How to

Understanding fish movements

ONE thing I’ve learned in 50 years of fishing is that a large factor to being successful is finding the fish. To many anglers, this is second nature.

They always seem to find and catch fish at any time of the year. Their secret is very often knowing where the fish will be but, more importantly, why they will be there.

All fish have tails as you’ve probably heard many times and most of them move around quite considerably. Some travel thousands of miles for various reasons and some species are quite happy to live, feed and breed in a relatively small expanse of water.

The reasons why fish move around can be anything from a basic search for food or to breed but they also include escaping predators to water temperature and quality changes. Having a handle on these factors is vital if you hope to target your preferred species.

Let’s look at a few examples of how this works. I guess a prime example is the annual trout spawn run down in the Snowy Mountains. Everyone knows that trout spawn in winter and as such they travel into rivers to make baby trout. This makes them available and vulnerable to anglers in the months of May and early June.

There’s a “closed season” in rivers from the long weekend in June to the October long weekend to protect these fish so they can breed without being targeted by fishermen.

There are also strict bag limits in May and June so they don’t get over fished. Another situation is mulloway frequenting river mouths and breakwalls on the central to north coast of NSW after a flood or heavy rain. Those fish are there looking for food in the form of mullet and prawns, etc. being flushed out of the rivers by the influx of freshwater in the catchments behind them.

Knowing this makes for some great fishing with hard body and large soft plastic lures. Another example is warm water outlets in lakes where power generation takes place and attracts many species. The above examples result in concentrated populations of target species and this makes fishing easier and sometimes ridiculously simple. It’s not always that easy and simple.

We all have our target species that we like to chase but what do you really know about your favourite fish? Where do they go to breed? What month do they breed in? Do they cover a large area and travel extensively in search of food? What food do they eat and where is it found? What water temperatures do they feed best in? Where do they go to over summer or winter? Where do they go during a flood situation? Do they feed better on a certain moon or tide phase?

DCIM\100GOPRO\G0041295.JPG

Knowing parts or at least some of these equations will help you know your target species habits and movements and make them easier to find.

Keeping a fishing diary is one good step towards being able to put collate that information and work out some trends over a 12 month period. The reason why most gamefish species are seasonal is because they are migratory. They roam the oceans in search of warm water and food. This is why we only catch marlin in summer and tuna in winter. We know that black marlin breed in September and October in the Coral Sea in North Queensland and this is why we catch 10 and 15 kilo juvenile marlin in Hervey Bay in November and December and 25 kilo in Jervis Bay in February.

Tagging programs help immensely in tracking fish movements and migrations. Fisheries also play a role in fish migrations for breeding purposes and many species are off limits during peak breeding periods when they are concentrated and vulnerable.

Having a handle on these factors is vital if you hope to target your species.

This includes snapper, bass, barramundi, trout and Murray cod. On a personal note, I know from experience that luderick move into our local estuaries to breed in winter and this is why I never bother to chase them from the rocks from July through September. I also know the local bream and flathead move off the flats during winter and go into deeper water.

I also know that our snapper move into shallower water to breed in winter and this is why we target them in Jervis Bay.

I know that March and April see baitfish turn up and following them are Australian salmon. We also know to expect kingfish to turn up at the Banks in July and in Jervis Bay in March and April.

When you think about it, you may just find that you know a lot more about fish movements than you realise simply because you know where and when to chase your preferred species. However, it always pays to try and expand on that knowledge and fine tune it by studying tides, moon, water temperatures, etc. to make your fishing even more effective.

What's your reaction?

Related Posts

Load More Posts Loading...No More Posts.