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Wednesday, 17 October 2007

Fish, at last!

I've been waiting for one of these Queenfish to come along

Launch:	- 8:30 AM
Landed:	- 1.30 PM
Tide:	- 12:00 PM, High
Weather:	- Hot, 32 °C, calm
Caught:	- Queenfish, bream
Method:	- Trolling soft plastic lures, live baiting

Although said to be habitat to the odd crocodile, the local boy Carl Holland (AKA Astro), assured me he was comfortable kayak fishing a certain stretch of it, and that was good enough for me. Determined to break the fish-less curse we took to the river on an incoming tide, much to the jealousy of numerous commuters that were forced to observe our day at the office as they drove in on their way to theirs. We attracted a lot of attention in our marvelous pedal-powered fishing machines today, attracting many a toot, cheer, jeer and even a passing sexual gesture.

The only gesture we were interested in was the close encounter hook-up kind and although we were able to break the drought, pickings were still pretty slim. That said, today's trip did result in my 1st Queenfish, by default making it my PB queenfish in the process. It measured 58cm by legit standards and about 66cm tip to tip. It was taken on a large live prawn, in conditions where it seemed almost nothing else would do. Queenfish fight to the bone. They taste good to. I like them!

We covered a lot of water today, using the tide to drift us towards our first spot X at the bridge, and then to drift us further downstream for a while before the tide turned. I picked up this 27cm bream right on slack water by the mangrove edges. Fittingly, this was the first time I'd used the Nitro Powerbream Ultra 'flick-stick' rod and this was the very first fish it has caught.

How fitting that this be the first fish caught on the Nitro Power Bream Ultra rod.

Today was my 1st day heading out with all 3 Nitro rods aboard. It felt a bit like overkill when I launched, but I was glad I did it in the end. The larger rod was used for livies (accounting for the Queeny), the medium rod for casting and trolling medium weight lures and the small rod for flicking small, light lures (accounting for the bream). I was able to move from strategy to strategy with ease, managing to keep an offering in the water at all times.

I have used up to 3 rods from a kayak before, but never the same brand and make of all 3 rods before, so it was an interesting comparison. The consistency of action was one thing that I did appreciate. Far from being the mosh-pit of rods I was using previously, this select line up is providing a more consistent feel with which to accustom to, which is making for a relatively seamless transition when I go from rod to rod. The larger Godzilla model has already proven itself to me with a few good fish - including today's queeny - but although both have now been christened, neither have had to face any real challenges as of yet. Their day is coming.

At the mercy of big tides here at Mackay, in and outgoing tides are strong in the river. Planned trips should factor in tide flows and times for maximum distances and minimal effort. This area recommended for strong paddlers only.

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Comments (2)

17-10-2007 06:15

gee looks like you have been busy...hows bowen

cheers

Written by Astro

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17-10-2007 07:03

heya mate - Bowen looks great. Looks like I have good options here. keep getting warned about sharks though :-/

I'll get back to you with an address to send that usb drive to shortly.

Written by josh

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