Wivenhoe tips

[David!]

Hi all

Myself and a few friends are heading to Wivenhoe next weekend to go camping and fishing.

We don't have a boat, is the land based fishing alright?

Is there somewhere close by to hire a tinny or something?

Any tips? we're all pretty amateur fishers. Not targetting anything in particular although it would be wonderful to catch my first Bass.

From reading it seems it's pretty much all lures, I haven't done much lure fishing apart from spinners and fly fishing so i'll need to hit the shop and buy some goodies. What should I be looking for?

We have a bait trap and a crab trap too, do we do anything special to catch those redclaw's i've seen you guys posting up?

Lastly in regards to camping - any preference for camping sites?

Thanks in advance for the advice, wish i'd found this forum a long time ago!

[rayke1938]

Just a quick reply while you are on line. No doubt others will add later.

Do NOT take a crab trap as they catch turtles.

Use opera house pots for redclaw.

I am not aware of anyone who hires tinneys with leccies on them.Quite a few places hire canoes or yaks. Angus should be able to set you up with anaconda yaks .

Look up the AFO boat its free but you will need roofracks or a trailer to transport.Its only small but ok for 2 in Logans inlet.If you decide to take it I can set you up with 40lb leccy and a battery.

Landbased main catch will be forktail catfish and gar. I dont know what the gar are like at the moment. A phone call to the ranger will let you know.

Only camping is at Logans inlet.

Cheers

Ray

[louis142009]

g-day mate

from past experience of camping out wivenhoe all i caught landbased was catfish, but they can be fun to catch to you will catch them using small soft plastics just watch out for the spikes

good luck

ps: ALOT OF SNAGS !!!

[Enjoyfish1]

They should rename that place catfish lake. LOL! :laugh:

[David!]

Thanks for the information. So I gather without a kayak or boat we're doomed to a sub-par fishing trip?

I don't have roof-racks, our trailer will be full of stuff and i'm running out of time to get our trip organised so the only option will be hiring from around the lake area.

Going to Anaconda tonight so I'll pick up some soft plastics... not too sure which ones those are but the name makes it pretty easy to figure out

Any preferred colours?

Any other lures I should grab?

If we use bait, any preference there?

Lastly any recommendations or links for how to rig the line?

:silly:

"Only camping is at Logans inlet."

I was wondering if there is much difference between choosing "Lumley Hill" or "Captain Logan" ?

We'd like a bit of privacy if possible.

With the turtles and crab trap - does the trap risk injuring or killing them? Couldn't we just release the turtles?

I won't be using the trap if it will endanger other wildlife.

[elops]

Hi mate the crab pot is illegal in freshwater because of bycatch and attracts a large fine try an opera house trap cheap to buy. The catfish are fun grow big and theres plenty of them a very underated fighting fish IMHO .

Regs Steve.

[tugger]

the traps drown the turtles and the native water rats that can't escape, bcf has them for 4 opera house traps for $20

[David!]

great, thanks for letting me know.

I have an opera house style trap too but it needs mending. I bought the crab trap instead of fixing it... doh!

[efficientships]

Try a Jackall TN60 in blue gill or noku gill colour if you are in a boat. Always works for me. I've never caught a Bass on a popper at Wivenhoe so leave them at home.

[werewolf]

elops wrote:

The catfish are fun grow big and theres plenty of them a very underated fighting fish IMHO .

Hell yes. Above the 60 cm mark they start getting very fat in Big W. With the weather getting nice and warm, they should be getting hungry too

[rayke1938]

Looks like AFO boat is in use anyhow.

Cheers

Ray

[Bommie]

if your fishing from the bank spinnerbaits are good, less snags, less catties,

[David!]

So what kind of bait and what size/shape hooks should we be using?

Almost fishing time, :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[werewolf]

If you are chasing the big catties, you can't beat mullet fillet as it stays on the hook against the pickers. Don't be scared to use a big hook. I would start around 4/0 at least, if not even bigger up to even 6/0! Something like a Mustard Penetrator or Big Red is perfect for big baits, but the Big Mouths tend to score a few more lip hook ups making release easier. The idea with a big hook is you will catch fewer of the smaller catties. If you use say a 1/0 you will spend all day pulling 30 cm long catfish off the hook (boring). You want the big boys! Use a reasonable sized bit of mullet, don't be scared - the idea is to use a bait that won't fit to easier in a small catfishes mouth. You can go unweighted with a really big bait and this helps avoiding some snags too. I don't think it heaps with hookup rate as the catfish are not fussy. A big sinker however helps get you to deeper water. Set your rod in a rod holder and wait for the action I've been busted up on 15 pound line doing this! It is much more fun on say 4 pound though!