jimbojames

Did my good deed last week and volunteered for the Recfish , Reef design lab and Charles Sturt council Artificial reef deployment and construction for West Lakes . Was an interesting first day at the council putting the reefs together and even tho the 6 volunteers were split into 2 groups for two time slots i ended up staying and helping out for the whole day . They went together fairly easily and was interesting to be so hands on . Some extra tools would of been handy but we managed with what we had , lol . I took the camera along to get some footage of the second day being the deployment of the 12 Reefs which sat at different levels in the water , they were also put in 4 groups of 3 and hopefully this will encourage the fish to be more mobile between the  reefs . Also had my go pro for some underwater footage and i hope to get back for some updates on growth over the next couple of years . Any way , i hope you enjoy the video .

Did my good deed last week and volunteered for the Recfish , Reef design lab and Charles Sturt council Artificial reef deployment and construction for West Lakes . Was an interesting first day at the council putting the reefs together and even tho the 6 volunteers were split into 2 groups for two time slots i ended up staying and helping out for the whole day . They went together fairly easily and was interesting to be so hands on . Some extra tools would of been handy but we managed with what we had , lol . I took the camera along to get some footage of the second day being the deployment of the 12 Reefs which sat at different levels in the water , they were also put in 4 groups of 3 and hopefully this will encourage the fish to be more mobile between the  reefs . Also had my go pro for some underwater footage and i hope to get back for some updates on growth over the next couple of years . Any way , i hope you enjoy the video .

Did my good deed last week and volunteered for the Recfish , Reef design lab and Charles Sturt council Artificial reef deployment and construction for West Lakes . Was an interesting first day at the council putting the reefs together and even tho the 6 volunteers were split into 2 groups for two time slots i ended up staying and helping out for the whole day . They went together fairly easily and was interesting to be so hands on . Some extra tools would of been handy but we managed with what we had , lol . I took the camera along to get some footage of the second day being the deployment of the 12 Reefs which sat at different levels in the water , they were also put in 4 groups of 3 and hopefully this will encourage the fish to be more mobile between the  reefs . Also had my go pro for some underwater footage and i hope to get back for some updates on growth over the next couple of years . Any way , i hope you enjoy the video .

All happening next weekend at Goolwa.
Proudly sponsored by
Fishing SA , StrikeHook.com , Fishing Wholesalers ,Mully Hunters ,
Fishing Guru , Reel Scream Fishing , SA Canoe Experience
Goolwa round
Start is 10am Sat 3rd till 2pm Sun 4th Dec
$10 entry , Registration will be at the tent next to the Goolwa Aquatic Club carpark (near the toilet block)
Open to all and everyone .
Once registered you will be given an ID slip that MUST be in CLEAR photo with fish on a brag mat or clear measuring device .
All legal means of capturing fish are ok from Boat , Canoe , Kayak , beach or wading .
Any area in the general Goolwa and Coorong is open for fishing .
All entrants must be back buy close of round 2pm Sun 4th .
All photos are to be submitted to judges by close or possible elimination can occur .
Please bring brag mat and camera for entries .
Categories are = Biggest Mulloway senior 1st 2nd 3rd
Biggest Mulloway jnr (12 and under)
Mystery fish
Raffle
If no Mulloway are caught then it will come down to the biggest fish other .
BBQ drinks will be going .
Casting comp , free entry for round entrants , $5 for on the spot competitors .
Any queries please feel free to ask .
 

All happening next weekend at Goolwa.
Proudly sponsored by
Fishing SA , StrikeHook.com , Fishing Wholesalers ,Mully Hunters ,
Fishing Guru , Reel Scream Fishing , SA Canoe Experience
Goolwa round
Start is 10am Sat 3rd till 2pm Sun 4th Dec
$10 entry , Registration will be at the tent next to the Goolwa Aquatic Club carpark (near the toilet block)
Open to all and everyone .
Once registered you will be given an ID slip that MUST be in CLEAR photo with fish on a brag mat or clear measuring device .
All legal means of capturing fish are ok from Boat , Canoe , Kayak , beach or wading .
Any area in the general Goolwa and Coorong is open for fishing .
All entrants must be back buy close of round 2pm Sun 4th .
All photos are to be submitted to judges by close or possible elimination can occur .
Please bring brag mat and camera for entries .
Categories are = Biggest Mulloway senior 1st 2nd 3rd
Biggest Mulloway jnr (12 and under)
Mystery fish
Raffle
If no Mulloway are caught then it will come down to the biggest fish other .
BBQ drinks will be going .
Casting comp , free entry for round entrants , $5 for on the spot competitors .
Any queries please feel free to ask .
 

