Boat Fishing At Night

[tumra]

Hey,

After having fished the hacking for a while during the day / early mornings, i have decided to give fishing at night a go. In the early mornings when i have been on the water, the river can be pretty bloody dark, so for my first night fishing outing i want to make sure it is a safe one. Can anyone give me some advice on what precautions i should take to make sure im fishing safely? I have all the necessary navigation lights and i am also bring a spot light with me to help in navigation, in particular near the moored boats.

Thanks

Anthony

[Moro Mou]

Apart from adequate lighting as you suggested I find it a good idea to scout the area you intend to fish in daylight hours so you are familar with the area. Also when anchoring it pays to spend the time to ensure you have a firm hold and in paricular if you are fishing over a tide change you are not going to swing and bump into anything. If possible even double anchor. This gives you the peace of mind if you happen to doze off on a slow night . . . .

[tan the fisherman]

Take a beany, a thermos of hot coffee or soup, wear two pairs of socks and dont get wet at night as its getting VERY cold out there

[myocard]

Go slowly. There are boats, poles and other potential hazards that are not lit. Know the area well - navigation markers are often unlit or the lights are not working.

[Guest rzep]

I agree with what everyone has said.

Even if you know the waterway like the back of your hand it is completely different at night and it is easy to get disorientated.

No fish is worth risking your life or those of others.

Just be careful...

[jewgaffer]

I agree with what everyone has said.

Even if you know the waterway like the back of your hand it is completely different at night and it is easy to get disorientated.

No fish is worth risking your life or those of others.

Just be careful...

Hi Tumra there's some very good advice in the post from Rzep. It's better to get used to fishing the general area around the particular boat ramp/s during the day time before venturing too far away from the boat ramp at night

Check your pms... I can give you several spots over the phone where you'll be able to fish in the Hacking without worrying about running into the shallows or getting lost in the dark on the way back...

These spots are specific deepwater spots where you'll find it basically easy to get back to the particular boat ramp where you have launched from on the night.

You'll be able to anchor into depths such as 15 feet, 20 feet, 40 feet and 70 feet without going out into the main river.

When fishing on into the night in the cooler weather it's all about fishing down deep.. Although the main river can fish well as far as prime times in the tides are concerned, the best results in the Hacking during the night as far as consistency goes have generally come out of the bays closest to the mouth of the river, especially when the wind changes to a southerly direction in the late afternoon and pushes the run in tide thru the swell at the mouth directly into the northern side of the river..

A good time to fish at night in general would be when the wind has changed to an easterly direction having allowed sufficient time for the run in tide to pick up and bring schools of fish in with it..

The golden rule for best results during a southerly or a south easterly change is to fish on the north side as the run in tide will be flowing into the bays and fish coming into the bays will be coming in in the direction of the flow.....

During a northerly or a north easterly change fish on the opposite side, the south side - i.e. the Mainbar side,and fish into the natural flow into the western side of South West Arm and the run going into the main river along towards Warragul where the depths vary on that side particularly on the National park side downriver from the bare sand island opposite Lili pili... the water gets deep along the northern side from lily pili thru to the mouth of Dolans making that section a good spot to fish the run in tide from the start of a change to a gusty southerly...

Upriver from Gray's Pt to Audley for example would be a run in tide propostion not long after a wind change to an easterly direction and again for optimum results on flathead for instance it would be a run out tide proposition during a wind coming from a westerly direction..

The two bays closest to the mouth fish best when an incoming tide has had enough time to push new water into the swell at the entrance where you usually have a bumpy ride if your're anchored out in the open at the mouth of the river as the incoming swell pushes the new water towards the entrance of Gunnamatta Bay- especially with a wind behind the swell coming in from a south easterly direction...

The best time to start fishing the bay/s closest to the mouth during the evening is after an hour and a half or so into a run in tide as it gives the fish time to come in... it's better to keep on fishing until about three quarters of the way down the run out tide particularly on nights when the bottom of the tide is due to occur an hour or two after sunrise.

Cheers

jewgaffer

Edited April 17, 2010 by jewgaffer

[snooze]

At night the water is a totally different world. Scout out the area/s you intend to fish at night, the day before. use your way points on your sounder or chartplotter to create a way to your fishing spots and add 2way point close to each other for anchoring up. If the tide is coming in it would be a good idea to let out a heap of anchor rope. check the hight of the tide and let out another meter or so of rope. Make sure all lights work and carry extra batteries for the torche and globes.

Cheers

Snooze

[tumra]

thanks for all the advice guys. I went out last night and its amazing how different it is on the water. it took a while getting used to it.

On the fishing front, we were getting plagued by slimey mackerals and small tailor everywhere we went. Caught a large octopus but other than that nothing really to mention. Now i am starting to get my confidence up boating at night i need to learn how to taget the fish at night now

thanks again.

[Guest Aussie007]

the hacking is ok at night u need to go slow as always slower is better at night as u have less visibility i use to go night fishing a lot mostly the hawkesbury and botany bay but i think as others have said going out in the day and checking things out is ideal as there are things that u may notice like botany bay between the two bridges there is a wooden pole sticking out of the water i think it may have been an old marker no lights on it at night and in a position someone can easily crash into at night the hacking is also shallow in spots so a fish finder or depth sounder with a back light comes in handy just remember to pick your spot and pick the closes boat ramp with the best routes u can look up maps on the maritime web site and see where the markers are and what routes u will take before heading out also if u get confused and lost just drive slowly along side peoples jetties as its usually ok depth and u can see where to go untill u make a safe return

some will know that fish the hawkesbury (apple tree bay) after dark is a bloody worry pitch dark u cant see and barley see the markers from a distance its very scary so use caution anywhere fishing at night

[luvbigfish]

thanks for all the advice guys. I went out last night and its amazing how different it is on the water. it took a while getting used to it.

On the fishing front, we were getting plagued by slimey mackerals and small tailor everywhere we went. Caught a large octopus but other than that nothing really to mention. Now i am starting to get my confidence up boating at night i need to learn how to taget the fish at night now

thanks again.

glad to hear all went well tumra , i do alot of night fishing (mainly in the habour) and a good chartplotter/sounder is very usefull,i do most of my night fishing while the full moons out which also lights up the water good , and ive found this is when ive landed the bigger jewys! my last night outing in late jan bagged me a 115cm jewy at 2am , goodluck in the future and tight lines!