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.

Channel Island Two Days In A Row.

Hi there,

Yes last weekend I went to Channel Island, again, a lot...
I went there on both days of the weekend.

• I fished Channel Island.
• I didn't catch any Barramundi.
• I did catch a strange fish.

First on Saturday I went fishing with Theodosius, on his boat.
We launched nice and early from Dina Beach and made our way to Channel Island.
But we arrived there a bit early and the water was still too high.

High tide in the mangroves.

Due to the tide, we couldn't catch a fish there. 

The water was flat as a tack, and we moved to another spot.

Flat waters in Darwin harbour.

This is about when the special apparatus, destined to the best fishing possible on the mud flats first appeared:

Higher is better.

Yes, a step ladder was erected on the cast deck, giving a higher point of view. Permitting to spot the unsuspecting Barramundi from far away.

And it worked.

As soon as Theodosius got perched on it, he saw a Barra hiding back in the baby mangrove.

He flicked the lure toward it:

Casting from the ladder.

The Barramundi took the lure, but failed to connect.

This had nearly be a massive success, but it still was exciting to see that the idea wasn't bad.

But still, we couldn't get any fish there.

So we went in beautiful little creeks in search of success.

The scenery was grand.

Tree in the water.

Tree on the bank.

The fish were not.

At one point we came across a snag, and Theodosius told me that he often caught fish on it.

So... We sent our lures swimming over it.

First, we saw a big boil just behind my lure.

Following cast and I got a hit from a small Barra, but didn't hooked it.

So we continue to flick our lures on it, making them swim very nooks and crannies of it.

Then a better Barramundi hit my lure, give a sharp pull on my line, and swam away like if nothing...

No, we couldn't get any fish from this very snag on that very day.

So we moved along.

Arriving on a new large flat, from the top of his post, Theodosius saw a Barramundi that I could not see from the casting deck.

He made the right cast, and swam his lure in front of the fish, who presto got onto it.

And a nice big slab of silver Barramundi started to dance on the surface of the water, between us and the shore.

Quickly I got my lure back, and grabbed the net...

And then went on to commit the worst crime that a ducky can ever commit...

I was simply unable to open the net properly, and by the time this very nice harbour Barramundi was boat side, I was still battling the net, and not ready at all.

What happened after that is what you never want on your boat.

A skipper with a nice fish ready to be netted and a decky, who is not even able to open a net, is by itself a pretty bad combo... Yes you might have guessed it by now, the fish spat the lure after fighting on the side of the boat for a little while.

This was criminal from my part, and I felt rather bad after that. 

The fault was all mine.

I think that I am lucky that Theodosius didn't just show me the way to Darwin and said : Swim!

Now all kudos to him for taking it in a very cool way, and even still trying to put me on a fish after that.

We arrived in a new creek where he said that he snag should be there under water, but that we couldn't see it because of the water condition.

We send our lures in a few different places, until I screamed: I'm on!

to which he replied: You must have found the snag then.

I wasn't on to a Barramundi, but still Theodosius had the net ready in the water before I could get my small fish near the boat.

And he netted it first try, this was a little cod:

My first fish of the weekend.

This fish was too small to keep, and was put back in his element. To grow up and hopefully lead a happy fish life.

My skipper for the day climbed back on his ladder for a little bit, but not more fish were sighted, and we decided to call it a day.

Scanning the water for Barramundi.

This had been a very pleasant morning on the water. Thank you for inviting me on your boat Theodosius, and sorry for not being able to net your fish.

On the following day, Sunday, it was a land based attempt.

This time I was fishing with Tony, the maker of the beautiful Captain Seaweed Lures.

We arrived to channel island parked the car and walked straight where I had been on my last land based attempt on this island.

I did feel sorry for not insisting that Tony take a good pair of shoes as he hurt himself walking on the rocks.

The rocks of Channel Island.

The spot is nice and shady in the morning, expectations were high.

With the tide starting to recede, I walked a bit further on the rocks.

But a few big splashes in the mangroves on my left, kept me on my toes. I couldn't figure if it was a crocodile or a shark, and I didn't liked it.

As I was on the rock, I saw a very nice Barramundi swam next to me, it must have been in the mid 70cm and was just cruising past. I sent my lure in front of him, and brought it back, twitching it under his nose. He didn't even take any notice of it and went on his way. Either he was not hungry at all, or was the most snobbish Barramundi ever.