All happening next weekend at Goolwa.
Proudly sponsored by
Fishing SA , StrikeHook.com , Fishing Wholesalers ,Mully Hunters ,
Fishing Guru , Reel Scream Fishing , SA Canoe Experience
Goolwa round
Start is 10am Sat 3rd till 2pm Sun 4th Dec
$10 entry , Registration will be at the tent next to the Goolwa Aquatic Club carpark (near the toilet block)
Open to all and everyone .
Once registered you will be given an ID slip that MUST be in CLEAR photo with fish on a brag mat or clear measuring device .
All legal means of capturing fish are ok from Boat , Canoe , Kayak , beach or wading .
Any area in the general Goolwa and Coorong is open for fishing .
All entrants must be back buy close of round 2pm Sun 4th .
All photos are to be submitted to judges by close or possible elimination can occur .
Please bring brag mat and camera for entries .
Categories are = Biggest Mulloway senior 1st 2nd 3rd
Biggest Mulloway jnr (12 and under)
Mystery fish
Raffle
If no Mulloway are caught then it will come down to the biggest fish other .
BBQ drinks will be going .
Casting comp , free entry for round entrants , $5 for on the spot competitors .
Any queries please feel free to ask .
 

All happening next weekend at Goolwa.
Proudly sponsored by
Fishing SA , StrikeHook.com , Fishing Wholesalers ,Mully Hunters ,
Fishing Guru , Reel Scream Fishing , SA Canoe Experience
Goolwa round
Start is 10am Sat 3rd till 2pm Sun 4th Dec
$10 entry , Registration will be at the tent next to the Goolwa Aquatic Club carpark (near the toilet block)
Open to all and everyone .
Once registered you will be given an ID slip that MUST be in CLEAR photo with fish on a brag mat or clear measuring device .
All legal means of capturing fish are ok from Boat , Canoe , Kayak , beach or wading .
Any area in the general Goolwa and Coorong is open for fishing .
All entrants must be back buy close of round 2pm Sun 4th .
All photos are to be submitted to judges by close or possible elimination can occur .
Please bring brag mat and camera for entries .
Categories are = Biggest Mulloway senior 1st 2nd 3rd
Biggest Mulloway jnr (12 and under)
Mystery fish
Raffle
If no Mulloway are caught then it will come down to the biggest fish other .
BBQ drinks will be going .
Casting comp , free entry for round entrants , $5 for on the spot competitors .
Any queries please feel free to ask .
 

Cheers @jimbojames and @Marsone. I'll definetly look into it! I can imagine the buzz you'd get after hooking up on one of your own flies. Thanks guys

@keenfisho, thanks mate, I'll PM him now.

I'm with Jimbo - buy yourself a cheap vice online and get stuck into it. Heaps of info on youtube. Things like nymphs, adams parachutes and clousers are so simple you'll be able to do them straight away and go catch fish. Worthwhile investment

Look into doing your own bud . It really isnt as hard as you think , i have made my own Redfin , Carp and Mulloway fly's . Craft store's are a good place for fly materials as well as some good suppliers online . So far i haven't caught Redfin on the flys i have made , but the satisfaction of fooling a fish with your own tied fly is awesome .

Look into doing your own bud . It really isnt as hard as you think , i have made my own Redfin , Carp and Mulloway fly's . Craft store's are a good place for fly materials as well as some good suppliers online . So far i haven't caught Redfin on the flys i have made , but the satisfaction of fooling a fish with your own tied fly is awesome .

Noosa Trip
The day to depart Adelaide with the flight to leave at 11.00 am and a heavy storm predicted to arrive late morning,with me thinking this is going to be close to take off.
Waiting at the terminal we get told there will be a delay for 10 mins for our incoming flight to arrive.Finally we are being backed out onto the tarmac and waiting for 4 incoming flights to land before we can taxi out for take off at 11.20.Now the heavy cloud has arrived and the rain is starting with me thinking common lets go,anyway we take off and as  we climb to 100-200m of the ground we get hit with lighting across my side and the wing.The lady sitting next to me by the window says she felt that go into her hand and foot but we experience no power loss or crash we are finally on our way  to Sydney and with a connecting flight to Port Macquarie to stay a few days to look around.
 
