Gomoku Jigging

Micro jigging is a relative new style of fishing here in Australia, most people are  aware of Samson fish jigging with big jigs and super heavy tackle.
which is very taxing on the body and isn't a lot fun when you want to target the less aggressive demersal species, you want light rods and reels and smaller jigs, something you can fish with all day with out fatiguing.

New from STORM, the Gomoku series of rods is specifically aimed at the micro jigging market, these rods are extremely lightweight and come fitted with some of the best component available. the pearl white blanks and custom Fuji real seats in red, blue or green to distinguish between the different models in the range. they are ideally suited for reels between the 2-4k size . the rods are capable of jigging as low as 10g up to a max weight of 160g. STORM has recently released  the Gomoku range in a new color scheme same ratings as the originals and same blanks and quality components now in a stealth all black blank and grips.

I have been fishing with 2 of the Gomoku rods for just over a year and think they are fantastic, i have the green Keiryo matched to a 3k size reel and spooled with 15lb braid  and the blue Kaiten matched with a 4k reel and spooled with 20lb braid, i use these for everything from flicking soft plastics for snapper and Dhu fish in shallow water to micro jigging for big Samson fish and other demersal species including pink snapper, Dhu fish and bald chin groper. while on a recent trip in Albany i used the Kaiten to troll a shallow diver to first entice a school of tuna landing two before they swarmed the boat and i changed back to a  jig and had a blast jigging several southern blue fin tuna.

I have been using the STORM Koika jigs in sizes from 20-100gm in a range of colors to target demersals and Samson fish for the past few months, when a Koika jig is matched to a Gomoku rod the pair just work together incredibly well, the design of the rod really works well with the Koika jigs and is really able to get the jig darting and dancing, when slow pitch jigging with a koika and a Gomoku it truly is a deadly combination and i have been landing some awesome fish.

if you are considering getting into micro jigging and don't want to break the bank the range of Gomoku rods is definitely worth a look at, also pick up a few Koika jigs and i guarantee you wont be disappointed!

Catch ya Next time
Corey Chandler

Madeye Paddle Prawn

I recently had the opportunity to head out for a fish with the owner of Madeye lures, we were heading out to the 40m mark off Rockingham in hope for pink snapper and Dhufish the water was dead flat which made it perfect to fish light jigs and soft plastics,
I opted for an 80gm jig which I dressed the assist hook up with a Madeye octo skirt in the pink colour,
while Jadon used a 5" paddle prawn in glow with an octo skirt on a 1oz jig head.
fishing started off slow as we only got out to the spots at lunchtime due to early morning commitments.
after a couple of spot changes we finally found some fish with Jadon landing a nice 55cm dhufish on the paddle prawn. This was the first time I had seen the Madeye lures in person and was very impressed with their elasticity and general toughness, I hooked a dhufish on the jig about 5 minutes later but mine was under size he was sent back to the bottom with a release weight to help ensure survival,
we continued to fish for a couple more hours producing a few small breaksea cod but had to call it quits about 3 and head in.


After the success on the weekend I went out the following Tuesday for a solo mission to my inshore snapper spot with the intention of getting a pinky on soft plastic. I had rigged a 5" paddle prawn and lumo octo skirt on a  1oz TT jig head when I arrived at the spot the sounder was showing some really solid arches and I knew the snapper were here. Due to work I was unable to get out till 530 which only gave me about 40 minutes until sundown I had a quick drift over the spot to find which way the current would push my boat as there wasn't a breath of wind. Once I anchored on the spot I began casting the plastic as far from the boat as possible and just using a small slow hop working the plastic all the way back to the boat, on the third cast right under the boat I had a solid hit but missed the hookup I immediately dropped the plastic back down to the bottom when smash another big hit but missed again this went on another 4 times I stated to think I had a big cuttlefish attacking the lure when on the 7th hit I finally hooked the culprit and fought the fish to the surface right as the sun was setting I pulled a dhufish on board that was smack on 50cm so I let him go to fight another day. Because the sun had gone down I decided I would put a bait out figuring the plastics wouldn't do to well at night......I cast a yellow tail out the back on a snelled 5/0 and small running bean sinker rig and within a minute was smashed by a pink snapper about 65cm, knowing the paddle prawn and octo skirt were lumo I decided to charge them up using my head lamp as I still haven't caught a pink snapper on plastic yet, after about the 5th cast I had a solid bite and hooked solid to a nice fish, with big head shakes and long runs I was worried about being busted off on the reef as I was using a Daiwa Caldia 3000 on a Gomoku PE 1-3 with PE 1.5 braid and a 30lb leader after about 5 very intense minutes I was able to subdue the fish could not believe was about to nett! A 7 kilo WA dhufish in 14m of water on a madeye paddle prawn at 7pm! I instantly fell in love with these plastics they are super strong and the dhufish clearly love them!

