Uhunt Mag Information
- Posted By : UHUNT APP - Jesse Farr
- Posted On : Feb 05, 2020
- Views : 1945
- Category : FISHING » STORIES
- Description : For days we watched, observed and noted the weather patterns, wind strengths and their correlation with temperature and tide changes until we finally saw a tiny 18-hour opportunity.
Overview
By Dean SmithWeirdos, werewolves and wild people flock to the full moon and bask in its pale, silvery light as it casts shifting shadows in the dark. Weirdos, werewolves, wild people, and anglers that is. The moon has a strange and ethereal hold over us as it dictates the tide and feeding patterns of our target species, whatever that may be. So, it came to pass, with the moon building and no break in the weather for what seemed like an absolute eternity, that a small sliver of hope was dawning on the horizon. For days we watched, observed and noted the weather patterns, wind strengths and their correlation with temperature and tide changes, until we finally saw a tiny 18-hour opportunity, to finally, once again, feel the salt on our faces as we planned to chase a full moon northern Mulloway.
Before we get to the action, I just want to address the difference between a Southern Mulloway and what we call Northern Mulloway or Black Jew. Both species have an elongated body and look quite similar in appearance; however, the Southern Mulloway comes from the Japonicus family while the Northern Mulloway hails from the Diacanthus family. Other distinguishing features that set the two apart are traditionally the tail and head shape. To accurately identify different fish species, it is important to always have ready access to identification cards and/or a smart phone applications to assist, as always, the golden rule in fishing is if you do not know what it is, take a photo for ID purposes and release the fish to swim another day. Enough of the technical jargon, let’s get back to the weather watching weirdos and their plan.
(Below - This beast of a black jew absolutely smashed Wade’s 5 Inch Berkley Gulp King Shrimp in Nuclear Chicken color on the drop, showing that presentation on the jig head is key.)
The weather presented us with a narrow window; however, the tide run further narrowed that window down to approximately one hour on each tide change. Half an hour either side of the turn was going to be our optimum window when the massive run, brought on by the full moon, would slow enough for us to drop our soft plastics and vibes down to get into the strike zone. Our destination was one that you could find out by looking at nautical maps or talking with the local tackle shop owner, a well-known local haunt by the name of Findlay’s Reef. Well known for School Mackerel, Grunter, and Black Jew, Findlay’s Reef receives a significant amount of fishing pressure thanks mainly to its accessibility inside of Keppel Bay, however, still produces great catches when the conditions were right. It was with great anticipation that we departed Rosslyn Bay harbor at approximately 4 pm and headed in a slightly northeasterly direction to arrive at Findlay’s Reef.
(Below - This time, Luke is getting into the action on the King Shrimp, using a one-two hopping method through our drift line.)
Luckily for us, our fishing window lined up perfectly with the ‘Golden Hour’ right on sunset, and we spent the next hour rigging and preparing our soft plastics, occasionally dropping down to check the current strength. The current was still quite strong, which meant, unfortunately, we could only fish two anglers out the back with heavy jig heads and streamlined soft plastics. Our go-to choice for the jig heads are one and a half-ounce Berkley Nitro Saltwater pros with a 5/0 hook and two-ounce Berkley Nitro Elevator heads. The Elevator jig heads enable our soft plastic to get to the bottom as quickly as possible while still maintaining a natural-looking action on the drop which is key to getting fast reaction bites on the drop.
(Below - 5-inch king shrimp proving it’s versatility as the Author gets on the board with a solid nannygai after sunrise.)
Our soft plastic of choice in chasing the Black Jew vary depending on the light conditions. To begin with the 5 inch King Shrimp Gulp from Berkley in Nuclear Chicken color was absolute dynamite, most times being hit on the drop but very effective when drifting by using a slow one-two hop technique. As the light began to fade, so too did the hits on the King Shrimp, forcing a change in thinking as we went to the new 6 inch Berkley Gulp Swimming Mullet in Glow color. This soft plastic emits a very visible glow when used, and immediately, the fish responded, and we began seeing results once more. As mentioned before, the one-two hop technique was a nice easy way to work the soft plastic and keep it in the strike zone. Combining a nice simple lure technique with a precise drift line allows you to cover territory and enhance your opportunities to hook into the big one. This session produced four Black Jew for us until the sharks began to move in, and we decided to move off to our next destination where, we hoped, the sunrise would trigger a feeding session, and we could target Coral Trout, Nannygai and Red Throat for a quick session before beating the wind home.
(Below - Both of these fish were caught on the same drop with a two-meter area of one another, how good is the color variation? One fell for the 5-inch blue fuze jerk shad and the other the 7-inch hollow belly from Berkley.)
We arrived at our next location with the current absolutely pumping and no chance whatsoever of getting our soft plastics down to the bottom, so a decision was made to drop the anchor and bed down for a couple of hours before sunrise. As the sun began to crest the horizon and the tendrils of light extending outwards touched our boat for the first time that day, we were busy dropping our King Shrimp and Swimming Mullet down, waiting with bated breath. It did not take long at all as our boat drifted across and we one-two hopped our plastics across the bottom for Wade to pull tight on a lovely Coral Trout, which set off a chain reaction of events and led to one of the hottest soft plastic sessions that we have been apart of. Highlighting this session was the absolute hunger from the fish, almost as if they were sensing the change in the weather that was coming very soon, rarely did we spend more than 30 seconds with our soft plastic on the bottom before it was engulfed, and the sheer variety of species was incredible. We managed to boat not only Coral Trout, Nannygai, and Red Throat Emperor, but also three different types of Trevally, Hussar, some lonely Mackerel that were patrolling as our soft plastic went towards the ocean floor and to top it off, Luke pulled up a cracking Red Emperor on a seven-inch King Shrimp.
(Below - Another cracking single drop catch with Luke’s nice red emperor on the 7 inch King Shrimp and Wade’s quality red throat on the five-inch glow swimming mullet)
We were extremely lucky on this trip that we were able to take advantage of the weather window that we were presented and were able to execute our plans perfectly to produce the goods. Often we get asked, “How do you know when it is right to go fishing?.” I would love to say there is a perfect science to analyzing weather patterns; however, the number one key is to observe from a week or so out and take notice of what the weather actually does in relation to the weather forecast. Forecasts can be unreliable at the best of times, but if you are able to start noticing patterns yourself, you are well on the way to being able to identify and take advantage of weather windows. That being said, there are still times we get it wrong, and this trip was one of those times, as we began to take an absolute pounding on our return across Keppel Bay, and we got absolutely soaked as a result. You win some, and you lose some; however, I would still call this, without a shadow of a doubt, a win.
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