So another week flies by with larger swells, some rain, some sunshine and some good fishing to be had.  Early on in the week with the run-in tide starting just on dawn the GT's were feeding near the mouth of the seaway, some excellent but shortlived surface fishing was had just on dawn on Monday with the GT's taking Poppers first then as the sun got up switching to Gillies Baitfish 25gram proved to be a winner.  Double hookups were common. A few Tailor, Tarpon and Dart were feeding on this mass of baitfish as well near the north wall and plastics and minnows cast into the wash hooked a few of these. As far as I know the GT's around the canyon did not feed at all.




On Tuesday, an early morning start yielded some quality Tarpon around the north wall with every fish landed being over 60cm, plenty were lost and the bite was very timid, lots of taps before they would commit to taking it down deep, in fact you almost had to deadstick it to get them to eat it.  Best plastics were CCM Grass Minnows of course and 1/2oz jigheads worked best.  The GT's were still at the mouth of the seaway just after dawn but refused to come up off the bottom, you had to find the school on the sounder around the dropoff into the deep hole and drop 30gram twisties down into the school, then crank them back up.   This worked well for an hour accounting for some nice fish up to 77cm but not everyone got the hang of this technique.  The edges of the wall were fished but yielded little, the absence of baitfish around the area is probably the reason why the fish were not feeding as aggressively as the previous day.   The fish around the canyon took thier time to feed and didn't start until around 9am then proceeded to act normally with plenty of bustups to keep fisherman entertained.  Kingfish also came up a few times on the northern channel flats  and I managed to hook one on a Rapala Skitter Pop 9 in Chrome Pink, that encounter lasted a bit longer than most due to the lack of structure in the area, but in the end with 150m of line out he still managed to find something to rub me off on.   The weather at times was very bad with squally winds and rain and this just seemed to make the GT's feed even harder right through until about 11am at the top of the tide.  Poppers and 25gram Gillies Baitfish worked fine.  In the afternoon Tarpon were feeding on the second half of the run out tide in the dirty water in the northern arm from the triangle up to the canyon(Northern Y) but due to the conditions only fed on the bottom, plastics like CCM Grass Minnows, Pearl Sliders and 80mm Squidgy Slick rigs yielded a few fish.  Edge fishing around the walls at night with the larger swells and strong winds proved dicey and yielded nothing.

On Wednesday morning with the early morning runout and much larger swells the outer walls were far too dangerous so Tarpon were again the target in the 'Northern Y', same tactics as the previous night yielded a few from the mid 50's up to the low 60's.  Decent size Lesser Queenfish(40-45cm) were also feeding in this area and some were taken on plastics as well as small slugs like the 7gram white sea rock.  Chopper Tailor were also feeding further up the northern channel and 25gram gillies baitfish thrown into the bustups yielded fish up to 45cm.  Once the tide started to push back in the GT's turned up right on time at around 9am and fed around half a dozen times on surface to the north of the canyon near the northern channel flats, Poppers thrown into the school shortly after they came up yielded some good fish, a few schools fed along the current line off the wavebreak rock wall but none were hooked there.  As the tide progressed the GT's started feeding in singles around the Canyon and poppers blindcast got a few more fish.

Looking towards the weekend looks like we will have low winds, a decent easterly swell with a chance of rain increasing on sunday.  Afternoon run in tides should see the GT's feeding reasonably well with a chance for a couple just on dusk on poppers as the water will still be quite clean.  There should still be Chopper Tailor around the northern channel, Tarpon in the North Y, and maybe Queenfish on the Wavebreak Flats in the mornings.  Take care around the walls during the run out tides, the swell is coming straight from the East, that can make things a bit dangerous out in exposed sections.

Due to some tackle issues I've got some new gear under test.  The Daiwa SOL 3000 I had has been sidelined with a bad roller bearing due to salt intrusion, at only 6 weeks old I'm not happy about that.  While salt intrusion to roller bearings is quite common it should not happen so quickly, talking with others it seems most Daiwa reels have this problem though the Ballistics are still doing ok. While I wait for a new bearing I have replaced that reel with a Shimano Sustain 3000, Price is about the same but it lacks the raw speed of the SOL, its still fast enough for most things though.  There will be a head to head comparison of these two reels in about a months time.  Also my beloved Samaki Allure Rod got smashed in two by a wayward hatch cover so it had been replaced with a Daiwa Black Label 762mhfs.  The extra length gives me a bit more casting distance and it's now better able to handle the larger line strengths and larger lures I am throwing.

