just a lazy sunday

[Warwick Joyce]

Hi all,

Well the weather was turned on yet again for us today. 5 to 10's in the morning and dropping in the arvo
With an early start we arrive at the first of our island popping exploits with still not enough sun light to hook up a popper. lucky for the caplight from the last trip.
Action was not great until it hit low tide and after, around 10ish.
The snappy couta were a thick however entertaining when tail walking on the surface to sneak up on the popper only to give it a bump and pass on. A few of the toothy critters got hook and had to be dealt with at the side of the boat (no way they are coming aboard!)



Dale hooked up to the first decent fish and his first gt, coming in at 15kg



And Mathew with not only his first gt but his first fish ever and the best fish for the day at 16kg



The pressure was on with both the beginners opening up the score board
Finally after many follows this fella came up.




Red lures seemed to be the flavor of the day.
Poor ole trav with the only 2 couta's to speak of and the 2nd trip without landing a gt Better luck next time hey mate

[Mick Cunningham]

Well done boy,s

it,s great to see some action for a while .

you know the damn weather 

[Travis Heaps]

yeah you bastards...

just call me the couta specialist 

Was a good day out on the water although i'm feeling the effects of the 3:30am start about now.  Good to see my bro onto his first GT and pommie backpacker matt - who'd never even caught a fish before! - cast, retrieve and land his first ever fish...a nice start! 

Its nice to be able to get out to our local haunts and mix it up with a couple of the fush we all love to catch! 

[Stephen Polzin]

Well done guys, I've been stuck at work watching this good spell of weather.  Very envious.

[Ashley Cotter]

Is that shoalwater Bay or Halifax Bay?

Cheers
Ashley

[Warwick Joyce]

Is that shoalwater Bay or Halifax Bay?

Cheers
Ashley

Hi Ashley, it is neither. I would imagine at shoalwater these little fellas would be a snack for the gt's up there
The locations were purposely left out however they in the Capricorn coast area

[Matthew Clem]

Geez, how'd you guys cope with that nasty looking weather?! And some nice fish by the way. Just a couple of quick questions about the general area - 1. Are super long casts a major requirement to hooking fish? And will a lesser distance affect the strike rate to any major degree? Or are location and tides a more important factor around there? The reason I ask is that the rod I use is not what you would call "specialist" equipment.

[Travis Heaps]

Hi Matthew,
           as a general rule the further you can cast the more likley it is you will hook a fish. GTs can be fairly spooky and the ability to cast into them from further away is definitely an advantage.  That said - the pommie bloke who caught his first fish didn't exactly have the techniques down pat...the cast he caught his fish on went maybe 30m. 

Location is probably the most important thing rather than tide where we are although i've started keeping a diary to verify this.  Likely looking GT haunts aren't difficult to find - current, broken water, bait and shelter are all good indicators (ie a rocky point or bommie with current whizzing past it and a bit of whitewater breaking over it is a good start).  Don't pass up less likely looking spots though - our best fish at this destination was taken from a bay that I would have driven past if Warwick hadn't decided to have a quick cast into it. 

[Matthew Clem]

Cheers Travis, thanks for the info. I'll be up that way in october and hope to tangle with a couple. Great trip report and keep them coming for us lesser folk who only have a couple of shots a year at these awesome fish!

[Warwick Joyce]

Matthew, if your coming to the area and you need a free tour guide to gt fishing in the area myself and my rod might be available

As for the tides, we have been out on an almost neap tide and got a solid fish, also the last trip there was not much run in the tide and the most action was on the slack at low tide with the most movement from a small swell running thru. We are yet to try the spring tides in the area though i am sure they will prove excellent

Cheers