Saturday, May 7, 2011

No bait, no food...

Hi there,


Some time ago, I told Double Haul that I would try to get him some small Queenfish that he would be able to use as bait for his Billfishes addiction... 
And yes I own him a few bait for all the garfishes that I dutifully lost while he was trying to teach me how to catch a Sailfish...


Well guess what?
Since then I was totally unable to land a single Queenfish...
Not a small or big one, no, nada, zilch, zero, niete, just a big fat doughnut on the Queenfish front!
Shame job really...


So this morning I told myself, I will go on the rocks, and get him some bait, and a feed for me and my family too!
And I was on my way to the Cullen Bay rock walls.


Yeah right!
Lucky no one was holding his breath or he would be dead by now...


I tried all sort of metal slices, even some funky ones that I had never used before.
Some blade and soft plastic, but to no avail...


So I told myself, the last thing that you haven't tried today is a popper, so my boy it is time to take the popper out of the bag.
And as the target was queenfish, I took a big orange, yellowish one, a Storm Saltwaer Chug Bug, that I got in Singapor.


And...
Something just jumped on it very close to the rocks, made a big splash and pulled on the line.
It even started to jump around, like a queenfish!


Splashing around.

Yes, I got a bit excited.
But it was definitively not a queenfish...
Sad, because it would have been of the good size as a bait, I think.


No, it was just a small Barramundi, not even a legal one, but once again a small fish going for a big lure...
  


Baby Barramundi on popper.

So quick photo and released alive and kicking. 
Because I was told that we are not allowed to use these ones as bait...



So I decided to get back to the chrome slices and used a new one.
I was just reeling it as fast as I could, when I felt a bump on the line.
But no pull...


And when the lure came back to me, look at what was on one of the hooks:


Some fish scales on my hook.

I must have bumped into a fish and gave him a bit of a fright.
Oops, sorry...


And that was it for the morning, still a very good time on the water edge.

Lucky me my beloved ones at home had prepared something to eat.
Maybe they start to know that my talents as a fisherman are a bit unpredictable, and had decided not to rely on it.
To this, I would say, good on them!
And yes I came back home one more time with not bait or food.

But hey, it could be worse.
Have a good day,
Me.

2 comments:

Fish Whisperer said...

It looks like the water is really clear so you might want to use flourocarbon leader. You also might try a split ring and swivel instead of the clip to the lure. Don't forget, big lures big fish, small lures all fish. Just a few ideas to help break the slump.
Tight lines

Rambling Expat said...

Hi Fish Whisperer,

And thanks for the good advices.

The leaders I use are either Penn 10X Super Tough or the Black Magic one.
From 20lb. to 80lb., depending of where and what I fish for.

I was thinking about swivel, even just to avoid line twist, so I will look into them.

The popper was a bit big for the Barramundi who took it, but it was not intended for him, and I find small poppers hard to cast in the wind.

The chrome slice on the photo in this post, is just a 40gr. one.
I actually lost that lure last Saturday when a big fish took it and ran straight for the rocks and cut my main line on them...
Ha!

I got all my best fish land based on slices between the 30 to 40gr. range.
I only use heavier ones when I am lucky to be invited on a boat for a jigging session.

Thanks again.
Have a good day,
Me.