aitch.t

I've started chucking 1/28th's in 9m of water, when conditions allow me to get them down to where the sounder says the fish are.

The same plastic will remain untouched (Almost😀) on 1/4er's or 1/8th's - but a plastic that doesnt plummet, will get smashed on the drop by the unstoppables that make this technique a bit ridiculous on my current tiny jigheads.

Sure you can grub heavy heads along the bottom and get hits and land the smaller dumber fish. But on the 1/28th's you barely need any skill at all. Just spot the fish on the sounder and count to 40 as the 1/28th sinks - then hang on until you get smoked by the bigger fish😀

A sunny Cup day meant getting out for a fish rather than be stuck home watching the races.
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The flats were very crowded on race day. There were hordes and hordes of legal but smaller sizes Yellow Fin Whiting in the 25 to 29cm mark. They were a fish a cast for much of the day.  But …  Not the kind of horses I wanted to back.
With so many little mugs about it was inevitable that the sly and the opportunistic would be out there ready to prey on them.
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A sunny day on the sandflats is such a delight. The clear visibility and water clarity makes watching the passing parade a pleasure. Such an array of different species that cohabit this shallow water ecosystem. Amongst all the delightful sights on a sunny race day, are the diverse collection of Rays cruising around mooching in the sand. But amongst the happy crowd a few seedy characters lurk.
Yup, “Bronzy Bob” turns up just when you least expect it. While you are distracted.  Intensely concentrating on a big Whiting chasing your surface lure, one of only a few on a lean day, your wading tub suddenly lurches left!
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“Bob the Bag Snatcher Bronzy”   was at it again. He snuck up from behind and latched onto my catch-keeper bag that I have dangling in the water.
Shooing him off did not work. He was persistent.
When he made one too many swipes at my catch bag of whiting, I thought I should teach him a lesson.
I allowed him to feel comfortable for yet another swipe. When he was just about to launch into my keeper bag I scooped him up with my landing net.
It was a bit of a heavier load for the landing net.
He was a healthy looking 3 foot specimen.
I gave him a stern talking too, a slap on the snoot, took a couple of mug shots for the “Crim files”, and sent him on his way.
 

 
I am told they are very good eating at this size if they are prepared properly after they are caught.
However there is just not enough room in my wading tub to handle the job.
Lucky for the Bronzies!
These guys are frequent but annoying visitors on the sandflats.
Mostly in the 3 to 4 foot range.
They are not a threat, just disturbing. I can assure you they are discerning feeders and far prefer the whiting to the revolting taste of your waders and leg within!

 
On the occasional dull session I have targeted them with a whiting fillet on ganged hooks. Good fun landing them on your whiting gear, whilst wading the shallows !!!
 

   ~ One hooked up on a previous session.
The biggest I have come across on the shallow sandflats is a 6 footer, maybe 7 feet. I didn’t hang around for a closer inspection and accurate measurement!
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My luck had abandoned me today as the weather factors negated each other to provide difficult conditions for stimulating the YFW bite. The wind speed and direction up the gulf, negated the small natural tide movement and the resultant actual tide was virtually at a standstill all day.
Even if only small, Some tide movement is a great stimulant for the YFW to feed.
It was hard work catching and releasing dozens and dozens of smaller fish.
But I still managed to back in a few good horses on cup day.
I finished with four fish around 40 to 41cm. And kept 10 of the better ones, that were mostly around 35cm.
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   ~ "Bob" took a chomp on this one! 
Regardless of the fishing, it is always an interesting and enjoyable day wading the sandflats.
Cheers, 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 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

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.

The weather has been poor so I haven't been fishing much. So what do you do when you're not fishing? Make stuff for fishing! I've been making some small assist hooks to replace the back trebles on lures. 

 
I bought some silicone lure skirts of Aliexpress to use for a bit of flash.

 
The cord is cheap 30lb braid. There is no need to use such strong braid, you could use a lot lighter. But I decided to use this braid, because the diameter is easier to handle and tie knots. I measure out 25cms which gives me long enough tag ends to easily tie each hook with a 5 turn snell knot. I tie one hook. then measure 6cm and mark the braid. Next I slide the second hook up to the 6cm mark and tie the hook on. When the knots are dressed and tightened, it gives me the length I want for the assist hooks, which is a tad longer than the pre-tied BKK Striker hooks I previously used. I decided to make them slightly longer after reading a post from Des who add extra split rings for length. I'll probably make some slightly shorter to replace the middle trebles like Des suggests. I've made some with split rings and some with snaps and I attach the hook lengths with a simple girth hitch. Then I thread the silicone flash through the split ring/snap, fold in half and tie off with a 5 turn uni knot using 210D flat waxed thread.



 
I used Owner 52084 fine wire split rings #0 and Decoy Round Snap #00. The hooks are Owner 5117-031 Mosquito Hook #8 and Shinto Octopus Beak #10, which are physically the same size. I prefer the Owner Mosquito Hooks, because they are very sticky (they cost $6 for 11 hooks). The Shinto hooks are still a good hook and and I picked them up for $9.60 for 24.

