Peel Sunday

[slyman]

Meeting my brother chris at Cleveland, we were on the water by 4:30am and travelling with the westerly across to the northern side of Peel. We fished all along the north of the island from the two big red beacons at the tip almost all the way around to the Platypus, twice, for stuff all fish.

I managed one small tailor for the day and a couple of pike, chris however, was catching one of everything, a few undersize squire, 1 bream, 1 whiting, 1 flathead, 1 sole, 1 small cod, a couple of pike, and there were plenty of squid around to chew on the placcys too. Chris also caught a 38cm squire but it went back with everything else.

The water was pretty dirty, and every second cast, I was clearing this vile snot looking brown green stuff off the placcy. Weights used went from 1/12 to 1/8 and chris had a 1/6 on at one stage, which was getting more interest from the fish than my lighter 1/8. So that would mean that with the wind and the current yesterday, 1/6 was the right weight at the time even though it was heavier. 1/8 drops slower but the other conditions made it so that it the 1/8 didn't drop enough, tending to be taken by the current and staying closer to the surface of the water, while the 1/6 produced a more "natural looking" drop to the fish.

Back to Cleveland for 5:30pm, the wind again behind us, from the east this time, it had been blowing mainly westerly all day, but it swung all around the compass during the day, then home for dinner and to fall asleep on the couch after a beer. Just as well I'm on holidays.

Simon

[reelchippy]

Nice report bad days fishing beats a good day work

[plaztix]

I second that chippy.

Slyman - i have always found that if theres slime, weed or any stuff thats gonna get caught around your lure/bait in the water. Its best to try to find somewhere its not. Especially when it comes to fishing with lures/SP's. In saying that you persevered and still boated a few fish (nice work).

Regarding the jig head weight, your right, you need to mess around a bit to work out the right weight to get your sp to the bottom. It can sometimes be a bit hard to know if you are on the bottom especially when you've got current, wind and waves against you. Its always a gamble between too much and not enough.

I'm of the opinion that if i think i'm getting to the bottom, go slightly heavier so you know. i'd rather be down there in their face with some sort of lure rather than floating in no mans land with a nicely presented natural looking one.

[Scalem]

I'm of the opinion that if i think i'm getting to the bottom, go slightly heavier so you know. i'd rather be down there in their face with some sort of lure rather than floating in no mans land with a nicely presented natural looking one.

Yes and no, I won't disagree with you here, but Simon would be right on the money in certain circumstances. Without the snot weed hampering the plastic, Snapper will often swim up to grab a well presented lure, so 1/16th or 1/8th is plenty of weight. Tell me if I am fishing the bottom if I am being slammed 2 seconds after my placcie hits the water with a depth of 8 meters. No way!! It's happened in 4 consecutive trips, Green, Wello and 2 x at Mud where the fish don't wait for the placcie to reach the bottom, and I think it is when there is a school of them, and they compete with each other to reach the prey 1st.

Good report Simon.

Scalem

[mickstar001]

Great report slyman, i had similar conditions on Friday with lots of weed around, and little return. Good to see that the water wasnt crystal clear though.


Mickstar

[plaztix]

Scalem -For sure totally agree. When fish are schooling and fighting for whatever is around they will take whatever is on offer on the drop and in that case it probably wont really worry them if it looks a bit fast on the drop, in fact theres a good chance it will excite them a bit as it looks like a baitfish taking off to get out of there.

I'm not having a go, in fact i was actually agreeing and expanding on what sly had already said regarding choosing the right weight when current and wind are an issue, as i have often fished with people who fish too light and dont get a hit all day, because their bait/SP is not reaching the depth where the fish hold. Which in many cases, If the fish aren't plentiful or schooling is on, or a metre or so above, the bottom.

I fish with lots of people that all have very different opinions regarding weight in currents and i agree that it is preferable to fish as lightly as possible, but often people fish too light not understanding the amount of resistance your line and soft plastic/bait has on the water when a current is running. In the same instance some people fish too heavily and it is sometimes difficult to tell what is the right weight.

I was merely stating MY opinion and agreeing that his observation was very true regarding why his brother caught more fish.

Sorry for the long response but i have only just joined this forum and want to be clear i dont want to be offending anyone.

No offence intended simon or scalem.

[OB1]

Good report Simon,

I've found the wind to be the main factor in choosing jighead size. If fishing in deep water you can fish very light jigheads straight down and use the electric to keep you bouncing on he bottom - this works if the water is at least 10m otherwise casting in front of the drift and bouncing it back towards the boat works well. The type of platsic is a factor as well - a thin worm will sink fast and hold the bottom well - they seem to be a good choice if the fish are holding deep. Bigger jerk shads will catch the current a bit more.

Cheers,

Ollie

[Scalem]

Plaztix,

It's all cool, but who knows why Simon's brother caught more fish, it could be for a number of reasons, but the only clear difference was the jig head weight. Simon may have fueled the boat and still had smelly fingers, or had a slight difference in action because of a different rod. For me, the drivers side of the boat usually catches the better fish ( yep, me as skipper, and my deckies get the SH!ts!! LOL)

Who knows, but I am not convinced a 1/8 or 1/6th will make that much difference.

Scalem

[slyman]

hey guys thanks for your replies.

Plastix, no offence taken mate! One of the things I enjoy about this site is that everyone is pretty helpful and open, debate is good! Some of the info I've gotten from here has been invaluable, so I dont mind returning the favour! Welcome to the site also mate!

I will agree with everyone on how important it is to select the right weight, however, the lightest weight is not always the most effective in certain situations. Things I'll take into consideration when selecting weight will be wind direction and speed, current direction and speed, is the wind opposing, across, or with current flow,profile of the plastic I want to use or which one they seem to be favouring, which direction will I be casting, where the fish are holding, what fish am I targetting? Basically, fishing the conditions on the given time on the given day to produce that magic action that makes them grab it and run. What works one day will not necessarily work the next. Its also a matter of grams and fractions of grams between 1/6's, 1/8's and 1/12's, so by having a range of intermediate weights might help. Thats why I went and bought some 3/16 weights today. But then some days I like to persevere with just one weight and try to use it in different ways to produce the goods. Bycatch like flathead and sole indicate too much time on the bottom, either by too much weight or not enough action given to the plastic.

Which sort of leads to scalems point about the lure being belted very soon after it hits the water. If the fish are holding higher in the water at this time of year, then they are more likely to encounter lures in the water sooner after they have landed. Quite a few times I've found my lure to be hit soon after closing the bail arm and as I'm taking up the slack line. Also I've had placcys that have 3 or 4 hits on the first drop, could these be schooling fish battling for the placcy?

So if these fish are rising in interest, and the action is right as it passes by them they'll belt it? A lot of squire I've caught are obviously on the drop, Bayfishers recent post has a classic picture of a hook up, lure folded over and pointing downwards in the corner of the mouth, they obviously go for the head end of the lure, but do they approach from the rear of from in front, or is it just circumstantial?

Sometimes a fish that I think has hooked up will sometimes just drop the placcy. I think the direction they grab it from as it drops, will influence hook up success, sometimes the placcy is belted so hard it has folded up over the hook point to prevent hook up. So hook size is important too, a big enough gape to ensure hook up even with lure folded up, but not too long a shank, which will hinder the action of the plastic if too long. I aim for about 1/3 of the lure length if I'm using shads or worms, but reaction type lures that have loads of wobbly bits can get away with 1/2 or more of their length pinned by a shank.

Having said all that, it aint going to matter one bit if the squire aren't interested in plastics that day, somedays they just wont play.


Simon