Anchoring in Lakes

I use two anchors when anchoring in Awoonga when there is substantial wind to deal with. Both anchors have their own line but they eventually join about 15 metres up the line and the boat hangs off just one rope. Even though both of my anchors have chain attachments they are deployed individually and 'lowered' not dropped to the bottom. The rope is then held taught until the boat moves off from above the anchor and the chain is gently and quietly lowered to the bottom so it does not clang and bang on the anchor. Two sand anchors hold pretty well. The lead weight that SQUIDDA talks about is an ideal option. The lead weight I used for years weighed 13 kilos and was a useful, quiet tool.

The shape is important to get best effect.

Anchoring off and staying well clear of your fishing location is essential. Drifting onto a patch of stationary fish and having to drive back out and re anchor will often kill a spot. Overkill with anchors is super important, another stealth and silent approach that needs to be factored into the equation.

I'm that critical of noise on any of my boats, lake or sea that we always run in stealth mode. I run a tiller operated motor for charter trips in super calm quiet water as the noise from the electric steering motor on the bow mount is enough to spook fish in the still calm waters. The tiller is silent to steer. The bow mount gets used in other situations.

Noisy, No way,

Quiet wins!
E.g. if you were noisy and landed 8 fish, you say, well what a load of ‘crappity smack’ is the noise issue, but if you or the neighbours were dead silent you may have landed 14 fish. If you catch barra when it is noisy it doesn't mean that all fish stayed. Maybe Mrs 125cm and her two smart and wise girlfriends did a runner? Ever wondered about that? You wander through the bush, you talk loud, you see pigs and you shoot two young sows, but unbeknown to you Mr 130kg Boar did the runner when he first heard you talk. You never see him, the wise animal. Barra that stick about in noisy conditions are usually in a mode where they are more tolerant to that noise and are willing to stay and feed. On the days where they are not tolerant, they will move on or not respond. A barra focused 100% on feeding will cross the line and almost forget where and who he/she is.

In lakes in their early days if you made any unnatural noise barra would shoot off like missiles. As years and experience rolls on fish do become conditioned to boating activity but never to the point where you should go out and make lots of noise. That is a ‘no, no.’ If fish have heavy cover like a massive thick weed bank they can be harder to spook than barra on an open featureless bank. Commotion from lures like poppers or lures cast onto branches that can provoke interest from barra is the wrong type of noise that we talk about when we use the term, 'spooking' fish. Lures are more subtle commotions apart from those casts that land directly on a fish and spook the daylight out of it. Dropping pliers, stomping on the deck, rattling anchor chains and banging esky lids and so on are the bad noises, so too is a barra that kicks and shakes on the deck. The calmer it is, the worse the effect. The rougher it is, the louder the water column becomes and the more noise you can get away with- to a point.

Shallow flats in winter require a stealth mode for best result, but this is where statistics need to be laid over each other to get a better idea.
An average angler might land 4 barra in a session and go home thinking that was super success, but a quiet angler in those same circumstances might land 9 fish. It's those extra 5 that shy away that angler one never knows about. Too noisy!!

By hooking fish and having them jump and splash will undoubtedly kill a session eventually. When a big Awoonga barra jumps and splashes and kicks up the sand and tears through the weeds it will spook more fish on the average day. It is then time to move on and maybe return when things settle, but the initial strike and commotion from the first barra might just promote other fish to become keen until spooking takes over. In time to come barra may tune in better to boat noise and capitalise on the effects that sound has on bait behaviour, but for us all to run around and make noise trying to improve catch rates is a lesson for disaster. Just because a barra or two get landed when it is noisy doesn't mean that is wise to employ. If anglers adopted noisy tactics on a lake, I'd pack my bags. Fishing is hunting; hunting experienced animals and cunning fish requires special attention and tactics. A big Groper at the Swain reefs hears the sound of a distant boat generator. To him that means free food.

To a barra, hearing a noisy boat means humans are present, negative experiences abound and it's time to think twice. Fish that might bite when things are noisy could easily be fish that have not yet got the message about fake food items and sharp hooks. A harsh drop to the deck, or way too long, like 6 mins out of the water might make that fish are more cunning adversary for next time, if it survives.
Food for thought!!
Johnny

Back to Stealth

Barra become tuned to boats and associated boat sounds. Their personal space is exactly that, and once we impose too close with our 'negative behaviour', we upset and will disperse fish from their chosen location in many, many instances.

