A couple of friends from the USA's West Cost were in Australia recently. Instead of going after their usual Trout we had planned something quite different for them but familiar to our Sydney fishing readers.
Bonito Alley is a great fishing spot found along the cliffs of Vaucluse just outside the heads. As you can see on the map there is a long stretch that is ideal for trolling. Starting near the Macquarie light house and working your way south, the water drops quickly from the edge of the cliffs to the rocky bottom where many species are waiting. Kingfish, Bonito and Salmon are common along this stretch of coast and downrigging can be very productive. Catching one of these is usually followed by a second quickly as these school fish stick together, so as soon as you have landed your first get your line back over the side. Knowing that we were likely to catch fish under three kilos with the potential for a bigger one to come along, I used our 802 light combo. The light combo is great for lighter lures, giving you the ability to cast extremely far while retaining the strength you will need in the rod when you hook up on a big, hard fighting fish. The drag on the light combo is perfectly smooth and we have caught a ton of fish on them without having any problems.
When you are using light lures it is extremely important your able to cast them far. The black popper on the 802 light combo above was only twenty grams however I was able to send it out to 50 or so meters. With distance like that you'll be able to reach the shore even when your kept far out by rock outcrops. The accuracy was also impressive, with such a light rod you have a lot more control even without the weight of a heavier lure. We started trolling lures through Bonito Alley and we were getting strikes in no time, Doug started a fight check it out:
Here’s Richard, holding onto his first Bonito tight:
We had a blast considering we weren't getting huge fish, with the lighter tackle there is still a fight and skill involved with landing the under 3kg fish. It's extremely rewarding and our American friends had such a great day on the water without having to go out wide.
Anyone who fished Sydney through the middle of last year will remember how bad the weather was for an extended period of time. We decided to fish accordingly and limit our exposure to the elements. We began targeting Salmon in Sydney Harbour where the surrounding cliffs would protect us from the wind. Salmon reside in the harbour by the thousands in the middle of the year and finding enormous schools of them is common, busting up the surface:
The bait schools that congregate in the harbour bring with them huge amounts of predatory fish, have a look at this twenty second video:
When your unable to get out of the heads due to the weather or it would just be unpleasant to do so, fishing inside the harbour can be great fun especially when it's full of hard fighting salmon.
Best of all, on the Facebook page, we have friends and clients regularly sending cell phone video and pics showing where the fish are operating. But that doesn’t mean success is automatic. It’s common to arrive at a working school on the water to see it surrounded by boats. Blokes trolling around (or straight through!) the school. Casting metal slugs, soft plastics or minnows into the rolling fish. And quite often, getting no hook ups at all. Wouldn’t you think that, after your lure has been retrieved fifty times past thousands of feeding fish without a strike, you’d try something new? Apparently not. But there is a way. We didn’t discover it, and don’t take credit for it. It’s deadly. Meet our new soft plastic lures:
Greg wrote, after I put a pic on the Facebook page:
"Hows these new soft plastics what are we targetting with them. and how do you use them andy?"
What’s really going on when you see a big school of salmon rolling on the surface? They are feeding on whitebait. These tiny bait fish are too small to out swim predators. Their only defence is in numbers. The salmon attack from below, forcing the bait to the surface. From there, the only escape is downwards, where the salmon are waiting. Meaning that:
No retrieve is needed, because the bait fish we are trying to imitate are weak swimmers. The salmon don’t see a lure moving faster than the bait they’re feeding on, as food;
The lure has to be as close as possible in size to the bait fish they are chasing. Because all the bait fish are the same size - as you will see, when a captured salmon coughs some up, on your deck;
The lure should be operating in the top one foot of the water. Because that’s where the bait fish are operating;
If possible, the lure you use should be very light weight. Salmon are notorious for jumping, then snapping their head left or right, and tearing the hook out. In many cases, you actually see the lure flying through the air. It’s a lot harder for them to do that when the lure is very light:
Casting distance is important because the salmon can assemble suddenly and just as quickly disappear. Thankfully there’s an easy way to cast a four gram mini soft plastic a long way - and then keep it in the strike zone, within a foot of the surface. That’s where the bubble float comes in. I started out using them on carp:
If you haven’t seen one before, this is a clear plastic egg shaped float. It has a central plug through which your line runs. The plug can be withdrawn while the float is held underwater. You let as much water into the egg as you need to provide the casting weight you want. Then, you close the plug. Water is trapped inside the egg but it still floats. This means you have a small compact casting weight which will float when it touches down on the water. And you can make long casts with it. Fahrettin writes:
"802 blue light spinning rod bought it few weeks ago tried it out with the bubble float and fly , cracker of a setup champ bend on that rod with the salmon and them fly jigs hooked up every cast amazing setup thanks for all the info your a legend"
Note that it's not just salmon. Clients have been scoring big on bonito:
Kingfish:
So what’s the deal?
You can check out or purchase the whole package of rod, reel, braid, leader, bubble floats and SPs here. It’s only $110 delivered:
Click here to buy the 802 Blue combo
Or you can buy a ten pack of the SPs for just $21 including hooks Pic shows one colour only but we send an assorted pack:
Click here to buy the micro plastics pack
These are 7.5 centimetres long and have an internal prismatic sleeve which makes them shimmer like a real bait fish. But the biggest benefit is that they have an internal passage, making hook installation super easy. You don’t have to try to guess where the barb will come out, like you do with ordinary soft plastics. With this one you get perfect hook placement every time:
Here’s the specs:
Length 7.5cm
Weight 4 grams
Flexible soft plastic with paddletail
Internal prismatic reflective panel
Internal channel for hook – alignment is perfect, every time
10 soft plastics in each pack
5 matching hooks in each pack
Delivery included in price
Alternatively send $21 to https://paypal.me/downrigger
That’s a steal. Get back to me by email or phone, if you have any questions whatsoever?
Thanks for reading,
Andrew Hestelow
Managing Director
http://www.downriggershop.com.au/
Tel. 0402075000
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