An excellent day of learning and my first fish on topwater lures

[linewetter]

When it comes to lures, all I ever focused on was soft plastics.  I had bought a Berkley bent minnow and a Daiwa slippery dog (both topwater lures) on a whim a while back but used them only sparingly because I never got any action on them!  I only recently started to pursue topwater fishing more seriously...with the past few weekends spent solely focusing on topwater lures with fellow FishRaiders.  

Now even though I had spent several hours each weekend topwater fishing from morning to evening, I had still not caught a fish.  I got a little bit of swirls or missed bites here and there but no actual solid hook up.  It got so bad I was forgetting what fish looked like so I would go fishing with bread after work whenever I had a spare moment during the weekdays just so I could catch something.  I'd use super small hooks...just to catch anything.  Seriously...Anything:

Size doesn't matter right guys?....right???

Fast forward to today.  @DerekD had been sending me photos all week of the fish he had been catching on topwater lures.  They were huge and they were coming often.  Before the end of the week, we had made plans to go fishing.  I was going to get a topwater fish one way or another damn it.  

Derek generously swung by to pick me up again today since we live pretty close to each other.  The morning started off overcast and we made it to our first location.  The water level was a little higher than expected but we had a few cast anyway.  A couple bloops and taunts from the fish but no hook up.  Just lots of mullet.  It started to then sprinkle..then shower...annnnnd we got in the car to move on.  It started to rain a little harder while we were in the car and I was wondering how badly it'd affect the fishing.  We swung by a local tackle shop for a look around and then headed off to our next location.

The drive to the next location had the weather clear up drastically.  It went from slightly pouring and overcast to suddenly barely cloudy and very sunny.  It was a nice and welcome change.  The sun was warm and the birds were back to squawking.  The water was clear as can be.  Felt like you could drink it almost.  With polarized sunnies on, you could see so many fish in the water right at your feet.  Whiting, bream, toadies, mullet, etc.  It was here I pulled out my brand new Daiwa slippery dog lure I had bought.  It was a new bright orange color and I was pretty excited to try it out cause I loved the color.  It's true, lures are made to catch fishers, not fish.  First couple of casts had a little bit of splashing from the fish and we knew at least the fish were willing to play today.  As I continued casting, I tried doing a fast retrieve over the whiting I could see from Derek's recommendation.  I got the attention of 2-3 of them and they chased the lure but lost interest when I did a quick pause.  It was damn near close!  Subsequent attempts to interest them failed though.  Darn.  Could've been my first topwater fish there...

We continued to cast with more bloops and splashes from the fish.  We had casting practice at the same time, aiming for specific things to see how far and how accurate we could be with our casts.  It was here I got my some line near my rod stuck onto some plants during my retrieve.  The lure went dead as I went to untangle my line.  As soon as I untangled it and picked my rod back into my hands, the line started to peel - FISH ON.  It felt like nothing else.  I was both shocked and excited trying to reel the fish in and not lose it.  Derek gave me advice as I brought the fish in which I'm glad he did - the excitement of having a fish on can make you forget about best practices.  I maintained the pressure on the fish and got it to shore.  It was my first topwater fish and it was a nice bream.

 

We went ahead and moved on from this location after more taunting from the fish but no other hook ups.  I remember when I first met and talked to Derek that I mentioned everyone recommends fishing sand flats but I could hardly find any in the area we lived.  Today I see now that the sand flats are everywhere really, just might take a little bit of local knowledge and experience to understand where to look. 

 

We grabbed lunch and headed off to another local tackle shop.  It was here I bought more lures...I can't help it.  I bought a couple more topwater lures including the Bassday Sugapen after hearing so much good stuff about it.  After catching that first topwater fish, I was excited to do more and wanted the one everyone else talks about using. 

 

We talked about fish more in the car and one thing lead to another and we ended up going to pump for yabbies. Ever since coming to Australia and learning to fish, I had heard people talk about pumping for yabbies often.  I never looked up a video on how to do it, but hearing about the process was enough to turn me off and make me think it was too hard.  But since Derek was willing to teach, I was excited to learn another skill.  We went to a sand flat full of holes and he showed me the technique.  It's actually quite simple.  Pump up the sand, dump it on the side.  Boom yabbies.  That simple...as long as you know where to go and how to do it effectively of course!  Derek showed me his technique and I gave it a shot and bam...out came the yabbies.  I can't believe it was that easy.  We picked one up and headed off to give it to a nearby fisherman.  Derek kept giving me pointers and we kept giving the fisherman yabbies, and eventually the fisherman got interested in the technique too after seeing how many we were producing!  He got advice from Derek on the ideal rig, different ways to rig yabbies, how to cast the yabbies lightly so they don't fly off and also how to cast further, and so on.  By the end, the fisherman put down the rod and was giving pumping yabbies a try with Derek's guidance.

