The Importance Of Conditions, Winds And Tides.

[jewgaffer]

Hi Everyone.

I have decided to do a topic on the importance of chosing the right conditions in which to plan a fishing session and getting to know what the better times are within the available days on weekends and holidays etc. Fishing time for most is somewhat restricted due to work and family committments.

I have written this topic to help make fishing in general more deliberate and positive rather than just having a lucky result occasionally and a lot of time wasted.

With more thought, pre-planning and a little more perseverence, I'm sure members' fishing results will be more rewarding for the time and money spent on the sport.

I refer to the importance of chosing the best conditions with the emphasis on the benefit of getting to recognise good barometric pressure fluctuations and the effect of sudden weather changes on fish feeding activity, the importance of wind direction on pinpointing the best locations to fish, and tide relevence for timing the best bite periods for the species and when it's best to start a session.

For better understanding of the right conditions read in conjuction with my other topics and posts on barometric pressure, conditions and wind changes.

!! To save you going through my topic/s on barometric pressure and fishing I have now added some detail here:-

>>> It is most important to understand that it is the barometric pressure fluctuations that count and not always the reading, although 1016 milibars has always been regarded as normal atmospheric conditions which means it is a normal day with normal fishing, until the next fluctuation produces conditions condusive to fish feeding frenzy which you should keep your eye out for and you should note the details for next time.

Frenzy is always followed by a drop in the bite rate. When fish are bloated they go progressively into mini hibernation should the barometric pressure remain steady for days on end.

Should the pressure rise into a high reading of say a figure of 1030 milibars, you should go during the start of the fluctuation. Again if the pressure stays steady for days on end, the bite rate drops.

On the other hand if the pressure drops into a low below say 1006 milibars and goes down further, say below 1000 milibars, this indicates extreme weather and conditions. A general shutdown occurs, except for off shore pelagics, reef freaks, eels etc and just a few hardier species in bays and estuaries. Again you should go fishing during the early part of a drop in barometric pressure. However on this occasion should you go later or the next day after you may not do well.

Apart from being aided by weather forecasts, you can never sure be sure at what figure the fall will go down to as far as low pressure systems are concerned. The fish may have already allowed for oncoming extreme conditions and stocked up during the first signs of the change. If you happened to be there at the time, although there may well be rain and southerly winds wind at the onset, you should do very well<<< !!

As an analogy for fishing away in general as a lot of fishermen prefer to do, knowing the best times to target individual species for example, is really quite complicated. It requires perseverence and each experience should be noted, in order to fish wiser and get good results consistently, particularly when pinpointing the right locations on a given day, for fishing either with natural baits or perservering with some of the excellent lures and soft plastics available today. Fishing with artificial baits is becoming increasingly popular and the locations in various conditions, where fish are likely to be aggressive or not aggressive have to be recognised for timing success on the day.

Suitable tides within the time frame applicable and reserved for fishing, come into the equation and must be considered before final plans for a hit and run, say over a six hour time frame of actual fishing. For most this would amount to around seven or eight hours from start to finish of available leisure time.

Tides can be topsy turvey on an available day although conditions may be reasonably good. It often pays to chose an afternoon session over a morning session to get the best fishing hours out of a day session.

Often prime time within a favourable daytime tide range can be around 2pm in the afternoon. Mid morning and middle of the day can be very unproductive or there can often be only numbers of small fish around on the best of days during those times.

With this in mind morning hours have to almost begin around 3am to match the time available if the other factors mentioned are right for an am session.

An afternoon session starting from 3pm onwards according to tide has more hours of exposure to productive time than a morning session on the same day.

I would like to point out that the wind direction at the time can determine where fish are likely to be holding for the best results, either fishing landbased or in a boat. For example baitfish have no alternative but to follow the flow of the current with the tide and the wind accordingly as a natural mark time and baitfish "naturally flow" so as to save energy. Baitfish can move downwind to the opposite side with the angle of the current without feeling the effort, so naturally you should follow the angle to where it meets the closest section of shore, alcove or structure. It would be obvious that the same side of a waterway in normal conditions would attract predators as well. That is where the fisherman has to determine from previous experience what "normal conditions" are in relation to where the wind meets the angle of the location.

