Stormy Snapper Session

With the first big storm of the year been and gone and the next one around the corner, there have been plenty of great catches taken along the metro rockwalls. So with these catches coming in, how and what do you look for to be in with a great chance of landing that prize fish?

Weather conditions

Snapper come in close during and after big storm fronts to feed off all the bait, gunk and crabs that get washed from the rocks during these storms. The bigger the storm the better the chances of them being around.

perfect weather for that landbased snapper

When the wind and swell jacks up from zero to 100 in a few hours, these are the type of conditions you look for. Usually the first big storm like this of the year is the best as that's when all the bait from the rocks is washed out for the first time making a great burley trail.

Fishing the days just after the storm can be just as productive as the snapper can come in closer to the rocks without the threat of being smashed into the rocks, plus it makes landing them a lot easier.

Bait to use

This really depends on your personal preference as mulies, squid, gardies and scalies are all great baits. Fresh slabs of tailor if you can get one are great as well as livies. You've just gotta remember that they are coming in to feed off the rocks and they are not that picky. 

A mulie cast into the the burley did the trick  on this snapper

On calmer days just after a big storm front I've found burleying up on the rocks to help increase your chances of a catch. A nice block of mulies cubed up and slowly thrown out will surely improve your catch rate. Matching the bait to your burley is always going to improve your catch too as they'll be feeding on the stuff being thrown in.

Rigs to use

I have found after trying a few different types of rigs that simplicity is the key. Two snelled 5/0 hooks attached to a three way swivel, with the sinker having a longer and thinner line work the best. Running the lighter diameter on the sinker means that when it either snags or gets caught in the rocks while your fighting your prized fish you only lose the sinker and not everything.

Running a very long wind on leader is definately the most important thing to do. Braid has a nasty habit of "pinging" the moment it touched rocks, so a wind on of at least 4-5 metres will give you the abrasive resistance you'll need when the fish is at the base of the rocks and your trying to land it.

Landing options- net or gaff?

You've finally put in those hard hours chasing these prized fish from the rocks, hooked and fought it now how to get it up the rocks. Nearly all the people you see fishing the rockwalls will have a gaff of round 3-4metres to land them, but is this really the best way. 

So many times I've seen blokes get the fish to the rocks and trying to sink the gaff in to either repeatedly miss or touch the line causing them to lose the fish. Worse still is when they have gaffed it, and dragging it up the rocks for it to have that one last flick of the tail that send the fish rocketing off the gaff and back down into the drink.

The best way to overcome this disappointing outcome is to use a landing net. A nice one with a 2-3metre pole is the perfect choice I believe to land the fish, as once you've got them to the rocks it's just a simple dip of the net into the water and sliding the fish into it. Not only do you eliminate the chance of knocking it off the hooks but also the chance of losing it while climbing back up is almost zero. I hope this helps you all in your attempts at landing one and I hope to see you out there on the rocks

Don't forget to leave comments of your travels chasing them and photos of your catches.

Tight lines

Reece

Albany weekender - salmon slaying

With Easter been and gone and the salmon in full force along the metro coast I thought I'd share a nice trip I had down in Albany chasing these pelagic bullets. A beautiful and quiet place where the fishing is fantastic, Hope you enjoy.

Leaving at a nice and early 4:30am from my house to meet my cousin towing his boat down at baldivis by 5:30 we were on our way down. A few hours into the drive and we were dodging pieces of flying rubber as my cousin had managed to blow a tire on the boat trailer, and after watching many a top gear shows it was decided to leave him there to deal with it as we proceeded along the trek.

This being my first time ever fishing the areas around Albany I was frothing to get into the action so the car was unpacked at the house we were staying and then straight to the beaches to try my luck. 

Arriving at the salmon holes it was clear that the fish were on he bite, this place was packed with easily over 100 people fishing the short stretch of beach and slog the rocks. Care should always be taken when fishing the rocks along these stretches of land as the slightest amount of water can turn them slippery as ice. There are numerous anchor points along the rocks and should be used to tie yourself off against, the shops down this way even have life vests that can be borrowed free of charge if you intend to fish these places.

Opening my tackle box the hardest decision was what lure to use, deciding with a 3oz white richter plug it was cast out. No sooner had the lure hit the water I was on, I barely managed to get a few turns of the handle before a salmon engulfed the plug. These fish are just magnificent fighters, very acrobatics leaping out of the water but finally I had the fish landed on the beach. A quick photo session with the fish and it was released back into the water healthy. The fish were on for the next hour with basically every cast going out hooking up. Leaving the fish in the chew it was back to camp to plan for the next morning. 

