Reply With QuoteGreat story Mozza,
I will be heading down there tonight after work to collect bait.............might even throw in a line or 2.
Keeping the kids happy is priceless
This is the first of 2 reports.
Took the kids down to the Ross River last Fri night while the boss was out to tea and had a ball. The kids disappeared on some mission or another leaving me to collect the bait without the bucket carriers. 3 casts and that was all she wrote on the live bait requirements for the evening so I had time to settle down, set the rods and crack a coldie. Nothing much for the first hour or so but, as usual as the sun touched the horizon the bait schools started to get a bit skittish in the big hole below Aplins wier.
I had 3 lines, one out on a balloon, one unweighted hanging off the edge of the shallows and a third on a small running sinker in the deeper section. As usual it was the unweighted greenback that got hammered first and I gave the rod to the youngest to pull in a fat little jack of around 15cm. A quick look at the stunning colouration and the fangs on the little finger-stabbing critters and back-in she went to go and terrorise another poor greenback or three.
I replaced the spotty herring on the balloon with a mullet and tossed the half-dead herring into the briney in front of me only to have it smashed by a barra! Holy Cr@p says I and the adrenalin factor rises a few notches.
About 15min later all hell breaks loose, I've never seen it like that here - barra were literally 'boofing' everywhere. I pull in the mullet pop the balloon and toss it as far as I can to where I could see some major action going on. Into the tube the rod goes and I race off to rebait the free-floater with another greenback. A quick flick sees the braid running off the calcutta nicely as the herring lands in the 123cm spot from last year. Jonty calls out "Dad your rod!", my mullet has been absolutely smashed out in the middle - there's flippin' swirls and boils all over where it was and the rod is bending over. "Oh cr@p!" says I, "I forgot to leave the bailing arm open". So it's action stations and off the scale on the adrenalin factor as I drop the rod (with the $250 calcutta) and start to head toward the rod. Jonty yells out again "Dad, your other rod!" Huh?
I look down to see my calcutta 100 attempting to mimic a submarine at 50knots with "DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!" echoing through the P.A. Here's a choice - another metre-plus barra or a $250 reel. "Bugger" says I as I rush back, grab the rapidly fleeing rod and reel and hand the rod to Jonty "This one's yours son" wasn't what I said but I think he got the drift. Splash, splash, splash as I attempt the 10m dash in ankle-deep water and believe it or not the rod is still bending over and the adrenalin helps me make a very unfortunate decision. My thought is "it's been long enough" so I go to set the hook and miss. Dammit, I've disregarded my own rule for fishing down here - the barra wasn't going anywhere in a hurry otherwise the drag would've been screaming. It was probably spooked a little by the drag and when I set the hook, it just let it go....
Result for the night: one jack, one GT at around 40cm (Well done Jonty for landing that one!!!) and one entirely scaled mullet with popped eyes and blood oozing from it gills.
Great story Mozza,
I will be heading down there tonight after work to collect bait.............might even throw in a line or 2.
Keeping the kids happy is priceless
Thanks Kev,
Looking forward to your report. I will definitely be down there again probably twice before the season closes.
Mozza
Good report Mozza
When I was younger we fished Aplins weir all the time. We were never any good though at fishing an still aint.Reading that makes me wanna drop all my studies and just go fishing.
Damien
well, not even a nibble.............got some bait though
next time
Going up to Lucinda on the weekend..............try off the walk-on jetty and Dnungeness ramp
I was up there a couple of weeks ago. Spent the night in Lucinda for work and was hoping to fish the old jetty but it was blowing hard with rain squalls. The jetty looks really good but I'd definitely pack the 80lb handline. Jigging for live herring and pilchard would be easy.
Bad luck last night - I was pretty sure you'd get a couple of good hits.
About the livebait: I've tried everything - aerators, bigger containers etc.
What happens is as soon as one dies the rest die quickly after - must be something to do with toxins in the water from the dead fish.. If you take out the dead fish the rest are usually okay. Splitting them into differently species helped a little. Some mornings I'd check to find not one dead, others they're all dead. Might post a question in the saltwater section.
Not exactly sure, but it isn't jsut the airation in the water. it has things to do with total area available etc, and toxins/wastes. Regular water changes are much better. But if keeping it over night at home? Little difficult to change water. Only really had success with mullet keeping them over night in a bucket with air stone in it.
Southwind SF20 'Piscatoreous'
Savage 14ft tinny "About Time'
I seem to do OK with keeping MOST of the mullet alive in a bucket with an aerator. I remove all dead ones..................I might also die if I lived with dead people around me in a small space. As soon as I get them home, I empty a tray of ice into the bucket..........they don't mind a bit of fresh and cooling things down appears to help.
I cannot keep herring alive...........especially the smaller ones. I actually think that they drown in scales. All the handling from net to bucket releases many scales.
LUCINDA
3 rods with 30lb braid and 60 lb leader, 1 rod with bait jig and one handline with 8/0 circle hook and 114lb nylon.
Wait for the reports........................he!he!
Love the story Mozza. You might need to tether the other rods to your legs next time
Cheers
Paul
Ranger 188VX - "Sweet Chariot"
Thanks guys.
I have plans laid out 'til the 1/11 deadline:
Fishing with the kids on tomorrow's incoming tide in the arvo - either in the boat or on the bank. Was down at the river on Friday and had the pleasure of catching my first jack on a balloon. Very amusing to watch a balloon on steroids cruising around - drew a few strange looks from the walkers!!
Day off Tuesday to fish spot X and hopefully get into a few Barra.
Tightlines all!!
Mozza
Good luck Mozza
just got back from Lucinda but only fish caught were about 6 very small cod.
I am also after a barra before the season closes so will be out there looking for a salty before wednesday
Is this the Ross River near Port Macquarie?
Dan
ross river is in Townsville.
Hi all,
Bad luck Kev.
Yup Ross River in Townsville.
Hey Kev, you won't wanna know what I caught yesterday down by the riverside...
A couple of nice small barra, one at 40cm and one at 50cm. Got them by hoiking unweighted livie (mullet or the bigger herring) as far as I could into the middle. Missed a coupla other hits.
Heading out tomorrow - will pack the camera.
Mozza
Excellent stuff Mozza,
I am sure the fish can see me coming when I head down there.
I will try late afternoon off the rocks this afternoon and hope I can land barra before the season closes.
I reckon that the unweighted mullet is the go down by the river. I have had a few hits on unweighted mullet and herring but as soon as I put a sinker on................even a small sinker just to get some distance, NO GOOD.
I am really hoping we get some good rains this year to get things flowing there...............I will be eager as, comes 1st Feb
Happy fishing....................your boys will outfish you soon mate, you teach them too well..
Posting Permissions
