Territory Lad

As a lure that bounces across the bottom there is always going to be a bit of wear and tear on them.
They do have a diminishing catch rate as they loose their paint and extra feeler bits.
 
On the Reel question ... I use the Vanford 2500
The bigger spool provides a bit better cast. Also and importantly, the larger diameter provides me with a better retrieval speed for the lures.

I have just enjoyed a couple of golden bag out Lure sessions on the “GOLDBARS”.
Two successive days with bag limits of quality fish in the 32 to 41cm range
This time mostly caught on the incoming afternoon tides.




My usual fishing sessions, most often involve some of both the outgoing and the incoming tides.
It is interesting to ponder on, which tide has the best fishing.
There has always been many a discussion amongst Yellow Fin Whiting fisher people as to which tide  is better to fish. The incoming tide or the outgoing.
My view is that varies. Generally it changes with the peak tide cycles, prevailing at that the time of year.
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Yellow Fin Whiting’s lives revolve around the tides. Especially across the sandflat habitats.
The tides are what provides them access to their feeding grounds or wash out food to them.
So it is no surprise that their feeding behaviour and movements change and mirror the tide cycles.
They do most of their feeding on the biggest tide of the day.
They probably have evolved a 24 hour digestive cycle to match and so have developed a 24 hour hunger/feeding cycle. Hence they soon form a feeding routine that coincides with the biggest tides of the day.
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Follow the Tide height cycle. By around the end of February the evening tides start to get bigger than the morning tides. This is when I find the YFW feeding behaviour starts to switch from AM to PM.
In the earlier part of the Yellow Fin Whiting lure season, from early October to February, I prefer fishing the bigger run off morning tides. From March onwards I prefer the bigger incoming evening tides.
However I am selective of the tide sizes I choose to fish! They are different tide heights that work better for the outgoing and incoming tides.
The big morning tides of early season, see a lot of YFW move into a wide area of samphire beds and sandflats. The bigger the tides the more fish that move in.
So early season I like to fish the runoff of the biggest morning tides and have a chance of catching the most fish as they beat a path back to deeper water in the outgoing tide.
When it comes to the evening incoming tides late season, it is the opposite. I don’t want to go chasing fish far and wide, spread out by a big incoming tide.
I pick the smallest evening tides to fish. When the fish will be concentrated in a small area. When the competition to feed in a restricted space heats up.
There are exceptions to the rule … but that is a story for another day.
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There is a slight shift in the availability of food and subsequently successful lure choices with these two tidal situation.
The early season big morning tides, which usually happen before dawn, provide access to a lot of juvenile prawns and Haswell mud carbs. Surface lures are highly successful during this period.
In the smaller evening tides, surface lures also take their share of fish, but subsurface lures are more successful. Especially on the smaller evening tides when the fish are restricted to the more inshore sandflats holding Clickers. So it is reasonable that a subsurface lure bouncing and puffing up the sand along the bottom is likely to be more successful.
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My go to favourite lures did the trick on these two Golden Sessions. The Bassday Sugapen 95 on the surface, earlier in the run off. Then most fish taken with the Ecogear ZX 43 in the run in, bouncing along the bottom.
There was a new kid on the block this time. It was my first use of the Chasebaits Armour Prawn Vibe 50mm. I had accidentally ordered the wrong colour. I thought I had ordered orange, the go to colour for YFW. But nonetheless it took a nice whiting in the limited time in the water on both sessions. I have yet to figure out the best tow point, the assist hooks to rig, or the best action for these. They look very promising as a sub surface whiting lure and I am keen to try them some more.

 
The Ecogear ZX is a good all rounder and able to attract a variety of fish. Flathead regularly fall victim to this lure. They are a delightful by catch and provide a great fight in very shallow water on your ultra light whiting gear. I managed to land a nice 51cm Flathead in my second session.  I missed a couple on the first day, mainly due to too fast a retrieval speed that I was using to attract YFW.

 ...    It pays to have a few spares when they swallow the whole lure !
 
