Thread: Fishing tomorrow!

I catch quite a few gurnard by accident. Definitely over sand. Can be over a wide area, but usually concentrated. Small orange soft baits and microjigs fished close to the bottom do the damage. I'm not suggesting this is the best way to catch them, just my experience as a lure fisherman. I think the real grunter hunters use small fish baits presented on ledger rigs fished on the bottom.

I see them while diving around rocky areas, but sitting on the sand beds close by.

I am looking for crays and they sit and watch as I swim past.

Catch them over sand/shell/mud base but rock outcrops here and there.

Burley , current , I like to use salted mackerel , or cubed pilchards ...I prefer anchor and burley (fish based) set about 5 meters off the bottom , ledger rig ,they seem to come in runs get one - three , wait 15 mins and another school moves through. Sand is my preferred bottom. PM VC he’s an avid winter carrot hunter..

Have had a good run on them soft baiting with a nuclear chicken.

Depth doesn’t seem to worry them we get them at 40 meters in the summer right up to 8 meters in the winter.

That said this is all Tasman bay experience. Things maybe different down your way ...try different things , different depths ..everyday is different and some are just tough catching days.

Originally Posted by Gibo

These guys everywhere, over 12 individuals identified.

https://youtu.be/SxJofoHrcqs

Holy crap that is one of the coolest things ever.
I'd be tempted to jump in the water just to film that

Cheers @Gibo just watched that.

I had no idea Enjoyed it man, thanks

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

I’ll stay in the boat and keep the burley flowing

Originally Posted by kiwijames

Holy crap that is one of the coolest things ever.
I'd be tempted to jump in the water just to film that

Originally Posted by kukuwai

Cheers @Gibo just watched that.

I had no idea Enjoyed it man, thanks

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

As you can tell its the old Big Angry Fish guys. The do a fortnightly drop on youtube now. Good content.

Originally Posted by berg243

need some tips from the gurnard pro's .what sort of bottom structure i'e flat sand only or do they require structure nearby. are they wide spread in the area or small pockets. what size baits and do soft plastics work and is berley required. drift fish or chuck out the anchor . have a large bay to prospect as want something close to home for a early morning or evening fish. cheers for any info.

I am not a pro but I catch a fair few.

Sand/mud bottom. They are bottom feeders feeding on crabs and worm beds.
Here in tasman bay at least in winter (or from anytime from about now on) as temps drop they come up into the shallows.....I have caught plenty in as little as 2m of water but more often than not im in more like 10-20m of water to target them.

Drifting and fishing microjigs /softbaits on or near the bottom will catch them but anchoring up and burlying and using a 2 hook rig with smelly oily baits like pilchard,salted blue makeral is far more effective in my experience. Not uncommon to have two people pulling them in 2 at a time when everything goes right.

I target them by choosing a spot that has a feature like change in bottom type from mud to sand (real handy if your sounder can identify the difference ) or a bank or both so I am rarely fishing the flat middle of a bay unless it is a small one.
Burly trail fishing always works best if you have wind and tide going in the same or nearly the same direction and of course you need current so I try and fish from an hour or so after either high or low threw the tide till the current drops off or I have to many fish to fillet.

If the patch of coast has rocky reef you will need to be far enough away out on the sand/mud to avoid drawing in all those ravinous little bugggers.

Originally Posted by Gibo

These guys everywhere, over 12 individuals identified.

https://youtu.be/SxJofoHrcqs

Seems like there are an increasing number of whitey biteys around each year, but maybe it's just more people out there filming them?

Originally Posted by kiwijames

Holy crap that is one of the coolest things ever.
I'd be tempted to jump in the water just to film that

I agree, sort of. In the past, I've spent a bit of money trying to see great whites
(and failing). A planned encounter is a bit different from bumping in to one on a low visibility, harbour scallop dive!

No fishing gear, and no safety gear on boat, so can't use it, working and the harbor looks like this -

Just a bit grumpy now

Geez beaker don't you know all you need is a pool noodle and a hook and line. What more safety gear could you possibly want

Originally Posted by rugerman

Geez beaker don't you know all you need is a pool noodle and a hook and line. What more safety gear could you possibly want

Lol, yes I'm a bit of a worrier.... Its just when you have had, inflatable life jackets, epirb, flares, smoke, etc.... The boat just doesn't feel right without them.....
Let alone the rods and reels, lures, etc.....

Originally Posted by berg243

got plenty of spare rods that you can borrow , they just missing the odd eyelet

Thanks for the offer.

In fact, went into a tackle shop today, and the rod reel section was looking a bit light. Maybe there is a shortage of gear.....

There seems to be a shortage of stock most places I go these days.

Being new to boating I have the full spread of flares, back up vhf, spare life jackets etc.... first time replacing all my flares, another spendy bonus of boat ownership