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Get Cranking — Jarvis Wall
Get Cranking - not cranky
Cranking Estuaries and Bays By Jarvis Wall
Using crankbaits is a technique and lure style that usually goes under the radar here in Tasmania but it should never be overlooked as it’s one of the most effective and fun methods of lure fishing for finicky fish in shallow or mid-range water.
Target Species
As a general target species you’ll predominantly be looking for Southern Black Bream and the Silver Trevally, these are two very exciting prospects as they are both very much at home in the skinny water where I’ve found the crankbaits to work best and they can pull some serious string on the light gear! But, this won’t rule out other species, you’ll be likely to encounter Sand and Southern Bluespot Flathead, Leatherjackets, Australian Salmon, Tailor and even Luderick and King George Whiting are realistic targets on these versatile lures at the right time of year.
Locations
Tasmania’s East Coast can be exceptionally good and it’s a great ground to heighten your skills as there’s generally a good number of fish life up in the shallower areas. Places like St Helens and George’s bay can be amazing at times, the bay is littered with sand flats and acres of broken weed beds that hold good populations of Black Bream, Silver Trevally, King George Whiting, Australian Salmon and Tailor. The channel edges can be extremely productive on certain days, you can encounter Silver Trevally up to very large sizes and in the current, there isn’t much that pulls harder in our estuaries on light tackle. Ansons Bay is another fantastic location, the variety of fishing opportunities are many for such a small body of water. You can fish the shallow flats for big Black Bream and also the channel into the bay which holds good numbers of Silver Trevally as well. There are also plenty of good cranking areas up the river on the sunken timber or around the deeper edges for Black Bream, Silver Trevally and the occasional Pinky Snapper. Little Swanport and the Swan River are also fantastic Black Bream fisheries and cranking the sand flats can be incredible amounts of fun. Cranking around the shallow oyster leases can be very deadly too, but can also get very expensive if some of the big bruisers decide they don’t want to come out from their barnacle and oyster encrusted homes.
Along the North Coast and North West Coast, there are great options for Black Bream and King George Whiting in the shallows. Big Southern Bluespot Flathead can take a liking to these little lures at times too on the right day, particularly when fishing over broken weedbeds. Some really large Black Bream show up at times on the North Coast rivers and are very much at home moving up into the shallows, they are incredibly spooky and difficult prospects to get a bite out of without blowing your cover which makes for a
rewarding experience if you do manage to land one. Fish over the 2-kilogram mark are not uncommon but they are very localised in where they hang out. King George Whiting is an interesting target as it’s a bit out of the ordinary to think they take lures but they are quite common catches on prawn style soft plastics so don’t be fooled, they will happily smack a prawn pattern imitation crankbait. They’re usually only the smaller fish but it’s still very fun and a great clean way of catching a feed of them without the bait side of it.
In the south of the state, there are great opportunities, mainly so in the mighty Derwent River. The Derwent River is undoubtedly one of the countries most famed and reputable Black Bream fisheries and crankbaits have a very successful hit rate when used in the right place at the right time. Whether it’s down in the lower system fishing over cleaner water and bottom-up shallow or up the river on rocky shores and shallow rock flats they seriously work.
Time of year
The time of year plays a massive part in crankbaits for me as I’ve found the cooler winter months deter the fish going up shallow into the colder water as much as they do when it’s warm in Summer, especially the Black Bream as this is generally when they move higher up systems to reproduce. Cranking the edges of channels can still produce good numbers of Silver Trevally on the East Coast bays like George’s bay in winter but for me, I believe late Spring into Summer is the best by far. The Black Bream thicken up in the shallows and more of the summer species like King George Whiting and the Southern Bluespot Flathead come into the estuaries and go up into the shallows as well. Plus it’s also far more enjoyable if you’re wading!
Areas
Areas can many but there’s a very simple rule which I like to follow, and that’s if you’re casting over broken weed or scattered weedbeds you’re in the right area. Especially when looking for Black Bream and Silver Trevally. If you keep searching the areas that hold weedbeds or even other broken ground like shell grit or shallow rocky bottom with oysters you’ll find fish. That’s not to say a desert-like sand flat won’t hold fish either and at times they can be very productive grounds, especially when sight casting to slow, mooching fish which is incredibly fun. Drop-offs from a shallow flat into a deeper channel or just deeper water can be very productive too, this is predominantly where I’ve encountered fish like big Silver Trevally, Salmon, Tailor and more of your mixed bag kind of species.
Retrieval and Technique
This is where crankbait style lures can perform in a class of their own. They are very versatile in the ways they can be fished but there are three retrieves that you really need to know and then you can find your own variations off them. Number one is the slow flat wind to pause. This is what I’d be using if I was fishing a wide-open sand flat where I’d be just grubbing the bib of the crank into the sandy bottom creating a smoke trail behind the lure which may draw any attention in from longer distances. Every five or six winds chucking in a pause to let the fish eat it if they are following. Number two is the draw and pause. This is a favourite of mine fishing over those broken weedbeds and scattered bottom. Just one slow draw sideways of the rod and pause, wind up the slack and repeat, it’s so simple yet super effective on Bream and Trevally as you let the lure suspend for longer over the broken bottom. Number three is what I’d go fishing one of those dropoffs into deeper water, fairly similar to retrieval number one but here I’ll use a crankbait with a deeper diving bib so I just plough into the bottom with the two or three twitches I’ll give the lure, I’ll then let it sit and pause for three seconds or so in the stirred up bottom. Again this is more of a prospecting tool as you’re potentially calling fish in from a distance. There is no right or wrong way to fish them but I’ve found these retrieves to be a good base to get going. It also pays to remember that stealth is very much paramount when stalking fish on the flats, the quieter you are and the more distance you can keep between you and the fish the better your results will be. So that means ideally wade slowly and methodically without creating too much-splashing noises and if you’re in a boat an electric motor is almost paramount as you have full control of
Tackle and Gear
In saying these lures are great and versatile, you do need the right equipment to fish them to their full potential and as a base for a newcomer to go off, this is the direction I’d point them in. A nice medium-fast action 2.1-metre spin rod rated from 1-3kg or 2-4kg matched with a 1000-2500 size spinning reel spooled with 1-3kg breaking strain braided line which follows onto a 2-4kg fluorocarbon leader depending on the area you’re fishing. My favourite crankbait would be the Cranka Crank 35mm in a green or clear prawn style pattern or a dark colour like black, bronze or dark red. Don’t be afraid to experiment though as certain days may fish better with certain colours due to light conditions or the moods of the fish, it pays to have a healthy selection of colours to cycle through, especially if you’re seeing fish that are feeding but you’re not getting their attention with the colour you’re using. Mix it up and eventually, you’ll hit pay dirt.
So don’t be afraid to pick up some crankbaits the next time you’re in the local tackle shop, give them a go and you’ll have a blast!
A selection of different cranks for fishing Tasmanian estuaries
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