Offshore
fishing was non existent this past week due to big swells and bad winds so
anglers have made the most of this and targeted trout, redfin and bream.
Freshwater
Lakes: Lake Purrumbete is fishing well for trout with some great
captures being had. A mixture of brown, rainbow and tiger trout have all
been caught recently by anglers using both baits and lures. The pick of
techniques to target these has been using bent minnows cast on top of the weed
beds. Unlike a bream or perch session with the same lure where you fish it
quite slowly, with trout you can fish them fairly fast on top of the water and
this really fires them up. Typically this technique will mean a crunching
strike will take place from the hungry trout. Sometimes they hit the lure so hard
that they don’t even hook up and leave you shaking at the knees. What can also
happen is all you will see is the bow wave of a stalking trout slowly creeping
up on the lure only to swim off at the last second. It’s moments like this that
you just have to keep working the lure and not stop it as they will most likely
spook and never be seen again. Another very popular technique and one that has
been getting used for years with great success is casting shallow running hard
bodies across the face of the weed beds. Finding the right lure on the day that
sits just above the weed is a real challenge so having a few in your arsenal
will help you do that and be in the strike zone for longer. Zipbaits Rigge 70s
are a great option that allow the lure to sit right in the zone but also can be
cast a long way which means you can cover more area on each cast. If lures
aren’t your thing then using live minnows and worms are also proving a great
choice. Not only do trout love these baits but the millions of Redfin that call
this lake home don’t mind them either. Using a patternoster rig with a small
split shot is the way to go. Fishing these in 6-10m at the moment will see you
catch a fair few redfin and the odd trout.
Estuaries:
the Hopkins River is producing some quality fishing again after a relatively quiet
patch. The bream seemed to have moved back into the shallows and are feeding on
hard baits such as crab, shells and coral. In the past week I have heard of
multiple fish being caught over 40cm by both bait and lure anglers. With the
big seas and the blue water pushing over the sand we should see some winter
Mulloway move into the system which will provide a bit of excitement for the
unsuspecting angler chasing bream and perch. The upper Hopkins has proved
worthy of a fish too with some nice EPs and odd trout coming from below the
falls. Soft plastics fished weedless have been the go lately fished in the
deeper pools at the bottom of the runs. Using a light 7ft 1-4kg rod and 6-10lb
leader is all you need to get stuck into some great fishing at the present.
Hopefully some more saltwater fishing to report next week!