First Barramundi Of The Year.

Hi there,

Yes, I finally got my first Barramundi for the year.

• We fished on the Adelaide river.
• We got all our fish on soft plastic lures.
• We got all our fish on the cast.

Jason had asked me if I wanted to go for a bit of Barramundi fishing on the Adelaide river.

Of course I said yes!

It is still early in the season, a bit too early in fact, but who could resist a fishing trip, instead of staying home doing some cleaning and other important stuff?

So we were on the road very early, and it was still dark by the time we launched the boat:

Launching in the dark.

But as opposed to all the other trips that I had done on the Adelaide river, this time we had decided to go down river, instead of upstream. This to me was a first, and I was excited to go to discover some new territories.

We stopped as the day had started, to a little creek and started to flick our lures across the little stream flowing in the river. We were using large hard body lures, and didn't register any hits, but who could hear and sometimes see little boof here and there around us.

One fish was rather constant on our left.

We casted many time in it's direction but couldn't get anything to have a go at our lures.

I even tried a fizzer, in the hope that it would provoke a strike.

Just as we decided to drift past a bit lower, we changed lures and both of us had now soft plastic lures on our lines.

I made my first cast with it towards the spot where the little Barramundi had been repeatedly boofing.

That was not the best cast in the world, and my lure ended in the weed bordering the water. I gave a sharp jerk on the line to get it off the weed, the lure dropped in the water, I gave one turn of the handle, and said: Oh! I just got a hit!

But it wasn't just a hit I was on! in fact the fish had then been swimming parallel to the boat and it did take me a few seconds to realise that I was on.

The fight wasn't very long, as the fish was no monster, and once at the boat, I just grabbed the leader line by hand, and pulled the fish in the boat. I had just boated my first Barramundi of the year!

First little Barramundi of the year.

This little run off Barramundi, made me very happy, it is alway nice to catch the first one of the year.

And lets be honest, this happen only once a year...

I had caught it on the first cast of the day with a soft plastic, surely this was going to be the lure of the day ... Well yes and no... Yes, because it caught me my best fish of the day, but no, because that was also going to be my last Barramundi of the day, for me.

But not long after that, as we arrived to another little run off, Jason was on!

And his fish was better than mine:

Jason and his Barramundi.

This fish too was caught on a soft plastic and on the cast.

From there on, the long desert crossing started...

No more Barramundi were to be caught for the day...

We did try every little colour change that we saw, like this one:

Colour change on the Adelaide river.

But to no avail.

So we went back up the river, as far as Beatrice creek. First as we arrived we had the place for ourselves. But it must have taken about all of ten short minutes, to have at least five or six other boats around us, all casting or even anchoring about where we were flicking our lures ten minutes before...

The junction of Beatrice and Adelaide, with a few boats.

Some of the boats even had stereo blasting some night club music...

I might start to be an old fashioned kind of guy, but when fishing, I still prefer the sound of nature and the birds than the Duff Duff music...

Anyway we persisted there for a while, and Jason got two very good hits, but none stayed connected.

The sky was starting to grow darker and more menacing by the minute, and a few lightning started to be seen in the cloudy sky.

Dark sky.

So we made it back towards the ramp, and turned in one last little creek to see if we could get lucky, one more time.

We got lucky with the rain, that is for sure, as it fell upon us like there was no tomorrow.

The positive in it, is that it was refreshing.

And then the rain stopped... For a few minutes and restarted... And stopped again, and started again, a few time.

Flood plain from the last little creek.

In this little creek I actually got a fish, but it was either a Garfish or a Long Tom, not sure which one of them.

It was of the same colour than a Barramundi that would have spend the winter in a billabong. Never I had seen one of this colour before.

But between the intermittent rain and the lack of Barramundi, we decided to call it a day and to head home.

The sky was still full of rain:

Clouds over the Adelaide river.

when we arrived at the ramp, we saw that a lot of people had the same idea than us, and it was a bit busy.

Waiting next to the ramp.

But it wasn't that long before we were able to put the boat back on the trailer, and on the road again, home bounds.

Thanks again to Jason for inviting me fishing, it was great to finally get my first little Barra of the year.

In this trip I used 18 different hard body lures, and four different soft plastics, for a grand total of two fish caught...

I think that this is the absolute proof that I needs more fishing lure...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

The Rapala Fortnight Freebies Prize.