While spending a few days to look around i get to see the local fishos in there rivers and lakes and think gee they get it much better than we do here with so many more fishing locations with lakes and lagoons.
Drove (hire car)through goldcoast into Noosa where i spent 5 days and finally getting into a charter being busy school holidays time there and being heavily visitor populated.
Just as a side note,no one really worries about speed limits here,travelling on the M1 highway at 100kph i had cars passing me at 130-150kph.But when staying at Coffs Harbor or Brisbane ever 10 cop cars i'd seen 8 of them had someone pulled over for speeding..LOL.
 
Anyway being on stand by for a charter i get the call for a midday trip and we now go over the Noosa sand bar on a quiet mild day with nice sea conditions,didn't take us long getting out to 30 clicks off the coast with 2x300hp out boards.Only 5 on the charter plus the skipper and deck hand,over all we had moved to 6 locations over the 5 hours looking for better fish.
The guy next to me hooked up on something big but the hook pulled,the skipper and deck hand started fishing of the back between the out boards catching live bait until the skipper hooked up on that mulloway pictured.Then i started getting live bait to drop 50m to bottom and i was on something bigger and what do you know the hook pulled and it was gone and so was our time to head back to shore.I had the most catch rate on the boat but nothing worth keeping but was given that mulloway which was cooked up and served that night..
 
As for the equipment supplied i asked about what they had used over the years for rods and reels and he said,they ran the Diawa saltist for a while but they became to expensive.They used the Penn SSV water resistant reel but they started rusting up  in side just from getting splashed and never being submersed.They settled for the Fin-Nor Offshore 65 reels at $130 each and ugly stik rods.He told me with 12 rods and reels i'd seen onboard each rod went through 2 reels per season so yeah 24 reels a year.
We used 30lb mono with 50lb leader 2x4/0 circle hooks and a 12 oz sinker for the current.We had a few whales in the back ground had 2 sharks come by for a short time and a dolphin for a while..Was it worth it..probably not as i could have gone to Fiji for the same money..Any way a few pictures..
 

It is probably the market sending the non sales , being right handed overheads to Australia . LOL . And then the retailers just putting the spins on the same side . hahahahaha . I have managed to get myself a decent shimano td25 overhead with left hand wind for those bigger fish eg , Tuna , Sampsons rays and hopefully a Kingy this year for myself , you know for fishing properly , hehehe . Putting the whole handle , to what ever side , it really does come down to having better strength , feeling and control in the dominant hand and using this to fight the fish with .

Some good rookie action  put to the test.

 

Long time no post . On the long weekend just gone i was keen to get out for a fish but not sure if i was going to have the time or not and if i did were i was going to be able to go . A few phone calls , a few odd jobs knocked on the head that had to be done and a few things falling through i was talking to a mate Shane and he was able to catch up on monday and we decided where .
  Sunday afternoon i thought about a Fly rod i had and decided to finally give it a go knowing that where we was going , had a few Carp that were easily seen in the shallow tight waters . So the wife and i headed down to the park sunday arvo wife the little fella , dogs and Fly rod in hand so i could give this fly casting a crack and see how it is done , or at least give it a try for the FIRST time . After getting the general gist of how it works and also giving myself a few welts to back , head and left ear ?????? (dont know how i got my left ear when casting on the right) , we headed home .
  So i had an idea at what i was going to do but then realised i didn't have any bread Fly's or any sort of Fly that might interest a stubborn Carp into eating my hook , and at 8-9 at night where was i going to get any. A couple of text msg later and Pathmaker had given me a few ideas on what to use and how to tie what i was after in the way of a bread Fly for the Carp i was going to aim for .
  Nice bright and early Luke Mills had picked me up first thing in the morning , after a late night last minute call , and we was on our way to meet up with Shane .
Arrived at our destination and Shane was all ready to get started and as Luke and Shane were fishing with SP's they headed off while i had to rig up my FIRST ever Fly that i had tied onto my FIRST ever fly set up .
Once i was ready i caught up to Shane and Luke who were pool hoping along the skinny creek and decided to skip past them as i had seen Carp cruising the shallows of a perticular pool the last time i was here . As i was walking up to the section i wanted to fish i could see a couple of Carp just mulching in the shallows right next to the bank and even scared one which took off with a bow wave into deeper water . Things looking promising . A few casts to some Carp that were cruising and visable but they didn't seem too interested in what i had to offer . I cast at a perticular Carp cruising and again this one just didn't seem that interested and out of the corner of my eye i could see another Carp cruising along the bank just under my feet and thought about pulling my line in and seeing if i could dangle the Fly right in front of its's face under my feet . As i look back at my rod and just as I am about to pull my line back i noticed it had started moving a bit quicker than the current and I gave it a slight strike .
  Well , this Carp (that i didn't see) just took off like a steam train straight down to the other end of the stretch of creek that i was fishing into the deeper section , removing my line straight down to the backing . Woooah there nelly as it skirted the reeds and i had absolutely no say in where this Carp was going . I called out to Shane as Luke and Shane had just started to flick the pool of water that this Carp had taken off too . Shane helped me negotiate the bank of trees and shrubs by taking and passing the rod to me so i could get some line back on my reel . Finally managed to get most of my line back on the reel and down to the deeper section of skinny creek that the Carp was now in doing battle with me . I had such trouble trying to pull this Carp of the bottom as every time i would get it close it would take off back to the bottom or try and head back up river so there was a fair bit of butting heads between this Carp and i . It was at a  pretty bad stale mate as this went on for over 45 min before the Carp finally , finally relented and rose to the surface so i could get a glimps of this beast .
  It then had another go at heading to the bottom in one last effort of escaping but my patience and will had toppled the beast into submission and i was able to get the Carp to rise to the surface one last time before pulling the Carp to the embankment for capture . F@#$in aye i finally did it and had landed my FIRST fish .
  I had to be patient with this fight as i only had a 4lb tip leader to the Fly and had also noticed a nick in the Fly line about 3 meters in and new i had to be really gentle with my drag , not to cause the line to break and i can tell you my arm was nearly falling of by the time i had the fish on the bank . The Carp went 10lb in the old scale and 4.67kg to be precise .
 

