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Winter Fishing Tips


GoingFishing

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Gday Raiders

I know alot of people struggle to catch fish in winter (me included!!) especially those who are landbased or confined to estuaries and bays.

Read a post earlier today that suggested that winter is tough, they basically pack up with no fishing until September ! Dont like hearing that.

So i thought, why not create a topic where everyone can impart their words of wisdom and advice on how to best fish the winter months.

Obviously there will be a very large information base, as some will be landbased, some will be out on the boat, inshore, offshore, targeting different species, different parts of the country.

I will post my own later and invite others to share their advice on what works for them during winter.

Edited by GoingFishing
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Black bream in the upper estuaries, luderick in the lower estuaries, drummer and groper off the rocks, salmon and tailor of the beach and big jews around the river mouths. What's not to like?

Sunrise at 7:00am too, so get to kind of sleep in and still hit it at prime time. 

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I fish the rocks mostly in winter and do OK on Bream especially, Drummer are a year round option, Trevally seem to just come and go regardless of the season, and Blackfish are usually on the bite too.

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Salmon, bream, leather jacket, tailor, luderick, &  even resident jewies  & squid before they die off in the estuaries & rocks not to forget the stalwart On a cold winters night hairtail & on the inshore & offshore reefs flathead, pigfish, snapper, mowies, kingies, & others, & then there’s bluefin ( if they show) and yellowfin out wide, it might be cold but if you rug up all’s good the wind usually dies off with calm seas & always plenty of parking at the ramp and no idiots to harass you on the water👍

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3 hours ago, GoingFishing said:

Gday Raiders

I know alot of people struggle to catch fish in winter (me included!!) especially those who are landbased or confined to estuaries and bays.

Read a post earlier today that suggested that winter is tough, they basically pack up with no fishing until September ! Dont like hearing that.

Mate I think you may be referring to me after reading a post I put in recently?

If I am wrong then please correct me 👍

 

I do love to fish, it is  amongst many other pursuits that I do that can put food on the table, although not all being the seafood type!

I am happy to get the best of all worlds, fish the spring/summer/autumn months & hunt the winter months.

 

Both together means I don't have to visit the supermarket for my protein that often :thumbup:

 

Although I do like a good grilled bbq chicken & the occasional steak to which I cant do much about from a 1 br apartment.

If I was hard pressed then yeh I would do the hard yard for winter fishing...……………………….but I can wait until spring 😊

 

 

 

Edited by kingie chaser
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Autumn is my favourite time. During winter there are usually flatties to be found off the coast. A few fish up the rivers, though the water is much clearer, unless rain stirs up the rivers.

Or you could head to the north of the country. Always fish there. :D

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still plenty of fish to catch in winter

 start later, no need to get up at dawn, sleep in fish the afternoon if possible, I prefer to fish the run in tide as it brings warmer ocean water into the estuary, usually fish slower lure presentations with longer pauses

 

 

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Winter means westerly's and flat seas, 'safer' low ledge night time fishing for Bream and Pigs. Tailor and Snapper on floating Garfish in the low-light periods. Big 'lone' winter Kingfish on live Pike during the day. Always the possibility of a big Groper when you can get onto the wave-washed areas at high tide. Red Crabs easier to get when it's flat. Luderick abundant. Chinaman Jackets as an "if all else fails" target from the rocks.

Tailor and Trevally abundant on the Sow and Pigs reef. Hairies in Cowan. Kings at the Peak. Big Tuna out wde.

A small but constant burley trail always the way to go. Night fishing really productive.

Gotta love winter 

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Good topic GF, sure to create a bit of interest among those who pursue their sport year round and those who sit on the bench. Under normal circumstances, I would be out in my tinnie chasing down Murray Cod throughout the Winter...something that takes a lot of effort and often slight reward. Spring brings breeding time for the Cod and Summer usually sees them fired up and hungry.

