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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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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Fishing Pittwater – Bonito and Bream

BY: Webteam / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Bream, Jigging, Pittwater, Soft plastics
Plenty of fish in Pittwater this weekend . Big silver bream are around the moorings . The bonito have arrived and they are fun on your bream gear , trevally are roaming around amongst the moorings and jetties , anywhere there is structure . Kingies are there but they are just not biting . I have live yakkas out and worked soft plastics but they just were not interested . Others were saying that they are biting on short strips of fresh squid . Tailor and salmon are yet to arrive but there is plenty of fish around .
i caught the bonito on my bream gear , 2″ Berkley shrimp , new penny colour , and the fight was terrific , all around the boat . Bream I caught were also on the shrimp new penny colour .
​i have found that the best way this weekend was to go light , 1/16 th jig head weight and fish in 5-7 metres of water and let it slowly drift down to the bottom . Most of the bream I caught hit the soft plastic on the drop half way or 3/4 way down . Be patient , they will hit it . The bonito hit it on the way up when I was slowly jigging the lure up to the surface .

 

 

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Day 4 Vanuatu fishing

BY: Webteam / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Fishing Trips, Jigging, Popping
This morning we took the 4 wives out for a fish and a snorkel . As it was clam we went to the fads for popping to get some yellowfin tuna . Three rods out , two popping and one on a 7″ soft plastic. Within 10 minutes of popping a double hook up , one on the gold popper and one on the soft plastic . Both big hits . Mayhem , everyone scrambling to help the girls as the reels were screaming . As there were two fish on, the boat could not chase them . After about 5 minutes the tuna on the popper was sharked so over to the small red rod PE 3-5 strength , with 10,000 reel and 50 lb braid . This was a big fish for this rod so the 4 girls took it in turn to pull it in . Three of the guys helped at times and after about 40 minutes the great yellowfin was at the boat . Not before they got it to the surface twice to see how big it was . Third time lucky . About 25 kg or so , same length as the big ones but not as thick around the body .A great shot below . They were very pleased , but didn’t want any more popping ! So next we took them jigging . Surprisingly they learnt this pretty quickly and were quite good at it . Six or eight fish came into the boat , some photos below , then it was time for a snorkel and lunch back at the lodge.

 

 

In The afternoon the four of us went chasing dogies . We didn’t land one , the afternoon was quiet for a while but then we were hit with some big fish . One fish spooled Chris’s reel , all 300 yards of 60 lb braid , in an instant . Either a big sailfish or small Marlin . All of us were using bigger gear this time but we still had fish that we could not stop . Amongst the big hits we managed some smaller reef fish ! But the Sharks played havock with our catches . Just as we were finishing one small fish coming up got hit by something really big . We couldn’t move this thing . It was on the biggest rod I had PE 6-8 with 20,000 Stella reel 100 lb braid and 200 lb leader. We shared this rod for half an hour and still couldn’t get the fish up past the 40 metre Mark . Probably a big shark or grouper , but my money was on a shark as they had been constant all afternoon . Finally we busted it off as we had to go home , so it is there for one of you .
The Trees and fishes lodge is in my opinion the best place to go if you want to catch a lot of fish or you want to chase trophy fish . You can do either . The boats and gear and skippers are great . They will chase what you want and do any type of fishing you want . Or you can just follow what they say and catch what is going around .
The lodge itself, run by Angele is fantastic . From the moment you arrive at the airport you want for nothing . Food is exceptional , so is the service , and the accommodation is excellent . Whether you go with your mates or take your wives everyone will go home impressed . You just book through Ocean Blue here in Aus . You must get over there . Our wives were impressed and want to go back !

 

 

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Day 3 Vanuatu fishing

BY: Webteam / 0 COMMENTS / CATEGORIES: Fishing Trips, Jigging, Popping
Today the boys have a full day fishing while the wives visit the market and then a relaxing day at the lodge . This morning we were after the big yellowfin tuna, popping the 11″ poppers on PE 6-8 popping rods and Stella 14000 reels , 80 lb braid and 200 lb leader . Well , it wasn’t even 10 minutes and Greg had this huge hit and he was on . The tuna took off and peeled nearly all the 300 yards of line off the reel . I think we had 20 kg of drag set . It took about half an hour and a couple of fishermen changes to get him in but eventually it was in the boat. What a beauty , 40 kg of pure muscle . See photo below.
Next about half an hour later , Chris was on , same rod , same popper . Not quite as big but it took off also taking half the line . Chris managed to get this one to the boat in about 10 minutes . Another beauty about 25 kg of muscle . Yellowfin were jumping out of the water everywhere but they turned off the bite and we didn’t get another one . So after about another hour and a half we took off for lunch and then to chase doggies .
The afternoon started slowly with only pike coming into the boat . Some bait for Paul . We then changed spots a couple of times and finally found a spot out of the wind and virtually no current . So we drifted here from 90 metres down to 50 metres . Plenty of bait on the sounder and then it all started to happen . Two hours of non stop action . No doggies to the boat ,but more than half a dozen bust offs and the same from sharks . My light weight jigging rod ,PE 2-4 with 5000 Stella was non stop with a 60 g jig . The sound of the braid peeling off like cotton is just an exciting feeling you never get sick of . Everyone was catching fish except the bait person ! But he did end up with a nice coral trout . So the fish in the boat were shark mackerel , big Rosie job fish , coral trout , GT,s, although the two big ones were shark food , we only got the heads up , skip Jack and more I can’t remember .. Chris caught a beaut amberjack,photo below. No doggies but it didn’t matter as we had fantastic fun.

 

 

I have to tell you about the rod incident ! Chris hit this good fish , not too big and then something huge hit and took the fish on his line . Well , this caused chaos. The skipper had to start the boat and tow this fish . Chris was not making much ground on it and the rod was bending like crazy with the drag at maximum for the rod. After about 10 or 15 minutes ,SNAP ! , the rod was shorter , so he passed it over to Paul to finish the job . He did by busting off the line with the shorter rod . We didn’t see what it was , a big shark or big grouper . But very funny to watch . See photos below . Last day tomorrow , stay tuned .

 

 

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