Bluewater & Bohle rivers (Tsv)double header-28/29

[stunnedmullet]

Bluewater
Well this was it. The final shot at a barra before the season closes
First job was to take my sister fishing Friday arvy to my favourite haunt, Bluewater creek north of Townsville. After throwing the net over plenty of mullet, we sat back and waited for the incoming tide to bring in our fish. Having picked up good fish there before(boat and land based) at both the run and run out I had to convince sister that fishing is also about patience. By about 5pm I am sure she thought I was all talk with only a queensfih to show........then she manages to pick up 3 grunter to 45cm and big bro was a champion. In between dehooking and bleeding her fish I managed a few myself with the biggest at 55cm. Top table fare.
Bohle river madness
With no cricket this weekend I had planned to give the Bohle(a known big barra haunt) a crack. Tide full at 7pm so wanting to make sure that we don't miss out we headed out at 10am...yes we were determined. After preapring myself for the masses that would be there we arrived at the carpark to see about 25-30 trailers already there. The Bohle is a single lane ramp so there needs to be a lot of patience when putting in and taking out. After netting plenty of big mullet, whiting and huge sardines we were ready. After fishing the mouth for a while and picking up a 58cm flathead we decided to try a deeper hole we had found. At 20ft in the mouth of a smaller feeder creek with live baits it sounded like to stuff of fishing magazines. Unfortunately it didn't live up to expectations and we only managed a keeper queenfish and nice trevally both around the 4lb mark. At that point we decided to head out the mouth for the run in. When we rounded the final bend we virtually had to take a ticket and wait in line as there were 13 boats neatly circled around the rockbar. Taking a different tact we headed onto the weedbeds and anchored up. It was a great session with 7 grunter all around the 50cm mark and a vice fingermark at 38cm. Just a note...not one hit was had on live mullet, only the live whiting and sards. All 6 of the seven grunter were caught on fresh squid and one on pilchard. I did manage to hook something that had very little intention of stopping on my 8kg outfit and after feeling what I think was a tail hitting my line, fish and hook parted company.About 1 hour after the tide turned we were attacked by catfish so it was time to leave. All in all it was a great day albeit long. When we left for the ramp by the time I backed down the trailer there was a procession of 5 boats behind me...all victims of the catfish onlslaught I reckon.
Weekend tally was 13 grunter between 45-55cm, flathead, fingermark, 2 queenfish and a trevally.

[stunnedmullet]

Bluewater

[stunnedmullet]

Bohle catch

[Bosunsmate]

Looks like I need to take some lessons off you mullet......

Well done, nice looking catches

[Bad_Bubby]

Good to see someone else got out for a fish before the closed season. A bit of a let down to miss out on the barra but by the looks of it you did very well with other species anyway. I like the look of those big silver grunter (especially in the fryin pan), good stuff

[stunnedmullet]

Yep bubby...have mates who will choose grunter and fingermark over barra every time. Have found that grunter also freeze really well which is a bonus. We definitely seemed to be catching the best quality grunter that night. Not sure if it was the good quality squid we were using or just luck. Have caight my very best grunter on squid though so maybe there is a common denominator there.
The mullet

[Mad_Barry]

Some nice grunter there

Not to worry. Next week you can go Grunter fishing and with the ever present Murphy's Law, I bet I know what you'll catch

[stunnedmullet]

You said it Dicko.
Bust my ar$e to catch a barra all year and I guarantee they will torment the hell out of me now. Hopefully they will all be either under 58cm or over the 120cm mark so I would have to release them anyway.
the mullet

[2DKnBJ]

Nice catch there Mullet.Alot af people say the Bohle is fished out but like any river or creek if you put the time in you will come up with the goods.
Cheers Dazza

[stunnedmullet]

Yep Dazza...have to agree that the Bohle gets hit pretty hard. However you pick your tides, use fresh bait that is well presented and try some different rigs etc you can normally get a feed which is all I want. Not into setting records just some fish for the table and have some fun.
Hiever no matter how much research you dio, there are still days when you come up empty contary to all plans. That's fishing i suppose.
The mullet

[fishsmith]

Bohle.....runout tide..rockbars..livies or plastics..fish mid week= success..

[Mozza]

Mulletman,

Very impressed with your intestinal fortitude going to the bohle last w/e of the barra season!

Sounds like you may well have upstaged most who fished there - it pays to vary the tactics. I've often thought the weedbeds out the front must fire. A good option if the carpark is full (the Bohle that is).

Mozza

[stunnedmullet]

Yep Mozza, have only recently tried the Bohle as I have my other favourite haunts Was dreading all the traffic and chaos but turned out okay. Even had the recreational jet skier flying up and down the creek in between boats>
Got to keep trying new spots. Any major system that has any sort of structure at the mouth, be it rocks, channel, weed beds or drop off will produce if you put the time in. All about time on the water.
The Bohle is definitely a sneaky midweek option though.
The mullet

[Mozza]

Mullet,

Given up trying to attach photos so will resign with text. Aimed to try the same on the beds in Cleveland Bay but got convinced to fish the mouth of Coco creek with AB (Will be shortly entering gaol-term for making his missus preggers...) Well, as you said once the season closes... if it was open I honestly can't guess how many barra we would have got.

Had to settle with 2 grunter, 2 salmon and 2 barra(released). I mean, what do you do if the "boof" season has arrived and you can literally hear your new baitcast combo just asking for some fun.

The barra: 1 on a "Jimmy Hird" (Gold Bomber) and 1 on a renoski
The others: Tuna, squid and gar strips

Mozza

[stunnedmullet]

Well done on your catch Mozza [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]
What sort of size were the fish? That ramp at coco creek is lunacy at too low a tide. Mat and I have been there a couple of times and it really was a mission.
Very hard to put up with barra going off all around you but thems the breaks. Heard they are getting some cobes on the weedbeds of Cleveland Bay too.
The mullet