Freshwater Tips Needed

[MickS]

G'Day All

Like everyone here I love my fishing, and like many don't get enough time to do as much as I like.However next friday I'm taking the day off and a small group of us are taking a couple of boats to Somerset.

Now this freshwater dam fishing is a bit of a new thing to me, so any help and tips given would be appreciated.

I guess Bass and Golden Perch would be the two main species targeted.

My plan is to do some trolling, using lures to about 2- 3 meters(if any of this plan is wrong please feel free to correct me).I will be fishing with braid,and I'm not sure what strength of leader. I normally use 40 lb, but am wondering if this is overkill.

I want to throw a few lures as well, and I'm presuming looking for structure such as logs, snags etc is the best here. Any tips on types of lures would be appreciated.

I read recently that jigs have been successful when fish have been found on a sounder, i'll have to do a bit more research into this.Any tips appreciated.

Finally, what about bait fishing? Is this successful at all, and if so what type of bait, where is it available from and what type of rig suits Somerset.

I don't get a day off to often, so I'm trying to make this a good trip. Then again as the saying goes, a bad days fishing is better than a good day working.

Thanks for any help in advance.


Cheers

MickS

[tiges]

Hope ya manage a few Mick. Impoundment fishing is good fun, and you'll be surprised at the size of some of the fish lurking in these waters. First time at this gig is always a bit of a struggle, but a few members on here that regularly fish Somerset will give ya the heads up. IMO trolling will be a good start point, it's a good way to find fish. Have lures of different depths out and keep an eye on the sounder for shows of fish and bait. Fish will often be encountered over areas of what seems to be featureless flats in various water depths, so don't be to structure orientated. Once you find 'em you can start casting at 'em. Lipless cranks work great here, so can soft plastics. A slow roll or hopping retrieve especially with the cranks works well. Proven lipless cranks are of course the Jackalls, the Mask vib being my fave. They're 19 grams, so you can cover a lot of ground and they'll work the deeper end of the spectrum. Incredibly user friendly and productive for such a heavy lure. For plastics I prefer paddle tails like sliders/atomics/ecogear/squidgies on anything up to a 3/8 oz jighead. And usually rig them to a beetlespin. If the depth you find them in is less than say about 8m, it is practical to fish these styles. But if they're deeper than that it's more the domain of ice jigs etc, which I know little about, but I'm sure other members will have a better idea. Casting the edges early and late can also be productive. Surface lures, bibbed minnows, lipless cranks and plastics will all get fish. Give, em all a go and see which one is working best. Doesn't neccessarily have to be structure on the banks either, sometimes the featureless sloping banks are the best. Can't help you with bait fishing, but there's heaps of crew on here who use live shrimp etc that'll tell you how. Anyway mate I hope I've been able to help you and not confuse you.

Cheers
Tiges

[tiges]

And 12lb flourocarbon should be plenty for leader material.

[MickS]

Thanks for the info Tiges, very much appreciated.

[munchi]

:D ;D impondent fishing is great fun mick somerset is a great dam trolling lures covers a lot of ground jackalls trolled behind the boat work well can also troll bassmann spinner baits ice jigs for the deep fish or mask vibe jackalls 8-) ;D for bait use shrimp on a paternoster rig worms also work well can be purchused from pet stores or caught aroung weed beds at the dam in shrimp traps 10lb braid is ample with 8lb flourocarbon leader :D 8-) have a great time fishing cheers mick

[MickS]

Went to Somerset today.I had my Jackalls, and some live worm. The worm was a bit ordinary I will admit(poor quality). Tried a number of different colours with the Jackalls thinking the recent rain may mean a change of colours is needed.

We had 2 boats, however my mate had a problem with his engine which meant we didn't really get fishing till about 8.30 am.

Fished to 3.30 pm, and not a fish to be seen.The sounder said there were plenty around, but maybe I'm not reading the sounder correctly. I'm thinking the menu button that draws the little fish on the screen in not a true response, so I had it turned off, and I will admit I'm not sure what I'm looking at, any hints appreciated.

Plenty of cows on the bank, and was thinking with a sharp knife I could take some steaks home, but how would I ecplain that to the Mrs.

Tried trolling, jigging, flicking lures and slimy worm bait, but not a touch all day.I would be interested to hear if anyone else did any better on the day.

Ok, so I will admit I need help with this fresh water stuff. I didn't expect to do very well today as a first timer, but I though one fish at least.

As for Somerset Dam as a place to visit, fantastic. Only an hour twenty from home(sunny coast), easy boat access, great scenery, flat water, and no need to wash the boat down afterwards which is a plus. Had a walk around while flicking at a few snags, just a really nice place to visit.

Got home and told the Mrs I didn't get any fish, and she replied she had the chops thawing for a few hours, don't ya hate that.