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Why don't I catch fish?


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For us to help you, help us in letting us know what you wish to mainly target.

Don't list a dozen species, just 1 or 2 to start with, otherwise it will get too confusing.

Then let us know what rod, line, hook size, baits etc etc, so we can help with that too.

Also, where do you mainly fish.

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Once you get over the current disappointment, re phrase the question from a negative to a positive.  ie what do I need to do to catch fish?  Any endeavour that requires some skill, research, practice, dedication and a heap of failures will, in the end be more rewarding and character building once the success comes.   🙂

Cheers

Rod

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Interesting question....,why dont I catch fish?

I am partly blaming the internet for this dilemma,nowadays  info is hand fed.Back in the day it was fishing reports in the paper, after that it was up to the individual to actually go out ,see what other experienced anglers were doing right,taking in the info,spending time on the water,working out tides,feeding habits, gathering or buying fresh bait,experementing with different rigs...basically doing the hard yards.

You can only be hand fed so much, time on the water= experience ,actually  working things out yourself plus seeing from others  is the key.Plus one thing my Dad always taught me is fish for what is there.No point fishing for salmon trout when everyone around you is catching  say yellowin whiting for example.

Cheers and all the best.😎

 

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I am very frustrated because when I go to try and catch a feed of fish it does not happen. I have caught garfish before, not in huge numbers, do not expect to land based, but I expect to catch something.

So yesterday I went to Semaphore. I chose Semaphore because the report on here said garfish were being caught off the jetty, the tide and wind would be going in the same direction allowing me to fish in a berley trail. I made up some berley, I used gents as bait. I adjusted the depth I was fishing, 

I do not know what I could have done differently, YET NOTHING HAPPENED. I fished over two hours of the incoming high tide and NOTHING HAPPENED. My float just sat there and nothing happened. 

I have no idea what to do differently, does anyone else?

 

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Simple answer is that the gar just wernt on.I have been fishing for 45 years and my best advice I can give you is to just persist.If I had a dollar for every fishless night I spent chasing mulloway in the port through the seventies and eighties I would be a richer man.Now days when ever I step onto a boat I do so with the utmost confidence.

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If you are going for garfish , I suggest always move your bait a little ,sometimes they don't even move your float ,they are just sucking on the gents ,just light lifts now and again as sometimes you will feel some weight ,and you know they are there . Also check your maggots on the hook , if they have had the guts sucked out , you know they are there ,so you just have to work for them . As said above I have fished for over 40 yrs ,and Gar can be very finicky at times ,and they will do your head in . The last trip I only managed 7 gar ,the time before 37 gar ,the time before that NOT ONE GAR . So don't give up , Gar is one of the harder fish to master at times , but worth the effort as YUMMO to eat .

CHEERS 

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Easy to get disappointed sometimes no question. Truth is, if fish are not in the area your bait is you won't catch fish. Doesn't matter what prep or research or even how good you are or think you are, you won't catch fish.

I fish with a mate on a boat occasionally and this season the garfish have been difficult to find in numbers and size, we've tried plenty as garfish are my fav table fish.

Like all types of fishing it takes practice and learning. Take notes, photos or whatever of what works, when and you'll work out the how. You might notice that on certain tide phases, moon phases, time of the day ect ect that the fish come on the bite for instance.

What's the depth of your trace below the float? Photo?

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The Gar are being caught on most jetties, but in saying that, this year has seen less caught from the jetties - why? only the fishing gods know.

The last few years, Gar has produced well but it has been very up and down this year, although the boaties have done better - but there have been many reports where they have struggled too.

But like jackman says, the Gar just were on.  You might think, 'but all the time' ... sometimes yes.

Were there any others going for Gar and catching them?  If there were and not catching then it wasn't just you.  If they were catching, then watch what they are doing, go and stand near them and look at their set up. Have a chat to them.

Many of the regular Gar fisho's on the Port Noarlunga jetty have all said this year has been slower.  There have been many times when talking to the other regulars they mention nothing being caught for the whole week, then the following day you hear that the Gar 'were on'.  If we knew when the fish where to bite guaranteed we'd all be down fishing, but that would then be boring.

Ok......

- Gents (best) - Gar flesh a 2nd good option

- Burley (could rub some stale bread between hands so crumbs fall into water, have a burley bucket with pellets into dangling in water or a very small spring on leader to put some burley) - but don't over feed them, just enough to entice them, then back off on the burley.

