Category: Jigging

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BY: Webteam / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Fishing Tips, Jigging, Locations, Other species, Videos

This is the haul from the morning fishing in Vanuatu . The big yellowfin

were slow but the skip jack and rainbow runners were constant . We used

micro jigs , PE 2-4 rods and 6000 reels . Great fun .

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Fishing New Zealand 26.1.17.

BY: Webteam / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Fishing Trips, Jewfish, Jigging, Kingfish, Soft plastics

Over in New Zealand for a few days , the three of us managed to get out for a fish on one day . We went out from Waiheke island , just off Auckland for snapper and a king fish if possible .
The wind was up and it was very choppy but the 6 metre boat handled it well . On our way to a reef we saw the birds working so after them we went . Never go past birds working ! Well it was the right decision . For the next 3 1/2 hours we caught fish after fish . Paul was on bait , Chris on soft plastics and I was on a micro jig 40 gram . All of us had light gear ,1-3 PE rods and 2500 reels with either 10 lb or 15 lb leader .
Just about every cast we each pulled up a Kawai ( don’t know the spelling but it is the same as an Australian salmon ) . We must have caught over 60 of these . They were making it hard to get to the bottom to hit the snapper but who’s complaining . It was a lot of fun .
In amongst that we did catch a lot of small snapper , but some ice size ones for the table also were boated . The micro jig caught the biggest one . Just as we were about to change spots I hooked a great fish thinking it was s big snapper . The fight was too great for the snapper and in came a niece big kingie on the 40 g micro jig . On my little 1-3 rod and 2500 reel this was a great fight . The fish of the day .
All in all we must have caught and released more than 100 fish . Worth the effort , a lot of fun . Then back to land and off to the wineries for the afternoon . See the photos below .

fishing new zealand fishing kingfish australia fishing kingfish australia

 

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January 21st, 2016

BY: Webteam / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Jigging, Trolling

Fishing the flats for flathead .

Flats to me are areas of sand , sand and weed , or sand , weed and rocks , where the depth is not more than 1.5 metres ( 4-5 ft ) .It can be as shallow as 1.5 ft (1/2 metre). Flats can also be shallow rocky reefs .
There is always a drop off near them . I only fish flats the last hour of the run up to the end of the first hour of the run out , maybe a bit longer if the fish are biting . Don’t waste your time at other times of the tides, there are more productive areas to fish .
There are three methods , normal flathead gear , light flathead gear and trolling . Change each method till you get a bite .
Normal flathead gear ( 10 lb leader , 3/0 hook on 1/4 oz jig head , 5″ soft plastic jerk shad , pearl glow colour) when it is deeper and not too weedy , or it is rocky . Start with this , if nothing , or picking up too much weed and junk , turn to your light gear.

For light flathead gear I go down to a 1000 reel , 1-3 kg rod , 4 lb line and 8 lb leader , #2 hook on 1-12th oz jig head . I then put on a 2″ soft plastic Berkeley gulp prawn in new penny colour or peppered prawn colour ( green) . These colours are deadly . Another one is the 3″ Berkeley gulp jerk shad in watermelon or light brown . Any lures that are similar will do ok , I just like these ones .Don’t worry about catching some weed , just clear it off and throw out again. The flathead will be there .
If the flats are reasonably sandy with little weed and rock then troll . If the water is running fast then only troll with the current , not against it as the fish will be facing the current . If the current is little or nothing like in Pittwater then troll up and down and in circles as it stirs up the sand and the flathead come and have a look to see if there is any food .
Here I use the normal flathead gear with the soft plastic . Troll at 3 knots max and hold the rod and jig , jig the lure like it is a wounded bait fish , work the tip of the rod jigging so it comes up towards the front of the boat and then drop the rod tip back behind you so the lure drops to the bottom and sits for a second or two . If it is a bit deeper just use the 3/8 jig head .If the lure goes past s flathead it will get nailed .

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What fish to catch and where to catch them

BY: Webteam / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Fishing Trips, Jigging, Live bait, Other species, Popping, Soft plastics, Trolling

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At the moment I am talking flathead , but we will talk bream , snapper , kingfish , jewfish ,tailor salmon ,and many others as we go . Also micro jigging, soft plastics , hard body , trolling , popping , deep water jigging , vibes , sometimes live bait , but never never smelly old bait or dead bait !

let me knew your success stories also , but make sure you include , rod , reel , line weight , leader , jig sizes , hook sizes and lure .
this way we will all learn .

