A different approach

[Daintreeboy]

It was coming up towards the end of the week and I had some choices to make. Go fishing locally in Cairns and chase a Barra, go up to my old haunting grounds in the Daintree and chase Barra or head out with Ron Friday night and chase reds. After looking at Moffy and Ron's reports I would have been on a winner either way but I decided against all of the above and talked my brother into a different approach and leave the hoards of Barra bashers behind. Our target, Fingermark.
Due to a mix up with messages Moffy stayed in Cairns which left us down to one boat. We had to wait until Erica Finished work at 8pm so it was a very late start, no lines in until after 10 pm. With the low tide at 1am we had a short window to catch live squid, always the determining factor in Fingermark fishing. Unfortunately the squid fishing was slow and it was just as well for the fish as they were biting their heads off.
We started first drop with a double hookup after two squid in a row came in and both fish were around 4-5 kilos. Erica trialled a new catch and release method as she thought she hooked a shark it was that quick to bite so only one fish was boated.
After Mick's catch on the rod it was my turn while Erica stayed on the handline. Another 2 squid were caught quickly and once again double hookup, Gold Spot Cod for me and Fingermark for Erica. I managed to recover my squid so chucked it back down for another instant hookup, another big Fingermark. Again, my squid was hanging out the mouth so again it went back down and yep you guessed it, another Fingermark boated.
This is where the squid went quiet which was very frustrating as the fish were clearly on the chew. My next squid down resulted in a monster Fingermark which had me in the coral originally so I was happy to finally land it, 87cm long! It wasn't that heavy though due to the fish already having bred and being quite lean from the months of heavy activity. We managed a couple more before the storms and lack of squid chase us away. In only around 3 hours fishing we nailed 7 keeper Fingermark and a nice Cod. To top it off we nabbed a few muddies in the pots we'd set earlier on the way home.
Now I 'd better get the river rods out and chase Barra like every one else [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

First shot, Mick's first fish after only 1 minute of fishing!!

[Daintreeboy]

We all thought this fish would nudge the 9 kilo mark at least. We've caught shorter fish than this before that have weighed up to 8.5 kilos so it was a shock when it went only 7. Awesome sight seeing it came into the net!!

[Daintreeboy]

same fish

[Daintreeboy]

I've yet to even target Barra yet, running out of time. This may be the closest I'll get to catching one if I don't hurry up lol A nice little Sand Bass.

[Daintreeboy]

Check out that tail!!

[Daintreeboy]

The end result. Now to research a better way to catch squid!
Cheers, Mark.

[Scott15]

mark,
excelent fish mate. well done

Scott

[megafish71]

Well done Mark, must come up and wet a line with you guys one night.

[Dr_Dan]

Good catch there mark. Gotta be happy with that!

[Moffy]

bugger.

[Daintreeboy]

Someone may be able to help here. What sort of lure would be a good option here. I tried a storm jig for nought even though they were clearly underneath us and hungry. I was thinking some other sort of sp, a metal jig or a squid imitation. Any ideas?
Thanks, Mark.

[nonibbles]

Where? Did you mean to post a sounder pic or a map with an arrow or something?

[Bad_Bubby]

I think you made the right choice there, I've been going after the barra pretty often in the Barron lately and still havent landed a fish in the open season (unlike the closed season when they were bloody everywhere ). Unfortunately the poor fishing coincided with the visit of 'Fishing Dan' who got to experience the Barron River living up to its name. Maybe next time

[Mick]

Daintree, I have pondered the same thing. It is frustrating when you run out of live (or should I say "just dead" as the buggers don't live long once landed) squid. Not even frozen squid gets em aroused. I have never seen a squid looking lure. I will PM you one idea that I have.
Mick
PS Sorry , nearly forgot to applaud your efforts. Nice work!

[Leo_N.]

Great effort on few baits there Daintree. #I have a mate that swears by the storm thunderstick for trolling for fingermark - I think it is mostly because they come in a deep diving model and will get down to them. #I remember Whiteman posting some pics of lure-caught fingermark earlier in the summer, but I think he was trolling lures as well. #

Sorry to see that the storm jigs didn't work, as I just bought some for the same purpose. #Have you tried picking up some 'fresh' squid or octopus from a fish co-op? #I think that I will do that before I go out next, just as a back-up. #