yanjarra
21-12-2007, 12:34 PM
Well after many hours put in ive finally landed my first fish, albeit some little baby ones. Not only one fish, but 3, all of differant species which was nice.
Went hunting around underneath a few bridges on the sunny coast in the mooloolah river on wednesday, armed with 3" pumpkinseed gulp and some 1/8th or so jigheads and 6.1lb line as per. Fished for a few hours on the incoming tide. Second cast pulled in a moses perch of 23cm which was a revolation as the first fish of my life. Had a few bites and what not for about half an hour and than got onto something much bigger,had it on the end of the line and fought with it for about 30secs or so, it jumped out of the water a few times and id say it was twice the size of the first fish and a moses also. Unfortunately as this was my second fish ever i probably wasnt quite skilled enough to land such a monster and as it started getting close to some pylons i panicked and turned on the drag and snap and she was off and it went down as the moment i would rue for the rest of the day.
Went quiet for an hour or so there after so i walked a bit further up the river to another bridge and once again 2 or 3 casts and was onto a flathead of 27cm. Let her go and another 2 or 3 casts later straight onto a baby estuary cod of 20cm. Had a few more bites over the next hour and started to get pooey with losing so much tackle to snags so called it a day. All in all couldnt complain though, and delighted to have my first fish, first fish of 3 differant species, and first fish on sp and certainly has given me the motivation ive been needing to get stuck right back into it and chase some more as hope was beginning to waver.
Its great to get that confidenance in the gear also, particularly the sp and know that they work. Strange that all of a sudden it just comes though, not like ive changed anything, i guess sometimes they are just there and maybe a bit better fishing up the coast. The day has aroused some further questions in me though and id be appreciative of any help provided.
Firstly what is the technique for landing a fish like the one i let get away, i suppose it really depends on circumstance but is that pretty much it.....when it tries to run away.. tighten the drag.. if so like how much?..enough to stop it entirely or just slow it down a bit kind of? Will it everntually start coming towards you and thats when u wind or? And when it starts getting close to a pylon or snag like in this instance is it better to try and stop it with the drag or let it go and not snap the line and just hope it doesnt get caught up in there?
How are estuary cod as an eating fish? cause it looked bloody hideous. If targeting this species; who although the smallest of the three probably put up the best fight, would u recommend a leader and what strength...little fella seemed to have some mean chompers so id imagine yes.
Also a number of times throughout the afternoon i could have swore i felt a succint bite and than wound in and what ever it was wouldnt budge, felt exactly like a snag and ended up losing my gear but initially it felt like a bite. Where i was fishing had quite a rocky bottom so would this often be where a fish has grabbed the sp and darted straght under a rock and snagged you before you knew it? or is it more likely to have always been a snag and i just was wrong about it being a fish in the initial instance?
Also, given the size of the little fish i was catching is it safe to assume that bigger ones are around when this is the case? Like i was thinking mum and dad must be out there somewhere or is this not necessarily the case? Does it have anything to do with youre technique if youre consistantly landing smaller ones? Also if you were coninually getting smaller fish is it a wise play to upgrade to a bigger lure like a 5" say becuase maybe the bigger fish arent interested in the smaller sp's or? I did try this but when i did the biting stopped completely... i suppose the reverse is true and the smaller fish mightnt be able to fit something that big in theyre mouth and might be afraid of it so they wont have a go at it yeh?
When u release a fish in the spot you have caught it is it better to move along upstream a bit..... my thoughts would be yes.. because surely a fish you are releasing is scared and hyped up and when put back into the water the other fish might catch onto this and leave? But than again maybe theres a ton of fish there and you might be moving from a good spot to a crap one. thoughts??
Well thanks for reading guys, and thanks to all of you who have given me some great advice and put me on the right path., hopefully ill let you all know of some legal length stuff soon.
Went hunting around underneath a few bridges on the sunny coast in the mooloolah river on wednesday, armed with 3" pumpkinseed gulp and some 1/8th or so jigheads and 6.1lb line as per. Fished for a few hours on the incoming tide. Second cast pulled in a moses perch of 23cm which was a revolation as the first fish of my life. Had a few bites and what not for about half an hour and than got onto something much bigger,had it on the end of the line and fought with it for about 30secs or so, it jumped out of the water a few times and id say it was twice the size of the first fish and a moses also. Unfortunately as this was my second fish ever i probably wasnt quite skilled enough to land such a monster and as it started getting close to some pylons i panicked and turned on the drag and snap and she was off and it went down as the moment i would rue for the rest of the day.
Went quiet for an hour or so there after so i walked a bit further up the river to another bridge and once again 2 or 3 casts and was onto a flathead of 27cm. Let her go and another 2 or 3 casts later straight onto a baby estuary cod of 20cm. Had a few more bites over the next hour and started to get pooey with losing so much tackle to snags so called it a day. All in all couldnt complain though, and delighted to have my first fish, first fish of 3 differant species, and first fish on sp and certainly has given me the motivation ive been needing to get stuck right back into it and chase some more as hope was beginning to waver.
Its great to get that confidenance in the gear also, particularly the sp and know that they work. Strange that all of a sudden it just comes though, not like ive changed anything, i guess sometimes they are just there and maybe a bit better fishing up the coast. The day has aroused some further questions in me though and id be appreciative of any help provided.
Firstly what is the technique for landing a fish like the one i let get away, i suppose it really depends on circumstance but is that pretty much it.....when it tries to run away.. tighten the drag.. if so like how much?..enough to stop it entirely or just slow it down a bit kind of? Will it everntually start coming towards you and thats when u wind or? And when it starts getting close to a pylon or snag like in this instance is it better to try and stop it with the drag or let it go and not snap the line and just hope it doesnt get caught up in there?
How are estuary cod as an eating fish? cause it looked bloody hideous. If targeting this species; who although the smallest of the three probably put up the best fight, would u recommend a leader and what strength...little fella seemed to have some mean chompers so id imagine yes.
Also a number of times throughout the afternoon i could have swore i felt a succint bite and than wound in and what ever it was wouldnt budge, felt exactly like a snag and ended up losing my gear but initially it felt like a bite. Where i was fishing had quite a rocky bottom so would this often be where a fish has grabbed the sp and darted straght under a rock and snagged you before you knew it? or is it more likely to have always been a snag and i just was wrong about it being a fish in the initial instance?
Also, given the size of the little fish i was catching is it safe to assume that bigger ones are around when this is the case? Like i was thinking mum and dad must be out there somewhere or is this not necessarily the case? Does it have anything to do with youre technique if youre consistantly landing smaller ones? Also if you were coninually getting smaller fish is it a wise play to upgrade to a bigger lure like a 5" say becuase maybe the bigger fish arent interested in the smaller sp's or? I did try this but when i did the biting stopped completely... i suppose the reverse is true and the smaller fish mightnt be able to fit something that big in theyre mouth and might be afraid of it so they wont have a go at it yeh?
When u release a fish in the spot you have caught it is it better to move along upstream a bit..... my thoughts would be yes.. because surely a fish you are releasing is scared and hyped up and when put back into the water the other fish might catch onto this and leave? But than again maybe theres a ton of fish there and you might be moving from a good spot to a crap one. thoughts??
Well thanks for reading guys, and thanks to all of you who have given me some great advice and put me on the right path., hopefully ill let you all know of some legal length stuff soon.