Monthly Archives: November 2013

Yeppoon – Emu Park 10/11 November 2013

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Sunday/ Monday

I was back in Yeppoon on Sunday and decided to see if the fingermark were still around at Emu Park. It would be low tide just after dawn and the winds would be light from the north-east. The temperature was a bit lower than it had been when I was last here and the water was not as clear.

I had repaired the tip on my slightly heavier rod, which is ideal for this kind of fishing – the NS Blackhole Cabin 2 S862L, rated 8-14lb, 2.59m long. I match this with a Shimano Sustain 4000, loaded with 15lb Super PE braid and I started with 14lb fluorocarbon leader and a 1/8th, 1/0 jighead. This rod is great for fishing with soft plastic lures and small hard bodied lures and slugs. It has the power to land a decent fish but is still quite sensitive.

You need a range of leaders at all times
A good size estuary cod
Lured by a GULP Crazylegs Jerkshad
Cod love fluttering tails
I realise this is small for a grunter in these parts
Emu Park rocks

As is often the case the first 30 minutes of the session produced the most action. I rigged up a GULP 3” Minnow in the Watermelon Pearl colour and cast it out towards a semi-submerged bommy. As soon as I pulled in the slack there was a fish attached and it took off. A few moments later I landed a decent sized fingermark – about 45cm long.

After a few more touches, I decided to put on a larger soft plastic and chose a 5” Peppered Prawn Jerkshad. After a few casts, I felt a very solid bite but when I struck the fish was not there. I cast back in the same spot and let the soft plastic sink and sit on the bottom for 10 seconds. When I lifted it, it was slammed and line started peeling. A few moments later a very big fingermark – well over 70cm leapt clear of the water. I was still attached but even my bigger rod was no match for this fish. It kept running and soon had itself wrapped around some rocks. There was a bit of see-sawing and the fish was gone.

I re-rigged with a GULP Crazylegs Jerkshad in the New Penny colour. As soon as I cast this out it was slammed, as it sank. It was another big fish and it took plenty of line. I did not get a look at it, as it also buried itself in the rocks and the leader snapped. I continued fishing with the bigger soft plastics but everything seemed to have shut down and I did not get another bite.

The next morning I was back, at sunrise. There was more water over the rocks as low tide would be about an hour later. I beefed up my leader to 20lb fluorocarbon, as I wanted to try and hang on to any big fish that I could hook. I was pretty confident but nothing much happened with the big soft plastics. After about 40 minutes something grabbed the a GULP Crazylegs Jerkshad in the New Penny colour. It was too slow for a fingermark but it was still crafty and tried to lodge itself under the overhanging rocks. After a minute or two, I pulled up a decent sized cod.

I dropped back down to a smaller soft plastic – the GULP Swimmow in the Peppered Prawn colour. This soft plastic has a small paddle-tail and creates a tight vibration in the water, as you retrieve it. After a couple of casts with this I felt a very light bite, I paused and struck, but there was no fish there. Next cast – same thing. Next cast, I left the soft plastic on the bottom for about 10 seconds and as soon as I lifted it … the fish was running with it. After a short fight, I saw a flash of silver. A few moments later, I landed a 40cm grunter.

By about 7.30 am everything seemed to shut down. I walked around the whole headland casting, but all I could collect were more small cod. At about 9.00am it was hot and I was tired, so I gave up.

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Lake Monduran – 9 November, 2013

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Saturday

After a bit of work and a bit of time at home, I found myself on the road back up to Central Queensland, on Saturday. I often drive past the various arms of Lake Monduran, around Kolonga, but rarely have time to stop. But today I did have time and even though the sun was blazing and it was 10.30 am, I had to give this area a go.

Unsurprisingly, once back in Brisbane, I had been doing some tackle spending. I had replaced my G.Loomis GL2 with a G.Loomis Ultralight TSR Series , Fast Action, 2 to 6 lb, 6’7”rod. This is a beautifully crafted, incredibly light trout rod and even though it is a little longer than my preference, I think it will be a great Bribie Island flat’s rod. But I had also decided I wanted a fairly heavy shorter rod that would be easy to cast in the cramped, freshwater environments I have been exploring. It still needed to have enough power to subdue a big barramundi, if I came across one. Steve at Jones Tackle seems to now understand my light gear obsession and knows that I consider anything rated over 2-4kg to be really only suited to offshore big game fishing. After my recent bruising barramundi encounters, I recognised I was going to have to sacrifice ‘feel’ for strength but everything I tried seemed very stiff. In the end I compromised with a cheap 6’ Shimano Catana, rated 2 – 4kg. There is nothing very sophisticated about this rod but at $70 it was cheap enough to experiment with.

