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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Jul 2021 at 10:27pm
The winds weren’t too bad today but it was going to be a little bit bumpy. So I decided to do a mackerel run back up the coast. Avocado Mick had gone up the coast for a few days with a mate who has access to a pro-crabbers hut. There is a possibility that we will be able to make good use of this hut in the future. I scored a few small barracuda and a couple of small spotty mackerel that went back. I was trolling a Ganesy  Lure and a lure made by Rivoli.

The first decent fish in the boat was on the Stephen Gane lure, A nice 92 cm Spanish mackerel. Next on board was a 65 cm spotty mackerel on the Rivoli lure. Trolling along back again on the Ganesy Lure And a nice 52 cm Goldspot cord comes on board.

As I was turning the boat around I got a double hook up on both lures. I picked up one rod and fought in 103 cm queen fish on the Ganesy lure. As I was doing this all madness and mayhem break loose two massive queen fish both over a metre long jumping all over the place crossing over lines going up the front of the boat towards the back of the boat it was total chaos. But once I had the first queen fishing I was able to bring in the other queen fish a metre five specimen on the Rivoli lure. After this effort I was cactus, I did not have much energy left these things really pull hard and with them running me around the boat trying to stop the lines from tangling I was ready to go home.

I left the boat ramp at 6 o’clock this morning and got back to the boat ramp at 9:30. It was a bit of a bumpy ride all day but it was a fun day.

I’ll post up photos as soon as I can get Internet on my laptop.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Jul 2021 at 10:41pm
Rivoli's lure caught spotty mackerel



the queenfish that rendered me exhausted



The  gold spot cod and spanish mackerel on the Ganesy lure







One of the small barracuda that came to play , this one was on a Rivoli lure.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hooknose Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Jul 2021 at 3:18pm
Awesome Marty 😁👍
Cheers Steve R  !!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rivoli Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Jul 2021 at 9:07pm
Good to see you making use of the lures Martin, a couple of good feeds there. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote sudanraghu2210 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Jul 2021 at 10:07pm
Martin, the fishes you caught speaks of  how much fun you had!!Clap

Good catch & all of them are predictor fishes.

Regards, Raghubir
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Aug 2021 at 8:25am
Today’s winds over 30 kilometres per hour with gusts over 40. This has been typical of the winds of late. What hasn’t been typical is the amount of rain that we have been getting. It’s been a wet winter for us with showers usually every day / night.

I haven’t been back to Lakefield since the broken leg saga. Most of the times the winds have been from the south. This brings the colder temperatures which, as experience has taught me, is not conducive to good catches. I’m not saying you won’t get good fish as they still have to feed sometime, but they are not as hungry so it is more hit and miss. I was planning on taking my niece up there yesterday, but last week I was pretty crook and still a little out of sorts. Best to get fully well and not to get sick again.

Nothing much has been happening around the wharf of late. There has been the occasional barra and queenfish but with the amount of fishing hours put in by the locals and the hoards  or tourists it hasn’t been a viable proposition either.

On a bright note the schools of bait has been building up in readiness for the spring.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HARTE Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Aug 2021 at 7:41pm
Bring on the spring mate!
Hope you are feeling 100% soon.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chep Buxley Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Aug 2021 at 10:00am
Love reading your stories. Get well soon mate Thumbs Up
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Aug 2021 at 9:17am
I was watching the weather for yesterday today and tomorrow for the past week. As time went on only yesterday seems like a viable option. The window for the winds coming down a change to late Monday night until early this morning. So I took my brother-in-law out for mackerel run believing that we had a at least a few hours fishing as the new wind report said that the wind was gonna blow up at around one 2 o’clock in the afternoon.

We didn’t even get a looking on a fish for the troll at the coast. We went to a little bit further to a reef that we normally get one or two cold trout off but nothing was active. By this time it was about 9 o’clock in the morning and the wind had come up and was getting stronger all the time but we still persisted and went round to another reef that I have done good in the past. Upon reaching the area we soon discovered that a large portion of it had been covered in sand. This is a rock reef and while it has good weed growth on the reef it was diminished greatly in size.

My first cast landed me a Trevally at 62 cm long using a DJR lure made by Darren Ringelstein. Shane was using a Robert Reid made SOL lure and was hit by a Trevalley about the same size as mine but quickly spat the hooks. He soon hooked up and landed a nice 52 cm coral trout. By this time we are decided to pull the plug as the wind was getting stronger very very quickly.

