Hi There Sports fans,
We've had plenty of reports of Doughnuts and a few of golden slabs gracing the decks. All I have to add to this is a tale of half cooked pastry. For someone with little to add I seem to have managed to bash out a bit of a read. Sorry if its boring but I will indulge myself and purge.(Melodrama is one of my middle names)
We travelled up Friday in convoy with Pete & Rob. Managed a head start on them by skipping the rendezvous point due to co driver miss-communication (its her middle name) but no harm done and we needed it....driving a 2.8L turbo diesel Patrol means you get there.....Last. Safe trip with no nasty surprises. We eventually set up camp and hit the water with Cptn McEmpty for the Bank side BBQ in Sth B. McEmpty? who is this....have a Guess. Stevo the devo regaled in his best Roughrider Cowboy hat idles into the dirt ramp in his flash WankBoat to pick us up for a bit of a blast and fish from the Triton arranged for Friday arvo. Anyhoo, we are informed that Cptn Thunderbolt's trusty steed "Lightning" is a little low on Cracked Hydrocarbons but "we'll be right" is the call as we see a 1/4 on the gauge. Vroom away and wow what a sight, the dam is so huge, I mean if the scene from the old dirt ramp wasn't enough, the rest of the dam was amazing to see such a change since our last September visit. We arrive in Sth B entrance and come off the mid revs fuel conserving plane to see the needle now firmly attached to the "E".....oh dear we may be paddling back. fortunately from out of the trees emerges a few friendly faces and after a quick siphon courtesy of Shane's hose and Dave's fuel tank we are good to get our way back after lunch.
Great to catch up with everyone on the bank and it gave me a chance to rig up our rods so we were ready to go for an after lunch session en route to ramp. We had a few casts about in Hippy bay and finished up sitting over the top of the A Basin ex-weedbed point, no enquiries although 2/3rds of the crew were sitting down nattering rather than casting. Always a pleasant trip aboard the cptn's boat, Thanks for getting Kim to drive back.....I know she'd love to get one of her own now.
We had a great night meeting up with all the old and new Committee Members, never a dull moment.
Next morning we were on our own to explore the dam, no fuel shortage in the Polly....least not yet. Looked about in Sth B, was funny charging up to pepper point and just driving straight over the top.... the shallowest part being 4m right in the middle of what was an island. Another gathering for Lunch, this time on the opposite side to Fridays as we had stopped to pick up firewood and found a better location with shade and shorter grass, big log to sit on and plenty of firewood. did a bit more running about before returning to hippy bay to retrieve a lost lure of Steve's from the day before, then back to camp with not even a touch. That day the Chew Crew had arrived so we set about having a good time with our Marry'ya'Brother friends.
Sunday I fished with Chew Jnr "Rory" as The Missus had called time and elected to sleep out the Sunday morning session. I think one of the Chew's was pouring the previous evening so that may have been a contributor tho' my dearest deckie says she just needed a bit of unwind time. Jnr and I had arranged to head way up to Walilly creek that morning and we did so in convoy with Chris and John, and picked up Pete and Rob from the 2 mile area on the way. I hadn't been quite that far up before so was keen to check it out. We bashed a few small points and bays for no action and while the other 2 boats headed further up we crossed over the flat to the main creek channel and used the breeze and current to drift the steep edge back out towards the entrance. We were casting up into the drowned brush and running lures back out over the drop off into the channel. Half way down the drift I opened the lure chest and picked up the most awful lure you've seen....honestly what sort of deranged fish would try to eat it??
well, I thought I would give it a go since Friday arvo had seen Pete open his account on a similar lure and Jnr had dropped one on a smaller version, so on it went. First cast It nearly went up the bank as it flew much further than I expected, as I'm twitching it back past the tree marking the drop off It comes to a sudden halt....the fish is in view just shaking its head to rid itself of the spiky creature it had been foolish enough to taste test. Jnr, who admitted he was about to berate me for weed fishing, saw the rod pulsing to the fishes tail beat and quickly had cleared his line and set about getting the net ready while keeping me abreast of snags and trees out of my view. The fish darted from tree to tree but never actually tried to stitch me up. It then ran out into the channel and towed us down the creek for a few short runs before slowly coming straight up for a net shot......this is where the half cooked pastry steps in.....Leader knot come out of the water and Jnr is at the ready to net what looks to be about an 80-85cm golden flanked fish when the lure just lifts out of its gob, I swear if Jnr's arms were 1 ft longer he could have netted the bugger as it sat there on its side briefly...just out of reach before waving goodbye.