I parked in a shady spot pulled on some lightweight long trousers and my ankle boots and wandered off along the bank. The water was brown and still, almost every branch had a lizard on it and I could see tiny baitfish hovering around the fallen timber. I was not sure what would be in here. I was confident there would be fish of some kind. I tied on a GULP 4” Swimming Mullet in the Banana Prawn colour, on a 1/12th ounce, size 2 hook jighead. I was using 12lb fluorocarbon leader.

On my first cast I found a familiar species – the catfish. I moved along the banks casting at lots of snags and caught a catfish on almost everyone. I tried various plastics and it was the grub tails that were most attractive to the catfish. Whenever I let them sink and remain still on the bottom, for anything more than about 20 seconds, they would be hoovered up.

Lake Monduran
Hot and still
Catfish
Structure everywhere
Big Catty
Lizard lures?
Plenty of birds
This one had a beer gut
A couple from under this tree

I walked towards an area where the lake opened up a bit and came across an enormous flock of birds escorted by a pretty big group of pelicans. This area looked really fishy with lots of fallen timber and presumably, some deeper holes.

There were lots more fish but they were all catfish – there were some really big brutes among them so the new Shimano Catana was christened with a good workout. After a couple of hours I gave up. It’s always good to explore and maybe a dawn or dusk session here might haven been more successful.

Yeppoon – Fishing Creek – 31 October 2013

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Thursday

Time for one last session at Fishing Creek before heading back to work. It would be a late morning low tide with not much wind to start with. There was no need for very early start as the creek would be too full of water to wade along, until about 7.30 am.

I was back to fishing light. I was using my recently acquired Berkley IM6 Dropshot GEN IV 6’6″ Light Spin two piece rod, rated 2-4 kg. I paired it with the Shimano Stella 2500 loaded with 8lb Fireline and a 12lb fluorocarbon leader. I had a few of my favorite GULP soft plastics and small DUO hard bodied lures, in my chest pack.

I started with the trusty GULP 3″ Minnow in the Watermelon Pearl colour on a 1/8th ounce, size 2 hook jighead. This soon found a few small flathead. Wherever I found flathead lies in the sand I cast around until I found the fish and it usually worked.

I swapped to a 3″ Minnow soft plastic in the newly available Red Green Sparkle colour. GULP have recently released a few new colours in Australia and this is my favorite amongst the newcomers. The new colours fill in a few gaps in the range. I will not try to describe the colour but have a look at the photos attached to this post. The new colour did not seem to have much trouble and after a few casts, I christened it with a small flathead.

Find the lies and you will find the fish
As the creek widens you need to find the main channel
A flathead where he may have lay a few hours before
New colour passes the flathead test
Up close the colour is more impressive
The new GULP red green sparkle colour seemed to work just fine
Greedy grunter
Always on the look out for a free lunch
My constant companion on this stretch of creek
These estuary cod are everywhere
The grunter are happy to cruise around in not much water
This one would have just about been legal size

As the tide ran out I followed it about 3.5 kms down the creek. My constant companion was an eagle looking for a free lunch. I kept catching small flathead but there were not many keeper size ones around. I swapped back to the more natural coloured Watermelon Pearl Minnow and this produced a decent estuary cod.

At about 11.30 am, as the wind picked up and I was about to give up for the day, I found a reasonable sized grunter bream. I released it and made the long trek back to the car. Not many big ones, but plenty of fish – which I think makes for a good session.

Rockhampton – Hedlow Creek – 29/30 October 2013

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Tuesday / Wednesday – Hedlow Creek

More time stuck in Rockhampton – which is not necessarily a bad thing. I decided to go looking for a freshwater barramundi. It was just a few days before the barramundi closed season came into effect.

