The Top 5 Mistakes People Make Fishing The Seaway

Spending as much time fishing in the seaway as I do, I see plenty of people fishing with little to no return.  Many of them are making the same mistakes which is preventing them from catching good fish.  So here is my top 5 mistakes people make when fishing the seaway.

1. Anchoring.

May as well start with what will be a controversial one.  Anchoring.  Not only do you get in the way of everyone else trying to drift, its not an effective technique. There are only 3 reasons to anchor in the Seaway and they involve specific targets, techniques or baits.

1. You want to catch lots of bream or random little fish.   You want to do this fine.. go nuts, there's billions of these fish in the seaway but do it off to the side.

2. You want to fish with large flesh baits for sharks or large jewies.  Both of these require the fish to track the scent down, flesh baits don't tend to work very well while drifting but can work while anchored as long as the billions of bream don't strip the bait first.

3. You are lazy and or cheap and don't want to be using fuel to find the fish.

Seriously.. Anchoring.... if you want to catch lots of good fish... just don't.

2. Using an Electric motor.

Yes, we are all impressed you have your shiny new Ipilot and you want to show it off and use it, after all it cost alot of money right...  Well there is only one reason to use an electric in the seaway and that is to stay on the fish once you have found them. Ipilots in particular are exceptionally good at holding in one area in strong winds and tide, but should only be used once you have located the fish.  The Drift is your most powerful fish finding tool.  Figuring out the drift varies from day to day but once you have figured it out not only will you find the fish, you will stay with them as they move.

3. Only fishing the Pipeline.

Yes the pipeline can be a good fishing spot.. but some fishermen seem to stick to it like its their mother and they are 4 years old.  Most of the fish sitting on the pipe are resting or getting a clean they are not eating.  Once the fish are in a feeding mood most of them move away from the pipe to get something to eat.  Mulloway will move out into the Triangle or Northern Y when they are hungry, GT's will move into the Northern Y and Canyon, Bigeyes will move into the Triangle or the Eastern Seaway channel.  Move with the fish!

4. Ignoring what is going on around them.

Time and again I see fisherman either not notice or fail to recognise what is happening around them.  Open your eyes and ears people.  Look for birds(or even just one bird), bait spraying, a single boil.  Listen for fish feeding, time and again I have found fish feeding by hearing just a single surface hit and throwing a lure in that direction.

5.Sticking to only one technique when lure fishing.

Lastly but perhaps most importantly don't stick to using only 1 technique.  I am always seeing fisherman only throwing slugs at the wall or dropping plastics to the bottom.  Sure both of these techniques have thier day, but being able to use every technique in the book will have you catching so many more fish.  Trolling deep diving minnows, blooping or fast retrieve poppers , saltwater fly, shallow running minnows, slow rolling edge plastics, surface finesse plastics, slow rolling and fast jigging blades and vibs, jigging metals and many more will outfish every other technique on the day.      As for figuring out what to use on that day, use your eyes, ears, sounder and experimentation.  SeawayFishing will always be ontop of whats working so make sure you keep up with the latest posts.

Feel free to comment below if you disagree with any of this.

 

Livebaiting the Seaway Video

Livebaiting the Seaway Video showing from catching livebaits to landing fish.