queensland Lures - Freshwater SEQ - What am I doing wrong?

[Albinus]

Hi everyone,

I'm having absolutely no luck with lures. I can be using the same style and colour as others in the same location and don't even have a bump let alone a hookup. Others seem to have reasonable to good success with them. I've caught barra in FNQ with lures but struggling here full stop down here and at the stage where I'm happy to just revert to bait fishing despite the bycatch. Poppers, spinners, divers... no dice. The hard part is that I know fish are at the locations and times I fish yet no hookups unless I use bait.

Is there something I'm doing wrong or do I just need to persevere?

[samsteele115]

Keep persisting because the rewards are there. It took me a long time to get my first fish on a lure whilst watching others catch fish around me. I think it's pretty normal until you get the hang of working the lure properly and just takes a bit of practice. 

[Albinus]

When the lure comes back in, I've noticed quite a few spangled perch stalking it. Others can be pulling yellowbellies and bass nonstop beside me but I for whatever reason never hook up

[Glenn S]

Yep keep persisting and they will come, having patience and confidence can be a great help, make sure you get that lure in the zone and make that lure look like a wounded bait fish! Heaps of twiches and pauses, just try make it look realistic, being on the water at sunrise or sunset will improve your chances, good luck and be sure to put a post up a report if you nail a few!

Cheers glenn 

[Albinus]

Thanks Glenn.

I'm a dawn/dusk fisherman in any case, and try my best to replicate a wounded baitfish with the action. I'll see what happens over time.

In any case it was a great morning Saturday, and I was amazed at the sheer volume of lungfish breaching. Certainly not endangered where I was!

[samsteele115]

Wouldn't worry about it too much, it happens to everyone. I could be fishing with a mate and he catches 10 fish in a day and I don't get a single touch and vice versa. Its weird, but it happens

[Terrova]

How are you connecting to your leader?

I've been in the same situation - exactly same lure as a mate in the same boat, same retrieve etc, but he gets the hits, I get none.

The only difference was he tied his with a loop knot, and I hadn't. Fortunately, we noticed this, and i changed it, and started to get a few hits.

We decided to do a side by side comparison of the the lures swimming action, so I retied mine without the loop, and the difference between them was subtle, but visible. The loop knot allowed a slightly wider wobble, and the lure action seemed to be more fluent, if that makes sense.

Very subtle but made the difference. That comparison opened up my eyes as to how finicky fish can be.

 

[Dinodadog]

Bass are usualy not as finicky as bream and a lot of the time you dont need a leader. I usualy start with a leader but if I get bricked I am to lazy to tie on another. It happens a lot when trolling lures you can have 2 the same and one rod catches all the fish, its the same when bait fishing. Lure has to past the fish to get a hookup, if you are out by a metre the bloke on the other side of the boat  or bankside gets the fish .

Other things to take into account, lures used, line diameter, how much line out when trolling. I have caught tons of bass and very seldom use a loop knot, only when the lure wont swim properly.

Dino

[Terrova]

You have me there Dino - Most of the fishing I do is for Bream. :-) 

My setup is usually a 7'6 Rack raider bream finesse rod with Sedona 2500 filled with 4-6lb braid and 3-6lb fluro leader.

Lures range from squidgies to hardbody's depending on my mood, and time of day. :-)

I will say, however, that I find a loop knot less effective with soft plastics than with hardbodies.