Winter sooties (Pic Heavy)

[Big_Bass_Fisherman]

Knocked off work early on Friday to head straight out to Lake Julius, I was on the water by about quarter past 5. My favourite snag isnt to far from where I launch from so I went straight to it instead of wasting time with the often fishless water in between. Put my favourite little bibless hardbody on and second cast out came a little sooty. Only a few casts later a nice fish at 43cm was taken from the same spot. Not much further and i pulled another nice fish in the 40's. By that stage i figured the fish were firing pretty well so i put a couple of surface lures on the two rigs. I ended up wasting the rest of the evening with only one inquiry on the popper. By about 7.30 i headed back to set up camp and cook up a few sausage sanga's.

It was a bloody cold night so i was up at 6 to try and warm up with a bit of paddling. The water temperature had crashed with the sounder saying it was around 13 degrees on the surface (it was around 19-20 the night before). The sooties aren't like other natives and need a while to wake up. So the first fish of the morning wasnt until around 20 past 7 which was another good fish around 40cm, as you can see it was caught in my sleep and still quite dark at 7.30. A few minutes later and another one at 44cm. I got quite a few more fish but nothing with any size until around 9.30 when i changed to a smaller version of the same lure. I then got three good fish at 45cm plus a few smaller models.

The fishing ended at around midday when a mate who turned up early on in the morning spotted some pigs, i hopped on to the bank about a hundred metres from them and crept up on them from behind to catch a few suckers. However when i was about 5 metres from them i saw the boar that was with them and decided to leave them be. He was a good size probably 70kg. So i went back to the kayak to paddle the 2 kilometres back to the car, about half way i wanted to have a few more flicks but my lure was stuck in the rope at the front, so i went to check my keys in my pocket before climbing up the front only to find they weren't there. That's when i had a minor heart attack and realised they must have fallen out when i hopped back in. So i paddled madly back to the bank to see if they were there, nope. By this stage i couldnt see my mate and figured he was pretty close to the cars and could be leaving. So a new Olympic k1 record over 2 kilometres and i get back just as he is loading his gear, told him the problem and had one last look in the kayak...

Luckily they had fallen out on to my hoodie which is why i didnt hear them. After having a little moment to realize how lucky i was i packed up and got on the road ending a good days fishing. All up i got 18 sooties up to 45cm and two dirty catfish.

Nice fish from the first day.


Yep still asleep


Good fish at 44cm.


ol blubber lips at 45cm.


My first sooty with blubber lips


The best of the weekend at 45cm



Heaps of bird life about plus some awesome scenery






I thought this was a big fish around 50, it fought hard and took a while to get in. It also managed to break two hooks of the middle treble, so i was pretty lucky to get it in.


Cheers Ryan

[OODIES]

Nice work mate, that place looks stunning.

BINGO (Dave)

[Chas & Clarry]

Great report, thanks for that, enjoyed reading it & the piccys.

Isn't it a horrible feeling when you think you've lost something crucial (wallet, keys etc) then such a relief when they turn up.

Most importantly, great fishing, thanks for sharing

Tim and Trace

[Goodoo haven]

Great report mate and great photos too. Thanks for sharing.

[Bronson]

Well Done sounds like those Sooties gave you a bit of curry. Ive only ever caught them in fishing ponds and there definitely one of the strongest fighting fish for there size id have to say. Great looking scenery looks like a great place to spend a few mornings even better landing some nice fish. Awsome post love the pics.

Bron