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

Mulloway beach fishing tips

When-
Tide changes are important when fishing for mulloway on a beach especially fishing a high tide, the best times are 2 hours either side of the peak, this allows the maximum amount of water in the gutter and the mulloway are able to stay undercover to prey on small bait fish.If a high tide coincides with dawn or dusk and 2-3 days before and after a new or full moon, this is a recipe for success.

Where-
Gutters and deep holes along a stretch of surf beach, these deep water spots create a place where the currents push all forms of food into, allowing the mulloway to feed on easy prey.
To find a gutter you need to look for the calmer water in the surf zone, a good pair of polarized sun glasses makes the job alot easier as they minimize the glare on the waters surface. This allows you to spot the deeper darker areas. The gutters will normally run parallel to the beach with a wave crashing on the back edge of the gutter then 'smoothing out' over the deep water in the gutter, then the waves reform and will crash onto the beach. If the gutter has a good entry and exit point over the sandbar and into the deep water this will be your best spot to try.

What to use-Bait-
Mulloway are an ambush opportunistic predator and will feed on most fish,Prawns and squid.
yellow tail,tailor,mullet,mulies,whiting,and salmon trout being some of the best baits for mulloway and are normally easy to obtain.Fresh is best and live is better, remember if you decide to use tailor or salmon trout as mulloway bait you must still adhere to the size limits, 30 cm is the legal minimum size, i would recommend dispatching tailor and salmon trout and using a fresh fillet as a 30 cm+  fish is difficult to cast.

-Gear
There are several options when it comes to beach fishing for mulloway, either a 6-8000 size spinning reel or a 20-50 size over head reel spooled with at least 200m of 20-30lb main line, i prefer to use braid lines as it allows a much better casting distance and with little to no stretch you feel every bite. for beach rods a 10-13' rod is perfect for casting the distances required and graphite is the better option, graphite is much lighter then fiberglass rods so your arms don't get tired when casting and retrieving baits all night. match a rod to the line class you are using and a rod with the ability to cast at least 150 grams which will equal a 4 oz sinker and a bait.
hooks and trace line are important when fishing for mulloway as they can be very timid at times, the smaller and lighter the better, i fish two 5/0's snelled on 60lb trace set about 6 cm apart.
when fishing in heavy surf conditions or there are several people fishing close together to stop your bait from sending up 200m down the beach i recommend using an impact sinker.these sinkers are available at all leading tackle shops, the idea with an impact sinker is you hook the small piece of wire on the sinker onto your bottom hook thus allowing your bait and sinker to travel as one, increasing your casting distance tremendously, when the sinker and bait hit the water they separate and the sinker sets its 4 prongs into the sand anchoring you bait in place. allowing your bait to float around waiting for a mulloway to engulf it.

impact sinker

Black magic bait buddy is a beach fisherman's best friend, this white roll of cotton can be the difference between catching fish or going home empty handed. the cotton is wrapped around your bait and hooks stopping your bait from flying off while casting, mulies are the worst for that, bait buddy also helps to combat pickers.

black magic bait buddy

the most important thing to remember is BURLEY, i can not stress enough how important burley is when it comes to beach fishing. a few small cubes of mulie thrown into the white wash every 10 minutes or so is normally enough to get the smaller bait fish feeding in your area, you can then target these bait fish
for fresh and live bait. Activity creates activity as the smaller fish are feeding on the burley this will get the attention of any larger predator fish, leading them to your bait.

if you use some or all of these tips you will soon find your catch rate increasing!

catch ya next time
corey

Squidding

The squid is a family favorite they are very tasty and great fun to catch,  whether you're out just trying to catch some fresh bait or looking forward to some salt n pepper squid rings,
winter is a great time to catch a feed, cockburn and warnbro sound hold some great numbers of squid. mangles bay in cockburn sound has to be one of my favorite places to squid, as there is alot of weed in shallow water 1.5-3.0m in close to shore which allows small craft and kayaks the opportunity to get a feed,

or collect some fresh bait.

if you walk in to your local tackle shop you will be confronted with a wall of squid jigs that is very overwhelming to a new angler trying their hand at squiding, the price range of these little lures is astonishing ranging from $2 all the way up to $40, alot of the packages are written in Japanese with names like yamashita yo-zuri being two of the most popular jigs, along with shimano sephia jigs which are a little easier on the wallet.
the reason behind most jigs being designed and made in japan. is that the Japanese love squidding they call it egi and its like an art form to them, watching a Japanese person use egi techniques is something that must be seen to be believed check it out on youtube! the way that they violently jig the squid jig you almost think that if any squid had hold of the jig he would soon loose his head!, but it WORKS and it works well!

