Where do all the fish go during winter?

[gianniz]

I've been noticing since last 3 weeks, the water has dropped in temp and fish I used to see while squidding, have disappeared, let alone most night coming home bit empty

Do they take the great whatever current and go north??? or are there pockets of warm current they go to?

Curious,

Mark

[james3210]

They do go quiet during winter. We are in the same boat.

[sam bros]

really depends on what your chasing

during winter tailor and salmon really fire up, so I target them

but in summer I target bream, whiting etc

[Paikea]

"They do go quiet during winter. We are in the same boat."

It's a bit like Raiders posting in winter, the number of new posts seem to drop off dramatically as soon as the cold weather comes in. Is there some connection here? Maybe someone can get a government grant to study this phenomenon.

Cheers

Paikea

[spaners]

I often wonder this point.Not including the seasonal fish ie Bonito,Salmon Tuna,etc that follow temp and current up and down the coast.Where do the pigs/blackfish go for example.Winter is their time so where are they in the warmer months.They have to eating somewhere,so why cant we fish for them there,they have to be around some place.Also where do the Jews go?do they head up stream or do they head out to sea,they have to be somewhere,,,,,,Buggered if I can find them though.

Edited July 23, 2014 by wher'd all the fish go

[Scratchie]

They go on holidays! They must, I haven't caught a reel screaming fish for a while! Maybe this weekend at the social.

Cheers scratchie!!!

[Sydneyfisher12]

ive been getting heaps of fish at the moment mostly treavally but there have been bream, tailor and the odd salmon

try fishing lighter leaders unweighted baits and use burley ive been finding pillies to be the best bait

hope this helps

cheers sydneyfisher12

[Guest no one]

Also where do the Jews go?

Where were they in the first place?

[spaners]

Where were they in the first place?

I know of 3 that live at the Rip Bridge.

[qnut]

This winter has REALLY slowed down the local bream/perch haunts as well as flathead in my local creek (cant even catch choppers!?) - That said the blackfish are on near the lakes entrance (having caught a few on blades and countless undersized models on Weed & Float). It all depends on what your targeting, Mates have gone out to certain areas in the lake with plastics and bagged out within 1 1/2 hours and the next day not even a hit.

the same rule applies to landbased & Boated Anglers during winter: Keep moving about and if your using lures SLOW your action right down

[Holls]

I don't think fish are like people - they don't do the same thing, day in, day out. I once casually dropped a line in at a country lake and bang, hooked a big redfin. For the next couple of hours they just kept jumping onto the hook - catch, release, catch, release. Took my mate back there the following Saturday and didn't get a bite all day???

[fragmeister]

My experience in Sydney Harbour (I suspect it is them same in most places) is that you have to pick a known area to fish that will generally be productive (good structure basically) and burley constantly for as long as it takes to attract the fish. This can take an hour or more sometimes but at least for me it always seems to work. Don't expect this to work well on featureless sandbanks, these are the haunt of summer species ...you need significant structure like rocks and reef because the fish stay close to these areas in winter.

I believe that winter fish like bream and trevally are in quite concentrated schools. By comparison, typical summer fish like flathead and whiting are more scattered. Toss a bait virtually anywhere and one of these scattered fish will find it and bring the others around just by the commotion they cause. By comparison in winter, the concentrated schools need burleying over a longer period to draw them in from further around but once they are there they tend to stay around.

Maybe I have been lucky but I have not failed to catch my bag limit in the last 12 months and I go out every Friday (except last Friday I took my wife out for her birthday - it was very windy so I picked that day on purpose!) . There are a few things working in my favour here I have to say. Much less boat traffic on Fridays, no competition for the better spots but still I believe its the burley and the persistence that does the job.

If you are happy with bread and butter fish like bream and trevally with some salmon and tailor thrown in for good luck then anchor on the up current side of sow and pigs (or any other likely spot, morning is best on high tide at dawn or a few hour after) in comfortable casting distance and start a constant flow of a little burley a little at a time. Pilchards are ideal for this. Drop an un-wieghted half pilchard down the burley trail and if you don't catch a feed I will be very surprised. The trick here is to use the same bait as the burley and no lead if possible as the fish are much more cautious at first in the daylight and clear winter water.

