If there is one observation i have made over years about fishing Sydney waterways is Botany Bay is by far the premier location as the mercury plummets. Just when other waterways are shutting shop for a few months as green cold water pushes in from the south, Botany begins to turn on the heat.
It's this time of year catching kings in the bay is our highlight. I know most pundits will say late spring and early summer are the prime times but rest assured winter in the bay is still kingy fever! The most appealing aspect of this winter focus is the depth of water we regularly catch these powerhouses. We regularly see kings busting up in less than 2 meters of water, herding whitebait tight to shore.
Admittedly there is only a short window of opportunity here as the kingys retrest to the safety of deeper water once the sun climbs higher in the sky. usually you will get about an hour to find the fish, figure out what presentation to use, then hook as many as you can till they fall off the bite. It's an adrenaline packed hour let me say that.
While i will refrain from marking an X on a map for you punters i will say that most of the kings have been taken over sand flats. While this is fairly cryptic, seeing as the entire bay consists of sand, i'm sure the crafty angler can join the dots. All that is required is your standard 2-4kg bream flick stick, 6lb braid and a hell of a lot of patience. The kings hit the afterburners real hard in shallow water. Probably seems to startle them and when they sense they are in danger in shallow water, far from thier ideal habitat, they freak out. What this ultimately means for us is line burning runs, a signing drag and disappearing braid off the spool. Dad got taken deep into his backing on the weekend and all i could do was laugh my arse off as he winced in agony. The kingy won that battle convincingly. The beauty of this fishery however is that its far from structure and occurs over sand flats, nothing for the vaunreable kings to do thier usual 'bust you up on anything they can find' routine.
Overcast days will prolong the bite and typically stickbait/Jerk Minnow type lures are the most successful. The usual size of the fish is decent. I wouldn't say im going to brake an IGFA record anytime soon but they are around the 70cm mark as an average.
So while some of you have packed your gear away with one eye on spring, reconsider, cause Botany Bay is still producing, and producing summer species in adbundance.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Juvenile Jewies
They say things come around in cycles and certainly in fishing that rings true. Quite often you hear certain species have bumper seasons in terms of fish biomass and then seemingly disappear the following season. Tuna seem to be a prime cadidate for that... and when the catch rates are studied, most times the fall in numbers can be attributed to seasonal boom and bust type cycles that have been a constant pattern for decades. Being such an important commercial target, catch rates have been very closely monitored for some time...
I dont do too much offshore fishing, mainly due to not owning an adequate vessel, but cycles are still apparent in estuaries as well. It's perhaps not as noticable in enclosed waters due to the variety of species on offer. For instance, if i go cubing for tuna, chances are i might not catch a fish all day. I have a lot of time to think about where the fish have disappeared to! Whereas if i go fishing for bream, chances are i will catch a host of other species in the process. Ultimately, though the by-catch can distract you to the real situation at hand, bream numbers might be down on last year!
Which leads me to my next point! Over the last few months i have been putting a lot of recon work into the Hawkesbury River. In the process i have found a number of new 'gun spots' and new techniques to catch fish on plastics. The one thing that has been highlighted here is the sheer amount of juvenile jewfish that seem to be around this year. I have fished the Hawkesbury for a number of years but i have never seen so many soapy jewies come up as i have in the last few months. If our current catch rates are anything to go by, fishing for jewies in the Hawkesbury will be mind blowing over the next few years. I reckon in the past few months alone we have pulled over 100 undersize or just legal fish. Obviously they will take time grow to a decent line peeling size but when they do...its game on!
The funny thing is the Hawkesbury is one over-harvested waterway. Is it that commercial trawling nets now allow small jewies to escape? or is it just another case of a boom cycle of fish? Who can tell! But the signs of juvenile life are encouraging.
The only drama is trying to keep the soapies away from my lures long enough to catch a schoolie.
I dont do too much offshore fishing, mainly due to not owning an adequate vessel, but cycles are still apparent in estuaries as well. It's perhaps not as noticable in enclosed waters due to the variety of species on offer. For instance, if i go cubing for tuna, chances are i might not catch a fish all day. I have a lot of time to think about where the fish have disappeared to! Whereas if i go fishing for bream, chances are i will catch a host of other species in the process. Ultimately, though the by-catch can distract you to the real situation at hand, bream numbers might be down on last year!
