keen_as_mustard
29-10-2006, 08:43 AM
With strong northerly winds and a hot day predicted I decided to have a look in the Coomera for my first Jack for the season. Fishing solo meant I could take more rods that usual and have a number of different sp's and hardbodies tied on and experiment with some untested lures.
Started at first light and managed a few Bream early on lightly weighted gulps. Then I threw a Halco Scorpion 35 and hooked a small Moses Perch - this fish was very hungry as the lure was half it's size.
Continued working thru the morning with the odd Bream coming on board to keep me interested, before deciding to try my new Micro Mullet. After about six casts the lure gets hammered, the drag screams, and I try to move the boat into the open, grab the net and tighten the drag all in one go. Unfortunately this run was too quick and all of a sudden the line comes free and I am missing the fish, lure and half my leader. There is only one estuary fish I know that hits a lure on the way back to the snag, but if I don't say it's name it doesn't hurt so much :'(
I realise the last few months of flathead fishing have resulted in me not tightening up my drag enough - a tough lesson for the start of summer! Pity as that was a good size fish...but I know where it lives so I will be back. I look for my other Micro Mullet then remember it is at home.
Time to try something new so I grab a Kokoda G-vibe that I bought from a bargain bin. A few casts later and I get a solid hook up, and with newly tightened drag, steer this fish into open water. I see a bronze-brown flash in the water and hope it is Mr Jack, but instead turn out to be a nice estuary cod. That fish goes into the well to become dinner.
With the wind starting to turn and water chopping up I manage a small flattie and a couple more Bream before calling it a day. If I don't think about the lost fish or lure, it was a good morning's fishing.
10 fish (4 species) from 4 different lures - nothing like variety.
Started at first light and managed a few Bream early on lightly weighted gulps. Then I threw a Halco Scorpion 35 and hooked a small Moses Perch - this fish was very hungry as the lure was half it's size.
Continued working thru the morning with the odd Bream coming on board to keep me interested, before deciding to try my new Micro Mullet. After about six casts the lure gets hammered, the drag screams, and I try to move the boat into the open, grab the net and tighten the drag all in one go. Unfortunately this run was too quick and all of a sudden the line comes free and I am missing the fish, lure and half my leader. There is only one estuary fish I know that hits a lure on the way back to the snag, but if I don't say it's name it doesn't hurt so much :'(
I realise the last few months of flathead fishing have resulted in me not tightening up my drag enough - a tough lesson for the start of summer! Pity as that was a good size fish...but I know where it lives so I will be back. I look for my other Micro Mullet then remember it is at home.
Time to try something new so I grab a Kokoda G-vibe that I bought from a bargain bin. A few casts later and I get a solid hook up, and with newly tightened drag, steer this fish into open water. I see a bronze-brown flash in the water and hope it is Mr Jack, but instead turn out to be a nice estuary cod. That fish goes into the well to become dinner.
With the wind starting to turn and water chopping up I manage a small flattie and a couple more Bream before calling it a day. If I don't think about the lost fish or lure, it was a good morning's fishing.
10 fish (4 species) from 4 different lures - nothing like variety.