DaveBM Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Hi all. Had a frustrating day yesterday on the flats near the entrance to Lake Illawarra, trying a popper in shallow water for the first time. A couple of nice bream and lots of big whiting were following my popper (clear prawn type) right up to where I was wading, but were not willing to strike. I tried everything I could think of - fast/slow, steady retrieve versus jerky, stopping and starting... the buggers just kept swimming along behind it. Any tips? Mind you, guys with bait weren't getting much to happen either - even fresh beach worms - so maybe the fish just weren't hungry and trying to piss me off for fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Sometimes there's nothing you can do about it. If you've worked the lure best you could and the bait fishos weren't pulling anything, well they just weren't hungry. The only thing I could suggest is to put a bit of xfactor on your popper! Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveBM Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 Cheers mate. I guess I'll have to keep trying. The lure is clearly a good one though... had everything coming up for a gander even though they weren't hungry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cos Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 I feel your pain, I've had plenty of those sessions. Only advice I can give is for whiting don't pause on the retrieve while for bream pauses work. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveBM Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 Ta Cos - I'll bear that in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewhunter Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Yep, short sharp pops at a good pace for whiting. Sometimes you have to go a bit quicker to stir them up. I find that if you have 3-4 fish fighting over the lure the more likely you are to hook up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 I have found at times, that when you can see the whiting, they can see you and are hard to get on the bite. Squirt worms might be the best choice, and fishing early morning when the sun is not up too far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusher87 Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Had the same thing happen with my surface lure. I could see flatties around 40cm coming up to it and shying away. Tried everything but couldn't get a hook up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefin Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Add the important ingredient of SMELL. S Factor as Scratchie recomends, or My favourite Sax Scent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymondo Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Not sure if it will entice whiting but I've had success with pausing the retrieve for a substantial amount of time, like 30 seconds or so. Salmon and kings fall for this when there playing silly buggers. Sometimes you can see them buzz the lure just under the surface. Just keep the slack out of the line, it may get hit whilst stationary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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