Our troll home was much slower than what we wanted to go as the wind chop was causing and very short sharp wave crests at about a metre and a half. I had a hit by a Spanish mackerel but no hook up. We were disappointed that we did not get to fish in the area more but it was just becoming too uncomfortable to fish.



The reef that we fished is a rocky reef and very close to land. It is also protected from the southerly winds and swells but these swill around the point but are greatly diminished. If you look at the photos that I take even those from previous trips and look at the horizon. I tried to take photos for the flat horizon but it is not always possible with how much the boat is rocking. The waves in the photo only looks small but in reality they are quite large.
Martin-

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote p.j. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Aug 2021 at 9:23am
Tough condisions, but you still manége a few 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Aug 2021 at 9:25am
Originally posted by p.j. p.j. wrote:

Tough condisions, but you still manége a few 

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Normally at this time of the year I can get out at least once a fortnight but at the moment I’m averaging about once every six weeks. It’s been a very windy year for us up here it’s also been a wet winter for us as well. We have a lot of standing water in the creeks and waterfalls that are normally dry until our wet season in a couple of months time.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chep Buxley Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Aug 2021 at 8:11am
Well done Martin!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Sep 2021 at 1:38pm
WOW, this year has been a wet year here in Cooktown, worst still it’s been very windy as well. With past winters I have been able to get out at least once every 2 or 3 weeks but not this winter.

Yesterday I got up a little late and missed the schools of little GTs in the river. These little fish hit lures hard before sunrise but are a little reluctant once the light gets on the water. I got the distance to them quite a few times and was rewarded with only a bump. I watched them bc smashing into a school of herring completely ignoring my lures.

I think that is the secret to these little GTs, in the dark they are more slash and flash but can see better once the light shines on their prey. But yesterday was reasonably clean water and the schools of herring came in with the tide. Today I got up earlier and was greeted by a much increased wind and the water was stirred up into a milk coffee colour. Our herring don’t like that dirty, rough water and the bait fishos we’re having trouble tying to net or jig them up. 

Above is a screen shot of wind from the Bureau of Meteorology for Cooktown today. The next week or so is of looking much bettter. 

Oh well - 2 more weeks before I go to Weipa with Bill.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Sep 2021 at 5:44pm
Went for a flick today in a little local waterway. Not much but a small GT on a HJK stickbait. Fish only went 38.3 cm.

On a good note, I have got into tagging fish and this little GBT was my second. My first was the GT from my last venture in the boat.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bignanny Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Sep 2021 at 10:35pm
Yes Martin we just came back from Lakefield today and it was blowing all week.
All my braids gone!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Sep 2021 at 4:08pm
Originally posted by bignanny bignanny wrote:

Yes Martin we just came back from Lakefield today and it was blowing all week.

How did you go? Is it worth going?

Previously with strong southerly, SW, SE winds the barra have been pretty quiet. But the fish have to eat some time.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bignanny Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Sep 2021 at 12:21pm
We still managed 15 barra and dropped about the same. I think it would have been better fishing if the wind wasn't there. It made the camp uncomfortable though. Ill do a fishing report soon.
All my braids gone!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Sep 2021 at 1:17pm
Bill and myself hit the upper Wenlock River in time to set up camp last Tuesday afternoon. We were the only ones there so it made for a nice quiet camp.

I won’t go into details but the fishing was far less then expected. Strong  winds predominantly from the south east made sure we were glad we had our sleeping bags. And it seems that the fish didn’t like these winds. But e gave found this as a similar pattern with strong southerly winds in Lakefield  wet Le as well.

We planned to hit a rock bar 8 kilometres up the river on the first day, get the big walk over and done with while C we were still fresh and forgotten what an ordeal it was from our last visit. We got some fish but for some reason I kept on dropping my barra. I lost some big fish even after playing them for a while. One barra about 80 cm cut me off on it’s gills. But we managed still to put a fish tag in 9 fish-  2 barra and the rest sooty grunter and Saratoga, we didn’t tag any of the oversized catfish we caught.

I may not have told you, that I am now tagging fish with Suntag.

The walking in the bush up here is brutal- deep gullies, high and steep  sandy banks, jungle, long grasses hiding fallen logs, uneven ground. Let’s just say that your fitness is tested.

Our second day we went back up the river and covered much of the ground we walked past on our way to and from the big rock bar. We only managed 8 fish to tag with only a couple more barra.

