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Changing it up
By Sean Bekkers
I think most keen anglers have an arsenal of gear and if you're an artificial junkie like me, you'll have everything from plastics to hard bodies, micro jigs and the list goes on. Along with the tackle comes the rods and depending on the location being fished these may also change. So what happens when the trip you've planned for weeks doesn't go to plan? For most anglers this scenario plays out more often than not.
I'm a FIFO worker and my time at home is very short, with my fishing trips made up of a few hours here and there. Every now and then I'm lucky enough that I can jag a whole day to hit the water. Whilst away at work, reminiscing about a rather successful summer chasing mackerel 10-15km offshore, I decided that my next trip home would see me attempt one last session chasing some mackerel before winter set in fully. As you can imagine, after a few weeks of planning and a day dreaming, I had my heart set on heading out offshore in search of these toothy speedsters.
After what seemed like an eternity I was home again and my planned fishing trip was finally here. The boat and gear was prepped and on this particular morning the wind was west and pretty much perfect for me to run offshore. When it comes to fishing from an open boat the weather is something that I pay particular attention to. More so than the guys in half cabins and the like, although it's important to monitor the weather and ensure that you have your safety gear in order.
By day break I was almost on my first lot of marks... when Murphy struck and a strong wind warning was issued. "You've got to be kidding me!" Right from the word go my planned day out chasing mackerel was under threat. As it was predicted to blow up around lunchtime I pressed on, hoping to nail a couple of quick fish before the breeze picked up.
Catching mackerel for me is pretty simple process. I set up some lures and start trolling. Once set and trolling, I then spend my time marking bait on the sounder, while also keeping my eyes peeled for birds and bait. Birds and bait are a good indicator that there could be fish in the area, so make sure you tune into the environment around you and these sign posts that could guide you to a hot bite.
After an hour or so, without even a tap, I resigned myself to the fact that the mackerel season was over for me. However, with this in mind, I started a drift over the marks that I had found earlier on the sounder that showed bait holding.?
On this occasion I chose a ZMan 3" MinnowZ, rigged on a lightly weighted Headlockz HD jighead and after experimenting with a few colours the more constant hits were coming on the Redfish Toad colour, smeared with some Pro-Cure Blood Worm Super Gel scent. Free spooling the line until the lure hit the bottom, I then added a series of small twitches and this technique saw me land a variety of species including snapper, sweetlip, cod (Maori, flowery and rock) which made the morning more productive.
My trip offshore was cut short, with the wind picking up earlier than predicted, so I high tailed it back inshore. To be honest I was pretty devastated by the time I arrived back, so after making it back into the estuary I decided stop and grab some coffee, recharge and hit all my usual spots to see if I could nail a solid flathead.
The first spot and first cast saw me locked onto a solid flathead, with its signature headshakes and some long runs. After giving me the royal run around I managed to land a respectable 60cm flatty and that feeling of disappointment was well and truly gone. The rest of my trip went on much the same way and although the rest of the flathead weren't as big, they were plentiful.
Thinking back on my day it really didn't go to plan at all... I started my day targeting mackerel 10km offshore with hard bodies and ended it chasing flathead in the skinny water on 1-3kg gear, throwing plastics.
I hear a lot of people say be prepared to change your lure or bait to raise a bite, but sometimes that's not enough. Sometimes the difference between the dreaded donut and having a trip to remember requires you to change everything. I am one of those anglers that takes heaps of rods, reels and every bit of tackle I own with me when heading out. On this occasion it paid off.??
Cheers
Sean