I am also in the process of testing some new PE braid that I have sourced.  I don't know about you guys but I am sick of the outrageous prices we pay for braid here in Australia($40-70 for 150m is bullshit).  If it passes my quality assurance test(and so far it has.. its landed numerous Tarpon, Bigeyes and GT's up to 77cm) then I will be selling it for $25 for 300m.  I just have to test a few more line strengths before I give it the yay or nay.  Initial sizes will be 10, 20 and 30lb but I can do other sizes on request.

I will also be selling a number of specially selected lures on SeawayFishing.  Rapala Chrome(various colours) Skitter Pop 9 with upgraded Hardware, CCM Grass Minnows as well as a few others and the SeawayFishing Lure range I have mentioned before if I ever finish testing them.  I realise that its has been a while but it's going to take a bit longer as I won't release a substandard product.

The on-water giveaways will definitely start on June 1st 2013.  I have removed the reel as a prize for now but there are plenty of lures to choose from including minnows, poppers and many different types of plastics (paddle tails, minnows, tubes, worms, craws etc)  There are about 50 prizes to choose from and there will be new ones added as time goes on.

Rules for the on-water giveaways.

• You get to choose from the bag at random, you don't get to look in the bag.
• Boats must display the Seawayfishing.info stickers available for purchase from the Seawayfishing Shop
• All boats displaying the sticker that I see on any given day will get a pick from the bag.
• Individual boats can choose from the bag only once per day.
• Winners username and prize will get posted on the website.
• This is a trial run, if there isn't enough interest in it I may discontinue it at any time.  If that happens before July 31 2013, those that have bought stickers will get the remainder of the prize pool distributed between them.

There has been some interest in a BBQ meetup on the weekend sometime.  Once a month, chance for all SeawayFishing members to get together and talk about whats happened during the month.  Before I organise something along these lines I'd like to know if anyone else is interested in this.  The general gist of it would be start time 8am finish time 12pm or whenever, planned on a weekend with morning runout tides(so no GT fishing).  Families would be welcome, BYO food, drinks and snacks.   Casting competitions for the kids with prizes for those that have a go, a chance to get a look(and buy if you see something you like) at the SeawayFishing Lure Collection when I have got it sorted.  If enough members show up maybe a lucky door prize or something for one Gold Class member.

I've looked at a couple of locations and the one with the requisite requirements(BBQ, Shelter, shade, access to water) is up near Paradise Point.

Let me know if you are interested in this otherwise it won't happen.

So another interesting week on the water, flat calm conditions, light westerlies and clear water and one day of light rain.  Visibility was around 10 metres at the top of the tide which makes fishing real tough until the water dirties up enough.  

Fishwise, the tarpon were around the walls early in the week then apparently disappeared, but in fact they were feeding during the last 2 hours of the runout tide in the middle of the seaway, during the day.  I think the very clear water made them decide to change their habits and feed in the dirty water where their excellent eyesight gives them an advantage over the baitfish.  Successful lures on these daytime fish were CCM grass minnows and Cas Clear Powerbait minnows but any baitfish profile would work, drop them to the bottom under the busting up fish and work them back slow.




The GT's turned it on in the afternoons with the canyon yielding some very nice fish but they are now moving further afield in search of prey.  They can be found down as far as Crab Island but are quite often coming up on the eastern side of the northern channel so keep your eyes open and get there asap if they come up.  There are some big fish amongst them so unless you want to be fighting the fish for an hour leave the 6lb at home.  Poppers up to 14cm and metals are the most effective with poppers getting some awesome surface strikes.  Towards the end of the week the GT's were coming up in the morning and blind casting around the canyon just on dawn yielded some nice fish.  Expect the mornings to fish fairly well as the tide gets later in the day.

There have been a few school and small spanish mackerel around the ends of the walls during the start of the run in tides but they require alot of casting to hook one.  Bigeyes have been around the ends of the walls and around the wavebreak rock walls the in the morning and tides changes at night but they are small.  Kingfish have been hanging around the same areas as the GT's but not much has changed with them.

Loads of Bonito and small Tailor around the inshore reefs this week so if you can't find any other fish or need to fill in some time they are worth a shot.

So there it is, some nice fish around but relatively small bite times so being in the right place at the right time is important.

A tightly packed school of Tarpon on the sounder

Another fish alert for you, this time a sportfish rarely seen in daylight in the seaway is feeding during the day so if you have never caught one before this is your chance.

Tarpon are feeding in the seaway on surface during the day around the last two hours of the run out and can be hooked on slugs or plastics. You won't land too many on slugs though as they will toss it most times. Plastics work fine, I caught them on ecogear Grass Minnow M CCM colour and Berkley Powerbaits in Cas Clear colour but any baitfish profile plastic should work. The key to catching these fish is to cast your lure into the bustup and let it sink to the bottom then wind it back slow. They will either pick it up on the drop or on the slow retrieve back. Remember these aren't GT's so keep that retrieve SLOW.

