# Spooking Fish qld



## grinner (May 15, 2008)

i'll put my little experiments under trip reports so paddy counts them 

whilst most tests havent probably proved too much . this test showed some pretty interesting results and may help you catch more fish.

was yesterday avo down the goldie . dropped a few kids at wet.n. wild but i only go there in july when its raining cause i am allergic to queues.

headed to the local river and found zero fish on the bridge pylons.
could not give a bait away (yes more salted yabbies  )

went for a paddle and found an interesting drain.

quite good flow out of it as well so pulled up to the right of it in the mangroves and started casting at the mouth of the drain.

was quite productive. probably got about 6 fish (all bream and a small moses)

a few pics of these tried to take one of the bream jumping but missed































but the jet skiiers wake was knocking me into the mangroves and the mud

now this is where the test came in.
i parked the yak and walked up to the top of the drain










now standing there and using exactly the same technique. the fish just disappeared. in 20 minutes did not lose i bait and tiny little fish were just nibbling it.
i can only surmise that bream keep a lookout for fishermen and run away when they see you.

to test the theory further i paddled over to the left of the drain and started casting back into the spot.

within 5 minutes they were back and it was bream after bream

see pics

















i dont think there could be any other explanation for this one. a shore based angler would probably think the spot was a dud. 
so sneak up on the fish and cast from a fair distance and dont make too much noise.

would be interested to hear if the canal bream enthusiasts try and stay as far from their target and use long casts. i think it would be a good idea.

good drive home, carbon tax is thinning the traffic already


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

That last bream looks a bit toxic!

I'm not really known for my diplomacy......you need to change the way you do things otherwise you're just going to keep catching those tiny bream


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## 4weightfanatic (May 19, 2011)

I would have to agree with you theory there mate softly softly approach,low profile and longer casting distance certainly helps. Being a fly fisher the movement of the casting action can really send fish packing so standing back from the bank or drop offs often sees the fish come in close. I'm not into camoflauge and crawling on my belly extremes but do every now and then stand behind trees or rocks to cast and always warily approach water rather than rush down holus bolus like a clod hopper :lol: Cheers Pat.


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## mehi (May 25, 2009)

If that's the drain I'm thinking it is Pete first thing of a morning before the boat traffic starts it's hit after hit on the surface heaps of fun  
also a very good spot to gather live bait using a cast net 8)


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## BIGKEV (Aug 18, 2007)

Plenty of photos of the stradic in there Pete, are you trying to get the most photographed reel on AKFF?

Although the bream disappeared when you were standing in plain sight I would love you to do this experiment again but this time introduce a berley to see if they will drop their guard for a genuine free feed. Get them all riled up and exited etc. Also worth noting is where your shadow was cast, fish will head for the hills when a shadow appears overhead as they think it's a bird ready to grab them.

In the canals I can sometimes have bream feeding freely on a pontoon right next to me, literally within hands reach, but other times they scoot when you get within 15ft, they seem to have moods where they are just so hungry and intent on what they are doing that they don't care.


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## grinner (May 15, 2008)

barra, i just love mangroves mate, (they're those things that existed before cane farm run off poisoned the shoreline (just kidding mate)

pat, ive thought a bit about camoflage. i dont know if all those bright fishing jackets (like the kfdu ones ) are really a good idea. i would think a bcf blue shirt is best.

dave, i'm sure you know where it is . interesting too ( i dont know if you crab, i dont) but pulled a monster mudcrab out of there as well and i would think crabs would like that spot with all the run.

kev, i'm going to put a picture of that reel in every report now. actually it was my first dearer reel and i can see why people spend the money on better gear as it is a delight.

i rate stealth one of the most important things in fishing, especially heavily hammered areas.


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## bildad (Jun 20, 2011)

BIGKEV said:


> Also worth noting is where your shadow was cast, fish will head for the hills when a shadow appears overhead


Can totally agree with this one, when you think about it those fish live there and know every shadow cos its the same day by day so when a new shadow turns up its careful, careful. I was spinning a river bank in Victoria for trout with a mate, we were using the exact same lures on 6lb mono, the sun was setting behind us casting long shadows, he was standing on the waters edge casting, also casting a shadow over the water, I was following up behind him a couple minute later crouching back from the edge of the water no shadow, I caught 4 trout in spots on this one bend where he had cast numerous times without even getting a hit.


