Guide to better fishing PART 1

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This is a guide written by me 100%, with out any plagiarism From the knowledge I have learnt and pasted down to me.


Now if you are reading this guide you will be want to increase the amount or at least quality of fish you catch. I live in South East Queensland (Australia) however the steps I will be exploring could be used for fresh or saltwater fishing wherever you are.

“Know your Enemy” Sun Tzu's The Art of War​

The more you know about your enemy the more of an advantage you will have over them, and this is 100% true in fishing. If you know where your target species lives, what your target species eats, what colors are the target species attracted to…You have already won the battle. However you have not one the war.

Location/ Habitat
Breeding Times
Best bait (lures/ Live or Fresh Bait)
Best Time

You can find a majority of this information from your local bait shop or through the internet.

An example is winter whiting


I personally go fishing for winter whiting during the winter months at Redcliff, they are plentiful and normally when you “hit” one whiting there are normally more to follow.


Location/ Habitat: Best found on the run out and run in on tides, near structures such as bridges etc. (At Redcliff I personally go under the bridge and fish the tide in/out)

Breeding Times: They normally breed after the winter months, however they are normally very active in the colder months.

Best bait (lures/ Live or Fresh Bait): I am not a huge fan of using lures, however I have used very small ones and they have worked well on my “light rod” set up. I personally love using live bait. “If you would not eat it don’t think the fish will”. The bait I use when at Redcliff is yabbies, I will explain more later on in my guide.


Best Time: The great thing about whiting are they are activate through out the day, however on the out/in going tides they normally gather in feeding frenzies. In most case’s this follows at dusk or dawn.

Tools of the trade​

If you have read this far I would presume you would own the basic’s of a fishing kit. However if you are going after certain species (crabs) or collecting bait (yabbies) you will need some special equipment.

However the most important part of gathering bait for salt water fishing is almost 100% free.

Collecting Sand worms
With sand worms the only real requirement is to have a piece of smelly flesh of fish (mullet is great but any will do) You will also need to find an appropriate part of the beach, some will not have any sand worms at all where just 1km up the beach there will be more sand worms then you could poke a stick at. Local knowledge is ideal, so ask your local bait shop or an local if you do not know where Ideal beach is.

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Get a old onion bag or an old stocking, cut into a few smelly fish carcasses or any old bait you have laying around (muscles squid) an push them into the old onion bag or stocking.
Watch the tide come in and out, and stand just in the middle of the “wash” zone. Wait until the next big wave comes in and walk across the beach front very quickly dragging the smelly bag back and fourth. As the water runs back outs (takes few seconds) you will see a small patterns in the run of water where the sand worms heads have risen to try and feast on the fish carcass. The sand worms have picked up the scent and have come out to investigate. Now you know where they are.

Now some people like to dig them up however, that is way too easy. However if you do wait until the tide has completely went out and the sand has started to dry. Less moisture in the sand makes it a little harder for the sand worm to escape.

The method which was taught to me is one which takes a lot of effort and patience, the first time I went collecting sand worms it took me 2 hours out in the middle of the day before I finally got one. Where my Dad was able to get nearly a bucket full (30 – 40) in under 5 minutes.

Now As I said above you know where they are grab your scrap of flesh/fish and stand above the small patterns, kneel down (DO NOT SIT OR MAKE ANY NOISES ON THE SURFACE) and wait till the waves rush in over you. You will need to have a reasonable balance. Place your scrap of fish above where you had seen the worm when you dragged the bag across the waves break. Or get your mate or friend to drag the bag back across, with the flesh let the worm nibble on it. While it does this try to position your other hand (writing hand) near the head of the sand worm. As the last bit of water rush’s out grab the head of the worm and pull up, there you go you have caught your first salt water worm. You may have caught half a salt water worm, with the other half been broken of, but do not worry practice makes perfect.

This is great thing to do with your family, and fish love salt water worms. The cost for about 5-9 saltwater worms is about $5. So you can save your self thousands of dollars and have a nearly unlimited supply of fresh free bait. However from one fisherman to other, only take what you need. So our children and there children can enjoy such an experience.

Collecting Live bait​

Live bait is also a great bait, your target species may be mullet, Pilchards or maybe even prawns. But in ether case you will need a cast net.

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The sizes of nets vary I personally own a 10Ft cast net, but for first time users I suggest using an 8ft or 6ft net. The weight for beginners with a 6ft net will hurt there arms like they had just benched 100Kgs in 5 set reps. You can build up as time goes on and your skill increases, when you first start practice on grass. Perfecting your throw back and forth will build up your arm strength and let you get used to aiming your net. You know when your are ready when you can throw 5-10 perfect circled casks (nets).

The same as sand worms you need to know your location, however a great place to try is of jetties or boat ramps (mostly for mullet and larger bait fish, in some cases you will catch larger fish and in most cases I have caught legal sized bream and flat head of jetties) Just be sure that there are no rocks in the water where your casting or oyster beds. If you take the risk of throwing near rocks you will be rewarded as most fish use such places for shelter, but if you can not wade (go out) and untangle your net then do not risk it.

Pumping for Yabbies
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Yabbies are the most second sought after live bait for fisherman, and the second most favored food for all fish. Yabbies are easy to catch; you need to find a suitable place to pump for them with your Yabbie pump and a bucket. Normally mud/sand flats with little pockets of water are ideal. And as stated above ask the locals and they shall point you in the right direction. The little pockets of water with yabbies have little holes in them where the yabbies live, place the Yabbie pump over the mouth of the hole, push into the sand and suck out the sand/mud and water. As you do shoot the sand/water onto the sand where you can then pick out the Yabbies, do a few extra pumps into the same hole and you will normally get a few extra yabbies. With yabbies you will find that you will need a lot for a good days fishing, and you will have to keep them alive for best performance. So change the water ever few hours, and taking out the dead yabbies as time goes on so the other can live for longer.


More to come in Part 2 of my guide of better fishing, this is my first guide and I hope it has helped some of you. And remember take only what you need, so we can all share the experience of fishing.

 

Any one even read this>?

 

thats a great guide

i live in new zealand but might still try this out

 

Thats great guide, but in my country fishing is much different :/

 

Thanks love to hear more comments etc

 

I tried it, works pretty well, I like the long guide. A lot of effort shown.

 

Bump - Learn to fish guys