So carrying on from the previous post I said I would talk a little about estuary fishing and things I look for when I feel it seems right to head to such a location.
Estuaries and tidal lagoons seem to attract a lot of anglers and rightly so as they are prime locations for bass. More often than not, estuaries contain a large amount of juvenile fish species and are great nursery areas, so there is going to be a lot of food available to the bass. Moving water, gullies and wave action are indicative of estuaries and simply scream bass.
During the bass season, conditions sometimes deem the rock marks unfishable, be it very coloured water or flat calm conditions. This is when I turn to estuaries trying to aim for big tides....
Time of year, there is one problem with estuaries and the likes and that is of the build up of weed you can get at these locations, we all know that green weed thats a nightmare to get off your hooks. So generally we get our best fishing early and late season when the weed levels are not as bad. But if weed is a problem simply fishing your plastics weedless will help you deal with the problem.
Tides, watch for the biggest tides of the month 4.3, 4.4.
Flow/Current, the attraction of these areas are the flow and current, which seem to hold the majority of bass. It makes sense as its simply a matter of the bass finding some kind of shelter (gullie, drop off) and picking off the food which is getting washed out by the current.
Importance of keeping in contact, when you are fishing these areas we have found that generally soft plastics are the best methods, xlayers wave worms, tiki stick etc. Making sure your xlayer is keeping in contact with the bottom is crucial, so make sure you can feel it bumping. Playing around with various jig heads. What you want is your soft plastic flowing through the current at a reasonable pace, but not so fast that the fish dont have time to pick it off.
Underwater features, if you can get try to get an aerilised view of the estuary noting any features you can see, these are 99% of the time hotspots in estuaries. Just like looking for structure off the rocks.
Dropping tide theory, well it makes sense, bait move into estuaries on the filling tide to feed etc. And then move back out on the drop bass can make the most of this by just sitting in wait on the ebb tide. We have had most of our best fishing on ebb tides. However a rising tide in a estuary can also produce great results. It all comes down to getting out and trying to understand what is happening at your mark.
Hold on, by far one of the most exciting ways to catch a bass, bouncing soft plastics through a current feeling absolutely everything, and then you get that unmistakable take and the line starts to peel of your reel, FISH ON! Fighting bass in a fast current really is a case of holding on.
So these are just some of the things I look for when fishing the estuaries around here. And thankfully it won't be too long before such areas will be firing with bass again....
Tight lines,
James
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