mrfish

Wow!!  Just found this out, thanks to Spotters for putting up the prize and also strike & hook in picking my report as the March winner.. It's very much appreciated, thank you Bjorn for selecting my report..
 
They will be put to very good use inn the rivers down here in Tassie.. 
 
PM about to be sent to you..
 
cheers
Adrian

Got this the other weekend....
 
87cm Landbased off the beach 1-3kg rod, 1003 daiwa luvias reel, 4lb braid 4lb leader.......
 
Lost a genuine 1m plus model a few casts before :( was devastated! 
 

 

 

Cheers for the support Guys . It was a great night but the wind did pick up , the winning Mully was caught overnight but the rest were caught early afternoon on the first day with sunday morning being a very tough day fishing . Funnily enough it is usually the opposite and was one of the reasons it was held overnight .
The placings were = Carl Smith             1st place    81cm Mully             prize Rod and reel + prize pack $300
                                 Gavin Stansfield   2nd Place  74cm Shovel nose  prize Reel + prize pack $120
                                 Neal Palmer          3rd place   71cm Mully             prize landing net + prize pack $80
                                 Ashton Stansfield Junior         27cm Bream           prize Rod and reel  + prize pack $70
                                 Dylan Liddle         Mystery L   22cm Bream           prize Lure pack $60
                                 Scott Pascoe        Raffle        Novelty Lure            prize $100
It was a great day and i was rapt to have 5 jnr entries that had a crack . Keep your eyes out for the first round of the next season early Dec . Details will be on the Mully Mayhem FB page and also on here closer to time .

It's about time we had another Strike Hook Comp!!!
 
Every report posted up in March will give you the chance to win a SPOTTERS prize pack.
 
 
Spotters prize pack includes: very cool cap, sun shade, sunglasses strap and a pair of awesome SPOTTERS FURY (Gloss Black) with Halide lens.
 
Check out the Spotters website www.spotters.com.au for their full range of sunnies and merchandise.
 

 
At the end of the month the site staff will choose the best report of the month. Reports should be posted in any of the forum categories not in the comps category as we can check all posts in the month and will take note of our favourite posts during the month.
 
You can target any fish, crab, cephalopod, saltwater or fresh, boat or land based, if you catch heaps or none at all. All reports are up for the prize as long as it's legal and clean. We will be looking for a quality report, get us immersed in your fishing adventures, photos always help tell the story, videos can really add an exciting edge too.
 
 
 

The comp starts NOW March 1st 2017 and ends on March 31st 2017.

 

 

 

*** As we have a few members in other states, this comp will be open to all states of Australia! ***

 

 

Good luck everyone  

** This may be of some help to anyone fishing for trout during summer, I know how low & warm the rivers get in Sth Aust as I've fished them myself for many years before moving to Tassie.. But you may find a few helpful pointers from the article..
 
 
 '' SPIN FISHING RIVERS FOR TROUT IN SUMMER''
     by Adrian (meppstas) Webb
 
Well now with the warmer weather upon us it time to change a few tactics with fishing the rivers during the Summer months ahead. Lower water levels and warmer water temperatures is something that the trout don't like all that much. I have found the best water temperature for trout is between 11 deg C and 18 deg C above and below these temperatures and the fishing can become quite tough and even more so in Summer if the water temp reaches above 20deg then the trout tend to shut down.

Massive duns hatch makes for a tough day on a river for the spin fisher...
 
The rods, reels and line that I use for river fishing for trout are as follows: The rods are all 1.8 mtr & 1.91 mtr Daiwa Presso L/Wt 1-3kg coupled up with small Daiwa Presso, Ageas, Revros & Exceler reels and 4lb clear mono line to a swivel and anti-kink, from there it's 400mm trace of 6lb mono with a snap swivel attached followed by a blade spinner on the snap swivel. An anti-kink to me is a must when using blade spinner as they stop line twist which occurs when spin fishing with blade spinners. I always fish as light as possible and the weight of my blade spinners are 1.5gms. These are a variety of Mepps Black Fury's, Aglia's and Bug spinners. The hard body lures are 2gms in weight and they are only 30mms long. These are Rapala F-3 in rainbow, brown and brook trout patterns plus I do have a few Ralala CD-1's in rainbow and brown trout pattern as well a few Atomic Shad4, Muzza's & Wildbait hard body lures. I have used these spinners and lures for quite a long time with plenty of success. I have been the Angling Club Champion for the past 10 years in a row, so I know how good it gets when using light tackle that works for you. Like they say, when you're on a good thing ''Stick To It.''
''One of my l/wt Daiwa rod, small Daiwa reel, & Mepps spinner, great trout fishing set up.''