Which leads me to my next point! Over the last few months i have been putting a lot of recon work into the Hawkesbury River. In the process i have found a number of new 'gun spots' and new techniques to catch fish on plastics. The one thing that has been highlighted here is the sheer amount of juvenile jewfish that seem to be around this year. I have fished the Hawkesbury for a number of years but i have never seen so many soapy jewies come up as i have in the last few months. If our current catch rates are anything to go by, fishing for jewies in the Hawkesbury will be mind blowing over the next few years. I reckon in the past few months alone we have pulled over 100 undersize or just legal fish. Obviously they will take time grow to a decent line peeling size but when they do...its game on!
The funny thing is the Hawkesbury is one over-harvested waterway. Is it that commercial trawling nets now allow small jewies to escape? or is it just another case of a boom cycle of fish? Who can tell! But the signs of juvenile life are encouraging.
The only drama is trying to keep the soapies away from my lures long enough to catch a schoolie.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Making a bird of it
Hi Ya,
Much has been written about the use of birds in finding fish, in particularly feeding fish on the surface. Many a great skipper can tell the different characteristics of birds and which birds are likely to lead them to fish. Others tend not to be as useful. Then the mannerisms of the birds can tell us when the fish are frenzied, the obvious signpost is when they are diving head first into the water, picking up scraps as they go.
Unlike offshore, in the estuaries bird activity seems to be ingnored somewhat. The predominant species are seagulls and pelicans. They are literally everywhere you look in inshore and enclosed waters and most fishos seem to idle past them, unless the birds are actively feeding on the surface, then most will stop for a quick investigation. But like many birds, the subtlety of thier behaviour can lead you to better fishing more often.
I was fishing Botany Bay recently, an area where seagulls do in fact feed actively on the surface, primarity due to tailor. I could see a flock of birds actively working the surface and at a distance made the prognosis that it was tailor underneath. Dad and i watched the activity for more than an hour till it died down. We were after shallow water kings so we didn't want to miss the prime time dawn bite we get in 3 meters of water just to catch tailor.
No kings came up so a move was in order. Dad made the comment to suss out the now dormant birds sitting on the water, seemingly motionless. We dedided to have a quick flick to see if any predators were still in the area but i wasn't too convinced. To cut a long story short, the ensuing hour saw one of the hottest flatty bites we have had in quite a while. Now this might not sound too interesting but upon thought a few factors were highlighted that drove home a very important point, it's not always the working birds that can lead you to fish.
First off, we found the flatties as far away from any discernable structure as possible. We found them smack bang in the middle of the bay, pretty much a barren wasteland of sand and stuff all else. Secondly, the tide was contradictory to prime flatty time. The fish were aggresive and ready to play ball.
This got me pondering. There have been countless times upon reflection that we have pulled good fish from underneath sedentary seagulls, as well as foraging pelicans. I know in Tuggerah Lakes the precense of pelicans means the presence of prawns, and the presence of prawns...well i'm sure you can guess the rest.
I guess the key here is give birds more attention. Not just working birds but birds stationary and waiting to feed. Don't think they are there just for a good rest. Birds can see and sense more than we hope to ever understand about our fishery. Use them...even if nothing obvious stands out.
Much has been written about the use of birds in finding fish, in particularly feeding fish on the surface. Many a great skipper can tell the different characteristics of birds and which birds are likely to lead them to fish. Others tend not to be as useful. Then the mannerisms of the birds can tell us when the fish are frenzied, the obvious signpost is when they are diving head first into the water, picking up scraps as they go.
Unlike offshore, in the estuaries bird activity seems to be ingnored somewhat. The predominant species are seagulls and pelicans. They are literally everywhere you look in inshore and enclosed waters and most fishos seem to idle past them, unless the birds are actively feeding on the surface, then most will stop for a quick investigation. But like many birds, the subtlety of thier behaviour can lead you to better fishing more often.
I was fishing Botany Bay recently, an area where seagulls do in fact feed actively on the surface, primarity due to tailor. I could see a flock of birds actively working the surface and at a distance made the prognosis that it was tailor underneath. Dad and i watched the activity for more than an hour till it died down. We were after shallow water kings so we didn't want to miss the prime time dawn bite we get in 3 meters of water just to catch tailor.
