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Exploration Pays Off
By Jeff Wilton
Whenever the opportunity arises to fish new spots, it is impossible to not get excited. The days, weeks, months, and even years of staring at maps and dreaming of someday fishing certain locations is something that all fishos have in common. I recently had the chance to tick a location off the map and as a bonus it was the best tropical creek fishing that I’d ever experienced!
So good that I thought I should share it with you all…
With the tides not the best and the weather well below average, a mate and I tossed a few ideas around regarding how best to bend some rods. A little tired of our usual routines, it was decided that an exploratory trip was on the cards... but where? We live in a magic location, with near endless waterways surrounding us, which is a blessing but can also make it difficult as there are too many options! After several screen shot messages of various locations were sent back and forth, we settled on an adventure option that we both had wanted to do for way too long. Let the exploration begin!
Gear preparation was important as the trip logistics meant that only a small tinny was involved and thus gear would be limited. Three rod and reel combos, along with a small bag of various bits and pieces, would suffice for any fish that we may come across. For the benefit of those readers that are interested in the kit chosen I will break it down below, and if you’re in a similar situation it may assist in making your gear selection easier.
Combo 1
TT Fishing Black Mamba 7’, 2-4 kg rod / Okuma ITX-2500 spin reel
Platypus Pulse 10lb Braid / 40lb Platypus Hard Armour Leader.
A topwater special combo - with its fast taper this is a great rod for skipping and working topwater plastics. Rigged with a 4/0 TT ChinlockZ jighead and my go-to favourite topwater bait, the ZMan 3.75” GOAT.
Combo 2
TT Fishing Red Belly 7’, 2-4kg / Okuma ITX-2500 spin reel
Platypus Pulse 10lb Braid / 40lb Platypus Hard Armour Leader.
Rigged with a TT SnakelockZ jighead and a ZMan 3” MinnowZ, with the easy option of swapping the hook out and running a ZMan 4” DieZel MinnowZ. The ability to interchange hook sizes to suit different plastics is such a handy benefit of TT SnakelockZ!
Combo 3
Okuma Komodo baitcast rod / Okuma Komodo 273 baitcast reel
Platypus 20lb Bionic Braid / 60lb Platypus Hard Armour Leader
Rigged with a 1/4oz TT HeadlockZ and the trusty ZMan 4” SwimmerZ or 4” DieZel MinnowZ, this combo is ready to tangle with larger fish and is great for exploratory casts into deeper waters.
A tackle box loaded with a variety of jighead weights and hook sizes, along with a handful of various soft plastics. On a trip like this soft plastic choices are broken down into two categories: Topwater, such as the ZMan GOAT, Pop FrogZ and Finesse FrogZ, and sub-surface, including the ZMan 3” MinnowZ, 4” DieZel MinnowZ, and 3.5” EZ ShrimpZ.
Now that we’re geared up, let’s get on with the story!
After a few hours of slowly navigating some dirt roads, dodging cows, and doing our best not to get bogged, we reached the creek as the sun rose. A quick scout around and we settled on a make-shift boat ramp that we decided might work. Slowly lowering a tinny off creek edges is always interesting and with some luck the boat finally rested in the water. The best thing about fishing this area was that it meant we didn’t even have to start the motor, just deploy the electric motor, and grab the rods out.
The creek looked great straight away and my mate and I both started throwing topwater baits. The ZMan GOAT soft plastics are a terrific topwater lure, and I rigged the 3.75” model on a TT 4/0 ChinlockZ unweighted hook. The GOAT skips perfectly, and their paddling action is irresistible to our local barramundi and mangrove jack. After we fished the first bank and had not seen a fish, even though it looked perfect, we were getting that sinking feeling that us fishos know all too well… maybe there isn’t many fish here.
A change of approach was needed, so it was time for a TT SnakelockZ weedless jighead, weighted in 1/8oz and 1/6oz weights, rigged with 3” and 4” ZMan MinnowZ. It wasn’t long before we were rigged up and plastics deployed. Near instantly we were into fish, with mangrove jack sitting on pretty much every good bit of structure. Fishing TT SnakelockZ is a deadly technique as it enables you to confidently let your plastic sink right into the structure, thanks to its snag-proof design. We were picking the prime ambush zones, areas that offered structure with current hitting directly, and cast tight into these areas.
A correctly weighted SnakelockZ jighead will allow the plastic to paddle whilst it sinks, so keep an eye on the slack line and get ready to strike. On several occasions we were hit on the drop, and this always provides heart in the mouth moments. Striking fish that are already on the run pushes your gear to the limit. I am a big admirer of the Okuma ITX spin reels, matched with the TT Black Mamba and TT Red Belly rods. They’re light, crisp, and responsive and for a few years now have been punished here in North Queensland and have not missed a beat yet.
The number of fish boated was climbing nicely as we continued to push further up the creek. Every corner offered heavy structure, deeper water, and baitfish. It was a lure anglers dream. On several occasions we were netting double hook ups of barramundi and mangrove jack... and half of those times the hooked fish would have mates with them as well! The standout moment was no doubt when we hit a corner that had a large snag sitting in perfect position next to a feeder creek. It screamed barra!
It didn’t disappoint either and although no official count was kept, I can tell you that we boated well and truly over twenty barramundi in a non-stop frenzy off this one snag. Most fish were only in the 50-60cm range, however the odd 60-70cm fish provided loads of fun in tight country. At one stage I watched my mate catch four barramundi in four casts! When the bite slowed a little, we switched up our offerings and instantly got them interested again. My mate went to a larger profile and a different colour, whilst I opted for a ZMan 3.5” EZ ShrimpZ, both of which got eaten straight away and we managed to extract a handful more fish.
It was one of those trips where you dread looking at the time for the fear of having to pack up and head for home. The usual ‘last corner and we leave’ conversation came up several times and I’m sure there were around fifty ‘last cast’ calls. Unfortunately, the day was getting on and we still needed to find our way back and drag the tinny out of the creek. There was no shortage of conversation as we were both in disbelief in terms of the cracking day that we had shared.
There was no official fish count, but we settled on over fifty barra and jacks boated, which for NQ is red hot fishing. We fished several colours of ZMan soft plastics but with out a doubt the standout colour on this day was Purple Death, especially in the 4” DeiZel MinnowZ model. It was getting bites from barramundi twice as much as any other colour, so it definitely pays to pack a good selection of colours. What also was amazing was the fact that unless we were changing a colour, we fished the same exact plastic the entire day... the durability of ZMan is mind blowing!
Hope this little run down gets that casting arm twitching and motivates you to get the maps out and most of all gets you keen for an adventure. Fish on!
Cheers, Jeff