They are feeding in the area between the north wavebreak yellow and the Wavebreak East Cardinal Mark along the dirty water line so keep an eye on this area.  Look for bustups with about 5 -10 fish. They may move around a bit so keep an eye on the dirty water line and if they go down cast across the line, let it sink then do a slow retrieve back to the boat. If they start tapping the plastic, slow it right down until you feel the weight of the fish then strike hard and hope the hook stays in. There are some big ones in there, I hooked a couple that would have been in the mid to high 60's.

Remember that Tarpon should be considered a catch and release species, they are full of bones, apparently taste terrible and smell even worse, so let them go for another day.

I know a few of you want a detailed Tarpon fishing article and I'm working on it, until then here's some pics from monday mornings tarpon session. 6 Fish were landed, 10 hooked, biggest 66cm.

Lucky Strike King Hunter 10

A shallow running minnow at 10cm in length that dives to about 1.5metres, these come in a range of colours including redhead, pilchard and gold colours.  These minnows are ideal for edge work and casting at surface feeding fish, they can also be trolled up to 4 knots.  These minnows have a very tight wiggle that fish seem to love. Best used with a slow retrieve with a few pauses in there, can also be used with the twitch retrieve.  So far these minnows have accounted for lots of Bigeye Trevally, Tailor and Tarpon and hooked a few rampaging monsters that couldn't be stopped.   Stock hooks needs to be replaced, I suggest  Owner ST56 #4.  Stock rings are fine.  Colour is inside the lure so they will survive any amount of teeth damage.  Cost is around the $10-15 mark.

Available through LuckyStrike Fishing tackle: email luckystrikeft@gmail.com or visit http://www.facebook.com/LuckyStrikeft

Squidgy Wild Prawn

These are exclusive to BCF.  So far the 'Exclusive to BCF' range has not impressed me, the rods cast poorly and the reels have very dodgy drags for the price.  These however got me interested because the colour range includes both a very close imitation of a real prawn(Cracked Pepper) and a Pearl/Pink colour(Cloud 9).  Basically a prawn replica without the legs, though they include the feelers(which tend to fall out if you use a front rigged jighead).  The body includes a number of recessed slots for a variety of hook placements, you can rig them from the front with a standard jighead or weedless on a texas rig or from the back on a texas or carolina rig.  The only species I have tested these on so far have been tarpon and they loved them but I'm sure they'd catch a number of different fish if they were fished on the bottom of the seaway.    They are available in 2 sizes, 65mm and 90mm.  Price is $9.95/pack of 6.  Some of the plastics come out with a bent tail so check the pack before buying them.

The next Tackle Talk will feature a selection of the SeawayFishing lures I will be bringing out including the Flash series with high reflective finishes, Ranger series with natural finishes and the Ghost series with Clear and White finishes. All these lures will be sporting top of the line Owner or Decoy Split Rings and Owner ST66 or ST56 Hooks.  Ready to clip on and catch a fish.  Here's some minnows I am currently testing, only lures that swim properly and catch fish will end up for sale on SeawayFishing. Those that fail my quality assurance test and will end up in the bin.

Well another week passes with quite a variety of conditions during the week.  The fish fed hard in the rainy conditions on monday/tuesday then seemed to take a bit of a break as the weather fined up though a few fish were still caught. I only got out a couple of times.  I fished overnight Tuesday/Wednesday in perfect conditions, no wind or swell.   Nothing fed during the run in tide on Tuesday night, but they came on the bite during the run out.  Bigeye trevally came up a few times at the start of the run out and I managed half a dozen to 50cm on 9cm poppers.  They went down and I looked for Tarpon finding them but they didn't really feed hard until about 2am.  Tried a number of lures, caught some on a Lucky Strike King Hunter 100mm in a pilchard/green colour, and some on a new plastic a Squidgy 65mm Wild Prawn in Cloud 9 Colour.  The best plastic was still the CCM Grass Minnow though.  Some Bigeyes, small Mack Tuna  and Watsons Leaping Bonito taking 20g twisties round the ends of the walls at daybreak.

