Bright lures in dirty water

Townsville

Dave Hodge

So far the wet has resulted in some mixed emotions and results for many anglers. Traditional locations such as Aplins Weir have produced some big fish, and quite a few of them, but for those of us who just can’t handle standing in the middle of shoulder-to-shoulder anglers, it was a lot more of a search before you located reasonable fishing sometimes.

After the initial blackwater fish kills and flushing of the dead water from grass-laden billabongs and lagoons had gone, the barra started to head upstream, as is usually the case. A second lot of heavy rain halted the traditional migration though, and maintained high levels for a longer period of time. This made accessing some of the better spots impossible. Thankfully, we all have our little hidey holes, and we managed to find a few spots to bend a rod on a barra. We had a few lures to experiment with recently, with one of the stand-outs being the Real Baits by Atomic. They replicate to a predator. Hardbodies have still been catching their fair share of fish, and the good almost identically each of the main types of baitfish that predatory fish hunt. We had a couple of the Mullet models and they were very effective in the faster flowing waters. We cast our lures out across the current and swam them back to our position, and bites were taken well down, proving their realism lures were more effective in the slower-flowing sections of water, while the plastics (more easily weighted and gauged) performed better in the faster stuff. I recommend experimenting with both lure types to see which is more effective in the area lately, we haven’t really done as well as usual this year on the topwater stuff. Subsurface presentations have by far been the most effective for us. As it clears a little though, I think this will change.

Fresh drains running into the salt have been where we have found most fish in the boat. It’s necessary to chase the tide as it changes height and be at the next drain downstream from where the last one fired as the tide dropped. The window of opportunity is short – often around half an hour.

Another aspect of this style of fishing is the fact that when you get hit, the fish run straight towards you, mouth open and thrashing until they throw the hook. You can’t physically wind fast enough to keep that line tight, and they spit it on most occasions. To improve our catch rates a little bit, we went to our longer baitcasters and used the extra length to reduce the amount of slack between us and the fish in the initial stages of the fight. For me, the Samurai 7’ 10-17lb was just right for this, and with a parabolic bend at maximum load, it made a massive difference to our success.

Tilsan Barra and have been getting results. I did notice that the hardbodied you’re fishing.

While some anglers have had incredible sessions on surface lures

Brightly coloured soft plastics have been indispensable for us lately. We have been getting good results on fluoro orange and pink Halco Paddle Prawns, and radioactive rooster and electric chicken in the Atomic 4” Prongs. When combined with the added contrast of some Protec Powder Coat on the weight of the hook, they were easier for the fish to find in the murky stuff.

Mangrove Jack

One aspect of finding jacks during this time of year is having a look at how much runoff each system has or how big of a catchment. Google Earth is great for this, but accessing some of these creeks during rough weather is just impossible.

Tides, too, have a bearing on the amount of time that you will be able to spend in a particular creek. It’s a fairly thin line between just getting in and out, or spending many hours stuck in a creek waiting for the tide to come back in so you can get out. ALWAYS carry more water and Aeroguard than you think you’ll need if you’re going to try to fish this way, because if you need them they’re a life saver. Sandflies and mozzies will be torturous if you don’t have something to ward them off during an unexpected stay. We have mozzie coils in the boat at all times, and light them as soon as we hit the water. You may not think that they would be that effective but believe me, you know when they run out.

Having some fluoro orange or pink on hand for the dirtier waters is essential.

Lures that work well in these smaller waters are your typical 4-5” long weedless soft plastics, but shallow-diving minnows and surface lures will still catch quality fish. My young fella Tannhym has been lucky enough to have some lures given to him by well-known timber lure maker Mark Truscott, and has been catching some nice fish on them. Mark, better known as Nik Nak, has even painted up some of his favourite models in Tannhym’s favourite colours, which you can see in the photo hereabouts.

Contrasting colours such as these are very effective in dirtier waters, and they have been working well for the young fella, that’s for sure.

If you get sick of chasing creek dwellers, you can always slip out the front and have a look around the creek mouths in case there are some queenfish poking around the flats. The jelly prawns are a big target for them, not to mention the golden trevally. 80mm Halco Roosta Poppers are always going to be productive, and the strike is quite aggressive and spectacular. If the fish are up over that metre mark, they put up an excellent fight. If you’ve never caught them before, you’re in for a great experience. It’s actually quite amazing the contrasting lure styles and sizes they’ll eat. The other day I got a metre queenie on a 3” Atomic Prong and at the same instant my son hooked a 110cm on a 80mm Roosta Popper. When queenfish are in feed mode they’ll eat just about anything.

Anyway, I hope this helps you prepare for some of the unexpected and unpredictable situations you can find yourself in at this time of year. Having options is key.

Good luck, and stay safe.