seasponge Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Hi guys, For those of you who have fished the Hawkesbury River, I know you all would have encountered the dreaded catfish. Those ugly, spikey bottom dwellers, turning up to stealthily pinch your bait, then sitting on the bottom like a wet sock until you decide it's time to check your bait. Many a fishing session has ended in absolute frustration at spending all day cutting the buggers loose and having to re-rig; not to mention the number of hooks I lose to them (I take no chances and just snip the line clear). I like to anchor up and fish in the known bream haunts, but seems as soon as I burley up, the catfish are attracted in plague proportions. So my question is, when anchoring and burleying, targeting bream, how do you avoid hooking up catfish!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locodave Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Don't know about this one. I always seem to find them on a muddy bottom. Maybe don't fish the muddy bottoms? You fishing around Berowra? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasponge Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 Referring to the Vines, close to shore, which Don't know about this one. I always seem to find them on a muddy bottom. Maybe don't fish the muddy bottoms? You fishing around Berowra? Am fishing around the Vines, close to shore, which I would've thought would be more rocky than muddy bottom. The trick is the bait to use and my old uncle Kevin R.I.P who used to take me by train overnight to Cowan and we fished for big bream with PUDDING BAIT which catfish don't like. Might be worth a go. I can tell you the catfish love Hawkesbury prawns!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 I'm not sure if this will be helpful because I don't fish saltwater regularly any more. When I target fish that are not necessarily bottom feeders I use floats to suspend the bait or paternoster rigs set to mid water. I know this is ok to catch yellowbelly and avoid too many Carp. Only a suggestion, but it may be worth a try. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow11 Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 So my question is, when anchoring and burleying, targeting bream, how do you avoid hooking up catfish!! Funnily enough I had the same problem when I was fishing in the Clarence River. The trick is to use the Catfish as the bait. Firstly, bream love it and secondly Catfish don't like to eat themselves. I have no idea why it works, but I use it religously. When you catch the Catfish, kill it as quickly and safetly as possible. Then before you fillet the fish, grab a pair of pliars and rip out ALL the spines to reduce the possibility of any accidents. Then fillet the fish and cut the fillet into strips and get to work catching those Bream! Happy hunting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Incredible Hull Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 Hi guys, For those of you who have fished the Hawkesbury River, I know you all would have encountered the dreaded catfish. Those ugly, spikey bottom dwellers, turning up to stealthily pinch your bait, then sitting on the bottom like a wet sock until you decide it's time to check your bait. Many a fishing session has ended in absolute frustration at spending all day cutting the buggers loose and having to re-rig; not to mention the number of hooks I lose to them (I take no chances and just snip the line clear). I like to anchor up and fish in the known bream haunts, but seems as soon as I burley up, the catfish are attracted in plague proportions. So my question is, when anchoring and burleying, targeting bream, how do you avoid hooking up catfish!! I used to have the exact same problem lol And for that same reason I don't fish the hawkesbury anymore! It gets trawled anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 Do the trawlers catch catfish and if they do, what do they do with the catfish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loco Mofo Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 I've been fishing the Hawkesbury a lot recently and haven't been finding many catfish up closer towards the mouth (Flint & Steel and Patonga area). For instance, they were almost always a problem at the rail bridge. I'm also targeting mainly flathead, so do a bit of bottom bashing. Now I tend to mainly fish the sandy bay areas with minimal current so my burley has max effect. Been working a treat lately, my buddy and I caught 16 flatties yesterday morning with a few bream to top it off. 2 flatties were 80+cm which were PB's for us both. Only catfish caught was by me, which was the first cast of the day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stunami Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Very interesting post and quite educational, thanks for the pudding bait recipe this will be quite useful, just wondering if you press it around a hook does it not float off the hook when getting wet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffb5.8 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 How many spikes do the catfish have, I always killed them and cut of the top spike at the head, are there others as I will use one as bait next time I am out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasponge Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 How many spikes do the catfish have, I always killed them and cut of the top spike at the head, are there others as I will use one as bait next time I am out. Can't help you out on the number of spikes, I thought it was only the one, but I never get close enough to them to find out. Keen to hear how they go as bait though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loco Mofo Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 I think there's only 1 spike on it's back? That's what my buddy told me anyway when he stepped on one barefoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffb5.8 Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 Will try them once I confirm it is the one spike and let you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow11 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 How many spikes do the catfish have, I always killed them and cut of the top spike at the head, are there others as I will use one as bait next time I am out. The areas of concern in regard to being “hurt” or “stung” are the dorsal and pectoral fins. So there is 3 spines in total. These fins are located behind the head on each side and on the top of the fish behind the head (refer to the image above).The spines contained in the dorsal and pectoral fin contain a venom that causes edema (swelling) and a hemolytic (causes increased blood flow in the area of the injury) if these spines puncture the skin. Once you cut them all off, fillet the fish and bait up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seasponge Posted April 19, 2016 Author Share Posted April 19, 2016 ........ I use floats to suspend the bait or paternoster rigs set to mid water. I think this might be my next tactic. Will try a paternoster type rig to get it off the bottom a bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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