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Groundwork
Boom, schools holiday are here finally and like most people I've been hanging out for them, mostly because I want to hit the water and nail some fish... however as luck would have it, the weather didn't want to play ball. With the winds being a little unpredictable and strong, I've been restricted to the estuary systems, along with everyone else that's keen to fish these holidays.
September also seems to be that time of year when we get that slimy lure destroying weed that dashes any chances of placing a well presented bait and lure in the strike zone. To avoid the weed Kaitlin (my daughter) and myself decided to shelve the usual fishing spots and put in some groundwork in an effort to scope out some new fishing spots for the summer.
A couple of creeks quite close to home sprung to mind, with one in particular sparking some interest. The creek that we decided to head up is usually only accessible by boat on the higher side of the tide by anyway and although we knew there were a few rock bars, deep holes and structure that would likely hold jack, cod, flathead and bream, we had really never ventured up there to find out. In an effort to find cool looking structure, we chose to head up the creek on the last two hours of the run out. This meant that we needed to pick our way through the shallow stuff and work the deeper holes, adding to the adventure. By studying Google Earth the night before, we identified the structure and areas that we wanted to target.
Most of the time I fish out of a 4.7m open tinny, which is loaded with room and more importantly every piece of tackle that I own. When downsizing into our 3m punt however, some thought was needed as to what gear we were going to take, based on what we were likely catch. In the end we decided on one lighter combo and one heavier combo each, a tackle box with a selection of TT Lures HeadockZ and SnakelockZ jigheads, some ZMan Slim SwimZ, 3" MinnowZ and 4" DieZel MinnowZ covered the snags and deeper water, while for the top we added some Bagley Rattlin' Finger Mullet and ZMan FrogZ. Even if we didn't land anything we would surely find some ground that would be likely to produce quality fish in the future and also put some casting practice in.
The next morning came around quick and after twenty odd minutes hammering up the creek, at the pace of a turtle, we arrived at spot one. The first thing that caught my eye here was the amount of propeller eating structure, including rocks, oysters and sand banks that were happy to devour the prop if we weren't careful. Also the lack of water made it interesting. On the upside, the area seemed to be holding a lot of bait. After casting around our FrogZ and Finger Mullet for twenty odd minutes, we decided to push on up the creek. Once the weather warms right up I can see this area being an awesome topwater spot and I'm already planning a sneaky high water session.
Being in a punt we actually didn't need a lot of water to be able to sneak over the banks and structure. Ankle deep water was enough and the occasional push with the landing net got us through when all else failed. Due to a lack of rain the water clarity was awesome, which helped when we picking our way through the acres of rocks that we found... literally touch driving in some spots. We pushed around into a little area with a deep channel on one side, running up to a shallow bank where small drains were carved through the mud and fiddler crabs lined the edges. Looking into the water, yabby holes littered the sand for as far as the eye could see. This had all of the makings of a hot spot. I opted to throw a Slim SwimZ around and by targeting the deeper water, covered in shade, it soon produced some bream. Not long after I had landed my first bream Kaitlin's drag was screaming... unfortunately it spat the hook before she could sink it.
Around the next bend we were confronted with a really shallow area, basically a big pan and once again we pushed through with the net. Whilst doing this heaps of really small mullet were seen darting all over the place, confirmation that my 3" Slim SwimZ was the right call. Like before, we found ourselves in a creek with a little deep running section on one side. Slow rolling our plastics resulted in some small flathead. Nothing of any size, however they're good angry fish on light gear.
We finally hit the area that I had been looking at on Google Earth and deep sections of creek, with sharp looking rocks, drop offs and sunken logs greeted us. It looked super promising and although I had high hopes for a solid jack bite on this trip, they didn't want to play. We did find a lot of awesome ground that I think will fire up in the months to come. As we don't have a sounder on the little boat, slow rolling a ZMan 3" MinnowZ on a SnakelockZ weedless jighead gave us a pretty good idea on what was down there and being confident in not losing our lure on each cast meant we could cast hard into the structure and slowly hop the plastic down the edge, basically feeling every bit of structure the lure and line touched. Good quality braid transmits everything back to the rod, which in turn paints a very clear picture of what is down there.
Hot Tip: Looking at the structure sitting above the water is also a good indicator of what is below.
The bream and flathead were the only fish keen to smack some lures and with a lot of catch and release moments at the boat we were kept on ours toes. As well as the fishing we pretty stoked with the adventure element and to see shovel nose sharks, stingrays of all shapes and sizes (the ones that were the size of your palm were the coolest) and heaps and heaps of bait... which made the trip even more successful and promising for the summer to come.
As we deliberated about our trip on the way home, we came to the conclusion that the trip was a success. We got some casting practice in, found heaps on new ground, avoided the lure eating weed, caught fish and had a fun time together along the way. The highlight for Kaitlin was the cool super small stingrays. So if you're wondering what's around that next corner from your favourite fishing spots get out there and have a crack... you might unlock some awesome ground for future adventures as well.
Screaming drags, get amongst it.
Sean
Gear Used:
Okuma Helios Spinning Rods
Okuma Azores Blue Spinning Reels - Azores 4000
Okuma Epixor XT Spinning Reels
ZMan 3" Slim SwimZ
ZMan 3" MinnowZ
TT Lures HeadlockZ jigheads
TT Lures SnakelockZ jigheads
Bagley Rattlin' Finger Mullet