[Magicrik]

WHAT ARE THEY.......
No really i think im too.........i cant think of the word
Anywho im not having much look fishing from my yak
(But i did ok with the trolling 3 ok flatties) i find all im doing to paddling around.....i was up past David Low bridge today that where i got the flatties the only problem with that is i started paddling from picnic point and i think looking at the map thats about 7K's.
It like i got ants in my pants or something. I sit there cast about 10 times and think (if i just paddle 50 meter up there ill get a fish) and on and on i go moving.
Is it best to just anchor up and stay put or driffed with the tide?
What do you guys do?

 

[PeterJ]

Got yourself into a bit of a bother there.

I'm a big fan of drifting, it might not be the "in" thing like trolling or casting (the glamour techniques) but i tells ya it works for me , especially for flathead. A bit of chop is best as it imparts action to the lure without the need to work at it.
With regular 60+ cm flatty catches in Melbourne each time i go out i won't complain. You can cover large areas easily , when you find one or two fish in an area paddle back and drift it again , there will be more there.

When i drift i go in 50 mtr long runs at a time and as said if i get a fish i will move a meter or two left or right and drift the area again and again.

 

[hairymick]

I also drift a lot,

Mostly working structure in my local river, casting unweighted live baits and let em sink naturally as I drift with the current.

Will generall work a bank going one way with the tide and when to tide turns, I work the other one on the way back. killer method chasing bream & jacks.

If the bite is slow, I cast a livie as mentioned and let the rod sit in a holder, and work a lure as well.

 

[PoddyMullet]

Seahorses for watercourses Magicrik....make ya fishing plan and have faith in her. Be patient with her, and tell her ya love her. Tweak her at the edges but mostly let her be. And "Whammo" ya persistence will pay off. When ya got that plan under control...tart ya-self around with another, they're all good. (Please also feel free to disregard any advice here mate, I'm feeling particulalry full of shit this morning and note I don't heed my own words :wink: )

PeterJ, I tends to remember drifting in my old mans boat (with bait not Sp's) for flatties and snapper....oh the fond distant memories. I also remember him wearing a Jim's Mowing hat where as the casting/trolling of todays yak fishing world are mostly wearing sequins and Carmen Miranda fruit bowl head pieces. No wonder the youngins are turning away from the drift (good as it is, some marketers just need to give it a shake up). Right oh, I'm off to paddle me yak across the desert with Mamma Mia belting out in the background...has anyone seen where I left my gown? :wink: :wink:

 

[Peril]

Rik, there is much wisdom in Poddy's madness.

Also, there aren't many of us getting big bags. I'd be happy with a 3 flatty bag.

 

[simond11]

Hi Rik
As I do a lot of ocean fishing, I use a sea anchor to slow my drift right down.This of course depends a lot on the wind and the current at the time. I find the sea anchor less cumbersome and a lot less heavy than a traditional anchor. I find it the best method, especially when I am fishing in 30-40 meters of water.
Cheers

Simon
Prowler 15

 

[PeterJ]

You are on the mark there Poddy. 15 years ago i used the soft plastic with lead head as a sinker as i'd lost my sinkers overboard and found the catch rate doubled, i still used a piece of squid on the top hook(paternoster rig).

Now i have pearl white coloured plastic that looks like sqiud strips molded by myself as the top bait.

Peril, 3 flatty per run or day :?:
If thats per day i'm glad i'm in mexico as i work on 5 per hour in slow conditions. Thats all over 45 - 50 cms. last time i was out i got 3 rods going at once ,2 with doubles on them.

I also use a drift chute.

 

[Dodge]

Rik

Where possible I drift or slow troll with the tide, timing it so when the tide turns it brings me back to my start point...covers a lot of ground and minimal effort

 

[Magicrik]

yeah sound like a good plan Dodge, beats a 14k trip fighting the tide all the way im still aching now.
But looking at the Tide table high tides at 4.46am and low at 10.38, but i have to add 1.25 mins on from where i am so its about 6.00am high and i can just jump in the yak out the back and go down to the mouth of the river and back by 12pm. i hope

 

[SharkNett]

.

 

[Magicrik]

Ok im going to sound stupid now but.
When you say drift do you mean cast out some lines and just let them drag behide you? or do you mean let the tide move you along as you cast to places you thing fish might be?

 

[PeterJ]

cast out some lines and just let them drag behide you?

Yep , that's it.
Sounds easy and i guess it is but you have to match the size of the lure and head to the speed of the drift.
To fast a drift and too small a lure and the things won't bounce along the bottom with a good action.
too slow a drift with too big a lure and it looks like a downrigger bomb scraping the bottom.

