I Broke Another Fishing Rod.

Hi there,

Today I went fishing to East Point, trying to catch a Barramundi, before the big rains that should arrive very soon.
At first when I rocked up to the spot, I didn't like my chances of getting any fish very much.
The water was dirty, and not very flat.
Here is an image of what the water looked like:

Dirty waters at East Point.

Now, I do know that Barramundi love colour changes and sometime dark waters. But for the fishing that I like doing at this spot, the conditions were not really auspicious. I usually prefer when the water is very clear, and when I can see my lure swimming underwater. Also because I can then see the Barramundi attacking the lure, and it always give me a kick.

But today, the water was dirty, at the sky overcast.

Oh well, I was there, after much deliberation at home, looking at the radar picture on my mobile phone, trying to see if it was going to rain or not?

Would it be worth getting out of bed on a weekend day?

Well as I said, I was there, with nothing to loose then.

So I started to cast my lure.

Wondering why I had been optimistic and even left home?

The tide was not where I wanted it to be, the wind was flying my light lure to the side of where I wanted it to be...

This looked like it was going to get a great day, with no fish and a chance of rain...

Oh well...

You are here now my boy, so cast your lure over there past these rocks...

After less than a dozen casts, as I was retrieving my lure, and thinking that it must now have been out of the strike zone, I glanced at the sky, wondering how long it would be before the heavens open, and I would get drenched by the rain?

Rod's tip down, flicking without even thinking about it during the retrieve, and it all happened...

Boom I was on!

A pretty sharp hit, and the line flying out of my reel.

A flash of silver in the muddy water, yes it is a Barramundi and not a cod!

It heads straight for some rock on the right, turn left for some other rock, jump in front of me, and go even more to the left. You Beauty I think, there is a little grove in the rocks there I will be able to pick you up, as soon as I get you there.

But no, it had other ideas and swam quickly back to the right and is finally at my feet, but in front of a step rock.

I really don't want to loose this fish, and I am maybe just a bit more excited than I should be.

Well ok, I am totally lost in the action, way more excited than I would like to admit it. 

And this is when and why I make a rookie mistake.

I high stick to lift the fish out of the water and onto the rocks.

Just as the fish is above the rocks, I hear a dry kind of noise, and the fish felt flat on the rocks at my feet.

I nudge it further on the rocks with my foot and look in disbelief at my rod.

It is broken in two, and this is not the first time that I did that...

Broken fishing rod.

This was the oldest of my baitcaster rods, I had it for nearly ten years, so some would say that it had made its time. Still I was a bit disappointed.

I could not help to think that in such a short time, less than twelve casts and I had this fish. So many other might have been around, and I was not going to catch them now...

And the fish? What did it look like?

The fish that broke my rod:

My fish of the day.

Yes, it was no monster but at 70cm (27.55 inches) it was in my book, still a cool fish to get land based. And in any way, better than what I got in a long time, so I was still very happy with that.

Now, with a fish in my bag, and no more fishing rod, I decided to go home.

And just as I got in the car, it started raining. Not for very long, but still pretty hard.

If I hadn't broken my rod, i would still have been on the beach, and would be well and truely wet by now. So in the end breaking this rod, still had a positive side to it.

Even if I really would love to stop breaking them so easily ...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

The Reidy's Anaconda.

Hi there,

I had seen online that the fishing and sports goods shop called Anaconda, in Darwin was going to stock some Reidy's lures in a colour made especially for them, with the Anaconda marking on them.
I wanted one to go in my little collection of advertising fishing lures.
Two of my mates work in that shop, so I asked both of them to let me know when they would be on the shelf.
When the message that they finally had them in the shop arrived, I went there in the same week.

And once there, I got a very good and nice surprise.
One of my mates was there and he laughed as soon as he saw me walk in. Saying that he knew that I was going to come and look for these lures.
He then introduced me to Gavin, the store manager.
And Gavin, made me a very nice present.

But first thing first, what does the colour look like?
Here have a look:

The Anaconda Colour.

On this first image is the Reidy's B52 in the Anaconda Colour.

The B52, is by itself an iconic Barramundi fishing lure, I myself caught my first ever Barra on a lure with the help of a B52. It was on a Gold with Black back (H-GB is the colour's name) and I still have it, as a memento of my fishing in the Northern Territory. Yes, it is part of my nerdy side, one can't help it.

Now back to the lure on the above photograph, it is the only one of the lot that I got on the day, that I paid for. Yes you read that right, the others came free.
And I got a nice little lot, with a very special one thrown in.
Here are the lures I got:

Three sizes of B52.

Here are three sizes from the B52 line's.

The B52, the Big Ass B52, and the Big Ass 200.

Yes, the Big B52 is missing from the line up, but wait and you will see...

Here you can see the Anaconda Marking on the lures:

Branding on the back.

Yes, with the branding on their back, these lures will never swim. Instead they will rejoin my other advertising lures. The family is getting bigger.

And now, here comes the piece de resistance...

The lure that was used as a colour prototype...

The Anaconda Colour prototype.

This one is without hooks or split rings, because it was just made as a prototype for the colour, and brought from the Reidy's factory to the shop. For The shop people to see if they would be happy with it. 

They must have been happy, as the ones on the shelf are very close colour wise to this one. The prototype is just a bit clearer, not as dark as the final product, but still very close to it.

So there you are, this one will go in the box of the rare ones...

And here view from above:

View from the top.

Thank you Gavin and the guys at Anaconda, this in my books, is a very nice present.

So yes it is a very nice set of lures and none of them will ever swim.

I know that some people would find it sad and say that fishing lures are made to be used and fished...

But hey, It could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.