Been a long time in between drinks here on Ausfish when it comes to a report... hope this one makes up for lost time...
Well... what a weekend. Firstly, I am starting to get annoyed at how unpredictable the weather is here in the Tablelands... Thursday night it poured rain, and I thought I was going to wake up on the Friday to driving winds and drizzle... instead I wake up to a frost! Blue sky's for a change, and my head was spinning! I thought straight away that it would have a big impact on the Dam, and sure enough it did! And the cold weather continued throughout the weekend.
Friday afternoon we launched boat around 6pm and decided to set out our Redclaw Pots, which we don't often do - However the colder months produce very good numbers. After setting them in our usual bay's, I planned to fish in a Bay fairly close to the Dam wall, where the water would be warmer then most... I was right, but man it was cold! The whole weekend we could not find water warmer then about 72 fahrenheit, which is around 22/23 degrees celcius... which is not what you want when your out chasing Tinaroo Barra! That Friday night we fished that Bay to around 10pm, when the cold set in and the thick mist built. Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and decided to check our Redclaw pots, and what a good idea that turned out to be! We caught some of the biggest Redclaw I have ever seen (pics below)... No idea on weight, but they were biggun's! We re'set the traps and then headed off up to one of our usual haunts for a dig at some fish. It wasn't long till we got there and all three of us hit the bank sides hard with 10+ Classics and 8+ Barra Baits, hoping for a hook up or two. 30mins into our session and Dan's rod loaded up and his Reel let out an almighty scream, and seconds later it was all over, with Dan failing to really set the hooks in the fish. Size could of been anything, but the sound of the drag sounded like a nice fish! Continued to fish that area hard for close to an hour or three and called it quits.
That afternoon we again checked our Pots at around 5pm, to find more great size Redclaw... at this size they are great eating! Zoomed up towards where the Taylor boys won the event last year in search for warm water, and the Birds were going nuts in that exact area... however our sounder revealed zilch, and our results backed that up... not a touch! Quick move over to another spot nearby and Dan's rod loaded up yet again, and this time he set the hooks with his 110mm Squidgy Fish, and up came a 50cm Sleepy Cod - Yes, a bloody Sleepy Cod! A good 3 kilo's for sure, and we had quite a laugh over the capture which took us by suprise. We were forced to fish that night to 1am in the freezing cold, as Dans brother Ryan was playing at a gig in Cairns and had took off with the car, and we ended up doing a few trolling laps in the deep water outside Barrabadeen. The fish were hanging very deep, sometimes at around 30/40 foot of water, and at this depth about the only lure usefull to catching these fish is the Slick Rig or the Jackall Doozers! On they went, and no success... these fish on the sounder were very mopey and didn't care for a feed! Got back to the apartment at 1:30am... extremely cold... that exact night my father said we had a minus 5 in Herberton, so Im guessing it would have been maybe more on the Dam with the winds hitting us. Not good!
Next morning another early start, and by now I was panicking as I felt I had to find us the warmest water possible to give us any chance, but the whole Lake had been effected by these conditions! Travelled a good distance to a spot where we have had a lot of success with the fish in Timber... few shows on the Sounder in about 20 degrees of water... but no fish! Saw a nice size fish floating belly up on the side of the Bay though... 114/115 at a guess... big build. The cold conditions wouldn't have helped, and Im guessing it is another fish that has not been released properly! Sad to see, but thats Tinaroo. The rest of the morning I felt that we needed to travel around an find that much needed water temp, and we couldn't find nothing! So back to the apartment for a bite to eat and the afternoon session was on! I knew of a spot which is always a good deal warmer then others, but does not hold any structure what so ever, so we headed up there to check it out. Loaded with bait schools and the odd show, but not so much as a touch. As usual we worked very hard for no results. That night I decided to head back to around Black Gully , and the Barra were there! Quite a few of them busting the surface, but it was hard to target these fish in the Wind, so we were forced to tie up to timber and make the occasional move to find where they were. This is a spot we call the 'Nursery', as it is teeming with alot of small Barra, but we have never Sounded big fish or caught one here! Night over fairly quickly as the cold again set in!.
Monday morning... and by now my confidence was shot, but we had to keep going and work hard. Collected the Redclaw pots to find a good haul of Claw', and then we took off to our favourite spot. 15mins into casting and we caught our first Barra of the trip... a 45cm fish that took a liking to Dans 10+ Classic. Now, it was my turn... and could you believe it, again I had a nice size fish in the exact same spot as Saturday morning, and this time I failed to set the hooks! Struck hard, thumb went down and turned her head, but she took off under timber and that was it. Goodbye fish! Lure back with straightened hook (Dam 110mm Slick Rig Hooks). Fished that area and had to call the trip quits unfortunately.
Overall, things were very hard. It just shows how fast weather can change at the drop of a hat, and turn things back to front, inside out and upside down. Hard work there on the weekend, but as usual I had a good time and we again learnt plenty which is the main thing.
Pics to follow! Enjoy! Theres a few of them...
Theo
Reply With Quote
The underlying spirit of angling,Is that the skill of the angler,Is pitted against the instinct and strength of the fish,And that the latter is entitled to an even chance for his life. Regards, Hardb8.Kickin tails and razin scales since 1979.
.
Report was a good'un
Originally Posted by TinarooTriumph