Trout falls to a rainbow pattern Rapala..
 
The long slow flowing stretches of a river will rarely give up a fish unless you are on it at first light or very late in the afternoon when the water temperature is much cooler and the sun is off the water. Fast water sections always fish well during the warmer weather as there is more oxygen in the water created by it rushing over the rocky sections of the river. Trout will sit in small pockets behind rocks that have small flat water behind them and will pounce on anything that passes by. It is here that you will find Summer fishing for trout at it's best.

Slower flowing water the trout will tend to be closer to the banks for protection..

Bright days with full sun means for tough fishing, fast water will hold trout early in the day..
 
I use small Mepps metal blade spinners and these work a treat in the fast water too. It's just a matter of casting the spinner up and across the river, then by keeping the rod tip at just below parallel to the water, retrieve the lure at the same speed as the flow of the river and hopefully you will soon bag a trout. Keeping the rod tip high will stop the spinner from bouncing on the rocky river bottom if you're fishing a shallow fast water run and also from possible snags. Another way is to cast on a slight angle up and across the river keeping the rod tip high & the line tight by letting the spinner drift downstream with the fast flow of the river.

Perfect water for trout during summer..
 
Once the line and lure are directly opposite you (facing the opposite side of the river) then slowly retrieve the line, this also produces many hookups. This can be done by using small floating hard body lures too. Some sections of fast water may be fish less, but this is just a part of what you have to contend with when trout fishing in fast water. Do not bypass any water as you will be surprised where trout will be holding. I have caught trout in 80mms of water that most fishers would bypass..

Solid brown was taken from the small flat water next to river bank.. never bypass any water..
 
On bright sunny days with clear skies I always use the spinners with a black blade because the trout's eyes are very sensitive to light, so you should not be using a shiny silver lure in these conditions. To catch trout and be successful in doing so, you really have to be in the river wading for them. By being in the river you have more access to some of the best sections of a river that will be holding trout. Then it's just a matter of casting into pockets of water and working the lure across the river and back to you at the same speed as the water. If you retrieve the lure too fast it will more than likely spook the fish more rather than attract it, so getting the speed of the lure is quite necessary for a good catch rate.
'' With bright conditions & clear water, head for shaded areas or fast water runs.''

A black blade works best during summer in clear water..

As does a dark hard body lure..
 
If there are sections of the river were the sun is on it, then work the areas that have shade along the on them from the vegetation that grows along the river banks. These shaded areas regularly hold trout. Wide open spaces and slower shallow runs rarely hold trout on hot, clear days, but on overcast days the trout will venture into these sections of the river more often. Some of the best fishing in Summer is when it is a humid day with light drizzle. I have had many great sessions on the rivers in these conditions. It's worth getting a little damp being in the river in these conditions that's for sure. This is when you can use a variety of spinners and hard body lures of different colours. Spinners in black, copper and gold all seem to produce some very good catches of both brown and rainbow trout in this type of weather. Hard body Rapala minnow lures in the trout patterns previously mentioned earlier will do well, as will many other hard body lures on the market and there are plenty to choose from..

Dull overcast day and humid conditions.. 29 trout caught this day..
 
The best time to fish for trout throughout the Summer months is at first light up until around 9.00am or when the sun hits the water, after that then your just wasting your time. If you're not an early riser then do as I do now days and that is go late in the afternoon. I will hit the river around 4.30pm -5.00pm when there is shaded areas along the river banks and you can work those areas and runs until the sun gets much lower and the whole river is covered in shade. Both early morning and late afternoon are some of the best times to be on a river. So if you want to catch a few trout over the Summer period then follow my lead and I'm sure you will pick up a fish or two and remember to use light tackle and hope in and wade the river. One other thing is don't bother fishing the small rivers and creeks at this time of year either, low clear water the trout spook at the slightest movement.. You may still catch a few but they stress too easily in these conditions, so wait until there's a good down pour of rain that puts a little more water back into the rivers.

