Best Days To Fish For Jewfish.

jewgaffer · August 6, 2007

Hi fellow members,

A while ago I did a topic on how getting average fishing results goes hand in hand with the barometric pressure remaining steady around 1016 milibars and how you, yourself should use that figure as a "barometer" for "normal" fish feeding activity in rivers and estuaries.

I also said that you still need to vary your tactics and experiment during each session to continue to get good results when fishing on those "normal" barometric pressure days.

I also mentioned in another post that to have continued success in varying conditions there is often a need to locate the particular depth and the comfort zone of the day for the species you are targeting and I gave an example of how downriggers have regularly been used over centuries for successful recreational and commercial ice fishing in places such as Canada.

I gave that as important example so that you will know how the same principle needs to be applied in conditions where fish are not always active where you expect them to be, so that you could perhaps even consider something as simple adding a cork to a livie strugging on a heavy running sinker to allow a live bait to be suspended at various depths whilst being impeded and emitting all the signs of "panic" jewfish like to hear while your livie is struggling against the weight of that heavy snapper lead sitting on the bottom, and you should keep on varying the trial rod untill you locate the best strike zone depth of the day for the particular species you are targeting.

In order to give new readers and particularly guests to fishraider.com.au. a better understanding of knowing when and where to catch your target species as I write on, I will include a link to my other report on "Facts And Tips On Barometric Pressure And Fishing Results, When to fish and when not to fish"

and further below another link to my report with photos of the 21.8 kilo giant trevally captured in the Tweed River by a friend and a Ballina fishing mate, Jay Cottrell, fishraider member, jakjayno1 of Kingscliff, Qld.

http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.ph...c=22530&hl=

Jay knew exactly what circumstances, where and when and the right conditions in which to run a hardbody lure to catch a gt trevally.

In using the gear he chose Jay had allowed for the possibility of a break off by large trevally which were a big possibilty on that day due to a shortage of their favourite baitfish whilst at the same time giving his lure every chance to "swim along" in the desired manner.

Having said that I am including the link to Jay's magnificent 21.8 kilo trevally catch along with a few good mangrove jacks and a couple of of cobia below. And I have added for your perusal a list of the actual gear Jay used, for the benefit of those who intend to target predator fish such as gt trevally and in my own case jewfish in rivers would be quite similiar except that I use spinning reels, u.s.a. model ugly stik tiger spinning rods and livies and squid instead with heavier braid and leader.

http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.ph...c=22953&hl=

HERE ARE THE FULL DETAILS OF THE GEAR, JAKJAYNO1, JAY COTTRELL USED.

REEL shimano calcutta 700 overhead

ROD 12 kilo shakspr custom built double handed ugly stik u.s.a. blank tr range tiger

LINE 50lb sufix braid

LEADER 40lb seguar fluro carbon 1 1/2 metre wind on leader

LURE KNOT surgeons loop

LURE gold bomber long A

LOCATION the fish was caught in the Tweed river, preserved and mounted by Jay's taxidermist

It was by no means a fluke by any manner of thinking and Jay knew that he would get a strike from this particular predator species when they would be hunting for food and Jay knew the trevally would be active in what he considered to be the best part of the Tweed river to fish for trevally at that time, having giving good consideration to location, and proper lure presentation and as some of you may well know is almost a one off go at trevally due to the narrow margin and the time frame that remains when fishing precisley in harmony with the time and the tide.

The facts were that Jay knew that he would have a pretty sore and overworked casting arm if he hadn't have done his homework as to all known factors and the suitabilty of the conditions of that day.

I have previously mentioned that deep sea fish are not badly affected by barometric pressure due to their ability to find deeper comfort zones either by not having similiar swim bladders which river fish need to have in order to cater for changes in barometric pressure which in this case is the pressure of the air in the atmosphere upon water, and this does not apply in the same sense to fish that are natural bottom dwellers in deep sea areas.

