Desperate for fish

[Kirelda]

Been trying to get a fish on lures for what feels like an eon. Had a couple great people on here help me out to no avail. Anyone know any great places around the Botany area to flick a few lures? I have soft plastics, blades, divers and topwaters. Mainly looking for bream but I'll take just about anything, heck I'll be glad if a tailor can chew through my line because it'll at least mean something ate my lure.

Any help is appreciated.

[Little_Flatty]

Sorry to hear you've been struggling of late. Winter fishing can be tough for landbased lure anglers. I for one haven't landed a decent fish on a lure for a month, but I'm also very time + location constrained to a small geographical area. I'd rather be fishing and not catch fish than to not go fishing at all, so I'm happy with my lot.

I'm no Botany expert but I have had some success around the Georges River Sailing Club flats, casting small 2-3inch plastics. Not sure about winter though. When the fishing is tough, I often revert to gulps as I swear the scent soaking makes them more attractive. That's what I do when I want guarantees.

As an alternative, I've been having a lot of fun fishing with cheap white bread as bait, either unweighted (3x3cm pieces squeezed around a size 6 long shank hook) or under a float. If you berley regularly with the bread, normally bream and/or trevally will come out to play. Fish light - I use 4lb mono - and a pile of fun will be had.

Anyhow, hopefully a few others with local knowledge might help.

[Kirelda]

58 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

Sorry to hear you've been struggling of late. Winter fishing can be tough for landbased lure anglers. I for one haven't landed a decent fish on a lure for a month, but I'm also very time + location constrained to a small geographical area. I'd rather be fishing and not catch fish than to not go fishing at all, so I'm happy with my lot.

I'm no Botany expert but I have had some success around the Georges River Sailing Club flats, casting small 2-3inch plastics. Not sure about winter though. When the fishing is tough, I often revert to gulps as I swear the scent soaking makes them more attractive. That's what I do when I want guarantees.

As an alternative, I've been having a lot of fun fishing with cheap white bread as bait, either unweighted (3x3cm pieces squeezed around a size 6 long shank hook) or under a float. If you berley regularly with the bread, normally bream and/or trevally will come out to play. Fish light - I use 4lb mono - and a pile of fun will be had.

Anyhow, hopefully a few others with local knowledge might help.

Thanks for the great info. I'll try out George's river soon as it's not too far away from where I live. 

Since I've just started with lure fishing my outfit is still pretty light so I think it'll be perfect for what you recommend. I'll definitely give George's river a go.

[DerekD]

Hi Kirelda,

The light outfit would be my go to at this time of year.

First thing I'd say is have faith. The lures do work but it sounds like something hasn't quite clicked into place for you. One of the gentlemen I mentored over the last few years also fishes the same sort of areas as you and had very little success early on. @Mike Sydney did a lovely little fishing report in which it came out he’d only caught 5 fish in 5 months of fishing. He got into fishing to get out and about and away from the Xbox and as part of his exercise under the Covid isolation rules. Full respect to him in that he was putting in the hours. As he fished similar areas to myself I reached out to him and this was his first fishing report afterwards: https://community.deckee.com/topic/92241-topwater-whiting/

His growth from then on was phenomenal. He learned so much that he was able to put together this excellent article based on his experiences about a year later: https://community.deckee.com/topic/92550-article-land-based-lure-fishing-shallow-flats-and-mangroves-sydney/

Have a read through his learnings and see if you can work out where it resonates with what you are doing.

It sounds like you have the right gear and are dedicated. If you are still struggling over the next few months then sounds like we will have to head out with @AlbertW for a session and see where we can refine your technique.

Regards,

Derek

 

[XD351]

You could try along the beach at Brighton , or maybe guided trip - <name removed> does this sort of thing in botany - lately he has been smashing the Mulloway on lures in the George’s river . 
If you are going to be wading in botany wear shoes or dive boots - the joint is crawling with stingrays and numbfish.