Early morning, best time to be on a river..

Spin fishing the fast water..

Right hand side of the river, shaded side should hold a trout or two..
 
cheers
Adrian

After a long four hour session in the Meander River today I was resting up before moving on to another area when I noticed the insect feeding on a wild field daisy, grabbed the little canon powershot camera,
set it on manual and macro then took this photo.. turned out pretty good I reckon..
 
cheers
Adrian
 
 

And I remember when the news broke out of this monster from SAs South East.
 
http://www.elasmollet.org/Cc/Ken_Jury.html

I'll be having a crack at some gar from the kayak,
Also really want to get something big from the kayak, snapper, king, hell i'll take a port Jackson !
Also want to start exploring the fabled northern flats....starting this weekend hopefully, not the best conditions though, does anyone know if a 0.95m low tide is low enough to get out to the good spots or is it better to wait for a lower tide?

I'll be having a crack at some gar from the kayak,
Also really want to get something big from the kayak, snapper, king, hell i'll take a port Jackson !
Also want to start exploring the fabled northern flats....starting this weekend hopefully, not the best conditions though, does anyone know if a 0.95m low tide is low enough to get out to the good spots or is it better to wait for a lower tide?

I'd like to report that I haven't caught any damn salmon lately!
 
Pics to follow...  

Yesterday (Monday), the weather forecast was for moderate North Easterly winds along the coast, and a reasonably chance of rain.   So I decided to head for Waitpinga and Parsons to lure for Salmon, a bit of warm clothing and wet gear.  Even though the area hadn’t produced for me in a while, neither had metro southern beaches, apart for a few ST’s – so I had nothing to lose.
 
So the car was already parked - from the day befores outing for a couple of flicks around Maslins (for a donut) – and I headed off at 8.45am with intentions to have the line wet before 10am.  A cloudy day both here and all the way to Waits.
 
A high tide of 1.08mts at 12noon would have me there in time for the incoming tide and allowing some good distance of walking the beach until its peak.
 
A quick stop for a photo of Victor area.  It does look so much better when the sun is out.
 

 
 
Almost there.
 

 
 
A view over a water catchment towards Waits.  According to a local, this catchment lost a lot bream recently from heavy rains and apparently the outlet along the beach had dozens of dead bream.
 

 
 
The Waits viewing platform has not changed since the storms (no steps) and the way down is still to walk left onto the dunes.  Whilst I was there some workman just about to put some posts along the dune and had dismantled the remaining 3 steps from the damage.
 

 

 

 
 
Conditions looked great, no wind (so much for the weather forecast), but it started to rain quite steady.
 

 
 
I decided to park at the bottom car park for an easier approach to the beach.
 

 

 
 
Once on the beach I headed to the right where some nice looking gutters were and headed right to the end without any Salmon touching my lure.  I used a 40g Halco chrome lure at first then changed to a $4 cheapie from K-Mart for the walk back.
 
Once back at the platform area, and with the high tide about half an hour away, I could see the waves hitting hard against the sand dunes.  There was no way I could get past without being swamped and I wanted to get up by the reef that has produced well in the past.
 
So decided to get up on to the sand dunes and climb over the top of them until I got past these breaking waves.  Mind you I had second thoughts of doing this as a couple of the dunes did look kind of steep – but nothing ventured, nothing gained, so off I headed.
 
Just repeating this photo as it shows the area of concern just left of the 2 fisherman.  You might think that first sand dune doesn’t look too bad, and it wasn’t, but the next one behind the first was worse, but I soldiered on.
 

 
 
Well effort to get on to the beach from the ‘hazard’ proved to be a waste of time as again there were not hits on my lure.  It’s about 1pm now and from the reef I couldn’t tell if the waves were still smashing the sand dune, so decided to walk right to the end, knowing there was not too many opportunities to flick due to rocks etc.  But thought this will waste a little more time allowing the water to drop a little.  That paid off as the waves had subsided slightly and saving me another dune climb.
 