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Fishing Pittwater – Flounder, Bream and Flathead

BY: Webteam / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Bream, Flathead, Jigging, Pittwater
Pittwater fishing is pretty good at the moment . Water is 25.5 c and the weather is calm .My total score this weekend is 6 flathead, 2 silver bream , 2 large flounder , and a few little reddies ( baby snapper ) .
The flathead were all caught at low tide , just before or just after . Sizes 61 cm, 52 cm, 43, cm , 44 cm , 40 cm . 41 cm , all released . I caught 3 in 3 casts in one spot . It was a drop off going from 4 ft to 10 ft to 17 ft to 25 ft . They were in the deeper part waiting for the bait fish . So at low tides fish the drop off , cast towards the shallow part and bring it back into the deep jigging it and Hitting the bottom as you go .Make sure you pause to let the flathead grab it . You will feel the thud. I was drifting from deep towards the shallow water and casting with the drift so you can visualise how the lure is coming down the slop to the deeper water each time .
If you catch one in a spot it is likely there are more sitting around . Keep working it until no further bites , especially if you catch one 60 cm or more as the smaller males will be around her. Gear was 2500 shimano reel ,6 lb braid and 10 lb leader , 1/4 oz jig head ,3/0 hook , pearl glow jerk shad 5″ from Berkeley gulp .See the photo on the jig head . One trick is to use a red bead in your loop knot before the jig head or dip the jig head in red nail Polish or paint . Seems to attract them .
The two big silver bream were caught at the palm beach flats on a rising tide . I used daiwa 1-2 kg rod , 4 lb braid , 6 lb leader , 1/16 th jig head on #2 hook .Lure was the Berkeley gulp 2″ shrimp in new penny colour . See the photos , one was 35 cm and the other 39.5 cm . Really fantastic fight , both took me around the boat before netting them and letting them go .As a by catch I caught 2 big flounder , one the biggest I have caught in Pittwater , bigger than the dinner plate . This came home to be deep fried crispy skin flounder with Thai sauce . I cHstted to a kyak fisherman who only goes for bream , and he uses hard bodies only . He has been catching a lot he said . Shows you there are many ways to catch bream also . I will go through these ideas in future blogs .
Use some of these tips and get out there , fish are waiting !
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Note the red jig head with the pearl glow jerk shad . No fish could resist that .
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2″” Berkeley shrimp on #2 hook and 1/16 jig head .39.5 cm
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Fishing at long reef – Kingfish and Jewfish

BY: Webteam / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Jewfish, Jigging, Kingfish, Live bait, Other species
Gun fisherman Tim Angus fished at long reef wide last week . The results – 7 kingies all around the metre mark and two jewfish , one 70 cm ,and one 85 cm . He fished in 130 ft water . Kingies caught on Stella 20,000 reel, medium heavy jigging rod PE 6, 80 lb braid , 100 lb Fluoro leader . Live squid for bait . You have to heavy up for these big fellas otherwise they will win .
Jewfish were caught on stella 6000 reel, 40 lb braid , 50 lb leader, bait was butterflied yakkas and squid . See the photos .
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Day 2 Vanuatu fishing

BY: Webteam / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Fishing Trips, Jigging, Other species, Popping
The seas were flat as a pancake , no wind , so the 4 of us took our wives out for a morning fish at the second fad. See the photos below of them popping for yellowfin tuna . The poppers are about 30 cm long so it is hard work , the rods are PE 6-8 , reels Stella 14000 fast action , and the braid 60 lb and 200 lb leader . There were big yellowfin all around but we couldn’t get a hit for over an hour . Then we decided to show them how to jig . There was a lot of laughter and shrieking but no fish hits at all .Then Annette managed to land a small yellowfin ,that’s a photo below . See the smile .we took them for snorkel on the coral and fed the huge red bass and multitiude of small reef fish , before coming in for lunch at the lodge. The afternoon info after the photos below .

