G’day fishos. It’s nearly here, and just as much as we like Christmas itself, we all love the holidays that go with it.
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For anyone into fishing, holidays always mean the chance to wet a line either locally or on the coast which is a destination for many at this time of year.
If it is the coast you’re heading for, don’t forget to pack some soft plastics.
It won’t matter if you’re land-based or out in a tinnie in an estuary, or for that matter fishing for redfin in Lake Hume I suppose, the technique is pretty much the same.
It’s also the easiest and best way to put a feed on the table while keeping the kids occupied at the same time.
It’s nice to have new gear but just about any light trout or slight spin outfit you’ve got will do the job.
Ideally, you’d have a light 7’ rod, 1000 size reel and have it spooled with 4 to 6lb braid with a two-metre trace of 10 lb line.
For the average punter, like ourselves, on the coast we’re chasing flathead but as I said earlier, this same technique works just as well on reddies.
With the flatties, it’s best to try to concentrate your efforts around the change of tide.
An hour either side is generally recognised as prime time. I generally look for plenty of sand in an area that tapers off into deeper water but don’t be scared to fish the shallows.
I make sure I’ve got a jig head in the plastic that weighs around that five-gram mark so that I have a bit of weight to cast, as well as having enough weight to get to the bottom in a bit of current.
There’s a gazillion plastics out there but I tend to stick to stuff about 60 to 100 mm in length although lots of fishos go to 150mm or more – particularly if specifically targeting bigger fish.
My personal favourite is the “Z Man 2.5” grub”.
The critical thing with flatties is that they live right on the bottom and it’s imperative that your plastic is also right on the bottom.
When you or the kids cast out, don’t close your bail arm until you’re sure you’ve given the lure time to sink.
Once that happens you wind up that bit of slack and give the rod a couple of reasonable jerks before letting the lure settle again.
Repeat this process until the lure’s back at your feet and then belt it out there again.
Scent is also a huge advantage and makes a big difference to your catch rate so make sure you apply it every dozen or so casts.
As I said earlier, this same technique works great on redfin so don’t be scared to give it a shot on the weir.
Lake Hume is coming along ok with the odd cod, yella, and quite a few redfin showing up.
Most of the reports we’re hearing are revolving around lures being trolled or cast along likely looking banks in and around that five-metre mark.
On the redfin scene, it’s all about blades, vibes and plastics being flicked about once you’ve found them.
Dartmouth (72%): fished ok again this week and no reason to expect it to slow down.
Dart local Ron Payne dropped into the Compleat Angler and mentioned he’d picked up a couple on the troll and we’ve had other similar reports.
One item sure to interest many is the fact that the yabbies are also on the move up there, with reasonable numbers being picked up all over the place.
Streams: should have settled and are looking perfect for the Christmas period.
The Mitta is still running pretty high but there have been good reports of quality fish being picked up, particularly on larger spinners.
The cod scene is good everywhere.
The Murray above and below Hume, all the smaller streams such as the Kiewa, Ovens, King etc and Lake Mulwala are all firing.
Spinnerbaits, hard bodies, swimbaits and surface lures are all being chewed on by hungry cod at the minute so now’s a great time to have a crack.
All of the snowy lakes seem to be producing fish at the moment too and are all still rising.
Anyhow, hope you all have a great Christmas, hope Santa brings you something fishy and that you catch something while you enjoy the break.
Merry Christmas.
