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Fishing The Seasonal Switch
By Justin Willmer
One of the trickiest times to fish can be the change of seasons, when suddenly the species and spots that were firing last week just seem to stop producing and it's back to the drawing board. I wish that I had kept a diary of my catches over the past few decades, so that I could use it as a reference, however over time I have developed a fairly solid understanding of the local areas that I fish. I am still a strong believer in the 'fish are where you find them' saying and time on the water shows that patterns form and reform, fish move around, and seasons differ from year to year. I believe that having a strong arsenal of techniques will outperform a handful of 'secret spots' over time.
In this article I wanted to look at ten variables that are worth exploring when that seasonal change happens and everything that was working seems to have been thrown out the window. Sometimes it's a big change that gets you back into the fish and other times it's the little tweaks, the 'one percenter' changes, that get the bite happening. There is no doubt that when the seasonal changes come, changing things up can produce some hot bites, new species and memorable sessions. Let's change things up!
Target Species
When it comes to seasonal species, we often have those favourites that we persist with, even when we know that the season is coming to a close and the bite is dropping off. At some point we bite the bullet and select a new target species, however while targeting our favourites for these last few sessions we can always plan a backup option. This could be a snapper or flathead spot to stop on the way home if the mackerel or tuna have moved on, or a handful of smaller or different lures in the kit in case the tailor fishing is done for the season.
Targeting a different species may require you to address other variables in this article, such as your lure selection, retrieve techniques, areas you're fishing and so on. The more flexible we are as anglers and the more techniques and presentations that we have in our arsenal, the easier it is to switch between target species and stay on the fish. Take the time to research the available species in your region, or the region you are travelling to, and work on setting yourself up for a backup species or two that could save your session or your big trip away.
Water Depth
A seasonal change can signal changes in the dominant wind direction, water clarity, water temperature and even weed growth, that can see baitfish and predators move into deeper or shallower water. Seasonal spawning can also see fish holding in different water depths. I love shallow water fishing and have been guilty of sticking with the shallows and grinding things out, even when the shallow water bite is slow. In recent times I have spent more time fishing deeper edges and structure, when the shallow water bite is slow and this has produced some hot bites and memorable sessions, with an increase in species such as snapper, mulloway and trevally.
It can be as simple as moving from the flats to the edges or edges to the deeper holes, with a metre of water making all the difference to finding bait and active fish. Explore and experiment in your local waterways, so that you develop a better understanding of the available water depths and structure. When travelling to new locations it's also worth exploring a few different depths as you could be working the edges and that big school of fish may be sitting on a secondary drop off or holding in a thermocline in deeper water.
Water Clarity
Water clarity can be impacted by seasonal winds, rains and tides, making it another factor that can influence and change the bite. When you're fishing, pay attention to the water colour and amount of suspended sediment in the water, when the bite is hot and when it's not. It's amazing how many times I think, wow this water colour looks good, only to find the bite is good and vice versa.
At times species love to hunt in the dirty water and colour changes, barramundi for example. Some species don't mind hunting and feeding in dirty water, with grunter firing on one of my local flats when the wind is blowing onto the flat, oxygenating and dirtying the water. While the opposite has often applied for me when targeting flathead on the Gold Coast, with the hunt on for areas of cleaner water to get the bites. I guess the key takeout on this variable is to pay attention to the water colour and clarity, so that you can find the patterns for the areas that you fish and make the change if things aren't working.
Rainfall / Salinity
Seasonal rainfall can dramatically alter a system, as can a lack of rainfall. During periods of little rainfall, we have had some great sessions a long way from the creek and river mouths. With the salt pushing up, so does the bait and the predators follow. Bream, grunter, flathead and jewfish have been caught a long way from the mouth after little rain, with the next lot of sustained rain pushing them all back out again, so keep this in mind.
Following sustained periods of rain, the mouths of rivers and estuaries can fire, with bait and predators flushed from the system and searching for the salt. Incoming tides often push cleaner, saltier water back into the system and finding this push can often produce the bite. Often, in deeper water, the clean, tidal push will come in under the dirtier runoff that is flowing over the top, seeing deep river and estuary mouths firing after rain. Weedy areas often hold the salinity longer and I have also had some good sessions focussing around weed beds after rain. If there hasn't been too much rain, species such as bream can be found feeding around the drains and channels that feed run off water and food into the system.
Too much rain may see the system shut down for a few days and then fire up as bait and fish move back in to feed on the influx of food into the system. These shut down days can be an opportunity to leave the salt and explore the freshwater options in your area, with freshly flooded grass and water inflow points often firing up following rain.
Lure Colour
This is a quick and simple change that we can make to try and get the bite happening. If you are fishing with other anglers, it's a good idea to start the session with different lures, in terms of colour, size or type, to try and figure out what the fish want. When it comes to lure colour, I am a strong believer in the basic three colour theory, which consists of a light and natural colour in clear water and bright conditions, a dark, silhouette colour in dirty water and dark conditions, then a fluoro colour if the other two aren't working. This has been effective for me over the years, on many different species and countless locations.
Matching the hatch (matching the bait) is also another consideration, with subtle colour changes to match the bait often triggering the bite. Seasonal changes bring different bait to the system, with a colour like Baby Bass or Green Lantern producing when the fish are eating gar, Bad Shad and Smokey Shad when they're zoned in on pilchards and Blue Glimmer, Opening Night or Pearl when they're eating whitebait. These more subtle changes are worth experimenting with when you can see fish actively moving and feeding around the bait, while showing no interest in your presentation.
