Fishing with all this rain

[Bobby.V]

Hey guys,

Hoping for a bit of advice. I'm new to fishing salt water.. I've lived in Africa for the last 5 years and fished only freshwater. I'm aussie originally but didn't really fish before that since I was a kid so back to square one really.

I'm based on the lower central coast near ettalong/woy woy. I've had a few flicks (land based) but no luck. 

Does rain affect salt water fishing? Is this time of a year a good time for fishing? Best bait/lures atm for flatties?

Cheers guys any help appreciated 

[Rebel]

Hi Bobby.V

Pretty Beach is a good spot. Also  near where all the boats are moored at Woy Woy. Also under the Rip Bridge but you will need a boat. Also down the bottom of PT. Fredrick good for Bream. Take your pick as far as bait.

Cheers.

[Volitan]

Rain leads to a lot of fresh water in enclosed waterways which typically puts fish off the bite.

There are exceptions though. For example, if you can find a creek in flood then where it enters the estuary will often produce very good fishing for bream.

Best baits for flathead - they are not a fussy fish. They will take a large bait so I usually use a whole pilchard on two hooks. Bream/whiting/etc I find prawns and yabbies best. Beach worms seem to be best bait off the beaches but I haven’t had much success with them in your district. Chicken fillet is also surprisingly good and convenient.

in terms of time of year - there should be a changeover from difficult winter fishing to better summer fishing right about now. We live near the water and there is shallow water off us, and most days I go for a walk to see what I can spot in the water. In summer there are heaps of fish in shallow water. Easy to see small bream, whiting, stingray, mullet etc. Right now there is absolutely nothing in that water, I see nothing living no matter how hard I look - so that suggests to me we haven’t turned the corner yet.

you also need to keep a sense of perspective. Fishing land-based in Brisbane Water is never going to be easy, you only need to consider the shallow, sandy waterways, commercial fishing activity and the ceaseless pressure from amateurs. I take the view that catching a couple of fish per trip is a good result, that’s the level of my expectations, and as I never keep more then one fish per trip on principle that does me.

i suspect that reading fishing reports for the region can give a false impression. Most people are boat fishing, which is almost always much more productive, so don’t confuse that with land based reality.

I focus on the positives. We have an amazing number of waterways and fishing situations available to us. We can access almost the entire shoreline, and it costs nothing (beyond licence fee) plus there are public wharves you are still allowed to fish off. We can launch canoes and other small craft and fish safely for miles of waterway, and if the spirit moves us we can easily access the surf coast for different styles of fishing altogether. Pretty good, really. 

 

[masterfisho7]

some great advice

19 minutes ago, Volitan said:

Rain leads to a lot of fresh water in enclosed waterways which typically puts fish off the bite.

There are exceptions though. For example, if you can find a creek in flood then where it enters the estuary will often produce very good fishing for bream.

Best baits for flathead - they are not a fussy fish. They will take a large bait so I usually use a whole pilchard on two hooks. Bream/whiting/etc I find prawns and yabbies best. Beach worms seem to be best bait off the beaches but I haven’t had much success with them in your district. Chicken fillet is also surprisingly good and convenient.

in terms of time of year - there should be a changeover from difficult winter fishing to better summer fishing right about now. We live near the water and there is shallow water off us, and most days I go for a walk to see what I can spot in the water. In summer there are heaps of fish in shallow water. Easy to see small bream, whiting, stingray, mullet etc. Right now there is absolutely nothing in that water, I see nothing living no matter how hard I look - so that suggests to me we haven’t turned the corner yet.

you also need to keep a sense of perspective. Fishing land-based in Brisbane Water is never going to be easy, you only need to consider the shallow, sandy waterways, commercial fishing activity and the ceaseless pressure from amateurs. I take the view that catching a couple of fish per trip is a good result, that’s the level of my expectations, and as I never keep more then one fish per trip on principle that does me.

i suspect that reading fishing reports for the region can give a false impression. Most people are boat fishing, which is almost always much more productive, so don’t confuse that with land based reality.

I focus on the positives. We have an amazing number of waterways and fishing situations available to us. We can access almost the entire shoreline, and it costs nothing (beyond licence fee) plus there are public wharves you are still allowed to fish off. We can launch canoes and other small craft and fish safely for miles of waterway, and if the spirit moves us we can easily access the surf coast for different styles of fishing altogether. Pretty good, really. 

 

Some great advice

[antonywardle]

Brisbane water has been a bit slow lately with all that algae around. I'm boat based usually. 

Maybe we can meet up for a trip. I'm better off shore for flathead than I am inside though ?