I got chatting to the back neighbor Jack last night. I’ve only spoken to him once or twice in the last 3 years. He’s an older gent about 70ish, he asked me about my new-old boat and if I’ve been catching any fish. I let him know I’d been having a tough time finding a decent fish in the region. Apparently he’s a keen fishermen too, and has been fishing Coorooman Creek for 60 years. He told me he normally catches heaps down at Coorooman, far too many Grunter for him to fillet and freeze, so he and his borther-in-law normally take all their extra fish the local fish market for a few extra dollar$.
Any way here is a summary of his tips and suggestions. I can’t wait to go try these out this weekend.
1. Lures don’t work here. They might work down south where there are heaps of fish. But not up here where there is far fewer fish in very dirty water.
2. Fresh bait does not work, nor does live bait. Everyone uses fresh & live bait so the fish are used to it. The fish will now only bite on rotten bait. It takes some work to prepare it, but it’s worth the extra effort, especially for Grunter. Take a frozen packet of squid, lay it out in the sun for 24 preferably 48hrs before a trip. The smellier the better.
3. Use the biggest sinker you can effectivly cast. Don’t worry about the splash when you hurl it out, that splash noise actually attracts the fish. Once the bait is on the bottom you don’t want it to move. The fish will search out that rotten squid smell, they can’t resist it. If your bait moves the fish can’t find it in the dirty water.
4. Always use a wire trace and a minimum of 30lb mono for any estuary fishing, dont use braid that will cut the other lines off if they rub.
5. Rusty hooks work better than new shiny ones, new hooks are shiny and have a reflective flash that scares fish away. Take any new hooks and rinse them in saltwater, let air dry between trips.
6. Use no smaller than a 6/0 hook for esturary fishing. Big fish have big mouths. And the big hooks eliminate catching small unwanted rubbish fish.
7. Kill any stingrays or catfish you catch. If you put them back alive they will just swim back and get on your hook again.
8. Night fishes better than day.
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Originally Posted by Muddy Toes
