The Three Things to Remember

Three most important things to keep in mind when fishing the seaway.

Observation

Just by keeping your eyes open to whats going on around you can lead you to unique fishing opportunites that others may miss.  That is not only looking for birds that are over fish but also any surface action even if it is just a single boil or a spray of baitfish.  Keeping a constant eye on your sounder is also important.

Timing

Move around based on what the tide is doing, if the tide is just about to run in you should be at the ends of the walls waiting for the first push of the tide around the front of the walls and the clean water to push in, at Dawn or Dusk you should be concentrating around the major fish holding areas like the North Wall/Pipeline/Canyon.  Never get so carried away with collecting bait that you miss the major bite periods - first hour of the run-in, last hour of the run-in, first hour of the runout.

Lure/Bait Placement

When using a specific lure or bait, pay attention to where it is at all times.  If you are using a microjig keep it within 2 metres of the bottom, same with plastics and live baits.  You should be constantly dropping them to the bottom and lifting them up a metre just to make sure.  If you are fishing the edges, make sure your lure is landing within 1 metre of the rock edge or closer... as close as you dare.  If you aren't getting snagged occasionally, you aren't getting close enough.  If you are casting into feeding fish aim for the thickest part of the bustup.  When trolling make sure the lure is running no more than a couple of metres over the top of the fish or the bottom.

Paying attention to these three things will catch you more fish than spending any amount of money on expensive fishing gear or fancy boats.

Seaway Weekly Wrap Up Friday 17th January 2014

Well after such good reports from the weekend I was hopeful of a few good days fishing this week.  Unfortunately that didn't happen when I fished on Monday and Wednesday. Thursday and Friday were better.

On Monday the day started at 4am just as the first light broke the horizon. A few bigeyes over the pipe early morning, the occasional bustup from Kingfish after sunup and that was it.  The morning showed a complete lack of interest on the part of the fish, a few fish were caught but you had to work for them. I managed a foulhooked bigeye and longnosed trevally on microjigs drifting the north wall runway on the runout tide though. I didn't get out in the afternoons other than Monday so that may have been when most of the action happened, nothing happened on Monday afternoon though which was disappointing considering the hours I put in. 13 hours is a long time on the water for so few fish. Off the water at 7.15pm

Wednesday was no better in terms of fish landed or sighted, same start time but no bigeyes a couple of undersized jewies on plastics near the pipe on the tide change, a small bigeye near the tower during the run-in and not much else. Gave it away around 10.30.

On Thursday the action picked up alot more with Bigeyes feeding from the time I arrived at the pipe for a good hour or so with fish ranging from 30 to 55cm.  20 and 30 gram twisties did the job. Tailor were scarce, a few around the North Wall on Minnows, Microjigs  and Twisties, biggest about mid 50's on lures.  Barry did pick up a massive 90cm Tailor while on a SeawayFishing tutorial on a live pike though. Kingfish were caught on the first hour of the runout tide on the pipeline by sinking flies or plastics down deep and jigging them back fast but it's a bit like winning lotto. Definitely not a sure thing.  They also showed up on surface a few times near the Canyon but the few casts I did manage to get in there were ignored.  The Cross channels Kings were around during the run-in tide and because the bait is quite large you are in with a shot if you can get your lure in there.  Chris's son got a very nice 115cm Kingfish on a 30gram Twisty(20lb braid 30lb leader). Picked up the usual couple of small Jewies in the North Wall Eddy during the first and last hour of the run-in on big plastics as well.

Friday was much the same as Thursday, Good bigeye action early over the pipe, some scattered but reasonable tailor near the north wall and erratic kingfish action though I did see a very nice school of Kings come up near the wavebreak marker for about 30 seconds. Managed a follow but no hook-ups.

The difference in results between one day and the next were quite large, on Monday and Wednesday the fish weren't even slightly interested, on Thursday and Friday they were.  Just goes to show what a difference a day makes.

Days Fished	Time fished	Tides
Monday 13th January	4.00am - 7.15pm	0640 1.50m, 1309 0.33m, 1847pm 1.04m
Wednesday 15th January	4.00am - 10.30am	0107 0.14, 0754 1.58, 1420 0.23, 2003 1.10
Thursday 16th January	4.30am - 11.00am	0143 0.12, 0827 1.60, 1453 0.20, 2038 1.13
Friday 17th January	5.00am - 11.30am	0217 0.12, 0900 1.60, 1524 0.18, 2112 1.14

 

 

 

Micro Jigging the Seaway – Initial Impressions

Micro jigging is still in it's early stages for the seaway, It's a technique that works but not in every situation or all the time.  I have been using the technique on and off for the last few months and its pulled quite a few fish, nothing outstanding but enough so that it's an option when other techniques have failed.

Species

Micro jigging work's very well on Tailor when they are sitting on the bottom during the day.  One problem with catching Tailor on Micro Jigs is they chew through the kevlar rope from the hook up to the solid ring.  You can make your own by using heavy braid and decent hooks, most small single hooks lack the strength needed.  I use Gamakatsu Big Bait 1/0 hooks.  Big tailor will also have a go and will bite the whole jig off, nothing you can do about that.  Other species it has hooked have been Bonito, Mulloway, Bigeye Trevally, Longnose Trevally and Yellowtailed Kingfish.   It should yield some assorted reef and pelagic species in the future.

