Still Can't Catch Yakkas, Even Though I Attracted Heaps!

[archilles2]

Hey all, for the first time today i went to the beautiful Gymea baths on a mission to score some livies.

Even though i couldn't catch them , it felt great just getting out there , soaking in the sun and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Gymea baths is tucked away from the open sea, the baths sit low, almost in a valley -

despite the 30 knot winds blowing today it was soo calm and peaceful in that part of the hacking!

THAT ASIDE - I just couldn't catch any live yakkas.

After afew minutes of burleying up , i managed to attract about 100 yakkas. At first i tried unweighted daichi jigs - nothing , then weighted - nothing , then baited with bread, prawns , beef, chicken breast , nothing.

What peed me off the most though, was that they would eat whatever bait i had on my hooks SO LONG AS IT WASN'T ON MY HOOKS!

In other words, i would have beef, bread, prawns, chicken on 6 of my size 12 hooks at a time , to attract them i would throw whatever bait i had on my hooks in the water around the hooks. They would swallow the pieces around my hooks in seconds but would then swim up to my baited hooks check and bypass! i even tried the jigs with no bait - nothing. Fish were there but not hooking on.

What the hell am i doing wrong ? i'm starting to think it's the type of mono or hooks i'm using ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Edited July 4, 2009 by archilles2

[Flightmanager]

Try the Sabiki range of jigs , and only put the tiniest piece of bait on the hook.

Ross

[roosterman]

i have found any burly will mostly work in attracting them,

best bait is salted pilly/slimey..

salted gives it firmness..

slice a fillet off, then cut small slices across..

baits must be small..

put hook through one end only.

i usually fish unweighted or a tiny splitshot and feed bait out into trail.

using handline i leave it loose in hand and when i see/feel line move off just stop line with fingers and gently pull them in..

this is what works for me and usually never have problems but have had the odd time over the years where you see em but they dont want to feed till something switches em on..

hope this helps..

cheers...steve.....

[luderick59]

try grated raw potato in the berley it sends them into a feeding frenzy

peter

[archilles2]

i had sabiki jigs too, but they wouldn't touch them!

i couldn't understand why grrrrr

[squid hunter]

try the potato trip suggested

should work

regards

Squid Hunter

[Geoff]

Try the Sabiki range of jigs , and only put the tiniest piece of bait on the hook.

Ross

We also use the Sabiki jigs , they are normally very sucussful. However , on days when the fish are timid spray the jigs with Prawn scent , it works a treat.

Normally needs to be applied every third or fourth cast. You will know when it has worn off , the fish stop biting

Geoff

[jamesds]

Seems like one of those random days when the fish won't bite.

I normally have no problems getting them. I simply berley up (usually with off-the-shelf berley as I'm too lazy to make my own) and drop in one of those pre-made live bait jigs with about 6 tiny hooks with 'fish scales' on them. Usually works a treat!

However, there have been days where no matter what I do I cannot seem to get any to bite, even though I can see hundreds swimming around my line.

[Ray R]

Hi matey, I am an old bloke and still catch them the old fashion way,

that is a size 10 long shank with a tiny ball sinker and a little bit of

old bonito skin or a small bit of yakka, let me tell you it never fails us,

easy to shake the yakka off too by holding the long shank of the hook,

don't want to handle the little fellas too much if you can avoid it..

Cheers...

[xtosea]

Hi matey, I am an old bloke and still catch them the old fashion way,

that is a size 10 long shank with a tiny ball sinker and a little bit of

old bonito skin or a small bit of yakka, let me tell you it never fails us,

easy to shake the yakka off too by holding the long shank of the hook,

don't want to handle the little fellas too much if you can avoid it..

Cheers...

This is the best way to catch them. If you are using a Sabiki jig and they are timid take the sinker off.

[monch]

This is the best way to catch them. If you are using a Sabiki jig and they are timid take the sinker off.

I agree.

I have had the most success with using an unweighted rig. It consists of a small swivel for some slight weight to a trace of 50cm or so to the smallest hook that i can find, i usually use a size 12 but if slimeys are around i can afford to go to a size 8 or so. I bait the hook carefully with a miniscule piece of bread or slice of fish and let that drift in the same direction as my burley trail.

I find that bait presentation is paramount when the fish are timid. For example if i roll up a small piece of bread into a ball too firmly then they won't take it whereas if i roll it up barely firm enough to stay on the hook and let little pieces waft off the bait then its a near sure way of getting them.

I find that if i really take care then i can get them most of the time, all that is left is to find them and get them interested with burley.

[Jewdreamer]

And don't forget these things are called jigs for a reason.

Don;t just let it lay there if they aren't playing the game, give it some movement and they might start attacking it.

Best of luck.

Chris

[pauljm]

Yeah i find when they are not biting i cast jig past where burley is sinking and then a slow retrieve up the burley trail often gets a hit.....i reckon servo squd is the go as its hard to get off the hook so as small apiece you can put on the hook often can catch 2 or 3 with out changing bait...dont over burley either..good luck.

