'Hooking up a Storm' @ Tinaroo 10-17 Oct

[black_sheep]

After delaying our Tinaroo trip in Easter by nearly 6 months due to heavy rain and the dam spilling over, we arrived in Cairns to 25K SE’s and showers . This is typical for us so we weren’t at all surprised!

The weather pretty much remained like this for the first 5 days before clearing up Wed lunch time to some sunny skies and lighter winds – unfortunately, the wind did not abate and actually increased to about 30k on Thurs and Fri.

For those that don’t want to read all the boring detail further below, I’ll surmise .

We only caught 13 fish for the week but some quality PB’s in there. All fish caught on Storm Wildeye SP or 16A Bombers. We did try a range of other lures from surface presentations to deep divers and everything in between, but mainly stuck to what Joe (old Uni mate and our guide for the week) is confident with and has been successful with at Tinaroo.

The tally was as follows:

Joe:
Sooty: 55cm.
Barra: 70, 110cm

Navi:
Barra: 35, 87, 118 and 121

Vin:
Sooty: 45cm.
Barra: 70, 75, 110, 114, 116.

We lost about the same number of fish due to the usual – straightened owners, line breakage, spat lures etc. We did loose a few really big fish that felt and looked like they would have pushed the 120 barrier.

Highlight of the trip for me was my 121 and 118. Highlight for Vin was catching a 116 at the base of a rapids .
Another highlight was me loosing a big fish followed by Vin landing a 110 no more than 5 casts later. Released Vins fish and before I could roll up the truth mat, Joe hooks a 110 next cast – all this happened in 5mins.

Low point of the trip for me (pre-rehearsed for TheMissus!!!!).

Vin decided that my 121 which equalled his Mondy PB had to be beaten any which way possible. So he tried sight casting at a 172!!! He hooked up but the 172 (ME!!!!!!!!!) didn’t put up much of a fight after wearing an owner in the back of the skull. Unfortunately, well past the barb (Theo may post the photos as my camera was dead). Lucky for me, I was already drugged up on a combo of codeine and alcohol from cracking and chipping my sternum at basketball 2 weeks ago, so that helped. Pulled it out and kept fishing - not happy KIM.

Because the fishing was tough, we fished it HARD!!!

We hopped off the plane in Cairns Friday nite, drove to Yungaburra and before we could unpack our bags, we were launching the boat at 10pm (Joe lives literally 3mins from the ramp). Off the water at 2.00am and back at the ramp at 4.30am! This set the pace and scene for the next 7 days. Most days we fished from 3.30am to 10.30pm with a couple of hrs off the water to help Joe at their café and to stock up on ice AND triple shot coffees. We averaged 4hrs sleep a night with some nights only squeezing in a quick 2hr powernap. We look like zombies in some of the photos.
Like Ben always says ‘sleep when you dead’.

So, although we caught some real quality fish, it would have been nice to get a bit more quantity – even rats for the hours we put in (not that I’m complaining).

Before I go into the boring stuff, special thanks to Joe for putting us up and feeding us for the week as well as giving us the car and the boat for the week when he had to work – he’ll regret it as it’s now part of our yearly agenda.

Theo – a huge thanks mate for showing us around the dam on Mon and Wed. It was great to check out the Northern end. Vin and I are still feeling bad that you hardly fished. We are indebted to you for guiding us around the dam. Also for giving me a selection of barra lures to try at Mondy – THANKS MATE!!!!

Matt and Andrew - a huge apology to for not getting a chance to meet up – I was so looking forward to meeting Matt for the first time and catching up with Wheezer. Unfortunately, a combination of limited Optus service, flat mobiles and unpredictable fishing hours made the task even harder. I think we spotted each other on the Sun morning as we were leaving and you guys were just stealthing into a spot so didn’t want to come over and disturb you and ruin your spot.
Matt – Joe said he thought he saw you on Sat in Rainy and blowy conditions?? Did you get anything?

