Des

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 bigge

I got suspicious and overcame my greed/glee ! ... when there was no PayPal at checkout. The prices were just too good to be true ... and free shipping to Australia !

Alan Hawk has a long list of Scam Stores https://www.alanhawk.com/blog/zmb.html

Could all members add to a list of Scam Stores in this thread. I recently came across this store: https://www.shimanostore.com/spinning-reels-shimano-vanford-2500-hg-spinning-fishing-reel/ It just seemed too good to be true ! A few checks on the web highlighted it as a scam store

Thanks for the input Wert. There is a bit of common ground with all the recommendations. I have fished often at night for YFW ... on bait. Have not had success with lures after dark. But i just might adapt some of the concepts from the squid jag and see how we go.

Thanks again MAH. What brand are these?

Thanks a Million MAH. If I correctly recall, was it you that put up an extensive post on Squid fishing? I could not find the section in which you posted. Could you put a link to the post here please. Better still perhaps @doobie or @bjorn2fish could relocate to the "Squid fish Files" for ongoing reference. Cheers Des

I asked strictly for 3 only ,,, and you offer FIVE !!! But judging from that collection on your wall, Totally understandable I am a newbie to Squid fishing, however a grandson visiting in November, insists we go catch one. Kelvin, now that you have started, you will have to elaborate on the "glow Jigs" THANKS

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 fo

I can only take 3 squid jigs on a trip. Thats it. Which 3 will they be? What Colours, Sizes, Brands? Which 3 will provide best chances of success in all scenarios ? Thanks Des

Another I have tried without luck. From Storm Lures. This one is very stiff.

This baby Squid has taken both KG and YFW https://www.lowtidelures.com/product-page/squid

The material is really good. I have taken KG at the weedline with the Bait Junkie critters. But no YFW. Probably as I have not flicked them out in prime YFW territory. There are a few Clicker like presentations. This Aussie company make a good one. Their "Salt Water Yabbie" Their material is stiffer, but then Clicker bodies are fairly stiff. They have worked well. https://www.lowtidelures.com

Oversupply !!! at present. Winter is when the professionals catch the most tonnage. I had covered it in this post: Graphs of the monthly catch rates.

OSP Bent Minnows get inhaled by the Flathead when wading the sandflats.

Amaaaaaazing catch. Well done.

Yes the sprays work. As it gets overcast I do spray it on my regular lures to add that UV attraction to them. However the spray are lacquer based and have an un attractive smell. the Lacquer spray dries fast and then I do cover it with S Factor or similar. I think S factor works better with the slower moving lures. I covered it in this previous post; An extract from that post: " ADDED ATTRACTANTS" "UV sprays have proved to be effective on overcast days. It has brought a quiet session to life for me. No worries if you don’t have UV lures on you. A Spray on UV coa

Nice fish. Very satisfying to catch it on your own fly

Great work . Nothing was going to stop you !!!

TERRAIN: HIGHWAYS TO THE FEEDING ZONES … You can sign along to this post ! Yellow Fin Whiting have been showing up in good numbers in both gulfs recently. But you still need to find them, and fish the right spots … at the right stage in the tide. YFW are always on the move. Actively feeding on a moving tide. Both in and out going tides. But there are dead transit zones, over which they will pass through without providing you much of a chance to catch them. These are merely the … Highways to the Feeding zones. The feeding zones is where you want to be fishing. I

Always inventive

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.

The usual array of shallow water species are seen. A lot of Garfish, many skipping Juvenile prawns on the surface. Quite a number of Squid on occasions come in very shallow. But they also can in the daytime as well when the will take a Sugapen ! Depending on the area, Flounder and Flathead. And on some lucky nights, the awesome sight of Mulloway herding mullet into the shallows and smashing the panicking school. Creating bedlam and a great commotion. Never been able to hook one on these occasions. I usually ill equipped for them. But have had them hooked in the quieter nights o

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 var