Harbour provides again.....
Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 3:12 pm
Got a mate from Tassie in town for a few weeks so I thought I'd best show him some true Territory hospitality by taking him for a spin in the harbour yesterday to try and rustle up a Barra or two and feed of crabs. The tides were very user friendly with an 11.15 low so allowed for a lazy start at 8.00 to fish the last of the run out and a few hours on the incoming to nab a couple of muddies and still be home in plenty of time for a cook up.
Given Nic's biggest fish previously had been a 15cm bream handlined off a jetty I gave him a few tips on casting to start the day focusing on the educated use of the thumb on the spool to ensure I wouldn't have to spend half the day pulling out birds nests... Things were a bit quiet for the first hour or so but there was plenty of nervous bait about and signs that there some decent fish putting the wind up them. I suggested we change tactics and put in a couple of trolls. 20m into the first run I've taken a solid hit and looked behind to see a nice chrome bar dancing across the creek, I quickly swapped rods with Nic and with plenty of encouragement and coaching a nice mid sixties Barra was guided into the net.
"Look at the SIZE of that thing" was all he could say while wearing a sh!t eating grin from ear to ear. A couple of quick pics and it was necked and in the esky. Time for number two.
Another 20m and this time it was Nic who hooked up. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the rod jerk back and another nice Barra boiled on top and then ran hard. "FARK! OUCH! JEEZ!" yelled Nic as the smell of burning thumb flesh filled the air at the back of the boat. He told me later that the lessons learned in casting automatically kicked in and he thought some judicious application of thumb pressure would be the way to stop the spool from spinning too fast...........
It came to the surface again and this time I got a good look at it. "That's a nice fish Nic" I said and again the coaching came thick and fast as it gave him plenty of curry in the small creek. After a few laps of the boat and some nice tail walks a quality 79cm chromie soon joined his mate in the esky. After the 10 minutes of madness things went a bit quiet and I landed one more mid 60's fish on a vibe before the tide bottomed out and it was time to go and drop some pots.
A quick blast over to a creek on the other side of the arm and 1/2 an hour later 8 pots were in place for round 2 of the food gathering fest. We dropped the pick on a rockbar hoisted the canopy and settled back for a few fizzy drinks while the pots did their work. All was pretty quiet on the bait fishing front with a couple of assorted pan size fish coming on board and getting returned. Not that it mattered as I think Nic was still buzzing from the mornings action. 2 hours later we pulled the pots for 3 nice big bucks and a jenny so with dinner sorted it was back to ramp and home for a tidy up, swim, plenty of cold frosties and a feed fit for a king.
Melv
Given Nic's biggest fish previously had been a 15cm bream handlined off a jetty I gave him a few tips on casting to start the day focusing on the educated use of the thumb on the spool to ensure I wouldn't have to spend half the day pulling out birds nests... Things were a bit quiet for the first hour or so but there was plenty of nervous bait about and signs that there some decent fish putting the wind up them. I suggested we change tactics and put in a couple of trolls. 20m into the first run I've taken a solid hit and looked behind to see a nice chrome bar dancing across the creek, I quickly swapped rods with Nic and with plenty of encouragement and coaching a nice mid sixties Barra was guided into the net.
"Look at the SIZE of that thing" was all he could say while wearing a sh!t eating grin from ear to ear. A couple of quick pics and it was necked and in the esky. Time for number two.Another 20m and this time it was Nic who hooked up. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the rod jerk back and another nice Barra boiled on top and then ran hard. "FARK! OUCH! JEEZ!" yelled Nic as the smell of burning thumb flesh filled the air at the back of the boat. He told me later that the lessons learned in casting automatically kicked in and he thought some judicious application of thumb pressure would be the way to stop the spool from spinning too fast...........
It came to the surface again and this time I got a good look at it. "That's a nice fish Nic" I said and again the coaching came thick and fast as it gave him plenty of curry in the small creek. After a few laps of the boat and some nice tail walks a quality 79cm chromie soon joined his mate in the esky. After the 10 minutes of madness things went a bit quiet and I landed one more mid 60's fish on a vibe before the tide bottomed out and it was time to go and drop some pots.A quick blast over to a creek on the other side of the arm and 1/2 an hour later 8 pots were in place for round 2 of the food gathering fest. We dropped the pick on a rockbar hoisted the canopy and settled back for a few fizzy drinks while the pots did their work. All was pretty quiet on the bait fishing front with a couple of assorted pan size fish coming on board and getting returned. Not that it mattered as I think Nic was still buzzing from the mornings action. 2 hours later we pulled the pots for 3 nice big bucks and a jenny so with dinner sorted it was back to ramp and home for a tidy up, swim, plenty of cold frosties and a feed fit for a king.
Melv