No kings came up so a move was in order. Dad made the comment to suss out the now dormant birds sitting on the water, seemingly motionless. We dedided to have a quick flick to see if any predators were still in the area but i wasn't too convinced. To cut a long story short, the ensuing hour saw one of the hottest flatty bites we have had in quite a while. Now this might not sound too interesting but upon thought a few factors were highlighted that drove home a very important point, it's not always the working birds that can lead you to fish.
First off, we found the flatties as far away from any discernable structure as possible. We found them smack bang in the middle of the bay, pretty much a barren wasteland of sand and stuff all else. Secondly, the tide was contradictory to prime flatty time. The fish were aggresive and ready to play ball.
This got me pondering. There have been countless times upon reflection that we have pulled good fish from underneath sedentary seagulls, as well as foraging pelicans. I know in Tuggerah Lakes the precense of pelicans means the presence of prawns, and the presence of prawns...well i'm sure you can guess the rest.
I guess the key here is give birds more attention. Not just working birds but birds stationary and waiting to feed. Don't think they are there just for a good rest. Birds can see and sense more than we hope to ever understand about our fishery. Use them...even if nothing obvious stands out.
Monday, May 11, 2009
The Unfair Advantage
Hi Fishos,
In this era of advanced tackle such as engineered reels that rival space science, fishing lines made from sophisticated hi-tech materials and lures created from organic substances it's a wonder fish stand a chance. You would think we all would be pulling fish hand over fist. The funny part is that even if we use this state-of-the-art equipment we still invariably have fishless trips. Coming home empty handed is the sometimes the only constant you can rely on. It seems the improvements in tackle only keep us up to speed with the changing behavoiur of our adversaries.
Then other times it's the basic plays that reap the biggest rewards. On saturday i was fishing in my back yard, Berowra Waters. Lately the fish in the Hawkesbury system have been much more co-operative in the creeks and tributaries rather than the main flow. Seeing as i fish this peice of water regularly my goal was to try some locations i haven't persued before. That's quite difficult as i have scoured most of this deep catchment but there were a few spots i regularly drive over without too much attention.
The first spot was a prominent hole right on a prominent bend or point. This may sound like a no-brainer but the reason i never stopped previously is the high traffic volumn past this section. It was early so i decided to try it. I was rewarded early with a flathead first cast and on the second cast i felt the tell-tale tap of our friend 'the rabi'. For those uninitiated it's what Sami Omari calls the Jew. Positive hookset, were on. Fish boated! It was a nice little soapy but couldn't pop the drag. I was looking for his mother anyway.
I was starting to get some nice soundings showing and just as i was about to have my third cast, a very bad mannered captain decided to cut a path in between me and the marker pole on the point, disecting us perfectly only 10 meters from my boat. I didn't say a word. If he didn't know what he had done then nothing i was going to shout out was going to make a difference. It goes without saying the markings disappeared...the hole shut down.
I laboured on for a few hours after that; no cigar. I was still a little miffed about the rude boatie. The tide had turned now and i tried another spot with very similar characteristics to the first one; a prominent point with adjacent deep water. I had a boat anchored 50m off the point. I saw him jiggle a silver can attached to a rope. I made polite conversation with the guy and built the courage to inquire about the berley he was using. Sure enough he said dog food???
I couldn't fault him for using it though. Him and his mate were reeling fish in one after the other; flathead, bream, flounder and soapies were all succumbing to the flavour of Pal.
I was right beside em and was catching the odd stray flathead. It was obvious the berley was working it's magic. Being polite i asked if i could drift downstream and fish way back in his berley trail. To be honest i wasn't expecting a positive response. To my amazement i got the nod and off i went. In the next hour i had what i would call a hot bite. Throw all the new wizz bang gadgetry out the window. This was a case of yesterday's techniques still firing today. Without Pal dog food i was screwed. No space-age reels with scented plastics were going to salvage my session...but berley did. A little politness after some gross misconduct managed to deliver me a great few houres.
The fisho anchored upstream did remark about me stealing his fish before they made it to the back of his boat. Truth was he had a killer session too. It was an unfair advantage to fish in that berley trail. But no more than we try to give ourselves with all the latest and greatest technology anyway. Maybe i should carry a can of Pal with me all the time...just in case.
