Soobz

not sure how either of these will go but.....

These thin worms are a pain to rig - so I cut up some shrink tube to protect them from the thread - then lashed them on - with a dab of super glue on the securing knots

Just waiting to see if there is a reaction and the different plastic causes the "Zman Style" plastic to melt.

Also -  I was looking up Kayak nets and they are pretty exxy.  I can get a $10 replacement rubber net off ali expres - and I had the steel rod and pvc in the garage - just heated it up - and put a pencil in the middle of the wires and stepped on it - a bit of araldite will lock them in place - and bang - cheap net for little stuff.

I'll check when we last stocked the hills and what the current feeling on natural replenishment is. Certainly they will not breed in the plains rivers.

None of the hills rivers are stocked these days, we're not allowed to. Luckily the Adelaide Hills is cool enough, salinity low enough, and the right gravel beds form for the trout to be able to spawn. Please be extra careful walking in the rivers during spawning season to not walk on gravel beds as that's where the eggs are. These are likely to be the wider/shallower parts which are where you'd like to cross but should avoid.

None of the hills rivers are stocked these days, we're not allowed to. Luckily the Adelaide Hills is cool enough, salinity low enough, and the right gravel beds form for the trout to be able to spawn. Please be extra careful walking in the rivers during spawning season to not walk on gravel beds as that's where the eggs are. These are likely to be the wider/shallower parts which are where you'd like to cross but should avoid.

Awesome fish! Interesting fly that, so rewarding to catch on your own tied fly. Cheers on the release.
Those rivers are great at times, but the amount of fertilizer washing into them is a bit of a problem regards weeds, reeds and algae. I'll be up there on the weekend to do some remedial work on one of them.
Historical Adelaide Hills river data says Browns will spawn from the end of May until June or July, Rainbows are later up until Sept. For that reason we don't fish the cooler months as we are no longer allowed to stock those rivers, so if the trout don't replace themselves on their own they will be gone forever.

Awesome fish! Interesting fly that, so rewarding to catch on your own tied fly. Cheers on the release.
Those rivers are great at times, but the amount of fertilizer washing into them is a bit of a problem regards weeds, reeds and algae. I'll be up there on the weekend to do some remedial work on one of them.
Historical Adelaide Hills river data says Browns will spawn from the end of May until June or July, Rainbows are later up until Sept. For that reason we don't fish the cooler months as we are no longer allowed to stock those rivers, so if the trout don't replace themselves on their own they will be gone forever.

Caught this decent Brown in the hills recently. In the Mid 50's. Went all arabattic on me jumping several times. Released well. Caught on own ruff tied fly. 

 

 

 

20230314_113820_1.mp4

Took 2 casts to pass the micro perch test. Then 2 more to pass it again.……..
 
on the down side the trebs don’t like rough treatment and I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the brisk arse first sink on the pause. 
 
I haven’t used sinking bibbed minnows before. Is the arse first sink pretty standard?

I may have cranked up the saturation a bit to bring out the purples

It looks different depending on which device I use to view the photo - on my phone and laptop  it looks almost normal - but on the work laptop, it looks like I way over cranked the saturation.

Just going to post the original untouched to see if theres a difference

Fished the dodge tide on Saturday. 

Unfortunately the wind and air pressure conspired to negate what little water movement there was. Rather than accentuate it which is what I was expecting. 
Nonetheless got 16 from 32 to 40cm. Sunday was a blow out !
 


 
 

No worries - yeah it seems no retrieve could be too violent when the prawns are in full panic mode.

Fish are much better at tracking stuff through the air than I first thought.

I remember being on a 3 story boat that takes tourist snorkeling up north - my mate left her camera on the second story, near where I was and asked me to get it.

It was a cheap disposable with a float - so I threw it near her, off the balcony - she got swamped by all sorts of reef fish. I could see them tracking the camera as soon as it left my hands.

The staff on those boats throw fish scraps off the side to feed them, so they are well trained to investigate stuff thrown into the water. But from a birds eye view - it was interesting to see how well they can see up through the surface of the water. And how quickly they can lock onto an airbourne target
 
 

Mate went out yesty, on bait, 1 undersized and saw nothing else but puffers. Saw the netting pros out recently so likely the reason for no fish on such a good day for them. One day we will wake up and ban netting and long lines in the gulfs. Maybe.

Sports fishing scene are about to have a sale, same with Tackleworld, and Reelndeal are in the middle of one so I'd be  heading  to  those. Have a look at Venom rods at SFS, can't remember what I got but does whiting to tuna they reckon.

Sports fishing scene are about to have a sale, same with Tackleworld, and Reelndeal are in the middle of one so I'd be  heading  to  those. Have a look at Venom rods at SFS, can't remember what I got but does whiting to tuna they reckon.

Sports fishing scene are about to have a sale, same with Tackleworld, and Reelndeal are in the middle of one so I'd be  heading  to  those. Have a look at Venom rods at SFS, can't remember what I got but does whiting to tuna they reckon.

A mate did some testing on seaweed worms trying to breed them up himself. Turns out they are very slow breeders so don't take more than you need and turn the weed back over as you found it, ie. don't just scatter it around, this is to protect any eggs that were there.