Now off to Parsons Beach and I wasn’t holding much hope of catching anything.
 

 
 
On my arrival, I took a quick photo of the beach and noticed one fisherman near the exposed rocks.  Mind you, those rocks (once I was done there) were absolutely fantastic in their worn formation.  Parsons doesn’t have too many gutters, but what is there are reasonably good, and I have have generally caught more fish here than Waits.
 

 

 
As I got back to the car to collect mygear, a couple of guys came up from the walkway with a nice 2kg and a couple of 1kg Salmon.  They had been at Waits during the morning with no result, but the mentioned they got these just on the otherside of the rocks.
 
Second before the rocks and watched an ST following the lure in shallows and grabbed it – yah, not a donut day.  He was over legal but released him as wanted bigger (not greedy or anything).  Another couple of casts and another ST and released. 
 
Walked further to try past the rocks (having a quick chat the other fisherman – he had a couple of ST’s only) and now hits were the previous guys got theirs.  So now for the usual walk to the end and about 150mts before the end rocks I get a hit in smallish gutter – which I was not expecting.
 
It felt big, the rod well bent and he started to spool me slightly, so a quick extra tightness on the drag, but he was fighting very well.  Next, out the water he flies – I just love that sight.
Once beached, he was fat and approximately 2.5kg and estimated close to 60cm.  Quickly bled and lure thrown back in.
 
On again, and this one seemed to be fighting harder and flew into the air a couple times and even though I just tightened the drag, this one spooled me for good 10mts – he wasn’t giving up – so tightened the drag even more and slowly got him to the shallows and dragged him with the waves.
This was a big Salmon for me and on first appearance was would a PB.   You can tell in the below photo a cut underneath the tail and I am gathering he cut himself on my line whilst fighting.
 
Again, quickly bled and ready for more.  Another 3 were landed around 2.5– 2.8kg and about 56 – 60cm and kept and all the fish looked healthy and were all plumpish. 
For extra fun, another 4 were landed and released and 3 threw the lure.
 

 

 

 
 
The time was about 3.30 now, so left them on the bite and the long and very heavy walk back to the car.  If the walk didn’t kill me the hill nearly did.  I was stuffed and stopped a few times on the hill to stop from having a heart attack !!
 
But what seemed could be a donut day ended up being some thrilling excitement.

Hi all, this is my first ever report posting here so suggestions are welcome! hope you all enjoy.
 
Friday:
Woke up early on Friday and headed to the old man's place to finish packing up the trailer before heading off to Butler's. We left his place about 8am, ready to meet my brother in law and my other sister's partner at Pt Wakefield. On the way, we kept a wary eye on the dark clouds and swaying trees hoping it was a bit calmer down the bottom of the Yorke and we'd be able to wet a line that afternoon..
 
Fast forward a few hours and we arrived at Butler's. Andrew was as cheerful as ever and after a brief chat we managed to arrange to move from our normal camping spot to one that was a little more sheltered from the wind - Turns out it wasn't any calmer down that way. We unloaded and walked to Salmon Beach. There were some BIG breakers around but a few calmer spots we thought we'd give a go. We stayed for 3 or 4 hours but the only thing making our reels sing was big clumps of seaweed. Ah well, nothing for it but to head back to camp, start a fire, light a cigar and pour a bourbon. 
 
Saturday:
Saturday morning seemed a bit calmer and we were keen to try again. Again Salmon beach was full of weed but conditions were a bit calmer. No action though, and we went back to camp for lunch and to get a curry going in the dreampot for dinner. We then went down to Butler's beach. I wasn't holding much hope as its only the next bay over and I imagined the weed would be just as bad. Well, I was pleasantly surprised that there was no weed in sight! 
 
We weren't long there and dad hooked a ~45cm salmon and a bunch of tommies and mullet in the shallows. The others only managed a tommy each... and I didn't even get a nibble. Dad's one of those lucky fishers that can go out on a jetty where no one has been catching all day and hook up on the first cast.....hard to love him sometimes! It'd be an understatement to say I was not happy, but hey. That's fishing. A nice hot curry back at camp got me in a better mood (or maybe that was the bourbon?)
 