Edited July 9, 2023 by Little_Flatty
Removed guide name

[Mike Sydney]

@Kirelda there’s lots of tailor about at the moment and they present the best opportunity for a first fish on lure right now. Bream are few and far between with the cold weather. I also tried taking up lures in the winter and it sucks. There’s a high likelihood the casts you’re doing now catch fish when the water warms up.
If you’re interesting in trying night fishing, any bridge with lights in the water will have tailor begging for your topwater lure in the light pools or any fast retrieve. around botany, Tempe footbridge at Wolli creek isn’t too far and there’s been a ton of tailor there lately. 
 

Honestly don’t be despondent it’s night and day fishing lures winter v summer as the shallows empty out of a lot of the bream and flathead. Try deeper water, try near bridges and target tailor with fast retrieves. Bream at the moment are harder to find and I haven’t seen a flatty in a few weeks now.

[AlbertW]

22 hours ago, Kirelda said:

Been trying to get a fish on lures for what feels like an eon. Had a couple great people on here help me out to no avail. Anyone know any great places around the Botany area to flick a few lures? I have soft plastics, blades, divers and topwaters. Mainly looking for bream but I'll take just about anything, heck I'll be glad if a tailor can chew through my line because it'll at least mean something ate my lure.

Any help is appreciated.

I’ve also had a fish drought as well, the usual flatties haven’t been appearing so I’ve just been targeting kings in the past few sessions 

[faker]

On 7/8/2023 at 6:38 PM, Kirelda said:

Been trying to get a fish on lures for what feels like an eon. Had a couple great people on here help me out to no avail. Anyone know any great places around the Botany area to flick a few lures? I have soft plastics, blades, divers and topwaters. Mainly looking for bream but I'll take just about anything, heck I'll be glad if a tailor can chew through my line because it'll at least mean something ate my lure.

Any help is appreciated.

Not the best season to lure fish honestly.  I spend alot of time looking at maps for days theory crafting where fish would be to get my catches depending on tidal conditions and safety from rocks. but if you want a guranteed catch i would target rivers and coastal lakes on low tide at drop offs. its where fish concentrate at as water goes into sandflats and fish lie in ambush as things get washed into dropoffs.

I went all the way to narrabeen to build my confidence by targeting areas that will have fish concentrated at those times to train technique.

go hunt some flathead first they are easiest to target. find any beach that goes deep steeply and wait till just after high tide as tide runs out. you should be able target a few.

Edited July 9, 2023 by faker

[Kirelda]

On 7/9/2023 at 1:44 PM, Mike Sydney said:

@Kirelda there’s lots of tailor about at the moment and they present the best opportunity for a first fish on lure right now. Bream are few and far between with the cold weather. I also tried taking up lures in the winter and it sucks. There’s a high likelihood the casts you’re doing now catch fish when the water warms up.
If you’re interesting in trying night fishing, any bridge with lights in the water will have tailor begging for your topwater lure in the light pools or any fast retrieve. around botany, Tempe footbridge at Wolli creek isn’t too far and there’s been a ton of tailor there lately. 
 

Honestly don’t be despondent it’s night and day fishing lures winter v summer as the shallows empty out of a lot of the bream and flathead. Try deeper water, try near bridges and target tailor with fast retrieves. Bream at the moment are harder to find and I haven’t seen a flatty in a few weeks now.

I haven’t ever tried night fishing before apart from chucking prawns at some bream as a kid. Figure I’ll try this sometime soon as I might as well do something rather than sitting here worrying about tides and stuff. 

Thanks for the spot Mike

[Kirelda]

On 7/9/2023 at 6:55 PM, faker said:

Not the best season to lure fish honestly.  I spend alot of time looking at maps for days theory crafting where fish would be to get my catches depending on tidal conditions and safety from rocks. but if you want a guranteed catch i would target rivers and coastal lakes on low tide at drop offs. its where fish concentrate at as water goes into sandflats and fish lie in ambush as things get washed into dropoffs.

I went all the way to narrabeen to build my confidence by targeting areas that will have fish concentrated at those times to train technique.

go hunt some flathead first they are easiest to target. find any beach that goes deep steeply and wait till just after high tide as tide runs out. you should be able target a few.

I’ve tried doing this a couple times as usually my fishing sessions last a couple hours, letting me fish the high tide and when it runs out. I don’t really know any good beaches near me apart from Brighton but I’ll hop on google Earth and forage for some spots.

Thanks for the recommendation and advice Faker.