What am I doing wrong? :(

[Chamelion]

I've recently taken up lure fishing and as a guess, to a total of around 50 solid hours I've caught 3 fish.

I've tried - rising tide, lowering tide, top of the tide, bottom of the tide, morning, midday, afternoon, night, sand banks, holes, bridge pylons, mangroves, wiers, poppers, walk the dog lures, deep divers, shallow divers, prawnstars, soft plastics, fast retrives, slow retrives, long pauses, no pauses, short pauses, heavy rod action, light rod action, light line, heavy line, from a boat, from the land, I've watched video guides, read how-to's and tried my own techniques.

Help please?

[Lovey80]

Shit mate 50 solid hours? If i were you i'd look for a fishing buddy that specialises in lures and get shown a thing or two.

Cheers

Chris

[plastic_paul]

Where do you fish?

[Fish'n Junky]

I had the same sort of experience.. ! I read a post here by barraboy7 who encouraged going on a guided fishing charter. He recommended Brian Readman from anglers advantage on the sunshine coast. I spent a day with him and have never looked back.. His number is 0424 788 379 and, no.. I'm not on commission! :-)

[Jeremy]

I've tried - rising tide, lowering tide, top of the tide, bottom of the tide, morning, midday, afternoon, night, sand banks, holes, bridge pylons, mangroves, wiers, poppers, walk the dog lures, deep divers, shallow divers, prawnstars, soft plastics, fast retrives, slow retrives, long pauses, no pauses, short pauses, heavy rod action, light rod action, light line, heavy line, from a boat, from the land, I've watched video guides, read how-to's and tried my own techniques.

Way too may different things. Get some help and make some decisions about what you are going to try - locations, types of lures, and species you are going to chase. You pretty much need to already have a good understanding of how to catch the species on bait before you try to lures, so you know where and when.

Here are a couple of options for you.
1. flathead. not the absolute best time of year now but not too bad. Use plastics 3-4" worked SLOWLY. There are hundreds of posts on here about how to catch flathead on plastics, so do a search and read them.
2. trevally. This is a good time of year and you should be able to find them around structure such as bridges and rock walls. You need to be there at first light (4am) for a couple of hours, or fish from around sundown to dark. You can use poppers or plastics worked in mid-water. You should get a good idea if they are there from surface activity - fish smashing bait on the surface. If you see these bust ups, cast directly to them and work the lure immediately. The fish can still be there even if you do not see any bust ups, but poppers probably won't work without fish actively working the surface, so use the plastics only. I find 3"-4" minnow style plastics in light colours work well with a small jighead (but regular size hook) so you can work them mid water.

Stick to light line and light leaders. Worry about landing fish AFTER you hook them. You will cast much further with light gear and the presentation is better.

Have a think about the best spot you know for either the flathead or trevally, and spend at least 3 trips doing exactly the same thing at the same spot on different tides before you decide to try something else.

Let us know how you go.

Jeremy

[myangle]

I have been where you are! And I am still on a very steep learning curve, but determined to minimise my bait use.
For what it's worth, here is my 2 cents
Gulp SP banana prawn 2 or 3 inch for flat head and bream. It is just about all i use at the moment. When something works I make a mental note.
I caught some squire on the above and also atomic (maybe nuclear) chicken SP, again Gulp.
Yes I do watch TV shows.
Yes I do read Magazines.
As far as hardbody lures go. Well, I am working on that one.

One other thing. If I catch a keeper, when I clean it I slit the stomach and make a note of what they are feeding on (an old trout fishing trick). It does work but it's a bit gross.

And of course if you are targeting a specific species, post here. I did it a week ago when I was going mackerel fishing and it proved very useful.

Good luck!

[Bladeca]

If you are just fishing regularly used spots in the maroochy over the Chrissy break I wouldn't get to concerned about not catching much at the moment. There has been alot of people and traffic on the water. I've been down there a couple of times and have yet to see people getting good fish. Yesterday was at pinic parade or something like that and didn't see a single fish caught (probably 30 people fishing) except for the suicidal 8cm winter whiting that hit my SX40. There were plenty of whiting and mullet in the water there (damn cast net would have been handy) they just don't seem to be biting and I don't think the wind is helping.

Take note of what Jeremy and the others have said try one thing at a time in one area until you have it sorted then go onto the next thing. It is a very common practice amoungst the guys on this board when you read about their starting out of using SP and hardbodies. Quite often takes a while but once the knack of the first method is worked out the rest seems to come alot easier.

I myself have only started on lures and SP and will be taking a charter with Brian when I can. There are very good reports on him, go to his website and read his tips on fishing with SPs. Just stick with it and keep having fun while doing it.

Good luck

[nufin_flash]

i went about 6 solid months before i caught my first pittiful flattie , know your pain all to well

[MickThe]

We have all been there to some degree.

I was catching a few fish but to speed up the learning curve I considered using a guide, but ended up going out fishing with someone who already did say soft plastics......and that got me started.

