Boat fishing in the swan
Hey Guys,
taking the new boat out for its first fish in the swan, took it out for a run to get the feel for it last weekend and really happy with the performance but this will be the first fishing trip.
i've never fished the swan river from boat before so just chasing some advice, did try the search function and google but found very limited info on boat fishing in the swan river?
my plan was to launch at maylands and cruise along the far side bank between ascot and herrison island flicking baits into the snags. but while im out i also wanted to have a play with the sounder, its a Lowrance HDS 7 gen 2 i belive, very nice unit but have no idea how to use it.
is there any structure in the deeper waters of the swan that hold fish that i can cruise around to get a look on the sounder at? happy to cruise all the way down to blackwall reach if need be.
is it actually worth fishing mid river or are all the bream/other species along the banks and jetties?
and not so much the legalities but the common courtesy of fishing mid river, abviously cant anchor in any channels or passages but can i just drop anchor wherever else and have a fish?
all advice is much appreciated and will stop me starting my boating career upsetting other boaters
Niko
straith
Posts: 421
Date Joined: 25/11/13
Mate im bo expert bit try
Mate im bo expert bit try YouTube.
I found alot of steve correias shows quite useful.
Cheers
resurgence
Posts: 575
Date Joined: 23/04/14
Plenty of spots
Lots of areas downstream of RPYC at Crawley have deeper water that hold bait and other fish. Work your way along and across the channels to find the drop offs.
Trolling small bibbed lures or stickbaits from Freshwater Bay down to East Freo can attract tailor.
Niko
Posts: 213
Date Joined: 26/11/13
cheers guys,have watched the
cheers guys,
have watched the water a while ago might have to hit youtube up and have a look again.
will definately checkout the water near the RPYC thanks, really want to get some fish or drop offs on the sounder to get a clearer idea of what im looking at. havent done alot of trolling atm but will probly look into stocking some lures for future oportunities
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8138
Date Joined: 07/05/12
I don't fish the Swan much
I don't fish the Swan much during the cooler months but love fishing it during summer.
Some of the spots I've done well at are:
Rocky Bay (opposite East Freo boat ramp) - lots of yellowfin whiting sitting on the sand bank but very shy taking lures, big drop offs either side of the channel to hop lures to chase flatties and flounder
Pt Walter spit - shallow diving minnows to chase yellow fin bream, flatties and flounder and I whip out a vibe on my other rod once I drift near the channel
Karakatta Bank - shallow diving minows to chase flatties and flounder
Pt Resolution - used some of Big John's jigs here to do real well on flounder and flatties
If you're going to fish the above spots in the colder months take some crab nets with a lot of rope and drop down to the 15m+ areas at the same time.
Trolling for tailor has been hit and miss for me. I'll troll around a bit but mostly I have a rod setup ready for when they come through. Just watch the birds or the jumping bait.
Bream - pretty much anywhere in the system and this time of year I've done well and even caught flatties around Tranby House in Bayswater. It is really deep on the north bank and you have flats on the souther bank.
In regard to ground it's not like ocean fishing where you're looking for lumps on the sounder but more looking for drops offs near broken ground i.e. sand patches in amongst rocks and weed.
Regarding anchoring there aren't many spots where the channels are so tight that you are going to get in anyone's way like they are in the Peel Inlet so you'll be fine there just use a bit of commonsense and you'll be sweet.
If you're going to insist on being a baito in the river chuck out a whole prawn with a strip of filletted mulie on a 1/0 hook and stick it in the rod holder and chuck around some lures in the meantime.
I'm sure someone will be able to give you some advice on chasing Mulloway but it's not something I've ever targetted.
Officially off the Pies bandwagon
Niko
Posts: 213
Date Joined: 26/11/13
Thanks for the info, covered
Thanks for the info, covered pretty much everything i was curious about.
I did end up going out that weekend and stuck to the upper reaches between garvey park and ascot just fishing the snags on the sides of the river, got a just sized bream and something took a whole mulie on a rod in the holder then called it a day. Despite nothing spectacular caught was still great to land a sized fish first trip in the new boat, and to do it with the gf reading a book comfortably up the front aswell.
I dont know how often ill hit the river but as summer rolls around i wouldnt mind spending a bit more time fishing it just to keep things simple so will definately put that advice to good use and im sure others will aswell.
Cheers again
Niko