Boring bits for those who care:

Conditions: As mentioned, windy and rainy for most of the time. When the sun did poke its head out, the dial reached 30 degrees. Most mornings and nights were cold though requiring a jumper and spray jacket. Wednesday was probably the nicest day with wind dropping off to about 15-20k. One great thing about Tinaroo is that you can always find some protected areas up the creeks or rivers away from the wind.

Peak bite time was definitely the morning session from 4.30am to 6am, mainly due to lighter winds. By 6.30am, the wind would pick up and not drop off until after 9pm.
We used Certate 3500HD’s on Egrell S10H’swith 30lbs braid for the flats and points. In the tighter structure, we used baitcastors spooled with 78lb braid.
Retrieves were either a slow roll/pause for the Storm SP’s or a twitch/pause for the Bombers.
Vin and I used mostly 80lb Penn 10X or 60LB YGK Fluorocarbon for leader. I was lucky to hook my 121 and 118 in the lip. I followed Joe’s advice and changed to a knotted dog leader – just in time as you can see in the photo – next fish I hooked was deep down its throat.

Sorry about the lengthy spiel .

[Steve B]

Navi and Vin,

The weapons of black destruction strike again!!!! Great report mate. Very entertaining as only you blokes are!! Pitty about most of the weather.

Love the pics, particularly Vin at the rapids. you would swear that was in the jungle somewhere!!!

Sounds like you had a great trip, sleep deprived and all. Word had filtered back south about the trebble in the head incident....hope its all good!! ooooch

cheers steve.

Big Ren dropped by yesterday enroute to Awoonga. I hope that houseboat is ready for it!!

Weather has turned perfect for the boys. I think the ranger will get some slime on it this week!!

[Little grey men]

Good report Navi, some huge fish, a beautiful location and good mates sinking hooks in the back of your scone. What more could you ask for.
I'm not sure if that bit was meant to be funny, but I chuckled just a little.
And way to go with the 121. What a beast.

[black_sheep]

cheers steve,

awesome dam steve - once you get into the actual creeks and rivers, it's like fishing in a wild tributory - as you said like jungle/rainforest feel.

Surprisingly, the head is healing pretty quick mate - no pain no gain!! more likely, no pain, no brain.

Big Ren should be out with JM as we speak. Reckon the ranger would be slimmed by now .

[TinarooTriumph]

Hey fella's,

Had a great time showing ya's around the place... pretty funny pair of fella's to fish with! Shame I have Mr Beatties P-Plate shit to deal with, otherwise we would of drank a bit more while we were out there (superstition... brings on the fish!). Very suprised that we didn't hook up more on the Wednesday... Taylor's Bay and DPI looked smoking hot. That fish we motored under up the Rapids that 'nibbled' your Lure was pretty cool though... you would of had another meterey in the Boat I reckon if it nudged again.

Got some classic pic's of you with the Bomber in imbedded in your Cranium. I knew the very second what had happened... the noise of the Reel (backlash) said it all. Not to worry... I've snagged 172's (bigger!) in the past, but they would outweigh you!

Definetely give those Lure's a go down at Monduran mate, I am more then certain they'll pick you up a few fish.

Cheers.

TD

p.s. That fish of Vin's up the rapids would have to be the deepest fish I have seen caught from up there... awesome fish.

[black_sheep]

LGM - The hook in the scone wasn't funny for about 10 mins but once we got it out, I could see the smeaks on vins and theo's face trying not to laugh - it was pretty funny and was always going to happen sooner or later. The day before Joe got me too but lucky it was with the Storm SP which only had 1 set of trebles in it - thank god they didn't find the mark. Think I had an 'X' painted on my mellon. Will have to catch up at NPD soon.

Theo - I had so much I could have included in that report such as that metrey at the base of the rapids - think I would have rated that fish over my 121 purely for the terrain. 121 off shallow point with no snags isn't as challenging as a barra in tight rapids. Wish we got that on video - save that for next year hey . I noticed some of the fish had an injury near the tail but I'm now thinking it may be some sort of skin disease? Any clues?

