queensland Help with Fish ID and rigs for snags please

[Kat]

Hi All

just wondering if I can have some more help please?

1.  Can someone Id this fish please; and

2.  Are there are any tips and tricks to fishing near snaggy territory where the current is pretty fierce - I would like some tips to avoid so many snags.  At the moment there are a few promising areas that hold lots of good fish (compared to hardly any elsewhere) - coombabah creek and parts of the Broadwater.  My bait is getting sucked or washed back around to the bank and or the rocks.  No matter how far out I cast I  end up reeling in constantly (fast) to try and avoid the snags - and even then if I don't time it right I  still lose more tackle than it is worth.  And of course the bait isn't in the water long enough for the fish to find it.  I know the places are good for fish as for the rare occasions when the current, tide and winds are just right I have been able to land a few.  I have tried heavier sinkers but they still move toward the snags and then I don't get many bites. 

My rig up til now is just a running sinker above the swivel (haven't ventured past this rig - perhaps it is time).  

Any new rigs with explanations or other suggestions would be appreciated.

[Junky]

The fish is a leather jacket. 

Not sure exactly which one but there are a few different types. 

 

Snaggy area is hard. 

Maybe a heavy star sinker and run a paternoster style setup. The star won't roll around like the others. 

I generally wait for the tide to slow a bit to fish those kinds of places. 

If the bank is littered with rocks/snags then the only way to retrieve the line is quick. 

[Another Wazza]

+ one for Junky’s method of waiting for the tide to slow a bit, if possible a running ball rig  with a tiny sinker, or no sinker at all around the turn of the tide might be the go?, granted it’s a small window but you can still do plenty of damage

[Kat]

Thanks @Junkyand @Another Wazza.  I had a feeling you would say wait for the turn of the tide.  I will also try the star sinker.  Yes sometimes I start my retrieve too late and get snagged.  But I wind in fast.  So fast I have almost had a hook in the eye .  

Any other tips or suggestions welcome.  I will try them all.  

Also can any smart cookie tell me how to estimate low and/or high tide times in areas that aren't measured - i.e  parts of Coombabah Creek.  I was told it was approximately two hours behind but I am not sure that is the case.

[ellicat]

You could try sinker on top of hook. That is easier/more successful getting off snags. If you snag up just give it a good lot of up and down shakes. @Old Scaley is a master at it and it worked a couple of times for me recently too. We can discuss next time we fish together.

 

[Ed.]

Kat you could also try spoon sinkers, they tend to lift off and glide off the bottom and into the water column when you wind them in. I find that you don't have to wind them in as fast as star and snapper sinkers.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hey Kat

Yes, certainly some leatherjacket of sorts. 

The only way I've found to avoid snags is to try and suss out where it is, then cast right on the edge of it. Other methods would work very well too. Star sinkers will hold and then your bait will hopefully be anchored. 

A simply paternoster rig for the star sinker will be good. Have a loop (Surgeon's knot, which Ray told me about, so now I can tie a proper loop) then a normal knot to the sinker.

Cheers Hamish

[Kat]

Thanks everyone will try all suggestions over the next couple of months.  Meanwhile I checked one of the places at low tide to figure out what was snagging so hopefully go better next time.

[Kenne]

Hi Kat The tide at coombabah is about 11/2 hours behind the seaway. Where abouts are you fishing at Coombabah?             I live there and have never had a lot of problems with snags.

[SuperHans]

Hi Kat,

I don't know the area, so my suggestions are general.

If snags are bottom material rather than sunken trees you could try a paternoster rig with a bomb sinker at the end. I think that these elongated sinkers cast well (more streamlined) and release from snags better than many others because of their shape. A loop on the end of the rig makes for easy and fast sinker changes as for when you need more/less lead as the tide changes. The paternoster should keep the hooks away from the bottom snags so a sinker that is shaped to come free easily makes sense. 

Making the loop at the end is straight forward. Double the end of the line back on itself, then using the doubled up line make a simple overhand knot. The resulting loop is easily slipped on and off through the the bomb sinker's swivel. (Poke loop thru sinker eye, then sinker thru loop and tighten). 

Alternatively you could also try using a float to keep your rig off the bottom.

I am wondering if its a good place to fish when the current runs so strongly. In general fish don't like wasting energy fighting a current unnecessarily. Instead they hang in eddies behind structures as this quieter water uses less energy and brings a meal to them.  If they need to move from A to B  it makes sense for them to go when the current assists them. As someone above said, there may be  better stages of the tide to fish this.

[SuperHans]

PS, This bloke has an interesting idea for trying the sinker on a paternoster.

Re Leatherjackets-ugly suckers but so easy to clean and a very under rated table fish.

https://www.ryanmoodyfishing.com/paternoster-rig/