I had chosen to stay at Henderson Park Station – http://www.hendersonpark.com.au/, in one of their cabins. Henderson Park is a working cattle property which has a lodge and a couple of cabins which are situated right on Hedlow Creek. Hedlow Creek is a fairly narrow freshwater creek about 10 km long, just north of Rockhampton. It has been regularly stocked with barramundi fingerlings and also has sleepy cod and a few other species of native fish. The creek is spring fed from either end, so never runs dry. The Henderson Park cabins are located on the west bank for the creek, within casting distance of the water.

You need to start early

You need to start early

The scenery is spectacular and I think this is about the prettiest place in Queensland to chase a fresh water barramundi. The creek is accessible from the public dirt road on the east side, but if you stay at Henderson Park, you can access the water all along the west side, as well.

The owners said there were some big barramundi in the creek and that casting soft plastics at dusk or dawn, around the fallen timber, had been the most successful way to connect with them. I have to confess that I have been here before and only caught catfish but I have seen pictures of some great captures, so I was determined to have another try.

The fantastic thing about this waterway is the amount of structure. There are fallen trees and overhanging branches all along it and there are some nice deep holes. There are only a few places where the creek gets wider than about 20 metres, so for much of its length you can comfortably cast from one bank to the other.

There were a few pricky footballs in the undergrowth

There were a few pricky footballs in the undergrowth

On my last visit I had fished a couple of dusk sessions and only one morning. I had used lightly weighted soft plastics – GULP Shrimps, Minnow and Minnow Grubs and caught perhaps 10 small catfish. The main challenge was losing jigheads to the numerous sunken logs and other snags. All this structure would have made using hard bodies a pretty expensive business.

This time I decided to focus on the early morning sessions. That meant being awake at about 4.00 am and walking out along the banks of the creek, as the horizon started to glow at about 4.30 am. Instinctively, I felt the grub tail soft plastics might attract a strike. Loaded on a 1/12th or 1/8th ounce jighead, their fluttering tails sinking down next to a snag, might be tempting.

In hindsight, I realise I was fishing far too light. I had 8lb Fireline as mainline and 16lb fluorocarbon leader on the light Berkley Dropshot spin rod. I started with the GULP 3” jigging grub on a 1/8th 1/0 jighead, in the neutral looking “Smoke” colour. I moved along the bank to the north of Hedlow Lodge, stopping to cast at any likely looking snag or log. At about 5.45 am I stopped beside a fallen trunk that stretched out to a point well over half way across the creek. I cast my soft plastic just north of the trunk and let it slowly sink. I paused and retrieved the soft plastic in a slow and steady motion, along the line of where I thought the sunken tree must lie.

I have watched endless fishing shows and been told you have to be persistent with barramundi. They will ignore 20 casts and finally lose their temper on the 21st and strike. Well, I received a very personal lesson – and it all happened in the blink of an eye.

I had put in perhaps 25 casts using various retrieves – slow vs fast, regular hops vs a steady wind. I lobbed out another cast and let it sink around where I thought the end of the sunken log might be. I let the lure sink and paused for perhaps 10 seconds. When I lifted the rod tip the soft plastic stopped dead and then after less than two seconds the reel was literally spinning and a huge wake was moving towards the bank on the far side. The fish then broke the surface, close to the other bank and I could see it was a very big barramundi. This had all happened in about 5 seconds and it was only now that I realised that the fish had taken the lure under the fallen log. I could feel the line rubbing as it lunged and pulled. After about 15 seconds there was a great tail slap and the line went slack.

Hedlow Creek – ideal freshwater barramundi habitat
Hedlow Creek is spring fed from each end
The first barra took the soft plastic from under this fallen tree
All that was left after the barramundi encounter
Plenty of small catfish
This was the spot and this was the plastic
Hedlow Creek – where I got monstered for the second time
Site of my second Hedlow Creek barramundi encounter
Hedlow Creek catfish
Might have to open that pack of GULP Lizards
No crocs – so it is safe to swim
Hedlow Creek north of Rockhampton
There are some open stretches

The contrast of the incredibly violent and powerful attack with the peaceful dawn scene of a few moments before, was total. My hands were still trembling and my heart pumping, as I slowly wound the line back on to the reel. Miraculously the mainline had held as had the knot attaching it to the leader. The bite off or break, had been a long way down the leader close to the jighead. The line from “Jaws” sprang to mind: “We are gonna need a bigger boat” (substitute rod, line, leader, jighead for ’boat’).

