Fishing the dirty water - topwater for bream

[arpie]

Hi guys

I went out for 5hrs yesterday morning - I am glad to report that the hip behaved very well - I even managed to exit the yak without falling over - tho a little bit of discomfort I think, just from sitting at the angle for so long. Getting better every day - the cortisone shot must be helping, bigtime.

First cast & I get a small bream on top water. The shallow water opposite the Big Tree was just boiling & I had some good hits there & momentary hookups, tho the hooks didn't grab! Continuing on, i had more hits off poles - I was doing aggressive 'side swipes' with the top water lures & HUGE boil/swipe that missed the hooks again! I was targetting the poles of a lease and had MORE big hits & misses - very frustrating at this point in time!

I went over to where I normally get my weed & really good cabbage & THEY'VE TAKEN IT ALL AWAY! It was my 'go to' spot for both!! Grrrr Now I'll have to find another spot to find some!! Lots of the leases don't have any trays on them now, so no real action anywhere other than the mullet & probably blackies. Mullet on top of the water EVERYWHERE! Must take the float & bread next time! Fresh mullet is lovely - both fried & smoked.

I went back & tried the same area I had had hits earlier & I got a massive hit as I approached this time at the top of the tide & then I fished between the 2 & missed another really good hit!

I reckon from now on, the top water here will be just amazing! I tried that little Squidgies stripey lure that Michelle gave me when fishing with her last time - it got slammed first cast (to a pole) but the hooks didn't grab!

On the way back to the car, I was just chucking the lure towards the shore when the water EXPLODED & whatever it was, missed the lure (Story of my life, yesterday! ) I could see fish fleeing left, right & centre, so I chucked it towards where I thought the predator was - & WHAM another HUGE EXPLOSION - another hit & miss! I am thinking it was the Giant Herring again that stole one of my lures when I was fishing the area 2 years back! Shane Caulker (photographer for Fishing World) caught one a month or so back & Chris from the caravan park caught a monster 2 years back. THey seem to have established themselves in Wallis Lake. Gee, it would be fun to catch one of those!! They go like the clappers!!

The fish didn't seem to mind the dirty water - mind you, I was fishing the rising tide, so it got cleaner as it went along, but was never totally clean.

I reckon if I change to new hooks on my TW lures - I should start getting hookups! I was sharpening them as I went along!

It was Raining again all yesterday afternoon - so how good was my timing!! I went out after 7am & back at about 1pm, tho it is nicer again today!! I may go out again on Thurs or Fri if the weather holds - looks like it should be good later in the week!

So, if you think dirty water affects the fishing - it DOES!! It makes them more aggressive!!

cheerio

Roberta

Edited April 24, 2012 by Roberta

[Spooooled]

cool report and better luck next time on that big fish

[paul.kenny]

Excellent report Roberta, also glad to hear that your hip is on the mend. The topwater fishing in Sydney has been a bit slow this year, so I am very envious of the action you are getting up your way. The last topwater fish we caught was a big bass during round 1 of NSWBASSIN comp....that was over 2 months ago

Sounds like they were short striking or just hitting too hard and pushing the lure clear out of the water. Were you using walk the dog profiles or poppers?

cheers Paul

[bassboy888]

Unlucky on all the missed hooks roberta, would have been good to watch but oh so frustrating. I was reading somewhere recently of people replacing the rear or middle trebel with the Ecogear zx spare hooks or adding an extra split ring. might work well on some of those swipes.

[arpie]

Thanks guys - it was fun getting into the action - good thing I wasn't relying on it for dinner tho! Maybe next time I should just rely on SPs instead!

....Sounds like they were short striking or just hitting too hard and pushing the lure clear out of the water. Were you using walk the dog profiles or poppers....

Hi Paul - I think you've hit it on the head - they were massive swirls/breaches & apart from the few that were hooked momentarily - I reckon they DID just miss by pushing the lure away - especially the last 2 that I reckon were the Giant Herring! The explosion of the water really gave me a bit of a fright, too!! Maybe look for those shallower bays - the water warms up there more than the open water. Well done on the big bass!

... would have been good to watch but oh so frustrating. ..... Extremely frustrating!! Hmmm, must check out the Ecogear zx spare hooks - I already had the extra split ring on to dangle it down a bit more - as Paul thought, maybe they were just a tad too keen & overshot the lures!

....Replace those unlucky trebles now.... I will do so - I hope to get out again tomorrow or Fri!! Keith is doing the Triathlon Club Champs on Sat. down at the Keys - a good excuse to put in down there for a 2+ hours, whilst he competes!! hmmm, maybe not!!

cheerio

[luderick59]

hi roberta

plenty of big mullet down here as well took 1loaf of bread down the rocks this morning for a bit of drummer fishing while berleying a huge fish jumped out of the water in front of me i thought maybe a sambo and a big one at that then realised it was a big school of mullet ended up with 7 nice fish all caught on my heavy 7144 alvey and 20lb tortue no drummer

peter

[arpie]

Well done Peter!! They are good sized fish, once they head along the beaches!! Wallis Lake still has plenty in the leases in particular - I am pretty sure that most have already been netted by the Pros from the beach, as they exit the Breakwall to head north!

I MUST take some bread with me next time & my mullet float for them! YUM! Nothing wrong with fresh mullet!! I wouldn't even buy mullet from the supermarket for BAIT!! You can usually smell it before you see it!! Nothing beats fresh mullet fillets, crumbed or battered!

cheerio

Roberta

[fishoman]

I was out in Wallis lake the same time as you were Roberta. We anchored near some of the oyster leases and got a steady stream of small Bream but nothing over size. Lots of leather Jackets as well stripping the soft plastics. Out of several days fishing the lake i only got 1 small flathead on a plastic lure. We did see a 1m+ flathead 2 days in a row, near the same spot but just could not hook it. Any tips for hooking Flathead in the lake? We also caught a few very small Snapper. Has anyone caught a legal size snapper in the lake? Next time i go to Forster will also have a go at the Mullet on bread as they were everywhere.

[arpie]

Hi Fishoman

Yes, i have seen quite a few 1m flatties - they don't get that big without getting smart!

I usually use Squidgie Fish in Silver Fox with a decent sized jig head for flatties - if you can cast up & down between the racks, even better!!

I have never seen a snapper in the lake here in the last 12 years!!

I've had some better sessions with bream in this last week - hooked some nice ones, busted off by bigger ones all on surface lures or soft plastics.

The big mullet are difficult to catch, even tho there are thousands of them out there bouncing around!! I sometimes take bread out under a small float & get some smaller ones - very tasty

cheers

Roberta

The Tailor should start running in the lake soon - there have been some caught up near the bridge