With the fishing pretty poor upstream, we decamped and made our way to another camping spot. There were already a couple of other campers here but they were not serious fishermen. We normally cross. He river to hit our spots but it was too high so we had to stay on the one side and forego some of our regular spots. This was our shortest walk of the camping section but we managed another 8 tagged fish. I had one area easily 80 cm smash my lure at my feet but the hooks pulled.

We are now in Weipa hoping to get into some good fishing here but the wind is still nasty. It may only be land based again. 

I’ll post up photos when I can use my laptop as the phone reception here is as bad as Cooktown’s.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Sep 2021 at 9:17pm
Photos now. But before I get into those, Danny in Weipa recognised me in the crowd at the Weipa pig hunt weigh in. Thanks for all the info Danny and it was great to meet you.

I'll post up the stats on the 3 days of walking first. It's nothing like walking on a footpath or a beach.







Fish on Cam Cupitt made Headland Lures. Bill has great success using the bibless swimbaits. Last year he caught a metre long barra on one of them during one of his visits to Weipa.











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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Sep 2021 at 9:55pm
A new post for the rest of the photos in case I loose connection.

Most of the hits from the big fish came from very skinny and shallow water so the bigger lures were not as effective. The deeper and bigger holes just did not seem to produce this year. We can only suggest that the shallower water warmed up more. Small shallow running lures were more the go.

C.R.A.F.T. stick bait, a nice saratoga


Fish on a Bass Attack lure made by Sean Sly




Jeff Pollard's Coffin lure was too large for these small shallow pools. Hopefully in Weipa / lower Wenlock and at Lakefield these lures will be more suited. One did account for this large catfish though. In Australia we don't appreciate the fighting abilities of these fish - they pull extremely hard.


DJR lures by Steiny next. This is the lure that an 80cm plus barra hit right at my feet. This fish was very green and I had no chance of landing it. A little later on I landed another barra , smaller, that hit right at my feet. In the photo you can see that it threw the lure while thrashing around on the bank.






You may have noticed that Bill likes Headland lures, he is also a big fan of HJK Lures as well. Here are photos of most of the fish Bill caught on HJKs.








Kuttafurra Lures next. Only took one with me and snagged it.



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Sep 2021 at 10:05pm
Another new post, ran out of battery power and nearly lost the last post. I was lucky this time.


SOL lure by Robert Reid, another lure snagged and lost.




A refreshing dip in a bath tub sized pool in a series of little waterfalls. 



In one of these little pools I found 2 "clips" of ammunition.




One of the shallow, skinny pools where only the smaller lures worked.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote sudanraghu2210 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Sep 2021 at 10:24pm

Martin , yes it seems to be a challenging terrain as shared by you but it adds to your overall well-being.Smile You must have lost good amount of calories, but equally had a good time catching different spices of fishes at fantastic location.


Thanks for sharing !!

Regards, Raghubir
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hooknose Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Sep 2021 at 10:26pm
Sweet looking spots Marty 😀👍
Cheers Steve R  !!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote steiny Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Sep 2021 at 11:14pm
Good job Martin. Nice natural colours on that one!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote p.j. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Sep 2021 at 4:51am
Great looking water/country, and some good fish 
Thanks fore sharing Martin Thumbs Up

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rodsncods Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Sep 2021 at 4:54am
yeah, all good reading . fish or not, would still be great to be there and doing what you do, BUT, you still need a haircutLOL onya martin. . . .mick
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 2021 at 7:25pm
Second try, connectivity in Weipa is almost as bad as in Cooktown.

Sunday saw Bill and myself trying a few of the local spots for no success. Yesterday we tried the lower freshwater reaches of the Wenlock River for the grand result of ..... ZERO. Apart from me loosing a Rivoli made Jimi Sideways lure and a HJK stickbait and a HJK fat minnow it was a pretty uneventful day.

Moping around Bill's daughter's apartment we dicided to hit a local bridge last night. Within 5 minutes, Bill, using a Headland Lure swimbait made by Cam Cupitt, had landed a 79 cm threadfin salmon. From then on it was action for the next hour. Bill then landed an 81 and an 84 cm barra then I scored a 59 cm blue salmon. We kept these fish for our own consumption and decided to release all others from then on. Unfortunately we only landed one other fish - Bill with an undersized threadfin salmon at 61 cm (65 cm is legal). So we put a fish tag in it and sent it back.

Now with only 5 fish caught it doesn't sound like much action. But we were getting hits and dropping fish the whole time. Once I had a blinder of a run that had me pull the hooks on either a very big salmon or a huge barra - the price of trying to stop it from reaching the pylons.