If you find yourself being bitten off it will be tailor which hang around the reef most of the day so switch to a whole pilchard ( I like using smaller salted pilchards) on ganged hooks. You should find yourself hooking tailor... you will miss a few of the bream and trevally with the larger hook sizes in the process but you will hook some real studs when you do hook up.

If the trevally are around ( and they have been for the last 2 months or so) then they will be in big numbers competing ferociously for the bait so toss a few SP's at them if you run out of bait and you are almost certain to hook up... remember to keep the burley trail going.

Often, another boat will arrive after I have been there a while at the fish are all fired up. Their experience will be that the fish were "just on" that day but in fact they were only "on" because I had been firing them up with burley for the last 3 hours.

All this week the reports have been pretty average. I will let you know how I go.

Cheers

Jim

Edited July 24, 2014 by fragmeister

[Pafisho08]

HI

A few black fish are in the G River now if you get some weed .

All the good spots are working .(The moons & black butt) 15 good fish in 2 hrs & the odd bream on weed also.

Regards Bob

[sam bros]

My experience in Sydney Harbour (I suspect it is them same in most places) is that you have to pick a known area to fish that will generally be productive (good structure basically) and burley constantly for as long as it takes to attract the fish. This can take an hour or more sometimes but at least for me it always seems to work. Don't expect this to work well on featureless sandbanks, these are the haunt of summer species ...you need significant structure like rocks and reef because the fish stay close to these areas in winter.

I believe that winter fish like bream and trevally are in quite concentrated schools. By comparison, typical summer fish like flathead and whiting are more scattered. Toss a bait virtually anywhere and one of these scattered fish will find it and bring the others around just by the commotion they cause. By comparison in winter, the concentrated schools need burleying over a longer period to draw them in from further around but once they are there they tend to stay around.

Maybe I have been lucky but I have not failed to catch my bag limit in the last 12 months and I go out every Friday (except last Friday I took my wife out for her birthday - it was very windy so I picked that day on purpose!) . There are a few things working in my favour here I have to say. Much less boat traffic on Fridays, no competition for the better spots but still I believe its the burley and the persistence that does the job.

If you are happy with bread and butter fish like bream and trevally with some salmon and tailor thrown in for good luck then anchor on the up current side of sow and pigs (or any other likely spot, morning is best on high tide at dawn or a few hour after) in comfortable casting distance and start a constant flow of a little burley a little at a time. Pilchards are ideal for this. Drop an un-wieghted half pilchard down the burley trail and if you don't catch a feed I will be very surprised. The trick here is to use the same bait as the burley and no lead if possible as the fish are much more cautious at first in the daylight and clear winter water.

If you find yourself being bitten off it will be tailor which hang around the reef most of the day so switch to a whole pilchard ( I like using smaller salted pilchards) on ganged hooks. You should find yourself hooking tailor... you will miss a few of the bream and trevally with the larger hook sizes in the process but you will hook some real studs when you do hook up.

If the trevally are around ( and they have been for the last 2 months or so) then they will be in big numbers competing ferociously for the bait so toss a few SP's at them if you run out of bait and you are almost certain to hook up... remember to keep the burley trail going.

Often, another boat will arrive after I have been there a while at the fish are all fired up. Their experience will be that the fish were "just on" that day but in fact they were only "on" because I had been firing them up with burley for the last 3 hours.

All this week the reports have been pretty average. I will let you know how I go.

Cheers

Jim

Very good information

I'm certain it will help a lot of people including me

And thanks for sharing

[locodave]

Where are they in summer?

[SgtBundy]

Easy - ask where I am going fishing, and then head in the opposite direction!

[fragmeister]

Posted a Friday Harbour Fishing report.

[locodave]

Easy - ask where I am going fishing, and then head in the opposite direction!

Hahaha, we must be in the same boat!

[dacosta74]

which side do you mean by current side? thanks

[spaners]

Up current side means in front of the structure,ie cubing back onto a reef.Or it anchored and flicking for Flatties you anchor off a rear cleat so the current is hitting the back of the boat and you cast back upstream and bounce it back to the boat.

[dacosta74]

Got it, thanks mate. Gives me something new to try!

Cheers