sinkers- how heavy in a strong current?

[nadders]

Hey fellas, really novice question here please dont laugh

I've been fishing some of the middle reaches around indro/graceville/etc and have noticed some very strong current which is getting annoying to say the least. I'm just wondering exactly how heavy my sinkers should be. Should i be able to overcome the current entirely and have my bait sit where i cast it more or less, or am i always expecting it to get pulled with the current very quickly?

its a little hard for me to tell if its getting to the bottom or not, but i don't think it is. I'm casting and basically its getting pulled strongly and quickly away with the current, so much so that it almost doesn't matter where i cast because my bait seems to end up in the same spot.

So do i just chuck on more weight until it stays still, or is this simply unavoidable and to be expected?

Cheers,

dan

[jeff f]

depends on a hell of a lot of things nadders

state of the tide

what you are using for bait

what you are chasing

what sort of gear you are using

how you are rigged

is it going in a holder or are you going to keep hold of it and work it

baits nailed to the bottom in the brisbane river tend to be crab tucker pretty quick

[Feral]

You can make a paternoster rig with a heavy sinker on the bottom, and hooks a metre or so above it, then a small float half a metre to a metre above that to hold the bait up off the bottom (not big enough to lift the sinker). Requires careful casting, but works ok.

[hulk]

Jeff,

I found that out Saturday morning at canals at Pacific Harbour.Sinker wasn't overly heavy either,the tide was just still at that stage.Had a couple of lines out and first three things I caught were two sandies and one muddy.Sandies were relesaed even though they were legal as I didn't have any ice and I didn't want to go home early and the muddie was unders.

Hulk

[nadders]

thanks for the reply jeff,

i'm mainly talking about the run in/run out around high tide, the spots i fish have really strong current around these times.

I guess i'm targetting anything at this stage, but i have been wanting to pull another jew out from under the indro and i've yet to catch a flatty so those are probably my main targets.

I don't necessarily want my bait sitting on the floor in crab territory, but it seems like it gets taken with the current so hard that i can't cast to where i want (around bridge pylons etc) as it just gets shot off with the current. i can't imagine its getting down low enough at all, juding by the angle of the line for starters :X

Feral thats a nice idea, i might give that a go next time i head out. i never thought about using a float, seems like a float + really heavy sinkers will get my rig where i want it without feeding the crabs

any chance it would work w/o the float, just with a paternoster and really heavy sinkers with the hook 1-1.5m above the sinkers?

[jeff f]

yep works better with out a float

[flatty_catcher]

I use a sinker about the size of a marble with about 90cm leader, I never get it to sit in the middle it always gets pushed in by the current, but if my line is at 45 degree angle then im happy.

I have never caught a thing on high tide in the river, maybe its just the way I fish I dunno, but I usually put a line in after it has been running out for 2 hours and fish mid to low tide, current isnt so strong then either.

If I was you I would try one of those pontoons upstream a bit from the indro bridge and on the other side, on a runout tide in the evening or morning with live herring or prawns(I think there is a boat club there or somthing?).

If you want to try for a flatty try a Berkely nuke chook worm or a bloodworm on a 1/8 jigg slow lift then drop,personally I doubt indro bridge would have many flatty but up bit further up maybe.

Dan