- Light set up (6lb line is good)

- Float (as light as possible)

- Hook (size 10, 12 long shank) or what I tried on the session was size 14 short shank (worked well)

- Rod (I like 6'6" to 7'6" length with a nibble action tip)

- Reel (something small/light, say around 1000-2500)

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22 minutes ago, Bladesg said:

Easy to get disappointed sometimes no question. Truth is, if fish are not in the area your bait is you won't catch fish. Doesn't matter what prep or research or even how good you are or think you are, you won't catch fish.

I fish with a mate on a boat occasionally and this season the garfish have been difficult to find in numbers and size, we've tried plenty as garfish are my fav table fish.

Like all types of fishing it takes practice and learning. Take notes, photos or whatever of what works, when and you'll work out the how. You might notice that on certain tide phases, moon phases, time of the day ect ect that the fish come on the bite for instance.

What's the depth of your trace below the float? Photo?

I changed the depth of my bait a number of times, but as it was rough I was not right near the surface.

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17 minutes ago, doobie said:

The Gar are being caught on most jetties, but in saying that, this year has seen less caught from the jetties - why? only the fishing gods know.

The last few years, Gar has produced well but it has been very up and down this year, although the boaties have done better - but there have been many reports where they have struggled too.

But like jackman says, the Gar just were on.  You might think, 'but all the time' ... sometimes yes.

Were there any others going for Gar and catching them?  If there were and not catching then it wasn't just you.  If they were catching, then watch what they are doing, go and stand near them and look at their set up. Have a chat to them.

Many of the regular Gar fisho's on the Port Noarlunga jetty have all said this year has been slower.  There have been many times when talking to the other regulars they mention nothing being caught for the whole week, then the following day you hear that the Gar 'were on'.  If we knew when the fish where to bite guaranteed we'd all be down fishing, but that would then be boring.

Ok......

- Gents (best) - Gar flesh a 2nd good option

- Burley (could rub some stale bread between hands so crumbs fall into water, have a burley bucket with pellets into dangling in water or a very small spring on leader to put some burley) - but don't over feed them, just enough to entice them, then back off on the burley.

- Light set up (6lb line is good)

- Float (as light as possible)

- Hook (size 10, 12 long shank) or what I tried on the session was size 14 short shank (worked well)

- Rod (I like 6'6" to 7'6" length with a nibble action tip)

- Reel (something small/light, say around 1000-2500)

Used Gents

Berley - had a berley pot, would have limited the amount if I had ever got a bite

Set up, general rod with 10lb braid and 8lb flourscarbon rig

Float - could not quite set it up like I usually do, standing straight up in the water because my head light was not working and I could not see exactly how the float was sitting in the water. 

Hook - size 10

Rod - 7'0", perhaps a little heavier but I use it as a general rod.

Reel - 2500

 

So it seems I always go at the wrong time, well I work, I have others things I do, I don't have a great deal of choice when I can go.

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ok, that sounds pretty good although line could be lighter.

You mention the water was rough, so 'probably' not the best for Gar, but then neither is absolute flat calm - a bit of ripple on the water surface is good.

The wind and current was the same direction, so that was good.

Incoming/outgoing tide which you probably had, so good too.

Really ... the Gar just weren't there at the time - nothing to do with what you did or tried.

I went for a walk yesterday along the Port Noarlunga jetty about 3pm.  I was windy and it was choppy on the seaside of the reef, but calmer water inside of reef.   A couple people were going for Gar and in the 1/2 hour I hung around watching they had caught nothing - not even a bite.

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I used to fish Semaphore all the time when I was a kid and caught heaps of Gar from that Jetty. Maybe try fishing the Jetty on the rising tide at night. My best sessions were mostly after midnight to first light on a rising tide. I found during the day was hard to get a good feed.

The added bonus was that there was always less people to compete with!

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@IamDangerous I feel your pain. I have spent two years chasing Flatties for a grand total of 1 (albiet a bloody good one!!). I will continue working at these beauties until I crack the code.

What everyone has said about persistance and patience is 100% accurate.

The only point I would add to this is - have a back up plan / 2nd option. Either carry a 2nd outfit to target a different species, or carry some other rigs and change it up.

I chase my Flatties (albeit unsucessfully) by wading the flats, flinging HBs around. These flats also generally hold YFW. Whilst I have failed miserably on the Flatties front, I have successfully wrangled a number of quality YFW. To the point now where I am confident I can chase Flatties and fail, but still come home with a feed of YFW.

I have never targeted or caught Gar, but if your chasing them from a Jetty, it wouldnt hurt to carry 2-3 squid jags and maybe some rigs for Whiting. Even a crab net. A small seafood basket of squid, blueys and whiting would make a failed gar drip a lot easier to swallow I would think.

Best of luck.

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