Reputation from yellow door 1 - Page 2

yellow door 1 got a reaction from Meppstas in Browns & 'bows in windy conditions. October 8, 2023

Beautiful scenery and Fish Adrian

Ive only recently become a true convert to the spinning blade.

I always thought fish had to be fired up to hit them.

I actually ran a test last night on a small lake - I walked the length of it casting a 2 inch paddle tail for a few hits - then walked my way back with the jig spinner and they were whacking the hell out of it.

They were tiny reddies -too small to fit the big hook in their mouth but the increase in hits was very noticeable.

Ive had sessions where the reverse is true - but I used to assume if they were not hitting subtle lures - they would ignore loud spinning blades aswell

yellow door 1 reacted to Des in CHAIN REACTIONS with CHANGING SEASONS September 30, 2023

The seasons are changing. The temperature is rising.
The water is warming. It is all happening a bit earlier this year.
Lizards are crawling on the roads. And “Lizards” (flathead) are crawling in the sea.
Water birds are gathering, lining up for a feast of baitfish from above.
The Flathead are lining up for a feast of baitfish from below.
In these ambient temperatures, food is plentiful in the shallows.
The ecosystem has had a great kickstart with the rise in temperatures and every thing comes alive and thrives on the sandflats.

Temperature is the biggest driver for a series of chain reactions, in the sandflats ecosystem.
I am forever monitoring the water temperatures.
The rise in water temperature is early this year.

A series of natural events occur, which results in delivering us fishers, some fine Yellow Fin Whiting and Flathead.
Stimulated by the rise in water temperature about now our local Prawns, the Western King Prawn, start spawning in their mid gulf grounds.
Also now, the Haswell Shore Crabs shrug off their cold weather torpor and also spawn in the inshore shallows.
Post larval Juvenile Prawns start migrating from mid gulf to the warmer, shallow, inshore waters of the upper gulfs.
The Haswell Shore Crab larval zoea, now abundant, provides food for the juvenile Prawns and schools of baitfish.
There is a boom in the population of Juvenile Prawns, Haswell Shore Crabs, and Baitfish in the inshore waters … And also their predators. YFW and Flathead, have moved in, enjoying this abundance of food.
Having experienced a sustained period of exposure to higher water temperatures, the YFW have now, increased their metabolisms and have developed voracious appetites. The larger predatory YFW that I like to target are now aggressively hunting on the sandflats. Devouring juvenile prawns and shore crabs.
So it is a perfect time to place myself at the end of these chain reactions and target some YFW and Flathead.

I took advantage of the warm weekend.
Given the tides, I selected an area that amplifies the small tide movement and works best on the slower tides.
I started with chasing Flathead on the falling tide. The Flathead are very active chasing the baitfish as they retreat to the shelter of weedy areas in deeper water.
Fishing for them in heavily weeded areas does present it’s challenges.

Lures with trebles catch too much weed. And when a Flathead is hooked they will head into the weed. All the exposed treble barbs, hook onto the surrounding weed and help the Flathead throw the lure.
I have recently started to use floating hardbodies like OSP Bent Minnows, with singles and assist hooks, for these areas. These hooks pull through the weed easily. So far, I have yet to have a Flathead throw these hooks.

Look for where the Herons are feeding to show you where the baitfish are and the Flathead will be holding just downstream.
I was able to extract 3 Solid Flathead that were hiding around the weed, terrorising the baitfish, before the tide slowed.

Next on the agenda were the YFW. A good depth of water was holding over the softer feeding sandflat areas. Usually you will find this substrate holds more food and fish.
Whilst not feeding as aggressively as when there is more water movement, the YFW were still keen enough to take a well worked lure offering over the sandflats. My usual favourites, Sugapen, Ecogear ZX and Zipbaits Skinny Pop, were the more successful lures.
However it is a new season and there are always a few new offerings to try out.
They did not get too much time in the water but both these new lures took fish.
The New Sugapen Splash, which is perhaps better suited to a choppier day still took a fish.
Daiwa’s Slippery Dog 80cm in the colour “Ebi” that I had not previously come across, I thought could work well in this area, had some success.

A drop in air pressure with a change in wind direction from North to SW, pushed water up into the gulf and provided a small wind tide. The water movement, stimulated the fish to bite late into the afternoon. “Bob the bag snatcher” is also making an early season appearance. I normally don’t see them on the sandflats till November.
I kept 14 of the better YFW. Most are over 35cm. And the best a very nice 42cm.

