How do you fish?

Questions new members commonly ask e.g. Which kayak should I buy?
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Reeling
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Real Name: Nath
Location: Altona

Re: How do you fish?

Post by Reeling »

Wind Waker wrote:I will mention its called fishing not catching ;)
You dont need to tell me that, I used to do course fishing when used to live in the UK. Sat under an unbrella on the canal bank on a sunday afternoon to fish a 5hr match hehe. I was more interested in how people go about fishing. I wasn't meaning to sound disgruntled :)
vicyak wrote:Notice you are in Newport so Altona very close to you. Many kayaks launch from the end of millers rd. On a calm weekend morning you will see yaks galore. Tag along. In a light north wind this will be glass conditions. This saturday morning forecast early morning is for 5 knots NE. Conditions will be flat. Due to turn southerly after lunch. If a newbie I wouldn't go out over 10knots in a south wind at Altona.
Yep I'm in Newport, although landlord told us that we have to move out in June as he wants to reno and move in. gutted! Hoping to stay local though if anything suitable comes up.

I'm a bit pissed that the only day I have plans is on the Sunday and I will be down mornington with friends. I was hoping to get out on friday and altona would be nice and close - although not quite as good wind conditions. I havent been out with winds greater than 10-knots, but have been out once (my first time) out when it was fairly choppy - in comparison to my practice session in st kilda marina on a glassed out arvo haha
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shane
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Re: How do you fish?

Post by shane »

Friday up till mid-morning with a <10kt westerly is still OK at Altona, just don't push it too far on early trips. (Also monitor forecasts and conditions in advance).

I'd suggest targeting a single species at a time and plan your approach around that. You can change from one species to another during a trip but that will mean a change in approach. At this time of year in North PPB the easiest options are squid and flathead.

At Altona I would launch at Millers and turn sharp left keeping within about 200m of the esplanade. The area to the left along where the pines are up until the two sticks is a prime sqiuid ground in around 3-4m. Tie on a couple of squid jigs on light outfits and drift one and work the other through this area. Alternatively you can troll along slowly at 1-2km/hr working the jigs behind you as you troll. This will give you a very good chance of catching squid, particularly during early morning low light periods.

Once the sun is well up the squid can be harder to tempt so then switch to flathead. For these I would change to plastics or bait on a paternoster. Relocate to beyond the West side of the pier in 3-6m of water and drift along with bait or plastics trailing and working a plastic ahead. If the wind is up you may need a drift chute to slow your drift speed down. This is a prime flathead area and should see you picking up a few keepers, maybe even a gummy on bait (eg salmon, pillie).

Also keep an eye out for bird action that can signal a salmon school. If they appear then cast plastics or hard bodies into the school for a bit of fun. You can also troll medium or deep diving hard bodies between spots and this can pick up pinkies, pike, flathead and salmon. All the best. :thumbsup:
Last edited by shane on 12 Apr 2017, 16:28, edited 1 time in total.
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Magpie_Mick
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Re: How do you fish?

Post by Magpie_Mick »

I am also a newbee when it comes to kayak fishing and totally agree with the recommendation to be clear on what fish you are targeting otherwise as you have found you can wander around and catch nothing (although that can also happen when targeting something). I have had most success when targetting a species but also then had by-catch (eg at Point Cook was focusing on flatties but found a patch of small snapper and some small gummies).

Altona is a great spot to start as you have the opportunity to target a number of species at different times in one trip out (depending on light, tides etc.) I have found my sounder is great for identifying the depth of the water, sometimes what the bottom is like and also if drifting for flathead etc. where I have drifted as typically you find hot patches and want to be able to go back over them. Looking at the arches typically just confuses things as you can't be sure if they are fish or if they are the fish you want.
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Magpie_Mick
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Re: How do you fish?

Post by Magpie_Mick »

Also avoid Altona in a southerly. Not much fun!
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Hvalross
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Re: How do you fish?

Post by Hvalross »

Reeling wrote:Thanks for the hints and tips guys. Did someone mention berley? Haha.

