The ability to assess conditions and choose lures according to what’s happening below the surface is a key component to luring success, writes Richard Linossi.

Today there are hundreds of different lures available to the angler and deciding which one to fish with can be a daunting exercise. There are vibes, hardbodies, top water lures, slugs and soft plastics… the list goes on. However I have come to realise that it doesn’t matter which lure you choose to tie on because they all work. The key is to choose one that best suits the conditions at hand, will get to where the fish are and imitate what they are feeding on.
To provide an example of what I am talking about, I will describe one particular fishing trip that spanned two days, where I had to constantly change my lure to suit the conditions as I moved around.

Once an estuary perch strikes you have to be quick in response or it will likely bust you off on the nearest snag.

CASE STUDY
I was fishing at Marlo in Victoria and my target species was the wily black bream; however, the reality is, I could have been fishing in any estuary system for any species.
First light was only just evident as I slid my kayak into the still, fog covered water and made my way to the back of the system where a shallow lake exists. When I arrived at the flats I tied on a deep diving hardbody. The idea with this lure was to have it dive deeper than the depth of water, which was only two foot. The lure would then bang into the bottom and stir up the mud to attract the attention of any nearby fish as I wound it back to the yak. This is a very common and very effective technique.
Initially I was simply casting out and slowly winding the lure back, a process known as ‘slow rolling’. This produced several small bream but I was after much bigger fish and so I had to change my technique. Now instead of slowly rolling the lure all the way back to the yak, I cast out and worked the lure quickly so that it was bumping along the bottom. Then I would pause my retrieve and let the lure slowly rise – taking full advantage of its positive buoyancy. The slow rise of the lure through the water column did the trick and I started catching some of the bigger bream that were feeding on the flats.
As the morning progressed the fish appeared to move off the flats and so at this stage I moved to fish some deeper water along a rock wall. I tied on a small soft plastic worm rigged on a three gram ball jighead. The idea was to set up a drift parallel to the rock wall and fish my plastic along the line where the rocks met the mud in about 3.5 m of water. I proceeded by casting my lure as far as I could directly in front of me. I waited for it to hit bottom and then gave the rod tip several erratic twitches between long pauses, to bring the worm to life. It didn’t take long before I had my first touch, then my first bream on board in this new location, then a second and a third.
After about an hour of good fishing the action slowed down so I stopped casting and started pedalled around for a while. All of a sudden a school of small baitfish jumped out of the water several metres ahead of me. I quickly tied on a small shallow diving hardbodied lure and cast into the area I had seen the baitfish jump. I wound the handle of my reel three times to get the lure to depth, then twitched the lure three times and paused… then I was on! This technique imitates a wounded baitfish very well but is only effective when the fish are feeding in the top section of the water column. I find that periods of low light, such as early mornings or late evenings, are the best times to fish this technique. The fish tend to feed much higher on the growth and creatures along rock walls in the low light. However this was during the day and my lure was getting smashed every cast.
The fish were relatively small and amidst all of the action I happened to glance at my depth sounder and noticed some solid arches hanging close to the bottom. I now wanted a lure that would get down quickly, past the feeding frenzy that was happening mid-water and down to the bottom. So on went a vibe. I employed the same technique as I did when using the soft plastic worm, casting tight against the edge of the rocks and the mud, only this time I gave the vibe two small hops along the bottom between pauses. I hooked up on the first cast and line started peeling off the reel, then nothing. I mustn’t have hooked him properly. Not to worry as the next cast also got hit by a very solid fish and after an exciting fight up came a big, fat healthy black bream.
The tide was now dropping. I moved out of the river and into to a small creek with muddy/sandy banks. A spot like this is often full of crabs and bass yabbies so I changed my lure to a small yabby style soft plastic. I have found fish to be weary and easily spooked in these small narrow creeks, so stealth is vital.
I slowly slid my kayak up along the bank so that I was stationary, then I waited. I had waited roughly five minutes, enough time for any nearby bream that may have been put on edge by my arrival to return to their normal business. I then cast my lure up onto the dry bank opposite me and proceeded to slowly hop the lure into the water and down the muddy bank, imitating any small crustacean trying to make a move for deeper water as the water level dropped with the lowering tide. With each cast I would try a different part of the bank but always worked the lure all the way back to the kayak. I was just thinking of making a move further up the creek when I felt a fish take the lure. It raced towards the nearest snag and I only just managed to turn the fish before it busted me off. It turned out to be a solid estuary perch. As is often the case, I hooked a nice bream only a few casts after releasing the perch.

These two beautiful blue nosed bream smashed my top water lure in some shallow water after dark.

