North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Hey there people.

Here is the story...
I hav lived here for 4yrs now. In the last 2yrs I have gotten back into fishing, thanks to bigglen.
The best thing I have Landed is a Barracuda, and Shark.
I have tryed differnt land base places eg;
Tryed Buff, East point, East Arm, Channel Island (Bridge (today), ramp and in through the scrub), and also did the incoming tide of the Navy base (also today this arvo).

Tryed all differnt methods, like today at the bridge I tryed the out going(6am-8:30) I had 2 rod's and a Dog, I had one set up with bait, squid and then a pilly, No bite's so I left it while I tryed casting towards the mangroves where there were splashes coming form, tryed soft plastics, bomber's, and shallow diver's in differnt colours. Tryed both sides of the bridge, cause of the movement, still nothing.

At the Navy Base there were fish all around, tryed shallow, deep, and Plastics, landed them in frount of the fish and nothing, no intrestQQQ

I know that not every time U fish U get something.
I just feel as though I am doing everything wrong, and maybe for help I need to have some see what I am doing, At this point I will try anything. It is really dishearting to go out so often and not even get a nibble.

I am sorry for this BUT PLEASE HELP ME!!!!
If U can!!!

simplest lesson first up is NO PRESSURE, if ya go out fishing thinking i have to catch a fish then you stress out and that will lead to you giving it away. there is no real right and wrong way to fish and you need to do some homework and speak to the guys at the tackle stores about where you are fishing, what you want to catch and they will sell you what should work in the areas you fish. you may get bites on certain baits in some spots and not get a hit there the next day but thats life so pick a method for the day and stick with it. if you are going to use bait hang on to the rod and if you get no bites after say ten minutes wind in ome line to move the bait a bit etc. if you are flicking lures then flick around an area a bit and if no hits moove on a bit further. try some night fishing from the navy base wall and near the boat ramp. cmon on guys HELP kell out with some suggestions as 40 odd people have read it and what WE cant offer any advice ?

Kell,

I know how you feel, I went through the same thing (still do sometimes) but it's easier to bear knowing that you will have sucessful fishing trips and sometimes not so sucessful.
I find if I am not getting bites or at least nibbles in the first five to ten minutes I reel in and chuck the bait/lure in another area. try to concentrate on eddies in the current, near snags or pylons, usually upstream (slower tides) of them. As the tidal run gets stronger, the fish tend to take cover behind obstructions/pylons as they get tired of fighting the current. Also bear in mind during strong tidal runs sometimes yr baits/sinkers will be getting carried away by the current and may not get to the bottom.
.
Try to match the hatch as they say, in certain areas/times of year there may be an abundance of certain bait - say prawns, try to match the bait by either using live prawns or artificial prawn lures.
There's plenty of information in the Bluewater section of the forum about sucessful bait set ups to use

With lures there's a trick to retrieving, make the lure dart sharply BUT allow it to surface and let it sit there for three to five seconds prior to jerking it again. A nice slow retrieve is the go. Remember while the lure is in the water there's always a chance. Most of the time when casting the lure will be smashed while it is stationary, though that depends on the sort of fish barra/salmon/Jack? that hits it.

I would suggest to boost your confidence a bit is try to get out on a fishing trip on a boat (better chance at catching a fish), there's usually someone advertising for a deckie. Or rope in Bigglen Deckie is a better job in my opinion then skipper's job, they get to drink more and all they have to do is drop/retrieve the anchor . I usually always have the skippers job .

Hope this helps somewhat and remember dont give up, enjoy the outdoors experience and suddenly when you least expect it (usually when you reach for a you will be on !!

G'day Kell,

I know how you feel. When I first hit the land based fishing scene up here I struggled for a while to land any decent fish. Since then I've learnt quite a lot, and the thing that I've found thats made the biggest difference for me is to go out and target a certain species of fish. For example, blooping shallow diving lures or throwing poppers around under lights at night for barra. High speed spinning with metal slices and slugs for queenies off the rocks etc. Although whatever technique you employ to target a certain species, you've gotta be patient and give it time to work.

If you adopt this approach, the more you know about the species you want to target, and applying this to your fishing techniques, the more chance you'll have of catching one. This includes things like how the fish feed, what they eat, where they are found etc. You just have to do your research.

Theres heaps of info out there on all fish species, even on this forum alone you'll find a wealth of info. Failing that just ask google, google knows everything. And I reckon we all have fishless trips every so often, I know I do, thats just fishing for ya, so don't let that dishearten you.

Good luck, and I hope things turn around for you.

I know how you feel Kell. I don't fish from land alot but I have done the best on an incomming tide. I can't say I catch alot of fish cause I don't. My best advice is trial and error, but it sounds like you already doing this. My other advice is fishing is meant to be fun. Don't stress to much over it.

If you would like to go out and have a fish from a boat, PM me as I don't mind taking you out for a fish.

Fishfanatic, you are spot on about the joys of being a deckie. I did it for a mate a couple of weeks ago for the first time in years. It was a nice change not having to do two things at once. Much easier maning the esky instead of the helm.

Thanks Guy's,
I am still going out and trying. I thank you all, I have roped Big Glen into taking me out again, so I wont hold my breath but I know I have fun either way.
I do believe a Decky is a great job, too.

Thanks you rug for the invite I will take you up on that offer some day soon.


I hope to go from this to .

Thanks again.
Kell

kell one thing im no sure if it was mentioned , is getting sum live bait. I see u said u do a fair bit of bait fishing, so in my opinion with just about all spots a livey will get smashed by something if you send it out a lot of the time when bait wont. Ul be able to catch it at most the places u fish with a cast next. Good luck