I bring to your attention that it is an absolute fact that fast fluctuations in barometric pressure under the "right circumstances" encourage fish to frenzy feed in order to stock up food should barometric conditions either produce adverse conditions due to contining on to become extreme low pressure readings,

or barometric pressure that can often remain stable for days on end when fishing can become poor even regardless of the good high pressure days that continue on without fluctuation and even provide the nicest outdoor and boating weather regardless of season.

In this post it would be an appropriate time to tell you that a constant southerly influence for days and even weeks on end as we have experienced this winter lead to a prior food stock up and then to a general shutdown for many species including jewfish. However there is always a good frenzy at the beginning of such a southerly blow up and jewfish are specialists at catching shutdown fish in depths far deeper than the normal weather habitats of baitfish.

A good example is the number of times fishermen catch tailor and smaller bonito down very deep in places where they do not have the right comfort zone in such adverse barometric pressure conditions which are even unsuitable for chasing the skipping baitfish near the surface as fishermen often witness in favourable barometric pressure conditions.

I also mentioned balmy days and "balmy nights" which I regard as "the calm before the storm", the result of a change in the atmosphere (a barometric change) where humans, animals, fish and insects suddenly go "into action mode" simply beacuse of the way they react to feeling a great atmosphere around them, yep that's a good example of having the "right conditions" brought on by barometric pressure.

I pointed out that you yourself would have experienced many weekends of catching next to nothing on the best of boating days due to the fact that fish have already stocked up on food on normal reading days and more so during periods of fast barometric pressure fluctuations in either rises or falls which did steady before falling to extreme low pressure systems.

Simply put, you couldn't always be out there fishing at that particular short go that you get at it during prime times when fish are in high action feeding mode and those times when fish are even snapping at lures and chasing chasing baited hooks and sinkers in frenzy.

There are often conditions when fish are unable to digest food and on those days you yourself will find that successfully targeting of most table fish in freshwater and saltwater estuaries is more often than not subject to the "right circumstances".

In this new topic I wish to elaborate on "right circumstances" which is an aspect I mentioned in other topics but did not dwell on that so that readers would get the general the picture without having to worry about all the trimmings and other associated factors at that stage.

Most fish actually shut down due to adverse conditions such as the reaction of surface air temperature upon freshwater and saltwater compatiable species and Bass actually highlight that very important factor.

As most bass fishermen would well know long cold fronts of winter cause bass to hibernate during cold winter climates while at the same time being affected by air temperature upon water as well as the surface water temperature itself at sea level and they also are adversily by barometric pressures at both ends of the scale in any season.

Using Bass as an example of what I am saying is rather extreme but is still a fairly good analogy to demonstrate the shorter bursts of shutdown by species that have already had sufficient food binges to allow for the change in conditions which they can actually sense are coming and have their feeding binge and then take a type of "mini" hibernation into shutdown waters such as going down very deep into cover just before those adverse conditions actually set in.

So off goes our head and on goes a pumpkin as we continue to fish on those time proven shutdown days.

And on that note I my as well make a list of your favourite shutdown day species which are highly active in low barometric days and particularly so in ongoing days of any southerly influence.(southerly wind directions)

Toadies, Scorpion fish, Fortescues, Slimy eels, Mourays and Pike eels, Sharks, Octopus.

And it is worth noting that yakkas, baby Octopus and Squid are generally in abundance and free from most predators on ongoing southerly influence days and that drummer and blackfish are known as the least affected in ongoing southerly conditions.

I hope this helps you and I welcome your replies and for the benefit of our many guests and new members it would be good to hear your own experiences on your worst fishing days.

If there are any questions you may need to ask please don't hesitate to ask me and if I don't know the answer I'll just pick up the phone and call jakjayno1 or that great all species fisherman, Jay's mentor and one my own best friends, Jimmy Bowers of Ballina, former brother in law and life long fishing mate of our own stewy swordfisherman

Regards,

jewgaffer

Edited August 6, 2007 by jewgaffer

abiasin · August 7, 2007

thanks for another great read mate, im going to have to print these post out i think and make myself a little manual or something. thanks for all the free information that only members of this site would be happy to share with everyone.

your a champ.