[Jewdreamer]

Yeah Payatz,

good reply.

Now can you tell us where the Jewies are?

Cheers

Chris

[Flightmanager]

If I cant catch livies , then I figure the table fish are off the bite as well......

Sometimes , if I drop the jig , and do a slow retrieve through the burley , I will get a couple.

A tin of cheap cat food , cut up and thrown into the water , will often attract large schools of yakkas.

Ross

[archilles2]

Thank you all for your kind suggestions, i'm going to try grated potato and the cat food to attract more.

One thing i didn't do was slowly retrieve the jigs , i didn't even really jig them much either!

I've now purchased burkley invisible flurocarbon line and new sabiki jigs - i'm not going to give up either!

hehe once i catch i'll have to post the photos lol

[zephi]

Thank you all for your kind suggestions, i'm going to try grated potato and the cat food to attract more.

One thing i didn't do was slowly retrieve the jigs , i didn't even really jig them much either!

I've now purchased burkley invisible flurocarbon line and new sabiki jigs - i'm not going to give up either!

hehe once i catch i'll have to post the photos lol

lol I see you still haven't grasped it yet....

Well like I said I did go on Wednesday and I was killing those yakkas ^^ Got them pretty easily, I can show you some tips next time when we go out for a fish next time.

[industrial]

to catch yakkas, you need to rig up with very small long shank hooks and bait up with tiny pieces of slimy mackerel or pillies. put the hook directly on the main line with a small split shot. you can also use a float is they are feeding on top of the water colunm.

strike at every bite and if you miss, cast it back to where you had the last bite as they will come back for more.

i find this technique very deadly on my local yakkas, you should give it a try

[tan the fisherman]

just use a sabiki jig with very small cubes/pieces of squid as it stays on the hook better.

Yesterday I caught 2 or 3 (at the same time) every cast. Too easy!

[Lasty]

Where abouts in Botany Bay can you catch them?

[fishythings]

Where abouts in Botany Bay can you catch them?

Hi Lasty,

You can catch it at Penrhyn wharf or Yarra bay

Andy

[DerekD]

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

I have found that I struggled with bait jigs in your more heavily fished bait locations such as jetties. In areas such as those I switch back to the tried and tested bait of mince. I use a 4 to 6lb mono or fluorcarbon. A small hook (about 14 or 12 or a bit larger) and a split shot sinker which I can run up and down the line to suit the conditions. The good thing about the mince is that you can bury the hook in it but as it is soft when they bite down on it the hook is easily exposed. You can also use the same mince to burley the fish up. It is cheap too.

The problem with mince is that in this health concious climate we live in I have trouble finding the coarse grade (covers the hooks better) slightly fatty mince I prefer. I buy a few dollars worth of the hamburger mince and roll it up into golfball sized clumps and freeze them individually. One clump is usually more than sufficent for most expeditions.

I have the line on a small cork holder which I can then fit in my pocket once I have sufficient line out and this stops me getting tangled up all the time. You fish it by sight and feel. Once hooked you pull them in as fast as reasonably possible. It might not seem as effective as having 6 hooks out but consider that you spend 6 times as long baiting up for that one fish that might shake all the other 5 baits off the jig (unless you use squid or fish skin).

[archilles2]

this advice is killer, just when i thought i had tried everything I realised i hadn't!

I'll set up a 4lb fluro line with one hook only to see how i go - thanks again Raiders top notch stuff

[DerekD]

this advice is killer, just when i thought i had tried everything I realised i hadn't!

I'll set up a 4lb fluro line with one hook only to see how i go - thanks again Raiders top notch stuff

If I want the bait to look like it is drifting down the column I shift the sinker away from the hook so the weight gets the bait down quickly but then the longer line lets it drift once it is at the right depth. If I want a better feel for when they hit the bait then I move the sinker closer to the bait.

Sometimes we do better on smaller pieces of mince as they can take it in one bite. You can also seed the area with a few peices of mince before you put your bait down. They will hit it harder.

Sometimes I will put the mince ball in a ziplock bag with some flour. It coats the mince so it stays a bit better on the hook and acts as a secondary burley.

Try different hook sizes till you find one that works for you. Once you get the hang of it it becomes rather easy and it becomes fun chasing the bait. We actually had a kingfish hit one of our handlines while we were going for yellowtail. Obviously didn't land that one. Just watch out for "happy moments" (also referred to as the black trevally and I think rabbitfish) which we sometimes catch when chasing yellowtail.

[DerekD]

this advice is killer, just when i thought i had tried everything I realised i hadn't!

I'll set up a 4lb fluro line with one hook only to see how i go - thanks again Raiders top notch stuff

One more thing. When I have my working length of line worked out I pull the full length of line through my fingers. The friction and heat straightens the line and it minimises tangles when you dump the line at your feet as you pull your fish up and it makes casting a bit easier.