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View Full Version : Brisbane river paddle 18/03



Canoedle
18-03-2006, 10:36 PM
I have been meaning to put my yak in at colleges crossing for a few weeks, and finally got down there today. Had heard there are quite a few bass in the area so loaded up on some surface lures (lots of weed down there) and paddled up the river about 4.30pm untill I found a likely looking stretch of water. tried some soft plastics out of habit as they were already rigged to go and got a few strikes on the little gold grubs I had, but not takers, thinking probably bream or spangled perch. Got tired of the weed and rigged up a popper. after seeing a few flashes in the water and getting splashed a few times close to the yak I hooked up one of these babies -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/NakedGun/tarpon.jpg
sorry, it's a very poor photo, this is actually the smaller of the two tarpon that I landed, the other one was well over the 1Kg mark and was amazingly lively(unfortunately he got away with my lure in his mouth :( ). This was my first encounter with them and wow are they fun! each hook up was hard and fast and straight for the bottom and then with a splash they would leap from the water shaking their head trying to shake off the lure.
I didnt see any bass, only tarpon and bloody fork tails, was a lot of fun, can't wait to do it again.

dropshot
19-03-2006, 12:31 AM
Hey mate,
without getting too specific roughly how far up the river did you find your likely looking stretch ;) I'd love to have a crack at some tarpon. Cheers,
Kev

Canoedle
19-03-2006, 09:28 AM
roughly a Km from the ramp at College's m8, no need to be specific, the tarpon seem to be in any clear stretch of water. let me know when your heading down and I might join you.

jackash
19-03-2006, 10:51 AM
Good on ya mate,
Definitely going to ahve to get out and ahve a crack at them with ya some time.
Cheers
Jackash

dropshot
19-03-2006, 04:41 PM
Cheers Mate :)

Toppy
19-03-2006, 04:58 PM
Hey Canoedle, they sure are a lot of fun to catch those Tarpon!
I bet it was a nice surprise when you landed the first one.
Congrats on the new species mate, hope you get a stack more.
cheers
Toppy

Canoedle
19-03-2006, 06:51 PM
cheers toppy, went back down today, only landed the one tho. After I landed him the others just disappeared, not another strike, the drifting seems to be the way to go as today I dropped the anchor and worked the same set of snags. I wasnt there for as long, but was still a lot of fun, this fella actually cleared my yak mid air, hilarious! I didnt mention earlier, but this was my first successful mission on surface lures too, so super happy, and only 10mins drive from home.

Cloud_9
19-03-2006, 07:07 PM
the ramp ??
is it possible to launch a tinnie ?

Cloud 9

Canoedle
19-03-2006, 08:30 PM
possibly, but you wouldnt get far, the weed is very thick, canoe access only.

Freeeedom
20-03-2006, 05:31 PM
Good stuff Karl. I was up that way last weekend (helping elder daughter move house) and drove across Colleges Crossing for the first time in quite a few years. Couldn't believe the amount of weed there - they should let a bit of water down to flush it out. Also went for a drive to look at the river from Fernvale to the Kholo crossing. I feel a canoe overnighter coming on
Cheers Freeeedom

Canoedle
20-03-2006, 05:43 PM
Bring it on mate! I'm keen, just need to get a new paddle for the yak, the one I got with it is far less than adequate. heaps of gar and mullet around college's, be worth a go with the fly rod I reckon, just need a way to keep the long wand onboard. The weed at college's is thick for about 500m upstream where it thins out a bit and opens into deep wide open sections that are absolutely alive with life, mullet jumping all over and big schools of gar and small mullet wizzing all over the place, no doubt getting chased by some big nasty predators. fun times to be had up there in the next few months to be sure. If you got a day clear and want to have a go at it John, just send me a PM and I'll meet ya at the ramp. ;)

BlitzBaga
20-03-2006, 11:07 PM
If you put in a Kookabara park and head upstream about 2 to 3km go past Johnsons rock. You can get all the Tarpon you want on small white or yellow twist tail soft plastics, about maggot size is good. If you are keen to hook up to a river whaler hook a small Tarpon on live.

Cheers
Murray

Canoedle
21-03-2006, 01:24 PM
Cheers Murray, will give that a try, although I'm not too sure about the whaler out of the kayak ;D

Archer
21-03-2006, 03:43 PM
Ohh go on Karl you know you want to!!! :o

Canoedle
21-03-2006, 06:23 PM
yeah ok, bye all, nice knowin yas. ;D

lippa
21-03-2006, 08:03 PM
it'll turn ya yak into a ski!!!!!!!!

cheers

lippa

Canoedle
21-03-2006, 08:08 PM
Not with the anchor down ;)

snipe
21-03-2006, 08:45 PM
Used to go up there when I lived in Bris - 7 or 8 yrs ago - we got some real nice bass out of the canoe ( not sure if they were a locally bred strain or from over the wall from wivenhoe ) - biggest from memory was up around the 45cm mark , saw lots of whalers and there was a always a few curious lungfish around - pretty cool critters and used to mess around with the gar on fly.

Shame to hear about the weed, the water was always quite clean up there even though from memory there was a water treatment plant a way upstream - it was a great option for a 1 or 2 hour session being so close to the western suburbs.