I waited for my hands to stop shaking and re-rigged with 25lb leader (the toughest in my chest pack). I moved gradually north along the bank and caught a couple more catfish but by about 10.00 am, I had not had any more interactions with the barramundi, and the wind had picked up, so I gave up for the day.

Next morning, it was more or less the same drill, up at 4.00 am and fishing by 4.30 am. This time I swapped up to a bigger 4” Jigging Grub in the Peppered Prawn colour, on a tougher 1/8th ounce, 3/0 jighead and the 25lb fluorocarbon leader. I moved much further north along the creek, to a large bend where the west bank is lined with a couple of fallen trees. I cast around them, losing a couple of jigheads to the sunken branches.

It was a case of methodically covering the area with casts and again, persistence paid off. I was casting at the far bank and slowly hopping the lure back along the sides of submerged tree branches, which were on my side of the creek. About ten casts into the process a huge, green shouldered, silver scaled shape, launched itself up, from under a tree branch and dived down over the soft plastic, as it was suspended, about 30cm from the bank.

This looked like a smaller fish than the one from the day before, but I would estimate it was still over 80 cm long. It took off for the far bank with amazing speed and power. It was heading for some timber on the other side and by virtually locking up my drag, I pulled it clear. Then it came back towards me and torpedoed across the surface, shaking its wide open mouth trying to spit out the jighead. I really had no more stopping power in the rod and reel, so I was at its mercy. It paused briefly and I thought I might have a chance and then it took off again and there was the sickening feeling of the line rubbing against timber. I loosened the drag a little to see if it would swim free but it just kept tearing around until the line snapped at the main line to leader knot.

Fantastic spot to have a look for some barramundi - Hedlow Creek

Fantastic spot to have a look for some barramundi – Hedlow Creek

I carried on fishing around that area and tempted a couple more catfish, but no more barramundi. It looked like I would not be getting a big freshwater model until next season. I had only had a couple of encounters but it was enough to bring me back – and next time I will be properly equipped.

Rockhampton – Fitzroy River – 29 October 2013

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I came across this keen angler a few weeks ago, on the banks of the Fitzroy River. He was fishing with live bait and told me a few good stories about catching monster barramundi and salmon in these waters. He has already caught more metre plus barramundi than I probably ever will. Glad to see that not all the youth of today are glued to facebook and the playstation.

hing the Fitzroy River – Rockhampton
Seriously keen
Plenty of gear

Yeppoon – Emu Park – 29 October 2013

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Monday

Up early and back out to Emu Park to see if I could find more fingermark. I had the replacement Berkley Dropshot and the Shimano Stella 2500 was pretty well suited to it. I upped my leader to 14lb fluorocarbon, mainline was original fused Fireline, rated 8lb.

I have probably said this before, but I love the original fused Fireline in the fluoro/yellow colour. It casts well, I can see it in low light and it is extremely tough. The only downside is that I need a new spool of it after every 5/6 sessions, when its starts to fray and breakdown. I have tried Berkley Exceed and Nanofil but these are not an improvement on the original. Just make the original more durable please Berkley.

I arrived just after 5.00 am and there was a bit more water over the rocks and the wind was up. It was an easterly, blowing about 10 knots. There were a few clouds around, but rain was unlikely. The moon was a waning crescent with the new moon not due for about a week. The tide was running out and would be low just before 10.30 am.

The first fish was a tiny striped perch who grabbed the soft plastic, in close to the rocks. Next came the obligatory small cod. I fished for 30 minutes and caught a few more small cod. Perhaps the Fingermark had moved on.

Just after 6.00 am I found them again – maybe they were having a lie in. The first one made a tentative nudge at the soft plastic lure as it sank (a GULP 4” Minnow in the Watermelon Pearl colour), then it (or one of its companions) followed it in to the shore and thumped it right at the edge of the rocks. It took off and the added strength of the Berkley Dropshot was immediately apparent. It was a good size fish so I actually loosened the drag a little to avoid straightening the hook or pulling it out, and let the fish wear itself out. A minute or two later I had it at my feet. It was another very nice fingermark, well over 50cm long.