 Keeping our distance is essential if we wish to keep fish in a relaxed state. Undisturbed, less pressured fish are easier to catch than spooked fish. By far the best catch rates of barra in Lake Awoonga in our terms occur in areas less trafficked or in times when few boats are on the water.

 Boating pressure such as boats travelling over weed beds will upset the fish and will limit everyone's chances of getting strikes. It pays to stay well clear. Trolling along weed edges by day reduces chances by probably 1000% and by night at about 400% and I liken that style of fishing to sitting in the back of a moving Ute facing backwards with a rifle, looking through the dust while trying to spot a pig or a roo! Chances are the action was in front and had moved away before you got there. The same applies to many lake fish.

You still may catch the odd one, or do ok at times, but the bulk that you were never aware of had moved on, ducked into the weeds, or held their fins over their mouth! (Sarcasm).

Boat pressure forces lots of fish deep, well clear of boat activity on the surface. It's a safer, rarely intruded zone down below.

So in actual fact, human pressure sculpts certain behaviour in fishes that needs to be noted in order to stay on the front foot.

In my experiences- Coming in contact with any weed banks or foreshore areas is a ‘no, no’, as that pressures and disrupts fish no end. If 50 boats disrupted 50 weed banks in one hour, then by lunch time on any given day there will be some hard ground to try and fish. If boats stayed well clear, there would nearly always be undisturbed fish on portions of weed banks all day. Travelling at 25 knots along or over a weed bank is like throwing dynamite in. Enough said.

Experimenting

The experimenting path takes you miles. Steve B has done it for a good while now and has expanded his box of tricks and ideas with hard body and soft plastic lures. It does cost us money to experiment, I have draws full of lures, good and bad. We probably all have fishing 'junk' somewhere. We can all learn from each others' experiences; to help cut costs in some ways, and move forward with the willingness of the Aussie way.

I remember a charter trip a few years ago on Awoonga, a morning session. Two clients had landed quiet a few, good fishing that morning. With fifteen minutes left to go and no strikes had for about an hour, we changed one soft plastic lure for another type. Fifteen minutes of fishing for three more barra on that new trialled lure made me open my eyes and wonder. What was the difference I asked myself, was it a fluke? That afternoon the penny dropped. That same lure and it's mate from the packet scored over 14 barra for new clients. It out fished other versions. From that trial of a new style, a new chapter of information was forthcoming for me. It took me forward. The same place most of us want to go.
Just a quick yarn,
Johnny

Spot Targeting Giant Barra

Of course it can be done! Why couldn't it?
If you want and XOS of any species you change tact. If you want tiddlers for live bait you change tact! I do believe it is lucky dip if anglers just cast and hope, but if we lay all that has been learnt, shared, discovered or prepared we can spot target individual fish or areas where they frequent. If we use what we know to advantage we can do anything. Winter- much larger fish are available in shallow-why- the answer is there if you ask yourself the right question. In summer it is far opposing, and yea, I don't see anglers doing what is required to target XOS summer barra. Do we just think they disappear into thin air for 10 months? Of course they don't. Jeremy, you can increase your chances ten fold by altering the 'norm' of what most do.
In commercial fisheries, anglers learn, adjust and succeed to target a particular sized fish. They need to in order to feed the family. Eg, coral trout anglers learn where to find smaller fish, whilst I singled out areas with XOS spanish and learnt tactics to apply to pull only big fish on grounds where many smaller fish existed. If I wanted the little ones when the sale market changed I swapped tools and ideas. Cheers,
Johnny

Stealth and Courtesy

Yes, yes, I heard that story and did get to see a lot of tournament anglers in action last year which left a lot to be desired. The imaginary buffer an the respect and care factor is important if we all want anglers to have the best possible chance to catch a barra or two. 100m, yea, 200m or 500m if possible. If not, it is important to approach and move out under silent power if you have any concern for the next boat's anglers chances. Stealth and distance is one message I'd like to see shared around the country.
Johnny

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