Then I entered an ABT event as a non boater for both bass and bream, and i learnt enough in those 2 days to not only get me catching fish but also it gave me several new spots to fish.

Good luck

Mick.

[Just_chips]

I think to be successful you really need to target a particular species and concentrate your efforts around that fish not just "go fishing".

Generally fish that are targetted with lures are predators and they can be found in a couple of key areas, these being - Baitfish (food) and structure. Structure could be interpretted as anything and would include thisg such as sandbanks, bridges, rockwalls, rockbars, fallen trees or even an old tire in the middle of an otherwise barren piece of sand. If you can combine the structure with the food you have a greater chance of scoring, the hard part is getting the fish to eat your lure but you need to find these areas first.

But keep doing what you are doing, read, watch and listen to as much information as you can and spend the time out there actively trying because you can't catch a fish without you're lure in the water.

Others have mentioned the use of a guide and I tihnk that is a terrific idea and would certainly be money well spent.

Kev

[Chamelion]

Cheers all Taking all advice on board!

I've been using hard bodies primarily, but picked up some squidgies today, along with a shiny new starlo stix squidy spin M... I'm committed to learning the art, I'm well and truly over dead bait and it's entirely possibly my other soft plastics are crap.

I'll suss Brian out, but it depends on how my boat goes. She might cost a lot more to fix than I had hoped, so things may be tight for a little while.

We're doing a group fish over at the twin water wier tonight from about 6:30pm, so I'll see how I go!

Matt.

[netmaker]

definately am no expert - only started with softies 6 months ago but have caught decent numbers of flathead and squire just off the end of the Wello pt leads drifting up and down along the drop off. species caught on softies to date: bream, flathead, whiting, squid, maori cod, sweetlip, long tom, yellowtail pike, squire, (sorry .... little snapper - still lookin for the big one), flounder, golden spotted blubberlips (morwong family), porcupine fish, toadfish and grinner (plenty) along with 1 turtle (thought i had that snapper) and a shark. you just need to keep at it and when it starts working keep your own notes as to when, why and with what. i converted after going out with 2 different mates using plastics to my fresh pillies and gettin my ass kicked - 9 fish to 1 in the first case and a nice 45cm squire to nil in the second case. since then i have converted 3 mates to plastics (another a current work in progress) and was the one to catch the fish whilst watching some other poor bugger trying to use bait! Also lost fish using hubba bubba bubble gum as bait twice in the last week and hopefully can get one in the boat caught on bubble gum in the next week!

cheers
dave

[jezz11]

Hi mate,

ok, what you need to do is fish with someone experienced. Or else you will bang your head against the Wall.. I did...

So you are in Moroochedore, try River Fishing Safaris in Noosa:-

http://www.noosariverfishingsafaris.com/

Best way to learn. They are very good.

Also talk to as many people as possible. There is a great shop in Noosa called Ed's Tackle (just before the mariner on Gympie Tce).

Ask questions and always give it a go as they are local anglers themselves.

Hope this helps.

Jerry

[tunaticer]

Where possible think of presenting your lure in
1. the right direction in realtion to the waterflow
2. so it swims as naturally as possible at the right depth and speed to suit conditions.
3. use the current and wind direction to your advantage as much as possible.
4. try not to be in a fixed position, either drift or walk / wade with your lure.
5. control your slack line enough so it has minimal slack but not tight.
6. watch your line for pickups rather than waiting to feel them. Most fish taste a lure esp soft plastic a LOT more often than we realise.
7. regardless of the tide or conditions, first light is by far the best bite period of the day. Currently it is about 4.15am in the morning so set that alarm and get to bed earlier.

[Scalem]

Chamelion,

I'll put a totally different slant on this that maybe nobody has thought of - at least a quick glance over replies don't seem to have addressed it completely. Jeremy came close to his reply when he said "Way too may different things"

Agree or disagree, fishing is like selling, it's a numbers game, and you have to have your irons in the fire for when the customer is ready to purchase.

I have seen and fished with so many that have the right gear, the right location, but have the " I think the fishing is useless here, let's try another spot" mentallity, and spend more time motoring around than they have lines in the water. I am a little guilty of having too many varying colours of plastics and lures, i can tend to overdo it a bit, cutting trace and retying different weights a million times in one session, when I try to resist the temptation and stay with a few that I know have worked in the past. Around Mud island where I normally fish, the morning crowd usually anchor at the popular spots, then bug out when the tide goes slack or the wind kicks in. That's when you find me in the same place I started fishing at sun up, and I have the whole place all to myself after the others have gone, maybe only one or two other boats within sight, the schools of fish settle back in, and the fun begins!! Happens more times than i can remember.

Keep to all the good advice given in this thread, target one type of fish with one or two techniques, but maximise the time you have that line in the water. Practice your knot tying too. I have had deckies still trying to tie one knot while I caught two fish in the meantime

It's a numbers game..........

Scalem