One of the great pleasures of fishing is getting connected with nature. Becoming in-tuned with the varying seasons. Observing the changes in the habitats and the changes in your target fish’s behaviour.
I find it perfectly summarised in this quote from the famous Canadian, Author, Naturalist and Outdoorsman   … Roderick Haig Brown
"Invoke a mental and physical discipline that goes beyond making a successful catch or kill. Its central virtue is knowledge, intimate and thorough, transcending the pursuit”
Tight lines all.
Cheers, Des

If any of you fine people are over here in the lower EP send me a message. Always looking for deckies for a fish. My local mates are pretty elderly so don't handle offshore to well with bad backs etc. It is not a charter so you don't have to pay for fuel. Just mates going for a fish.

Yeah I figured it might be a good sub surface option for those days when they aren't keen to break the surface and take one completely off the top.

Bright sunny days with a breeze ... are the Best! The day started that way but then glassed off and progressively deteriorated. 
The assists did not hinder the lure action. Mind you I did not try it with both trebles. My first session with this lure.  I will probably get rid of the other treble as well. With the small bib you can also work it subsurface which also took fish. I mainly used a high rod action and a hopping, skipping surface motion. A bibbed very light weight lure with a long sensitive ultra light rod ... you can get it to do anything. 

How did you find the assist hooks impacting the Lipple? I grabbed the same lure about 18 months ago as something different to throw at them but yet to get around to it. Assume just a straight wind back, or do you twitch it along?
Always found bright, sunny days harder, unless there was a solid breeze. Great to always hear an opposing perspective.

SUNSHINE … ON MY SHOULDERS MAKES ME HAPPY
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I had checked the weather ahead for this week.
And I could see there was a spell of Sunshine ahead.
So I managed to rearrange my week and set off fishing on this Sunny day.
It was such an enjoyable day, fishing in the brilliant sunny conditions today. And there were some good results.
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Here are a few reasons why sunny days are great for lure fishing Yellow Fin Whiting on the Sandflats.
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Simply put, on sunny days you will catch more Yellow Fin Whiting !
There is the extra warmth in the water that a sunny day adds. Increasing the fish metabolism and their eagerness to feed.
There is usually much better water clarity on sunny days.
Your lures are so much more visible to the fish.
Bright sunshine will also reflect a lot more off your lures, gaining the fish’s attention from a long way off.
Fish will notice your lure from a much greater distance, and often come hurtling in, at right angles from afar. Most often this happens very late in your retrieve.
Importantly, strong sunshine produces an extra “attractant”. Another stimulus. Something extra for YFW to chase.
The strong overhead sunlight casts a strong shadow from your lure onto the sand below. The stronger the sunshine, the stronger the shadow, and the stronger the stimulus.
Yes, in bright sunshine, you will often see whiting chase the lure shadow cast onto the sand. They will chase and frustratingly grab at the shadow along the sand, before looking up and striking the lure above.
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The sunny days also provides the fisher with better visibility.
One can clearly see all the terrain on the sandflats. It is much easier to identify and target your casts to known fish holding spots.
Structures like sand steps, shallow ledges, gutters and channels can all be easily seen and cast towards.
You can spot fish a lot easier and further away, in bright sunshine without disturbing them.
Sight casting your lures to and hooking up visible fish while wading the shallows is such a thrill.
The greater visibility of the lure, the chase, the strike, the runs and the fight of the hooked fish, all enhances the experience for the fisher.
It is so much more fun in Sunshine.
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But really, on these days, it does not matter if you don’t catch fish ! Sunshine on your shoulder just makes you happy.
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This day started with light winds creating a strong ripple on the surface, under the bright sunshine of a clear blue sky of a hot day.
Clear or lighter coloured lures work better in strong sunshine for me.
These were my successful lures today.

 
Zipbaits Skinny Pop and Fakie Dog DS in their clear colours took fish.
 

