A day in the Fitzroy

[Douglas]

'nother Fitzroy outing on Australia Day.

Barrage gates been open again and tannin water now stretches about 5 km down river.

Did some water clarity measurements with a you-beaut technical turbidity measuring device I bought. Thought I'd literally check out how good/bad the water clarity actually is in the Fitzroy.

With the tannin the clarity looked pretty good to us and we got a turbidity reading which equated to 150mm (6 inches). The light from the sun vanished at a depth of 6 inches.

In normal colour downstream it was 80mm. About 3 inches.

With high optimism off we went.

Had a day with soft plastic vibes at likely spots chasing king threadfin.

Friend of ours was onto a barra (unintentionally) as we pulled up. 99cm, tagged and released.

Evan 99cm.jpg

We got 2 bull sharks which we initially thought were big king by the way they took off with our vibes.

Anyway finished the day with 6 accidental barra of:

75cm, 41cm, 56cm, 81cm, 85cm, 80cm. Mate got treble hook straightened by another one which escaped.

All within town reach (CBD).

Was good to see the 41cm model. Product of late 2016 spawning. Heaps found in floodplain lagoons but not so many in river.

Had another issue with those bl...y folding landing nets (Kato I think)

Mate went to net my 85cm model and it busted straight through the mesh like a hot knife through butter. Ended up with the barra still in the water, me in the boat with rod and line through hole in net with the landing net between us.

Had to delicately pass rod through the net via the hole to continue the fight.

I put something up on here a while ago about those landing nets. Same thing happened to mate when out with someone else. That time fish was bigger than 85cm.

Those Kato folding net frames are OK. Its simply that Tupperware mesh they come with.

Told mate last time to get "real" cord mesh but he persevered with the rubbishy stuff. Even had the retailer give him a new one previously.

Not anymore. Yesterday, mesh was cut off and binned back at the boat ramp and replacement one goes back to shop today. Look for suitable cord mesh to fit frame.

Its easy to see what's wrong with them in respect of barramundi.

Narrow pointed head and big heavy body (barra, not my mate). Enormous amount of pressure generated by the small surface area of the snout with the weight behind it. Similar to the damage caused by ladies stiletto heels when they were in fashion. (Haven't worn mine in years).

Barra goes into net headfirst (cant net from tail end as they go ballistic). When net lifted, barra goes headfirst down into bottom of net AND.......straight through and back into water. Even 8ocm ones.

Be aware.