There have been some school mackerel caught around the end of the north wall during the run in tides which is quite unusual but welcome, try your luck with twisties or gillies sunk to the bottom and cranked back fast.  GT's were absent on Wednesday and Friday, tides aren't great over the weekend for them but you never know your luck.  Still a few Tailor around the channels in the broadwater but nothing bigger than about 50cm, trolling lures around the Deep hole south of Crab Island might get you a couple..  Kingfish have been seen a few times in the northern channel .  Tarpon are around the walls during the night, but your success may vary depending on whether they feel like feeding or not.  Bigeyes can be found around the pipeline at night or ends of the walls at daybreak.  The good weather is making the fish a bit tough to get during the day so focus on dawn or dusk and the tide changes. Word is that the bait reefs out from the seaway are fishing really well so while its calm its probably worth a trip out there.

Successful Lure’s Rundown

Halco Twisty 20 gram in chrome – Price $5-7 – Availablity Kmart, BCF, Most tackle stores
SeawayFishing Ranger Pop 9cm in Chrome – Price TBA – Availability - Here, in a few weeks time.
Lucky Strike King Hunter 10cm in Green – Price: contact supplier – Availability: email luckystrikeft@gmail.com
Ecogear grass minnow M in Chika Chika Muroran – Price $7-10 per pack – Availability Samurai tackle.
TT Headlockz 3/8oz & 1/4oz jigheads 2/0HD – Price $8.00 – Availability – BCF, some tackle stores.
Zman 2.5? GrubZ in Pearl Shimmer – Price $8.00 – Availability – Tackle Warehouse, some other tackle stores.
Squidgy Wild Prawn 65mm in Cloud 9 - Price 9.95 - Availability - Limited to BCF stores.

Fishing Gear Used

Samaki Allure SA-701SM 7? Spin rod / Shimano Sustain FG 4000 reel / 30lb Yellow Sunline Momentum 4×4 / 30lb Famell Super Shock Leader

So 6 weeks on from the initial sighting of the surface feeding Giant Trevally things are changing.   The dredge has moved(why haven't they removed the 6kt signs??) and I'm sure this was the catalyst for this change in behaviour, as there seems to be less baitfish schools coming through over the canyon dropoff where the GT's like to sit. There seems to be an increase in the number of days they spend sulking on the bottom during the day and some increased feeding behaviour in the dawn/dusk time period. The good news is when they do decide to feed they are becoming less fussy and are more willing to hit a wider range of lures. Metals no longer rule the roost when it comes to catching GT's in the broadwater. Surface lures are the new king and some of the surface strikes are awesome to behold.
Some of you have been fishing on surface using poppers and stickbaits for a while, and I've been experimenting for a couple of weeks with plastics and minnows. I've just started to take surface fishing for them seriously and it works very well(yes... sometimes I'm a bit slow). Blind casting along the flats of wavebreak works in the low light hours of dawn or dusk and once the sun is up the edge of the canyon or casting underneath inquisitive birds also works. Stickbaits like the Cultiva Tango Dancer or the Atomic K9 Bulldog seem to work better once the sun is up, but big poppers seem to be the go for dawn/dusk. I have used poppers up to 14cm in size on these low light hunting fish and they aren't bothered in the slightest so don't be shy about going large as it gets dark. Any popper will do, successful ones so far have been the Halco Roosta Popper, River2Sea Bubble Pop in 9 & 14cm, and TackleHouse Feed Popper 120.
As far as techniques go, stickbaits are usually worked with a Walk the Dog type retrieve, basically wiggling the tip as you retrieve and the stickbait should pop from side to side. It takes a bit of practice to perfect. If any of you want to be shown that retrieve ask me when I'm out on the water and I'll give you a demo. You can also just wind them straight in. You can work larger stickbaits like the Saltiga Dorado Slider with a far more aggressive jerking retrieve. Poppers just need a steady jerking retrieve to get a steady pop going. Don't forget to pause it occasionally as many fish will hit them on a pause.

On to minnows, I did alot of work with minnows during last week and cast into a bustup and blind casting with a steady retrieve they work just fine, I was using a Rapala XR8 in chrome, the only problem was the smaller hooks had trouble sticking to such large fish and I lost quite a few. I'm sure that larger minnows cast around would work as well, particularly at dawn or dusk.

Plastics have been working alright on the sulking fish on the bottom or cast into bustups. I've been using Squidgy Flickbaits in Pearl or Pilchard on jigheads from 3/8 down to 1/4 oz and split shot rigged Flash J's in Glow Silver but I'm sure any minnow shaped plastic would do. Working a plastic through the sulking fish on the bottom usually picks up a fish or two, but don't expect too many that way.

This article has been produced from talking with multiple anglers so consider it the first SeawayFishing Community Effort.

So thats where we are at the moment, if you have anything else to add write it in the comments.