I spent the weekend in Albany and my aim was test the paddle prawns down there to see if I hadn't just fluked the dhufish. My father and I headed out on his boat Saturday morning and the weather was less then favourable typical Albany so we tucked up against a headland and fished in 20-40m. the old man hooked up first using a 5"paddle prawn and was fighting a really good fish on 20lb gear he was getting smoked when the fish wrapped him up and busted him off. The way the fish was fighting we both were calling it for a dhufish, with big head shakes and real powerful lunges back to the bottom. He set the precedent for the rest of the morning session we got a few undersized breaksea cod and swallowtail when he hooked a second fish and the fight lasted about 20 seconds before being bricked I hooked up immediately after on 30lb gear thinking I might have a chance to land one of these brutes...but luck was not on my side I got stitched up even quicker TWICE! we had to call it quits as the weather was deteriorating,. luckily enough Sunday was looking much nicer.

We had an invite on his friends 26 foot trophy and the plan was to head out to the back of breaksea island and fish some lumps in the 60's I rigged up an orange 5" paddle prawn and lumo octo skirt on a 4oz nitro elevator jig head. First drop before the plastic even hit the bottom I hooked up and shortly after landed a 36cm swallowtail, the wind was up and the drift was quick so we reset for a second drift I was up the front of the boat and casting my plastic as far forward as possible as everyone else was fishing baits and I did not want to tangle. while I was feathering line out on the Daiwa Saltist 30H and T-curve Lucanas jig rod the plastic got hit and line started peeling while it was in free spool I engaged the reel and set the hook, line was getting ripped from the reel at great speed my first thought was a southern bluefin tuna all I knew was I had a hooked a good fish....for the next 20 minutes I fought the fish as he dragged me from the front all the way to the back of the boat and managed to finally tire him when I got colour my PB sambo at 1.2m long and approximately 14-15kilo. Is there any fish that wont smash these paddle prawns? The 3 times I have used these prawns they have out fished bait every time not just with numbers of fish caught but the quality too.
If you want to fish plastics at night the lumo paddle prawns are the definite way to go! I will be targeting some inshore snapper at night using the awesome glow of the lumo Paddle prawn.

 Jadon showing off a horse of a pink snapper and a nice sambo taken on a Madeye 5" paddle prawn.


catch ya next time
Corey Chandler

jigging hard and screaming reels

I was lucky enough to score a few days off work and the weather forecast was average but still fish able so I organized a Wednesday morning trip out wide to the 40M mark with a mate from compleat angler and camping world Rockingham.
we were at the boat ramp at 5 am and steaming out towards the horizon just as the sun was starting to rear its head, the forecast of moderate north easterly winds was pretty well on par, we pushed out wide and soon reached a spot I hadn't fished in a very long time on a 37m edge. The sounder wasn't showing any fish but the ground looked promising, the plan for the day was to jig for demersal species, I was using a shiamno stradic ci4 4000 spooled with 20lb fins braid on a storm gomoku kaiten pe 1-3 rod, these rods are definitely my favourite go to rod when light tackle jigging comes to mind.
Matt was the first to drop and was hooked up within seconds when the rod loaded and line started peeling off the reel extremely quickly I knew we had hit a school of Samson fish, these brutes are famous for being incredibly tough fighters and love to eat jigs! my daiwa bala jig was hit hard and i had a solid hookup i landed my fish first as it was only a rat sambo of about 40cm matt soon had his 90cm sambo boat side for a quick snap and a successful release, the sounder was now showing a school of Samson fish sitting about 12m off the bottom so we both dropped our jigs straight back down, we let them hit the bottom then started a quick double pump and wind jigging technique, with samson fish as long as the jig is moving quickly the actual technique doesn't matter to much especially when they're in a frenzy like they were.                                                                                                                          pictured above the storm gomoku kaiten rod.