Now after a fish dinner tonight, guess where we are going?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 2021 at 7:35pm
Now for the photos - almost lost the last post again.

Bill with his fish on the Headland swimbait. We didn't take a photo of the undersized threadfin.






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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 2021 at 7:37pm
My blue salmon on the HJK stickbait


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Danny Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 2021 at 8:11pm
Not bad hey Martin. You might see me down there in a few hours 😉
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rivoli Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 2021 at 11:24pm
Awesome going Martin, will break through for a ripper catch soon.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Sep 2021 at 12:29am
Originally posted by Danny Danny wrote:

Not bad hey Martin. You might see me down there in a few hours 😉

Didn't see you there Danny but I did meet Ruben. I tagged a 60 cm barra he caught and released.

Our foray tonight wasn't as successful. Bill managed a 70 cm threadfin salmon that I tagged and released. We both had some good hits but the action wasn't as full on as the previous night.

Tomorrow he head to Lakefield for a couple of days fishing. We have a couple of spots there that nobody else knows about that we want to try.

Bill's threadfin on - you guessed it- the Headland swimbait.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Danny Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Sep 2021 at 1:20am
Just missed you apparently. Went to fish the last of the run out. Yeah it was a bit slow. 
Best of luck at lakefield. 
Dan
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Joined: 14 Jun 2011
Location: Cooktown qld
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Sep 2021 at 1:55pm

Bill and Iarrived at Lakefield on Wednesday evening. Having endured hours of travel on the bad corregations of the unsealed sections of the road from Weipa, we were dog tired and called an early night.

Next morning we set of for one of our favourite spots. We have this marked on my GPS. We park the car and just head straight off into the bush. Fishing the usual, easy to get at holes usually means that they get hit hard by all and sundry so we find holes away from the usual crowds. Other fishers at the camp ground we stayed at said that they caught nothing in 3 days fishing from a tinny – water too cold and a couple of ‘overly friendly’crocodiles apparently.

Upon arriving at our spot I scored the first barramundi on a Jeff Pollard made ‘coffin’lure on my 5th cast at 56 cm long. Things were a bit quiet with the odd soft hit or a follow. Bill fished a little ‘pot hole’with a Jackall squirrel and scored a 51 cm. We walked further down river to another little water hole, shallow, but we were on a high bank. I put on a deep diving SOL lure made by Rob Reid. I cast between 2 thick logs and a barra shot out from under some lillies. I threw the lure back in and it re-appeared following it. Stopping the retrieve and the lure slowly floated to the surface with the barra tracking it’s rise. When the lure stopped at the surface , the fish smashed it and I pole lifted it straight out of the water, fish going just under50 cm.

The next fish I caught was a carbon copy of the last and went 48 cm. The next fish I did the same, but the fish cut me off on it’s sharp gill spine. I  tied on another Rob Reid SOL lure, only to have the same thing happen again. I brought no more fish ashore after that but had lots of follows, hits, and thrown hooks.

Bill then opted to put on a soft plastic and in 45 minutes landed a 51 cm and a 46 cm barra. Then he too had a few follows for no result. The next 90 minutes saw us without any  action at all so we called it a day.

It was an expensive day for us both. Bill lost his Squirrel and 2 other lures, don’t know what they were. I lost a DJR and a Rivoli sinking vibe to a snag and the 2 SOL lures. BUT…… we had a fun day.

Next day –Friday, we headed to another hole that we had success before. In fact it was were I had lost 2 C.R.A.F.T. stickbaits made by Roy Durre to big barra a few months ago. Going in we spoke to people who were coming out. They didn’t get much. But we still gave it a go. Bill and I both had follows and touches but in the end only Bill landed a fish. A nice 72 cm barra on a Cam Cupitt made Headland Lure. The fish was sitting just under a little waterfall. A beautiful bronze colour of a fish tha had been in the freshwater for a long time.

And that is the end of our Weipa trip – strenous, exhausting but a lot of fun.


photos to come

Martin-

you don't havta be pretty to fish
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Sep 2021 at 2:11pm
Bill's 72 cm barra on the Cam Cupitt lure





Bill's fish on his softies





Bill's barra on his Jackall Squirrel





My barra on the Rob Reid made SOL lures





The barra on the Jeff Pollard made 'Çoffin''lure. This lure works well on the snags in the deep pools.




It would be nice if all the walking was like this - nice open, flat banks. But much of the time it is thick scrub.



Martin-

you don't havta be pretty to fish
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