I released it, tidied up the soft plastic lure, re-positioned it on the jighead and cast it out again. Two lifts of the rod tip and bang, I was on again. It was another slightly smaller fingermark. The fish were definitely eating now. I released it and cast out again. This time the soft plastic did not reach the bottom. A fish walloped it and took off for New Zealand. A couple of times I felt that I might be slowing it down, but it was probably just pausing for a rest. I gradually tightened the drag but it did not make much difference. This fish was big and I could not really apply any pressure. Eventually the line went slack and I pulled in a bent jighead.

Another great start to the day at Emu Park
There was a bit more chop
First fish was a mini Stripey Perch
The biggest fish of the morning at about 55cm
They fight hard and dirty
I was having fun with these fish
Headlockz look tougher than they actually are
The swell assisted in landing a few fish
Watermelon Pearl did well
Good quality but not as big as the day before
The fingermark kept coming
Another one
There is always a cod
Greedy, greedy, greedy

The jighead was a TT Headlockz series; 1/8th ounce , size 2/0 hook. These carry a GULP Minnow 4” soft plastic very nicely. I have however, straightened a few of them. I think the heavier gauge hook necessary for the Headlockz system gives the impression they are heavier duty than they actually are. In my experience the original fine gauge Tournament Series TT/ Gamakatsu jigheads (in the orange backed packet) are actually tougher than the Headlockz. Having said that, I would probably not have landed this fish with a 6/0 heavy duty jighead – it was just too powerful.

I re-rigged, this time with a bigger GULP 5” Jerkshad but after 10 minutes, this produced nothing. I swapped back to the smaller GULP 3” Minnow first in Peppered Prawn and then in Watermelon Pearl colour. I caught three smaller fingermark on each, over the next 30 minutes. It seems lure size was important to these fish.

At about 7.30 am I caught a small estuary cod and that was it – everything suddenly went quiet. I tried a few different soft plastics and moved to a few other spots around the headland, but it seems the fish had shut down again.

Another great session and a good way to warm up a new rod.

Rockhampton – Fitzroy River – 27 October 2013

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Sunday PM

First stop was the tackle shop in Rockhampton, to find an emergency replacement for my broken light spin rod. The G.Loomis GL2 range has moved on since I bought mine. I found all the available G.Loomis ‘fast’ action rods a little too stiff for my liking. I think this is because the new, higher quality graphite has less give. I decided to look at something cheaper with a little more give. I settled on a 6’6″ Berkley Dropshot, rated 2-4 kg, two piece. It would do, until I could look into a more refined replacement.

With the Barramundi closed season fast approaching I felt I should try another session, land-based fishing in the Fitzroy River, at dusk. The boats were thick and there where plenty of land-based anglers wandering the banks. Everyone was keen to tempt a Barramundi. The tide was running out and had been high at about 4.00 pm. The wind was north-easterly but its was dropping off.

The folks in Barra Jacks (http://www.barrajacks.com.au) had loaded me up with traditional hard bodied suspending minnows and 45 lb leader but the reports from the Barra Bounty competition (a few weeks earlier) had suggested many anglers had been successful using small soft plastics. Obviously, I had a few packets of these as well.

Fitzroy Flathead

Fitzroy Flathead

Rocky seasnake

Fitzroy River seasnake

Fitzroy River seasnake

Lures will catch anything

Lures will catch anything

Nasty

Nasty


I started fishing at about 5.30 pm behind the bowls club on the north side of the river, with a locally made, timber hard bodied suspending minnow lure in a silver colour. There were a few surface slurps and I could see decent bait schools swimming around. As the sun dropped on the horizon I felt some resistance and wound in. I had something but I could not see what. As I pulled it clear of the water I realised it was a sea snake. Is there no end to the predator list up here!

I managed to shake it loose from the line and it slithered off, back to the water. I decided to swap to soft plastic and put on a GULP 3″ Minnow in the Peppered Prawn colour, on a 1/8th ounce, size 1 hook jighead. It was now almost completely dark. I walked along the bank casting wherever there was an opening in the tall grasses.

Just before seven I felt a fish grab the plastic and I was hopeful. After a couple of small runs I realised it was a flathead. It came to the surface angrily shaking its head. It was about 45cm long. I released it and gave up for the day.