A tad frustrated I kept looking in the water all around, to spot the eventual fish, or approaching crocodile. Luckily no crocodile were seen on the day.

But a massive Queenfish came very close. 

Once again, it didn't even had a second look at my lure, and just swam calmly toward the horizon.

Thinking about it I was just reeling in my lure, when I saw something from the corner of my eye, having a go at my lure, but turning away just before hitting it, very close to the rock I was standing on.

So I made a long cast, and tried to retrieve my lure, in a way that would make it pass just between the rocks at my feet. 

And bang! This time the fish took my lure in earnest and was starting to pull on my line. It wasn't the fight of the century, but at least I had a fish, it was a small cod:

Rock cod from the rocks.

This one was just the right size to be put in a soup, so in the esky it went, so Tony could have a fish soup.

Yes, this is becoming a spot where I catch more cods than Barramundi.

But still a fish is a fish, and I was happy.

The tide by now was becoming low. 

Tony had started to use a surface lure.

I had to do long cast to give my lure a chance to swim before hitting the bottom rocks. 

It is just on one of these long cast, my lure had just entered the water, and no more than two turns of the handle on my reel were made when...

I was on again!

I saw a flash of silver, so it wasn't a cod or a shark.

It started to jump.

But seemed a bit skinny for a Barramundi.

Maybe a Queenfish?

But it didn't look quite right for a Queenfish...

It was a Chirocentrus dorab, most commonly known as a Wolf herring:

Surprise of the day.

Not much to write home you could start to say...

Have you seen its teeth?

The Wolf herring.

Some being have a face that only a mother could love...

I personally think that even the mother of this one has nightmares.

I had caught it on a small Junior B52s made by Reidy's, and started to think that this was going to be my lucky lure of the day.

Well it didn't took me long for the lure to get snagged and for my line to be cut on the oyster rocks.

I had lost my new lucky lure...

Still it was a beautiful morning in a beautiful location:

Calm waters from the shore.

Looking at the calm waters of the harbour, and the falling tide, I got a second surprise for the day.

My lost lure was floating very close to the shore.

And a little puffer fish was munching on the back of it.

In no times I walked toward the water edge, flicked the soft plastic I had attached to my line and hooked the floating lure, bringing it back to me.

Not lost after all.

I was very happy to get my little lure back.

But by now it was time to go back.

On the walk back to the car, we got more or less lost and visited the back of the island and the camp that was on it in the past.

Walking back Tony remembered that the last time that he brought his sons fishing near the same spot, he had seen a Bowerbird bower somewhere around it.

Sure enough he spotted it again and showed it to me:

Bowerbird's bower.

This is another part of the Australian bush that I really like. 

There is always something interesting to see, if you just take the time to look around you.

Now about all the Barramundi that were caught over the weekend?

Well I don't really know what to say about that, as none were caught by my fishing comrades or me...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

A Day In Shoal Bay.

Hi there,

Last Tuesday Jim and I went fishing to Shoal Bay.
We left at gentlemen hour, after he dropped his beloved at work, and picked me up at my place.
Yes some people have to work during the week while other are going fishing, and usually I am the one at work.
But having the day off, I tagged along, for a very pleasant day.

We launched at Buffalo Creek, where we quickly saw our first croc of the day.

Crocodile and fishermen.

This was not a prehistoric monster, yet it was still a crocodile, and I prefer to try to keep an eye on them. Specially when they are that close from the boat ramp.

From there we made our way to Shoal Bay, with the intention of flicking our lures to every snag that we would find.

Upon arrival, I was surprise to see the water being so clear, a rare sight around Darwin. We could see every under water snag, and even the bottom. This prompted me to use a Reidy's Junior B52, as they have a slow rising action that I really wanted to be able to see and measure, if I may say.

First cast was interesting, and i did a second one a bit longer.

Twitch twitch the lure goes down, pause, it rises at a very slow pace, nearly resting in position.

This was beautiful, and a good way of understanding how this lure is swimming.

Twitch twitch again, pause, twitch twitch and pause, I was thinking that I like the action of this lure, as it was slightly rising in the water column. When a little Barramundi materialised itself just under my lure, swimming straight for it. Twich the lure, pause, and Wham! The Barramundi turn in front of the lure, boofed it and turn away from me to swim back in its deep lair. Except that it didn't went very far before realising that it was hooked and made a bee line for the surface, where it erupted like a little rocket.

Jim had just told me that the last time that he was in this spot every Barra were giving some great aerial show, this one didn't disappoint. 

