That river . . .

[Nath86]

Went for another explore in one of the local systems today where I had previously found to be loaded with rats. I have been fishing the river a bit lately and finding that the Bassday Kangoku shads are doing the damage, and with the ever reliable gulp worms a garranted winner. Lately though, it seems the fish have moved a bit with possibly more salt in the system, so it was time to explore a little more.

With a canoe that I borrowed from one of the locals, I set off to the opposite bank to where I normally fish from not expecting to catch much due to the extra salt, but with my polarised sunnies, I was surprised to see some very promising ground comprising of some steep rocky drop-offs, a big difference to the shallow sand banks of the other side.
Pulling the Canoe up into the grass on the other side, I sent out a cast along the drop-off, and as soon as I began t retrieve the lure, i felt a bombardment of subtle hits, a few twitches and i was on. He was only small, but still a big confidence boost.
The next cast sailed out in the same area as the previous, but this time it was not met with the same welcoming hits. I twitched it back slowly, all but convinced that the first was just a lucky cast when the rod loaded up and a small amount of drag was pulled.
The fish was definately no monster, but by still quiet large for this system at around 30cm.
A few quick pics, and he was on his way, and i had a new PB for the system.

A few more casts saw a couple of smaller bream landed, but with less interest in the lure shown, it was time to swap to the sandworms.

Being able to spot the drop-offs, I cast into a very promising ledge and almost immediately came up tight. A little bit of drag was pulled as he headed back under the ledge, but his head was soon turned, and i had upgraded my PB for the system to 32cm.

[Nath86]

Having caught a couple, it was time to take the old man for a spin with our other two fishing partners.
We moved up into a shallower section of the river, and this is where My Ryders sunnies really came into their own. I was able to spot dozens of feeding fish, although smallish, all willing to have a go at the sandworms.

After a few more smallish fish, lunch was called, and that was it for the day.
Having barely moved from my usual spots, except to try the opposite banks, I am now more than ever convinced that the system holds a few more bigger fish, and I think I'll be getting my Yak in there soon and having a look around for them.

Cheers Nath

[mattuna]

ye grate fish mate, yak fishing is the go for most place in the estuaries, i have to get out there and give it a go sometime.

matt

[happygilmour]

Hi Nath,

Some great fishing pics there and great round up of your day. Was the bassaday kangoku the stand out lure or plastics account for some fish too?

Cheers

[Nath86]

Aaron, the gulp will catch more fish hands down, but I definately prefer using hard bodies as I find it more rewarding / challenging.
I literally fish the gulp sandworms almost as a bait, imparting very little action onto it myself, so not very challenging, but as they tend to get results, they tend to end up on the end of the line at some stage of a trip.
I am a big fan of other soft plastics though such as the Atomic and the snapback range, especially up north for the reef species, but down here, I tend to use the hardbodies for the bream.

Cheers Nath

[adidaspeteman]

A nice little river system you got there Nath, do many other people fish it?

[Nath86]

A nice little river system you got there Nath, do many other people fish it?

I know of very few people that fish it seriously, but in saying that I do see the odd family and tourist having a bit of fun catching the smaller fish. Realistically though, I think to find the bigger fish you would have to head further up-stream into the sticks to find the bigger fish, and this would only be possible with a canoe / kayak as there is very limited access to the river.

But in sayng this though, because so few people fish it, the fish seem more than willing to smash a lure.

Cheers Nath

[Pistol_P]

Good quality Pics Nath.

Well done mate.

Pete