabs which my cousins were using and i would persist with sp's.. The bream weren't around in massive numbers but they played ball and kept us entertained... The boys did better than me on size fish but i kept pace with numbers.
This all got me thinking...Gulp packaging reads..."outfishes live bait"... how true is this??? Who are they judging this against??? Is it scientific???
If a pro bream fisho uses gulp he will almost certainly outfish a newbie using live bait. Put that live bait in the hands of pros and it's a different ball game. Marketing is a powerful influencer...
Anyhow, not to digress, but i have addded to my 2009 goal sheet. I want to hit a genuine 2kg bream on sp's. I got a few using bait over the years but now it's time to hit one on sp's. Add this to my 1m flatty and my 20kg jew..and it makes for a busy year ahead. The question is what scent will it come on??? Gulp or S-Factor???
Little bit of fishing report from the weekend. I went out chasing Bream in one of my favourite hot spots...Berowra Waters! I've been after a genuine blue-nose breamski in the 1.5kg weight class for a front cover shot in Fishing World.. last year i was hitting this class of fish pretty regularly and got some real monsters in the process. Ever since i have been trying to get one for noteriety and i can't get close..bloody frustrating.
The plan was to hit a few bream early using a combination of unweighted crabs which my cousins were using and i would persist with sp's.. The bream weren't around in massive numbers but they played ball and kept us entertained... The boys did better than me on size fish but i kept pace with numbers.
This all got me thinking...Gulp packaging reads..."outfishes live bait"... how true is this??? Who are they judging this against??? Is it scientific???
If a pro bream fisho uses gulp he will almost certainly outfish a newbie using live bait. Put that live bait in the hands of pros and it's a different ball game. Marketing is a powerful influencer...
Anyhow, not to digress, but i have addded to my 2009 goal sheet. I want to hit a genuine 2kg bream on sp's. I got a few using bait over the years but now it's time to hit one on sp's. Add this to my 1m flatty and my 20kg jew..and it makes for a busy year ahead. The question is what scent will it come on??? Gulp or S-Factor???
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