Bobbing for Yellowbelly

[rabbi]

Yeah Scott,
It certainly has a place etched in my memory.
We used to fish keera at the end of a big outflow from Copeton when the water flow was backing off and it got the fish into a feeding frenzy and a high point was that we could throw our Tallboys in a keeper net and soak them in the freezing cold river water and save on ice.
I had a HG holden and it had done the Keera trip many times.
I suddenly have the urge to put my jew gear away and go get some crayfish and head west

Just a footnote; My great grandfather used to ride with Thunderbolt so I guess a Ned kelly would be more appropriate in my case
Cheers.

[PNG1M]

Hey guys, thanks for the tips and the info... I know now that bobbing can be done with a float to set the depth and/or with a sinker over the hook. Too good!!

I'm looking forward to appying the techniques described and maybe devising a few others.

With the yabbies, I used to rake them from the bore drains out near the Narran. A piece of meat on the end of some cotton also worked if there was access to a small farm dam somewhere or a roadside waterhole. I suppose once I'm in the Roma area I can suss out where best to get them from.

Cheers,
png

[PNG1M]

Just a footnote; My great grandfather used to ride with Thunderbolt so I guess a Ned kelly would be more appropriate in my case
Cheers.

For the record, according to my folks and their family tree research a great auntie of mine on my father's side got married to Ben Hall. On my mum's side her claim to fame is convict ancestry wiith the fleet that went to settle Hobart. The bloke we're related to (John Hangan) came in the ship 'Calcutta'.

I guess it means that I should also use a 'Ned Kelly'.

Good 'ole cars:
The car I had in the 80's when based near the Narran was a white HQ Monaro Kingswood, three-on-the-tree with a 202 motor and I did hit the occasional roo in it. One in particular was a biggy and I hit him at about 50mph at night - heading south half way between St George & Angeldool (middle of nowhere). It smashed the grill and one headlight (thank goodness it was just one) and both the driving lights and squashed the roo bar back over the bonnet enough so we couldn't open it. The car and us made it back to Goodooga safe n sound. Just as well there was no radiator damage - we just drove a tad more cautious thinking that every shadow was another roo. Those were the days...

Hmmm...what's all that got to do with bobbing for yellowbelly?? I know, its because that happened during the time I was fishing the Narran!

[rabbi]

Aaaahhh, those were the days, bloody convicts!!!
I had a HQ Premier Wagon, Took the 202 out and threw a 350 chevy in there so I could get to the yellabelly and cod spots quicker.

You gotta love us Bushies,different breed!!

Have fun with the bobbing,floating, jigging or whatever.
cheers, steve

[wamjam]

For the record, according to my folks and their family tree research a great auntie of mine on my father's side got married to Ben Hall. On my mum's side her claim to fame is convict ancestry wiith the fleet that went to settle Hobart. The bloke we're related to (John Hangan) came in the ship 'Calcutta'.

I guess it means that I should also use a 'Ned Kelly'.

Good 'ole cars:
The car I had in the 80's when based near the Narran was a white HQ Monaro Kingswood, three-on-the-tree with a 202 motor and I did hit the occasional roo in it. One in particular was a biggy and I hit him at about 50mph at night - heading south half way between St George & Angeldool (middle of nowhere). It smashed the grill and one headlight (thank goodness it was just one) and both the driving lights and squashed the roo bar back over the bonnet enough so we couldn't open it. The car and us made it back to Goodooga safe n sound. Just as well there was no radiator damage - we just drove a tad more cautious thinking that every shadow was another roo. Those were the days...

Hmmm...what's all that got to do with bobbing for yellowbelly?? I know, its because that happened during the time I was fishing the Narran!

Good stuff PNG1M... Sounds like it was the glory days...Hope you can get some info from our flash backs of the good old days...And don't foreget us when we need a bit of info on the black bass...
I done a bit of shooting around Angeldool years ago...We went to the Hebal pub for a quiet ale and the bar had such a lean on it, it was hard to tell if your beer was full or empty....

[gunna]

I've caught them in Glenbawn by bobbing in among the trees, but I use 2 yabbies pinned through the tail and facing each other. Theory is they fight and create more action.

[Barry Ehsman]

Good stuff PNG1M... Sounds like it was the glory days...Hope you can get some info from our flash backs of the good old days...And don't foreget us when we need a bit of info on the black bass...
I done a bit of shooting around Angeldool years ago...We went to the Hebal pub for a quiet ale and the bar had such a lean on it, it was hard to tell if your beer was full or empty....

Might have been the amount of schooner's you had that made it look like it was leaning lol..

