ULTIMATE ANGLING - the Ultimate SA Fishing website
General Angling Topics => Saltwater Lure Angling => Topic started by: Tommo on June 05, 2012, 05:44:30 PM
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I have been watching Windguru for the last week, and it was clear that this morning was going to be a pearler. I had committed myself to a family lunch, but decided the morning looked so good that I would get up early and do a quick few hours on a nearby estuary, and at least get to enjoy the perfect conditions on the water.
Also I received my package of new lures that I ordered from Bass Pro shops recently, and was dying to give some of them a test drive. There is no test more stern for an estuary lure than to use it during the winter months, when the action is much slower. I actually relish these tough days, because it makes me think harder, and push the boundaries, and that is where the learning curve gets steeper.
My mate Cliff brought his fly gear and we headed off out of his driveway at 4.30am. At 6am we were on the water and motoring up to the headwaters of the river. The water was glassy and perfect, but very little sign of fish movement, apart from the odd lethargic mullet cruising just below the surface. None of the usual visible chases and splashes that seem to be so common at this time of day. The water was fairly cool and very clean, as spring high had been at about 4am and there is the lag up river, before the tide really changes up there.
I tried some surface lures to start (as always) just in case there was some surface potential, and was rewarded with a small kingie eating my brand new Mirro Minnow, but the hooks pulled after about five seconds and then no more action on the top.
I then moved on to my brand new Mirrodine Mini, which is a slow sinking, subsurface lipless twitchbait. An awesome looking little lure that I was dying to try for the stubborn perch. Sure enough I got a little perch quickly, by working the lure with a slow injured twitch near some rocks.
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff447/craigfish1/DSC_2740.jpg)
I was delighted to catch something on my brand new lure, and especially when things were tough!
Not long after that it was followed by a bigger fatter perch, which I actually saw coming up and gently inhaling the lure as I twitched it over the structure where he lived.
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff447/craigfish1/DSC_2745.jpg)
On 8lb braid and very light tackle, these little guys give a great account of themselves!
I then decided to try out a DOA shrimp that I have been waiting for ages to try, so tied it on and cast it out. I was working it very slowly, allowing it plenty of time to slow sink and dead drift between twitches, when it was gobbled up by a very greedy, but tiny Bigeye Kingfish. It was great to know that the lure was working, and even if it was a tiny kingfish, it was a fish when fish were not showing themselves.
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff447/craigfish1/DSC_2748.jpg)
Note how the little kingie left nothing to chance and gobbled the lure right down the hatch! Luckily the lure has just one single hook on it and it was easy to get it out and release the kingie to grow and fight another day. By the way, has anybody noticed the fashionable shirt that I am wearing yet?
I persevered with the DOA Shrimp some more and just before I had to call it a day and rush home for lunch I got my best pull of the morning. I was slow drifting the shrimp over some submerged rocks, with just the occasional small twich, when the line flickered and went briefly tight, then slack again. I cast back at the spot and did the same again, and sure enough same result, but too quick to strike and set the hook. A third cast at the same spot, and I was thinking, on a slow day will a fish really be fooled 3 times by the same lure when the line went tight and I set the hook, ON! The fish really wanted that shrimp!!! It was a little river snapper, that did its best to get amongst the barnacles, but wasn't big enough to take control. A lekker fight, and a lekker fish to end what had been a really pleasant morning!
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff447/craigfish1/DSC_2750.jpg)
My new lures had proven themselves to be up to the task, and I look forward to giving them a proper swim when the water warms up in summer!
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Lovely stuff Tommo... that's just ACE fishing in Winter conditions!! (clap)
CHECK THE SHIRT!!! What a posh and slick dresser!! :hehe:
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Great stuff, Tommo. You're styling in that shirt. :win:
:shk You are only able to see the size of your DOA shrimp in the last photo of the River Snapper, that Bigeye Kingy was really hungry! :hehe:
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It would make a nice ad? :hehe:
Hijack... sry
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Lololololol.... The shirt was the 1st thing I noticed !
Great catches Tommo, that's some awesome stuff as usual !
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It would make a nice ad? :hehe:
Hijack... sry
I likes. (clap) (clap)
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(clap) .... some great catches in cold conditions... nice shirt Tommo... :win:
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Great report Tommo... and the shirt makes it even more interesting!