Didn't get out much this week due to wanting to catch up on some website work I have been putting off but by Wednesday I had decided to make an afternoon/evening trip out to the seaway to see what was around.

Got there at the bottom of the tide and first thing I did was to check out the clean/dirty water lines around the seaway mouth.  The wind was from the south at 15-20kts but there wasn't alot of swell, about a metre from the SE.  Heavy overcast conditions with pending rain.  Found some fish around the edge of the dirty water line just off the south wall and dropped lightly weighted plastics down to them, first drop with a 1/8oz  wakasagi flash J split tail I hooked on to a decent fish which on the 6lb braid outfit I was using ran me around the place for about 15 minutes until I had a nice 55cm Cale Cale or Longrakered Trevally at the boat.  Dad was on next using a 1/4oz clear powerbait minnow but he dropped his fish.  That was it for that area, we moved back into the seaway had a quick look around the north wall then went into the broadwater where we spied some tailor hitting the surface.  We managed a few of those before they disappeared,  then as the sun began to set we switched to big poppers to try and get some GT's because of the lateness of the tide. That worked a treat and we hooked 5 GT's on poppers (including one double hookup) blind casting around the flats 100m south of the wavebreak yellow x beacon. Let me say that popper fishing for GT's in the seaway rocks hard, awesome seeing them smash the poppers time and again until they hook up, way better than chucking slugs at them. We lost two, one busted us off around the beacon and pulled the hooks on another. The ones we landed were in the 62-65cm range.




Once they went off the boil as the sun set we had a quick troll until the light left the sky then began the search for tarpon. We covered both walls from tip to corner but the only thing we managed was a bigeye around 50cm on a 70mm white slick rig.  I had a look around the pipeline and found the bigeyes busting up sporadically in the middle, perfect opportunity to try some of the new SeawayFishing lures out and they worked a treat, the bigeyes were smashing them like there was no tomorrow but they weren't big fish all around the 40-50cm range. For the first hour we used minnows then switched to poppers for more fun and they smashed them just the same. Great fun, we probably landed 20 or so before they went off the boil at the top of the tide around 9.30pm. Had another quick try for tarpon but got zip then called it a night around 10pm. So.. wind, rain and some really hot fishing.

So overall, a solid trip, a nice range of species and a good test for the new lures I'll be listing for sale in the coming week.

Expect to see the GT's feeding in the mornings now for a few days, good tides for them over the weekend as long as you don't mind the wind and rain.  Tailor will still be around in decent schools in the broadwater so keep an eye out for them.  Look for bigeyes feeding on surface over the pipe on the run in tides at night.  Slight chance for Tarpon around the walls during the night, but you'll need to do alot of casting.  Kingfish are still around but you'll need a bit of luck to hook and land them.

Successful Lure’s Rundown

SeawayFishing Ranger 10 in Yellow and Pink – Price TBA – Availability, Here in a couple of weeks time.

River2Sea Skitter Pop 9 – Price $15 per pack – Availability Some Tackle stores, BCF.

Squidgy Slick Rig 70mm in Pearl – Price $10.00 – Availability Tackle stores, BCF

Tacklehouse Feed Popper 120mm - Price $35.00 - Availability - Specialist online tackle stores/ ebay.

Fisharrow Flash J Split Tail 3" Wakasagi - Price $12.00/Pack - Availability - Samurai Tackle

Zipbaits ZBL Popper in Chrome - Price $24.00 - Availability - Tackle Warehouse, Coorparoo

Fishing Gear Used

Samaki Allure SA-701SM 7' Spin rod / Daiwa SOL II 3000H reel / 20lb Green Sunline PE / 30lb Famell Super Shock Leader

Daiwa SOL type 2 701LFS 7' Spin rod / Team Daiwa Advantage 2500A / 6lb yellow Fins PRT / 20lb Famell Super Shock Leader

Been getting a bit behind with the video editing so I just made a highlights video for April, turned out quite well I think.  Best viewed in 1080p on a big screen.

I thought it might be interesting to chart my lure losses over the rest of the year just to keep track of how many lures I go through so here it is, includes detail on reason for loss, date, area.  Starts from May 1st 2013.

Lure Losses Starting May 1st 2013

Rod Breakages 2013

SeawayFishing Map 4 Cross Channels to Crab Island

To see a larger version of this map, right click with your mouse and choose ‘view image’

There has been alot of chatter about these on the net lately and some friends of mine swear by these. To be honest I wasn't interested in these until the HeadlockZ Jigheads were released as supergluing jigheads onto plastics was always a pain in the bum. However the hardyness of the plastic appealed to me, especially for tarpon work as they tend to tear plastics to shreds with their constant jumping, but also for use on toothy critters like Tailor and Mackerel. While slugs work most of the time on these fish there are times when a more subtle approach with a plastic works better.




