Awoonga/Late Report 22nd Oct

[Fish_gutz]

It`s Sunday 22nd Oct and we are finally on our way to Awoonga , Seven of us in total old mates who are now spread from Grafton in the south to Blackwater in the north and three tinnies.
We arrived about lunch time and took a few minutes just to have a look at this magnificent place as none of us had ever been here before(supposed to be a week stay but some cabins didn`t arrive or something about aliens and the loch ness anyway a week was now downgraded to three days).After unloading everything into our cabin at the caravan park and loading the tinnies we set of just to have a little play around and check out the boat ramp etc, the wind was blowing a good fifteen to twenty knots but we didn`t care we just wanted to have a buzz around and check the place out but from up on the hill it looked like about a foot of wind chop but by the time we got to the ramp it was about a solid meter of swell and not very enjoyable at all anyway we got out and wet a line and ourselves all the same.
The poison wind was constantly with us ,so for the next couple of days we headed to the eastern side for some protection from this nasty blow.Days and nights passed with trolling , flicking ,casting, deep divers , shallow divers,slickrigs etc we give it a good go around the timbers, weed beds ,rocky banks and even in the middle of nowhere in 70 ft of water and still not even a touch Anyways the esky was full and the wind does make one very thirsty and we were in good company so 2 out of 3 aint bad if the fish were on it would just be a bonus.Along comes tuesday night (24th) and the wind has dropped a little and we decide to go out in the arvo until later in the night so I`m the first packed and gone and with everyone still farting around I go solo and head straight for this bank of to the left when you leave the ramp where I had seen a lot of fish on my sounder earlier and give it a good trolling with no results > then stopped to drift a while throwing slick rigs down to the fish which were everywhere on the sounder but no takers so i troll some deep divers past them again on my run out of this particular bay and now the sun has gone and so has the wind thank f@#$ and all is dark and quiet and I`m now dropping into about 50ft of water and not a fish on the sounder when of goes my reel and it`s the sound I`ve been waiting to hear all trip,I quickly jump around like a lunatic shuting of the motor and trying to see where my torch has ended up and where my other line has ended up also .
Now I`ve had fish hit lines before and peel line of etc but have to say I have never felt anthing like this bruiser and don`t he go off! he give about seven or eight big runs and every time i got some line back he`d take it back again, my legs were shaking with adrenalin and I was enjoying every second of the battle but after taking me around and under the boat twice and just letting him run when he wanted to ( i figured we were in pretty deep water and there shouldn`t be any snags down there) I could feel he was wearing out and getting closer to the surface when disaster struck it was as if he just rolled over on his side and up popped my lure sporting two new sets of mangled trebles >
I was devastated and after reading all the reports and articles on the place and even being told to change my trebles i figured do I change every treble on all my lures or wait and see which lure gets the most strikes ?so I thought NO (idiot) these are good Aussie lures (halco) surely they will have decent trebles on them and maybe they are decent just not decent enough for these feirce fish! Meanwhile across the lake somewhere my good mate (swanny22) has landed a 108cm specimen and was spewing his cameraman decided to stay at camp with his camera(homesick,lovesick whatever you call it delusional just the same) ! what to do? he tries to ring me as i had one on board but phone range drifts in and out around the lake and I could not be contacted so with the fishes best interest a priority he took some pics with his phone and a torch and let the big fella go to be caught again another day.
Back to camp we go , some of us excited with their first awoonga barra and some of us pouring rum and cokes down our throat thinking what if the drag was not so tight ....? what if I had listened to my mate and changed the trebles...?My rod, reel,Braid and knots didn`t let me down so what to do but pour more rums down yum oh well it was a great trip and as long as someone from our crew got a fish it was all worth it , everyone had a great time and we are already planning another trip before chrissy hopefully,with divorce pending! and hope the poison wind is gone ,the water is warmer and the fish are in a hungry destructive state of mind (not too much to ask)hope you enjoyed the read and there is some pics to follow.
Tip 1 Pop rock in the Cup tomorrow!
Tip 2 Listen to all advice about this place and change your f@#&%%g trebles!
ps. one of these tips is a definate!
My weapon of choice was a Live fibre 15-24kg with a shimano torium 30 (bought for the next swains trip and never once Imagined I would use it in freshwater ) with 18kg braid and 60kg secret leader. the lure was a halco s150 8m+ colour was no.19 I think?the Boated fish was caught on a penn eggbeater on a boat rod I`m not sure of and lure of choice was a gold classic barra 15 ft + ( with the trebles changed for owners trebles....yeah yeah i know >)
And Just a question for the readers; What is with the freezer Brigade ?and don`t they taste like S&%# out of fresh water?My personal opinion is the place should be catch and release only so It can be enjoyed for generations to come!Also while I`m bleeting what goes on with these fish comps? are they just organised fish kills or brag mats used to determin winners( The Biggest winners are the blokes putting them back in the water!)
Well thats enough out of me today probably ruffled enough feathers ! Cheers!

[Fish_gutz]

Phone Pics

[Fish_gutz]

and another

[timbacutta]

Fish-gutz,

Tip 2(a). If you change your trebles, also upgrade the rings as well.
I almost found out the hard way on friday when a 105cm 17kg fish I caught on 6 kg line up in Iveragh Ck. at Awoonga turned my front 2 rings on a predatek lure into ovals instead of rings. Upgraded the trebles but thought the rings looked tough enough. How wrong I was. Was about to put the lure back out and just thought I would check it out, found the damage and changed lures. As per your report the fish were there but hard to get to bite. Double booking at Awoonga, nah doesn't happen.

Jeff.

[phatty]

sh!t mate.
nice trebles.

bet next time your dunno go so hard on the drag.

[phatty]

opps i mean not gunna go so hard!

and the freezer Brigade. i think u get the story there. (come here for one mission) and along with those fishing comps, the good ones at the C+R with photos taken on the brag matts, and sum your centimetres together, best idea ever!
the latest kill comp saw alot of barra released tho. its gettin there slowly. people are learning.