Right speed drift and right sized lure head with the right plastic on the end makes it deadly.
I try to match it all so the lure isn't at too much of an angle(flattened out)to the bottom , the more vertical the better , but no too much if that makes sense.

You can cast while you drift too.

 

[Davey G]

Peril, 3 flatty per run or day :?:
If thats per day i'm glad i'm in mexico as i work on 5 per hour in slow conditions. Thats all over 45 - 50 cms. last time i was out i got 3 rods going at once ,2 with doubles on them.

I knew there must have been some benefits to living in Vic apart from all that lovely weather and that ridiculous sport that you blokes follow....

5 flatties per hour in slow conditions? are you serious Pete? I'd be lucky to have caught 5 decent flathead in the last 6 months! and that's despite fishing at least once a week in areas that SHOULD hold them!

aaarghhhhh :shock:

 

[FazerPete]

You are on the mark there Poddy. 15 years ago i used the soft plastic with lead head as a sinker as i'd lost my sinkers overboard and found the catch rate doubled, i still used a piece of squid on the top hook(paternoster rig).

Now i have pearl white coloured plastic that looks like sqiud strips molded by myself as the top bait.

Peril, 3 flatty per run or day :?:
If thats per day i'm glad i'm in mexico as i work on 5 per hour in slow conditions. Thats all over 45 - 50 cms. last time i was out i got 3 rods going at once ,2 with doubles on them.

I also use a drift chute.

Sorry to bring up an old thread but the weather is crap down here so all I can do is read through old posts. Anyway this sounds like such a brilliant but simple idea that I can't believe it's not more common. It sounds like a good way of covering your bases because you could still get whiting or salmon on the top hook.

It obviously works for PeterJ but has anyone else tried it?

 

[FazerPete]

Yeah I just like the simplicity of using an SP as the sinker in a paternoster rig. Definitely be trying this if I ever get out on the water again.

 

[spooled1]

Is this a post for vintage posters?
PeterJ
Simond11
Hairymick
Peril
Magicrik
Sharknett
Dodge
Poddymullet
DW

Due to a mysterious injury I've forgotten what yaks are supposed to do. Unfortunately I can't shed any light on your situation but the responses to date seem quite feasible. Good luck. ;-)

 

[NufinFlash]

mate rather than paddling up all the way along the maroochy river looking for something, while not try the canal instead, theres plenty of jetties to keep you entertained and plenty of big bream in there, instead of going up the river, as you past pinic point head under the bridge on the left, fish hide in structure and every pontoon you come across is a new target to zone, i fish in there for hours at a time and you dont need to do a lot of paddling

 

[NuclearChicken]

Good read, been wondering about this for a while now .what gets me tho ,,

drifting nice and easy , sit back chill and hopefully u find a nice spot but when i think about all the land based fishing ive done, ive worked an area for a good half hr an hour/hour before moving so ??!! im always in two minds when im out on the water, arh this looks nice ill stop, nah ill drift for bit !!

If im honest ive put in some big sessions lately ! dont get me wrong its f..king beautiful out in the river but wouldnt mine catching something of a reasonable size.

nufinflash , u ever kayaked about over (sp) dildlidbah rd ? just past the petrol garage as if going nambour

 

[CatfishKeith]

My two cents worth

After dosing the SBS Bream comp last weekend I realised there is something wrong with the general methods being used by Yakkers. A generalisation.

The stink boats caught at least one fish per boat and most had a bag (5fish) only one yakker came back with the goods, well done GregL.

When i go land base fishing I catch heaps of fish rarely do I come home without catching fish for the plate, freezer or returned. But in the Yak virtually none, zip, zilch....

And from what I can see from my trips with others the pattern is the same.

So the method, techniques or strategies are not working effectively
I've had some success drifting with plastics in estuaries
Trawling in the ocean but only barracouta
Blading zip, zero, zilch

I'm not sure if it the fishing technique of the yak technique.
Are yak fisher persons fishing like they would from a skink boat?
Are they approaching the fish holding water in the wrong manner?
Are they fishing two deep?
Not fishing to structure?
Not understanding the fish being hunted?

Something is not right. The question is what is the problem?

 

[spooled1]

Something is not right. The question is what is the problem?

It's pretty simple really: If 49% of yak anglers haven't intentionally thrown themselves out of the yak to practice base level safety techniques, how can you ever expect them to think like a fish.