 

Ever since the first time I hit the Onk this season, I've been hitting it almost every week! It started off with a slow session on the salmon, so our plan B was to fish the Onk, although we didn't have the right gear, we emphasised and managed to land a few good fish! 4 fish were landed the first time between James and I. Biggest went 37.5cm.    
 




 
The fish turned off for a while so we finished the day off at the jetty. A nice school came by and James and I landed 2 fish each around 45cm! We were stoked and wanted to do it again.

 
The next time we headed down, it was a lot more breezy and cold.  The water was a chocolate milk colour and our hopes were lost. We started flicking and soon found a school! We both landed a decent fish each and dropped some too. We continued and found another school, same thing happens. Biggest fish went 39cm and FAT! But the majority of fish were over 35cm. Killa fun. 















 
Once the tides changed, the fish turned off so we decided to check out the jetty again.. Unfortunately, the salmon did not want to play this time. 
 
With the bloodworm run taking place around metro waters, we hit the Onk again!     This time the condition were nice. We were welcomed to the spot with a glassed off river and a slight breeze. The water wasn't as murky as last time, but it was still quite dirty. We fished the same spots, and soon found a school. They weren't as active today, but in the end, we managed a couple of good fish. James hooked a bream that would have easily tipped 40cm but unfortunately it spat the hook!   Loved the photos James took today, epic!!   







 
I had planned to fish with Nathan, Kwok and Kelvin on Sunday. Same plans! It was one of the best days (weather wise), but the fishing wasn't up to standards. As Nathan and I moved along, Kelvin and Kwok decided to hit another spot in the Onk. They caught a lot more than we did! We worked hard for the fish all day, but I only managed 3. Biggest went 35cm.




 
Now for my trip to Port Augusta! I'm sure there will be a report, unless I donut!!   
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the report.     
 

Nice one .

Hey Guys,
I've made a new video on carp fishing on the river. hope you like it!
 

Good luck bud , hope you do well .

So,

I get home from work with some holidays booked and keen as to get away for some time to unwind with the only problem being where to go, tossed around hooking up the boat for a river trip but when in I walked in to the shed and seen the surf rods that haven't had a run in close on 8 months my mind was made up a over nighter to Goolwa .


Thursday morning with last few items throwen in I hit the road at 6.30am. Pulling in to the beach car park around 8.00 am, I set about dropping my tyre pressures via the strawn's. It really drives me nuts seeing 4wd still running road pressures chewing up the beach for no reason. Anyway after a easy drive to the mouth, I spent some time watching the dredge working and at the unbelievable numbers of seals around . I picked out a nice little hole set up camp and had the rods in by 10
 
With the 1st rod loaded with a st fillet

 
2nd rod with a pilly and a popper

 
The first bite came around 1pm and  soon had a beautiful salmon on the beach ,bled and in the esky .