In this era of advanced tackle such as engineered reels that rival space science, fishing lines made from sophisticated hi-tech materials and lures created from organic substances it's a wonder fish stand a chance. You would think we all would be pulling fish hand over fist. The funny part is that even if we use this state-of-the-art equipment we still invariably have fishless trips. Coming home empty handed is the sometimes the only constant you can rely on. It seems the improvements in tackle only keep us up to speed with the changing behavoiur of our adversaries.
Then other times it's the basic plays that reap the biggest rewards. On saturday i was fishing in my back yard, Berowra Waters. Lately the fish in the Hawkesbury system have been much more co-operative in the creeks and tributaries rather than the main flow. Seeing as i fish this peice of water regularly my goal was to try some locations i haven't persued before. That's quite difficult as i have scoured most of this deep catchment but there were a few spots i regularly drive over without too much attention.
The first spot was a prominent hole right on a prominent bend or point. This may sound like a no-brainer but the reason i never stopped previously is the high traffic volumn past this section. It was early so i decided to try it. I was rewarded early with a flathead first cast and on the second cast i felt the tell-tale tap of our friend 'the rabi'. For those uninitiated it's what Sami Omari calls the Jew. Positive hookset, were on. Fish boated! It was a nice little soapy but couldn't pop the drag. I was looking for his mother anyway.
I was starting to get some nice soundings showing and just as i was about to have my third cast, a very bad mannered captain decided to cut a path in between me and the marker pole on the point, disecting us perfectly only 10 meters from my boat. I didn't say a word. If he didn't know what he had done then nothing i was going to shout out was going to make a difference. It goes without saying the markings disappeared...the hole shut down.
I laboured on for a few hours after that; no cigar. I was still a little miffed about the rude boatie. The tide had turned now and i tried another spot with very similar characteristics to the first one; a prominent point with adjacent deep water. I had a boat anchored 50m off the point. I saw him jiggle a silver can attached to a rope. I made polite conversation with the guy and built the courage to inquire about the berley he was using. Sure enough he said dog food???
I couldn't fault him for using it though. Him and his mate were reeling fish in one after the other; flathead, bream, flounder and soapies were all succumbing to the flavour of Pal.
I was right beside em and was catching the odd stray flathead. It was obvious the berley was working it's magic. Being polite i asked if i could drift downstream and fish way back in his berley trail. To be honest i wasn't expecting a positive response. To my amazement i got the nod and off i went. In the next hour i had what i would call a hot bite. Throw all the new wizz bang gadgetry out the window. This was a case of yesterday's techniques still firing today. Without Pal dog food i was screwed. No space-age reels with scented plastics were going to salvage my session...but berley did. A little politness after some gross misconduct managed to deliver me a great few houres.
The fisho anchored upstream did remark about me stealing his fish before they made it to the back of his boat. Truth was he had a killer session too. It was an unfair advantage to fish in that berley trail. But no more than we try to give ourselves with all the latest and greatest technology anyway. Maybe i should carry a can of Pal with me all the time...just in case.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The Windy City
Hi Fishoholics,
Just a berated report from the windy and wild south coast. Last weekend i made a pilgammage down south with my ol man to meet up for a fish with our fearless editor, Jim. The reports weren't too positive on the wind front but like most die-hards i kept an optimistic outlook and prayed to the gods that Tim Bailey got it wrong.
We arrived friday night to the Palm Beach caravan park on St George's basin to be met with a stiff westerly blowing at a mere 40kts. Things were not looking good. Up we get a 4:30am sat morning and the same westerly was still around. It's a long way to come not to wet the boat so we decided to have a crack anyway.
After picking up Jim we hit a few spots in the Shoalhaven, targeting some jew which are apparently on the move in the river at the moment. Wind aside, the Shoalhaven is a magic looking waterway. It's a microcosm of the Hawkesbury system, my home ground back in Sydney. My dad was rewarded first up with a beaut looking EP around the 35cm mark. We didnt measure it but he did behave well for the camera (pic hereabouts). 2 nice eater sized lizards we next to follow.
We made a run down to Broughton Creek to catch the tide change. The wind picked up as well, if at all that was possible. I reckon it hit 50kts at stages. We were forced to venture well into the creek and had decent success in the trying conditions. We snared another EP, which basically made my day, and few ppint size bream and a couple more keeper lizards, one going 59.5cms. My throwback threshold is 60cms so this was one unlucky bugger. Rules are rules. Soon after we called it a day.
