What To Look For When Trying To Find A Fishing Spot

[hoges1974]

Well there are always great reporst ect on here so thought i would see if anyone wants to share what to look for when trying to find a spot to pull up and fish (brigdes/around moored boats ect ect )

I mainly fish rivers/bays so any help would be appreciated

[slinkymalinky]

Look for other Fishraiders

In all seriousness, the 2 things to look for are structure and bait.

Find the bait and you'll find the fish... the sort of structure you want is anything that bait hangs around. (for example with moored boats... look for the ones that have the dirtiest bums... the more weed and stuff the better. It's very likely their mooring will be the same and all the crud will attract bait). The other good spots are holes, pinnaccles, reefs, wrecks, weed beds, marker buoys. The list is endless, you just need to think like bait and ask yourself if you were a prawn/mullet/yakka/etc.. where you you be hanging out?

Cheers, Slinky

[jewgaffer]

find structure, find bait and ur in business...

Ok i just read Slinky's post, i probably should of read it b4 i posted mine as i pretty much repeated what he said.

i should have just wrote "ummm yehh, what he said!"

Hi Hoges 1974

Slinky and Musty said find structure and bait but I think they mean find bait first and then find structure. Estuary predators can't always get to where estuary bait fish are most active

The right time and the right structure on the day is a good start but you still you need a back up plan. It's not much fun waiting around all day and then the only fight you have on your hands is playing a rusty garbage tin lid, and boy oh boy, you should try hooking up a garbage tin lid just see how it fights back against the fast current in the Hawkesbury

Cheers

jewgaffer

[brickman]

hey hoges if you do'nt have a sounder and there are many who do'nt look for the edge off the ripply water and the calm water near bends or it could indicate a reef or depth change this will happen as the tide runs either way always a good spot for bream

gary

[Davemmm]

I only fish estuarys so I cant say what to look for outside.

If I go to a place i havent fished before or not very much I start on dead low tide. This gives me a good view of the channels, gutters, reefs etc. Without a sounder you can sort of see where the channel drops away into a hole by the water movement. You can then find it definately with your line. As you drift into deeper water your sinker doesnt hold as much and your line will come in closer to the boat. Mind you I'm not a big believer in looking for every hole I can find, I dont believe they produce as much as their legend says.

On a run in tide I look on for a good sandy flat with patchy weed beds that holds worm/crab/nipper beds this usually will hold bream flatties and whiting as the tide flows over it. Other good spots on a run in are on the "lee" side of points or reefs. The small bait fish get washed around the point and hide out of the tide whilst the water flow could be producing eddys as it runs around the point. Fish will sit there waiting for food to get trapped in the eddies or the bait to slip out from their hiding spot.

Shallow spots that hold food (oysters mussels crabs) that gets covered up at the top of the tide are also good spots.

The run out is the opposite for me. Rather than look for where the fish will head to I look for where the bait will end up. The water running out from a mangrove area or a creek is going to bring with it a multitude of different food types. Thats why a good drop off near something like that produces great flathead, the lazy buggers just sit there and wait for the tide to suck stuff out of its home and drop it right in front of them.

When blokes say look for structure the three things you are looking for are Where is the food (oyster leases, nipper beds etc). Where will the bait end up (drop offs, gutters etc) where will the fish be able to hide (weed beds, under a wharf etc)

Of course exactly what you look for depends on what you are chasing. You wont find many flathead up against a 4m deep rock wall but it may well hold bream or blackfish. I wouldnt fish for whiting in the eddies behind a big pylon but i would chase bream and Jew.

Dave

[jewgaffer]

Perfect advice Davemmm !!!!

Dave I knew you'd open up and do a post on how to fish the Hacking

Well done mate. These eating size and better snapper they've been catching lately always were in schools most active at night in deepwater around the mid run in and then the jew would come on. Takes a lot of working out as the Port Hacking baitfish have many places to run in during the run in at night because of it's series of bays.

Cheers

jewgaffer

[hoges1974]

Thanks for some great replies keep em coming

Got the boat back today have the dual battery set up in, Led lights fitted to light up the boat for night fishing, clears up front fitted, so slowly getting it set up

i have a few spots in mind i want to try just have to find the time to get out