Smaller lures are easily seen in bright sunshine, and are a bit more subtle in the high visibility and light wind conditions. .
A new lure I tried for the first time today; Zipbaits ZBL Zoea Lipple 45F Floating Lure Col:248. A small juvenile shrimp imitation worked very well. I think they may have been designed for Bream but I knew they would catch YFW on days like today.

 
Jackson Ebi Panic in the clear colour comes to the fore in these conditions.
The ever reliable Sugapen in MB16 was still producing the goods. Although it was the smaller 70mm that was successful rather than my fave size, the 95mm.

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As every thing is seen so much clearer on these days, I don’t like to give shy fish a second look at the lure immediately. If they have chased the lure and have not committed, my next cast will be 90 degrees away to let them settle before I cast back at them. On windy and cloudier days fish are more aggressive and you can send repetitive casts their way with out scaring them off.
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The breeze died down later in the afternoon. And the water had glassed off.  Fish were getting timid, not hooking up well with many dropped fish.
I finished with 16 fish. Ranging in size, from 30 to 40CM. With 5 fish around the 40cm mark.
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Sunshine on my shoulder made me very happy on this day.
Cheers, Des
 

If a large morning tide occurs mainly before daylight, there is a higher incidence of Prawns in their guts. Prawns are primarily nocturnal. Although the YFW can access them buried in the sand where they hide during daylight hours and are occasionally disturbed out of hiding. Often by Stingrays. So it is not uncommon to see YFW close to feeding Stingrays. 
I have only caught one YFW on a Cranka Crab lure. I think I have to use them in the Crab habitat and not on the flats.
The Sugapen 95 in Col-MB16 I feel mimics the prawns best. The Ecogear ZX43 blade mimics a disturbed fleeing prawn in the sand. 

Cracking effort Des! 

I like fishing the Dodge tides for Yellow Fin Whiting.
 
I posted a detailed explanation of the factors in this post:
https://www.strikehook.com/index.php?/forums/topic/38765-dodgy-days/
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So to start the New Year with a couple of days of dodge tides was something to look forward to.
It was a sunny day. The water temperatures were up there, at around 23C. The small tide was perfect to hold and concentrate the fish for me.
I went to work with my trusty Sugapen 95 in the MB16 colour. And there was plenty of interest straight away.
Pretty soon the polite enquiries towards my lure became full blown, “I’ll take that. Thanks.”
There was a purple patch in which I took 10 fish in the first hour of fishing. The temperature, the tide, the sun, and a perfect stiff breeze, all had the YFW at their aggressive best.
It got competitive with the YFW. What a delightful sight it is to see a gang of YFW all trying to shoulder each other out of the way, competing to be the first to jump onto your lure skipping on the surface.
Sometimes in a tight contest, there is close second. And so it was when two YFW hit my lure together.

For many I unusually use two sets of Assist hooks on my larger lures. I have Atomic Trick Bitz #8 hooks on the rear and Ecogear ZX hooks in the middle. In about 40% of cases the YFW will hit the middle assist hook. And when there is competition and a close race you wind up with a Double Header on a lure ! 

A special experience that I have been lucky to have had a couple of times previously. In the past, they have been mostly the smaller supper eager inexperienced fish.
Today they were quality fish. It was a struggle bringing them in … oooh! maybe a new PB. It turned out to be two quality fish at 35cm and 38cm. Both well hooked on the same lure.

I enjoyed that purple patch, for not long, as soon the wind came in stronger and stronger and the fishing got harder and harder. When it got to 20-25 knots wading got impossible and the fish no where to be seen.
I was able to bag 17 fish before the wind shooed them all away.

This is the prime time of the year for big YFW whiting. As the high water temperatures hold a lot of new season’s juvenile prawns in the shallows. And they are the right sized meal for the big ravenous YFW. Most fish caught were over 35cm and 3 fish were around 40cm.

Can’t wait for the next dodge tide. Hopefully the weather and wind will also be favourable.
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Happy New Year and Tight Lines to all.
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Cheers, Des

Nice @Des. Some real quality size there. 

