April is my favourite months to fish both freshwater and saltwater.
In the freshwater the bass and eps have started to school up for their spawn run down to the salt water. It’s also a great for the pelagic fish around Sydney with a mixture of both summer and winter species present in the Harbour and Broken Bay. And there should be stills some Dolphin fish still around the fads and fish traps. If we are lucky and the currents keep coming down from the north we may still catching them in early May so let’s hope that the warmer currents keep coming.
In March the fishing in the Harbour hotted up with Kingfish, bonito, Taylor, Amber Jacks, Frigates and odd Salmon. Last year in March I caught Bonito, Kingfish and some Watson leaping Bonito up in Rose Bay so it will be worth checking out
Middle Harbour has been on the quite side with water temp over 25c the kings are hanging deep and have been caught on metals and weighted Slugos jig deep around the moorings.
I was going through my tackle last week and spotted a zip lock boom that I had been using a few years ago to troll live baits and lures for Kings, Salmon, Bonito and Taylor. I put a couple in the boat and gave them ago with great results. The boom allows me to get those live baits down to the depth of the fish without using a down rigger. You can use them in conjunction with conventional spread of trolling lure I usually run two Trollcraft pelagic and Bass assassin twitch or a Trollcraft popper run a long way back .The zip boom allows me to run extra lure in the middle down deep .I drop it down next to the Transducer and watch it on the sounder to the depth that I want. You can change the angler that line goes down by add a heavier snapper lead which held on by a snap. The amount of drop back from the boom is also adjustable. Most good tackle shop have them and will explain how they work and how to use them or check out www.shiptontrading.com.au
I’m using some new stick baits (like Slugos) Bass Assassin Twitch and Charms. They come all the proven kingfish and salmon colours plus some new colours that have been working for me are rainbow trout, sherbet and pink diamond. The twitch is the same size, action and similar profile as the 6’ and 4.5’ slugo while the charm is 7” and a slimmer profile and a real wiggly like a baby eel.
The Bream fishing is also been fishing a little slow with some being caught around the moored boats and jetties. The best lure being bass minnows and slider grubs fished on 1/32 jig heads.
Cast these close as you can to a Boat, post, Jetty, pontoon or any other structure, let the lure sink, watching your line for any sudden movement that might indicate a bream having a bite. Once it hits the bottom or it’s at the required depth give it a twitch with the rod tip, let it sit then work it back with a lift and fall retrieve. If you feel a bite drop the rod tips to allow fish to take the lure the lift the rod to hook up. Small diving lures have been catching their share of bream; cast the lure past the structure so the lure can get down to its maximum depth when it pass the structure give pause it for a second, give it twitch before retrieving at a slow speed. I don’t strike with the rod, I let the rod load and ease you rod back to set the hook.
The Bass in the middle sections of the river has been really good in size and numbers on most outings. Most of my bass have been taken on surface lures Taylor Made, Feralcats and Tiny Toad with a stinger hook have been doing the job for me.
The bass fishing has been good above Windsor with plenty bass being caught around the weed beds and under the trees on small Tiny Toads, Taylor made, Feralcats and fizzer surface lures. Also I have been using diving lures that float, these can be use as surface lure as well as diver. I cast them close to cover, let them sit for a few second then I give them a twitch before winding them back often the bass will strike at them when still on the surface but if the do not they will often strike on the first couple turns of the handle.
Best colours have been green and yellow and purple and darker colours for the surface.
The bass fishing around Penrith has been good with plenty fish being caught above the weir around the rail bridge and the edges of the weed beds. A lot of these fish have been falling to Jackals during the day and Taylor made surface walkers at night.
Anyone interest in learning more about Sportsfishing Sydney on lures I will be holding on the water Fishing schools every month at the anyone interested or wish to join a shared tour can ring me on 040 8334 892
