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Toppy
19-12-2005, 10:55 PM
Hi guys, I just got time to sit down and type this post about the last trip away in November.
I was lucky enough to get away from the J O B for a week & head up to Peter Faust Dam @ Proserpine. As most of you would already know its famous like Tinaroo for its XOS barra!!!
I was accompanied on this adventure by fellow fisherman Steve Blaney from Tweed Heads.
The reason for this pilgrimage to North Qld was to compete in the first series of the ABT Barra comps that were spread over 4 locations.
We chose to only fish Faust, as our time was limited & ABT decided to hold an all night comp as well as the two day comp.
This gave us a good opportunity to suss the dam out & give us hope of being competitive.
We were lucky enough to be asked by Drew & Mike from Attack Boats on the Gold Coast, to show off the new fishing machine they have developed over the past twelve months.
The Intercoastal 2300 is an amazing craft to look at as well as fish from. Its spacious casting deck provided us with both with a stable fishing area & somewhere to roll the swag out at night. Yes! I did mean we slept in it. During a 16hour comp the old eye lids seem to let gravity take over after a while. Both Steve & myself managed a few solid hours of sleep inbetween casting sessions that seem to go on forever. You appreciate a boat of 23 feet in a comp like this, I know that some other guys in the comp would have swapped us in a heart beat just so they could streach out in comfort for a few hours. (A 4.3mtr punt only has so much room.)
Our techneque was far from ground breaking stuff, but the combination of soft plastics & hard bodies we chose seemed to produce the goods.
Attomic S.Ps & Squidgy Slick Rigs in drop bear colour 110mm size worked well. Fished in conjunction with Barra Classic F18,s & all of a sudden we started catching more fish!
We found large amounts of Boney Bream (bait) just wide of a large weed bed in the middle of the lake. The weed rose strait up out of 10 feet of water, forming a wall with small narrow corridor,s through it. The barra used this as a highway at night, prowling back & forth in search of an easy meal. Keeping this in mind we anchored the boat just wide of the weed & peppered the area with casts untill the fish became active.
It must have worked because after a week we had landed 30 Barra from 50cm runts to 114cm stonkers. We would have lost just as many from jump/bust offs which kept us well entertained.
Imagine this, your mind is numb & your arms ache from casting, then suddenly you feel a WACK WACK & a JUMP!!!! your ticker speeds up a little & line screams off the reel (unless its a Black Sheep haha) you'll need a bucket of lemons to take the smile from your face & thats when you remember why it is your here in the middle of the night. Its a must if you hav'nt tried it!
During the day comps we fished as Team Attack Boats/Gamakatsu, we placed 1st overall, Steve came 3rd & I managed 6th place. During the all night comp the team came 6th & I came 4th beaten by the master, Linsay Dobe by 3cm for 3rd place. If you look at the scores in QFM January you'll notice that there is only about 1 fish seperating the pack thats how close it can be.
All up I had a fantastic time fishing this event & its truly a credit to Steve Morgan, Simon & the crew at ABT for putting it together.
I have heared a wisper of big things for next year so put this one on the calendar if you have a competitive nature & I'll see you there!
Cheers for now
Toppy

Toppy
19-12-2005, 11:05 PM
:)

Toppy
19-12-2005, 11:05 PM
:)

Toppy
19-12-2005, 11:06 PM
:)

Smithy
20-12-2005, 06:52 AM
Sounds like you had a ball. Put in the time and the results will come. Didn't realise it was that productive for you - thought it sounded like the fishing was slow.

Toppy
20-12-2005, 08:50 AM
Hey Rob, the fishing was slow for most.
During the comp was the slowest as the south easterly blew about 20 knots as soon as the boats were put in the water.
The peak bit time was dusk & dawn in general, a lot of the action happened on the full moon & one night before. We boated 9 fish that first night & packed up @ 2am. The second night Wally & Sid came along side us so we could chat while fishing, they brained them that night & Wallys best fish went 120cm. They didnt have bogas strong enough to weigh it, but it was a monster. Steves 114cm fish was 48lb but this thing was incredable!!!!! It was difficult for them to handle, it was just so big.
Went over to Flick flacks house last night, he went to sea with Kev & Ben. Rodrick got a nice Black of 90kgs & took him 2hrs to land on 50. It was sounding & didnt like the surface so much. Cant blame it, first time I met Kev I was scared too!!! ha ha, just jokes Kev if your reading.
I,m sure you'll read about it so i'll let him tell the storey.
cheers
Toppy
p.s I got your text sounds like you had a good time!

last_cast
20-12-2005, 08:51 AM
Toppy,

Great work. Some very nice fish there. Great photos.

Cheers

Last_Cast

Franco
20-12-2005, 09:35 AM
Hey Paul Sorry didn't get back to you yesterday Mate.

Great report ..... but didn't those barra get sick of catching the same angler over and over .....!!!

Dropped a jew in the seaway (on an Atomic plastic) due to hook failure sunday arvo whilst trying a new technique I've been toying with for a while .... I think it's gonna deliver the goods once I suss it out a bit more!! Got the hit and head shakes, only to bring up a classic jew-bitten plastic with puncture marks. Was being lazy and used a crappy old hook I had taken a file to as I was "only experimenting" Bloody stupid!

