Shoal Bay Saturday 16th Oct.
Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 1:06 pm
Well after a long dry season/build up for me I finally got out for a decent crack at a barra. Ive found it tough on the billabongs this year in June/July so its all saltwater for me now I think
After being away last weekend I was looking for a good option and was very undecided what to do on the small tides. Decided to make a plan for Shoal Bay and did some homework on GoogleEarth and came up with a plan which we stuck to. Headed over early with the rain/mozzies and even lightning harassing us at Buff Creek. Put the foot down and made it through the channel easily on the 3.9m tide. I reckon 3.5m would not be an issue for my boat now. So that was good to learn.
Headed over to a creek and got a few prawns in the cast net so threw them out. They were slammed straight away every cast by small stuff and I managed a nice little 30cm goldie and nice 41cm flathead. I used to eat flathead a lot down south so decided this one was going home with us. Will cook it up tonight. Pushed up the creek trolling Xraps and bombers without any success. Spotted some birds feeding in a nice little gutter there so headed over for a flick. First cast my Olive Xrap got tailed by a big bow wave in the shallows. Was awesome and I think I panicked a bit and it never struck my lure. Damn. A few more flicks along the bank in the deeper stuff and he was back for more and finally I had a barra on the end of my line. My mate Dan sorted out the net and in came a beautiful 72cm chromie. Hi five. Straight into the esky. Dinner sorted by 9am time for a change of plans. Headed out to the mouth and trolled around for the next few hours. A few good hits for Dan but no luck for me. Put on a small 2m Tilsan lure in red and white and first past it got slammed by a fish. It felt good...very good and stayed deep. I turned the boat side on and without getting any slack and braced myself for the tussle, when my line just went dead. Must have only just hooked it as the lure came back fine. Gutted I have a feeling it may have been the big one Ive been chasing forever.
Great day on the water, saw a few nice barra caught and a few forum members were out on the water. Rammers was there beerless for some reason (hope the XXXX Gold tasted good) and saw Slappers boat cranking the tunes with the JewieQueen, and I got to meet CB out there with NathanL and Lincoln which was good. Headed off fairly quickly with the storm coming in and made it back as it started pouring down. Copped it again later back at the skiclub for a beer it was some serious rain.
Also learnt how to make a barra look bigger in the photo.
Cheers
MP
After being away last weekend I was looking for a good option and was very undecided what to do on the small tides. Decided to make a plan for Shoal Bay and did some homework on GoogleEarth and came up with a plan which we stuck to. Headed over early with the rain/mozzies and even lightning harassing us at Buff Creek. Put the foot down and made it through the channel easily on the 3.9m tide. I reckon 3.5m would not be an issue for my boat now. So that was good to learn.
Headed over to a creek and got a few prawns in the cast net so threw them out. They were slammed straight away every cast by small stuff and I managed a nice little 30cm goldie and nice 41cm flathead. I used to eat flathead a lot down south so decided this one was going home with us. Will cook it up tonight. Pushed up the creek trolling Xraps and bombers without any success. Spotted some birds feeding in a nice little gutter there so headed over for a flick. First cast my Olive Xrap got tailed by a big bow wave in the shallows. Was awesome and I think I panicked a bit and it never struck my lure. Damn. A few more flicks along the bank in the deeper stuff and he was back for more and finally I had a barra on the end of my line. My mate Dan sorted out the net and in came a beautiful 72cm chromie. Hi five. Straight into the esky. Dinner sorted by 9am time for a change of plans. Headed out to the mouth and trolled around for the next few hours. A few good hits for Dan but no luck for me. Put on a small 2m Tilsan lure in red and white and first past it got slammed by a fish. It felt good...very good and stayed deep. I turned the boat side on and without getting any slack and braced myself for the tussle, when my line just went dead. Must have only just hooked it as the lure came back fine. Gutted I have a feeling it may have been the big one Ive been chasing forever.
Great day on the water, saw a few nice barra caught and a few forum members were out on the water. Rammers was there beerless for some reason (hope the XXXX Gold tasted good) and saw Slappers boat cranking the tunes with the JewieQueen, and I got to meet CB out there with NathanL and Lincoln which was good. Headed off fairly quickly with the storm coming in and made it back as it started pouring down. Copped it again later back at the skiclub for a beer it was some serious rain.
Also learnt how to make a barra look bigger in the photo.
Cheers
MP