The Technique

The best technique so far seems to be to drop the jig to the bottom, jig it up 5 times in quick succession, then sink it back down to the bottom and repeat.  The majority of strikes seem to come on the sink down after the 5 jigs so watch your line going back down after the jigs and be prepared to strike if you see it pause.  You can jig it all the way back to the surface as well every now and again. You can change the speed and timing of the jigs as well, sometimes the fish might want it slower or faster.

Locations

The best location so far is the North Wall Eddy/Runway/Deep Hole on both the run-in and run-out tides, the bottom of this area is covered in rocks so I recommend only using one hook rather than two.  While you will drop a few fish it's better than constantly losing jigs.  The Pipeline is also an area worth trying it, as is the Canyon and Northern Y.

The Jigs

There are a couple of brands of micro-jigs on the market.  The Storm Gomoku range and the Maria Shore Tricker Jigs.  The Storm Gomoku only come with one single hook and are around $9.00, the Maria's come with two single hooks and are around $15.00  The Storm Gomoku in 30gram Chrome is my current favourite, it has the right weight so that it can get down deep fairly quickly, a thin profile and a nice fluttering sink that throws off alot of flash.  Other colours do work but not as well.  You attach the jigs from the split ring at the end the hook is attached to.

The Tackle

Any light to medium tackle will work so you don't need to invest in specialised jigging tackle but a high speed reel will make it easier to work the jig at speed.  I recommend a 3000 size reel with a 6:1 retrieve and anywhere from 12- 30lb braid.  I recommend no less than 30lb leader as your jig will be hitting multiple rocks when it hits the bottom.  Constantly check your leader to make sure it has no serious damage.  As far as rods go, any light to medium graphite rod 6-7ft will do, a longer butt makes it easier to jig for long periods.  Dedicated micro jig rods are available and are alot softer with a more parabolic action.

 

It's still early days for this technique but it's worthwhile investing in a few jigs and giving it a shot, especially once the sun is up and you are in between tide changes.  Just remember to keep your jig near the bottom in the bottom couple of metres of water as that is where most of the strikes will come.

Welcome to 2014 in the Seaway

I've been on the water 4 times since the last update and the seaway continues to fish very well. I fished the morning sessions on Monday 23rd and Thursday 26th, and the afternoon sessions on Monday 30th and the 2nd January. This time of year it is super important to remember your tides and fish based on them. It saves you time and money to fish the peak feeding periods and your results will improve.

Water temps are up and holding between 23 and 25 degrees. Plenty of bait around, some frogmouths and there are big schools of small white pilchards around the 4cm mark as well. Boating traffic over the break was high but there were some good fish to be caught if you put in the effort.

Greenbacks have finally showed up with some nice fish in the low 60's caught this week on surface lures around the north wall during the low light periods of dawn and dusk.  There are lots of tailor around the 34-45cm mark around the North Wall as well and a few fish around the mid 50's.

Kingfish have been feeding along the pipeline and in close to the south western corner of South Stradbroke on the morning run-in tides, how they feed depends on the weather and the bait that they are feeding on.  If they are feeding on the small white pilchards it's alot tougher to get a strike than if they round up a school of frogmouths.  There is also a few around the North Wall but not enough that you can target with any effectiveness.  They do make a nice surprise though.

Bigeye's are around in numbers and when they do feed as a school they'll hit anything, with surface lure's they were getting airborne on the strike which was awesome.  When they aren't feeding as a school there are a few random fish to be caught around the North and South Walls as well.  They have been feeding aggressively around the end of the North Wall right as the tide starts to push in so make sure you are there at the right time.   To make sure I recommend getting there no longer than an hour after the official bottom of the tide.  They have shown up a couple of times on surface after dark near the pipeline but it's a bit random.

Plenty of dart around the North Wall Flats as well, but only when there is a bit of swell or waves running.

There is some excellent surface fishing opportunities at the moment so get those surface lures out and use them.  It's quite possible to get good fish on surface in the middle of the day so don't restrict them to just the dawn and dusk periods.  Use small thin profile surface lure's no bigger than 9cm.

Give the fish something different and you might get a fish that others don't.  For example, the kingfish shown below was pulled off the end of the North Wall on a surface lure on my second cast at 7.30 in the morning on Boxing day after other boats had been throwing slugs at the wall for hours.

It's also important to 'Rest' an area.  If you have cast at a certain spot on the wall twenty or so times, move elsewhere then come back an hour later and you might be able to pick up some more fish.  Resting an area gives the fish a chance to get back to normal behaviour.

Date	Time Fished	Tides
Monday 23rd December	4.30am - 1.30pm	0507 0.32, 1146 1.37, 1817 0.24
Thursday 26th December	4.00 am - 10.30am	0235 1.08, 0809 0.50, 1415 1.15, 2043 0.23
Monday 30th December	4.00am - 7.30pm	0624 1.60, 1243 0.20,1827 1.15
Thursday 2nd January	3.00pm - 10.30pm	0156 -0.09, 0850 1.87, 1515 -0.03, 2105 1.24