Long weekend @ Tinaroo

[Barraboss]

After a woeful nights sleep (next to none) I met a friend and his mate and young son up at the boat ramp. We fished the early morning from the bank, and I did not manage any hits. One of the guys got a 60cm barra on surface, and was then outdone by his son with a 81cm fish on a tango dancer. To watch this kid play the fish in was a really cool thing to watch, and his style was better than that of some older folk that I have taken out.

Once the speedboats started to arrive, the guys went home and I jumped in my boat and fished a few locations that I thought might fire. I was to be mistaken, so after a quick nap, I moved to a different section of the dam at about 11.30am.

I was looking at the patch of water that I had chosen (well before arriving I knew what I was looking for) and tied on a gold bony bream and flicked out the lure on my Loomis/Morethan combo. The sun was out, and it was bloody hot, but I strongly believed that I was going to get lucky. Within two casts, I hooked up to a 112cm. I was working the lure almost like walking the dog and kept the lure in the top 1 foot of the water column. I got to see the fish come up and smash the lure from about 30 metres away. After a quick couple of pics from a passing fishing family, the fish was released and I got straight back into it again.

Over the next two and a half hours I worked a stretch about 150metres long and using the same tecnique, landed an 88cm and then a 115cm model. I lost a handful of rat barras, and had 5 fish over the metre swipe the lure but no hookup.

As I had to get back home early, I decided that on my "last cast" to change the handle over to left hand wind. I must have done about 5 turns of the reel and got smashed by a fish of around 115cm. As I was rather unco, not having done left hand wind before, my initial reaction was to wind with my right hand, except the rod was in my right hand!!!!!!! I could not believe how terrible I was at this, so got it under control and ended up losing my first fish to knot failure. I will learn from this, but was an awesome way to end the day. Kept me awake with thoughts on the trip back down the hill

Tight lines
Matt

[the_matrix]

Good report Barraboss, and great pics...well done.
Sounds like your having fun up there, its obvious your putting in the effort and seeing the results.

The Boney bream is a great Barra catcher, when the fish are swirling the lure, try suspending it for a longer period (let it sit for 10-20 seconds then short sharp jab, then lit set again). Full retrieve can take 3-5 minutes
You will need to retrofit a #1 Owner hook to the belly, leave the no.2 on the tail.
This will see the lure suspend perfectly, and is lethal when fish are swirling.
Watch your line carefully, the slightest move in it and strike hard.
It can almost be like bait fishing, waiting for the bite.
Works very well down here on swiping fish (usually cheek striking)
Cheers
Jas

[Dan5]

Nice fish mate we'll have to catch up one day.Cheers Dan........

[Poseidon]

Some nice fish again Matt, well done. What were the crowds like on the day.

We were tossing up between Tinaroo and Koombaloomba and went to Koombaloomba instead, thought the crowds may not be there.

With the excellent weather the thought of a million ski-boats was the turn-off however you obviously didn't let them worry you.

Regards Cameron.

[Barraboss]

Jas,

Thanks for the advice. I will certainly give that a go. I absoloutely love the bony bream, and from results, the barra like them too!!! I will definitely have a crack with the hooks as mentioned.

Dan and Cam,

The amount of ski boats were amazing. It was like dodgem city!!!!! I would hook on to a fish and a passing ski boat would yell out "he's on" and completely stop and watch, and the poor skiers would end up in the drink. Still to hit Koomba... will get there one day, but so hard to go past a good thing!!!!!!

Maybe a M & G may be in order like the one being arranged down at Monduran.

Have fun guys (and girls)
Matt

[TinarooTriumph]

Matt,

You like that gully Ian showed ya, dont you? HaHa! Still yet to meet Ian, but have seen him fish that spot a fair bit.

Whats this about your first knot failure? You reckon that Spike It crap might have had something to do with it?

Cheers

Theo

[Barraboss]

Theo,

Yeah I like the spot but have video footage (with dates) to prove I was going there long before he also pulled up at the same spot . I nearly choked when he did stop there though hahaha

I have a feeling it had something to do with the failure... I probably did not give the knot a real hard pull to double check as my fingers were a tad slippery and I was also fatigued!!!!

But lessons were learnt, and hope I don't make that mistake again. Might have a little rag in the pocket next time :>