Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Pro-Lure-Fishing-Tips » My Five Favourite Fishy Phrases
My Five Favourite Fishy Phrases
By Justin Willmer
There are a lot of catchy little sayings out there that we use throughout our lives and many of them are actually wise words when you stop to think about them and break them down. I have been fishing all my life and I have picked up a handful of sayings that I use regularly and that come to mind when the bite is tough. I remember hearing these sayings from my father, uncle, grandfather, other anglers I fished with, people in tackle stores and through fishing related magazines and videos. They have become part of the language of fishing for me and when the bite is tough, I believe they are just as important as the fishing gear that I am carrying with me. Let's look at a handful of favourites.
1. Structure is King
To this day, when I fish my local areas, I would say that 80% of boats anchored and fishing bait are in what I call the desert. Flat sand, no structure and I'm sure they pick up the odd fish moving through with the tide, however there is nothing to hold and concentrate the fish or bait there. Lure anglers seem to be moving about more and often fishing better areas, however many of them are also drifting and casting in the middle of nowhere.
Structure attracts and holds bait and fish, offering shelter, breaks from the current and ambush points from which to feed. From when I was young, I remember my father pointing out drop offs, weed edges, oyster rocks and other structure, taking plenty of time to anchor the boat so that it was positioned to effectively fish this structure. Structure can be natural, such as mangroves, lilies, weed edges, timber, drop offs and rocks, or manmade, such as jetties, bridges, pontoons, concrete walls, steps, pipes, boat ramps and anything else that provides shelter, current breaks and ambush points.
When fishing a new area, the first thing I look for is available structure, how the wind or current impacts this structure and how I can effectively fish it. I generally start with the most obvious structure, often visible above the water line and then continuing below the surface, before moving to secondary structure, such as changes in water depth, weed edges, rubble bottom and other less obvious structure. A sounder and the ability to interpret the data being displayed is an obvious advantage, especially as the water gets deeper or dirtier, however if you are just getting into fishing tune your eyes into the environment that you are fishing and remember that a quality pair of polarised sunglasses can assist in cutting glare and allow you to see into the water more effectively.
2. Find the Bait, Find the Fish
I love this saying and use it a lot... it's just proven accurate on so many occasions. I guess it's like walking through a shopping centre. The prime structure is the best performing stores, so if we were fishing for people, that would be a great place to start. Fishing around the eatery though, now that would be a winner. People are scattered all throughout the shopping centre, some stores (snags) holding more than others, however the eatery is where the food is and at peak feeding times the bite is going to be insane, while you will still get groups hitting the eatery throughout the entire trading period.
Okay, that analogy was probably a little out there, however my point is that the fish won't be too far away from the food and if you fish where the food is, you can be sure that fish will visit the area. So often in the river and estuary I am fishing a bank that normally produces a few fish and my gut says it's a desert and no-one is home. It's generally due to water colour and quality or the fact that there is no bait activity, so why would the fish want to be there. A move to another bank with bait activity and fish on!
Again, this reinforces the first point as structure often holds bait, but not always, so it's important to find good structure that's holding bait. Not all bait will hold around structure though and bait located around current lines, thermoclines and colour change lines is also worth some attention. Other areas that commonly hold bait include the mouths of drains, mangrove and timber points, along with pressure points. On many occasions I have walked the beach, following a school of bait, only to be rewarded with bust ups and hook ups on tailor, trevally, queenfish and kingfish. Find it and the fish won't be far away.
3. Match the Hatch
Yes, I know I have spoken and written about this one a bit, however I have always loved the saying and it so often rings true. The saying comes from fly anglers tying flies to match the insect hatch, with the trout being so picky in the way they feed, that the flies being tied becoming ultra-realistic. I have tied flies for a variety of species and it's amazing how adding a little bit of gold flash, changing the colour of the eyes or adding some bulk can get the bite, by better imitating the food source.
We are lucky that the range of ZMan plastics and comprehensive range of TT Lures jigheads allows us to closely imitate so many different baits and to present them in a way that makes them appear realistic, in turn attracting the bite. You can start by researching the target species and what they eat, then keep an eye out in the water and on the land for examples of the food that they are feeding on. Sometimes a landed fish will cough up some bait, allowing you to match it more closely and improve the catch rates.