Sunday morning it looked as though the wind had abated. My prayers to a higher power were answered. We launched the boat in the basin and for half hour the conditions were perfect. Then we heard the trees in the distance. Yesterday's 40kt wind was back, and with a vengence. Dad and i are pretty resiliant buggers so we persisted. We tried to find a spot with some protection and in the process started having some success on flattys. In turn the wind changed into a higher gear. For the last hour the highest speed on the electric, and i run an 80lb thrust model, couldn't hold position against the wind...holy moly. We were catching these lizards adjacent to some weedbeds and kept getting blown away. The only option was to discard the leccy to try and hold position in favour of the stronger main motor! That should give you a clue how tough it was.
Like idiots we were last boat to come off the water. But we did have a feed to show for it. We managed the wrangle 20 odd flatties out of those dismal conditions. Really i was so proud of our efforts. We hung in there and came home feeling like we achieved something.
Next time i head down south i reckon i'm gonna sacrifice a live offering to the man upstairs. Cause prayers alone this time were far from enough.
Just a berated report from the windy and wild south coast. Last weekend i made a pilgammage down south with my ol man to meet up for a fish with our fearless editor, Jim. The reports weren't too positive on the wind front but like most die-hards i kept an optimistic outlook and prayed to the gods that Tim Bailey got it wrong.
We arrived friday night to the Palm Beach caravan park on St George's basin to be met with a stiff westerly blowing at a mere 40kts. Things were not looking good. Up we get a 4:30am sat morning and the same westerly was still around. It's a long way to come not to wet the boat so we decided to have a crack anyway.
After picking up Jim we hit a few spots in the Shoalhaven, targeting some jew which are apparently on the move in the river at the moment. Wind aside, the Shoalhaven is a magic looking waterway. It's a microcosm of the Hawkesbury system, my home ground back in Sydney. My dad was rewarded first up with a beaut looking EP around the 35cm mark. We didnt measure it but he did behave well for the camera (pic hereabouts). 2 nice eater sized lizards we next to follow.
We made a run down to Broughton Creek to catch the tide change. The wind picked up as well, if at all that was possible. I reckon it hit 50kts at stages. We were forced to venture well into the creek and had decent success in the trying conditions. We snared another EP, which basically made my day, and few ppint size bream and a couple more keeper lizards, one going 59.5cms. My throwback threshold is 60cms so this was one unlucky bugger. Rules are rules. Soon after we called it a day.
Sunday morning it looked as though the wind had abated. My prayers to a higher power were answered. We launched the boat in the basin and for half hour the conditions were perfect. Then we heard the trees in the distance. Yesterday's 40kt wind was back, and with a vengence. Dad and i are pretty resiliant buggers so we persisted. We tried to find a spot with some protection and in the process started having some success on flattys. In turn the wind changed into a higher gear. For the last hour the highest speed on the electric, and i run an 80lb thrust model, couldn't hold position against the wind...holy moly. We were catching these lizards adjacent to some weedbeds and kept getting blown away. The only option was to discard the leccy to try and hold position in favour of the stronger main motor! That should give you a clue how tough it was.
Like idiots we were last boat to come off the water. But we did have a feed to show for it. We managed the wrangle 20 odd flatties out of those dismal conditions. Really i was so proud of our efforts. We hung in there and came home feeling like we achieved something.
Next time i head down south i reckon i'm gonna sacrifice a live offering to the man upstairs. Cause prayers alone this time were far from enough.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Jewel in the Hawkesbury
Hi fishos,
After my last bass and EP expidition i finally made it back to the briny after a few weeks off. I have been chomping at the bit to gt amognst the action, reports of great fish have been coming in thick and fast. Usually i wouldn't mind hearing all the good news stories but when your grounded, boat out of action and fishless for a few weeks, it's like someone driving a nail thru your skull. Envy wouled be the word that comes to mind shortly after quite a few expletives.
Anyway we headed off to Mooney in the Hawkesbury system to chase some elusive jew plus a few other likely estuary suspects. Mooney is a tide-out system only. Don't even think about chasing fish on the in-coming, your wasting your time. The odd fish can be caught but the game is well and truely over. Really the catalyst for a good fishing session is the prawn run and this happens on the outgoing tide. If the prawns are on the move the fishing is phenomenal.
