Where Are The Fish -_-

[monch]

Went out tonight, landbased at 9:30pm till 12am at port hacking. High tide at around 10:45pm, no moon, no wind, Barometer steady at 1019.

Not a bite, didn't even lose a bait. OMG this is driving me nuts.

Only managed to get 2 yakkas, could see them swimming around my burley in close with my headlamp.

Casted them out on the jewie rod, no action for 30 mins so i check on it, try to cast it out further and the dam hook rips out -_-

Put on the other yakka and same thing happens, when i reel it in to check on it and cast it out again... gone

Their noses are too soft, would bridle rigging with a rubber band let me cast with abit more strength and get them out further, into the deeper water?

Yakkas start dodging my hooks, couldn't even get them anymore so i put on a defrosted squid head on the big rod, no touches. Usually squid heads with all the guts get mauled to pieces. The pickers weren't even around.

Threw out a squid jig and snagged it in the weed and lost it

Too much failure for my liking, packed up and went home.

[Day's Fishin]

Hey Monch, at least you were fishing better than reading other raiders post & not wetting a line. Better luck next time.

Regards Jeff

[shaune]

Everyone has their own opinion but I would hook my yakka in his back just behind the dorsal.

About 5mm down from the top of his back.

Don't try to cast him too far or he'll rip off again.

If he's hooked in the back the drag of the line, in theory, will point him in the direction away from you and he'll swim away.

[jewgaffer]

.....Only managed to get 2 yakkas, could see them swimming around my burley in close with my headlamp.

Casted them out on the jewie rod, no action for 30 mins so i check on it, try to cast it out further and the dam hook rips out.....

.......Put on the other yakka and same thing happens, when i reel it in to check on it and cast it out again... gone

.......Their noses are too soft, would bridle rigging with a rubber band let me cast with abit more strength and get them out further, into the deeper water?

Hi Monch, Yellowtail are one of the toughest and hardiest of baits of all, and they fare much better and last much longer loaded with hook/s than almost any other bait fish.... They are not impeded in their swimming action in any way and are an easy target nicely reduced to a slow swim when hooked directly under the dorsal fin and struggle to make headway and panic and that sets a baitfish apart from other baitfish that are able to use their speed to flee...However, if you are using only one hook, which naturally you would place under that tough sinue directly under the dorsal fin to have your yellowtail swimming away from you properly,it would create a situation where the shank of the hook is held upright as would the heavy guage leader line and moreso when tightened by the pull of a taker, and that is influenced and emphasised by the angle from bait to rod tip which will always be there....... Consequently you don't want to present a live bait in a manner where a fish that swallows its live food head first or for that matter a fish that would naturally take the chunkiest part a fillet first, (rather than the streamer end), and will then have to contend with both the upright hook shank and also has to contend with a leader line that is angled upwards and that will happen when any live bait is rigged up using only one hook and all that is just another way to reduce the all important hook up rate per run or bite....Having said that, if fishermen eventually decide to use a two hook rig with the hooks about 4 - 6 inches apart and stick to it and place the first hook tied, the control hook, under the tail fin sinue, and use the leader line in between the two hooks to pull the shank and the would be upright leader line directly down flat and neatly along the main bodly where they belong, the upright hook shank and the heavy guage leader line will both be held along the main body of the fish by the tail hook.... Monch try rigging up live baits that you want to have swimming away from you this way, and see how well your live bait stays on the hook when you cast, and see how you go then on head takers and also fish that crush a vital part of body of another fish first or any fish that shoots in and attempts to disable the tail of a larger fish and in this case a larger live bait first...

Cheers

jewgaffer

[Berleyguts]

Hi Monch, Yellowtail are one of the toughest and hardiest of baits of all, and they fare much better and last much longer loaded with hook/s than almost any other bait fish.... They are not impeded in their swimming action in any way and are an easy target nicely reduced to a slow swim when hooked directly under the dorsal fin and struggle to make headway and panic and that sets a baitfish apart from other baitfish that are able to use their speed to flee...However, if you are using only one hook, which naturally you would place under that tough sinue directly under the dorsal fin to have your yellowtail swimming away from you properly,it would create a situation where the shank of the hook is held upright as would the heavy guage leader line and moreso when tightened by the pull of a taker, and that is influenced and emphasised by the angle from bait to rod tip which will always be there....... Consequently you don't want to present a live bait in a manner where a fish that swallows its live food head first or for that matter a fish that would naturally take the chunkiest part a fillet first, (rather than the streamer end), and will then have to contend with both the upright hook shank and also has to contend with a leader line that is angled upwards and that will happen when any live bait is rigged up using only one hook and all that is just another way to reduce the all important hook up rate per run or bite....Having said that, if fishermen eventually decide to use a two hook rig with the hooks about 4 - 6 inches apart and stick to it and place the first hook tied, the control hook, under the tail fin sinue, and use the leader line in between the two hooks to pull the shank and the would be upright leader line directly down flat and neatly along the main bodly where they belong, the upright hook shank and the heavy guage leader line will both be held along the main body of the fish by the tail hook.... Monch try rigging up live baits that you want to have swimming away from you this way, and see how well your live bait stays on the hook when you cast, and see how you go then on head takers and also fish that crush a vital part of body of another fish first or any fish that shoots in and attempts to disable the tail of a larger fish and in this case a larger live bait first...