At the moment I don't know any areas so don't know where any reed beds, sand bars, reefs or dropoffs. I was just kind of aimlessly pedalling and trying :) .

Sounds like it's a matter of just getting my ads on the water a bit more and try :)
For me the sounder is as essential as my rods and reels to fishing. Your question was how do you fish. For me the answer is structure followed by structure, then structure just to be sure. Thus a good sounder will be able to tell you exactly what bottom you are passing over. Sounders with downscan will be able to give you a very good picture of weed beds for example, even down to profile of individual plants! As you observed as a general rule of thumb the cone is not going to cover a great area in shallower water. Fishing from the Western suburbs its important for a yakker to travel in the company of fellow yakkers in order to get a feel for where our local reefs and features are. If only because its smart effort and time wise to be able to go straight to the productive areas.
Reading a sounder and getting a good understanding of what your unit is telling you may take a while because not all fish are represented as clear arches. If you pass over a loosly spread school of larger fish you may get clear arches, but as the fish pack closer together and or get smaller they will not always show as individuals. Fish hard on the bottom can be a real challenge for some sounders.
As others have said experience is the best teacher and it takes time to get experience.......good luck and enjoy.
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laneends
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Re: How do you fish?

Post by laneends »

Just be careful around altona in regards to anchoring use your sounder to ensure you are not dropping on the reefs, or thats a whole new headache. Rocks are mainly to left of millers road and a shallow reef between millers and the pier. Elsewhere is pretty flat.
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Reeling
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Re: How do you fish?

Post by Reeling »

laneends wrote:Just be careful around altona in regards to anchoring use your sounder to ensure you are not dropping on the reefs, or thats a whole new headache. Rocks are mainly to left of millers road and a shallow reef between millers and the pier. Elsewhere is pretty flat.
Thanks for the warning Keith. I'll try my best not to anchor a rock :)
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bjspinner
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Re: How do you fish?

Post by bjspinner »

Reeling wrote:
laneends wrote:Just be careful around altona in regards to anchoring use your sounder to ensure you are not dropping on the reefs, or thats a whole new headache. Rocks are mainly to left of millers road and a shallow reef between millers and the pier. Elsewhere is pretty flat.
Thanks for the warning Keith. I'll try my best not to anchor a rock :)
In addition to Keith's comment if you are using an anchor with folding tyne's don't lock the collar to stop the tyne's from folding back it's easier to flip an anchor over if needed when not locked in and do the search on how to attach the rope/chain to one of these with a small cable tie, it will save you some heartache if you do get caught on a reef.

One species at a time also.
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Reeling
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Location: Altona

Re: How do you fish?

Post by Reeling »

bjspinner wrote:
Reeling wrote:
laneends wrote:Just be careful around altona in regards to anchoring use your sounder to ensure you are not dropping on the reefs, or thats a whole new headache. Rocks are mainly to left of millers road and a shallow reef between millers and the pier. Elsewhere is pretty flat.
Thanks for the warning Keith. I'll try my best not to anchor a rock :)
In addition to Keith's comment if you are using an anchor with folding tyne's don't lock the collar to stop the tyne's from folding back it's easier to flip an anchor over if needed when not locked in and do the search on how to attach the rope/chain to one of these with a small cable tie, it will save you some heartache if you do get caught on a reef.

One species at a time also.
Thanks Bruce for the tip about not locking the tynes open. I already have my anchor attached via cable tie :)
Tuna 20.5kg ---KingFish 90cm --- Snapper 84cm --- Gummy 83cm (55cm legal) ---- Whiting 40cm --- Silver Trevelly 41cm --- Flathead 52cm --- Aussie Salmon 38cm --- Squid 34cm hood

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chunk9000
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Re: How do you fish?

Post by chunk9000 »

Hi Nath.
Not sure where I'll be over Easter, but good chance I'll be in the local area Sunday or Monday​ and will put a post up. The rain may have shut things down for a while but always good to have a go.
Trent
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