The Flats are Firing early this year !!! Hopefully we can look forward to a great season ahead.
The only downside is the heavy toll the professionals have taken over this winter as they increasingly search for alternative species to supplement their restricted and dwindling catches.

Tight lines all.
Cheers, Des

yellow door 1 reacted to Des in SEASON OPENER September 4, 2023

Spring has sprung with a couple of days of warmish weather getting it started.
It seemed a good chance to try Lure fishing Yellow Fin Whiting and kick off this season with perhaps a catch or two.
The YFW lure box has not seen daylight for awhile. It was time to freshen up the lures by replacing the now well rusted out assist hooks on them.
The reels have been greased and oiled up. Trying best to prepare them for a season of abuse and dunking that wading fishing will inevitably deliver them.
All prepared I set off for a couple of days in search of my first lure caught YFW for this season.

The plan was to fish both warmish days ahead, determined to get off the mark for the season. I had also planned on fishing two different areas on either side of the upper St Vincent Gulf, hopefully increasing my chances.
Day one, was a hard slog with barely a YFW sighted. But plenty of Flathead about. The other variety that comes to life in Spring on the Sandflats. I spooked a few. I dropped a couple. I had not prepared my lures by replacing the rusted hooks. They certainly will be a focus of my next session.
I had to resort to bait to find a few YFW and keep me informed as to the whiting’s presence and whereabouts.

Day two, which I felt might be the better day, as a result of the water warming after a couple of warm days. It proved to be the day.
It did take some effort with fish finally taken later in the day on the incoming tide. Again, probably the warmest weather spell of the two days.
I did not experiment at all with any new lures and stuck to my old favourites of the Ecogear ZX and the Bassday Sugapen.
Only 2 of the 8 lure caught fish were taken on the surface. Their body temperatures and metabolisms are still low. Making them a bit lethargic to be aggressive surface predators. As in past seasons the sub surface lures usually starts the season more successful.
Another influencing factor is, awaiting the arrival into the shallows, of the new season’s juvenile prawns from their annual, mid gulf spawn. The availability of this seasonal food source will also stimulate predatory surface feeding behaviour.

There is a considerable difference in water temperature on the two sides of the St V Gulf. The Eastern side being far shallower, is the first to warm up. The Western side was significantly cooler. However this will soon even out after a more prolonged spell of warm weather.
There are signs of a promising season ahead with some very hot conditions predicted.
Every cloud has a silver lining.

yellow door 1 reacted to MAH in Best 3 Jigs September 4, 2023

Simplest approach would be to grab 3 red-heads, any brand, in size 3.0, as they just catch lots of squid.
But if you want to try a few others, here are my recommendations.
Size
I find 3.0 size jigs the most versatile. They have enough weight to cast well and have a good sink rate for most conditions. If the current is really ripping and you need a heavier jig, you can add a small 2gm sinker, either one specifically made to attach to squid jigs or just a ball sinker to the line. If you find yourself in a shallow area and keep getting snagged, you can put the jig under a float. You can still get the jig to jerk up under the float, but it stops it from going too low and getting snagged.
Colours
First pick would be a red-head and even better if its also phosphorescent so it glows at night. Rui is a good choice for this type of jig.

Second pick would be a natural colour like a silver or bluey silver. Rui make a couple of good ones a mullet and a pilchard.

Yamashita also make some good natural colour jigs in the Yamashita Sutte R range.

Third pick is something with a prawn like pattern. I've had a lot of success with a Rui jig with a white body and orange prawn stripes (it also glows in the dark)

I've also had a lot of success with prawn pattern jigs from Duel

Another good jig has been by Yozuri (owned by the same company as Duel)

Brands
When squid are schooled up, any jig will work. But when you need to put in more effort, the better quality jigs do make a difference in terms of how they sink, dart through the water and sit on the bottom if you let them fall all the way (you want them to sit at 45 degrees with the barbs up to reduce the chance of snags and to increase the hook up if a squid snatches off the bottom).
Rui is a brand that can be bought from many tackle stores and they have an online store. Excellent balance between quality and price. Yamashita can also be found in many stores and online, the Sutte R range is probably on par with Rui for quality.
Duel and many Yo-Zuri jigs are not as readily available in store, but can be found easily online. There are excellent quality jigs and often have added features like silicone legs that waft and create extra movement or they rattle when jerked. These extra features are not absolutely needed, but can help when the squid are not fired up.