Yesterday went out again ..... no hits but went exploring on my own then headed offshore to Couran and the 50m line in search of a Dollie ..... not sure what I would have done if I'd hooked up on my own out there!! Anyway no hits so headed back only to slip on the F&*$ing boat ramp and destroy my mobile ...... hence unable to reply to your msg mate!!

Well done in the comp ..... and super photo's!

Call ya soon mate. PS can you pm me your numbers again!!!

McCod
20-12-2005, 02:11 PM
Good spiel Toppy! Sounds to easy…. I had to eat my words after the Faust comp…. as I thought you would have to boat 5 fish each session to be in the running in the 2 day comp. The same with the night comp…. But the fishing was not as most expected. When Lindsay Dobe & Jack Erskine came up fishless over the 2 day comp and something like 50 % of anglers came with the big 0 . The fishing was not real flash .

# # Cheers Les

Toppy
20-12-2005, 03:07 PM
Thanks for the kind words Les, Yes the fishing was better two days before the comp right on the full moon. But I guess they had to spread the comps over the best part of the month.
How did you guys end up overall? & did you have fun one way or another?

McCod
20-12-2005, 03:32 PM
Toppy.... yeah mate i still had fun... I got 1 Barra @ 102 cm at Faust 2 day comp .... got the big 0 on the night comp. Team mate got none.
Think the one fish put me in 11th over the to day comp.
Will be back next year if can get the time off.

# #Cheers Les

Attached is the only one.... caught on a Squidgy Slick Rig 130 mm "Drop Bear"

Awoonga
20-12-2005, 04:53 PM
Would l do it again ? yes maybe a bit different next time . Not getting a fish on my" home" dam did hit me for a six.... Some good has come out of it .. A sponser has come forward and wants to do a few things....They have been watching the AFC on tv and see benefits in promoting there products on boats..

Jay_S
20-12-2005, 05:00 PM
Great work mate :o :oThey are some Excellent photo's you took :)


Cheers Jay 8-)

devocean
20-12-2005, 06:30 PM
Top work got one myself the other week , they seem to bite way better at night on the full moon I reckon

Toppy
20-12-2005, 11:10 PM
Thats a nice Barra 2 there Les, and that fire is still blazing in the background of the photo.
I'm glad you still had fun, its always a bummer when the fishing is tuff.
Its a positive attitude that makes a difference, I'm sure that comp fishing as a sport is only just taking off in Australia but at the rate its growing I think more sponsors will kick in & get involved.
Lets hope next year the fish come out and play and that more people catch numbers.
cheers for now
Paul

Mak579
21-12-2005, 08:44 AM
Hey Paul,

Great Report and Pics.

It was a pleasure chatting to yourself and Steve about all things 'fishy' between events back at camp. Luke and I will no doubt catch up with you again next year on Tour!!

As promised, I put the squidgies you kindly gave me to good use recently out at a local reef #- thanks again.

Matt Coleman

flickflack
21-12-2005, 09:42 AM
Top report Paul and some beautiful pics there mate. I dont get tired of looking at those awesome fish... mmm oneday ;)

black_sheep
21-12-2005, 12:43 PM
Did well boys - better than most from what I heard.

lukesnapper
21-12-2005, 03:26 PM
some big barra there toppy, especially pic 3. well done. :)

Toppy
21-12-2005, 04:45 PM
Thanks guys!
Matt Coleman, how are you mate?
Did you fish well at Tinaroo, I heard the fish were mostly small up there during the comp!
Looks like you are still living the good life & sneaking in a fish here & there.
I hope you caught something on those lures, the lemon chicken works a treat down here on the Goldie.
Have you heard of Zoom soft plastics? I now have access to them & we are catching fish! Last night I got my first jack on one & met a guy at a bream comp on the weekend who caught a 9.2kg snapper on one in Moreton bay. It wasnt his first either.
Anyway hope you and your family have a good & safe Chrisy & look forward to seeing your posts!!!!!!!
Cheers
Paul

Mak579
22-12-2005, 10:14 AM
Paul,

Things are good thanks - been trying a few different things around the creeks and open water with some good results, it's a bit warm up here though at the moment.

Sounds like you've been getting amongst them down there as well - good stuff

The queenie above was caught on the evil minnow that you gave me and the lemon chicken hooked a just undersize coral trout, awesome. A BCF opened up here recently so I've stocked up on some shads ready for the next trip. Another one that has been working well up here on the smaller fish has been the 75mm Ginger Beer Shad. The juvenile trevally, queenies and some good size bream have taken quite a liking to it.

I haven't heard of the zoom soft plastics but would be interested in checking them out. I'll send you a PM (when I reach 10 posts)

As you predicted Tinaroo was pretty tough, a lot of the fish were small (as a result of the local stocking strategy) with only two fish landed over the metre. I was lucky enough to land one at 107cm on the first night but, like Faust I ended up with nil on the second night. Between Luke and I we only manged about 7 hits for the two nights and only come up solid on the one fish - we were pretty happy to get one in the boat and had a lot of fun while we were up there.

Have a good Christmas New Years and thanks again
Matt