Curmudgeon
30-10-2007, 08:50 PM
I woke up this morning with the imminent barra season closure front of mind, so after dispatching son to school and tending a few other errands, I found myself back on the banks of Ross River. Determined to break the hoodoo that is preventing me from catching a barra in excess of legal length, I threaded a fresh flickbait onto a finesse jighead and surveyed the surroundings. The breeze was going to make things difficult this morning. But neither the wind nor the prospect of several hours in the blazing NQ sun could deter me. I wanted that barra.
First cast, and the dreaded braid wind knot almost happened. To try and avoid it, I immediately began a fast retrieve as I tensioned the line through my fingers. The little plastic skipped happily along the surface unmolested. Second cast. Splashdown. Getting my fish catching stance just right while I waited for the plastic to touch bottom. Then the retrieve. Jiggy, jiggy, pause. Jiggy, jiggy, pause. The wind was forcing me to hold the rod where it was going to hit my wrist watch every time I jigged the lure. Momentarily distracted by this nuisance, I was considering taking the watch off when... BANG!!! What the?! The little rod buckled over, and it was on for young and old. Almost immediately I could feel the rasping of fluorocarbon against a submerged object. Then with a TWANG, it was clear and I was still connected! Big swirl on the water's surface. Still no i.d. on my adversary since I was keeping one eye on the line while trying not to fall off my perch. The little Symetre was yielding line against an almost locked up drag. And then I got my first look at him. Niiice reddy. Disbelief that it wasn't the barra I was hoping for, but ecstatic at the biggest jack I've got on plastics in over a year. By this stage, the fish was tiring, and with a little more patience I glided him up onto the bank.
45cm and 3 pounds. Caught on 4kg braid. This bloke also had a shiny new 5/0 in his belly with half a metre of heavy mono snelled to it. Didn't seem to have affected his appetite any.
Normally, I'd have called it a day right then and there, but the barra bug's got me bad. So on I went. First a little flathead. Then the first of four undersize barra. Three that I landed, one that I kind of intentionally jumped off.
May the barra gods smile on me tomorrow...
Cheers All,
Brian.
First cast, and the dreaded braid wind knot almost happened. To try and avoid it, I immediately began a fast retrieve as I tensioned the line through my fingers. The little plastic skipped happily along the surface unmolested. Second cast. Splashdown. Getting my fish catching stance just right while I waited for the plastic to touch bottom. Then the retrieve. Jiggy, jiggy, pause. Jiggy, jiggy, pause. The wind was forcing me to hold the rod where it was going to hit my wrist watch every time I jigged the lure. Momentarily distracted by this nuisance, I was considering taking the watch off when... BANG!!! What the?! The little rod buckled over, and it was on for young and old. Almost immediately I could feel the rasping of fluorocarbon against a submerged object. Then with a TWANG, it was clear and I was still connected! Big swirl on the water's surface. Still no i.d. on my adversary since I was keeping one eye on the line while trying not to fall off my perch. The little Symetre was yielding line against an almost locked up drag. And then I got my first look at him. Niiice reddy. Disbelief that it wasn't the barra I was hoping for, but ecstatic at the biggest jack I've got on plastics in over a year. By this stage, the fish was tiring, and with a little more patience I glided him up onto the bank.
45cm and 3 pounds. Caught on 4kg braid. This bloke also had a shiny new 5/0 in his belly with half a metre of heavy mono snelled to it. Didn't seem to have affected his appetite any.
Normally, I'd have called it a day right then and there, but the barra bug's got me bad. So on I went. First a little flathead. Then the first of four undersize barra. Three that I landed, one that I kind of intentionally jumped off.
May the barra gods smile on me tomorrow...
Cheers All,
Brian.