Yet on other days, let's say the the baitfish know where it's safer to be, and certain predator species may well be snapping at baits on the opposite side of the waterway where there are no baitfish and be sure to allow for that if there is no action where the bait fish are.

For specialist fishing in shallows as well as bottom fishing in general which most boat fishermen decide to do or eventually fall back on at some part of a session, it is necessary to have a reference point for good timing, rather relying solely on starting off in the morning on a weekend etc with the tide perhaps not favourable for mid morning fishing or when the conditions are about to change for the better around the time you planned to end the session.

It is very important to have some knowledge about suitable conditions for successful fishing, and that in itself is quite complicated and requires practical experience, trial and error and elimination.

The good thing is that there is consistency in comparable conditions, except if the conditions remain stable for too long. Fishing on ongoing steady days you often have to work harder for results and find out where the fish are holding by persevering, and moving fairly often.

It is more a matter of perseverance and taking a note of the time, tide and conditions whether or not you had results. Often conditions which remain the same day after day, only make good boating weather. It's the fluctations in conditions and as the wind and weather changes fish become more active again. It's essential to keep track of the conditions and allow for changes to come earlier or later than expected, and fish accordingly

Rather than take the trouble to go out on the water, fish away and dismiss the important factors which resulted in having a good session and the factors which resulted in having a bad one, the fisherman should keep the factors in mind for next time. Be sure to record the conditions and the hook up times thoroughly in respect to each session for study, comparison and in order to work out a proper game plan for next time and so forth, rather than just having a good day on the water, which without fish to take home etc is an expensive day out.

It has been proven over time that there are consistent factors in the time fish chose to feed and what type of water best suits each species on specific days as well as the many different types of days. In reality if you get to understand that top fishermen fish accordingly you can only go forward.

Winds types and wind direction are of the utmost importance and often the most underestimated factor in fishing as many top tournament fishermen may one day admit. The importance of wind direction is in itself a fishing secret and you don't hear much reference being made to it.

Fish do have certain requirements of their own in their make up. Like humans and animals, fish need to find their own areas of comfort in which to dwell and, as to feeding fish make allowances for oncoming conditions and they have a need to stock up on food, and in some circumstances they need to feed quickly and avidly, and in the case of predators with larger body weights, aggressively.

I have always listened carefully to advice given me by other fisherman so that I could evaluate it thoroughly, and above all try it out for mysef before giving an opinion on it's merit, lack of merit and even then experiment with alternatives to see if there is room for improvement on anything that has been readily accepted as the best way to get better results.

Repeated circumstances where good results occur will register in the mind of a fisherman.

I realise members are generally restricted as to when they can actually go out and fish, whereas I have all the time in the world to fish and a desire to help good people get better fishing results, and in my particular case my favourite past time is trying to catch more jewfish and larger specimums more often.

After all said, to be able to catch jewfish successfully and then somewhat consistently is every estuary fisherman's challenge and it really is a matter of doing everything right and I'm very sure in that respect I am not on my own.

I hope new members and others not experiencing good results and consistency can grasp the importance of conditions, wind changes on fish feeding habits and chosing the best tide/s within the time frame on the day, and get to understand the effect of the pressure of the atmosphere (barometric pressure) on marine life when choosing the best days and the best times to fish.

Cheers

jewgaffer

Edited March 30, 2008 by jewgaffer

[King slayer]

Jewgaffer, you must be commended. Firstly for your wealth of fishing knowledge and the astounding amount of passion and patience it takes to gain this knowledge. Secondly for your consistent efforts to share your hard earned knowledge with other fisho's.

Well done Jewgaffer, and thankyou.

