SEEING & CATCHING

I’ve always loved sight fishing. More of a hunt than chuck and chance, spotting your target before you cast is, for mine, the ultimate in sport fishing. Having sight fished or “polaroided” for many sportfish species – trout, golden perch and cod, barra, bream, whiting, glam exotics like bonefish and more – has provided lots of memorable experiences over the years. There have been disappointments too – spooked fish, mistimed strikes, refusals, bad luck. Either way, whether you’re catching fish you’re seeing first, or not, different reactions to your lure/fly/bait are important indicators of whether you’re on the right track. I’ve been reminded of this a lot lately using new state of the art sounder technology. While late to hear about the live sonar technology savvy dam fishers have been using to great effect, it’s definitely been better late than never. A while back I heard of Murray cod anglers using live sonar in dams like Burrinjuck and Wyangala, where