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## Beekeeper (Aug 20, 2011)

Barry Alldridge, a fly-fishing friend of some twenty years past, and I were fishing the Tumut River near the fish-farm or canoe launching area. He and I had thoroughly worked over the area upstream (to our then not-so-experienced abilities), and were about to head home, when Barry decided to walk down-stream and fish another favoured spot for a short time.

He would only be a few minutes, so I relaxed and sat down about fifteen feet from the edge of a long narrow pool through which we had both waded thirty seconds before.

To my surprise, within a minute, a fish began rising in that same pool!

A raw beginner at that stage of my fly-fishing career, I fumbled with trembling hands to tie a dry-fly on... a Bloody Mary. That done, I thought then of how to present the fly. I came to the conclusion that I should just remain sitting, and let my cast fall to the ground, allowing only about two feet of line across the water. Because of the foot high bank, the line would not hit the water, just the fly.

The cast was executed precisely as planned, (unusual for me at that time) and up came the trout&#8230; timed the rod-lift lovely, and fish on!
Lovely brownie about 14inches long!

Barry came back and marvelled that any fish, especially one of a decent size, could be caught from the very same pool we had just waded through, making lots of noise because we were finished fishing and going home.

I suggested to him that the brownie would have heard his footsteps receding into the distance, and thought that the danger was gone&#8230; didn't know that the second danger to him was still present ie Jimbo resting out of sight fifteen feet away, not making a sound.

Back into feeding mode!

Whoops!!!

That was a lesson to both of us, re spooking fish and fishing sneakily for results. We both became better fishos from that time on&#8230;

Another time, my wife Helen and I stopped by a little stream (I think it was the upper Tumut) for a cuppa, and while she was sorting out the goodies, I sneaked off into the bush and just put enough of my body through the bushes to polaroid for fish in the small stream. There were fish everywhere!

I backed back through the bush, and told Helen to come with me and see all the fish. Helen's sunnies are her normal prescription glasses that change to sunnies when needed in the sunlight. She couldn't see the fish, and was getting a bit annoyed that I had talked her into sneaking through snake infested bush to see something that just wasn't there!

Of course&#8230; her glasses weren't polaroids, so I took mine off and gave them to her. "I still can't see fish!" and annoyance was definitely on! Of course, she didn't know how to look for fish! Dopey bugger, Jim! "See that biggish rock over there?" "Yes." "Look behind it&#8230; you'll see some movement about a foot away from the rock&#8230; that will be the fish's tail." "I can see it&#8230; ooh! that's a nice fish, Jim." "Look away from there, to that rock there."

Next thing she saw a whole pool-full of fish, including a striped one that I told her was a red-fin perch.

All that was showing of us was parts of our faces&#8230; the rest of us was hidden by the bushes. If you show your whole body, especially if you do so abruptly, the fish won't be there to view at all.

However, it's another thing to get a cast into a pool that's surrounded by bush&#8230; but that's another subject altogether, eh?

Bloody hell I miss that trout fishing!

Cheers, Jimbo


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## bildad (Jun 20, 2011)

Beekeeper said:


> However, it's another thing to get a cast into a pool that's surrounded by bush&#8230; but that's another subject altogether, eh?
> 
> Bloody hell I miss that trout fishing!
> 
> Cheers, Jimbo


Ahhh Autumn on a trout stream, nymphs turning into mayflies as the mid morning sun warms the microscopic insect world, with fat brown trout sipping emerges off the surface. I miss trout fishing too.


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## punchanello (Oct 6, 2011)

I considered getting a yak out of "necessity" rather than design at first. The necessity being the fact that I needed a vessel to get out on the water and couldn't afford a boat.

But the more I get out there on the yak I realise what a brilliant option it is for targetting spooky fish with finesse fishing in tough terrain. I'm sure this comes as no surprise to all you experienced yakkers. My breaming has improved exponentially since getting the Outback simply because of teh stealth.

So yeah, spooky fish? Get a yak.


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