However, this season, which started way back on Dec 1st, 2018, has been the absolute worst on record for my region, where the weirs impact highly on the fishing. Overall low water and crystal clear conditions have seen me develop a "why bother" attitude. Not a good attitude to develop, but like all anglers, patience is a virtue and optimism is improving. At times like these, I would often fall back on some quality Carp fishing but it too has been very poor. It's not that the fish aren't there but that they are shut down most of the time when such conditions are prevalent.

Anyway, a good topic and I'll look forward to reading the replies until I can get back in the swing of things again. 

Cheers, bn

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My main fishing interests are pelagic fish these days, i used to fish for snapper a lot in winter but as i dont particularily like eating them, i generally dont bother these days. I will still get out for kings if i get a free day (and squid- i do a fair bit of winter squidding) or go for a flathead troll if i want to catch a feed. Winter is however an excellent time for snapper and a fair few rock species-drummer,gropertrevally. I spend a lot more time looking for protein with antlers during the cooler months(had a nice feed of goat curry last night). Kings should start stacking up on the wider reefs very soon too.

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10 hours ago, Scratchie said:

All I can say is “BIG SNAPPER “

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

@Scratchie probably realistically only if you have a vessel capable of going offshore which is something I left out!

 

The rest of us who are only capable of fishing bays & estuaries are left with all those hungry little buggers between 10cm to  28cm with the occasional just 30+cm legal fish 😕

Myself & my mate once caught 75 squire each between 10cm to the 28cm mark each in a 2 hour session in Port hacking one day 😅

It was fun catching fish on anything you threw out until it got boring :whistling:

 

This is why I am so looking forward to the NB trip 🙂

 

Spooled up, geared up & just a little excited 😁

 

Only 10 more sleeps 😊

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10 hours ago, big Neil said:

 At times like these, I would often fall back on some quality Carp fishing but it too has been very poor. It's not that the fish aren't there but that they are shut down most of the time when such conditions are prevalent.

Cheers, bn

Must be bad if the carp shut down.  :insane:

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Guest Guest123456789

Aside from what everyone else has said winter is awesome for an open boat as you don’t get too hot in the sun. I also like not having to deal with mossies and flies.

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On 6/12/2019 at 4:42 PM, Yowie said:

Must be bad if the carp shut down.  :insane:

True Yowie. Hanging in to see if the warmer months bring an improvement. I guess one of the bigger problems is that motivation becomes an issue too. So many months being unable to use the boat because of the shallow water tends to dampen the spirits somewhat. I need a trip somewhere and SOON. Cheers, bn

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3 hours ago, big Neil said:

True Yowie. Hanging in to see if the warmer months bring an improvement. I guess one of the bigger problems is that motivation becomes an issue too. So many months being unable to use the boat because of the shallow water tends to dampen the spirits somewhat. I need a trip somewhere and SOON. Cheers, bn

Neil. I know you can't through circumstances. But it would be good IF you could drive up to Sydney stay with me Thursday night then accompany me up to Port Stevens, have spare bed in the unit I have booked !! and jump on somebody's boat for Saturday fish.

Frank

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19 hours ago, frankS said:

Neil. I know you can't through circumstances. But it would be good IF you could drive up to Sydney stay with me Thursday night then accompany me up to Port Stevens, have spare bed in the unit I have booked !! and jump on somebody's boat for Saturday fish.

Frank

It would be great Frank but I can't leave the better half for that long. However, we are heading (flying) to Sydney between 27th June and July 1st for a family reunion. Will be staying in Queenscliffe at a cousins place. Will let you know if I can sneak away for a fish somewhere. I hope that you have a great time and catch some fish. Will look forward to reading the posts when it's all over. Should be great fun, eh? Cheers, Neil

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Winter is prime BIG cod time.

If you can put up with not feeling your fingers and guides freezing over tie on a big swimbait or chatterbait and go to work targeting them in the shallow water. Won't get them every trip but when you do fair chance it will be a fish of a lifetime.

Cheers, Trav

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi everyone its been a while since I last came on. 

This next statement is not fact just my own observation, but fish can have a bit more  fat on them in cooler periods resulting in more tasty fish.

Certainly a reason to get out there in the cooler months!

 

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