It went a bit all around the boat, before finding the entrance of the net, that Jim had placed on his way, and yes! We had a Barramundi on board, in a record short time.

First Barramundi of the day.

At 64 cm (25.19685 inches), it was not very large, but a fish is a fish, and most certainly when it is a Barramundi! I was happy, I had a fish to bring back home, good food for the family.

I told you that it came full frontal of the lure before boofing it, here is the result of it:

Lure head down in the Barramundi mouth.

We knew then that we were on the right spot, as soon after that, Jim was on a fish too, which had also taken his lure head first:

Lure in Barramundi mouth.

Jim first Barramundi for the day.

Yes, this was going to be a good day.

It was then a matter of minutes, before Jim was on again, and this time it was some kind of Trevally:

Jim and the Trev.

Not really one of these monsters that you chase on big popper… In fact I was wondering why it even attacked the lure? Greed or competition I guess…

We continued to drift aided by the electric motor, and to cast  to the mangrove lined bank when Jim got another one! And this time he was back on target with a Barramundi:

Jim's second Barramundi of the trip.

This was getting fun.

We could see when the fish were going to grab our lures.

I then decided to try a Ceto Tackle lure in a colour that I hadn't try yet, and loved the way it cast. Like a bullet.

I got a little cod on it:

Rock Cod on a Ceto Tackle lure.

The action of this lure is the opposite of the lure that I was using previously. It rise on retrieve, and dive on the pause. So a bit dangerous in very snaggy country, so I didn't use too long as I didn't want to loose it. I went back to the little one that had got me a Barramundi earlier.

And we decided to cross the bay to try another creek, the water was flat like a glass.

Crossing a flat Shoal Bay.

As we arrived to our new destination, we saw a baby crocodile, who must have been waiting for us:

Baby Crocodile in the mangroves.

By then the water had risen considerably, for a neap tide, and was now well and truly in the mangrove. I thought that I needed to fish deeper to get a fish in these condition. To remedy I put a weedless soft plastic on, and started to let it drop as deep as it would go. but with no success. So I made a long cast, deep in the timber, and joked that it would be hairy to catch a Barramundi over all this wood… Shouldn't have joked about it, it happened…

The fish took my line between the branches, I could see the line rubbing along the dead wood, and the fish jumping on the other side of it. I might have been a bit excited back then as to me, it was a sure thing that I was going to loose this one. Jim manoeuvred his boat to get as close as possible from the branches and trunks that were between us and this feisty little Barra. He even found a direct line, without any obstacle to cut my line. Reeling like a maniac, I was able to get it through, and near the boat. Jim did his thing with the net, and Voilas! My second Barramundi was on the deck:

A sweet little Barramundi.

This one had given me some serious fishing adrenaline, and in the water it went back.

Not to be outdone, Jim caught a bigger one just after that.

Not even letting me the time to savour my little victory.

Another Barra for Jim.

This one was rather nice, and Jim kept it, in the esky it went.

He didn't wast too much time to get another one, but a little bit smaller…

Baby Barramundi on Rapala.

Then Jim got two hit on the same retrieve, enough to get us excited.

Immediately I cast my lure in the vicinity of his cast and yes, I can see some fish following my lure, but turning back at the last second. They are fast and long, Queenfish maybe? We are not sure but want to catch one of them. We both cast our lures again, and I am on! 

The fish is rapid and goes from right to left in no times. Going deep, and then on the top, then down again. What is it?

Well, it wasn't a queenfish, and I am sure that for the ones among you who have fished these waters before, you might be starting to get an idea… 

It is long, fast, go in every direction possible, and is grey looking…

Yes, I had at the end of my line a little shark!

Lucky me, it was rather small:

A little shark, taken on a lure.

They are very good food, and I sometimes keep one. But as I already had a Barramundi in the esky, this one went back swimming to tell the tale to his mates.

This is about when we saw the storm, lighting an all, coming our way:

Storm on the way.

Now, from what I heard, storm on Shoal Bay, can be a bit rocky. So we started to make our way back, just in case. With the goal of fishing closer to home, so we could make a quick escape if things turned a bit sour, weather wise.

Closer we went, and started fishing again.

And Jim got the fish of the day!

Monster Barramundi.

Yes, it did attack a lure…

Greedy little thing.

Then he got a cod, and watching the rain falling around us we decided to go home.

Rain on the bay.

All in all it was a great day. We had started not too early, and went back home not too late.

