GIVE BURLEY A GO

In this day and age, no-one wants to be left behind with technology and newer, bigger, better, fast inventions. We love keeping up with the Jones' or ahead of them if possible, following fads and trends is just part of life now and most important; staying up to date with the ever changing face of our favourite leisure activities is a must.   Fishing changes constantly - new tackle is developed each year, bait is slowly getting transformed into life-like rubberized versions with realistic scent to boot, fish-finding technology has made the "hunt" a whole lot easier and burley is now fully equipped with motion sensors and fish-seeking hook missiles. Well, the last one about the burley is a bit farfetched but the rest is very true.  Burley is possibly one of the only elements of fishing that has changed little over the years. 

A customer recently came into the shop asking why there wasn't more information on the internet about burley.  Puzzled, I told the chap that there should be plenty of information online as any angler who is worth his salt would use burley and everything is on the internet!  Little did I know that the term burley is used only in Australia, and the term is chumming in other parts of the world.  Chumming came about in the 19^th century in California when fish guts and pig's heads were tossed off the end of a pier to bring the sharks in for tourists to see. 

For those anglers looking for burley recipes online, be sure to type the word chum into the search - results will be plentiful including great recipes from America and local recipes with Chum dog food in the ingredient list!

The use of burley is by far the best way to attract fish from all over the place to your bait via a trail of food particles. It is commonly used by boat and bank anglers in the river and in offshore waters to increase your catch rate. Not many anglers use burley off the beach but if the correct technique is used in the surf gutters there can be great advantages.

HOW TO USE BURLEY:

Current, tide and wave action are two strong factors that influence where your burley will end up. Make sure you take these factors into consideration when positioning a burley dispenser. A small cylinder style burley pot with plenty of small holes or slits that allow a slow and steady flow of burley is the only instrument that you need. Homemade pots are cheap and easy to make - head to Bunnings and get some PVC pipe from the plumbing section if you are handy and creative, or pick up a readymade pot from your local tackle store for around $10. Attach the pot with a length of rope to your boat, a tree or a sand spike in the sand so that the burley can disperse gradually within close proximity to where you are fishing. 

If on the beach you want the burley bucket to sit just in front of you and be washed around in the shore break so small amounts are released with each surge. Depending on the current and the waves, place the pot up current so that the burley ends up in the general area where your bait is sitting. When you re-cast your bait out, make sure it lands on the upside of the burley pot and with the current, it sinks into the trail.

BURLEY TO USE:

Any fishing scraps and off cuts from cleaned fish can be used as burley. Chook pellets, bread crumbs, old bread, pilchards and prawns are also good. When using pellets or bread, it is well worth adding a small amount of 100% tuna oil to give the fish plenty of sent to follow. The main aim is to crush or cut up all of the solid material into small pieces that will slowly break up and flow out of the burley buckets holes.

If you want to keep costs down buy yourself a second hand food processor or a meat grinder.  Blitzing up old bread into crumbs and then adding minced up meat and seafood scraps so that you get a fine composition.  Then you can freeze good handfuls of the mix into old stockings (tied off and bagged) - check first before you raid your other half's hosiery draw though!

Waste not - want not: this old saying is what my granddad lives by - he is the king of burley.  Grandad added old leftover bait to his mixture. Rather than throwing old bait into the river after a day's fishing, he would process it into a fine paste and add to breadcrumb mixture. Prawn heads,  squid, whitebait or any pilchard as well as the frames and guts of any fish he caught went into the freezer for the next burley making session! 

One recipe that I did happen to come across on the internet which sounded pretty scrumptious is as follows:

5 kg block of Pillies.
3 kg bag of Flour. 
2L Tuna oil.
Optional to add a bag of cat or dog biscuits. If you do add them, give the mix about 5 or 6 hours to marinate.
Plus all your old bait, fish frames, meat & table scraps.
Blend it all together in a 20lt bucket, ensuring everything is a thick paste. Adding some water to help it mix and pour better. Use a paint mixing attachment on a drill to assist. Pour the burley mix into old cordial/milk bottles and freeze. This should be enough to make up 10 or 12 bottles.