I am one of the many who are very restricted and have to plan my sessions at least a week in advance, having a young family etc.

I will take this info and try to put it into practice.

Cheers.

[slinkymalinky]

The man is wise and speaks the truth! Thanks Byron for taking the time to write and post this. I've said before in some of my other posts that consistent success is all about working out effective patterns and each species of fish tends to have its own rhythms and quirks. It's a lot of fun just working them out and keeps the old grey matter involved in a days fishing.

Thanks for being so generous with your experience.

Cheers, Slinky

[tumra]

Jewgaffer,

Very informative piece. I notice you do alot of fishing in the Goerges / Botany bay, and was wondering what you believe are the the ideal conditions to be targeting bream and even flathead in the lower reaches of the river / botany bay. I have been out numerous time over the past six months with limited success. I have never really considered taking note of the weather conditions / tides but will be doing so now. I would like to see what your thoughts are.

Thanks

Anthony

[jewgaffer]

Jewgaffer,

Very informative piece. I notice you do alot of fishing in the Goerges / Botany bay, and was wondering what you believe are the the ideal conditions to be targeting bream and even flathead in the lower reaches of the river / botany bay. I have been out numerous time over the past six months with limited success. I have never really considered taking note of the weather conditions / tides but will be doing so now. I would like to see what your thoughts are.

Thanks

Anthony

Hi Tumra

Anthony I have added in more detail on the effect of Barometer Pressure on fishing to my topic above. You will find it in between the exclamation marks. The link below refers to a topic I did on Georges River jewfish.

http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.ph...c=28524&hl=

I have also included a link to a topic which relates to an article I did to assist the Australian Distributors in the marketting of U.S. made Bass Boats. The topic is called " Facts and Tips on Barometric Pressure and Fishing Results " It is my own work and I hope you read it, understand it and benefit by applying it to your own fishing.

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

Cheers

jewgaffer

P.S. If you need any information on fishing for Bream and Flathead in the Georges and Botany Bay just send a pm and I'll do my best to assist you.

[donital]

Very perceptive as usual Byron. Another factor that needs to be considered is local conditions, something that anyone who fished the Hawkesbury this week would have noticed is that because of the outflow from Warragamba Dam flushing water out through the system fighting against the small run-in tides there was virtually only run-out tides for the full cycle.It made for very difficult fishing conditions indeed ,if we did not know about this release we would still have been scratching our heads trying to work out why the tide didn't change.

Edited March 30, 2008 by donital

[jewgaffer]

Very perceptive as usual Byron. Another factor that needs to be considered is local conditions, something that anyone who fished the Hawkesbury this week would have noticed is that because of the outflow from Warragamba Dam flushing water out through the system fighting against the small run-in tides there was virtually only run-out tides for the full cycle.It made for very difficult fishing conditions indeed ,if we did not know about this release we would still have been scratching our heads trying to work out why the tide didn't change.

Hi Donital

This outflow from Warragamba you brought up is quite interesting Don. The colour of water around the bridges and up towards Cowan had a fresh look and a grey colour about it last time I fished up there. I just put it down to slow seepage from previous rain, but felt it should have been much clearer.

That was about ten days ago when I did an upriver session with Grant (Arked) who lives on the waterfront on Brisbane Waters. Even the water further up towards Gosford hadn't had the usual colour in it for quite some weeks and Grant said there was a shortage of fish in the shallow areas around his moored boat at the front of his home.

I put the colour in the main river down to rain and water still seeping down from the big rain of a couple weeks ago which I gathered added more to the flash flooding that happened not long before that.

The main river hasn't been fishing well at all for quite some time but Pittwater looks good, having the advantage of regular tide cleansing from the mouth and no ongoing seepage and not subject to whatever is affecting the main river to the same extent.

I hope it improves shortly and I wonder if anyone else feels there is a problem with the water up there.

Thanks Don

Cheers

jewgaffer

Edited March 30, 2008 by jewgaffer