Gee l will have to come fishing with you Phill...or do l just buy a packet of Bozos....and my Catfish problems will be solved....The answer to every Awoonga fishermans dreams.....
Gee l will have to come fishing with you Phill...or do l just buy a packet of Bozos....and my Catfish problems will be solved....The answer to every Awoonga fishermans dreams.....
Kids need models, more than they need critics."
"In youth we learn; in age we understand."
"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand
Good topic guys.
We agree with the Jackals being too pricey - there are many other products that cost less and do a great job.
Like Awoonga we have found catfish love jigging ha We thought the winner of the Barra comps would be a keen basser who used jigging as one of their primary methods - however some of the bass fisho's didn't do that well this year!
If we had more time maybe as a local we might give it a go for a few days/weeks/months on end to refine the technique - but we usually go back to tried and tested techniques that work as everyone loves to catch a fish after a long trip etc
The idea makes sense and we thought it would be a real winner for us.
If any other locals have given jigging a real go over a year please let us know how it went at Faust/ Awoonga/Callide etc.
Matt have you tried this method up north?
Taylor's how have you gone at Faust with jigging?
Barramad have you tried this method much at Awoonga?
Adrian at Monduran uses hard bodies as he hasn't had much luck with plastics at monduran when compared to traditional methods etc.
We will be interested to hear what everyone has to say. Keep the good topics coming guys.
Merry Xmas to everyone. Cheers SeekingBarradise
SB,
Jigging has been part of the evolution at Awoonga for some time mate. The method is certainly nothing new and hardly ground breaking, but it can be a rewarding way to fish. Reading the initial post was great, the excitment of the angler was obvious, and he was kind enough to share with you guys his tecnique. Good stuff.
Most of us guys up here have been doing it for a few years, it does yield good results at times, however as Trev has stated it can be a catty-athon.
There is no real way of avoiding them, luck will see you avoid them for a session or 3, but once you start doing it a bit more regular it becomes part of the deal.
That doesnt worry me too much, on a good jigging bite I can expect a 3 to 1 Catty to Barra ratio, which I can live with. Some times I wont see a single Cattie, other times its full on. It can be worth it when fish are hugging the thermo, or when boat traffic has sent them down.
Awoonga was much more of a deep water fishery last year, this year see's a much cooler dam overall for the same period. Obviously the south Easters and eratic weather patterns have shaped that.
Hence fish holding locations throughout the basin are different, and jigging has been no-where near as spectacular as this time last.
Plastics are not the only way to go, lipless crank baits, rattletraps and some old cheap ass stuff (Smiths)can be lethal at times
dont be shy to mix it up.
Another scenario that plays out often on these impoundments is cottoning on to a new tecnique that works once or twice, then never again except under those exact same conditions. Getting more than two identical days is nearly impossible, esp with the incessant South Easters of late.
This happened to me twice last year, had something going but kept quiet on it in case it went sour, and on both occasions it did. Mind you it was pretty out there, but on a few given days, it belted the living crap out of them when others couldnt raise a strike.
Strange things happen out there........................Keeps us going back.
Hope Ive shed some light.
Cheers
JW
Thanks for the great information JW it was a very interesting read which we don't often get to see in the mags etc
The challenge definately keeps us coming back - it's a special place up there and in our limited time on the water compared to you CQ guys we have found that every day can be so different on the water - which provides a great challenge!
Thanks again for sharing some of your experiences.
Merry Xmas Everyone. SeekingBarradise
Yes Jigging does work with Soft Plastics at Monduran, but I have not tried Lipless as yet.
Brett.
Hey Phil,
Great post and pics, thanks for sharing. Your observations on lure weight and hook size has given me food for thought!
SB,
Did some jiggin' last year as well as the standard 'flathead whip' retrieve with some relatively good results. I was using the squidgy shads (gingerbeer is my favourite closely followed by TNT) as they seem to 'flutter' a bit better on the drop than the squidgy fish (I prefer the fish profiles for casting)!
Haven't done much jiggin' this year (except at the reef) due to the milder weather conditions so the barra I've been targetting are still relatively shallow and susceptible to a general casting presentation rather than vertical.
My experience with jiggin' involved targetting isolated fish at depth which IMHO is indicative of fish 'resting' , 'chillin' out' or sometimes fish that are just plain stressed! A fair bit of patience was involved and sometimes, no matter what was tried they couldn't be enticed!
I much prefer to target concentrations of fish in predatory or ambush positions as you generally have the oppurtunity to present your lure to more fish which are in a much more aggressive state - higher percentage fishing!
My bladder isn't strong enough to consider jiggin' the timber at Faust.....starting to weaken already just thinking about it!
Horses for courses though, not one technique will work ALL the time, when conditions dictate that jiggin' is the preferred technique I'm more than happy to adopt it and 'teabag' away!!!
Cheers
MAtt C
Great topic Phil. We took some slick rigs up to Awoonga in October but were mainly slow rolling them. We are hoping to head up again in February so will definitely consider giving the technique a good go. Thanks for sharing some helpful info.
Cheers
Paul
Ranger 188VX - "Sweet Chariot"
Done it at Awoonga and Callide and its has worked really well, found some big arks this last trip and got busted twice on twisted 80lb leader, it seems to take a couple of drops but the seem to get annoyed into biting it, bit like us bloke asking to go fishing all the time she will bite eventually.
TT
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