Winter Estuary Fishing
The fish are still there and it is just a matter of finding where they are, when the water temperatures are cool and the clarity high. In lake systems the temperature can vary considerably depending on the depth and movement of water as well as the prevailing weather conditions.
Over a period of years I have found areas in lakes that still produce fish when the cold southerlies of winter blow and the fish seem to disappear to the depths.
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| A typical location: July , southerly blowing, late afternoon and out of the wind. |
Lure fishing is the best option in these places as large areas can be covered fairly quickly. I avoid bib lures for two reasons. The places are very shallow (less than 0.5 m) and secondly there tends to be lots of weed. The bibless minnows seem to work fine. They can be either floating or sinking depending on your preference, but both fish equally well.
The time to fish these shallow locations is when you are protected from the prevailing winds and only afternoons when the sun has been out most of the day. With the sun shining during the day the shallow areas have warmed up a few degrees. Without the wind on the surface, again this allows the temperature to increase. Try these areas early morning and you will be lucky to even have one strike as the water temperature tend to be 3-4 degrees cooler.
These shallow wind protected areas also seem to accumulate schools of baitfish and they are an excellent indicator to the possibility of larger predator fish. Some locations need to be waded while others can be bank walked. So rather than sit out winter because the fishing has shut down, get out a map and find an appropriate location that can give you a pleasant afternoon fishing.
Three fish caught at the above location during an hour fishing, using bibless minnows:
Phil Turner- Forster July 2010
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