I am keen to try this mix and report on the results in the coming weeks.  On a last note, make sure that you don't go over board when you do use burley as the fish will gorge on it and will be less likely to eat the bait you are offering. Fish will travel long distances along a burley trail to reach the source. The stronger the scent in your trail means the fish will travel from farther distances. If you do a lot of fishing and have never tried using burley to attract fish then maybe it's time to fill your burley pot and give it a try. 

LOCAL FISHING REPORT

Noosa: Snapper to 6.5kg, a 7kg bar checked trout and cobia to 12kg from North Reef. Cobia from Chardon's Reef. Snapper to 6.5kg on trolled bait from Jew Shoal. A 10.5kg golden trevally was taken from the rocks off Double Island Point. Luderick from the rock walls at Main Beach. Tailor, bream and dart in good numbers along the north shore. Tailor and trevally in Woods Bay and around the river mouth.   Flathead from the mouth and off Petrie Bay Park.

Maroochydore: Mac and long tail Tuna between Old Women Island and Point Cartwright. Sweetlip to 3kg and a few small snapper around Old Women Island. Grunter above Bli Bli Bridge. Bream to 1kg from the cod hole and river mouth.  Flathead and chopper tailor from Cotton Tree.  Jew to 7.5kg, tailor and trevally above the cod hole. Tailor to 2kg and a few good bream along the North Shore.

Kawana: Snapper to 4kg, parrot, sweetlip and cod from Murphy's. Dart, bream, tarwhine along access 4, 9 and 15 in the Kawana stretch. Good schools of gar in the sand basin and along La Balsa wall. Chopper tailor fro the rock walls and Point Cartwright in the mornings. Bream and trevally in Kawana Waters Canal.

Caloundra: Snapper and sweetlip from Brays Rock and the Coffees. Tailor from the bar. Queenfish and trevally in the canals. Big flathead at the mouth of Bells Creek.  Quality bream from the boardwalk and in Pelican Waters. 

Gary Wilkinson and Graham Anthes like trolling hard bodied lures through the cod hole during the week for enjoyment. They had an excellent run this week and loaded the boat with tailor, trevally and a 7.5kg jew. 

Andy Gunn is a strong believer in establishing a solid burley trail when fishing on offshore reef systems to attract the big fish. His system paid off last weekend, when he fished Currimundi Reef for spangled emperor to 6.2kg, cod to 4kg, snapper and moses perch.

Chad and Corey Stevens had a good session on Marcoola Beach with this 3.5kg tailor taking their pilchard rig over night.

WITH BAITED BREATH... BEST BAIT FOR BREAM

As the temperatures test our resolve and continue to drop both day and night, the bream anglers amongst us are rubbing their hands together with glee.  Over past week bream numbers have become stronger and stronger, especially due to the recent full moon over the long weekend.  For those of you with sheepskin line waders, aim to be hitting the beach or river mouth in the dead of the night to make the top of the tide from midnight onwards.  The larger tides high tides overnight will be very popular among bream anglers wanting to catch a feed. For bream a number of things are important like bait, tackle, technique, location but most of all it is imperative you don’t scare off the timid little bugger!

Bream are notorious for being the most fickle and flighty species in salt water.  They are the Chihuahuas of the fish world – finicky, fragile, precious and...women love them because they are one of the cuter fish out there!

Bait:

Bream are mildly predatorial and fed for their territory by eating the small crabs, prawns and bait fish that pass by.  That said, you will not find a bream attacking a big jack who has decided to take over its home.  Bream are not past playing the scavenger role as they rarely pass up on any easy tasty feed that might present itself. Burley trails set up for larger species regularly attract good size bream coming in for a free feed or hungry bream smashing at larger than usual baits meant for bigger fish will test your patience.

Although bream are opportunistic feeders that will pretty much scavenge on anything, over many years working at Swan Boat Hire I have seen a few stand out baits. When it comes to high turnover baits; fresh prawn and mullet flesh are at the top. Fresh and live baits are generally the best, the list following is worth a look:

Live Bait: Sand worms, blood worm, prawn, herring and small poddy mullet.

Fresh Bait: Pike, herring, mullet, yakka, slimy mackerel, gar and squid used as cut baits.

