All the best fisho’s that I have had the pleasure of fishing alongside of, have one thing in common. That being, that they are all incredibly observant, at times freakishly in tune with what is happening within the environment around them. Excellent observation skills, extensive experience on the water and a thorough knowledge of the feeding habits of their target species are the factors which I believe allow these truly great fishos to ensure they are constantly matching the hatch. Thus achieving catch rates far superior than that of the average fisho.
What Does It Mean
But what does matching the hatch mean? Well, quite simply, it is ensuring that whichever lure or bait you are using to entice a bite matches as closely as possible the food which your target species is currently feeding upon. While this may sound quite simple, water quality, water temperature, seasonal changes and a myriad of other factors have an influence on the availability of bait within a system of water. Including bait size, colour, and rate of activity. It is these subtle changes which I believe are observed and understood by the best fishos.
Throughout this blog I am going to concentrate purely on my own observations, coupled with what I have learnt from other fisho’s while fishing the waters of the Fraser Coast. Your waterway maybe similar or drastically different, however the basic principles of matching the hatch should run true no matter where we fish.
A Few Examples
Let’s start with some speedsters of the sea, tuna. Longtail and mack tuna swell in numbers on the Fraser Coast from spring through summer, and as anyone who has dedicated time to targeting these speedsters would know. Tuna can be either incredibly fussy eaters and frustrating to catch or in such a frenzy, that no matter what you cast at them they will destroy it. Then attempt to rip you from your boat as your drag screams under strain.
I have cast, probably hundreds of lure types at tuna ranging from large 180mm stick baits through to tiny 10g metal slugs. What I have found to be the most successful lure type is a lure in the range of 90-100mm, weight of approx. 30 to 40g to give a massive casting distance and something in a white or silvery blue finish.
How did I come to this conclusion? Well, there was a lot of trial and error. I slowly worked through my lure collection and then one day after successfully landing a healthy tuna from a particularly finicky school, my catch decided to splatter his breakfast all over my casting deck. Dozens of mushy white baits, all about 70 to 90mm lay literally stuck to my boats carpet like glue. While removing them was a giant pain in the proverbial, it gifted me with an insight into what this tuna was feeding upon.
Lure Choice
Since then, I have refined my lure choice and experimented by using the above-mentioned lure specifications whilst targeting more tuna, trevally, mackerel and queenfish and have had a high amount of success. I have even stood side by side with other fishos, with them casting a different lure, of a different size, colour, weight etc and witnessed them casting repetitively with no success.
However, after switching to a lure of the above-mentioned specifications their luck changed almost instantly, something their aching backs and shoulders probably regretted. Which again, simply reinforced in my mind that a lure with the specifications mentioned above matches the hatch almost perfectly for these species on the Fraser Coast.
Trolling or Casting
What about trolling or casting hard body lures? Well, once again my observations come from lots of trial and error. I spend most of my fishing time inside the Great Sandy Strait, from Moon Point through to Stewart Island. What I have discovered whilst targeting species such as threadfin salmon and barramundi is that hard body lures of approx. 120 to 140mm in length work very well. As for the type of lure, i.e. suspending, deep diving or floating, well that all depends on water depth and location, i.e. if it is very snaggy or quite open.
I target creek mouths, drains and narrow gutters. I troll lures rarely and instead prefer to cast my lures while moving along quietly with my electric motor. My preferred time to target these areas is at low tide when bait is forced through narrow ambush locations or is forced to seek cover in shallow areas of still, isolated water. As such I do favour suspending lures or lures which dive to approx. 2 metres. I always cast a natural coloured lure first, and if I have no success I follow it with a bright coloured lure. Whites, silver, gold and prawn imitations seem to work the best with larger fish specimens seeming to prefer whites and silver coloured lures probably due to their likeness to a poddy mullets texture.
On The Flats
Now, let’s get to my favourite style of fishing. I absolutely love stalking the flats along the western side of Fraser Island and sneaking into the myriad of narrow drains and creeks which this wonderful work of mother nature has gifted us. Flathead may seem like a boring target to some, but for me, I absolutely love chasing them.
Again, I use a mix of lures when targeting flathead with the style and colour of lures coming from lots of trial and error. Flathead will at times smash anything which comes past them, but they also have times in which they can be very fussy. I have also noticed that while the smaller specimens maybe eager to eat any offering, the larger specimens can be harder to entice. Whether this is born from some form of lure conditioning i.e. seeing lots of lures through their life, genetic evolution or energy conservation, I don’t know.
I have experienced situations where I have literally been able to see several smaller flathead laying around a much larger specimen. In these situations, I have cast a 2 to 3-inch soft plastic to have the smaller flathead eagerly chase the lure. However, the larger fish would not even move until I cast a much larger lure such as a 4 to 5-inch soft vibe or a natural coloured hard body lure.
Shallow Water
Since I am in mostly shallow water when chasing flathead, I depend on lure types which work well in the shallows such as suspending lures or soft plastics and lures which imitate the bait I find in these locations. I always cast something in a natural prawn pattern and if this does not work I then move to something in a white or silvery pattern to imitate poddy mullet. After this I then switch to bright colours and as the saying goes, if it isn’t chartreuse, it is no use.
Quite often I will find healthy sized grunter, trevally and salmon in the same areas I am targeting flathead. I have noticed a prawn patterned lure will be readily accepted by any of these species, especially grunter. Salmon, seem to enjoy a dash of chartreuse on their meal.
Final Thoughts
In summary, if you want to increase your catch rate or if you have every experienced ‘selective feeding’? Which around fishing circles, is the term used to describe the sometimes stubborn, singled minded nature of fish when they are in a feeding frenzy. Then an effective strategy is to ensure your offering matches the hatch.
The best way to do this effectively involves a little trial and error, but more importantly to look closely at the bait on offer in the immediate area, understand what is happening in your fishing environment. You may see bait flicking over the surface, but what exactly is doing the flicking. Then work hard to match your offering to the size, shape and colour of this bait, and your retrieve or technique to the baits behaviour.
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