A break from the fly...

[Shortlite]

Went out to dinner with my other half tonight, and had a massive feed of Italian at Frank's. Well and truly stuffed, we decided to take a cruise and a walk down to Ross Creek and have a little chillout, just us, no hassles, just relaxing and digesting to let the Buddha bellies down.

Uh uh!!! As soon as we rocked up we noticed it was calm, and there were prawns and "chips" size herring everywhere. The water at the bridge was green, and a little dirty, but it was the serious swirls and skittering bait that caught our attention. Curiosity piqued, it was decided that a quick foray up top to have a look was in order. Flotsam and assorted crap floating in the incoming tidal current, then a little bait, a spray of prawns, and......"HOLY S$!T, look at the size of that fish!" Immediate U-Turn, sprinted back to the car and grabbed Laura's spinning rod, fishing bag, and the drop net.

In no time I was rigged and ready. 3g jighead, Atomic Prong away!!! Drifted under, jigging and gliding, all to no avail. Then the fish started really crashing bait. 2 barra and a couple monster tarpon materialized from the shadow and began pounding bait over next to the biggest pylon. I scooted over, flicked in and let it sink. 2 lifts and the line came tight. I only saw the bronze flash and felt momentary big weight before the hook pulled. Reeled up to find the Gamakatsu hook badly bent open. Back to the bag, rerigged, but then noticed that again most of the action was on the surface. Change of attack saw me rig a Squidgy resin head and an Atomic shad. Freelining back in the current, occasionally twitching and paddling the lure drew a couple quick hits, but no hookup. Put the prong back on, and went back to the corner to watch the fish. They were coming up to prawns on the surface, spooking them to jump, then hitting them. I cast in, and with the placcy drifting along nicely just under the surface, it wasn't long before 3 dark shapes closed in.

I immediately started twitching and flicking the lure like apanicked prawn, and the biggest one closed in and followed with interest. However, his demeanour and speed suggested he wouldn't bite, and so said, so done. Trailed the lure all the way back, then disappeared in a big boil. I reeled in and cast next to the pylon, and the line came tight. I struck, only to be pantsed by a silver flash. Bugger!!

Then a moment of magic. 5 fish appeared on top in the middle of the channel, right on the shadow line, and started carving up the water. The biggest hung back, with one of similar size close by. The 3 smaller ones cavorted back under, then the two big ones went to work. So did I. The unweighted prong was sailing through the air as they made their move, and with the two beasts commencing an assault, the first thing they saw was my placcie drifting and paddling inches under the surface. The lead fish eyeballed it, slipped sideways, and inhaled the Prong off the top with a massive gulp. As it turned I drilled it, solidly, hand on the spool. From my vantage point I watched the whole thing unfold, and immediately realised that not only was it a big fish, but that the hook had gained a purchase in a very solid spot. Thus galvanised into action, I reeled tighter and drilled another hookset in, at which point the fish went ballistic.

A couple nice runs for the pylons, some dogged pulling at the surface and deep down, and gill rattling jumps for starters, then more jumps and dogged circling in the channel. The whole time I fought the fish it was attended by two or three more of it's companions. Finally it turned on its side, but it was far from done. The second the drop net hit the water, it was off to the races again. A couple more tense minutes, a miss or two with the net in the current, then it all came together and a chrome beauty was on the rope and mesh elevator to say hello to world.

[Shortlite]

Sorry about the pic quality again, but the better cellphone camera was in the car, and we had to make do with the VGA on my Sony Ericsson.

The fish went 55 cm to the fork, and was fat and thick as well as long. The pic really doesn't do it justice: it had a huge head and a massive eye that just glared at me as I removed the hook and held it for the snapshot. Remember I said the hook found a good spot? Right in the lower lip, in one of the very few soft areas in their mouths. The fish was so pissed off that it didn't struggle much, just quivered and bristled with annoyance. After the photo shoot I lowered it back into the water in the net and watched it swim off.

And that seemed to be the ticket. Straight off the bat after that I hooked a smaller fish, but lost it on the first jump. Straight into the unweighted prawn plastic, big flash and hard hit, but the hook just didn't find the mark. Two more bumps in the same spot, then it went pretty quiet. I think getting one of the bigger ones really spooked them. They seem to be the same pod of fish, and it's likely they've seen a LOT of lures and flies. We reckon the bigger ones are the ones that cruise the beaches and hang around over on Maggie Island most of the year, coming over in winter for the plentiful food in the creek and along the beaches.

With no more action we called it a night and headed home. A good workout, quality fish and less arm ache than trying to nail one on fly. ahaha. Earlier in the night Owen asked if I had my fly rod with me. When I said no he replied that if I went back to the heretical use of the shorter rod, lines of braid and lures of lead, steel and plastic, I would be stricken from the fishing buddies list and never transported to fish again! Whoops! I rigged up for Laura, cast for her, and accidentally caught that fish, I swear!!

[Talina]

Talk about in the right place at the right time, awesome report Shortlite, that tarpon is a beauty!!

Whats even better also is that you had the rod just waiting in the car all set to go. now thats what I call Priorities!!

Oh yeah, that little excuse about "I just casted it in for her & then suddenly hooked up"...Good try, I've heard that one before, its a pretty famous comment amongst you fella's..

[TROLL]

You have some well prepared luck I must say...

[Shortlite]

hahahaha!! In actual fact, it was Laura that said, "That's it, no way are we leaving these fish here. The dirty is a good shot at getting one. Go get the rod!". It wasn't even rigged up, but I tied on a leader and jig in record time.

Then the bombshell, "Oh, I don't wanna fish, gimme your phone so I can play games. My belly's too full to be leaning on the wire, and it hurts too much anyway". So it was all me. Owen I think has come good on his threat.

Talina, at least one rod's ALWAYS in the car. Always, get it? And my fly rod fits in a small rucksack. In the next few weeks I'll probably put together a couple more "Smuggler" outfits. It's all about being prepared. Hopefully I can get another good one on fly soon. They're awesome fish!

[happygilmour]

Great report and action!!

I fished the bridges today to get out of the wind. very quiet with alot of grass/crap in the water. Not much bait movement. I also fished resin heads.prongs,bass minnows etc but couldnt buy a hit.

told my out of town visitor fishing with me that the spot fires at night with the lights attracting bait etc. Good to seeing you get the Tarpon as they are buggers to hook.


Cheers

[Shortlite]

105 cm barra came up tonight. Not for us: 3 guys anchored up and were soaking bait on the incoming tide. Were those your visitors by any chance? The guy did say he was back in TSV after a long stint up in Cairns. He was pretty stoked, especially after the fish nearly did him in the pylons.

Aaron the spot fires at night under the lights, but for some reason they are VERY sensitive to boat traffic and noise on the water. People stomping across the bridge, drunkards throwing crap in the water, etc. doesn't faze them, but even a four stroke or a leccy will shut them right down, as does any hull noise. Best bet is to get there early and set up well away from the bridge. Long casts. During the day it is pretty slow, but there are surprises. I once hooked a big barra in a couple feet of water in the bright sunshine, fishing for bream. And Laura got a 47 cm jack on her lunch break a while back.

They did come back on later once the boat had gone, but were very finicky and would only follow before turning away. They really are buggers to hook, and it doesn't help when you get buck fever watching a 60+ cm tarpon shadow your lure. There was a lot of grass and crap in the water again too, but there was a ton of bait in the water. Could be too much bait: if it wasn't real and jumping when they approached, it didn't get a sniff. Heaps of small prawn, lots of "chips" size herring, and mullet big and small.