Zman Plastics come in a variety of shapes and colours, from 2.5" curl tails to 8" Jerk Shads and one major point in thier favour all styles come in a plain white/pearl colour. It has been a major sore point for me that many plastic brands do not come in a plain white/pearl colour particularly in the smallest 3" jerk shad styles, one of the most effective colour and styles for use in the seaway. Sure have all the fruity colours you like but plain white or pearl should be available in every soft plastic brand in every size.

A 60cm atrpon caught on a 2.5" Pearl Curl tail and 3/8oz Tt Headlock Jighead

I have been using the 3" MinnowZ and the 2.5" curl Tail in Pearl/ Shimmer Pearl/PearlBlueGlimmer for a couple of months now and have put them through some rigorous testing so the first question is.. are they as tough as claimed? Well... sort of, they are much tougher than any standard plastic but Tarpon will still tear them a new one after 5 or so fish. Usually the first tear isn't terminal so you can go on using them but eventually they will tear free and you'll lose the plastic.

Secondly, do they catch fish? Well yes they do BUT If fish are scarce there are better lures out there in my opinion. For prospecting work I prefer Ecogear grass minnows, Squidgy Flick Baits, Gulp Jerk Shads and Charlie Brewers Sliders. All of those have consistently pulled fish(and big fish too) when prospecting for fish, the same cannot be said for the Zmans I have been using. That said, if the fish are feeding hard, and are not fussy the Zmans will catch fish and last longer than any other plastic so they definitely have a place in my tackle box.

This Zman Minnow and TT Headlock Jighead combo has caught half a dozen Tarpon and has numerous tears but still fishable, just.

Now on to the TT HeadlockZ JigheadZ. Do they work as claimed? Well.. sort of. I have found that the HeadlockZ jigheads are much better than a standard jighead BUT the plastic will still get pulled down the hook if a fish grabs it hard and doesn't hookup. The solution to this is to place a tiny amount of superglue on the mid keeper section before sliding the plastic right up to the head. Its a much better way of keeping the plastic in place and keeps the superglue away from the head which has always bugged me. I do all this at home and once the plastic gets torn or disappears out on the water just clip a new prerigged plastic on. Simple, Fast and Effective.

Now one of my major complaints about jigheads lately is that even the heaviest one I could find was being straightened by tarpon. The extra heavy duty hook used on the HeadlockZ jigheads solves this problem, its been through alot(including me lifting 3kg Tarpon into the boat by the trace) and has yet to even look like straightening so I have now adopted the HeadlockZ jigheads throughout my whole plastic collection and I'm phasing out the old TT jigheads I used to use. One word of caution though, the black plating on the hooks used on these jigheads is prone to rusting quite quickly once it hits salt water so make sure you either wash the used plastics or don't put them with other jigheads. The hook point is quite durable and will remain sharp for quite a few fish, just make sure you check it every half dozen fish to make sure.

So overall a solid couple of products but they could still do with a bit of work, I'm happy enough to reccomend them as I will keeping them in the tackle box for those occasions when the fish are on the bite yet still want a plastic. These plastics will be included prerigged in the SeawayFishing Starter, Pro and Ultimate Lure Packs I will be releasing in about 4 weeks time.

One last thing, make sure you keep these in the original packet, mixing these plastics with other brands causes them to melt. Its not pretty, so keep them separate.

ZMan Lures - 7.95/Pack - Availability - Most Tackle Stores, BCF

TT HeadlockZ Jigheads - 7.95/pack - Avaialability - Most Tackle Stores, BCF.  Most used sizes 3/8oz, 2/0 - 3/8oz 3/0 - 1/4oz 1/0- 1/4oz 3/0- 1/2oz 3/0

Websites - Zman Australia   TT Jigheads

Rigging

First step is to make sure the plastic is on straight, then pull it back out so the mid keeper is exposed. the apply a SMALL amount of super glue(I recommend a Gel type as its easier to handle) to the mid keeper.  Then push it straight back on.

When you are finished the jighead should lie straight along the plastic with the hook point exposed.

Prerigged Zman 2.5" Curl Tails

Getting a camera into the middle of feeding fish is not easy, usually it takes many attempts and when you do you only get a few seconds of footage. The fish don't seem to be bothered by the camera though most will look at it as they swim past.  The results are worth it, and they give you an understanding of how each type of fish feed and you can adjust your techniques to suit.  So here for the first time ever are pictures showing whats going on underneath some of those feeding fish you see on the surface.




