Fishing the Passage after Green Zone changes

[flatzie]

I guess a lot of people like me have had some pretty good territory go down with the new zones. As I only started fishing the passage last year my list of spots were still small, and thanks to a few helpful Ausfishers who let me tag along I learned a lot. I have found there are plenty of good fish out there for those who are willing to try and learn and explore.
So with the new zones in place its been back to the drawing board a bit and a shift in strategy has put me into more good fish.

It works for me so here's my current approach...hope it helps

1. Every trip explore some new country you have never tried before.
Last trip I tried two new areas and got some nice fish in one of them. The previous trip I secured a great flattie bank with two great fish within 20 metres of each other
2. Have a mixed approach of lures/bait.
I have done so well on SPs that last year I was talking big about never using bait again. Im no purist on anything, I will fish whichever way works to bag fish. I have since discovered at least for the warmer months, that Sps work well very early in the day, when fish like flatties are out and about, especially in shallow water, when the sun is low. But as the day warms and more light is in the water, its a different story. So then I switch to bait, yabbies , worms etc. I try to fish on tides when I can get yabbies, as are they are so plentiful.
3. Radical shifts in technique
Now I love Gulp 2" shrimps. They nail everything...but had never got any summer whiting on them. Last month my brother was down from Cairns, he never fishes SPs and blow me down if he doesnt start catching good whiting right under my nose on the Banana prawn! How? No jerks, twithes, just a very slow steady retieve across very shallow sand. Pays to get out of robot mode occassionally.

So theres a heads up on my approach lately, its been paying off, maybe a few others might like to toss in there strategy, approach etc out there. I would love to hear it for sure.
Cheers all and tight lines

Flatzie

[Mike Delisser]

Next time try a very small popper (1 1/2 inch & under) for the whitting. Work them over shallow sandbanks and try lures that are mainly clear. You can scrape the paint off some of the real cheep poppers and reveal the clear plastic.

Cheers

[robersl]

Hey flatzie the bank (the 1 with the post on it)just down from the old guaranteed spot in 1 m of water has been producing some nice tings for me since easter getting them up to 38cm
shane

[sleepygreg]

Flatzie,

About 30years ago I was told by all and sundry you couldnt catch whiting and luderick on lures, bait was the only way to go. Fishing with my father was a bait only excercise (one of the old time 'niggermen' - you know the ones that are so secretive that no one around them really knows what they are catching and how they are catching em). We used to switch to live yabbies and live shrimp and small prawns on dusk and catch luderick. This got me thinking...if they eat prawns, shrimp and yabbies...they would have to take lures that resembled them. So some mates and I set out targetting the edges of the ribbon weed beds in the shallow lakes of NSW (Conjola, Illawarra, Tabowrie,Macquarie,Hope,Sussex Inlet, Wagonga Inlet etc). The lures that we used were Rebel teeny craws, in varying depth ranges, clear bodys with a touch of colour - either flouro green or orange. And after some experimenting we were catching some cracker fish of all of the esturine species....but mainly luderick and whiting...and some ANSA record fish amongst them. Sometimes thinking outside the square can lead you to some very succesfull techniques. (by the way...those same lures are still made and just as successfull now as they were for us then).

Cheers
Greg

[jighead]

Hey Flatzie
My family and I have just moved here [Glass house] from WA so your post on fishing the passage was read with great interest. We have struggled to adapt to the idea of green zones as well as the tactics required to catch bread and butter species in the passage . Most people will say fish are fish but in WA different tactics, baits and rigs are used to catch flathead whiting and bream so we are hoping that with the help of this forum and fellow AUSFISHERS we can turn it around
Thanks for a good read
Jighead