Oh well, I suppose it was encouraging to tempt one.....I didn't think it would be as close as I would get tho. We kept it up for the rest if the drift and did one more return drift for no more action heading back to the ramp. I did promise/threaten to bring Jnr back at 1pm as the Chew Crew were heading for home.
Sunday arvo/evening kim and I got eaten by mozzies....mozzies in winter...very uneventful evening, can't even remember were we went...it was cold after dark at 45kmh.
Monday: Nothing.... we had a late start and fished a few bays in and around Petes Windknot area, then had a sniff about in Nth B but only managed to spook a couple of sun baking fish. We headed in about 4 ish to meet Kims Sister Susan and family who were coming down from Rockhampton to spend a day or 2 with us. Kim needed a bit of Aunty time with the kids so the Bro inlaw, Graham(Shep), would step aboard for the next 2 days. That
Tuesday saw Shep and I motor up to Nth B and begin casting at tree's and edges in the bay behind No Secret. random boofs kept us casting but it became apparent that all the fun was happening back in the vicinity of the point. As we quietly motored back to the point and Pete regaled us of another fishShep spots a marlin come shoulders out chasing bait up near the point, sure enough there is bait thick on the sounder and lots more surface flicking and boofing going on up here. We slog away for a while before calling for a move around to the shallower side when Rob's Dolphin is tempted to eat an Xrap. We move in to help the boys restrain the mighty beast as Pete's landing net is less than adequate....think Elephant into a Mini Minor, Pig shooting with a slug gun, Hugh Hefner with no little blue pills...you get the picture...i wish I'd snapped a photo of that....it was a bit funny to watch. We snap a few photos and move on with Shep, who's caught hundreds of barra but never in impoundments or more than the magic metre, gob smacked at the sheer size of this monster.
We slog away the rest of the day with the best action coming late as the sun sets in nth B. We were returning to our tie off tree when Sheps rapidly retrieved Xrap is followed to the boat by a solid fish. He was ripping it back to grab the rope when this Sub appeared behind the lure and turned away on the surface as he lifted it out of the water...very frustrating... the next 45mins was spooked fish on most casts....pick a tree....cast nearby and the water would erupt. Headed back in for Pete's lamb roast and Suz's Giant scone....pastry by another name.
Wednesday we're taking a first stop in White rock bay and Shep has a fish swipe his lure, calls it for a good Bass but another few hundreds yards along he belts a cast deep into Tigerland and comes tight on another "Bass"...after a quick un-stitch up pops a rat barra. 55cm and still very fiesty... photo and off it goes to grow up. I didn't get a snap on my camera but you know what a small barra looks like. small. We head further up and slug it out for the rest of the day for nought! we did fisnd good water in the steep bay of white rock and even disturbed a couple of residents. Another bankside BBQ with Pete & Rob was the highlight in another up and down day....weather was perfect....fishing slow. The girls went to town and made a "Portaloo" beef stew for dinner....complete with dumplings... no really it was good. we all reclined in front of the bush telly for a while before crashing out "relatively" early. I would be solo in the morning as Suz & Shep where packing up and Kim would be keeping the kids amused.
Thursday I'm on the water pre dawn and with fuel now low and a lot less boats on the water, I decided to stay close and only go as far as white rock. water temps were very good but not much action on the sounder or the surface mid morning I moved out into the main channel a worked a smaller, deeper diving lure against the steep rock cliffs. Moved right down to the end point to drift it again and missed a hit first cast to a drowned bushy tree top....bugger. leader very lightly scuffed tells the story....pay attention!!! finish drift and give the game away. Thats me done for this trip.
Kim and I went into town that evening to catch up with Steve & Sarah for dinner and had a great night. Sarah put on a lovely corned beef and white sauce....mmm my favourite.
The fishing may have been slow but we ate, drank and enjoyed the company of many friends. I found it restorative to unwind and relax from a difficult 6 months previous. Since the passing of my Father in January I have endeavoured to restructure my life to reduce stress and enjoy more. I've changed jobs, reassessed priorities and together, Kim and I are moving forward to pursue our interests further. Another year of planning then we hope to be hitting the track, don't know where and don't know how long but the road is calling.
Cheers to all,
Rod & Kim.
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Sorry Greg
we had a great time over our extended stay. It was great sharing it with you both. Next time don't hog all the fish
Great to catch up again with you both. 
hook fell out boatside ( keep the fish moving & dont let it sit there waiting for the net ....... a great tip I was once given)
Originally Posted by BR65