Giant Trevally

Giant Trevally travel in large schools, the bulk of the school stays below and helps to drive the bait, individual fish hit the surface then vertically crash dive down 2-3 metres to swallow the food.  When not herding bait they hold close to the bottom.

Bigeye Trevally

Bigeye Trevally travel in large schools near the surface to drive the bait then attack en masse swallowing the bait as they go, once the bait is scattered they dive down deep and school mid water.

Tailor

Tailor drive the bait school from below up to the surface then individuals or a part of the school attack the bait, chopped pieces of bait drift back down through the water column to be picked up by part of the school below.

Yellowtail Kingfish

Yellowtail Kingfish hunt as singles or part of a small school.  Their feeding style is slow and methodical and what I call mooching.  Basically spotting some bait near the surface then coming up with a big open mouth and taking a mouthful then going back down.

And just for something interesting here's some manta rays that have been doing the rounds lately.

Still on the to photograph list.. Tuna, Bonito, Mackerel, Queenfish.

Another week passed, some interesting behaviour from the fish.   Some fish numbers continue to increase while others may be tapering off.   Have done some experimenting with other lures on GT's this week and it was moderately successful so you don't need to stick with just slugs if you want to try something different.

Sunday - Monday Overnighter 28-29th April 2013

On the water  by 6pm just in time for dark, I headed out to the seaway in good conditions, less than a meter of swell, light winds and a clear sky.  First up I checked for bigeyes over the pipe but nothing there, so spent some time working the walls for Tarpon, the first 4 jumped off, the next two I landed both around 63cm on 3/8thoz grass minnows in CCM, so good solid fish.  They went quiet after that so at the top of the tide I worked the pipe a bit with  7" pearl jerkshads and picked up 2 jewies around 65cm.  Once the tide started to run out s few bigeyes popped up and I landed a couple on skitter pop 9's but they disappeared after that.  Took a break until dawn.




Once dawn arrived I worked the walls for a bit but nothing there so I headed back to the pipeline for the incoming tide.  Some tuna popped up briefly before I headed down to the Canyon for the GT's.  The GT's turned up right on time  and today they were hungry with multiple bustups lasting 30 seconds to a minute.  Got some GT's 60-65cm on Twisties, 3/8th oz 80mm  squidgy flickbaits in pearl and pilchard colours and flash J in Glow silver.  Some kingies around but noone hooked any.  Called it a day at the top of the tide.

Tuesday 30th April 2013

Went down only for the GT's but today they were fussier, bustups only lasted 15 seconds.  Wanted to try minnows on them today, hooked 3 fish landed one about 63cm on a Rapala XR8 in Chrome taken on a on a blind cast.  Had dad with me but he didn't hook any, some other boats missed out as well.

Wednesday 1st May 2013

Went down only for the GT's again, had Mick with me today.  Not quite as fussy as the day before, Mick had a good day landing 4 GT's up to 65cm and one bigeye.  I managed continue my losing streak dropping every fish I hooked, some days you just can't win.

Thursday/Friday Overnighter 2-3rd May 2013

On the water in time for the run in, the wind was forecast to get up to 30kts today so I was interested to see how fish behaviour would be affected. Some bigeyes came up over the pipeline for about half an hour, I landed one then concentrated on getting the camera into the bustups. Once they went down I waited for the GT's unfortunately they were a no show, you could see them on the sounder but they never came up and plastics drifted through them were ignored.  I headed off looking for other action and found some kingfish around the next set of markers north, had a couple of hits on gillies baitfish 25 but no hookups.  Headed further north and found schools of tailor hitting white pilchards, landed half a dozen before trying to get the camera into the bustups.  Around dusk I headed back into the seaway against the now howling wind, very wet conditions.  Worked the walls for a bit but the outgoing tide and strong winds made for difficult fishing.  Got nothing so I took a break until the tide started to come back in around 10pm.