Yeppoon – Emu Park – 27 October 2013

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Sunday

Finally a morning with virtually no wind forecast. I decided to head for Emu Park to fish the rocks. Low tide would be around 9.30 am and the moon was in its last quarter. I started at one of the headlands towards Zilzie and climbed out on to the rocks just after first light, at about 5.00 am.

There was virtually no wind and the sea was still. The water was not particularly clear and there was the bad smell of a recent algal bloom on the rocks. I was fishing light – actually I did not have a choice – as I had noticed, the night before, the tip on my heavier rod had snapped off during my recent travels.

I rigged up with 12lb fluorocarbon leader and a 1/8th ounce, size 1/0 hook jighead with a GULP 4” Minnow in the Watermelon Pearl colour. I was using my trusty Loomis GL2 light spin rod and Shimano Stella 2500. I have fished here a few times in the cooler months and found some good Bream. This morning the first taker was a tiny greedy estuary cod. I caught a few of these and swapped through a few colours and styles of soft plastics.

After about 45 minutes the cod where the only thing biting, so I moved round to the rocky outcrop in front of the ‘Singing Ship’ at Emu Park. It was now about 6.15 am and already getting warm. I stuck with the same light rod but swapped to a lighter, 1/12th ounce, size 1 hook, jighead. I put on a 3” GULP Minnow in the Peppered Prawn colour. I positioned myself right on the end of the outcrop and cast to the north of a large bommy that sits a few metres offshore. If you are fishing land-based, you can only reach this spot for a few hours either side of low tide.

After a couple of casts in various directions, I felt a very solid and obvious thud as the lure sunk. I paused and then lifted the rod tip fairly quickly. I had hooked the fish and now it took off for the submerged rocks and caves, which are all over the seafloor in this area. I could not really muscle it in with my light rod, so I let it take line when necessary and very slowly tightened the drag. I gradually started to move it towards me. It managed to get behind the rocks a couple of times but, on both occasions I let it swim out and then successfully took up the slack.

It was soon in the wash at my feet and I could see it was a good sized Fingermark with the tell-tale black dot on its side. I grabbed the leader and pulled the fish clear of the water. I recovered the soft plastic with the aid of my pliers. It was a long way down its throat. The fish was about 50 cm long and it looked like the perfect size for dinner, so I put it in a nearby rock pool that was big enough to act as a live well.

I re-loaded the soft plastic on the jighead and cast into the same area. Just a few retrieves later, I was on to another fish. This one was bigger and put up a more spirited fight. My 2 to 4 lb Loomis rod was working pretty hard. I saw a big tail flap over and thought I had it, but as I increased the pressure the jighead came free.

I re-rigged – same small 1/12th ounce jighead, same small soft plastic. 12lb leader was all I had with me, so that had to do. Things went quiet for 30 minutes and I mover around the rocks in either direction looking for more good spots. I had another solid bit but did not hook the fish.

Just after 7.00 am I was back where I had caught the first fish. I lobbed out a long cast and again, as I lifted the plastic off the bottom I felt that very solid whack! This was another good fish. It did not do much initially but as soon as it realised something was wrong, it went mad and leapt clean out of the water. It remained on the line but tried to bury itself under a weedy ledge. After a few minutes I pulled it clear with a great lump of weed on its nose. It was about 55cm – so I added it to the live well. I decided to stay in this spot and was soon rewarded with another smaller Fingermark – about 40cm. I let this one go and carried on fishing.

Sunrise near Emu Park
Greedy cod came first
They will eat anything
The first Fingermark
Swallowed that one
Must have been a tough one to bend this hook
In to the keeper pool
The weed made this one heavier
The second fish was bigger than the first
Atomic Seekerz are tough jigheads
A chunky Fingermark
GL2 makes the ultimate sacrifice
Always great to catch something different
3 in the livewell
Emu Park – calm and still
Already pretty warm at 6.30 am

It was now about 7.30 am. I lobbed a cast up close to the edge of the bommy and let it sink. I paused and gave it a couple of slow lifts and then paused again. Next time, I felt a very light tap as I lifted the rod tip and then a solid whack! The fish took the lure and turned for open water. It stripped perhaps 25 metres of line in two long, straight runs and I began to think it might be some kind of pelagic. I held on, tightened the drag as much as I dared and held the spool to slow it ever so slightly, each time it to tried run again. I gradually tired it out and fortunately it had stayed clear of the worst structure. After a few minutes it was close to the sloping rock where I had pulled the other fish ashore. Bit this would be tricky. Its tail flapped over and I could see it was a big Fingermark. I waited for a surge in the light swell and heaved the fish up. Crack! My beloved G.Loomis GL2 light spin rod made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. It snapped just above the join but the leader was intact and still attached to the fish. I grabbed the line and pulled the fish up the rocks and it just reached safety before the leader also snapped.