Frozen Bait: Whitebait, frogmouth pilchard, baby blue W.A pilchards, mullet gut, chicken gut, hardy heads, mullet fillets, bonito fillets, prawns and squid.

Strips of flesh bait, pilchards and prawns can be soaked in tuna oil to increase the chances of a hook up. The oil slick caused after marinating baits is enough to attract bream from far away.

The bite you are looking for in a successful bream hook-up can be one of several sensations including a soft repetitious tap tap tap, a long slow drag, heavy weight pulling down on your rod, and rarely but still possible; a sudden hit and theft of your bait in a true mangrove jack fashion.  Once hooked Bream let you know they are on the other end and give up a good fight right to the bitter end.

Locations:

There are a few general locations worth trying in any river system as they are likely to hold bream. Bridge pylons, jetties, pontoons, oyster leases, sea grass bed, deeper holes, channels, around fallen trees, around and rocky bottom and river mouths are all good territory for bream to hang around.

Some of the Keys Hot Spots in your area include:

Noosa: Harbour Town, Munna Bridge and the rock wall in the river mouth.

Maroochydore: Pin Cushion, the cod hole and in the deeper channels surround Goat and Channel Islands.

Mooloolaba: The rocks walls at the river mouth, La Balsa Park stretch, McKenzie’s Bridge and the boat moorings.

Caloundra: The Boardwalk, the Military Jetty, the blue hole, Couchin Creek and the bar.

Many anglers have been hooked on catching bream from a young age.  Bream are the fish that my grandfather taught me to catch and if I hadn’t caught the fishing bug with bream some twenty years ago, I may be more of a Motorbike riding or Xbox playing kind of bloke today.

WINTER = BIG BREAM

You know winter is here when it takes several hours for a packet of frozen pillies to defrost, you occasionally leave home in your slippers without realising and you won't think twice if someone offers to go and get a hot meat pie!

Though winter as we know it may not occur this year given the serious wet days we've already experienced in the first few days of winter. Winter is usually crisp and cool in the early mornings and late afternoons, with mild warm sun shining down on us in the middle of the day. This winter I am talking about is exactly what we need to welcome the big sea bream into the rivers with open arms.

All the rain fall in our catchments over the last few weeks has given the rivers another really good flush out and as a result quality pilot bream and school jew have been feeding throughout the lower reaches. The cool change and uncovering of vast rocky areas along our beaches and river mouths will provide much needed feeding and spawning grounds for our key winter bread and butter fish species, the yellow fin bream.

Yellowfin bream are one of Queensland's most popular estuarine species as they frequent our waterways year round. They are easily distinguished by their bright silver colour but depending on the colour of the water they live in, colourings can range from silver to a dark grey-green. The yellow coloured fins are also obvious indicators. Current records are 45cm or 4kg in size and these bigger fish are usually found in the surf but visit the rivers to spawn.

Bream form shoals of several hundred fish, and during spawning season which is right now, they swim with similar sized fish. This is great for anglers who do land a decent size fish as usually there will be more hanging around where it came from.

WHERE TO GO: In particular any rocky rubble or out crops areas will be the best places to target these fish. We have already seen good hauls over the past few weeks with a few fish up over the kilogram mark. The Mooloolah River has been firing well with really good numbers around the boat moorings, La Balsa Park and the rock wall. The lower reaches of the Maroochy River, in particular the mouth is fishing well with bait during low light periods with an increase in the number of bream around 35cm last weekend. The stretch between the Pincushion and Marcoola beach has a few nice gutters scattered along its length and the tailor fisherman have been hooking pilot bream on their pilchards!

WHAT TO USE: A well organised fisherman should have plenty size 6, 4 and 1 Mustad 4200D or 4202D saltwater series hooks to make up gangs. Or if using prawns or squid use size 4-1/0 Mustad long bait holders, small barrel swivels and a variety of ball sinkers. Rig this tackle with a running sinker style to allow the baited hook to wash around in the current.

