A day Of Small Fish.

Hi there,

I hadn't fished in a long time, and decided to give it a go, as I was starting to show some serious fishing withdrawal signs...

So to an easy and close to home spot I went, East Point was the chosen location.
It was much later in the day than the time I usually fish there, and thus wasn't sure that I would be able to catch anything. Yet the idea to spend a few hours under the sun on the water edge was enough to get me there.

I first went to a spot where I have caught reasonably nice Barramundi in the past...
And it was not the spot to shine on this day.
Still, I quickly got a small Cod:

First Rock Cod of the day.

This made me happy, as I honestly thought that it was just going to be a day walking along the water.

It was a rather small fish, so in the water it went back, like all the fish I was going to get on the day.

From there, it didn't take very long to catch another of these little Cods:

Second Cod of the day.

Both fish at this location were caught using weedless soft plastic lures. The place is full of mangrove roots, and it has shown me in the past how a good fishing lure cemetery it can be. So now, I prefer to diminish my hook-up rate, instead of offering lure after lure to the mangrove gods, hence the use of weedless lures at this spot.

But the bite slowed to a crushing halt, things went very quite, and for the first time of the year I had a feeling that the dry season was either upon us or just around the corner.

And the Dragonfly seemed to think alike:

Dragonfly at rest on my fishing rod.

Obviously that one could not have found a more suitable, calm spot to rest...

I took a sip from my water bottle to give it a bit of time, then gently shook the rod to signify that I was ready for action again.

The dragonfly went it's way, and I started to wonder if I shouldn't do the same?

And the same I did.

I decided to try a spot I had often been told about but had never tried: the gun turret.

Got there, and found two other anglers who had gotten the same idea.

One was fishing with live bait, the other one with lures.

The live baiter wasn't catching anything, the lure guy seemed to catch a few.

Beauty! I told myself, I might get a fish or two.

First fishing on their right for absolutely no love, I decided to walk pass them an go further on the left.

Once there, I waded in ankle deep water to what seemed to me a good spot.

Where I was able to perch myself on a rock that was coming out of the sea.

This is when I saw just a bit further on the left, the bait being absolutely smashed by what seemed to be a few Barramundi!

Quick! I told myself get yourself over there and flick your lure at them!

Trying to be fast on unknown terrain can sometimes be a stupid thing...

And it was...

I put my right foot in a drop, and suddenly wasn't ankle deep in water anymore...

I lost balance and fell face first. It wasn't that deep, but enough to get myself and all my gear wet.

I told myself: "common boy don't be overtly sensitive, it is just a bit of water and fishing gear are made to be wet"...

Well yes kind of...

Anyway, I pulled myself back up, had a laugh and got myself, slower where I wanted to be.

And that was the spot!

I first got another little Cod:

Third and last Cod of the day.

Still happy to have caught this little fella, but slightly disappointed as I was really hopping for a Barramundi, because of the way the bait had been harassed just a few minutes before.

Any way, perched on another rock, it all become right...

I could now see them little Barramundi, swimming in the water not very far from me, eating small baits.

It was like going on a boat on the flat doing some sight casting, except that it was land based, and that the fish were smaller.

But the kick from it was the same, the excitement of seeing them was great.

This is how I got my first little Barramundi, the first one in about a month.

Not big, but mine mine mine!

First little Barramundi of the day.

Yes, to me being mostly land based, even small fish are sweet, and this one made me really happy.

I got another one in no time at all, but as it was at my feet and I got the camera ready, it managed to spit the lure and swim away. This one was a funny one, it was the first time I saw that, it kept boofing with the lure in its mouth, to try to dislodge it. (Which worked good for him). It was really fun to see this little fish going Boof, turning around and going Boof! Boof! Again.

Well it was amusing until it spat the lure, little bugger!

Still it showed me something I had never seen and was a good experience.

I moved to the next rock, and got my third Barra for the day:

Third Barramundi of the day.

This even if small, was going to be the best one of the day.

As they were obviously all too small to keep, I tried to photograph them all in the water, to minimise any arm.

That is all except the last one...

Because it was what I believe might be the smallest Barramundi I ever caught:

Smallest Barramundi ever on my lure.

It was fun to see such small fish get so greedy in their attack on the lure. And already displaying all the qualities of their biggest brothers and sisters: boofing, jumping and all.

By then I could walk all the way onto the turret, which I had never done before.

Once there, I decided to take a photo, but with my phone instead of my camera...

And this is when I remembered/realised, that my phone was in my pants pocket when I fell in the water.

Now mobile phone and salt water are generally not the perfect match.

And when I saw my phone, I immediately decided to go back home and try to save this wet phone...

Will it work again?

Only time will tell...

So all in all it had been a great morning, with 3 little cods and 4 of the smallish Barramundi I ever caught. Some people say that size doesn't matter, so let be honest, I had great fun catching them.

If it wasn't for my wet phone, it would have been a perfect last day for the month of April.

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.