Cheers

jewgaffer

Wow Jewgaffer! You pack a lot of info into your posts! Thanks. I think I know what you mean, so I will have to give that a go myself.

You don't have any sketches of your rigs lying around, do you?

Baz

[jewgaffer]

......I think I know what you mean, so I will have to give that a go myself.

....You don't have any sketches of your rigs lying around, do you?

Baz

Hi Barry, have a look at these two snelled hooks and also the style of these 7/0 Octopus sickle hooks.....Also both barbs face directly at the point where the line meets the eye of the hook.... and that would result in a direct pull by the fish on the end of your line to your rod tip i.e. when the fish first runs off with the bait and also when you start playing the fish... ...If I was using these sickle hooks or kayle hooks in fast currents say in the Hawkesbury, I would use a sinker that runs straight up and down the braid line rather than having a large running snapper lead hanging out to the side down near the leader so as to maintain direct contact with the fish... With these particular sickle hooks, the hook barb has a short run to the square area almost horizontal to the bottom of the shank.... that would prevent the fish from rolling over a normal circular gape by keeping upwards pressure on the fish ...

Cheers

jewgaffer

[monch]

Hi guys, thanks for the helpful comments.

Anyone familiar with bridle rigging with rubber bands? Can i cast with it, will the rubber band snap?

Jewgaffer i have read about you advocating your two hook rigs with the keeper hook near the tail of the baitfish and the bottom hook near the dorsal. I usually use a two hook rig, either with a sliding snell or fixed snells, and this has mainly been influenced by you. However, i find that pinning the hook shallow into the body of the live baitfish only allows me to lob out the bait a short distance as the hook rips out easily.

Due to my limitation of being landbased, i try to find ways to enable me to cast further, particularly with predatory fish which i have been told/read like to hang out near the drop-offs ie on the edges of where shallow water meets deeper water. To get access to this deeper water i need to make decent casts and shallowly pinning the hook into the back of the bait doesn't allow me to do this. For this reason i have been trying a two hook rig with the keeper hook in the nose/mouth/front of the eye socket and the bottom hook nearer to the tail. This allows the force of the cast to be on the keeper hook on the nose/mouth/front of the eye socket which being harder areas does not tend to rip out as easily.

[fishmaniac]

Hey mate,

Generally speaking you should avoid long casts with live baits regardless of the rig style. It is going to damage the bait.

Although more finicky, bridle rigging is great for the land based fisherman. The bait stays alive longer and its easier to set the hook.

The strength of the band you use will determine if you loose your bait during the cast. As a land based fisho, I am sure you would have seen some land based game footage.

Most bridle rig their baits with a float (giving the bait a set depth). The float puts slight tension to the bait towards the angler, thus the bait swims away form this tension (heading into open water).

Hope this helps.

Andrew

[Berleyguts]

Hi Barry, have a look at these two snelled hooks and also the style of these 7/0 Octopus sickle hooks.....Also both barbs face directly at the point where the line meets the eye of the hook.... and that would result in a direct pull by the fish on the end of your line to your rod tip i.e. when the fish first runs off with the bait and also when you start playing the fish... ...If I was using these sickle hooks or kayle hooks in fast currents say in the Hawkesbury, I would use a sinker that runs straight up and down the braid line rather than having a large running snapper lead hanging out to the side down near the leader so as to maintain direct contact with the fish... With these particular sickle hooks, the hook barb has a short run to the square area almost horizontal to the bottom of the shank.... that would prevent the fish from rolling over a normal circular gape by keeping upwards pressure on the fish ...

Cheers

jewgaffer

Thanks Jewgaffer,

I get the picture now. In fact, I've saved it onto my desktop.

What sort of weight sinkers are you talking about to run on the mail line, in places like the upper Hawkesbury which I am struggling to come to grips with. I am not used to such strong currents, minimum slack water time and so much mud in the water! I have always tried to fish with minimal weight. Again, I am currently landbased.

Thanks,

Baz

[monch]

Hey mate,

Generally speaking you should avoid long casts with live baits regardless of the rig style. It is going to damage the bait.

Although more finicky, bridle rigging is great for the land based fisherman. The bait stays alive longer and its easier to set the hook.

The strength of the band you use will determine if you loose your bait during the cast. As a land based fisho, I am sure you would have seen some land based game footage.

Most bridle rig their baits with a float (giving the bait a set depth). The float puts slight tension to the bait towards the angler, thus the bait swims away form this tension (heading into open water).

Hope this helps.

Andrew

Thanks for the info fishmaniac, that's the stuff i was looking for.

I generally livebait with floats so that i don't need to cast very far but rather tease the baitfish to swim out by alternating between tension and slack line.