Tru Turn hooks in style 711 are also very useful when rigged with black crane swivels rigged in between each hook. The swivels allow the hooks to twist and set in the fish's mouth, avoid destroying the pilchards flesh when inserting the gang hooks and help to minimise line twist. Always carry a small spool of bait mate elastic cotton in your tackle box to help lash your pilchard to the hook and avoid loosing it to tiddlers. Gangs are also ideal when fishing small baitfish like whitebait, herring, frogmouth pilchards and small strips of mullet fillet.

Get yourself a decent hook file or stone to sharpen the hooks in between fish. Most hooks are sharp new out of the box, but some even require a touch up before use. A small sure catch hook sharpening stone only cost $4.50 and is a very smart investment for any angler.

Soft plastics are also an option for the adventurous angler as bream really test your reflexes. Storm WildEye Twitching Nippers (unrigged) in pearl and Berkley 3" power bait in Pumpkinseed are popular. Rig these on the lightest jig head possible so that they have a natural action when worked. A 1/8oz jighead is sufficient because of it's fine gauge hook - always a good bet.

If a hard bodied lure is your preference then it would be worth trying some of the new products on the market such as the Hawk Chunk, Surecatch Crystal Clear Super Lucky 2 and the Izumi Ti-Sing Blade. They have been recently highly recommended for mid water action. Top water fishing demands a lighter option such as the River2Sea Baby Rover 50 or a Lucky Craft NW pencil 52 for a walk the dog style retrieve and the Hawk Splasher for a popping action.

And as always rod/reel-wise I can recommend the Silstar 6'6" Estuary Special with a 350 Mirage reel and 8lb mono line for bait fishing or the Berkley 7' 2-4kg drop shot rod, Surecatch Ovation 25 reel with 6lb braid for using lures.

WHEN TO GO: Make sure that you are well prepared for the craftiness of bream and stay out of the shallow water because bream can be notoriously timid and sensitive to movement, noise and lights, so try to conceal your identity. Dawn, dusk, top of the tide, overnight in the same spot and fishing structures like jetties, boat moorings, rocky areas and near the bar are all important facts to consider. Don't get caught when your out at the Pincushion and you lose your last set of gang hooks snagged on the rocks and the blokes fishing next to you are dragging in kilo size fish.

Over the coming weeks we will follow on from this article with more indepth tips on baits, rigs, and techniques for catching the bream.

LOCAL FISHING REPORT

Noosa: Snapper off Sunshine Beach and sweetlip from the Rocks at Coolum. Quality tailor and trevally in Woods Bay and around Munna Bridge. Mud crabs at the entrance to Noosa Waters Canal.

Maroochydore: Grunter 30-38cm between Bli Bli and the motorway bridge. Chopper tailor, bream and flathead to 45cm in the mornings at Cotton Tree.

Kawana: Dart, bream, tarwhine and whiting Kawana Beach between Point Cartwright and access 15. Quality bream in around the moorings. Plenty of gar along La Balsa Park. Tailor and bream off Point Cartwright.

Caloundra: Snapper and sweetlip around Brays Rock. Quality bream around the deeper holes and ledges from the military jetty. Flathead in the Blue Hole and opposite the Military Jetty.

Adam West was targeting bream with strips of mullet when he jagged this 1.7kg tailor off the point of Chambers Island.

Using his own homemade lures worked a treat on these flathead and trevally caught by Geoff Hobart in the mouth of Petrie Creek.

John Hopcott welcomed the cold snap and took home a 1kg bream from the Mooloolah River.

Matthew Planck and Tommy Harvey from Swan Boat Hire enjoyed a day off on the water and brought home a feed of snapper from Murphies.

TAILOR-MADE FISHING IN THE RIVER

Last week we took a look at one of the more sought after beach and estuary species to grace the Sunshine Coast each winter in big schools - Pomatomus saltatrix or Tailor.  The beach fishing for tailor article covered where to go along the Coast beaches, bait or lures, casting or trolling techniques and best rod/reel combos to get the job done.  If you missed out last Friday and want to know more about beach fishing for tailor then check out the highlights on www.swanboathire.com.au This week we are sticking to the protected rivers and creeks to target the cheetah of the sea - with the comparison being about the speed and accuracy these two hunters have adopted, opposed to the likelihood that both species have whiskers and spots!