ONLY A FEW, BUT GOOD FISH
An afternoon session today did not realise a lot of fish, but they were all quality.
The Zipbaits Fakie Dog DS lure did the damage.
A couple of 40cm and a 43.5cm Yellow Fin whiting make the 32 and 35cm fish look insignificant.
Cheers, Des

Great work @Des
Hopefully the new year brings some better surface YFW conditions.

With a very mild Spring and early Summer, Yellow Fin Whiting lure fishing has had a few challenges this season.
The weather patterns have not sustained a constant water temperature. It barely heats up when a cold change with a series of cold days would chill off the water. It looks like we may have turned the corner.
We have not yet seen a sustained warm spell to put the warmth into the water and hold it there for a prolonged spell. It is the sustained higher water temperatures that has the greatest impact on the ecosystem and the behaviour of the YFW. Yes we have been finding a few YFW on lures, but nothing like those hot bag out sessions of last year.
So today after a few, rare consecutive days of 30+C I was off to seize the opportunity and “Strike while the water was hot”

Comparative water temperature maps. What a difference a few warm days make
 
I was trying to avoid the cooler water in the morning, by starting around 11.30am. Sleeping in ! The water was still surprisingly cold at the start. Thermal lag, meant the water was still holding onto a cool temperature after a spell of cold days earlier in the week. Hence the importance of a sustained period of warmth. It was hard to find fish showing interest in any of the surface lures in the incoming tide.  Fish would not rise for the lure. The few fish spotted, were hanging back from the lure and staying deep. They were keeping as cool and calm as the water temperature.  I went subsurface with the Ecogear ZX43 blade to catch a couple of good fish.

 

The Salmon Trout have moved out & the Trumpeters have moved in. A sure sign of warm water.
Still it was not until the tide started to run off late afternoon, and the water had warmed up from the heat of the day, did the fishing come alive. Increasingly overcast conditions did put a dampener on the fishing. You always catch more in sunshine. I had to resort to some UV enhancement tricks to engage the fish. UV sprays and UV flash tinsels can transform the standard sunny day lures into successful overcast day lures. A quick spray on your lure. It dries fast. Although it leaves a strong lacquer smell. So rub it over with some S factor or Pro-Cure scent to negate the smell. Today my ever reliable Sugapen 95 could only catch fish with the UV enhancements. 


 
I worked through a variety of surface lures today. The other successful ones being Zipbaits Fakie Dog DS, Ebi Panic, MMD Splash prawn-AW Yabby, 

 
And one I have not used for a couple of years, the Atomic K9 Bulldog which took the biggest fish.

The smaller size lures where better in lighter winds and the bigger and noisier lures in the stronger wind spells.
 
The day finished strongly with the fish more aggressive in the warm water late in the day. I released a few fish in the high 20s to 30cm and kept 17 fish in the 31- 40cm range. Most were in the 35 to 40cm range. A clear sign of the warm water attracting a new batch of juvenile prawns onto the sand flats along with the larger predatory Yellow Fin Whiting.

 
Happy Hot days and some Hot fishing sessions ahead !
 
Cheers, Des

Fished the dodge tide on Saturday. 

Unfortunately the wind and air pressure conspired to negate what little water movement there was. Rather than accentuate it which is what I was expecting. 
Nonetheless got 16 from 32 to 40cm. Sunday was a blow out !
 


 
 

Great mixed bag @Des. Personally don't think it gets any better than a flatty or two and a handful of Goldbars after a session on the flats 👌