Life was smiling on us.

Thanks again Jim, for a great day on the water.

So we didn't catch any super sized Barra…

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

First Barramundi In 2014.

Hi there,

I finally got my first Barramundi for the year 2014.
Not a big one, but a fish is a fish, as they say. And to be honest, I was still very happy with that, as I had nearly forgotten what it feels like.

Jim had offered to take me on his boat, to some of his secret spots, I was hopping to finally break the drought and catch a Barra.

We launched at around 10:00 in the morning, a big change from all the trips that require a 4:00am start.
And just after the launch, we sailed along the mangrove, toward our destination.

Along the mangrove in the morning light.

But once arrived there, we didn't catch a single fish. We did saw a few Barramundi and sight casted in their direction, but without success. At one stage Jim got a good hit, but the hit didn't transform in a hooked fish. Yet navigating in a tight creek, with mangrove on bot side, was really pleasant, something that I had missed.
I realised very quickly, due to the amount of times my lure ended in the trees above the banks. Instead of the water where the fish are supposed to live, that I had become a bit rusty, this was clear.

So we decided to try our luck, at another spot. On our way there, we trolled our lures, in the hope to snag a stray Barra. I had a Gold Bomber on, and was just thinking that I had never done any good with them. When I got a smallish hit on the line, and started to get excited. I reeled in  the line, sure that I finally had a baby Barramundi and the end of it. Alas no, it wasn't a Barramundi, it was a Pufferfish.
And worse of all, it hadn't try to have a go at my lure, no, the poor little thing had been hooked, near its back side…
I can't find the picture anymore, or I would have shown it to you, honest.

Then we tried to cast at some snag along the bank of another creek, and Jim landed a Cod, but it was no monster:

First cod of the day.

This cod was taken on a Reidy's B52's, in a colour that I had never seen, not even on the Reidy's catalogue. But obviously, that was a good colour, as in no time, Jim got a second little Cod.

Two in a row.

Seeing that I decided to change my lure for a smaller one, in white.

And in no time, I too was on the Cod board, with an even smaller model:

My baby Cod.

All these little Cod were returned alive to the water, as they definitively needed to grow a bit more before anything else.

Oh, and this photo is also the why I should not try to bear the beard…

The water clarity was pretty good, and we saw a very little snake swim in the water, Jim put his lure near it to give you an idea of size:

Snake (Hydrelaps darwiniensis) and fishing lure.

My friend the snake specialist, B. Schembri, has since told me that this little guy is a black-ringed mangrove sea snake (Hydrelaps darwiniensis) and that they get to about 50 cm long. 

(19.685039 inches).

With such stellar results, we decided to make our way back, and maybe stop at a last creek on the way, depending of the tide.

On our arrival to the last creek, the water looked good, clear, with some snag and some colour change in places.

In my second or third cast, I got a hit and missed it before seeing it, but to me, that felt like a Barramundi, no doubts about it. I said to Jim: I got a hit! Just there, close to the boat, just in this spot!

So Jim, cast roughly in the same direction, and got nailed by a feisty little Barra! I asked if he needed the net, he said that no, this was just a rat and he would deal with it by himself. 

Well, he didn't really had the time to, as just at the boat, the Barramundi spat the lure and swam away without asking any question.

Ha!

Anyway, we were now in the right spot, for sure we were going to catch some nice Barramundi.

Hope is a beautiful thing, isn't it?

Well Jim got another hit, from what he believed was a better fish. We then went as far as we could in the creek, keeping in mind that with the tide going down, we should be carful not to get stuck.

We saw Mullets and bait, but no Barramundi.

On getting out of there, we tried again where we got the three hits before. Jim casting at the front of the boat, and me at the back. When I finally got a hit that stay connected.

I quickly realised that this fish would not beat any records, but I was still surprised by its energy.

Jim got the net ready, and my little fish made another small run, he really didn't like the look of the net. Or maybe my attempt at growing a beard…

But in the end, in the net it went, and I finally had my first Barramundi for 2014.

First Barramundi of the year.

Not a fish of gigantic proportions, but still enough to make me smile. But being an undersize model, I gently dropped it back in the water, for him to grow big and fat, and hopefully we will met again in the future.

This had been a very pleasant half a day trip, and got me my first fish of the year.

Thanks Jim for inviting me on your boat.

And yes, once again I didn't bring back any fish home, and my little one said to me in a sad voice: "Daddy, you never bring any fish home any more, for me to eat…"

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.