Hi there,

Yes, I did get very lucky : I won the first 2017 Rapala Fortnight Freebies prize for 2017.
What is that?
Some of you may ask...
Well every fortnight Rapala Australia do a little competition on their Facebook page. And every time a lucky participant get to received for over $200 of Rapala products.
And what did I had to do to become a lucky boy?
Well as it was the first Rapala Freebies of the year, they made it an easy one, so I was in with a chance...
I had to look online at what were their products and tell on their Facebook page which ones I would like to received.
And my choice was really simple, I wanted some fishing lures to chase the mighty Barramundi.
So I said that I would love to get some Storm So-Run Akame and some Twitchin' Mullet.
And that was it, I was the lucky one whose name came up in the draw.
Now, what did I received for such a big effort?
All of that:

All the Freebies from Rapala Australia.

So lets look at it a bit more closely.

Starting first with the ones I really wanted, the big bait:

Storm So-Run Akame.

This is a big lure, with single hooks, made to catch big fish. My goal with these is to catch a big Barramundi. It measure 19cm for 67g, and has a running depth of 0.3M. This looks like a good lure to use for big Barramundi, and I really hope to up my personal best catch on this lure.

Then comes the other lure that I was very interested to put my little fingers on, the Twitchin' Mullet:

Rapala X-Rap Twitchin' Mullet.

The Rapala Twitchin' Mullet is a lure that I really was hoping to win, because I had never seen it in shop in Darwin yet. But after looking at it online it seemed to be exactly the type of lure I would love to flick at some run off creek or even from the shore at some of my urban land based fishing spots.

It is a relatively small lure, 8cm for 13g with a diving depth of 0.3 to 0.6M, which is also what might make it a good land based fishing lure. It has a subsurface walk the dog action, and anyone who knows my fishing preferences knows that I love surface walk the dog lures. So this one should be really interesting to fish with.

As a companion to these two little lure came what could be described as their big brother, the Twitchin' Minow:

Rapala X-Rap, Twitchin' Minow.

This one is bigger and longer that the previous one. It is 12cm for 26g.

In fact there is two sizes available for this lure the 12 cm one and a smaller one at 10cm and 14g.

I am rather happy to have the bigger one, as it will nicely complement the smaller Twitchin' Mullet that came with it.

This one too is a shallow lure with a running depth identical to the Twitchin' Mullet, 0.3 to 0.6M that is. So I intend to fish both lures in the same zones, depending on what type of natural bait swim there on the day. Because as they say, the best is often to match the hatch.

With them came the Shadow Rap Deep:

Rapala Shadow Rap Deep.

This is a lure that I had never seen before, so it is more than welcome in my tackle box.

It is 11cm long for 13g, and is a slow sinking on pause lure.

It will be interesting to see how the Barramundi react to this lure.

It cam in the Clown colour, it is a colour with which I have caught Barramundi with in the past, so I am for the moment quite confident that it too should bring back a fish.

Then in all the goodies, I found some stickers, first this one:

Rapala Auto/Boat Emblem.

I do not have a boat, but I can see it placed on the bonnet of my car.

It will be like driving a Rapala's car, and will continue to make me day dream about fishing while driving to work. So you know, I could stay focused on the task at hand.

And now the proper stickers:

Full set of Rapala Pro Decal.

These stickers will find places on my pushbike and other perfect sticker's spots. My child has already spotted them and I might have to share.

Fishing lures and stickers, what could be missing here?

The cloths!

And here they are:

Rapala Coasting Lure T-Shirt.

Now for a guy like me who is borderline obsessive compulsive when it comes to fishing lures, what a T-shirt to wear!

To go with the shirt was a short:

Rapala Catch Boardies.

When I received an email from Rapala asking me about my pants size, I looked on their website, and this very short was my favourite. So the stars must have aligned properly, as this is the one I received.

And last but not least, you may have noticed it on the first photograph of this post, a bucket:

Rapala stainless steel lures bucket.

This is all what I received from the good guys at Rapala Australia for the Rapala Fortnight Freebies.

Honestly, it is more than what I was expecting, and I am very grateful for all of this, thank you guys.

If you live in Australia, you should definitively go on their Facebook page and try to enter the fortnightly competition, it is well worth it, and lets face it, not too so hard. So that everyone is in with a good chance to win.

Here is a last photograph for the road:

Storm, So-Run Akame.

The only problem for me receiving all these fishing lures early in the week, is that I had to wait nearly a full week before I would be able to test them...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

FFF Seadogs 2016 Prize.