It has been one of the slowest starts to the Yellow Fin Whiting lure fishing season here in S.A.
Adelaide finally got it’s first 30c degree day in 7 months, this November.
It has been a disappointing weather pattern. As soon as we have a warm day, it is followed immediately by a cool change and several days with temperatures in the teens. A sustained warm spell is needed to put some deep set warmth into the water. At present water temps, still hover around the teens.  Well short of the 20+C that makes those big Yellow Fin Whiting rabid hunters. The hotter the better. My favourite YFW spot has the Big Mamas ravenous at 22C.
Nonetheless we have to get our fishing fix and take what is available.
There are plenty of YFW about for the bait fisher. And sub surface lures like the Ecogear ZX are more productive in cooler waters.
At present the most common catch on surface lures are Salmon Trout. In good sizes too, not your small summer sprats.  Their presence is a clear indicator of the cooler water temps.
Flathead are providing a good option to break the monotony of unproductive casts for Whiting.
They don’t mind the current water temperatures. Too hot and the baitfish along with the Flathead disappear from the wading shallows.Whereas the hotter shallow water see the juvenile prawn population thriving and the YFW voraciously feeding on them.
The Ecogear ZX gives you both options. It will take Flathead and YFW. Although you will need to modify your retrieve depending on which fish you want to attract. With whiting it is always the continuous retrieve of a fleeing prawn. For Flathead it is the high lift, pause, retrieve, repeat. For Flathead it is all about the “hang time’” above their eyes. A not infrequent by catch is the odd Flounder. Tasty when cooked fresh. Should you come to a Flathead holding hot spot, my go to lure at present is the OSP Bent Minnow which certainly attracts their attention. These catches in current conditions, necessitate you target a variety. And for those keen on Salmon Trout, you can certainly come away with a full bag.
Mixed bags are what I am getting in these “transitionary” conditions.
But I am keenly looking forward to a heatwave !!!!
Cheers, Des.
 

Hi all...
I went out for a cast.. First for the season.
Walked the outgoing and incoming left as the wind came in.. Got cold.
Went to a spot I know.. Found where they were.. Only fired up when the sun came out.. as the clouds builded they stopped.. I kept moving/exploring.. about 7ks
They were there in small numbers but very sluggish, wouldnt really commit, all nice sizes which is usual first start of the season. Managed to get 2, 39/36.. nice and golden, fat and heavy.. Beautiful fish.
Lost 3 due to floating weed/stuffing around setting drag, lost a very nice and heavy one. Got it close though.. It was big... Drag was too tight and got all tangled up in the only bit of floating cork weed about, pulled the hooks and was the first fish too! Wasnt happy..
Took everything I new to get them.. They would follow but not commit.. Was frustrating but I know they are starting to fire up.. need some HOT days...Were very active before lunch as the sun was shinning and it was warm.. died off when it cooled down.
Lots of salmon trout, Mullet were every were, bloody pain.. Seen heaps of gar in the shallows as well... Only seen 1 keeper crab but lots of small ones.. Water wasnt too warm.. but getting there.. not much floating weed.. Was a nice way to start the season..
Oh! lost 2 lures.. Bloody wind knots.. It was and old trusty and the other was a new funny one, it worked very well got 2 fish! Always happens with new lures and when I spool new line.. Oh well.. excuse to buy more.. Took 3 spare spools and used 2.. Happy with the new line.. Casted well after it settled down.
Mike

It's about that time of year. Hopefully it's a good one and people get on to a few.

DODGE TIDES … YOU BEAUTY!
 
Many Yellow Fin Whiting fishers complain about Dodge tides. They find it difficult to catch fish during a dodge.
I feel the dodge tides present an opportunity to easily catch fish.
 
Dodge tides are small and always with a higher water height at low tide. They do not spread the fish out far and wide across the sand flats. The fish are held in a concentrated area for a prolonged spell. Most often the fish will be congregate on the lower food rich sand flats. On nipper and worm rich flats nearer to the weed lines. The experienced YFW fisher who has previously worked the same spots, having previously followed normal tides out and back in, will know the terrain and exactly where to go at their regular spots.
 
At times on a dodge the YFW may seem lethargic and uninterested in your offering. YFW are stimulated to feed by water movement. And normally there is little movement on a dodge tide. However the movement and stimulation can be provided by a variety of other small factors.
 