Baz

[Bundybird]

Great thread this one,
For my two bobs worth learnt the fine art of bobbing from the old man back in the early 80's as a young tacker. Used to go to the Glebe Wier on the dawson river out of taroom(not far from Roma mate and still a top spot) back then and still do when i get time. The best method we found was a good rod or bamboo or even a gum tree sapling(cut down when we got there and bark stripped off.) back then about 6 or 7 ft long with about 30pd line off the end. Apiece of round cock about 2inches across and 2inches deep(could get it by the foot lenght back then dunno about now. Interested if can still get it like that.) Had to paint it white as the old man said the white cork and the slap of the flat bottom of the cork attracted the yellas at night. He used to stick the rod in the water to check the depth and set the cork up with the stick thru the middle so the hook was about 4inches off the bottom. Little or no sinker needed as there usually no flow. A good size bloodworm on a 3/0 hook(tip never showing) and bob at the chosen spot for 10 or so min. Then move if no good at the spot.Only used shrimp now and then and yabbies only on the setline for jew. He always said that worms were all you needed. Must have worked cause watched him outfish anybody wihin cooee doing it likethis. Allways had his worm tin and a 6pack of xxxx heavies and me of course as company. What great times they were. Just a few comments from my past hope they were interesting and helpfull.

[PNG1M]

Thanks everyone for the great pointers, helpful tips and the stories of the glory days. Its always good to relive those memories. During my time years back at the Narran I also owned a Yamaha XT 600 that I used to blast around on. I used to strap my fishing rod onto the bike and my tackle would be in a backpack.

The bike was a great way to access difficult to reach parts of the river bank that you couldn't get to by car. It was also good for exploring the area and ripping along some of those dirt roads between Goodooga & Angeldool and beyond.

Anyway, back to the yellowbelly....Bundybird mentioned using Shrimp. I presume those'd be the freshwater shrimp that occur naturally in the waterways. Would they be the ones that have the long, thin front arms with the little nipper thingies on the end?

[rabbi]

Hehehehe I had a Honda XL500 that i packed my gear onto and chugged off into some really remote places.
Very few times I had anyone apart from a mate on another bike follow me.
Just made the roo thing a bit more hazardous.
But alotta fun PNG1M.

Nipper thingies!??! close enough mate

I found that you use whatever bait you could catch in the same area you fished.
We used to find a lot of freshwater mussels in cods stomachs(whole shells) so i would take the meat out of the mussel and use that and it was a good bait but the river shrimp were always a winner.

[PNG1M]

There was thread some time back about how to catch those fresh water shrimp. I can't remember the title of the thread but I did make a few posts on it.

We used to get a 5 gallon drum and bang a heap of nail holes in it then string a lump of meat or bone across near th bottom. Attach a rope to the handle & throw it in near the the shore and wait half an hour.
Then pull it in quick and, in theory you will have some freshwater shrimp inside.

So between shrimp; earthworms; yabbies; mussels; baltic bobbers and the odd lure to flick - it looks like bait will be easy part.

What size rod/reel/line do you guys reckon would be optimum for a standard fishing trip to catch yellowbelly?
I know it might vary a bit depending on if you want a long rod for bobbing from the shore, or a baitcaster for lures etc.

What about just for the run-of-the mill bait fishing app? I was thinking of 10-12lb mono main line with maybe an 8ft 2-piece rod and a smallish spinning reel.

And with the business end, I remember having the sinker at the very end of the llne with the look about 30-40cm above it. Is that still the recognised method for the freshwater rivers?

[gunna]

Apiece of round cock about 2inches across and 2inches deep(could get it by the foot lenght back then dunno about now. Interested if can still get it like that.)

What shop sold that lol.

[rabbi]

Dont need a big rod mate,
Mine is about 5ft one piece about 3 to 4 kg with anywhere from 3kg braid to 8kg braid.

I got my 30kg cod on a shimano Bass Stick with baitcaster loaded with 8kg line.
Just for yellas 3kg to 5kg will suffice if bobbing but a lot of people use 8 to 10kg line sometimes stronger depending on the area you fish.
cheers, steve.

[PNG1M]

Okey dokey...it all sounds like common sense will prevail regarding the set up, equipment and the approach.

I'm really looking forward to getting back into the freshwater scene and enjoying the outback!!

[PNG1M]

I saw a show on the ###### ((Foxtel) channel recently and the presenters were fishing around the Dubbo area.
The crew did a segment about "Bobbing for Yellowbelly" using yabbies. They tied up at a tree snag poking out the water in a dam somewhere out there and yes they did have a sounder to pick out the fiish & depth.

They put the yabbies on their hooks with a smallish ball sinker running down to sit on the top of the hook. Then they just lowered the bait over the side to the chosen depth and jigged their rods slowly up & down.
One bloke caught a large yellowbelly that must have been at least 4kg. I'm looking foward to testing that style out.

Later they went to a shallow section of river with heaps of smooth rocks, boulders and ledges etc and they were casting purple spinner baits for cod. They hooked up three cod but not all that big.
And they said that yellowbelly also go for those spinnerbaiits.