Western port Structure

[Macey]

I decided it was time to graduate to a more challenging area of WPB last night, I've been fishing sand holes off of somers, balnarring and shoreham learning to set anchor and use gear without going over the side!

I paddled out from stony point and headed due east almost to tankerton jetty, stopping at the cardinal mark at the bottom of middle spit.
Geez the water runs pretty quick through there hey? Especially up the shipping channel!

Anyway happy to say I was able to set an anchor on the run in tide, fortunately wind was with tide as well

Problem I have now found is how do I know where to fish without a sounder?

I'm used to visualising sand patches with polarised glasses but this doesn't work in the deeper and more uniform bottom further up the bay.

I sat north of the cardinal mark showing deep ater directly south, figuring that I would be fishing up onto the spit but I have no way of telling exactly where I am in relation to the structure!

I sent out burley continuously from a pot to try and pull fish in but TBH the water was moving that fast it probably ended up at tooradin lol.

I guess you could be fairly confident if fishing into the shipping channel if you anchored in line with 2 lateral buoys on the same side of the channel and cast into it?

Seemed like way to much tide running to me last night though, i was on my lonesome and didn't feel like taking any risks only an hour off of sunset!

So is there any secret to finding suitable ground to fish over without a sounder, or is it a good look at a chart and a rough guess as to exactly where you are or possibly a gps mark from a book or website and then a dollop of blind luck?

Cheers
Andy

[greenhorn]

Try navionics either online (free) or worth the $15 for the phone app
Will give you the locations of the channels etc and depths.
The phone app will locate you via gps so is the best way to go.

[shane]

Get a sounder.
The structure around that side of WP varies dramatically within a few metres, channels, drop offs, lumps, reef etc. Without as sounder you will struggle to know where to fish, even on a gps mark. The water is also often too dirty to see what you're over beyond a few metres deep.

The navionics app does have some communal marks if you zoom in far enough. A lot of these are up on long reef out of Lysaughts but there are a few whiting marks in there out of stony. However you're still way way better off getting a sounder. Even a cheap $130 Elite3 with the transducer over the side will get you onto good ground.

[remax]

I have my transducer shooting through my yak hull and can see a 1/8 jig head on the bottom in 6 odd metres,over the side would be even better i'm guessing, either way Shane is on the money, sounders are cheap and doesnt take long to work out how to use them.
Just that little bit of help saves a lot of wasted time fishing where there is no fish around.
Cheers Reece

[cheaterparts]

I sat north of the cardinal mark showing deep ater directly south, figuring that I would be fishing up onto the spit but I have no way of telling exactly where I am in relation to the structure!

I sent out burley continuously from a pot to try and pull fish in but TBH the water was moving that fast it probably ended up at tooradin lol.

I guess you could be fairly confident if fishing into the shipping channel if you anchored in line with 2 lateral buoys on the same side of the channel and cast into it?

Seemed like way to much tide running to me last night though, i was on my lonesome and didn't feel like taking any risks only an hour off of sunset!

So is there any secret to finding suitable ground to fish over without a sounder, or is it a good look at a chart and a rough guess as to exactly where you are or possibly a gps mark from a book or website and then a dollop of blind luck?

Cheers
Andy

The tide flow does move out there in the north arm - Really a sounder does make life easier in those deeper places , even a cheap Black and White cheapy will do the job
I used a basic $ 120 Hummingbird for years without a GPS but Know my way around enough that I didn't need a GPS . In fact the spare kayak still has that old unit on it

One thing that makes WP a little easier is the fact that most fish move with the tide so you don't have to be on Mark "X " within a few mm however finding the drop offs or gutters through the banks is near on impossible without a sounder

of cause a sounder also can give you an idea on what the bottom is like - Weedy - muddy - sandy or reef which is just as important as finding those drop offs
Sometimes you might even sound fish

[Macey]

Hahaha thanks guys.......I had a sneaking suspicion the answer might be buy a sounder

[laneends]

Those mud banks are wide and drain off pretty quick, you can find yourself in a foot of water draining away quickly in no time. I nearly really ran out of water crossing middle spit. As it gets shallow you can't use your paddles or peddles effectively, then it seems a loong way back to deep water.

I wouldn't be anchoring out there in the channel unless you really have it down pat. Something goes wrong with your retrieval and it gets bad real quick. ALWAYS be ready to cut your anchor if need be, there is not a lot of margin. It may not be running hard when you drop the anchor, but its a different story when you go to lift it and the drag has buried it deep, and the tide is hammering. Overbalance and fall out trying to lift it and you will be seperated from Yak quickly too.

I had a trolley connection break out there once, and it was hairy

[Macey]

Yep good advice.......that's why I didn't anchor out in the middle just in case

Even over by the spit it was pretty damn quick but I am relatively comfortable with my procedure......that said I did make sure I had my knife very close at hand just in case, I'd have no hesitation whatsoever in cutting sooner rather than later if it felt bad....easy to replace an anchor not so easy to replace myself or my boat or gear