Finding Gutters On Beaches

[Mercer007]

Hi Raiders,

Just looking for some advice on how to locate gutters on beaches.

Any info on this topic would be greatly apreciated.

Cheers

Pete

[BeachAngler]

Gutters are quite simply the darker, deeper looking parts of the beach. The darker the colour the deeper the water.

Some gutters form at low tide, others at high tide. Some run right in front of you between the beach and a sand bank, others run from the beach out to sea.

Waves don't break over gutters, they break over shallow sand banks so a good way to spot one is a section of darker water where the waves build up rather than break or sections which exhibit messy churned up water with little or no wave activity.

The pelagics love the areas where the waves/white water meet the gutter and your bream and whiting etc love the gutter itself. I use a beach sinker or star sinker to hold my bait where I need it and stops it getting washed away.

Edited June 2, 2009 by BeachAngler

[LittleNoah]

Good on ya BeachAngler, I was waiting on a good reply to that question too.

[Ray R]

G'day Peter, the gutters on beaches are easy to find, they sometimes run along the beach and sometimes

they head straight out or on an angle.

If you can find a high point to view the beach you will see areas of green water where the waves are not

breaking, this is the gutter, I'll get you down the beach and show you next time we get a high in the late arvo, show you the gutters and then chuck a slab of bonito in and see what happens.

Attached are a couple of pics showing typical gutters..

Cheers...

Sand bars either side of a nice gutter..

High view showing gutters running along and out..

Edited June 2, 2009 by Ray R

[A.dawg]

Awesome pics and description ray R

[BeachAngler]

That gutter in the 2nd pic had me drooling..... nice shot.

[Smitty]

Good info and great examples Ray..........................now where's my beach rod!

Smitty...

[WillN]

great pics ray, i'm just a bit confused as to exactly where the gutter is in the second photo, is it the big gap? where would you cast when you locate the gutter? straight into the middle or around the edges? if its not too much trouble can someone circle the areas in the second photo where you would cast?

Cheers,

Will

[zephi]

great pics ray, i'm just a bit confused as to exactly where the gutter is in the second photo, is it the big gap? where would you cast when you locate the gutter? straight into the middle or around the edges? if its not too much trouble can someone circle the areas in the second photo where you would cast?

Cheers,

Will

basically the dark blue/green areas. you can see that the shallow areas have a yellowish tinge to it because it's shallow and the sand is visible. Notice how there's no waves forming in the dark blue area? (btw that's like a rip)

[BeachAngler]

Circled the areas you should be fishing......

[Mercer007]

Thanks everone for you advice.

[Mercer007]

Hi Raiders,

Just looking for some advice on how to locate gutters on beaches.

Any info on this topic would be greatly apreciated.

Cheers

Pete

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?ie=UTF8&amp...mp;t=h&z=14

Any sugestions where to fish here?

[humkyle]

if u zoom up close u can see the darker patches running out from the beach. on blueys theres 2 between the north rocks and samuel st. plus off the rocks wouldnt hurt (unless theres big swell n u get washed off, that would hurt)

or just look where the waves arnt breaking and there no white wash (or limited)

[BeachAngler]

here you go.

Edited June 3, 2009 by BeachAngler

[monch]

Hmm... i always thought those darker blue/green patches running out to sea with no waves breaking were called rips, in my head i imagined gutters to be running parallel to the shore. Are gutters and rips the same thing then?

[humkyle]

basically same thing, rips lead to gutters, and surf creates banks which then create rips and gutters. Their formed by the water being pushed in by waves having to escape back out. the water moves sand, making a channel or gutter

[Mondo Rock]

Hmm... i always thought those darker blue/green patches running out to sea with no waves breaking were called rips, in my head i imagined gutters to be running parallel to the shore. Are gutters and rips the same thing then?

A rip is simply a current that forms within a gutter. Even the gutters that run along the beach parallel to it will carry a significant current in one direction - you've probably felt a sideways pull occasionally when wading out through the surf for a swim.

Different fish hold in different parts of the gutters at different times/tides. Your challenge as a fisherman is to think about the feeding habits of the fish you're trying to catch, and then figure out logically where the fish would sit within the gutter in order to best pursue that feeding pattern. Sometimes they won't even be in the gurtter - for example whiting will often hold on top of the sandbars at high tide hiding under the whitewash and looking for scraps of pippi and worm being washed out of the sand by the waves hitting the shallow bar. Bigger fish will sit where they can ambush the whiting and other baitfish and so on . . .

The most experienced beach fisherman is doing little more than simply guessing at where the fish will be and what they'll be doing based on their knowledge of the fish and the conditions at the time. Factors you need to consider range from the size and shape of the gutter to the tide, the amount of wash, the time of day - even the water clarity.

Also don't forget that Google pics are generally several years old. The gutters in that pic are almost certainly a different shape and in a different place now.

[tevoro]

This is an awesome thread!!

A massive thanks to all the contributors with all those words of advice!

[WillN]

thanks for circling the areas, now i know what to look for

[BeachAngler]

Just keep in mind what Mondo said, gutters can be like the fish, there one day and gone the next, they are forever changing and evolving so always grab a high spot to look from at your local beach and locate the gutters before heading down to the ground.