i have several different colors and sizes of the shimano sephia jigs and they work great, i use a nice white and orange 2.5 and always catch, i set up the boat along the edge of the weed bank and drift along with the sea anchor out to help slow the boat down. casting with the drift and retrieving the jig back to the boat, with quick short sharp jigs and give the jig time to sink back towards the seaweed. squid hide in the weed and ambush any small fish or prawns that swim by so by keeping your jig in there face then quickly making the jig dart away, really makes squid fire, i find most squid will hit the jig while its sinking and when you go to work the jig again you come up strong with a nice squid.
this is why a nice 6'6"-8' light graphite rod is essential not only does it help in working the jig nicely, but when you hook the squid the rod takes alot of the shock out of the strike and wont pull the jig out of its tentacles.
squid have really good eyesight but are color blind! they actually see UV rays so colored squid jigs don't matter in that sense, what matters is how well they display UV light. as most of a squids prey emits UV lighting.
i recommend  using a quality fluoro carbon leader and no swivel. just tie the jig to the leader with a perfection knot.

cleaning the squid is a job i hate! but i was shown a method that works incredibly well,
get a scaler bag from any tackle shop normally retail around $20 cut the tip off the hood of the squid and the head just behind the eyes, can keep for fresh bait or cut the tentacles off and eat them too!
put the squid in the scaler bag tie it to the back of the boat and tow them around, the ink sacks will bust and the stomach will fall out of the tube, the skin will rub off on the bag, after a few minutes pull the bag in to check the squid, if you leave them in the water to long you will begin to cut and damage the tubes with the bag.
but if you get it right the squid are clean, the house is clean (the wife is happy) and you have a fresh feed of squid!

i hope the info will help get you out on the water chasing a feed of squid!

catch ya next time
corey

Winter Tailor

With the cold weather upon us its time to rug up and nut up! get out there and get fishing!
winter brings some of the nicest weather in regards to winds and low swell, but with that comes very low temperatures, this is when a great pair of thermals comes in handy, (available in any good tackle/camping store).

My PB Tailor
there is nothing better then heading to your local beach, rockwall or jetty before sunrise and fishing a hot bite for some large winter tailor, winter sees some large specimens being taken regularly, so i decided to brave the cold and headed out on saturday the 29/06/13. I was up at 530am with the gear packed in the car headed down to point peron, my local reef system armed with a Shimano Stradic 4000 ci4 spooled with 20lb tufline braid matched to a 9' shimano starlo classix spin stick, set up and walked along the beach towards the reef platform that looked so fishy i  was guaranteed a fish! i climbed down some rocks and stepped onto a reef platform about a metre and half from the waters edge, the suns now rising  and the water is looking fantastic with the waves crashing over creating a lot of white water, the hardest decision was where to cast first, i had a 40 gram knight metal and belted it across the edge of the reef along the whitewater......about 10 casts later and no fish i decide to change lure and put on a storm shallow diver, the suns has now lit the water up and i spot a very nice hole in the reef about 3 metres from where i am standing, i cast the lure to the outer edge of the hole about 15 metres away start winding and twitching the lure when i see a large tailor shoot out from under the ledge and engulf the storm lure, i set the hooks and the tailor goes nuts, jumps clean out the water with some big head shakes, then dives hard trying to get under the ledge, with some quick footwork i was able to get around and pull the tailor back out, now the hard part getting the tailor in close enough to be able to get down lower to the waters edge and land this fish safely! the surge is pulling the tailor along the front of the reef ledge and i have no chance of muscling it back my way and the tailor is using this to his advantage, i was able to let the surge take the tailor and follow it around to a lower edge and managed to pull it up onto the rocks. My personal best land based tailor at 60 cm's i got a quick photo removed the lure and released him to fight another day.
i spent the next hour casting and retrieving all sorts of lures from poppers, divers, metals and soft plastics but it was just the one fish, but being my personal best i was not complaining, i went home a happy fisherman and thats what its all about, enjoying a sport you love, so get out of bed throw on some warm clothes and go for a fish!

catch ya next time
Corey