Rozelle bay afternoon flick

[Witha]

G'day Raiders!

Was going to save all my reports for a massive photo dump when I get my phone repaired (salt water. Good for fish not phones) but figured I'd put up this arvos efforts.

Headed down to Rozelle bay yesterday arvo and today for the runout, mainly just to scope the place out and get some thinkin time but today's session went pretty well! Got there about 4:30 and tied on a squidgy wriggler 85mm bloodworm on a 1/8th tt head and flicked along the rock wall for a bit, 2nd cast scored a little flatty! Kept going with it and hit a little tailor as well!

Not massive or remarkable fish but really just starting out on sps and lures. Lost a blade or two the day before so was hesistant to lose more kit in an unfamiliar place! Only had my 3-5kg broomstick with 10lb braid and 8lb fluro leader as I buggered up respooling my little flick rod

Would love to use blades more, simple lift and drop the way to go?

Anyway more of my recent reports to come with some cool rockfishing species and some SP trips

Cheers Raiders thanks for reading!

Witha

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[Linc]

Nice work mate, it does seem more rewarding even catching little fish when they r on lures when starting out

[scarab36319]

Witha I've caught plenty of flatties on blades by a medium retrieve over shallow sand but I've found in deeper water the lift and drop is the go. Yeah they are expensive little buggers. I'm not game to use them near rocks.

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[Witha]

Nice work mate, it does seem more rewarding even catching little fish when they r on lures when starting out

Sure does mate! Always good to have something hop on the line!

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[Witha]

Witha I've caught plenty of flatties on blades by a medium retrieve over shallow sand but I've found in deeper water the lift and drop is the go. Yeah they are expensive little buggers. I'm not game to use them near rocks.

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Thanks mate found some sandy patches there so will be giving the blades a other run with those retrieves.

Cheers for the advice!

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[VBCB]

Blades are far more complex to work well than they seem, especially from the shore. To make short:

The same species of fish will not react to the same animations all the time depending on the spots, the weather conditions, and the seasons.

Different species of fishes react to different animations.

All you have to do is try, try and try again and remember what worked well for you in what conditions, over the years you'll accumulate a knowledge, more or less conscious and might become a gun

Let's say you are targeting estuary species, I can give you my personal advice (who's personal and your experience will be different I'm sure):

Bream / flathead: long slow lift (you must barely feel the blade swinging, intermittently) keep a little margin for a strike cause flatheads will hit at the end of the lift near always. Bream will smash on the drop except if they are feeding actively, they will also grab it on the pause, I had blades "sucked" on a 5/10 sec pause (fully laid on the bottom). As weird as it sounds for such a dense lure, that is the way it is.

Bream / flathead / whitings: aggressive little twitches very close to the bottom, making the blade "bounce" (couple of vibrations / drop) works well on feeding fish, whitings are very elusive and hunting them on blade where fishing pressure is fairly heavy is utopian.

In late summer, I found lizards to react very well to a linear slow animation (no animation in fact) 50ish cm above the bottom (dumbest way of fishing ever), all you have to do is try to visualize your blade high enough in thewater column to be spotted by lizards around, they launch rocket attacks sometimes from very far away.

Aggressive animation with blades (long powerful lifts) is imo forbidden except in places where fishes have never seen a lure, the vibrations are so unnatural and powerful that a blade can scare the shit of all the fishes in the 200 surrounding sqm ! lol You usually see novice fishos doing this as they are very happy to feel the lure working at the end of the line >>>>>>> NOPE NOPE NOPE ! Failure guaranteed

As per tailors, you'll catch them "accidentaly" but also often at the end of a long lift, as they swim higher in the water column. Targetting them with blades can be deadly tho (for them and for your blades), you chuck the blades as far as you can and you retrieve as fast as possible just before the blades starts to swim on the side or spin because it cannot hold the pressure you put on it anymore. Doing this, you will catch tailor and tailor only, except if you fish a "salmon and kingie" place, a surprise may happen !

I haven't found any consistent pattern for trevors so far, I catch them "accidentally" on blades but it happen quite often, especially in autumn.

All that bullshit is mine and I don't guarantee you success, however, I'm not talking crap I read in books and it is all the result of my experiences, so try to adapt it to your style and I'm sure you will pull your fair share of estuary fish !

As per snag you're right, do not use a VX35 if you are fishing an unknown spot, except if money is not a problem for you. buy some cheapies, they might catch the odd fish but are also a good way for you to figure a mental map of the bottom you are fishing at minor expense, some boxes of 10 blades for 25 bucks or equivalent can be found in local tackle stores, or on the net.

Keep the good ones for the spot you know, you will then not lose them more than other lures. I know the site is pretty strict with the rules and I wouldn't name brands, however some brands and specific models don't work, or barely ever work when others are killing it ! the manufacturer of VX SX, PX and so on is highly recommended. The local brand double T is imo quite alright too, remember to match the colours of your blades to the environment they will evolve in (i.e colour of substrate, colour of water, etc)

If fishes are feeding on baitfish, fish colours might then work regardless of the environment. Anything gold / bronze, brownish, greyish is a reliable value in general.

Hope it will help. It is still a gross shortcut for a technique that requires hours of experience as I said, take what you want and make it your own way, you'll fail, you'll succeed, you'll fail, you'll succeed more often, blablabla, that is the way the cookie crumbles !

[VBCB]

Also I read a few reports here and there where people recommend to use 15 or even 20 lb tippet ???? You can, then you are sure you won't get snipped off too often, I can assure you that fishing 15 lb+ in Sydney Harbour from the shore with a 1/8 or 1/16 oz is the best way to preserve the fishes stocks, you won't even be looked at except by suicidal juvenile lizards and choppers ...

tinted water I'd say up to 8, clear water 4, I personally go down to 2 but it costs a few fishes and blades. The risk in using 2 or 4 is that you are guaranteed to lose a trophy lizard if the lure is swallowed, as they'll use their weight and you will have to put too much pressure on the leader to move them, first head shake and you are cooked !

Beware of canoes report, as I said the canoe /boat approach is A LOT different from the shore, once again don't take what they say for granted, best way to fail in rozelle or wherever you fish locally.

[Robinsoi]

Well done Witha!

That's a good idea to scope out the place as you say.

Keep up the nice work and we look forward to more of your reports.

Ian

[Witha]

T.C. You're a wealth of knowldge as usual thanks for the adivce! Yup definitely know what you're saying bout ripping the blade to feel it vibe, moved away from that! For my estuary work I usually go 8lb when hitting the bottom for lizards, 6lb for my bream work/light flicking. 12 would be my highest and that would be targetting large specimens. Experience is definitely king! Have the glorrrious opportunity of most of the week off work so heading out almost every day for a quick flick! This arvo too I hope!

Thanks mate

Witha

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[Scratchie]

Great report witha and well done on your fish. It is very rewarding when you get the hang of SP's. My heaviest line is 10lb fireline and I've stopped a few big fish on it and it's fine for lb and yak fishing. Keep at it mate!

Cheers scratchie!!!

[Flickn Mad]

Good one, I enjoy catching any fish on a lure regardless of size. As for the blades in reefy or unknown waters, try dropping the trebles or doubles and go with a small single hook in the back. I have also caught some good whitting with the fish sucking up small blades after sitting on the bottom for about 10 seconds.

water depth current and lure weight will all play a part in picking your retrieve speed. I find in coloured water, giving the blade the occasional fast lift and wind to get the lure really humming and then going straight back to a more subtle retrieve will help fish find the lure.