We hit our first deep hole of the morning, a special spot where we have scored a jew on every attempt so far; 7 fish in 5 sessions. The signs were ominous as prawns were being slurped off the surface by unseen predators. Some splashes were moving far too much water to be bream. Usually this spot produces straight away but the first half hour only saw i tailor to 1 1/2kgs. Not a bad fish and it gave a good account of itself. We drifted thru the hole and came to the back end where an eddie is created by the curving shoreline. The results were istantanious. My uncle Andy got the first tap which indicated the presence of jew. Saddly he missed out but looked around to hear my little reel screaming for mercy. In the next 45 minutes Andy and i had a ball on jewies to 3kgs. It was basically a fish a cast. We caught and released 15 jews with 3 double hook-ups in the process. I'm sure we woke every resident on the river and this one oyster farmer kept shaking his head in disapproval.
The bite shut down so we pushed up the creek a considerable distance to catch the last of the tide. I was targeting bream and perch on the fringes, Andy jewies and flathead in the chanel. You can do that in Mooney, the place is small enough for that kind of duel tactic. Until the tide stopped i landed a dozen fiesty bream to 30cms and quite a few quality perch. Andy got 1 more jew, just a little tacker, and a handful of 45cm plus lizards.
The tide stopped...then nothing. The whole place shut down as if someone flicked a switch. This was about 10am now and we still had the day to go. We persisted, as die-hards do, but really the full time siren had sounded. All we were doing was picking up the scraps.
The damage was done on Gulps. At the moment my go-to lure of choice is the 5" Jerk Minnows in the new assorted chicken colours. They all work. Try colours that shillouette well against the murky Hawkesbury water. Imitate a prawn colour if you can. Remember, colours of plastics change in the water. Something that looks scary to us might seem quite natural to fish.
After my last bass and EP expidition i finally made it back to the briny after a few weeks off. I have been chomping at the bit to gt amognst the action, reports of great fish have been coming in thick and fast. Usually i wouldn't mind hearing all the good news stories but when your grounded, boat out of action and fishless for a few weeks, it's like someone driving a nail thru your skull. Envy wouled be the word that comes to mind shortly after quite a few expletives.
Anyway we headed off to Mooney in the Hawkesbury system to chase some elusive jew plus a few other likely estuary suspects. Mooney is a tide-out system only. Don't even think about chasing fish on the in-coming, your wasting your time. The odd fish can be caught but the game is well and truely over. Really the catalyst for a good fishing session is the prawn run and this happens on the outgoing tide. If the prawns are on the move the fishing is phenomenal.
We hit our first deep hole of the morning, a special spot where we have scored a jew on every attempt so far; 7 fish in 5 sessions. The signs were ominous as prawns were being slurped off the surface by unseen predators. Some splashes were moving far too much water to be bream. Usually this spot produces straight away but the first half hour only saw i tailor to 1 1/2kgs. Not a bad fish and it gave a good account of itself. We drifted thru the hole and came to the back end where an eddie is created by the curving shoreline. The results were istantanious. My uncle Andy got the first tap which indicated the presence of jew. Saddly he missed out but looked around to hear my little reel screaming for mercy. In the next 45 minutes Andy and i had a ball on jewies to 3kgs. It was basically a fish a cast. We caught and released 15 jews with 3 double hook-ups in the process. I'm sure we woke every resident on the river and this one oyster farmer kept shaking his head in disapproval.
The bite shut down so we pushed up the creek a considerable distance to catch the last of the tide. I was targeting bream and perch on the fringes, Andy jewies and flathead in the chanel. You can do that in Mooney, the place is small enough for that kind of duel tactic. Until the tide stopped i landed a dozen fiesty bream to 30cms and quite a few quality perch. Andy got 1 more jew, just a little tacker, and a handful of 45cm plus lizards.
The tide stopped...then nothing. The whole place shut down as if someone flicked a switch. This was about 10am now and we still had the day to go. We persisted, as die-hards do, but really the full time siren had sounded. All we were doing was picking up the scraps.
