Need Help with catching Redfin!

[LachyBell]

Any tips on how to catch Reddies preferably on lures, I try berkley flickbaits, z-man grubs (motor oil) and also red blades but Im only lucky to get one for the day. Any good places, around Melbourne I can try. Also what baits are they suckers for just in case.

[wem21]

Go light gear so 4lb braid 1-3kg rod, 2000 or 2500 size reel.
Just go to basically any lake or river and flick something at structure. Hop it on the bottom, slow roll, whatever. If you get no hits in 5 retrieves, move on. They are super aggressive so if they are there, they will hit your lure even if it's bigger than them. Daylesford lake, Jubilee lake and the resovoirs and other lakes in that area are where I can pretty much guarantee 5 reddies per session

[dazz999]

lachy grab the old trust worthy wonder wobbler

[wem21]

lachy grab the old trust worthy wonder wobbler

Mr twisters are also ideal

[Redhunter]

The bigger reddies are lazy buggers. If using placcys, keep them very close to the bottom, and use subtle movements of the rod tip, ensuring the placcy stays in the strikezone as long as possible. A few pauses while the placcy sits on the bottom during your retrieve is wise too. Don't overlook a simple spinner either, such as a celta. The slower you wind, the deeper they run. The biggest reddie I've seen with my own 2 eyes followed a celta to my feet twice, before turning away. It would have given 60cm a good nudge. I have a 50cm & 48cm red on my wall, so I'm familiar with their size. Good luck. They're good fun and a great feed, and look awesome on the wall if you catch a big'un

[LachyBell]

The bigger reddies are lazy buggers. If using placcys, keep them very close to the bottom, and use subtle movements of the rod tip, ensuring the placcy stays in the strikezone as long as possible. A few pauses while the placcy sits on the bottom during your retrieve is wise too. Don't overlook a simple spinner either, such as a celta. The slower you wind, the deeper they run. The biggest reddie I've seen with my own 2 eyes followed a celta to my feet twice, before turning away. It would have given 60cm a good nudge. I have a 50cm & 48cm red on my wall, so I'm familiar with their size. Good luck. They're good fun and a great feed, and look awesome on the wall if you catch a big'un

Thanks heaps will try and use those tips soon!

[rb85]

If you can do the drive try bluerock or lake glenmaggie fish around snaggy banks hardbody lures work well

[Truedogz]

Im only lucky to get one for the day. Any good places, around Melbourne I can try. Also what baits are they suckers for just in case.

Lachy, in many spots near Melbourne catching a redfin a day is a reasonable result. They are not around in the huge numbers they used to be in places like the Yarra, Maribyrnong and their associated lagoons. They can be quite fickle at times too. There are a few ornamental lakes near Melbourne where they are caught regularly but you don't often hear about good size fish. Other lakes away from Melbourne like William Hovell, Eppalock and Glenmaggie hold quite good populations. Irrigation channels in the Goulburn Valley are reasonably reliable producers, but any fish over about half a kilo is quite a good fish. Probably the best producer near Melbourne is Eppalock, and Sugarloaf has a lot of small ones; most lakes have populations.

If you are looking at the Yarra there seems to be more reliable captures upstream of Lilydale than further down these days.

As to lures you have listed a good selection. I would throw in a celta or vibrax spinner. Small hard bodies can be very effective - check out Davek's recent report 'A night at the local' to see what he was using. In fact, check out a few of his threads; on this site he has many posts which will give you ideas.

As to baits, number one is worms followed by small yabbies. Redfin like to see movement and quite often you catch them on worms as you wind in - if it is not too snaggy don't wind in too fast as many a time I have caught them during the retrieve. A bubble float fished near structure and reeds and can be effective.

This is a good basic intro: http://www.fishingtacklelures.com.au/au ... niques.php

The best book ever written on catching them is 'Catching Redfin on Bait, Flies and Spinners'. It was written in the 1950s so the spots and lures are out of date - in fact soft plastics weren't around then! But it has great info on their behaviour and techniques, if you want to understand what makes them tick, but as I said a lot of info is out of date. You might find it at a library and it comes up on ebay reasonably often quite cheap.

Best Wishes

Truedogz

[ThomoT]

Truedogz, do you know why their numbers dropped in the Yarra? Was it carp numbers increasing, damaging aquatic vegetation?

[Truedogz]

do you know why their numbers dropped in the Yarra? Was it carp numbers increasing, damaging aquatic vegetation?

No one knows why their numbers have dropped virtually everywhere but it did coincide with the arrival of carp. It might be the carp removed the vegetation or grazed the eggs which are layed on sticks, vegetation etc.

Overall the decline of redfin was a good thing. When they went backwards the cod started to come back in many rivers, and the start of the recovery predates the stocking of cod. Similarly maccas bounced back in the Yarra when the reddies declined.

I enjoy catching reddies as much as anyone but also view them as a problem. One of my fears with the carp virus is if the reddies bounce back that the natives will go into decline again.

Best Wishes

Truedogz