 
A long wait till the next bite around 5.30 and was surprised to have caught my 1st salmon on a popper

 
After missing a huge hit on a whole squid head, the cold and poor footy game I decided to  pack it in around 9.30pm and climbed in the swag.
 
Friday morning rolled around still bloodly cold but great conditions I had the rods back in by 6.30am. I fished hard again all day changing bait every 20mins till the next bite around 1pm again, this fish didn't fight very well the reason eviedent with a trace and hook coming out through the gills. I don't know how long fishing line needs to be in the water for the growth on the line to get to that stage but it couldn't have been pleasent


 
Come 3pm and I packed up for the drive home , with 20 hrs of fishing for 3 fish not the best, it was great to get away and enjoy some great weather and camping.
 
A quick pic of tea, fresh salmon patties yum yum

Yeah there are Rod a reel combos , Fishing SA magazine subscription ,Raffle prizes and all sorts . Have a suss at the face book page for the last comp write up for an idea on what the prizes are . Will be collecting and purchasing the prizes this week for this particular one so not positive on the specifics of what combos and stuff .

The next round is nearly here . A month to go so clear your dairy and dust off you tackle .

The Strike Hook salmon competition for 2016 is on NOW!!!     Major sponsor SPOTTERS on board for this awesome comp with a cool Spotters prize pack up for grabs.     Major Prize: Spotters prize pack including, very cool cap, sun shade, sunglasses strap and a pair of awesome SPOTTERS FURY (Gloss Black) with Halide lens.   Two runner up prizes including salmon lures and poppers.   Also check out the Spotters website www.spotters.com.au for their full range of sunnies and merchandise.     This year we have a points system for the major prize. Points will be awarded for fish with the total highest amount of points at the end being the winner. If there is a draw then the largest fish or least small fish will decide the final winner.     21cm - 35cm 2 points 36cm - 45cm 4 points 46cm - 55cm 6 points 56cm - 65cm 8 points 66cm - 75cm 10 points 76cm and above 12 points    
Longest overall salmon for one runner up prize.
 
As a backup we are having a few options for the last runner up prize which relies heavily on the members reports. These include the worst trip, best by-catch, most kms traveled and the most trips all chasing salmon.
 
This comp is dependent on good salmon reports from members who would like to take part so please get as much information in your reports, try to take some nice clear photos and get right into the Strike Hook spirit and get as many fishos as we can chasing salmon for the comp.
 
The comp ends on August 31st 2016 and is open to anyone and everyone in South Australia!
 
Good luck everyone 

Here's a few photos that  took this morning from a few places where I could get to the Mersey & Dasher Rivers. One dairy farmer who I know very well had 300 dairy cows swept from his property early this morning when the river rose well above what was predicted. He had moved them to higher ground too, but in the end it just wasn't high enough. I was hard seeing them struggling in the flooded water, with most of them not making it. I did see several that had made it out, these were scattered in several paddocks some two kilometers down stream. I reckon he may have lost at least 250 head though which was a shame. It's something I hope not to see again at all, very distressing that's for sure. We were cut off at both ends of Sheffield early this morning from farm dams over flowing big time. A few roads and bridges were also washed away, 216 mms of rain in 9 hours.
 
 I have put a few photos of the same areas to compare the difference from normal river flow to major flooding.
 

From this .. Dasher River.

To this..

Dasher River on a normal day..

Dasher River today..

To think I normally wade up through here, but usually when it's 3.0 meters lower.

The Dasher on another normal day..

 Much different today..

The Mersey River at Merseylea, this was taken early August, the river is still a meter or so higher than normal..

The same area today..

The new bridge well under water, the last bridge was washed away three years ago when they said it was a 100 yr flood, they're saying the same again today.. 
Does this mean we get a 100 yr flood every three yrs now???

This road is where I go and fish above the old wooden bridge at Merseylea.. can't get near it today.

I zoomed in to where the bridge is supposed to be and spotted two survivors which was good to see, they should be okay where they are hopefully.
Note the bridge handrail on the RHS, that's all what's above the water..

 Wattle tree down on the bridge over the Dasher River..

 Pump shed under water as is the farm house on the RHS just out of picture, the owner was with me and I didn't want to take a photo while he was there. 
He was very distressed, poor bugger has had this property on the market for three years now, will be tough selling it after this..

 Mersey River spills into farmland, crops all under water.