we had multiple double hookups and we were both getting smoked by sambos on the light gear the biggest for the day was just hitting a metre, after 5 drifts and hooking and landing about 12 sambos between the pair of us the small school dispersed we spent a while driving around trying to find them but the north easterly was really starting to blow hard, after copping a few waves over the front of the boat we decided to head into shallower ground for some protection.
Jigging for samson fish is a not a new thing and is a huge sport here in WA with people heading out to the barges in chase of some monster sambos on big jigs and big gear, the pain these fish put you through is incredible even on the lighter gear with the smaller fish they will stretch your arms till they're about to drop off! but it is so much fun you just don't want to put the rod down especially when you are hooking monster fish that are peeling line and heading for the bottom quickly you have got your drag at almost full lock your arms have extended another 6" and your just waiting for your shoulders to pop. then the fish gives and you pump and wind slowly getting this freight train with fins towards the surface. once you have that fish in your arms and its nearly as long as you are tall....there is just no better feeling.
it is the main reason so many anglers spend huge $ on top end gear and jigs, its the reason i get out of bed to head out wide on some days i should have stayed home!
to target sambos on jigs i prefer to use the lighter gear and the gomoku for $150 rrp is a rod i recommend to everyone who wants to get into jigging as you can jig all day when its matched to a 4-5000 size reel as the combo wont weigh more then your can of beer, and we can all hold one of them for a few hours. with jigs you want to fish the size that suits the currents and winds on the day, traditional knife jigs work well for speed jigging but if you want to target demersals as well i recommend jigs like vexed and the daiwa bala and pirate jigs when you work these jigs slowly they flutter around the bottom and pink snapper, dhuies, red bight fish and baldies will happily swallow them as well. my next trip out i will be getting a sambo on a soft plastic that will be one less to tick off the bucket list.

another solid sambo on a vexed jig


catch ya next time
corey chandler

light plastics and penguin island! recipe for FUN

The forecast was for light easterly winds in the morning shifting to a strong south westerly by noon....But that was wrong very wrong! Strong southerlies were blowing early so the call to head out wide and chase yellowtail kings on the new pro lure Australia 105 mm and 130 mm plastics was put on hold, instead my mate and i would have to target smaller species inshore.

With penguin island only a short drive from the boat ramp and alot of herring, whiting, flat head and pike frequenting the sand bar and weed beds i knew this would be a perfect place to hide out of the wind and flick some pro lure 60 mm and 65 mm paddle tail grubs and grub tail plastics around for some light action fun!

When we arrived the water was very green and murky and i thought we had no chance of catching any fish especially on plastics, luckily enough the pro lure trick baits all come with a tube of pro scent, a small dob on your plastic rubbed in really helps fire the fish up and i discovered how well it actually works on the first cast of the day when my little 65 mm paddle tail grub in crystal pink was slammed by a king George whiting, i have spent hours wading and kayaking the sand bar with berkley gulps, z man scented plastics and squidgy wrigglers covered in "S" factor targeting king George whiting and i have had many follow the lures right back to my feet on several occasions but they would never eat them,

here i am first cast i hook and land a beautiful little KG, this then set the mood for the next 3 hours catching and releasing over 25 herring 4 big pike 3 king George whiting and several small flat head,

i was surprised how well these little grubs were holding up against the pikes big teeth. most plastics don't last more then one pike yet one grub caught 3 pike before loosing its tail!

my mate was using a squidgy pro flick bait in chartreuse for about the first 30 minutes till he got sick of watching me catch and release fish after fish! he soon picked up a pro lure grub tail in the U.V worm and instantly started catching fish!