DAY TO NIGHT
It was now only a couple of hours before sunset so I made my way towards the entrance of the system to find a spot to rest for the night. It was calm and I could hear the sound of the waves crashing on the surf beach over the dune behind me. It had been a long day and I lay back in the sand to watch the stars appear as my rice slowly cooked in my little pot. Every so often I would hear the splash of a mullet jumping.
As darkness approached my attention was drawn to some more serious surface action. I pulled out the head torch and spotted several prawns being chased by some big fish in the shallow water. I could see big bow waves racing across the water, followed by prawns flying everywhere in order to escape the predators. I quickly tied on a surface lure and slid the yak into the water. I pedalled over towards the action and secured my kayak in the shallow water with a stakeout pole. Adrenalin was running high as I waited and watched for any signs of movement in the water. My plan was to wait for some action then cast my top water lure in amongst it and hope for a hook up. I waited silently for some time but there was nothing to be seen, no more bow waves or flying prawns. So I cast out over the flats in any random direction and began working my lure. I was standing up in the kayak and pointing my rod tip down towards the water. I wound the handle of my reel slowly whilst constantly snapping my wrist downwards. Each time I performed this motion the lure would dart from one side to the other in a zig-zag motion, a technique known as walking the dog. I did this for about 15 minutes and was about to give up when I heard some splashes where the water dropped off the flats into a little channel.
I cast my lure into the channel and worked it back over the flat. When the lure was about 10 m from the yak a bow wave appeared from nowhere and stream lined towards it, there was an explosion of water as the fish smashed the lure and proceeded to race off with it, zig-zagging all over the flats, spooking other fish and prawns. I finally got it to the net and it turned out to be another nice blue-nosed bream. I quickly unhooked the fish and cast my lure out again, leaving it to float on the surface as I tried to get a quick photo of the fish before I released it. All of a sudden I heard a big splash and then line peeling off my reel, I was on again. A fish had smashed the lure while it was just sitting on the surface. It also turned out to be a good bream. I headed back to the bank for a quick photo before releasing the fish.
It was time to call it a night… I had forgotten my rice and it was burnt to a crisp.
I awoke to the sound of kookaburras and sprung out of my swag to find a glorious morning. I jumped in the yak and headed towards the first island to fish some snags. The snags I wanted to fish were large logs that ran parallel to the banks of the island, placed there to create a habitat for marine life and to help stop erosion. Normally I tend not to fish vibes around snaggy areas as they are easily caught up and lost; however, I know where the logs lie and they are largely surrounded by sand so I felt confident casting tight along them.
I slowly snuck close to the bank and cast my lure in front of me and along the length of the log. Fishing this way allowed me to keep my lure as close to the structure as possible, allowing my lure to be in the prime strikezone for as long as possible. It paid off and my first catch for the morning was a rather ravenous looking luderick, which was followed by a nice bream from the same snag. I continued fishing the snags for the remainder of the morning, catching and releasing many more fish before I came to an area where I again saw some surface action. Prawns were being attacked in very shallow water along the bank.
I tied on a small soft plastic prawn imitation. There was a little bit of wind around so I rigged the lure on a three gram jighead. I wanted to achieve some distance with my casts so I didn’t spook the feeding fish. The idea was to fire long casts parallel to the bank before skipping the lure across the surface. After gaining the attention of any nearby fish I slowly hopped the lure down the bank, into the deeper water. This technique worked well with a few toothy bream taking a liking to my lure.
I had a few hours left before I had to pack up and head home so I decided to cruise around the edges of the system while casting soft plastics. I proceeded to pepper the shallow muddy banks with long casts along the way. This proved to be very effective, resulting in a few quality fish being landed, but one fish in particular stuck in my mind.
I fired a cast up onto the bank and slowly twitched the lure back into the muddy water. When it was about 2 m from the edge, in about 1.5 ft of water, a bow wave raced towards it and stopped directly in front of the lure. I wasn’t sure what to do so I froze, then gave the lure a couple of small twitches. I felt a clunk as the fish crunched down hard on the small soft plastic lure, sending a powerful flick through my line and down my rod. I set the hook.
At first the fish just sat there shaking its head and then it took off, putting up a terrific fight in the shallow water. Eventually a very handsome 47 cm bream entered my net. The fish also left some very impressive bite marks in the soft lead weight of the jighead.
Very satisfied, I paddled back to the launch site and began the long journey home.
FINAL SAY
Lure fishing is a very fun and exciting way to catch fish and having a range of lures on hand makes it possible to pick and choose something that will suit the conditions on any given day. There is often a tendency among anglers to only throw one or two ‘go to’ lures. While this is great for confidence, it can limit the ability to adapt to various scenarios. In certain conditions where these ‘favourite’ lures are not ideal, one is at a loss and sometimes it means not catching much at all. The more lures that you can use effectively, the more options you have which will ultimately allow you to catch more fish – whatever your target species may be. The best way to do this is to observe the conditions around you and simply try something new, remembering that it doesn’t matter which lure you tie on as long as you can make it come to life and look real.
Richard grew up fishing and exploring the beautiful surf beaches and rock platforms scattered along Victoria’s coastline. He has been kayak fishing since the age of 21 and has explored almost every estuary system between Nelson and Mallacoota. He makes most of his own lures and enjoys the challenge of tricking even the fussiest of fish into eating them. One of the things Richard finds special about fishing is the places it takes you, be it chasing bronzed whalers off Cape Conran, bream at Marlo, Giant winter snapper in Corio Bay, gummy sharks in Westernport or trout at the heart of the Mitta Mitta River deep in the high country.