RexSenior Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 (edited) Hi Raiders Just wanted to share an interesting fishing trip last night land based in Swan Bay. I misjudged the moon (she was like a spotlight!) yet still managed to net enough prawns for bait in the shallows. First cast with an unweighted live prawn I was onto a healthy 34cm bream however I was lucky to land the fish after a terrible self netting effort (I must have had 3 or 4 swipes at it - a bit too exited). Shortly after I had another reel peeling off line, another nice bream however this time I attempted to lift it on the jetty after my poor effort with the net - no good with the 6lb line breaking as soon as it took the weight out of water (there are a lot of oysters & razorfish there which damage the light line in the shallows). Had a good 2 hours without landing a decent fish (plenty of giant puffer fish which are a giant pain in the A##). Then finally a nice hit from a live prawn thrown out in about 50cm of water, after a good fight on light gear I netted what I thought to be a flathead in the dark however once on the jetty it was a thumping whiting over 40cm! I threw out in the same area a couple of times - baited each time then another good hit from a big whiting that ran so far sideways it almost beached itself on the weedy bank. Another one in the net again just over 40cm. Things went quiet after that, then whilst I was packing up around midnight I spotted a flatty lying on the sand whilst I was looking for prawns for one last cast. I caught a tiny prawn (smaller than my little finger) and threw it out in front of the flatty and he took it on it's way to the bottom!! No net this time straight up onto the jetty, around 44cm. A few tips I've learnt from fishing in Swan Bay over the years at night: * Never use a sinker unless you have to - the lighter the better (including lighter line - 6lb seems to work well, 2-4lb is difficult to manage with the oysters) * The larger fish are usually closer to shore where there is a mix of sand & weed * Try not to shine any light anywhere near where you're planning to fish and be as quiet as possible * If leaving a rod unattended I always flip the bail arm so the fish can run into the deeper water to swallow the bait without being spooked * Try and gather your own bait from Swan Bay and use it live, ample prawns, bottle squid, arrow squid, whitebait, hardyhead & mussels to be gathered Cheers, James Edited November 25, 2015 by RexSenior Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRod Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Very nice well done Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay88 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Well done mate! I hear whiting give a decent fight on light gear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Those are thumping whiting James! Congrats on a really productive session, you've done well. Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Good work. Any whiting that cracks the 40cm mark is a beauty. As you found, the fish will swim into shallow water at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macman Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Thats a great report mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alvillanova Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 well done, need to give it a go, thx for the tips............cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stapo Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Nice report James. Yes the live prawns work a treat down this way as well. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexSenior Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 Cheers Guys! Another point I forgot to mention is that the bay is usually packed with Bottle Squid (not many around last night though). These guys are usually about the size of a 10c coin however make an awesome bait on light gear. Very hard to spot with a torch / headlamp, they look like an oval shaped pebble on the sand however once your use to what they look like they make a great local live bait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDory Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 (edited) Nice report JamesNo hidden storiesAnd a nice feed!JD Edited November 25, 2015 by Johndory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefish Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I wish more people shared your views about no lights on the water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holls Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Thanks for the report James. Learned a few things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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