I sat clutching the fish with one hand and broken rod in the other, with my heart still pounding from the fight. It had been a fantastic capture and it was a marvellous fish. We do not get to sample much reef fish in my house, so I decided to keep the three in the live well. The big one measured in at 63cm and it probably weighed in somewhere between 3 and 4 kg – maybe more.
Needless to say that was the end of the session – but what a session it had been!

Rockhampton – Fitzroy River – 25 October 2013

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Friday

I arrived in Rockhampton late in the afternoon and decided to go fishing on the banks of the Fitzroy River, right in town. I drove over to the Bowls Club and worked my way down to the shoreline just as the sun was dropping, at about 5.00pm. Low tide would be a few hours later. This area, below the ‘new’ bridge, across the river, has lots of rocky channels and drains with muddy/sandy bottom in between.

I could see the fish rising to slurp up bait or perhaps small prawns. The locals prefer to fish this area with large hard bodied minnows. I had no idea what the pattern of the rocks beneath the water, so I started with soft plastics. I decided to initially fish with a 3” Gulp Minnow in the Peppered Prawn colour with a 1/8th ounce, 1/0 jighead.

I had a few touches and as the tide receded and the sun fell, I got a better view of the terrain. This far up the river is obvious fish territory. About 800 metres further upriver, the salt water is stopped when it meets the Fitzroy River Barrage. Presumably the fish follow their natural impulse to swim upriver to spawn and then get stuck in this area (unless they work out how to climb a fish ladder – which seems unlikely!). I concentrated on casting next to the rock bars and into the channels and lost a bit of tackle in the process.

Dusk on the Fitzroy River at Rockhampton

Dusk on the Fitzroy River at Rockhampton

Caught just after sunset on a run out tide

Caught just after sunset on a run out tide

A baby - but still a barra

A baby – but still a barra

At about 6.30 pm, when it was almost too dark to fish, I felt something grab the soft plastic and drop it. I had now swapped to a 2” GULP Shrimp in the Banana Prawn colour on the same light , 1/8th ounce, 1/0 jighead. I carried on peppering the area with casts and a few minutes later I connected again. It was a very small saltwater barramundi, I photographed and released it.

It was now too dark to fish and so I retraced my steps back to the car. Only a baby – but I had found a Fitzroy River barramundi.

Walilly Creek nr Lake Monduran – 25 October 2013

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Friday

After a week at home with no time to fish it was time to get back to work. Apologies to my regular Bribie Island readers, but I have not had a chance to fish on my home territory for a while. Whilst I am missing the best time for flathead fishing in the Pumicestone Passage, I am sure there are plenty of people out there catching good fish.

I was headed from Brisbane to Rockhampton again on Friday and decided to break the journey at a suitable looking creek to have a quick fish. I chose Walilly Creek just to the west of Lake Monduran. The Bruce Highway crosses the creek via a small bridge. I parked up to stretch my legs after a few hours driving and decided the sunken timber on the western side of the bridge looked promising. It was overcast but hot and it was about 11.00am.

I rigged up the light spin outfit and loaded it with an 1/8th ounce, size 1 hook, jighead on a 2.5 inch GULP Crabbie in the Peppered Prawn colour. I was fishing with 10lb fluorocarbon leader and 8lb original fused Fireline.

I cast the soft plastic at some fallen trees and immediately got snagged. People often ask why I used the softer, light wire TT jighead series (they come in the green backed packet). I like them because, as in this case, they give and bend when you apply pressure. This has a downside if you hook a monster fish but it means that you can often bend the hook slightly and pull it out of a snag, then bend it back into shape. This means you lose a few fish but you lose a lot less gear, while you are working out what is going on under the water. The problem with fishing soft plastics in the freshwater is that the fish are always buried deep in the structure, so you have to put your casts right into the middle of it.