When you say the water was could, how could do you reckon? 15, 18, 20o C?
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Hi Marcos, It wasn't less than 20 degrees, but cold for here. The river water was cooler than the sea water, so it was fairly unusual that the fish were caught in the upper reaches of the river. I moved around a bit and tried down near the mouth, where the water was warmer, but no action at all. The water was also the cleanest I have seen it in that river in months.
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Thanks... I've been paying attention to this since last winter we had 17o C in the bay and the bottom fishing was dismal... we could spot them with the fishfinder but they simply were not interested (makes sense!).
I guess for tropical/sub-tropical areas, water temps around 20o C or below are just too cold...
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Another great report Tommo,
Good test of those lures given the winter months.
Would be interesting to see how they perform later in the year, but I suspect that you have one or two :win: there
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:FST: now I feel like I dress like one of the pros! Or should I say the pros dress like me :hehe: good to see that some of the KZN estuaries still hold fish
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What an awesome report Tommo :envy lovely fish there!
How active are the snapper and perch in Winter compared to Summer?
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Snapper and perch are usually less aggressive during the winter months. Sometimes you wonder whether they are still in the system at all, but they are resident.
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Cool, lovely fish Tommo (clap)
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Snapper and perch are usually less aggressive during the winter months. Sometimes you wonder whether they are still in the system at all, but they are resident.
Tommo did u get those tail flicking prawns from oz? i cant wait to give mine a go.
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Great stuff Tommo and nice report. (clap) . The best shirt on the market!!
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It would make a nice ad? :hehe:
Hijack... sry
Reefman - where do you get those UA stickers for fish?????
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:tkx: for a lekka report!
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Hi Bushbuck2, I haven't got them. I had some friends coming over from Aus, but they didn't manage to get them for me. They look good though. I am enjoying the DOA shrimps, they don't have the bend in the body, flicking action, but have a very good natural sink, and look great in the water.
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Hi Bushbuck2, I haven't got them. I had some friends coming over from Aus, but they didn't manage to get them for me. They look good though. I am enjoying the DOA shrimps, they don't have the bend in the body, flicking action, but have a very good natural sink, and look great in the water.
I have a mate who is a bass pro and he makes his own soft baits. Says u get the rubber and a solvent that allows u to make the rubber as soft as u want. He makes his own moulds and going to try make something similar. You wont believe how soft the rubber on them is. Nothing like the plastics u get here, even softer than a bass senko. Just need tome time to sort it out.
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I thought I would put some pics on of the tackle that did the damage. Unfortunately these lures are not readily available in SA stores, so I had to order them from Bass Pro shops in the states.
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff447/craigfish1/DSC_2753.jpg)
Here is a close up of the Mirrodine Mini, from MirrOlure, a truly beautiful little lure that looks absolutely deadly in the water. I hope someone soon picks up a South African Agency from this company, as their lures are brilliant!
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff447/craigfish1/DSC_2754.jpg)
And below the DOA shrimp, a soft plastic shrimp with the weight in the thorax region, giving it a natural horizontal sink. It looks just like a shrimp drifting down to the bottom with its legs hanging down. Another agency that would be nice to see in SA!
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff447/craigfish1/DSC_2755.jpg)
We do not have enough shrimp imitations available in our stores, especially as this is such a major food source in our estuaries. The fish absolutely love them. It takes a bit of practise to figure out how to get the best out of the lure, but that is what swimming pools are for...
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Great stuff as usual Tommo, superb report...
I love the DOA products, we fished them ALOT in the Caribbean when I lived over there.... The shrimps were dynamite on the snapper in the coral lagoons around the mangroves, even though there was very little shrimp life in the area, and we did incredibly well on their jerk shad and paddle tail lures as well... and their CAls jig heads are some of the best I've seen..
Much like you I'm a huge MirroLure fan as well... my largest Tarpon, a 120lb fish was taken on a TopDog... they make some of the finest baits around....
Great stuff and as always, thanks for sharing!
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Thanks Andre. Yep, it isn't always about the monster GT's and Doggies etc. There is tons of fun to be had with the light tackle fishing locally...
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got them just about right, some new colours