In the SA Gulfs the tide is amplified the further north you go. So a small tide movement is a bit larger if you chose a location further north in the gulf. The lay of the land, channels, weed beds, etc can accentuate what little movement there is. So fish those spots of slightly greater water flow. Like a sand flat near the opening of a channel that will experience any small water movement from that channel draining or filling.
 
Wind always stimulates feeding in YFW. And even more so on a dodge. Check the forecasts and fish a time when the wind picks up. Late afternoons are good. A strong sea breeze creates a wind tide, with enough movement to stimulate feeding on these otherwise listless “Dodgy days”.  In cooler weather periods, it is the smaller water body of a dodge tide that will warm up quicker. So dodge tides actually present some opportunities.
 
I had a good recent session on a dodge tide. One of frequent good dodge tide sessions. On this day, I started fishing at the bottom of the tide, early in the afternoon. The low tide was at the higher level of 1.00mt. The next high was small and about 12 hours away. There was going to be very little natural tidal movement. However the wind was predicted to turn SW and pick up on this arvo. Given that the opening to our Gulfs face SW,  SW winds in or gulfs always produce a higher tide. And do produce a wind tide. At the bottom of the tide, I was positioned to benefit from any movement. I worked an area of sand flats adjacent the weed line which had a number of channel openings in it.

Any water movement was going to be felt here. Fish were lingering around the area from the start. Lazily cruising around in the extra pools of low tide water that the dodge holds. They took some coaxing at first. But as the wind picked up, they certainly got a lot more aggressive. The water movement was noticeable even if a bit slow, if compared to a regular tide.

There was no need for small lures and timid fishing, with the stiffening breeze. The Sugapen 95 did most of the damage on this day.

Late in the session it got a bit too choppy. A switch to sub surface with the Ecogear ZX caught the last few fish. There were some very solid fish at around 40cm in the catch.
 

It finished up being a very satisfying day going to plan.
 
Cheers, Des

MARINATED TUNA RECIPE
Please see the attached photo with one of the best Marinated Tuna Recipes out there.
I love my sashimi but this recipe is must to try and the tuna will melt in your mouth. You can cook it all the way through it doesn't dry the tuna out.
 
Shared by
REEL N DEAL TACKLE
Shop 2 / 4-6 Brighton Road
GLENELG EAST SA 5045
www.reelndealtackle.com.au

I'm with @Kuerschie my standard is 4lb and 2-3 rod lengths depending on water clarity. Clear = more, dirty = less. 
I wouldn't over think it thought, heaps of people run a single rod length and brain them. If you run more than a single rod length your leader knot will be on your spool, so suggest learning the FG if you want to go down the path of >1 rod length. 

I'm with @Kuerschie my standard is 4lb and 2-3 rod lengths depending on water clarity. Clear = more, dirty = less. 
I wouldn't over think it thought, heaps of people run a single rod length and brain them. If you run more than a single rod length your leader knot will be on your spool, so suggest learning the FG if you want to go down the path of >1 rod length. 

With everything else being equal, longer casts boil down to less resistance on the line as it leaves the spool. Essentially the less times the line coming off the spool has to either change directions (long vs standard spool) or less times it is wrapped (spool diameter) the less resistance. 
Whether these factors are tangible or not is a different story.
Personally I enjoy the effortless casting of my 1000 on a UL 7'6 over the same reel in a 2500 on a standard 7'3 - they both cast the comparable distance (noting different blank actions). However, if I could find the same balance on a 2500 I would take it. Higher retrieve rate and in my experience less wind knots than on my 1000.
 

With everything else being equal, longer casts boil down to less resistance on the line as it leaves the spool. Essentially the less times the line coming off the spool has to either change directions (long vs standard spool) or less times it is wrapped (spool diameter) the less resistance. 
Whether these factors are tangible or not is a different story.
Personally I enjoy the effortless casting of my 1000 on a UL 7'6 over the same reel in a 2500 on a standard 7'3 - they both cast the comparable distance (noting different blank actions). However, if I could find the same balance on a 2500 I would take it. Higher retrieve rate and in my experience less wind knots than on my 1000.