Fishing the drop offs along the edge of the sandbar as they met the edges of the weed were our most productive areas, the herring were patrolling the edge picking up anything that washed off the sand bar, the pike were caught over the top of the weed and king George were pulled out of the sand holes in the weed, it was without a doubt one of the hottest light tackle soft plastic sessions i have had in a long time. The two pro lure plastics of choice were the crystal pink 65 mm paddle tail grub and the U.V worm 60 mm grub tail. A fluorocarbon leader of about a meter is a definite must i use 8 lb black magic, always fish the lightest jig head possible the more natural your lure looks the better! we were quite wind affected and were using 1/8oz nitro jig heads with a size 2 hook.

I will be defiantly stocking up on some more pro lure Australia trick baits that's for sure!

Check them out at www.prolureaustralia.com.au

Catch ya next time

Corey Chandler

snapper so easy

winter brings schools of snapper into cockburn and warnbro sound to feed and breed. with these large schools inshore, alot of boaties get out and get a feed until the closure is set in place to help protect these wonderful fish. i personally do not like targeting spawning fish i believe they should be left alone to do their business and produce millions more for the future. when i target pink snapper i do so outside of the spawning areas and do so very successfully.

snapper can be caught from 2m-200m of water and finding them can be easier then you think, sometimes the best way is to anchor in a known snapper area and burley, this is my preferred way to target pink snapper this allows me to fish light lines and have alot of fun catching these hard fighting beautiful fish.
a spot that has been regularly producing for me is on the edge of a reef system in 13m of water, the key to success is burley and lots of it! sometimes it may take an hour or so until the first pink snapper shows up but if in a good area and enough burley is used, normally you can have a good session.

Reece and i decided to head out on Sunday the 18/8/13 as the weather man was promising glass like conditions and he delivered, the water was magical we sounded around the edge of the reef and seen some fish on the sounder and knew pink snapper were here! the reef anchor was deployed and with no wind the boat just sat right on the spot, Reece had a small yellow tail down first and within seconds missed a solid bite, i dropped a large yellow tail down on two snelled 8/0 hooks and a small running ball sinker, Reece was fishing with snelled 5/0 hooks and a running bean sinker.
the second bait Reece dropped down was smashed again and he hooked and landed a nice 56cm pink snapper, all within 5 minutes of dropping the anchor.
we were in for a great morning session with the high tide at 730am,
i hadn't had a bite for about 10 minutes and thought  the yellow tail may have been to large a bait at about 15cm long so i wound up and cut it in half, i used the head of the yellow tail as pink snapper love eating the heads of fish. when the head of the yellow tail hit the bottom the little stradic screamed as a solid fish took off like a freight train under the boat and was heading north.
while fishing 20lb braid is great fun catching snapper and Reece and i have successfully landed fish to 91cm sometimes something a bit bigger comes along and we just cant stop them. this fish was no exception and was on a mission to get me to the edge of the reef to bust me off and he was successful, after re rigging and sending a whiting down i hooked up almost immediately again and landed a 75cm pink snapper, the next two baits were smashed and i got an 86cm pink snapper all the fish had been successfully released and the big fella needed some assistance from the release weight, remember it is a legal requirement to carry a release weight on board any vessel targeting demersal species to help ensure survival of any under size or unwanted fish.
with me now landing 3 nice pink snapper in a row Reece was starting to feel left out so he started to cube some mulies up and really get our burley trail flowing when his little sustain 5000 started screaming he hooked  a solid fish and just had to stand there as the fish was peeling line and had no intentions of stopping he was busted off on the reef as well and had us scratching our heads as to what was down there that seemed unstoppable.