Also, you can easily catch squid from Port Hughes jetty, which would be another readily available bait.

Can't help with the beach/bungum worms, as I'm terrible at catching them. But there are two other types of worms that are easily collected, seaweed worms and a type of lug worm.
Seaweed worms are small worms that look a like garden worms. They can be found in the beds of seaweed washed up on the shore. You are looking for areas where the seaweed beds build up over time, not just what washes up after a big blow. You dig down to where the weed bed meets the sand underneath and will find the worms in the bottom layers of the seaweed. Don't be fooled by their small size, they are a gun bait, I've caught plenty of big YFW on these small worms.
The lug worms need a bait pump, but are also easy to collect and are definitely around Port Hughes. They are a bigger bait, but don't keep as well and can get a bit mushy. They also secrete a yellowy brown ooze that stains easily, making your fingers look like your a pack a day smoker.
The other option is pumping for nippers, which are plentiful around Port Hughes.

Mate went out yesty, on bait, 1 undersized and saw nothing else but puffers. Saw the netting pros out recently so likely the reason for no fish on such a good day for them. One day we will wake up and ban netting and long lines in the gulfs. Maybe.

That Tierra would probably suit you best, LXS=
L = Light
X = eXtra Fast action
S = Spin
ie a whippy light tip but more guts near the handle. I've landed 50cm salmon on it but it's light enough in the tip to feel tiny bites.

Mate went out yesty, on bait, 1 undersized and saw nothing else but puffers. Saw the netting pros out recently so likely the reason for no fish on such a good day for them. One day we will wake up and ban netting and long lines in the gulfs. Maybe.

Hi all.
I went out today. Just went local... Walked the out going and the incomming.. Was a long day....
Water was warm, clear and a little tape weed about.. Winds were all over the place.. Was 15ks first thing so a noisy lure was the go. As the wind dropped off I went to my searching lure..
Not many about,, They were not in groups.. Only one here and there.. And they were not really interested in lures. I managed 1 @ 36cm and fat.. Lost 2.. Me stuffing around with drag and weed..
Heaps of nice mullet about smashing lures. Nice sizes to.. 28cm and fat.. Lots of very small Silvers about.. Agressive little buggers today.. A few puffers about...
Seen heaps of decent YFW as the tide turned when I was walking in.. But way too much fast moving weed.. I tried and failed.. Same thing.. One here and there and not really in groups.. But they were big.. And a few nice KGW swimming about as well..
Lost 1 lure and changed spools 3 times.. Wind knots./snap off....
Was a good day....
Mike
 

Hi all..
Went out for a scout/cast today.. Tried some where new.. Walked the out going and incoming.. About 5 ks.. Not a biggy..
Water temp was warmish, Getting there.. Water was clear but patches of tape weed about....
Found a spot where they were.. Only were about where I found noodling holes... There wasnt too many of those either. They were concentrated in a few patches/areas only.. They were active, but fussy. Lure changers was the key. New lure = 1 fish, repeat.. Managed to get 6,, Not big ones but ok.. From 30-34cm.. Fat and healthy though.. Lost 3.. Weed tangles... At one spot they were hanging in the deeper gutter edge/run off area. I had to cast over some weed mounds to get them.. They were moving around that area.. I just stayed put and when they swan by Ide cast.. I was sight casting them.. Great fun.. They would hit the lure just as it hit the water and I started to retrieve.. Had to be quick as it was very close to the weed edge when they hit the lure..
After a bit they wernt taking the lures, just follow and turn away.. I moved on and found some more in roughly same type of area.. Got 2, lost 1 there.
It died down as the tide went low.. So I moved on and explored the area.. Mapped where I was and did some marks..
Plenty of salmon trout about, again? There every where.. Mullet, and some baby King George whiting.. Little buggers were smashing the lure in one spot.. Plaques of them.. I moved on.. 
I didnt see too many crabs.. Only in the one area.. Roughly the same area where the YFW were lingering about..
Lost another lure to a salmon trout.. First fish of the day and drag was too tight and it went under some heavy floating weed... Im loosing a few this season.. I didnt loose any last season.. Lucky I buy 2 or 3 each time.. Dont tell the wife..
Used 1 spool.. Snapp off.
All in all it was a good day, very promising area which Ill go back to later..
Mike









 

Haha - I remember watching those old classics on the ABC with the old man as a kid.

A few days before the water rations were put in place we spent a good 2 hours in the blazing sun, digging the 4wd out of the side of a sand dune.

It was a good reminder that when you're in a spot thats a long way from the nearest mechanic and has a rep for being tough on cars, you may be out there a bit longer than you had planned😉
 

"
It was a remote area, so our drinking water was still too important to waste on getting soap out of someones hair"
 
reminds me of a Ronnie Barker tv skit.
 
He  was a Britsh Officer serving in India.. bemoning that they nearly died of thirst...
" All the beer was gone, no gin left, whiskey finished weeks ago... we were down to our last 2 bottles of brandy"
" Sir... didnt you have any water...?"
"Of couse m'boy... but the situation was too serious to be concerned with cleanliness...."