Some of the characteristics that we can work on to match the hatch include profile (prawn, baitfish, frog, worm, bug or other), along with size, colour and action. Remember that you can also then use the jighead type, hook size and jighead weight to better imitate this prey. We don't keep a lot of fish and virtually none in the fresh, so we don't get to use the stomach contents as a clue for matching the hatch. However, listening to other anglers can give you a head start, which has led to increased catch rates on numerous occasions. For example, the bream are full of tiny baitfish - tie on a ZMan 2.5"Slim SwimZ or the bass and golden perch are loaded with tiny redclaw - tie on a ZMan 2.5"TRD CrawZ.
There is one little out clause that I will add to this section. Our aim most of the time is to match the hatch as closely as possible, however if this isn't working it can sometimes pay to show them something completely different. For example, switch out the natural colour for a fluoro, up or downsize the profile, or show them something totally different such as a ZMan EZ ShrimpZ in the middle of a bait school or a creature bait in amongst the prawns. Mix and match 😉
4. Do the Miles, Get the Smiles
This is probably my favourite saying that I have picked up from another angler and I use it often. When I have cast my arms off or walked or paddled as far as I can, this saying pushes me to walk another kilometre on the beach, push to the next pool when bass fishing, or make those extra dozen casts. This saying has rewarded me with some quality fish, new PBs and new species.
I guess you could tie this saying to others like 'just one more cast', 'it only takes one cast' and 'there's only one cast between a donut and a legend'. These are also sayings designed to keep us pushing as anglers often do. Do the miles, get the smiles really resonates with me though as it can be about distance, preparation, travel, casting and all the other efforts that we put into fishing, that lead to that smile at the end when it all comes together.
I think about this saying when I need to get up early to be on the water, stay up late preparing gear, drag my kayak to the next pool, paddle against the tide to reach that next key piece of structure or sleep on the ground when travelling light. The adventure really is a big part of fishing and passionate anglers will often push themselves to different levels to get the bite. At this point I would stress that safety should always come first and that it's important to have a good understanding of your own limitations and the limitations of your vessel. I often push myself to fish further and harder, but not at a risk to my safety.
In its simplest terms take this saying as when you are done, throw five more casts and see what happens. Fish on!
5. You can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results
Okay, I have left this one until last because it's a long point but a valid one. I believe it is based on an apparent Einstein quote, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".
I think about this point when I get stubborn and keep grinding it out with something that has worked previously. I get set in my ways and I know a particular lure or retrieve works, so I persist and persist, often for too long. Eventually I change up the retrieve, presentation, colour, jighead weight or even location and get the bite. This experimentation and making change leads to the evolution and development of fishing techniques and has inspired the expansion of both the ZMan and TT Lures ranges to suit these techniques, with the Ned Rig System a prime example.
It doesn't have to be a seismic shift though to change a donut day into a hot session. It may be a change to a more natural colour, a lighter jighead, deeper or shallower water, a different bank or different structure. Tournament anglers often refer to this as 'cracking a pattern' and rather than just throwing everything out the window and starting again, they will often tweak one element, such as the colour selection, jighead weight or retrieve, changing one element at a time until they get the bite. This allows them to isolate the variable that made the difference and file that for future reference.
When fishing Fraser Island I now carry a small box of lures containing ZMan 3" MinnowZ, a selection of jigheads, TT Lures Hard Core metal lures and Fish Inc. Flanker sinking stickbaits. Even aggressive predators, such as tailor, trevally and queenfish, will hone in on a particular bait or their mood will change based on the tides, current and if they are being harassed by other predators. Regardless of target species or adventure, I have leanrt to have a few different options in the kit, just in case I need to change things up to get the bite.
So, there you go, that's five of my favourite fishy phrases and five phrases that have popped into my head on many occasions and turned the day around. Even though this article hasn't given you the nuts and bolts relating to a particular technique or species, I believe that an awareness of these phrases will definitely catch you more fish. File them in the back of the mind, call on them when the bite is tough and hopefully, they pay you back the same way that they have for me, with hot bites, PBs and new species.
See you on the water...
Justin Willmer