Duck finally broken by a few undersizlings on the sunny coast

[yanjarra]

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.

[Flattie Assassin]

First of all congratulations on a good session. One thing i have found with plastics, is that having confidence is a big boost. Your on the right track there. Once you have caught some fish you will start to experiment with retrieves more, Which will just lead to more fish. It's all win from this point on.

As for playing the fish that's half the fun. I set my drag at home, and leave it set on all reels. You don't wanna try and pull up a rampaging fish at the wrong time. Set your drag and make the most out of it. Play the fish. And only tighten up if your heading for certain doom.

Estuary Cod are a great eating fish. Rated up there with Mangies etc. Watch the gills when handling though. Very sharp. Also larger members of the species will do exactly what you said. Staunchly sit on the bottom and it can be quite a job to pull them up on 6pd.

And yes, where there is smaller fish, there is going to be larger fish as well. They will most likely be eating a larger baitfish though. So again, It's matching the bait to the species menu.

Your doing the right thing keeping on the move as well. Keep moving working different areas. I just release wherever, but you are most likely correct about putting the fish back a short way upstream.

Cheers
FA

[yanjarra]

thanks for the info flatty.... i think it may have been a few of those bigger cod the times im refering to, wats the best way to get around that happening? just be a bit quicker with the wind and lift as soon as you feel anything to stop them getting to the bottom, or a heavier line or combo of both or?

[Scott nthQld]

sound like a great sesh, especially for a first timer to not only fishing but sp's as well. The estuary cod get massive, and the bigger fish are the breeders, hence why they also have a max size limit, don't know what the limits are, cos I don't keep them (spoilt for choice in NQ you see), but the info is readily available from the dpi website.

Fishing with light gear, I wouldn't fiddle with the drag too much, and remember pulling line straight through the reel to test is not a true reading of the drap pressure on the fish, as fricton along the runners and the action of the rod will also put more hurt on them. I find 6lb to be very capable in my hands (caught barra up to 70cm on 6lb), but I've been fishing for longer than I can remember, and have a lot more experience in knowing what the gear is capable of. The more trips you do, and the more fish you catch, the quicker you learn. If you deem it necessary to tighten your drag mid fight, don't go hell for leather, do it gradually so as not to put the line, rod, reel and terminal tackle under sudden pressure, if possible try to steer the fish away from structure first, taking the rod tip to the opposite direction (ie if fish is going right, take the rod left), if the fish is simply taking line straight out, there's not a lot you can do except tighten the drag a little, not to stop the fish completely, but to slow it down and make it harder for the fish to swim, tiring it out. Use the 'lift and wind' method to more easily subdue the larger fish, ie lift the rod, and wind back down, doing this turns the fishes head towards you, and makes it easier to control, just short lifts and short spurts winding down does the trick nicely, doing this also puts less stress on your gear, especially your reel, as you won't be cranking against a heavy weight, which can strip the gears in the reel.

The bite, snag sensation you describe, could be either a fish or indeed just a snag, sometimes on the retreive and you give your rod a flick, catching Australia feels like a bite at first, but it could go the other way, if your lure is in tight to structure (the perfect place to be to target cod, jacks etc) sometimes a smart fish will just go BAM, and you get bricked before you can react.

Also, FA is right, where there are babies, their parents usually won't be too far away, smaller fish sometime prove impossible to get past because they are less wary of the lures and before the bigguns can check it out, the little ones are already smashing the lure. After all, the big fish didn't get to be big by being stupid. I have found from personal experience, lure size doesn't always dictate the size of fish you catch, I'm sure many a seasoned angler has a story or 2 where their lure was bigger than the fish they caught on it and many small lures account for some bigger fish as well (myself included). It is true that the smaller the lure, the more likely you will get smaller fish, but if you do use a larger lure, you might not get as many small fish, and the bigger fish will get more of a chance to suss it out and decide whether or not they want to eat it.

Releasing fish where you caught it doesn't really have much effect on the rest of the fish in the area, the released fish may be hyper for a little while but soon they forget and go back into feed mode. I remember once I cought and released the same small cod 3 times in a row, the 2nd time i pulled it up I was sceptical as it had a hole in it lip where it was hooked last time, so I took a small nick out of it anal fin just to be sure, released it, and the next fish I caught was the same one, now with 3 holes in its gob and a nick out of its fin, that fish must've been one of 2 things, incredibly hungry, or incredibly stupid.

Most importantly, though you haven't been able to put a fresh feed on the table yet, keep persisting, and experimenting and it should soon follow.

Scott

[Fish_gutz]

well done on your first fish and on plastics also, all the tips and info on this site has pointed you in the right direction. once you`ve caught a couple of fish like flattie assasin said it helps plenty with the confidence so keep at it and you will fine tune everything a little more with every trip. Good luck with the next trip. Muz

[Flattie Assassin]

thanks for the info flatty.... i think it may have been a few of those bigger cod the times im refering to, wats the best way to get around that happening? just be a bit quicker with the wind and lift as soon as you feel anything to stop them getting to the bottom, or a heavier line or combo of both or?

I just slowly tighten my drag Yanjara. then try and lift them out. Sometimes your line will snap, others they will take off once you pick them up a bit, and it's on.