A day in the Fitzroy

Well, went out on first day of barra opening but brother wanted to concentrate on crabbing. So we did. Ended up with 12 keepers but not confident about quality.

In between pot runs, I pulled some smaller barra (from 62cm up to 68cm) from under the Cheetham Salt ponds pumping station in Inkerman Ck.

Took 1 each home along with the 12 muddies. Brother tried bait fishing and exceeded himself with 5 bullsharks.

Used the sardine Squirrels on slow roll with tight drag backed up by thumb. Not a lot of room between pylons under that jetty.

Attachment 34374Attachment 34375

Very nice sess by the sounds Douglas.

Cheers,
Roo.

Yet another day in the Fitzroy.

Went to try out some of Awoonga's lures.

Apparently he hasn't had a lot of feedback on how his grubs work on barramundi. Real barramundi that is. Wild ones. Not those tupperware fat cats in impoundments.:13_002:

Anyway here are a couple of pix from today.

I think this forum is lucky to have a member like Trevor and his happy rock lures. Innovator, sincere, experienced and willing to share knowledge.

Anyway, got a couple of barra 850mm and 840mm on his white grubs.

Didn't use them like the name suggests. Didn't jig for fish like most do with Gulp.

Sat down and had a got look at Awoonga's grubs. Yep, they'll work OK if jigged in plenty of water. Jig up and the floppy bits will wiggle going down. Start again.

But if you don't have plenty of water what happens?

So I cut about 1/2 inch off the top of the body and rigged it with a light jighead (10 grams. 3/8 oz).

Then cast it into shallow water along the tide run line and used a jerk bait technique in the shallow water (about a metre or less). The lighter the better and thrown up-tide so the retrieve is bringing the grub with the tide. Work the tip energetically.

Result? Whammo twice.

That was today which I had expected not a lot happening.

Tomorrow should be better and Sunday better again as the planets align better.

Meanwhile, use a bit of lateral thinking about how you might use these grubs.

Attachment 34424Attachment 34426Attachment 34425

Went out again yesterday (Sat 18th).

3 barra of 80, 80 and 84cm plus a nice grunter. Kept the grunter for missus and grandson.

Won't bore you with pix on a brag mat.

The important thing is that the average size of the barramundi I've caught is increasing since 2013.

2013 saw 255 fish for an average of 48cm.

2014 saw 93 fish for average of 42 cm.

2015 saw 64 fish for average of 41cm.

2016 saw 70 fish for average of 59cm.

So far this year (incomplete) has seen 18 fish for average of 73.5 cm.

Others are saying the same thing but I'll check out the tagging records for detail.


Looking good.

Yesterday

Went down to the Casaurina cut-through.

Pulled hooks on 2 really good barra. Bugger!

Went looking for king on mud edges of dropping tide. Found same.

Ended up with 12. All caught right on edge of mud as they chopped into jelly prawns. Some coming completely clear of water onto mud momentarily.

Kept 4 up to 70cm. Tagged and released the rest.

Had left jig-heads at home accidentally so had to improvise.

Used a 3/0 stainless hook and a 3 inch grub gulp. Unweighted. Worked a treat.

In case any of you is thinking of heading this way here is a google earth image of the lower estuary for info.

Casaurina Is is about 80km circumference to give some scope to size of estuary.

Crocodiles do exist in these waters.

Attachment 34518

"nother day out. This time at 12 Mile Creek.

Been out helping Bill Sawynok of Info-Fish Services doing recruitment surveys for barramundi at different standard locations.

Bill uses a castnet at 15 - 18 different places around the Fitzroy particularly the Fitzroy mouth area.

Until the new barra are big enough to take lures, a cast net is used for the sampling. That usually lasts until early April by which time the newbys are between 200 - 300mm.

On Sat last we got 4 between 200-300 in 20 castnet casts along 12 Mile Ck (near Marmor).

We then put net down and used rods. We got 6 up to 300mm and a nearby angler got 12 of similar size. That made 22 samples.

Today, I went down again and got 11 with 9 being newbys.

Pretty interesting getting around with Bill.

Thanks for sharing. Very jealous !!!

Thanks Gunna.

Its extremely interesting.

Bill Sawynok is the guy who runs the Suntag tagging scheme. Used to be a surveyor with a passion for fishing. Left surveying to run the Suntag scheme full time via a little family company he set up.

Computer been down for 3 weeks.

Went down river earlier in month for 4 barra and a king.

Barra @ 88cm, 2 x 70cm and 1 at 60cm and king at 70cm.

The colour on the fins of the 88 was striking especially with the sun behind the fish.

That size fish can be a real problem to handle in a bit of tidal run. Below 85 they have no bulk but speed. Above 1m they have bulk but no speed.

But these buggers between 85 and 1 m have both so you can almost guess the size range before seeing the fish sometimes.

Check out the fins.

Attachment 34941

Went again Fri arvo right in middle of town.

Mate wanted a couple of keepers. Got a 68 and a 72 on plastics so he was happy.

Nothing notable about this photo except the background.

For those who know Rockhampton, the main background is the support pylon for the "old bridge" across the Fitzroy right in the centre of town.

The buildings behind the pylon are part of the heritage walk along Quay St right in the central CBD.

Don't have to go far for barra.

Attachment 34982