 

I wish I had taken more photos because it was a really awesome day spent out with Derek.  I learned a lot not just about fishing, but about the area I live in and more.  Even though today was the first time I caught a fish on a topwater lure, the highlight of the day for me was actually learning something new, and also seeing the knowledge shared with another member of the overall fishing community. 

[Little_Flatty]

Great report @linewetter and well done on your first fish on topwater. It took me years of (admittedly halfhearted) attempts to nail my first topwater bream, but once I decided to give it a concerted go, I started to catch a few. Still learning though.

Agreed that most lures are there to catch anglers rather than fish! All this fly tying is starting to make me wonder if I should be whittling my own stick baits...it's been immensely satisfying catching fish on flies I tied myself, I would suspect making your own stickbaits will be no different.. There's a good video from Greg Vinall on making your own balsa stickbaits: 

 

[linewetter]

24 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

Great report @linewetter and well done on your first fish on topwater. It took me years of (admittedly halfhearted) attempts to nail my first topwater bream, but once I decided to give it a concerted go, I started to catch a few. Still learning though.

Agreed that most lures are there to catch anglers rather than fish! All this fly tying is starting to make me wonder if I should be whittling my own stick baits...it's been immensely satisfying catching fish on flies I tied myself, I would suspect making your own stickbaits will be no different.. There's a good video from Greg Vinall on making your own balsa stickbaits: 

 

Wow! The lure he made in the video looks pretty good. Funnily enough I have been getting lots of clips on social media of people making their own flies too. Always makes me think of your fishing because that was where I read and learned about them since you had mentioned it in a post I saw. The algorithm probably picked it up and now shows me videos of that. Creepy. 

 

On that note, I had watched a guy catch a fish on a stick he found on the ground, that he then wrapped with foil and adhesive to prove a point. It did end up catching a fish and cost way less than a lure. But I’m a sucker for the marketing and colors and patterns 😝

[Little_Flatty]

16 minutes ago, linewetter said:

Wow! The lure he made in the video looks pretty good. Funnily enough I have been getting lots of clips on social media of people making their own flies too. Always makes me think of your fishing because that was where I read and learned about them since you had mentioned it in a post I saw. The algorithm probably picked it up and now shows me videos of that. Creepy. 

 

On that note, I had watched a guy catch a fish on a stick he found on the ground, that he then wrapped with foil and adhesive to prove a point. It did end up catching a fish and cost way less than a lure. But I’m a sucker for the marketing and colors and patterns 😝

Oh, you won't save any money by tying your own flies or making your own lures! You'll just add a new dimension to your fishing and have a different kind of fun! If you get good at it, you'll start to be able to customise your lures for a given environment/situation.

[big Neil]

A very well-constructed account of your day with Derek and your first Bream on topwater. I will look forward to reading your posts and seeing your progress develop, down the track.

Tight lines, bn

[bessell1955]

A good Mentor always makes a positive difference.

[Robbo from Sydney]

14 hours ago, linewetter said:

When it comes to lures, all I ever focused on was soft plastics.  I had bought a Berkley bent minnow and a Daiwa slippery dog (both topwater lures) on a whim a while back but used them only sparingly because I never got any action on them!  I only recently started to pursue topwater fishing more seriously...with the past few weekends spent solely focusing on topwater lures with fellow FishRaiders.  

Now even though I had spent several hours each weekend topwater fishing from morning to evening, I had still not caught a fish.  I got a little bit of swirls or missed bites here and there but no actual solid hook up.  It got so bad I was forgetting what fish looked like so I would go fishing with bread after work whenever I had a spare moment during the weekdays just so I could catch something.  I'd use super small hooks...just to catch anything.  Seriously...Anything:

Size doesn't matter right guys?....right???

Fast forward to today.  @DerekD had been sending me photos all week of the fish he had been catching on topwater lures.  They were huge and they were coming often.  Before the end of the week, we had made plans to go fishing.  I was going to get a topwater fish one way or another damn it.  

Derek generously swung by to pick me up again today since we live pretty close to each other.  The morning started off overcast and we made it to our first location.  The water level was a little higher than expected but we had a few cast anyway.  A couple bloops and taunts from the fish but no hook up.  Just lots of mullet.  It started to then sprinkle..then shower...annnnnd we got in the car to move on.  It started to rain a little harder while we were in the car and I was wondering how badly it'd affect the fishing.  We swung by a local tackle shop for a look around and then headed off to our next location.

The drive to the next location had the weather clear up drastically.  It went from slightly pouring and overcast to suddenly barely cloudy and very sunny.  It was a nice and welcome change.  The sun was warm and the birds were back to squawking.  The water was clear as can be.  Felt like you could drink it almost.  With polarized sunnies on, you could see so many fish in the water right at your feet.  Whiting, bream, toadies, mullet, etc.  It was here I pulled out my brand new Daiwa slippery dog lure I had bought.  It was a new bright orange color and I was pretty excited to try it out cause I loved the color.  It's true, lures are made to catch fishers, not fish.  First couple of casts had a little bit of splashing from the fish and we knew at least the fish were willing to play today.  As I continued casting, I tried doing a fast retrieve over the whiting I could see from Derek's recommendation.  I got the attention of 2-3 of them and they chased the lure but lost interest when I did a quick pause.  It was damn near close!  Subsequent attempts to interest them failed though.  Darn.  Could've been my first topwater fish there...