Picked up the new yak today
 first piece of business involved  some pvc pipe and a heat gun

After watching a school of salmon swing by the pier - I saw that even they can be selective when in a frenzy - and the guys doing most of the catching, had a few things in common.

SO I tried making my jigheads a bit fancier.

I put on a couple of coats of the cheapest spray paint at bunnings - fiddly bits in matt white. But it didnt hold on to the lead very well - and I should have done more coats- I was warned Id need to use a primer paint on the lead first but ignored those warnings.

Also learned that spray paint and polystyrene dont play well together😉

I put this post up in a Facebook group last Autumn ...
 
HAND CAUGHT YELLOW FIN WHITING
As the YFW lure fishing season is starting to wane when Autumn progresses.
I resort to catching them by hand!
At this time of the year YFW are more active in the evening tide and into the night.
They have shifted from their major meal of the day being Breakfast to now being Dinner.
It is not so much water temperatures. But rather it is all to do with the tide cycles.
The YFW behaviour is as strongly driven by the tide cycles as much as it is driven by the water temperatures.
Autumn water temperatures are still holding above 20C and their metabolism and appetites have not yet slowed down.
The evening tide is now the larger more dominant tide. YFW use the largest tide on the day to access many otherwise inaccessible feeding areas.
Their daily feeding cycle and movements have now changed to feeding more in the evenings using the larger evening tides of Autumn.
Morning runoff tides and mid day lure sessions are far less productive now. The better lure fishing sessions now occur during the evening run in tide.
Particularly an evening after a warm day with a strengthening evening breeze and a large tide pushing through the mangroves.
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However there is only a limited opportunity for lure fishing, before night falls. Whiting Lures don’t work in the dark, and so bait fishing for YFW in the night run off tide is very productive this time of the year  …  Or alternatively for a challenge catching them by hand.
 
In a previous post on YFW Habitats and the food source they held,  I covered a favourite YFW food item. Haswell’s crabs.  ….
It is their love of these little critters that gives you the opportunity to Hand Catch a few YFW at this time of the year.
Under the cover of darkness in the evening tide, the YFW will hang back in the very shallow waters of the littoral zone, as the tide drops. In the narrow channels that run between the Samphire beds.
They wait for the Haswells mud crabs to emerge from their mud holes, that are under and around the samphire beds.  They YFW will linger a long time amongst the samphire beds. A long time after the high tide has dropped, and in very shallow water.

If you are equipped with a bright headlight you can momentarily hold a stunned YFW (not Mullet!) in the shallows long enough to try and grab him.
 
I missed a few by hand tonight. A very still evening meant the tide did not push in as high and not as many fish came in. But nonetheless I managed to catch a dozen on bait in the couple of hours after dark.

 
Try hand catching. A good fun alternative to lure fishing them.
 

 
Cheers, Des

2 weeks ago at lower Yorks. The gar only wanted Gar.... Tried all the usual baits and kept going back to gar.. Fishing is weird.. There were plenty about in ankle deep water..

Don't forget you an also catch kg's on soft plastics.
have caught them on bloodworm wrigglers before but a worm or nipper plastic should work too. 
recently saw this vid by Luben Pfiefer catching kgs on ned rigs, looks fun 
 

i was tinkering around in the shed today and managed to modify some lures into squid jags .i used the barbs from a couple of jags i have broken over time and a couple of lures that i had in the old tackle box.

Im always changing lures.. Hence why I choose clips.... I have my goto lures, but always trying new ones....
Way to hard tying while standing, my old eyes aint as good as they used to be..

apparently there are yellowfin around corny point . I tried last summer. Waded out to the weed line but only managed kgw on clickers. I want to try flahetys beach between Turton and Hardwicke bay which looks interesting.

I was talking to two guys at Berry bay a couple of months ago and I gave them some spots to try for KGW and in return they told me that they caught yellowfin down from the shop in Corny pt. I told them that I wanted to try areas down this way as I live in Marion bay and it's only 40kms from home compared to Stansbury  which is 120kms. I go crabbing to Stansbury but haven't tried for yellowfin and one of the guys gave me a spot to try at Stansbury. I found an interesting page on FB called popping yellowfin whiting WA . An interesting page

I was talking to two guys at Berry bay a couple of months ago and I gave them some spots to try for KGW and in return they told me that they caught yellowfin down from the shop in Corny pt. I told them that I wanted to try areas down this way as I live in Marion bay and it's only 40kms from home compared to Stansbury  which is 120kms. I go crabbing to Stansbury but haven't tried for yellowfin and one of the guys gave me a spot to try at Stansbury. I found an interesting page on FB called popping yellowfin whiting WA . An interesting page

apparently there are yellowfin around corny point . I tried last summer. Waded out to the weed line but only managed kgw on clickers. I want to try flahetys beach between Turton and Hardwicke bay which looks interesting.

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