Sunday:
Sunday morning was our last day of the trip. We woke up and cooked up some brekky and discussed if we'd try Butler's beach again or maybe leave early and stop at Point Turton on the way back for a flick off the Jetty. It was decided we'd have a look at Butlers and see what the conditions were like. It was calmer again and was a BEAUTIFUL day. So we thought we'd use up the rest of the bait there and see how we were going. Well...5 minutes in, I was on! After watching the acrobatics and a bit of a fight, I pulled in a 60cm Salmon weighing in at 2.5kg. My PB and the biggest of the trip! I was ecstatic! THIS is what it's all about! This was the feeling I'd been chasing! Dad being dad, managed to hook one shortly after, but it was smaller at around 56cm.
 
Alas! now we were out of bait! We sent the brother in law up to grab some more pillies while we threw around some metals for a bit.. but just as quickly as they came, the salmon were gone... I managed a few more mullet and that was it. Time to head home.
 
 
 



 

Try a red and black matuka (google gives some good examples), I haven't been fly fishing for ages but this would be my first choice. It is a fish pattern that is a bit longer than a nymph..
Other things to consider would be how deep the fly is getting.. soft plastics work great for reddies as they bounce along the bottom. might need to get down deeper but im not sure what type or depth of water you are fishing. They love things that flash so try something with a metallic finish? As for size I think anything that is around 2.5-5cm long to would be fine as the 50mm soft plastics like wrigglers are lethal on the reddies. As for retrieve I would say something erratic with plenty of pauses. the quick movement will fire them up but theyre not a fast fish so pausing will give them time to smack it.
Like I said im no expert and haven't fly fished for anything for ages but these would be my first thoughts, take them or leave them

I suppose standing on ones head would be one option !!

Ive got some 38-40's out of the lake, only on bait though, cant get anything good on lures or plastics lol. Lots of fun

there will be the initial outlay costs for sure, if you are purely after a feed and saving money then unless you've got a honey hole that produces fish everytime you wont necessarily save money on your fishing trips, however you will get far more enjoyment trying to catch a feed than going to a shop .
Kmart have some pretty decent 7 ft graphite fishing rods for 30 bucks, get a shimano IX 2500 reel from anaconda 25 bucks (these things are low range reels but will last you ages and are the same reels used on the tackle rat combos that Paul Worstling has used to land swordfish, I had one for 15 years +).
you'll need some line. cheapest way is to run mono and that wont cost much but if you want to get braid then get some fireline for 25 ish and then some mono or flouro for leader. Some hooks and sinkers and the likes you could prob get enough to see you through the intro stage for about another 20 bucks.  then there is bait unless you solely use plastics and lures and petrol on top.
 
In my opinion that is as cheap as you can do it buying stuff new. If you can find second hand it might get you fishing for a little cheaper.

there will be the initial outlay costs for sure, if you are purely after a feed and saving money then unless you've got a honey hole that produces fish everytime you wont necessarily save money on your fishing trips, however you will get far more enjoyment trying to catch a feed than going to a shop .
Kmart have some pretty decent 7 ft graphite fishing rods for 30 bucks, get a shimano IX 2500 reel from anaconda 25 bucks (these things are low range reels but will last you ages and are the same reels used on the tackle rat combos that Paul Worstling has used to land swordfish, I had one for 15 years +).
you'll need some line. cheapest way is to run mono and that wont cost much but if you want to get braid then get some fireline for 25 ish and then some mono or flouro for leader. Some hooks and sinkers and the likes you could prob get enough to see you through the intro stage for about another 20 bucks.  then there is bait unless you solely use plastics and lures and petrol on top.
 
In my opinion that is as cheap as you can do it buying stuff new. If you can find second hand it might get you fishing for a little cheaper.

Headed down to Southport over the weekend with Bjorn and we caught a decent haul. A few over the 40cm mark and all gave a great fight. All heading to the smoker.
 

