Will Wright Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 Was fishing for 4 hours late afternoon today wading out in the estuary (Wallis lake). Starting in waist height water throwing the ebi panic lure saw countless whiting following it but no hits or hookups. Then moved to the 50mm sugapen with assist hooks on the back saw even more fish following It in schools but only one hit but didn’t hookup. Moved into shallower water (knee Hight) and continued with the sugapen, had a semi hookup but came off 5 seconds later. Saw more fish follow it and then changed back to the ebi panic lure. Landed one fish the size of the lure but saw more follow it. I’m keeping the retrieve at a fast pace and tiny twitches. Does any one know what to do in this situation to force a reaction out of the fish and get a hookup? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade460 Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 Try varying the spread of your retrieve with each cast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirvin21 Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 whiting are a very frustrating lure target, scent sometimes makes a difference 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 Try not to fish in water over knee deep. If you see fish deeper, try and coax them to follow the lure into the shallows. Replace your rear treble with size 10 assist hooks. The Atomic Trick Bitz are good. If they foul the middle treble when casting, ditch that treble too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 Hi, Try a 70mm Sugarpen. I only use one small assist hook. Good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Wright Posted January 7, 2021 Author Share Posted January 7, 2021 2 hours ago, Green Hornet said: Try not to fish in water over knee deep. If you see fish deeper, try and coax them to follow the lure into the shallows. Replace your rear treble with size 10 assist hooks. The Atomic Trick Bitz are good. If they foul the middle treble when casting, ditch that treble too. Already has assist hooks and I already took off the middle treble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 2 hours ago, Will Wright said: Already has assist hooks and I already took off the middle treble Fair enough Longer casts with heavier lures can make a difference with shy fish. I had a good day yesterday afternoon on the St Georges Basin flats with a 95mm/8.5g Sugarpen. Some days they're just dicks and will only take bait. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 My favourite Sugarpen is C264fc 70mm. Bream love them. You can buy copies on line half the price. They look the same and work. Cheers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 In a situation like that, pump some nippers and throw them into the school. Shallower water, around knee deep, can be better on a run-up tide than deeper water. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutsaboutfishing Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 On 1/8/2021 at 6:59 AM, Green Hornet said: Try not to fish in water over knee deep. If you see fish deeper, try and coax them to follow the lure into the shallows. Replace your rear treble with size 10 assist hooks. The Atomic Trick Bitz are good. If they foul the middle treble when casting, ditch that treble too. Hi GH, With the assist hooks do you use the ones with our without the bits of material (skirts?) cheers Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 Experiment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 29 minutes ago, nutsaboutfishing said: Hi GH, With the assist hooks do you use the ones with our without the bits of material (skirts?) cheers Richard Yes, no skirt. Some I've tied myself and put just two strands of pale tan skirt on to resemble prawn feelers. Haven't noticed a difference between the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquibblyDibbly Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 Hey again Will, my experience with whiting on surface lures is that the follows are a sign your action is not quite right for them, they are curious but not convinced. I have the most success with smaller surface poppers, usually in a sand or clear colour. High tide, sand flats, no wading out and dont be afraid to fish the shallows. I try to imitate a prawn skipping across the surface running away from a fish, 3 quickish pops with a pause. I find the best results when you pop the lure in a dead straight line, any irratic sideways movements and I get mostly follows and no hookups. No loop knots or clips, tying straight to the lure helps keep things straight. Stick with it, when you find that sweet spot in your action they can be surprisingly aggressive.. and tasty. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefin Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 (edited) What I do !! Cast with the wind, long soft rod as far as possible. Work the edges in a few inches of water out to a meter. A chop on the water is good ! Steady retrieve no pausing, pausing is for Bream. Vibrate the rod a bit from side to side, A nice rhythm with your retrieve. Vary your speed. Speed Kills. They love it in choppy water. Big Lures . 70 to 100 M/M . Clear colours, They are chasing Prawns. Or May be a Yabby ?( Pink Nipper From my childhood !! ) Most of my big Whiting attack the middle of the prawn imitation. They dont nip the tail !!! They want to eat it, not get spiked by either end !! Leave the middle treble on. I tried an MMD Splash Prawn a few days ago. River up here is pure mud. Straight retrieve, looks very good, Moves a lot of water ! Alas only a few Flathead around in deep water . Howard. PS and of course I love my Sax Scent Prawn . Edited January 10, 2021 by bluefin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquibblyDibbly Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 On 1/10/2021 at 4:59 PM, bluefin said: What I do !! Cast with the wind, long soft rod as far as possible. Work the edges in a few inches of water out to a meter. A chop on the water is good ! Steady retrieve no pausing, pausing is for Bream. Vibrate the rod a bit from side to side, A nice rhythm with your retrieve. Vary your speed. Speed Kills. They love it in choppy water. Big Lures . 70 to 100 M/M . Clear colours, They are chasing Prawns. Or May be a Yabby ?( Pink Nipper From my childhood !! ) Most of my big Whiting attack the middle of the prawn imitation. They dont nip the tail !!! They want to eat it, not get spiked by either end !! Leave the middle treble on. I tried an MMD Splash Prawn a few days ago. River up here is pure mud. Straight retrieve, looks very good, Moves a lot of water ! Alas only a few Flathead around in deep water . Howard. PS and of course I love my Sax Scent Prawn . Hey mate, I've been giving the technique you described a go but as yet no luck. I grabbed a couple clear/sand colour sugarpens, straight steady retrieve bit of a rod wobble. A mate did say that the choppier the better so maybe it's been too calm. Do you still get them like this in calm conditions? Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefin Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 Calm conditions make it harder. I have been out a few times lately, not even a follow. Watch some Youtube Videos on how to work them !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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