At 10pm I with the tide now moving in I moved into the seaway again, checked out the pipe but it was a desert so moved onto searching for tarpon.  The wind was howling from the South east at around 30kts making things difficult but pushing the limits is what I like to do.  Stuck to the south wall and worked my way along with a squidgy slick rig 80mm in dropbear, my rule of thumb is when in windy rough conditions use a bigger lure than usual and the slick rigs have a wide aggressive wobble.  About half way along I started getting the typical tarpon nudges and soon hooked up, then it promptly jumped off.  Due to the wind I had to keep the motor in gear with the direction set at maximum angle just to stay in place.  Then began one of the most awesome Tarpon sessions I've had in a long time, from 10.30pm to 2.30am I was constantly hooked up, landing fish, rerigging and repositioning.  Nearly every cast was a hookup, a jumpoff or a landed fish.  such action takes a heavy toll on terminal tackle and I had to constantly retie new leaders and cut off worn sections.  as it was I still got worn through by 3 fish.  Size was excellent with the smallest being 55cm, the biggest a slab sided bar of chrome at 66cm with at least half those landed being over 60cm.  Landed well over 20 fish, jumped off easily twice that many.  I managed to try a few different lures as well, the Lucky Strike King Hunter 100mm(a minnow) in a pilchard colour landed the biggest fish as well as quite a few others, unfortunately all those hooks dont mean a better hookup rate, the tarpon still nudge it alot.  I tested the Zman 2.5" grubZ and 3" minnowZ extensively just to see how they would hold up.  They did end up being torn up but lasted around 10 fish which is alot better than most plastics.  Still not something I would start out with though if fish are scarce, there are better prospecting plastics out there.  I was also testing a custom rig designed to stay attached better than a standard jighead rigged plastic and it worked... once the initial jump was over.  Losing fish on the first jump is common but this rig removes all those that you after the first jump and near the boat, more about that rig later.  At 2.30am they tapered off and I went looking for other fish.  No joy on that so I took another break until dawn.

At dawn I started working the walls, managed a decent tailor on a plastic and had a good look around, found some bigeyes working in close to the northern side of wavebreak but other than that it was quiet, messed around a bit with the camera for a while until the tides changed to run in.  Waited for the surface action, saw the bigeyes come up twice briefly but the GT's didn't come up.  I did manage to get one about 60cm on a squidgy flick bait on a 1/4oz head.  Called it a day at around 1.30pm.

So, what we have at the moment are GT's that are still around the canyon but reluctant to come up, that may change as the tide gets later in the day. Bigeyes which are feeding in multiple places(pipeline, north wavebreak) at multiple times(dawn, run out tide at night,run in tide during the day) Kingfish around the which are still hard to catch and even harder to get on camera(next set of beacons north from the canyon) Tailor around Crab island and the Horseshoe Flats and Tarpon around the seaway walls occasionally during the day but easier to catch during the night.  Plenty of fish around still so get out there and take your chances.

Successful Lure’s Rundown

Halco Twisty 20/30 gram in chrome – Price $5-7 – Availablity Kmart, BCF, Most tackle stores
Rapala Xrap XR8 in Chrome Spotted Minnow – Price $20-25 – Availability, CSPM is rare, other colours can be found in tackle stores, BCF.
Lucky Strike King Hunter 10cm in redhead/white/green – Price: contact supplier – Availability: email luckystrikeft@gmail.com
Ecogear grass minnow M in Chika Chika Muroran – Price $7-10 per pack – Availability Samurai tackle.
TT Headlockz 3/8 oz jigheads 2/0HD – Price $8.00 – Availability – BCF, some tackle stores.
Squidgy Flickbait 80mm in Pearl and Pilchard - Price $8.00 - Availability Tackle stores, BCF
Zman 3" MinnowZ in Pearl - Price $7.95 - Availability - Tackle Stores, BCF.
Zman 2.5? GrubZ in Pearl Shimmer – Price $8.00 – Availability – Tackle Warehouse, some other tackle stores.

Fishing Gear Used

Samaki Allure SA-701SM 7? Spin rod / Daiwa SOL II 3000H reel / 20lb Yellow Sunline Momentum 4×4 / 30lb Famell Super Shock Leader

Successful Lure’s Rundown

Halco Twisty 20/30 gram in chrome – Price $5-7 – Availablity Kmart, BCF, Most tackle stores
Rapala Xrap XR8 in Chrome Spotted Minnow – Price $20-25 – Availability, CSPM is rare, other colours can be found in tackle stores, BCF.
Lucky Strike King Hunter 10cm in redhead/white/green – Price: contact supplier – Availability: email luckystrikeft@gmail.com
Ecogear grass minnow M in Chika Chika Muroran – Price $7-10 per pack – Availability Samurai tackle.
TT Headlockz 3/8 oz jigheads 2/0HD – Price $8.00 – Availability – BCF, some tackle stores.
Zman 3" MinnowZ in Pearl - Price $7.95 - Availability - Tackle Stores, BCF.
Zman 2.5? GrubZ in Pearl Shimmer – Price $8.00 – Availability – Tackle Warehouse, some other tackle stores.

Fishing Gear Used

Samaki Allure SA-701SM 7? Spin rod / Daiwa SOL II 3000H reel / 20lb Green Sunline Super PE  / 30lb Famell Super Shock Leader