P.S. Can you chuck some of the treble shots up - TheMissus (and the mondy Muster Crew) gets a good laugh out of our misfortune.

THANKS AGAIN THEO!!!! Vin send his love

[TinarooTriumph]

Will try and post those pics up over the weekend mate... camera is back at Wondecla.

As for the Tails... not quite sure. No one is ever really sure! I notice with many Barra from the Dam that quite a few of them have very reddish/purplish crease marks at their Caudal fins... never thought too much about it... is this what your reffering to? Perhaps that Beer spillage of mine on the front deck could of had some effect on the tails

Say G'day to Vin for us. Hope he is getting some sleep... he looked dead on Wednesday.

Oh yeah, true story... hooked a fish on that WW off the Ramp (you know which one!). That was last Sunday evening. Your right about those Decoy's you know...

TD

[Whitto]

Navi...we have been hanging out for your report Ben and Paul have been feeding us with bits and pieces as they came to hand.....Most of us look for our PB catch of course in your case u had a PW (30cm Barra) and the treble in the scone....I guess we are all happy that you all are still alive....this looks like a great trip and great piccies...Thanks Boys......7/8/9 is looking like a Mini Muster u know your welcome if possible

[black_sheep]

Thanks Whitto,

took me a little while to get pics uploaded.

I used the 30cm to live bait the 121 .

The boys have already booked for Mondy but it 05 to 08/12. never know mate, I may be able to sneak off. Will keep you posted.

[black_sheep]

Theo, no probs with pics mate, only if you can. I'd prefer to not see them .

The red chaffing around the cordal is exactly what I was referring to.

The WW hey - never thought possible but just proves that they'll eat anything when in the right mood . Main reason I don't like decoys is they look weak but I also figure that the more trebles a hook has (4 in the decoys), it gives the barra a better chance of leverage on the others therefore resulting in straightened hooks. Just my opinion as I have never tried them. Hard to go past owners. I hope Vin never tries decoys - reckon I would have ended up with 2 of the 4 hooks in my head which would have been near impossible to get out - sticking with owners (don't tell Vin that I've crushed ALL his barbs). .

[NAGG]

A top read Navi ...... 6 really good fish taken over a week - in shite conditions rates a big thumbs up - By all accounts you put in the hard yards & reaped the benefit

Ouch on the treble ...... you guys are truly the real deal & I can see a Sitcom written around you guys

Hey I have to agree with the barra caught from the rapids ...... awesome !!! It's one magnificent & diverse impoundment ............ & so nice having mates up there to take you out - BONUS

Good stuff

Chris

[black_sheep]

You said it all Chris. Joe is a top bloke. He is solely responsible for Vin and my addiction to sportsfishing. 20+ yrs ago, he introduced us to fishing for native fish using artificials - never looked back mate and have learnt a heap of Joe.

As I said - it's now part of our yearly tour - woohoo.

[Steve B]

Navi,

Tried the decoys (quadelles we called them)....very sharp..but couldnt stay connected to barra....pulled hooks over half the time, back to owners.....no pulled hooks. Cant explain why..just happened.

steve

[Whitto]

Just to put my 2 cents worth in Steve Iv'e had a look at the decoys and they look under gunned too frail

[eotbmg]

Hey mate
Congrats an a great trip. All the effort you go yo mate you deserve to finally catch some quality, and quality is always better than quantity!!!!! I swear that fish of Vins looks like a wild fish, but its not i know, but maybe cos its thin????? Not sure. Havent heard from Young Pauly, dunno if its an ominous sign or not....... I am a big starter for next year so watch out....maybe no sleep at all.

Looking forward to Awoonga, in fact cant wait. Weather look ok eh!!!!
Well done again mate, good to see you arrived safe and well and all rods are the same as they went up there.....in tact.
Interesting you got em on storms, just so happens i bought them today and done the little adjustment that you showed me....hopefully hopefully.......
Cheers
Ben