Launching early the next morning it wasn't long before th fish came on the chew. The bonito are extremely agressive first in the morning and hit like little trains and fight all the way to the boat. Trolling along the coast against the rocks it doesn't take long to find a school of salmon, around this time of the year there are usually quite a few boats in the area so if you haven't found them there a good bet a boat close by has.

Trolling hardbodied lures behind the boat was extremely effective against the salmon, the sounder would show and we knew it was only seconds later before the reels would scream. Lures in the rapala sxr-10 size are perfect for this and I've found the glass ghost to be the most effective against salmon and a host of other species. 

My reel of choice for this type of fishing is  a 5k size Shimsno reel that are perfect for this type of fishing as they can be used for spinning along the beaches to trolling lured out the back. This was great as meant only needing to bring one reel along to cover a whole range of fishing.

It's been a while since I've been back down to this place as with the salmon finally making their way into metro waters in recent years there hasn't been a need  but it's definitely a place I can't wait to get back to. 

Tight lines 

Reese 

Midwest run

The Midwest coast along Western Australia is home to some of the most spectacular fishing destinations within Australia, from endless reefs to sheer cliffs and pristine white sandy beaches. The fishing here is also second to none with epic catches a regular occurance. Hungry pelagics like Spanish mackerel, bluefin tuna and wahoo patrol the deeper waters and baldchin, spangled emperors are withing reach along the beaches and shallow reef.

There's nothing better then waking up in the early hours of the morning with the excitement running through the veins in anticipation of the upcoming drive, knowing that it's only a matter of time before being stuck into some great fishing. With the vehicle packed we were ready for the long drive north, this usually takes around 10-12 hours depending on how keen you are to get there and stops along the way. 

Before I go on I cannot stress enough about safety on the rocks fishing these areas, life jackets can be aquired from the store at the camp, the other option is to tie yourself to the rocks with many anchor points dotted along cliff faces at all the popular spots. Even with the cliffs 5-10 meters above the water at most pleased south of the homestead it doesn't take much for a wave to crash over and catch you off guard. With that said lets now talk fishing.

Up early the next morning it was a quick drive to the spot we chose where we'd be sending out the balloons to try hook a pelagic. First ballon wat set out approx 350m out and was sitting nicely we knew it was not gonna be long till we would see some action. As with most fishing the bite usually happens when your busy doing something else and this was no exception, with one of us staying guard over the reel while the other went back to the car to cook breakfast the reel decided to scream off.

Grabbing the rod I quickly set the hooks and it was game on, felt so good being back up here tustling with another pelagic. Being up here twice before and seeing so many fish lost to sharks my first thought was to get it in quickly, no mercy was shown to the fish with the drag on the tyrnos set the basically sunset there wasn't much the fish could do. After about 10 minutes of constant pumping and winding a nice size northern bluefin tuna was at the base of the cliff, now came the hardest part of bringing it up the cliff. With my mate blissfully unaware that we had a fish at the base of the cliff despite all my loud screaming and what felt like a hour before he finally came running back, a few attempts of sending the cliff gaff down we finally had it flapping round on the rocks. I still cannot believe how it wasn't taken by a shark as it was dipping in the water for at least 20 minutes before we had it up and out of the water.

 The next few hours saw us hook up a few more times, battling the fish the the base of the cliff to lose them. Unlike the other times I've been there these losses weren't to sharks but rather to the 3 meter swell we encountered on this trip, the constant pounding of the waves knocking these fish off or tangling the gaff in the line.

 

Fishing the beaches south along the blowholes can be extremely productive with plenty of small trevelly, black snapper and spangled emperor the fish of choice. We decided to try our luck at a few of the local snapper that would hopefully be residing on the beaches, with baits casted out it was only a matter of time.

With the bait only in the water a few Minutes it wasn't long bfore the bites started, a few nice small black snapper were caught and released to grow bigger. Third bait out soaking and something big decided to take it. With the line peeling off the sustain at a record rate we both knew it was something decent, that's the beauty of places like this as it could be any hard fighting fish. Having to walk at least 500m down the beach to make sure the fish didn't spool us and to try to wrestle back some line we finally saw what it was, a shark and a very nice one at that. I'm still amazed at how this toothy critter did not manage to bite us off as we were only running a light 40lb mono leader on smelled hooks!! Sometimes I guess the fishing gods are smiling.