We continued to cast with more bloops and splashes from the fish.  We had casting practice at the same time, aiming for specific things to see how far and how accurate we could be with our casts.  It was here I got my some line near my rod stuck onto some plants during my retrieve.  The lure went dead as I went to untangle my line.  As soon as I untangled it and picked my rod back into my hands, the line started to peel - FISH ON.  It felt like nothing else.  I was both shocked and excited trying to reel the fish in and not lose it.  Derek gave me advice as I brought the fish in which I'm glad he did - the excitement of having a fish on can make you forget about best practices.  I maintained the pressure on the fish and got it to shore.  It was my first topwater fish and it was a nice bream.

 

We went ahead and moved on from this location after more taunting from the fish but no other hook ups.  I remember when I first met and talked to Derek that I mentioned everyone recommends fishing sand flats but I could hardly find any in the area we lived.  Today I see now that the sand flats are everywhere really, just might take a little bit of local knowledge and experience to understand where to look. 

 

We grabbed lunch and headed off to another local tackle shop.  It was here I bought more lures...I can't help it.  I bought a couple more topwater lures including the Bassday Sugapen after hearing so much good stuff about it.  After catching that first topwater fish, I was excited to do more and wanted the one everyone else talks about using. 

 

We talked about fish more in the car and one thing lead to another and we ended up going to pump for yabbies. Ever since coming to Australia and learning to fish, I had heard people talk about pumping for yabbies often.  I never looked up a video on how to do it, but hearing about the process was enough to turn me off and make me think it was too hard.  But since Derek was willing to teach, I was excited to learn another skill.  We went to a sand flat full of holes and he showed me the technique.  It's actually quite simple.  Pump up the sand, dump it on the side.  Boom yabbies.  That simple...as long as you know where to go and how to do it effectively of course!  Derek showed me his technique and I gave it a shot and bam...out came the yabbies.  I can't believe it was that easy.  We picked one up and headed off to give it to a nearby fisherman.  Derek kept giving me pointers and we kept giving the fisherman yabbies, and eventually the fisherman got interested in the technique too after seeing how many we were producing!  He got advice from Derek on the ideal rig, different ways to rig yabbies, how to cast the yabbies lightly so they don't fly off and also how to cast further, and so on.  By the end, the fisherman put down the rod and was giving pumping yabbies a try with Derek's guidance.

 

I wish I had taken more photos because it was a really awesome day spent out with Derek.  I learned a lot not just about fishing, but about the area I live in and more.  Even though today was the first time I caught a fish on a topwater lure, the highlight of the day for me was actually learning something new, and also seeing the knowledge shared with another member of the overall fishing community. 

 

Great report @linewetter and I am delighted to see you catch your first topwater bream- and a damm nice fish at that!

So many of us have benefitted from  @DerekD 's knowledge and his on-going willingness to share it with others.

I do love your quote that lures are eant to catcher fishers not fish - it is so true!!!

 

[linewetter]

1 hour ago, Robbo from Sydney said:

 

Great report @linewetter and I am delighted to see you catch your first topwater bream- and a damm nice fish at that!

So many of us have benefitted from  @DerekD 's knowledge and his on-going willingness to share it with others.

I do love your quote that lures are eant to catcher fishers not fish - it is so true!!!

 

I agree with you, Derek's willingness to share has benefitted so many, both those on here and out in the wild.  He told me the story yesterday of how you guys had met too, it's a small world out there.  I unknowingly interacted with Derek before I met him on here even when I was out fishing and he happened to be nearby helping with some photographers.  He gave me some advice on bringing in a fish that was making a run for it back when I was still very green to fishing.  I remembered that moment because it was the first time I dealt with a fish making a solid run for it, and because it was the first time anyone had talked to me about fishing in real life before and I appreciated it.  The main thing I remembered was his Shimano hat and general silhouette.  Then when I formally met him for the first time after posting here on Fishraider, I recognized the hat and some of the specific phrases like he said matched up word for word what was told to me that day and I put the pieces together that it was Derek there on that very day!

[Bennyg78]

Well done!! @linewetter

I can see you getting addicted to the topwater hits!!

I’d probably say the sugapen is my absolute fave confidence topwater lure!!

keep up the fishing

[Pickles]

A very comprehensive report @linewetter, please keep posting, it’s great to hear young blokes getting into fishing and thumbs up to @DerekD for his selfless and generous investment enriching the lives of others.