Awoonga 8/9/08 to 11/9/08

[Obi _ Wan]

Well i have been back in Brisbane since last Friday and i have been slack in getting this report posted so here goes.

The IBD was getting bad again and it was time to visit Doctor Awoonga again, plan was simple, arrive Monday, fish the afternoon and do the same on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Left Brisbane early Monday as Trev could only be available from 3pm, called into Foxies at Gin Gin, greeted at the door by Jackie had a long talk to John and left with a few more lures, just can't help myself, what a lolly shop is that one, wow.
Arrived at Benaraby at about 1.00pm, stopped at the servo ordered lunch and phoned Trev's wife to let them know i had arrived, He's at the motel looking for you she said and then said she would ring him and let him know where i was.
Well now the rush was on, to the motel, into the fishing gear, load up Trev's brand new skeeter and off.
Hit the water and off but the E-TEC coughed at about 2000 revs, any way Trev persisted and we travelled up the back to have a look at a shallow bay, plenty of big fish, some with backs out of the water only trying to get warm, not interested in any lures we threw at them, we only spooked them.
Try many bays, points and banks, no luck for me but Trev got a couple of small fish.

Tuesday, Trev rings and says that the E-Tec is in the service centre and not sure if he will get it back today, the service centre thought they had put the wrong spark plugs in at the first service

Trev rings again a couple of hours later, no boat but Scott was going out and would pick me up and take me out
Scotty arrives and we take off, explore many bays and other areas looking for that magic spot for both Trev and Scott to fish in the comp on The coming Friday and Saturday
Many lures tossed, plenty of good conversation, geez these blokes know their stuff

Finally in the coldest part of a bay we were fishing i had a massive hit and i was on. After chasing the fish around the boat a few times, keeping clear of the electric, Scotty secured a 107cm fish for me, a few pics and off she went.

Well that was it for Tuesday, very cold and only one fish in the boat


Wednesday, Trev rings again, E-Tec still not fixed, looks to be a software problem? waiting on someone to send more software

Trev says we are still going out and that we were going to pinch Scotty's boat, good on you Scott, thanks mate.
Out we go, conditions still not good, cold wind blowing, cool water. We fish a lot of bays, points and banks, very quiet.
We are up in the back of a bay and Trev says put one in that gap between those sticks. Out goes the cast, right down the middle, crank, crank, bang, i'm on i said and all hell breaks loose.
I reckon a lot of you people would know just how it feels when you are using 50lb braid and 80lb 10x leader with the drag wound up as far as you can get it, thumb on spool and the big girls just take line off you at will, bloody hell it's great. Anyway after a time and a few laps around the boat, Trev secures a magnificient 115cm lady for me, a few pics and off she goes. Trev says geez that rod had a bend in it, it sure did but it was all good.

As the New Hollow Belly i was using was ripped i picked up another of my rods which was already rigged, out it went, crank, crank, i'm on again, not as big but a good fish as any barra is. Trev secured the fish for me, a few pics and off she went, 82cm this time.
Then it was Trevs turn and in a very short time he had landed three small barra then all went quiet, dinner time over

Last Day Thursday, Trev rings around miday can you come down to the ramp, sure i say and off i go. When i get there Trev is there with the Skeeter, he had just spent two hours with the service guys running around the lake with a computer hooked up to the E-Tec, now it seems to be an injector problem
Anyway we load up the boat and run up the lake looking for areas for the boys to fish in the comp.
On the way up the lake and Trev says theres Lyndon, (Seekingbarradise) so we go over on the electric and i meet Lyndon which was a plus as we have swapped posts and stories on this forum for a while, unfortunately i didn't get to try some of his camp cooking, oh well maybe one day
We tried a number of bays etc but no luck, spotted Scott powering up the lake in his poly looking for some fish holding areas for the comp.
Back to the ramp for fuel for the boat and us, i looked after the boat while Trev did the shopping.
Back up the lake again, more bays, more points and more banks, no fish, cold wind, cloud cover and no warmth

Its getting pretty late so we try the second last spot, after a while Trev lands two small fish, one was only about 50cm long, a baby. Then on to the last spot, the old trick, just one more cast, just one more cast, but no fish

Well it was a buzz to catch what i did and i am extremely grateful to both Trev and Scott for their time and friendship, a great couple of guys and i am very happy for the result they gained in the comp over the next two days as you can see elsewhere on this forum, it could not have happened to a couple of better blokes, well done boys, your the ones.

I guess it turns out that i should have arrived a week later but thats fishing and i will be back sooner than later.

Thanks very much Trev and Scott.

I will try and bang up a couple of pic's not sure how they will go as every time my computer gets an update things change and i am no computer whiz.

Cheers,
John.

PS, I must thank Trev also for the face lift, all the loose skin i had on my face is now located at the back of my head

[Obi _ Wan]

107 Awoonga Barra
115 Awoonga Barra on Mat
115 Awoonga Barra busting my back

[Cammy]

Very nice fish there mate, sounds like an awsome trip with awsome fish!

Cammy

[Whitto]

Thanks for the report and piccies John......Nothing like a cheap facelift thanks to the Skeeter.....Very nice fish John...it's getting impossible to catch more than a couple of horses as it takes it out of u.....mind u I would have been more than happy to put myself in that position last weekend but I was not to be ...will catckup down the track.....Cheers Whitto

[TonyM]

Great report and nice fish - thanks John.

I got one of those skeeter facelifts on Saturday in Les' purple beasty - those things are so fun it hardly matters if you get a fish (always nice to though!)

Cheers
Tony

[Peter4]

Great report John and some lovely fish.....

BTW what was the 'official' truthmat width of your ass???

Regs

Pete

[youngharry52]

geez you did alright, big john. well done.

regards

chris

[Callop]

Well done mate. Nothing much better than catching the mighty barra with good company while sitting in a rocket sled.
Dave

[Obi _ Wan]

Great report John and some lovely fish.....

BTW what was the 'official' truthmat width of your ass???

Regs

Pete

Hi Pete, Off the record, about two axe handles mate

Cheers,
John.

[Lindyloo6au]

what a beauty (I'm referring to the fish) :-) well done John............

cheers
Lynn

[Obi _ Wan]

Bloody Hell Lynn,

You got my heart racing there for a moment

That was until i read the part in brackets

But, yes you are right the bigger girl was a beauty, very heavy

I believe that there is a fish with your name on it at Mondy

You have just got to go there more often

Cheers,
John.

[BR65]

good read John, and some bloody nice fish to boot, well done, the 115 is a big girl

cheers
brian

[JEKS]

Hi John,

Glad you had a good time, and caught some fish. Sorry we missed you, but we will catch up some other time.
Hope Faust is kind to you, when you go there. Is Stuie going with you? There's a lot of water there now.

Cheers Katie

[Steve B]

Well done John,

that 115 is a horse of a fish. Geez young Trev is getting amonst the fish!! good to see he sorted you IBD for you.

steve

[jim_bream]

Strewth John!
You certainly do have a way with the larger ladies!!!
Fantastic story and cracking pic's nice one there mate. Now you just need to get a hefty girl like that on a HOME MADE JIGHEAD. (We'll be squeezing out our own plastics next...)
Awesome read- well done!
Jimbo