The next day was pretty quiet as the wind and swell were not in our favor but alas that's fishing. The ballon sat our for a good 4 hours before something finally decided to have a crack at it. After a hours fighting this beast a nice healthy (yet tired) 2.5 meter tiger shark was at the cliff, lines cut and watchin it swim off was the closest we got that day to any fish. 

As with every trip I go on no matter how good or bad I cannot wait to get back out there, this time a bit more planning will be put into the next.

Tight lines and stay safe 

Reece 

Jigging - A Fishermans Addiction

You can feel your arms cramping, sweats drippig off your brow and you can feel yourself tiring out. Cranking the jig hard throught the water column it's only a matter if time...... BAM your finally on, now the fun and pain begins.

Jigging for demersels and pelagics along with popping for GT's has got to be one of the physically demanding types of fishing. Dropping a chunk of metal to the bottom then cranking like hell to get it moving it up and down just off the bottom or through the water colum to entice that fish.

When you walk into a tackle shop your confronted with a wall of metal and you can stand there looking amazed and drooling over all the shiny bling thinking of ones that will work. With prices anywhere from $10 all the way up the the more heavier jigs which can be $60+ it really is a hard decision on what to use for what type of fishing. If you ask any dedicated jigging fisho they'll all day the same thing, you can never have enough jigs in your arsenal. I've fished areas where it's not uncommon to loose 10+ jigs a day, be from either jagged ground or the menacing toothy pelagics coming through and deciding they want the bling more than you.

Knife Jigs

As the name suggests these are a long styled jig designed to cut through the water at speed perfect for high speed retrieves on many different pelagics. The main fish targeted with these over here are the big bruising sambos that stalk the waters and wrecks off perth. As a lot of the schools are usually in water depths of 100ish meters you need a jigs that can get down there fast. A nice high speed crank through the water usually entices one of them to smash the lure and then the real pain can begin. 

Slow pitch jigs

These types of jigs are great for your slow moving demersel types of fish ranging from dhuies, baldies, trout and snapper. They're designed to work the lower part of the water column and are shaped as to help them "flutter" in the water as they are dropping. Used correctly these are absolutely deadly on demersals, who even if not hungry will still hit them as a more territorial strike.

 

Micro jigs

These have been out for some time in Japan and are just starting to get a following over here. These are basically jigs that range from 3-20grams in weight and are fished on very light gear. Rodd in the pe0.4-0.8 range are usually the weapon of choice with small reels to match.

These are just a few of the types of jigs out there and by doing a quick google search you will quickly see hundreds of different makes, colours, shapes and styles. If jigging is something you have never tried then I suggest you go into your local tackle store and grab just a few to try out. There is nothing better than going out for a days fishing and not having that bait smell on your hands and cloths, yet still have a bag of fish. In my book that's a good day out.

I hope this has helped a few people out with wanting to try it and can't wait for your photos of jigged up delights.

Tight lines 

Reece

Gomoku Storm - anything but child's play

Walking into a tackle shop you always come across all these fancy high end rods that just get the mouth drooling, but there are alot of us out there that don't have that luxury of mortgaging the house to get one. The gomoku rods are a fairly new rod on the market and range in sizes from PE 0.4 up to PE 3. They are a nice rod that fill the gap between the low to high end, going as far as replacing some high end sticks I'd say. Although they may look like a cheap little child's flick rod they are far from the case as I have found out using these.

My first introduction to these was a day out on a mates boat, being told to bring light gear and use jigs/plastics to see if we can entice some tasty table fish. Arriving at the jetty to load up all the gear I see this little white rod with green handles sitting in the corner, jokingly saying "we chasing some bait on the way out". Getting to the first spot and seeing a jig being tied to it I was thinking to myself had my mate gone mad, does he know what he's doing, does he like donating his gear to the ocean?! Well I was quickly put in my place once the first drift was underway, something big hit his jig and the little green gomoku was buckled over for most of the fight looking like it was just going to explode from all the stress on it. Yet it refused to give in, eventually beating the fish and bringing it in. Not once not twice but all day doing it and never looking like faltering. Straight after getting off the boat I was down to get me one for myself and have never looked back.

The gomoku rods come in three sizes, green (PE 0.4-1), red (PE 0.8-1.5) and blue (PE 1.5-3) and in both spin and overhead setups with a black (PE 2-4) to arrive on the market soon. They were originally made for the micro jigging market in Japan, but since being brought to oz have really taken off as a great jig and plastics rod for inshore and light offshore use. All top components are used from the Fuji reel seat to the Fuji Alconite guides and graphite blank, when you see the price it's really hard not to grab more than one. Being able to jig from 10g right up to 160g they suit any form of fishing, matching up to a 3000 to 5000 size reel these become a real deadly combo indeed having accounted for some seriously impressive catches.