Lure Size
Upsizing or downsizing your presentation can often switch on your target species or attract the attention of a different species and turn a slow session into a hot bite. Again, with seasonal changes we see changes in the water, the bait and even the mood of the target species. This can see them change from smashing big baits to selectively sipping down frustratingly small presentations, or vice versa, where they won't open their mouth unless the meal is worth the effort. Again, if there is more than one angler fishing, utilise different presentations to try and crack a pattern.
When fishing the rivers and estuaries for example, anglers will often have multiple rods rigged, with soft plastic presentations ranging from 2.5" to 6". This will cover a wide variety of species, however at times the switch can be made to attract the bite from the same species feeding on different bait, in a different area or a different mood. Flathead are one example, often preferring either a smaller or larger presentation to catch numbers of fish, while barramundi as one example can be notorious for wanting to eat large plastics, then seasonally zoning in on tiny bait or jelly prawns and only eating tiny plastics.
Lure Type
The type of lure can often make the difference. This can be based around a few variables that we have already discussed. It could simply be a match the hatch type scenario, where a switch from a baitfish profile, such as a ZMan 2.5" Slim SwimZ, to a yabby profile, ZMan 2.5" TRD CrawZ, could turn on the bite. The effective change could be based on a lure that stands out more in dirty water, such as a plastic with more aggressive action, adding bling such as a Jig Spinner, or selecting a FrogZ to buzz across the surface.
As you move shallower or deeper the jighead size may change or the lure type may change completely to a blade, tail spinner or metal slug. Jighead changes are a common variable that can change with the season and even the session. In summer our Queensland bream are often feeding shallower, higher in the water column and around structure, such as pontoons and jetties, where we fish TT Lures HWS (Hidden Weight System) jigheads as light as 1/40oz and 1/28oz, through to standard jigheads around 1/20oz - 1/12oz. As we move into winter the bream move deeper to school and spawn, requiring jighead weights to increase to 1/8oz - 1/4oz to target them effectively in the current found around the deeper river mouths and rock walls.
Retrieve Technique
As the seasons change and we tinker with lure colour, size and type, we also mix up our retrieves. When fishing with other anglers it's also an opportunity to fish different retrieves and I will often let the other anglers know that I am going to try fishing faster, working a slow roll, pausing longer or other retrieve changes that may fire up a bite. If between us we are mixing up lures and retrieves, we magnify our chances of successfully cracking a pattern or technique and we can then add this to our arsenal of future techniques.
Other variables discussed here, such as water depth and clarity, along with the more obvious target species and lure selection, will also impact the chosen retrieve. Species like barramundi or mangrove jack can be super aggressive in summer, smashing topwater lures and quicker retrieves, while the colder months require dead slow retrieves and keeping that lure in the strike zone longer. The more time you spend on the water experimenting, the more patterns and techniques you will uncover and the more pieces of the fishing puzzle you will collect. If it's not working, don't be afraid to try things.
Scent
You will always find scent in my fishing kit and it will generally be in the form of at least two Pro-Cure Super Gel flavours. Seasonal changes often see the bait change and can also see the techniques change, so scent changes can be made to reflect this also. When the prawns are running we often fish prawn profile plastics, such as the ZMan 3.5"EZ ShrimpZ and scent this with Shrimp Pro-Cure. When the system is full of baitfish, then it's on with a paddle tail and Mullet or Sardine/Pilchard Pro-Cure and when flicking the Ned Rig around on the flats it's TRD BugZ and CrawZ, scented up with Saltwater Yabby / Nipper Pro-Cure.
You will also find anglers tweaking the amount of Pro-Cure used based on the season. An example of this is the winter black bream bite, where big fish are on offer, techniques are based around fishing slow in many areas and the lure is smothered in scent. At other times and in other regions the fish are feeding more aggressively, with a smear of scent is all that's needed to get a solid bite and hook set.
Fresh / Salt
If seasonal changes cause a period of instability and slow fishing in the areas that you fish, it may be worth investigating other salt and freshwater options in your area. You may get a salt or freshwater bite that can keep the itch scratched until the other areas begin to fire again.
I know anglers who can be found fishing the salt throughout winter and then when spring arrives, they switch the bulk of their fishing to chasing bass throughout the warmer months. Likewise, I know anglers that spend winter chasing snapper and other offshore species, making the most of the stable winter weather patterns, then summer is all about impoundment barramundi. Then there is the cult of the Murray cod that sees some anglers devoted entirely to this iconic species when the season is right. If your local areas shut down, just remember that there are quality species available in both the fresh and salt.
We often say that the tough days fishing are more important than the good days, as this is when we learn more... and this learning will be accelerated if we consider the above variables and try different things. Changing things up and working things out gives us a better understanding of the areas that we fish and the species that we target, along with the changing seasons that we are confronted with each year. It's also extremely rewarding to crack a new technique or species, work out a pattern or discover a new and productive piece of water.
Fishing isn't all about catching and if you told me I would never catch a fish again, I'd still be out there casting, sledging mates, enjoying the scenery and wildlife, exploring new locations and just enjoying every element that this sport has to offer. At the end of the day though it's great to have that rod buckled and drag screaming, and as we become more and more experienced as anglers, we realise that we play an active role in working out the world around us and making the fish bite... that's pretty empowering. Get out there and make them bite!
See you on the water...
Justin