The damage was done on Gulps. At the moment my go-to lure of choice is the 5" Jerk Minnows in the new assorted chicken colours. They all work. Try colours that shillouette well against the murky Hawkesbury water. Imitate a prawn colour if you can. Remember, colours of plastics change in the water. Something that looks scary to us might seem quite natural to fish.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Bass En Masse
While my electric has been out of action for the last 3 weeks i have visited a few of my old land-based stomping grounds in the upper reaches of the Hawkesbury i havent seen in years. I have fished these spots since those days, only it's been out of the comfort of my boat.
This time of year i start to dedicate some time to catching some of our native species, namely bass nad EP's. To be honest i prefer to chase bass at this time rather than in the height of summer. It a lot more challenging to start with but the size of the bass are generally bigger too.
I wrote an article in Fisho a few months back on bass and EP's in the Hawkesbury and discussed at length the relationship between these two extremely similar species. I guess the key takeouts were that both species seem to migrate in Hawkesbury at much the same time. The difference was that bass migrate to the brackish in winter and EP's migrate to full salt at that time. While we are a little off the full brunt of winter the migration has already started.
This is a blessing in disguise as the closed season in winter prohibits us to catch either species for 3 months. The time to capitalise on th3e spawning run is pretty much about now. Reports of big catches of bass and EP's are filtering through around the Lower Portland and Ebenezer areas. Admittedly most of these have come in the twightlight periods and even into the full darkness of night. The fish are hurding hawkesbury prawns to the surface and gorging themselves in the process.
One thing that really struck home with me after my land-based efforts was the difference in attitude between fishing from shore as opposed to fishing from a boat. The spots i fish in these upper reaches have restricted access due to bank-side vegetation. I can only fish small pockets of prime land. This usually means i have to methodically work over the area with multiple presentations until i strike it rich. In a boat i might try 5 or 10 casts to a likey looking spot with the one lure and move on if i have no interest.
Both techniques have thier merits. The more ground i cover in a boat the more fish that see my lure. Here, mobility is my key asset. From shore, the slow methodical approach can lure inactive fish into striking. It's not uncommon to frustrate fish into taking the bait, so to speak. The less options you are presented with can be a blessing in disguise. The thinking angler will persist until something works.
From this is one little 3 meter wide ledge i fished from i did really well. Funny thing was it took me half an hour and 20 different lures to get my first touch. Once i found the right combo (the old faithful bloodworm wriggler) i got stuck into both EP's and bass. It was top little session. Just goes to show you don't need a boat to catch good fish in Sydney.
This time of year i start to dedicate some time to catching some of our native species, namely bass nad EP's. To be honest i prefer to chase bass at this time rather than in the height of summer. It a lot more challenging to start with but the size of the bass are generally bigger too.
I wrote an article in Fisho a few months back on bass and EP's in the Hawkesbury and discussed at length the relationship between these two extremely similar species. I guess the key takeouts were that both species seem to migrate in Hawkesbury at much the same time. The difference was that bass migrate to the brackish in winter and EP's migrate to full salt at that time. While we are a little off the full brunt of winter the migration has already started.
This is a blessing in disguise as the closed season in winter prohibits us to catch either species for 3 months. The time to capitalise on th3e spawning run is pretty much about now. Reports of big catches of bass and EP's are filtering through around the Lower Portland and Ebenezer areas. Admittedly most of these have come in the twightlight periods and even into the full darkness of night. The fish are hurding hawkesbury prawns to the surface and gorging themselves in the process.
One thing that really struck home with me after my land-based efforts was the difference in attitude between fishing from shore as opposed to fishing from a boat. The spots i fish in these upper reaches have restricted access due to bank-side vegetation. I can only fish small pockets of prime land. This usually means i have to methodically work over the area with multiple presentations until i strike it rich. In a boat i might try 5 or 10 casts to a likey looking spot with the one lure and move on if i have no interest.
Both techniques have thier merits. The more ground i cover in a boat the more fish that see my lure. Here, mobility is my key asset. From shore, the slow methodical approach can lure inactive fish into striking. It's not uncommon to frustrate fish into taking the bait, so to speak. The less options you are presented with can be a blessing in disguise. The thinking angler will persist until something works.
From this is one little 3 meter wide ledge i fished from i did really well. Funny thing was it took me half an hour and 20 different lures to get my first touch. Once i found the right combo (the old faithful bloodworm wriggler) i got stuck into both EP's and bass. It was top little session. Just goes to show you don't need a boat to catch good fish in Sydney.
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