River fishing is quite different to beach fishing.  Not only are the tailor smaller in size but they are only going to be in the rivers and creeks if they have chased in a school of baitfish.  The best way to identify a school of moving baitfish is to watch for sea birds circling as they too follow baitfish as a food source.  The baitfish, especially herring, make a slight ripple on the water's surface as they move with the current and this often resembles ‘boiling' water.  Casting lures or unweighted baits into these schools of bait is a classic tactic for having your bait hit by an unsuspecting tailor. Using baits such as WA, baby blue and large frogmouth pilchards is recommended. The best (and sometimes worst) part about using pilchards is, when attacked by a tailor the resulting head shakes and biting spread pieces of the pillie in the surrounding water.  You are either happy with the natural burley release which is attracting more fish, or you will be cheesed off at the prospect of re-ganging yet another pillie!

Unlike normal estuary fishing, where you wait in hope that a fish will smell your bait and have a nibble, lure or bait casting is the proactive way to attract the attention of a tailor.  Both bait and lures can be ample in size as tailor can be extremely aggressive and regularly hit baits only centimetres smaller than themselves. So don't laugh at your mate who has just rigged a whole live mullet on his tailor rod.  Line in the 4 to 6 kg range is all you will need in the rivers as average fish is in the 1-2kg weight range and you will have a good play with this breaking strain. Use gangs of 3 x 3/0 hooks with WA pilchards and smaller gangs of two or three with the smaller bait options. 

If planning to approach these schools by boat, it is also worth trolling feather jigs with sizable jigheads, metal slugs and even pilchard-like soft plastics.  Poppers cast and retrieved as you walk along the bank of the river or slowly trolled behind the boat are also a big success.

Kit yourself out with a Berkley Drop Shot 3-5kg weighted 6'6" rod with an Abu 802 Cardinal reel spooled up with 8lb Fireline joined to a 50cm plus of 30Lb leader. When the fish are in good numbers it pays to use a small length of wire above your hooks and lures.

If you are in the market for a new rod for beach or estuary tailor fishing then before the end of this financial year is the best time to buy with many tackle stores readying for stocktaking.  Swan Boat Hire is having a clearance on Surf Rods over the next two weeks with up to 20% of one and two piece rods.  Just mention the code: Coastlife Surf Rod Special to staff and we will apply the discount.  We can find a beach rod to suit all needs and are especially well practiced in tailor fishing!  

Next week being the first week of June, the focus will be getting prepared for the winter bream fishing season - this usually entails bribing your grandmother to knit a funky new beanie complete with a skull and crossbones to ward off the nasty flu lurgy and sharpening up your bait holder hooks in anticipation of a bumper winter fishing period.

LOCAL FISHING REPORT

Noosa: Trevally and tailor in Woods bay and Munna Point in the mornings. Whiting on live yabby opposite Munna Point Caravan Park. Bream throughout the river.   

Maroochydore: Tailor along the beach over night at Mudjimba. Mud crabs in the channel between the motorway bridge and bli bli. Whiting between Chambers Island and the mouth on the morning making tide.

Kawana: Plenty of good sweetlip up to 2.5kg, snapper and parrot on the inshore reefs. Quality bream to 1.4kg from the canals. Gar in the sand basin.   

Caloundra: Quality bream around Gemeni Towers and the power boat club. Mud crabs at the Caloundra end of the passage.

The pilot bream have started to show up on the Sunshine Coast with several fish up to 1.4kg taken in the Mooloolah River and this 945g specimen caught by David Smith using fresh mullet near Bli Bli bridge.

Big tailor like this 3.5kg specimen are generally taken in surf gutters, but will venture into river systems on the making tide over night and Mark Arnall put in the hard yards for this 3.5kg greenback in the Woods Bays last week. (Photo thanks to www.fishingnoosa.com.au)

Winter months generally give anglers in smaller boats a change to hammer the close inshore reefs. Andy Gunn ventured out to Old Women Island in his Tinny for these Spangled Emperors.

Brento Mansfield was working small metal slugs through a bait school off old Women Island when this 6.2kg grey mackerel smashed it and put a up a great fight on light spin gear.