 

 

 

 

finally got out yesterday in the yak at outer harbour, not a sniff was a nice morning though

finally got out yesterday in the yak at outer harbour, not a sniff was a nice morning though

Hi Guys
 
Ive been giving the Hobie a work out again and thought that seeing I have stumbled onto a spot with a few decent salmon around I would show you another one that I just caught on my latest trip. I have been getting one or two every trip and in a creek they are one feisty fish and watching them tail walk with their gills flared only metres from you is the best thing to see, I absolutely love it
 
I have been getting them on both soft plastic and un-weighted pillies with a few snapper up to 51cms as a bonus.The salmon I just caught fell to a pillie and kept me busy for nearly 10 minutes it just wasnt going to give up and several times I thought I had him beat only for him to charge off again. The fish went 65cms and I am yet to get one under 60cms.
 
I can see me getting a go-pro so I can capture some footage while I am fishing as my phone is to hard to use while you are attached to one of these beauties
 
 
 

Whiting are firing around metro
 
Landed my first samson wide off marion bay
 

hey mate,
You should have a read through the current status of sa fishery reports from the Govt http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/236904/SA-Marine-Scalefish-Fishery-Status-Report.pdf
in these you will find examples of fisheries that have been or still are overfished. (ie mud cockles in the port river, garfish stocks and some stocks of KGW and snapper).  You need to know that the fish stock of species are split into regions, ie upper spencer gulf, lower spencer gulf, gulf st Vincent, SE etc. so a species may be classed as overfished (or the nicer term they use "transitional depleting") in one area but not (or sustainable) in another.
 
Also look at the recreational fishing survey http://pir.sa.gov.au/fishing/publications/rec_fishing_survey (which has results that  are somewhat controversial)
 
After you have grasped the content of these Gov't report (probably good to  google search some of the older reports too to get some historic changes)
 
I would then then look at some of the opinions from recreational fishing groups such as this, SAFA and RECfish sa (search this site on these groups submissions to the govt (haven't got time to find the links sorry))
 
summarise the information from all types of reports then draw your own conclusions.
 
Top marks right there

hey mate,
You should have a read through the current status of sa fishery reports from the Govt http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/236904/SA-Marine-Scalefish-Fishery-Status-Report.pdf
in these you will find examples of fisheries that have been or still are overfished. (ie mud cockles in the port river, garfish stocks and some stocks of KGW and snapper).  You need to know that the fish stock of species are split into regions, ie upper spencer gulf, lower spencer gulf, gulf st Vincent, SE etc. so a species may be classed as overfished (or the nicer term they use "transitional depleting") in one area but not (or sustainable) in another.
 
Also look at the recreational fishing survey http://pir.sa.gov.au/fishing/publications/rec_fishing_survey (which has results that  are somewhat controversial)
 
After you have grasped the content of these Gov't report (probably good to  google search some of the older reports too to get some historic changes)
 
I would then then look at some of the opinions from recreational fishing groups such as this, SAFA and RECfish sa (search this site on these groups submissions to the govt (haven't got time to find the links sorry))
 
summarise the information from all types of reports then draw your own conclusions.
 
Top marks right there

hey mate,
You should have a read through the current status of sa fishery reports from the Govt http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/236904/SA-Marine-Scalefish-Fishery-Status-Report.pdf
in these you will find examples of fisheries that have been or still are overfished. (ie mud cockles in the port river, garfish stocks and some stocks of KGW and snapper).  You need to know that the fish stock of species are split into regions, ie upper spencer gulf, lower spencer gulf, gulf st Vincent, SE etc. so a species may be classed as overfished (or the nicer term they use "transitional depleting") in one area but not (or sustainable) in another.
 
Also look at the recreational fishing survey http://pir.sa.gov.au/fishing/publications/rec_fishing_survey (which has results that  are somewhat controversial)
 
After you have grasped the content of these Gov't report (probably good to  google search some of the older reports too to get some historic changes)
 
I would then then look at some of the opinions from recreational fishing groups such as this, SAFA and RECfish sa (search this site on these groups submissions to the govt (haven't got time to find the links sorry))
 
summarise the information from all types of reports then draw your own conclusions.
 
Top marks right there