The bridge across Walily Creek
A chunky catfish
Sunken timber
Always good to start with a GULP Crabbie
This looked like fish heaven
A Camo coloured GULP grub tail got this one
Pylons are often good targets
I certainly know how to catch these now

I straightened the hook on the jighead, pulled it free and then reshaped it with my pliers. Don’t do it with your teeth – I learned the consequence of putting a hook in your mouth fairly early on – not good! I straightened the soft plastic lure so that it was sitting right and cast a few feet to the left of the fallen tree. As soon as I lifted my rod something took the plastic into the timber. I felt the leader pulling against the branches so I loosened the drag and waited for perhaps twenty seconds. I retightened and pulled the fish free. I saw the slime covered leader and realised it was a catfish. I think I can safely say I now know how to catch catfish.

I moved further away from the bridge and caught a catfish. I moved closer to the bridge and caught two more catfish. In fact, I caught about 8 in the next 30 minutes. I change soft plastics and tried some small hard bodies. The different soft plastics caught more catfish and the hard bodies did not get a hit.
I looked at my watch. It was time to get going. I had found another creek full of fish; the only problem was they were catfish. Still it was better than sitting at the service station with a bad cup of coffee!

Bedford Weir – Blackwater – The Mackenzie River – 17 October 2013

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Thursday

Back to Blackwater – theoretically to do some work but, of course, my true purpose was to have a go at those fussy saratoga, swimming around down-stream of Bedford Weir. I arrived on Wednesday and got the paid work out of the way. On Thursday I had some time in the afternoon.

It was full moon. I had fished the full moon last time I was here and I had found a few good fish. This time I drove down the four wheel drive track, which runs to the east, alongside the Mackenzie River downstream of the weir wall. I followed it almost to the end – about 6 kms in total. The track is reached by turning to the east, off the Blackwater Cooroorah Road (right – if you are coming from Blackwater) just before you reach the weir.

Take care on this track. It is fine while the ground is dry and solid but it would be fairly tricky once it has rained. Also be aware there is a very high fire danger at this time of year, with tall dry grass lining the river banks and tracks.

At this point the banks of the river are quite steep and there is wide pool that has formed as the river runs against a rock bar, which slows it to a trickle, beyond this point. It looks like the fish cannot comfortably travel beyond this pool so it should be a good fishing spot.

Sure enough, as I approached the bank I could see several large saratoga lurking under the overhanging branches. The only thing that had worked on them before was a GULP soft plastic with arms and legs flailing everywhere – the 3 inch Ghost Shrimp. The hard bodies had just spooked them. I was out of suitable plastics so I started with a ¼ ounce spinner bait in a yellow and white colour. The fish were very well protected by the overhanging branches and it was pretty difficult to approach them without spooking them. I managed to get the spinner bait quite close to them a couple of times, before they dived down out of sight. These are very cautious fish.

Lurking saratoga
And then there were two
They like the shadows
A healthy small yellowbelly
The yellowbelly was hiding by this fallen tree
Good to get something other than a catfish

I moved a little further along the bank and loaded a 1/11th ounce/size 2 hook jighead with a 2” GULP Shrimp in the Banana Prawn colour. I hopped this along the bottom around the snags and soon connected with a small catfish. I caught three of these.

I moved a bit further along and switched to the same soft plastic in the Peppered Prawn colour. I cast this at some sunken branches, which were close to the bank and felt a slightly more urgent tap, as I retrieved the lure. I cast back in the same spot and this time I hooked up. It pulled hard and fast, faster than the catfish. But it was not big enough to be a saratoga. I kept the rod tip up and pulled it clear of the snaggy timber. It was a respectable golden perch/ yellow belly.

I looked for a few more and may have had one on, that I did not land. After a while I could see the saratoga out in the middle of the stream, again. I swapped back the spinner bait and even though I pulled a few directly past their noses, I could not entice them to strike. They would turn towards the lure as it hit the water and sometimes swim towards it – but then lose interest. Its pretty tough fishing in the fresh water but I learn a little more on each session.

At about 5.30 pm, having caught a couple more catfish – I gave up for the day.