NAGG
07-12-2008, 11:23 AM
Moving on to the Awoonga Evening 2 day event , campground discussion revolved around the lack of fish & the difficulties faced by most competitors
Fickle wind directions had most of us scratching our heads on what to do - One train of thought was to fish the old river bed
something that was worth considering with light winds.
During the briefing we started to see a little increase in the breeze made it easier for us to choose our location & once underway we blasted our way through the skeeter :wreck: chop to our chosen area ( near Dingo) though with a couple of other boats heading to the same area (incl Steve B) would we make it ? Fortunately:) yes though we did have a boat either side meaning that we could only work around 100M of bank.
Using our leccy to work the bank for the first couple of hours .. we failed to register a bite. Eventually we laid out an anchor & focused our attention on 1 particular stick ( which turned out to have a tree attached to hit) I managed an initial hookup on a 6 standard rigged hollowbelly . Though the hook failed to set:( . This was followed by a couple more half bites which barely registered but clearly barra .. Matt also had a couple of bites but failed to connect . We fished this location beyond sunset when all activity ceased Had we missed our opportunity
After dark we relocated to an area that yielded fish on our visit a week or so earlier but to no avail . The day was done
On seeing the leader board prior to the start of the second day .. It was a real mixed bag with several good results though for the majority of the field we were dining that night on doughnuts
Day two saw the decision made to go straight to the same location as the day before This location was good to me in Sept & yielded bites & fish over the past week or so. This time the plan was to anchor on arrival & lay a long rope (avoiding spooking fish in the area) & fish thoroughly. With the barra off their game I went down the path of going finesse ( light outfits 20 & 30lb braid . + 25 & 40lb twisted leaders .. 4 hollowbellies rigged on All terrain jig heads & weighted (modified worm hooks) Risky maybe :-/ Matt was throwing 110 slick rigs & a variety of hard bodies.
What happened next was one of those things First cast on the 6 Hollowbelly & a jolting hit that took me by surprise .. not even striking - damn it , next cast again but no connection ( hollowbelly destroyed) was this the curse of using a worm hook ??:-/ I then tied on a Nag special Hollow ( gold pigment filled AYU) .. several casts into the same honey hole (Lantana that had a gap between the weed edge & the sticks) .. The slowest of rolls & Im crunched .. A big swirl , head shake .. SOLID!!!! clearly I was connected to a good fish Once again low rod angles & side strain were applied Feeling the line rubbing against objects below the water , I backed pressure off & particularly when the line guide popped out on the Zillion fortunately the fish came to the surface under pressure which allowed the guide to be pressed back in place. A considerable fish which now decided to play up .. running around the boat & motor before we missed it with the first net shot & after some more antics Matt nets the big girl 39298 . At 106cm my new PB:thumbsup: . Once the necessities were done off she swam & me still shaking ( I had to sit down & soak it up) After around 5 mins I tied on my remaining gold Nag special & cast into the same area & it less than a few casts I was smashed again & with no jump just straight power I was connected to something bigger ( braid was whistling through the guides) Then nothing my luck had run out on the 25lb FC twisted leader .abraded 6 up & worn through :oops: Its at this stage Matt takes a look at what Im using & how it was rigged . & he goes down the same path.
Less than an hour later while casting a 4 hollowbelly into the honey hole .. Im slammed again & a nice fish propels itself out of the water & again played out on the little loomis / Steez combo . Matt nets an 88 39302
A couple more bites before sunset , then all quiet . Finally after a couple of re locations that were fruitless & our tournament was done
Another top 20 place & winning the Berkley lure caught big fish combined with a new PB .. I was stoked !!!
After the presentation It was off to Mondy for the final event
To be continued
During the briefing we started to see a little increase in the breeze made it easier for us to choose our location & once underway we blasted our way through the skeeter :wreck: chop to our chosen area ( near Dingo) though with a couple of other boats heading to the same area (incl Steve B) would we make it ? Fortunately:) yes though we did have a boat either side meaning that we could only work around 100M of bank.
Using our leccy to work the bank for the first couple of hours .. we failed to register a bite. Eventually we laid out an anchor & focused our attention on 1 particular stick ( which turned out to have a tree attached to hit) I managed an initial hookup on a 6 standard rigged hollowbelly . Though the hook failed to set:( . This was followed by a couple more half bites which barely registered but clearly barra .. Matt also had a couple of bites but failed to connect . We fished this location beyond sunset when all activity ceased Had we missed our opportunity
After dark we relocated to an area that yielded fish on our visit a week or so earlier but to no avail . The day was done
On seeing the leader board prior to the start of the second day .. It was a real mixed bag with several good results though for the majority of the field we were dining that night on doughnuts
Day two saw the decision made to go straight to the same location as the day before This location was good to me in Sept & yielded bites & fish over the past week or so. This time the plan was to anchor on arrival & lay a long rope (avoiding spooking fish in the area) & fish thoroughly. With the barra off their game I went down the path of going finesse ( light outfits 20 & 30lb braid . + 25 & 40lb twisted leaders .. 4 hollowbellies rigged on All terrain jig heads & weighted (modified worm hooks) Risky maybe :-/ Matt was throwing 110 slick rigs & a variety of hard bodies.
What happened next was one of those things First cast on the 6 Hollowbelly & a jolting hit that took me by surprise .. not even striking - damn it , next cast again but no connection ( hollowbelly destroyed) was this the curse of using a worm hook ??:-/ I then tied on a Nag special Hollow ( gold pigment filled AYU) .. several casts into the same honey hole (Lantana that had a gap between the weed edge & the sticks) .. The slowest of rolls & Im crunched .. A big swirl , head shake .. SOLID!!!! clearly I was connected to a good fish Once again low rod angles & side strain were applied Feeling the line rubbing against objects below the water , I backed pressure off & particularly when the line guide popped out on the Zillion fortunately the fish came to the surface under pressure which allowed the guide to be pressed back in place. A considerable fish which now decided to play up .. running around the boat & motor before we missed it with the first net shot & after some more antics Matt nets the big girl 39298 . At 106cm my new PB:thumbsup: . Once the necessities were done off she swam & me still shaking ( I had to sit down & soak it up) After around 5 mins I tied on my remaining gold Nag special & cast into the same area & it less than a few casts I was smashed again & with no jump just straight power I was connected to something bigger ( braid was whistling through the guides) Then nothing my luck had run out on the 25lb FC twisted leader .abraded 6 up & worn through :oops: Its at this stage Matt takes a look at what Im using & how it was rigged . & he goes down the same path.
Less than an hour later while casting a 4 hollowbelly into the honey hole .. Im slammed again & a nice fish propels itself out of the water & again played out on the little loomis / Steez combo . Matt nets an 88 39302
A couple more bites before sunset , then all quiet . Finally after a couple of re locations that were fruitless & our tournament was done
Another top 20 place & winning the Berkley lure caught big fish combined with a new PB .. I was stoked !!!
After the presentation It was off to Mondy for the final event
To be continued