we spent the next 4 hours catching and releasing over 13 big snapper between 55-86cm and several under size pinky's, it was defiantly one of the best shallow water snapper sessions i have ever had.

the wrecks in cockburn sound produce fish when they are spawning and you constantly get groups of boats, sometimes up to 100 boats fishing a large school of snapper for hours keeping their bag limits, this puts alot of stress on fish stocks and interrupts their breeding so next time you decide to head out chasing pink snapper maybe drive out through cockburn or warnbro sound find a nice lump on some shallow reef by yourself and start burleying you may be surprised with just how well you do.

catch ya next time
Corey

video on how to tie a simple snell

hey guys if you want to know how to tie a simple snell rig, this is a short video i did on how to tie it, i use this knot in 99% of my rigs as it is quick and easy with nearly 100% knot strength as there is no actual knot merely a few wraps around the shank,
catch ya next time

corey

shallow water success

The forecast was for 0-5 knot northerly winds for Saturday arvo so the call was made and plans were changed. The boat was packed and at the ramp by 3 pm on Saturday the intended destination just outside Warnbro sound on a patch of reef i know produces some good fish.
we had the anchor in the water and it was so calm the boat was holding without the anchor rope even being tight.
the sounder had some nice red arches and we knew we were in for a solid session in 14 meters of water,
my cousin fishes with a shimano sustain 5000 spooled with 20lb braid, i have a shimano stradic ci4 4000 spooled with 20lb braid on a storm gomoku keiyro micro jigging rod. This little white beast with the green EVA grips looks like it belongs in the river chasing bream but it holds its own against some big fish with a rating of 0.4-1.0 PE.

we had quickly popped out into the sand and caught some fresh sand whiting for bait before dropping the anchor. they were the first on the hooks and down they went on 2 x snelled 5/0 suicides 60lb leader and a small ball sinker, the baits were hit and we were stitched up in the reef immediately, this happened two more times and we decided to let the anchor rope out about 10 meters when the boat finally shifted with the tide as their was no wind Reece dropped a yellowtail down and the second it hit the bottom he was on, first call was a little pink snapper, but to his surprise a very nice 56 cm dhufish circled up on 20lb gear in shallow water it fought hard and made his day as it was his first sized dhufish.

we had been throwing in cubes of mulie, scaly mackerel, and yellowtail along with a burley pot hanging along side the boat,
i dropped down the largest whiting we had on the little gomoku and stradic combo and it wasn't long till i seen the rod tip bounce, i picked the rod up and the fish came back and smashed the bait i hooked up solid to a nice fish, the gomoku bent in two and the stradic screamed as the fish was peeling 20lb braid off like nothing, with some really solid head shakes i was calling it for a pink snapper, after several tense minutes as it kept heading back for the bottom i had the fish beat, up came an 86cm pink snapper!
high fives and pictures were taken.

the sun had just set and the Skippy had turned up in such huge numbers they were everywhere and made it difficult to get a bait past them, mulies and squid as bait were a no go, whiting and yellowtail were the only baits to get past the hordes of Skippy. Reece decided to get out my little daiwa freams 2000 with 4lb braid and a shimano ballistix rod and have some light tackle fun floating pieces of mulie cubes out the back, he hooked up some solid 35-40cm and was having a ball, when the big baits starting getting some more attention and the next few hours were great fun we successfully landed and released 12 pink snapper from 48-57cm and the one big fella at 86cm, my cousin on the last drop of the night picked up a second dhufish but he was only 48cm and swam off strongly, gotta love shallow water! catching pink snapper on 20lb gear is alot more fun and easier then you think, next time your at the tackle shop check out a 4000 sized spinning reel and rod to match and consider using it as your go to shallow water snapper combo, you will not be disappointed!
by staying in close we saved a fortune on fuel and had caught many more fish then most had by heading out 20 mile.
the key to success when fishing in shore is BURLEY i hype on about it in all my posts but its the main reason i catch fish, with out it i probably wouldn't have any pics or stories to write a blog!

catch ya next time
Corey Chandler