Hi there,

Yes, I was lucky enough to win a round of the FFF Seadogs 2016.
And not any round but the last one, basically I really got in by the skin of my teeth.

So first what is the FFF Seadogs competition?
It is a friendly fishing competition organised by the FFF fishing forum, in Australia.
The competition is made of eleven rounds, and the angler with the best fish in a round win this round.
At the end of the year, the person who had the biggest number of points (Allocated by the sizes of fish entered in the competition each rounds) win the Grand Prize of Seadog of the year.

Now, I have entered this competition since it's beginning, and it is only the very first time that I win a round in it. This is a testament to the quality of the many anglers who compete in it every years.
And my win was I believe due more to sheer luck than anything else.
But hey, I will take it anyway.

So what did I win?
This:

Yes, all of this!

Now let's have a closer look at all these goodies.

First the Rapala:

Three Rapala fishing lures.

Yes, note one, not two but three Rapala fishing lures.

One Max Rap and two X-Rap XR-12.

The Max Rap swim at 03 to 09M (1-3FT.). And the two X-Rap dive to 1,2-2,4M (4 to 8 FT.).

Then come the Halco / RMG:

Three fishing lures from Halco / RMG.

This lot is made of a 40g Outcast in white, one of my favourite lure when fishing for Queenfish and other small pelagic from the shore. It cast like a bullet and fish love it.

Second is a Laser Pro 120MT, with a swimming depth of 1M. I have never fished with a Laser Pro, but many of my fishing buddies told me that they love it for Barramundi, so I will definitively try it.

And third is the ever reliable Poltergeist 80. A great little lure, which already caught me plenty of fish, and that I rate highly.

Then come the Reidy's:

Two of my favourite Barramundi fishing lure.

One of them is a B52...

Yes, I have said it before, my first ever Barramundi on a lure was on a Reidy's B52.

I have since always had some in my tackle boxes, and always make sure to have a few with me when ever I go fishing. 

The other is a Little Lucifer, these are great lures when fishing the billabong, or at the start of the run off season, when the bait is still relatively small. I have caught some fish with this lure too.

And then came the timber lure:

Deep River Lure.

This one is a Deep River Lure Mugil.

Deep River Lures are handcrafted in Queensland, and are very well finished. I already had two of them, and really like them, even if they are nearly too beautiful to be fished.

They are even signed under the belly:

Deep River Lure Mugil.

But what does the average angler would be with shiny lures and nothing to attach them to?

So here come the fishing line, from Platypus:

Platinum+ Braid by Platypus.

This comes just at the right time. It is here the beginning of the run off season. The time when I get my reels serviced and change the lines that need to be changed. With 300 years of 30lb braid, I will be ok for a little while. Platypus fishing lines are made in Australia and as such are well suited for the harsh condition under which we fish.

And last but not least, the Tonic sunglasses:

Tonic Evo polarized sunglasses.

Each round winner for 2016 was supposed to chose the frame of their choice, and they should have come with polycarbonate lenses. But the guys at Tonic Eyewear decided to give us a nice surprise, and send the glasses with real glass photochromic lenses.

Now that is some super cool stuff!

I already owned a pair of Tonic glasses with photochromic lenses, but I had them for several years and they have suffered the bad treatment that I inflict on my fishing accessories. So a brand new pair is more than welcome.

Oh and what kind of fish did I catch to get rewarded with all these nice things?

Do you remember a post I did in December 2016 about a Barramundi that broke my fishing rod?

That the one!

Yes it did broke my fishing rod, but it brought me a lot more.

I would like to give a big shout out to the FFF Forum for organising this great fishing competition.

And to all the sponsors in no particular order:

Reidy's, Halco / RMG, Rapala, Deep River Lures, Platypus fishing lines, and Tonic Eyewear.

Thank you all, you are making this competition even better.

Now what are my chance to win a round in the FFF Seadogs 2017?

Well, I wouldn't ask you to hold your breath on this one...

As so far I am yet to catch a Barramundi in 2017...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

No Time For Fishing.

Hi there,

Lately, I didn't got much time for fishing.
To be honest, I think that I am even starting to suffer some very serious fishing withdrawal.
So over the weekend I went for a few minutes to the water edge.
Where I did a quick little time lapse video on my mobile phone, so I could remember what it feels like to be outdoors near a large piece of water.
Here it is:

Yes I know, it is a bit tragic really...
But this will have to do, until the weather gods become gentler on us fishing folks.
And until, work gives me a bit of time off.

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