Big Eye Blading

Fishing deep is one of the most reliable tournament methods to consistently fill the live well during the cold winter months, especially in Victoria. When I first started fishing bream tournaments, casting light weight plastics in either a worm or minnow patterns was the way to catch fish. During social sessions catching fish amongst the snags was the most enjoyable and the thought of fishing with heavy jigheads in the middle of nowhere was very unappealing and was considered by some to be less skilful. In fact, in my first full year of tournament fishing in 2007 I refused to fish deep because I thought it would be too boring and the challenge of making centimetre perfect casts just wasn’t there. Well I nearly quit tournament fishing that year a couple of times, in 4 tournaments throughout the cold winter months I only boated 2 legal fish. Needless to say I didn’t enjoy my fishing and my stubborn ways of only fishing the edge had to change if I was to become a consistence/more rounded angler. More importantly if I was going to enjoy my fishing I had to learn to catch fish in the deep!

Luckily for me two things happen at the end of 2007. The first was that I got a side imaging sounder and the second was that blades were introduced to bream fishing. I quickly learned that fishing deep was just as exciting and rewarding as fishing the edge. Making accurate cast was still important however instead of keeping my eyes on the bank looking for the next pocket to cast at, my eyes were firmly fixed on the sounder. Every time I noticed a change in bottom depth or structure I would add this to my mental map. This map, would determine where I would place the next cast. Every time the lure hit the bottom, every time I bumped over a snag, pulled up a piece of weed or caught a fish I would learn some vital information about the water I was fishing.

Blades have hit the Australian shores in all shapes and sizes since 2007. The Berkley Big Eye blade has two features that I find very appealing; its size and its internal rattle. At 35mm the Big Eye blade is definitely a bite size snack for any southern black bream. The internal rattle gives the fish the opportunity to use an extra sense, so now the fish can see, feel and hear the blade. This rattle sets the Big Eye blade apart from the rest. At 1/6 ounce you can punch it into a gale force wind or fish it in a strong current. Alternatively I have cast them into 4 feet of water and have had good success, however my preferred water depth is between 8-14 feet.

I’m a fairly aggressive fisherman and I work my lures accordingly. I like to give the blade a shape lift and drop, only pausing it long enough to reach the bottom. I’ll often mix up the distance that I lift the blade off the bottom and in the case of blading I have found that less is more. By this I mean the fish seem to respond better to very small lifts of less than 30cm as opposed to long lifts. I have played around with a variety of set ups when fishing blades and have found that a fairly soft tip rod allows for a better hook up rate. My preferred tackle to use is the Berkley Pro Tactic 6010 2-4kg rod with 2-3lb Crystal Fireline and 4lb Trilene leader.

I love the ease at which you can fish a blade in a range of environments and that it catches fish. Feeling the vibration on every lift of the rod and then the solid weight of a fish has got me well and truly hooked. I have learned that fishing blades in the deep is a skill and one that you’ll need in your breaming bag of tricks. I often rely on the Big Eye blade to catch me a fish when the conditions get tough, just like they do every winter in southern Victoria. For an on water look at Big Eye Blading check out Pure Fishing TV. Hodgey.

footnote, look for the all new 46mm Big Eye Blade, coming soon. Dinger.