Fish are heading down deep for the winter months

HUNTER VALLEY

Nick Price

Winter is a great time to fish, and is overlooked by most anglers. Excluding the November reaction bite, this is my favourite time to fish. The days are nice, particularly after a frost and some fog, and the fish are hungry, responding to techniques that I love.

I enjoy fishing the edge with jerkbaits, slow sink Jackall Spytails and plastics. I will cover these techniques in detail in the July report.

This month I will focus on deep fishing in winter, using soft plastics fished both horizontally and vertically, ice jigs, skirted jigs, micro skirted jigs and Gulps. But before I move on this month, I want to mention the Lake Glenbawn Family Carp Muster, which will be held on Saturday 10 June. It is a family-friendly event with lots of prizes up for grabs, and you can find all the details on Facebook. The carp numbers have exploded in Glenbawn since the rain, with lots of big and small European carp. Over winter, schooled bass can be caught Gulping with the same technique that is used in February. In winter, try changing it a bit by using a micro jig with a Gulp. Then fish it like a Gulp with slow roll and shakes. Make sure you cut the skirt of the micro jig to length, and if it has a weed guard, cut it off. The bite is the same as February Gulping, so don’t strike.

Fishing deep football jigs in winter also works, using a Gulp as a trailer. This technique can be very effective once mastered, and involves shaking the jig on the bottom followed by a long pause. It is commonly referred to locally as the ‘Sump Shake’, after Liz in the shop first mastered the technique and taught her husband ‘Big Sump’ how to do it.

Fishing paddle-tail plastics on school fish during winter is the most consistent method. Fishing vertically is easy, and only requires slow rolling the plastic up through school. Colour is important, so swap colours around if the fish are not interested.

Bringing the paddletail plastic horizontally through the school is the most consistent, but can also be the most difficult to master. The plastic needs to stay at the required depth and be in the strike zone for as long as possible. If you’re using LiveScope this can be done easily. Without LiveScope, a fair amount of skill is required. Count much fun as the techniques change continually, and a minor adjustment can make the difference between an average session or a blinder. Next month we will look at the winter edge bite. Nothing beats this for fun!

Remember, if you’re

At the time of writing this report, here are the dam levels: Copeton Dam - 94%, Pindari Dam - 86%, Keepit Dam - 97%, Split Rock Dam - 100%, and Glen Lyon Dam - 98%.

Copeton Dam always seems to attract many people from all over the country in search of that fish of a lifetime, and it is not hard to see why. There are several big cod dams in Australia, and Copeton Dam has definitely lived up to its reputation as one of them, with monster fish being caught consistently for many years now, all year round.

Lake Keepit, Split Rock Dam, Pindari Dam and Glen Lyon Dam (which sits just on the QLD border) are all not too far away from each other, and are good choices for the different down the jighead to the depth required and then keep pausing so the jighead stays at this depth.

The bass usually gently take the plastic with a tap, tap, tap. Sometimes you will need to stop winding, and at other times keep a steady retrieve. Bass fishing is so heading up to the Barrington, Glenbawn or St Clair, please drop into the shop at the turnoff to Glenbawn in Aberdeen and ask about the different techniques and what they are biting on. We stock all the quality tackle that you need. fishing opportunities they present as well.

Replicating the bait-life in and around the waterways with lures the best way you can will give you a really good shot of finding big, active natives such as XL cod and even big golden perch. Throwing lures from the bank at this time of year can be a very fruitful way of fishing, too; you don’t always need to own a boat to catch fish like these.

Throwing swimbaits or chatterbaits under the moonlight, or even surface lures under the cover of darkness, can be an exciting way of catching big cod, and these lures will bring their fair share of fish this month. Just remember to fish confident in the gear you like most, rug up, and be prepared to make a lot of casts. Winter fishing can be tough but the rewards are always worth the effort when the bites come around.

The full moon will be above on the 4th of this month, with the new moon falling around the 18th. Good luck and tight lines.