Whether it be sambo jigging or chasing sailfish these have landed them all and more. At a price of around $150 AUD from most shops it's really hard to say no to them. I could just load this article with dozens of photos of fish I've personally landed on these great rods, but the best advice I can give about these rods is go out grab one and give them a try. Even if you are a bit sceptical, as once you use it you'll be keeping it as your go to light tackle rod. 

Hope to see you out there gomokuing hard, tight lines and stay safe.

Reece

Chasing the bill- Vent Right Skirts

just couldnt resist a vent right skirt, took a dozen swipes before being hooked

The pinnacle of game fishing has to be landing a billfish. The explosive speed and awesome aerobatics display while hooked is something to behold. Seeing one dance along the water with your skirt in it's mouth really gets the heart pumping.

Being a first timer chasing these I was quickly confused with the amount of skirts on hand to chase these. You are faced with a wall of different brands when walking into a shop to buy one, but what works well? Some of the skirts in selected shops can easily run over $100 AUD each and that's before you start putting hooks onto them. 

Thankfully there is a new skirt on the market that's easily half price of most others and works just as well, in fact better I believe as I found out. Vent Right skirts are machined aluminum heads, anodized in various colours and come with basically any combination of coloured skirts you can think of. Even a novice like me can use them, and landing both marlin I hooked on them just proves how easy they are to use and how much the fish loooove them.

solid heads with Hawaiian UV skirts

one of the many different types of jet head skirts available

After taking a heap of these up on a recent trip to exmouth it was clear the pelagics were definately in favor of these over everything else we ran. When you have a spread of four lures being a Vent Right skirt, a skirted Ballyhoo, a Richter skirt and a Rapala SXR14 diver and 80% of the hookups over the trip on different species are on one brand of lure the proofs in the pudding as they say.

With a variety of heads and sizes available in the range and being either jet heads or solid there is one for practically any type of fishing you like doing. We found trolling the jet headed ones around the 7-8kt range to be the most effective. They would shoot water out from the holes then darting back under the water again, popping back up and doing it all again you can see why they are so effective as any fish in the vacinity would come and see what the commotion is. Some of the larger heads have even been tested at speeds of over 20kts and still perform excellently with no rolling or spinning of the lure, all you need is to bump into a fish fast enough to catch it.

even the bycatch can be great fun

It's not just billies these work great on but a whole range of pelagics. They have accounted for dolphin fish, Spanish mackeral, longtail and yellowfin tuna just to name a few and with many more to be added to that list. Even when you do bump into a mackie or wahoo and it tears the skirt to bits unlike other types of skirts where it's destined for the bin, with these it's just a matter of pulling off the old and replacing it with a new one by just sliding it onto the grooved edges that secure them on. From only a short time being out these have definately made a mark as one of the must have lures in my tackle box when planning a next trip. 

So Definately go and check these out next time your in the market for a skirted lure.

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Tight lines 

Reece

Landbased spinning rig- haywire twist how to

There's nothing worse when fishing to lose a fish to a bust off, or even more a bite off. Spinning landbased along the northern stretches of land you come across more of the toothy critters and heavy mono just doesn't cut the mustard.

What's the solution? Running a wire trace to stop the teeth cutting through. With all the different wire, multi strand, black coated etc I've found using single stand to be the best for this type of fishing.

Use the following:

105lb single strand wire 

Pair of pliers

100lb crane or bearing swivel

100lb crane clip swivel.

1 meter length of 60lb or Heavier mono

Firstly cut a length of single strand wire approx 20-30cm long. 

Thread one end through the swivel with the clip. This end will be tied using a haywire twist, below is the following way to tie one.

Holding the swivel put 4-5 long twists into the wire.

With the long twists, use the pliers to grab the wire and kink the tag end to 90 degrees.

Holding it make 4-5 small tight wraps along the wire, this will anchor the wire into place. Cut the tag end off.

Grab the other end and make another loop in the wire.

Grab the mono and through the loop tie an Albright knot, pulling tight should look like the one above. Then tie the other swivel to the end of the mono and you're ready to fish.

All that you need is to hook your favorite lure on and you'll be in with a fighting chance of landing those mackies and other fish in no time without that stress of being bitten off.

Making a dozen of these can be done in no time and can be rigged up when one is lost.

Cheers and tight lines 

Reece