 

 

Afternoon we went jigging for doggies . This was a fun packed afternoon with plenty of action . We must have hold over a dozen doggies and not one landed . There were schools of big pike around and sharks and they either hit the line and were biting it off or hitting the fish and taking our catch . One hit I had on the 80 lb rod and 20,000 Stella reel , with 24 kg drag locked , wouldn’t stop. We shared the rod for about half an hour and then it busted off . We could only get about 5 metres of line every few minutes . When we lost it , it was still 60 metres down and we were towing it with the boat in circles to try to get it to come up . Probably a big shark hooked in the side or tail . There are some big fish down there . Another doggie managed to get off by straightening the hook , when I thought we had this one . We were fishing in water 50 -70 metres deep running up to 45 metres . The sounder had so much bait fish showing , so we were always on the spot . Paul has one fish , we think it must have been a huge red bass or grouper that had his 400 T curve jigging rod about to bust . 200 lb leader and 18000 Stella reel . We didn’t get this in either , lost just before we could see it . In between all this action we caught half a dozen pike and some coronation trout , but the real fun was these big hits . Just at the end of the day Paul was using bait and he hooked into something big again . This time he got it in , a huge pike , must be nearly 5 ft long , see photo below. He cheated as he put a wire trace on with bait just to see what was down there.
So the tally for the afternoon was one big pike , 6 or 7 smaller ones ,2 trout , and more lost than we would like to remember . But fantastic fun . Just it let you know the gear we are using , see photos . I have 3 rods , one PE 6-8 , 20,000 Stella reel, 80 lb braid , 200 lb leader , jig 100 g-120 g . Second rod PE 3-5 , Stella 10000 reel , 60 lb braid 200 lb leader , 3 oz jig head ,soft plastic 7″ , 5/0 hook . Third rod is PE 2-4, 30 lb braid , Stella 5000 reel , 80 lb leader , 60 g jig . The three other guys have similar gear . Even on the heavy gear we still get beaten up . Anyway more tomorrow for day 3 . Is there a better fishing place than this ?

 

 

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Fishing Vanuatu day 1 – Mahi Mahi

BY: Webteam / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Jigging, Popping, Uncategorized
the weather is perfect, no wind , sun and a bit of cloud . We went out 20 minutes to the first fad , chasing yellowfin tuna . Two of the guys wer popping , that is the boat trolls slowly and you put poppers out the back and jig them to make the splash . I put out a 7″ soft plastic pearl white colour on a 7/0 hook , 120 lb leader . It wasn’t even 60 seconds when I got hit and a 10 kg yellowfin was in the boat . Reset and not 5 minutes went by and a 4-5 kg skip jack hit the soft plastic . Then another two quickly after . It hadn’t even been half an hour . The poppers had 3 huge hits but all of them failed to hook up .
We went to the next fad , much quieter , but two big hits on the poppers and again no hook ups . Then just as we decided to go for luck and a snorkel , three hits together , two big tuna and one Mahi Mahi on the soft plastic . See photo . One tuna was lost , the other one eaten by a shark , we only got the head in , see below photo , and the Mahi Mahi was for dinner.
After lunch we went jigging to shoes dog tooth tuna . Nothing landed but three bust offs . These fish are fun and frustrating .
So s quieter day overall but enjoyable , getting us ready for day 2 . Update this tomorrow .
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How to rig live yakkas with the two hook rig

BY: Webteam / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Jigging, Knots & Rigs
Rigging wit he two hook rig is pretty easy if you know how . See the photos below . The top hook goes in first on the back of the fish . Be careful to just put the hook through the fish just under the backbone . The closer you get to the top of the back bone the better as more of the hook juts out .i like it in the back as I feel the fish vibrates more in the water and attracts the kingie or jewie . In the nose , they swim more freely . The second hook can either stay free or just get pinned at the bottom of the fish near the tail . Either is ok . If you are using a stinger hook ie treble , then let it roam free on yakkas but pin it on w live squid . The squid is for another blog .

 

 

 

 

if you want to troll a live yakkas or any live fish you need to pin the top hook in the nose of the fish . Not the mouth as they can drown . In the nose they are free to swim with the speed of the boat and live a lot longer . Then I put the stinger hook into the bottom near the tail , just in case .See photo .
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PRO TIP #1: Red bead above the jig head

BY: Webteam / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Jigging, Knots & Rigs
If you ar fishing for flathead in shallow water , on the flats , or in depths no more than 10-15 ft ( 3 -6 ) metres , then put w red plastic bead on your leader line just above the jig head . It seems to attract the flathead . Whether it looks like an eye of the soft plastic bleeding , I don’t know , but you will catch more flathead . If you want to make the soft plastic look like it has eyes then put two red beads on . You do a loop knot ( see previous blogs on how to tie it ) . First you do the half hitch on the leader leaving the circle in the line , put the first bead on now , then put the leader through the jig head and then put on the second red bead , now tie the loop knot . You will t the soft plastic looks like it had two red eyes . Now try it on the fishing , if there is a flathead around you will get hit by it .
see photo below .
another tip tomorrow .

 

 

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