Calm weather isn't just for the reef

A bit of a delayed report from the weekend, with the weather down to 10-15's with 5-10's early inshore i was keen to head to the reef but then remembered i had comitments both days not enough time to go for a lure so decided to go for a spear Saturday morning and take advantage of the clean water that comes along with the calm weather. Only one problem, high tide was at 6:30 in the morning and i don't know if anyone has jumped into the water at daylight it is extremely cold! but had to go with a mate to pick up his pots anyway so figured i may as well bite the bullet and have a go. After picking up first 4 pots we had 7 legal crabs in the boat and the sun was just starting to come up, so went for a quick dip after an hour the water became too dirty and we were shivering uncontrolably so we called it quits but was well worth it with my mate getting two barra (59cm, 63cm) and myself getting a 36cm jack, i think this will be the last time i lend him any of my gear as he forgot his weight belt and with him having the thicker wetsuit i gave him mine and he goes to thank me by catching more fish not to mention the barra that i've been wanting to spear for months!

Attachment 67614

Then went to pick up the final 4 pots resulting in another 10 crabs bringing a total to 17.

Attachment 67616

With the success of the first day and the elure of finally getting that barra i've been after we couldn't help but give it another go sunday morning and brave the cold once more. With the water being slightly dirtier and the clouds hiding the sun the second day made things a little bit harder but was still do-able. An hour later and again the shivering became so bad it became hard to even load the gun so we called it quits and was back at the ramp by 8:45 with my mate shooting another barra (60cm) and getting myself another two nice fat jacks at 47 and 48cm.

Attachment 67615
Attachment 67617

Even though i still couldn't get myself that barra it was a good first attempt and a very different experience to catching them on line or spearing the reef. On a side note to those that have never tried to catch crabs while swimming around its not as easy as you might think it to be, they are angry little fulla's when you disturb them.

Cheers,

Nidrac

Gee your mate must be good to pick 59-60cm Barra from the undersize ones. It would be too close for me to call. It would be cool chasing Jacks around structure though

yeah i passed up quite a fwe that were about that size cuz they were too close for me to call. Getting the jacks out of the stucture was pretty fun, they certainly are mean little buggers, there were little 5-10cm ones chasing 25-30cm bream out of their snags when they came to close.

Good stuff mate. How do you go with the crocs? Are they areas you know they aren't in? Also, what's the thickness of your wetty?

Cuzza

That spot there isn't really a known place for crocs because of the boat traffic near there, haven't seen one within 2kms of there and i've been fishing that creek my entire life, we also look for locations with pretty shallow water so that there are no deeper holes for them to hide in and are generaly pretty quick in the water and only do it on rare occations so that they don't pick up a pattern. That wetty is only 1.5mm normally fine for the reef cuz of the swimming you do but when your laying still for so long it gets a bit cold!

Nidrac

Yeah mate 1.5mm doesn't do it for me in winter, even up there - i'm a wuss, though. Some of the good quality 3 and even 5mm designs allow for good manoeuvrability, so maybe consider an upgrade if it gets outta control! They make a massive difference. Yeah, the crocs are always something on my mind...don't wanna be sharing the water with those snappy buggers.

Cuzza

hey mate nice fish, just on the topic of wetsuits.....i noticed yours doesn't have a hood(judging from the pics). You'd be suprised the difference a hood makes....you lose a lot of heat from your head so having it covered helps heaps. I'm waiting for the water to clear up down here (yeppoon) to hit the headlands for some winter barra

Good call, Chris. Hood makes a massive difference, too. Let us know how you go down Yeppoon way when you get out.

Cuzza

Meant to say also booties. Head is the worst place for heat loss, but feet are often overlooked.

cuzza

yeah i had a hood that removes from the suit as it didn't originally come with one, and also wear booties with my fins, and your spot on they make a huge difference. however a 3mm wettie is the next thing on my wishlist, after getting my new gun it still may be a little off though.

Nidrac