Weekend fresh sesh in the bush (pic heavy)

[Samrenny]

Well, Friday began as a fairly standard day with no plans at all. A phone call from a mate changed that, and next thing I knew I was on the way up to Bribie with my 3 brothers and a couple of the boys for a BBQ on the beach. As is usually the case around the boys when there are no girlfriends present to reign us in, chat turned into more plans, and before we knew it my brother and I were packing the car and loading the yaks for a weekend of fishing in the bush. :whistle:

We arrived at a relatives at around 10:30pm after a long drive, where we settled down for the night. Waking in the morning we were greeted by thick fog covering the landscape, and in typical country style we weren't in any hurry.

We arrived at our launch spot at around 10am. 20m from the launch site after a couple of casts, my brother gave yell...he was on! Nothing too impressive, but things looked promising

He was 2 up on me, until I hooked my first bass, hitting 31cm in only 2ft of water, surprising given it was in the open with no shade

A few small bass between us later, my brother gave another shout, he had hooked the first yellowbelly of the day, but unfortunately lost it at the side of the kayak :pinch:

Another shout from my brother a while later, and he had the first 'yella for the day: a nice 38cm model

Sibling rivalry kicked in, and I shifted my focus to the yellas as well, only to have my brother shout...he was onto another yellow! She came in at 41cm.

Determined not to be trumped, I chuck on a 1/2oz purple and black spinner to get to the bottom of the very deep hole we were fishing. After letting the spinner sink to the bottom, I began a medium retrieve, just enough to get it swim whilst bumping over the fallen trees on the bottom. My 2-6kg gen black doubled over, drag screaming from the reel as the fish headed directly downwards. I'm not sure how yellowbelly have a reputation for being lazy fighters, because these fish hit hard and fought even harder. After a nerve racking struggle, I had my first yellow of the day, a nice 46cm! I was in the lead

I was onto another yella a little while later, this one coming in at 43cm. Quite intereting to see the colour variations in fish caught in the same hole!

The count would have been higher, with Billy dropping another 2 yellow beside the yak and me dropping one also...a hard lesson learned for not having a net!

It was getting dark now, and we both decided we would head back. I threw one last cast, working my spinner over a fallen tree, when my lure was smacked, drag screaming off to the point I had to wind it in quickly! One awesome fight later, expecting another yelllow belly, I was shocked and absoloutely wrapped to see my new PB bass, going 45cm!

I was in disbelief! An excellent way to end an amazing day of fishing, the total count coming to 34 bass and 4 yellowbelly landed between us.

Cheers!

[samsteele115]

Well written mate. That's some beautiful scenery and some great photos that captured it. How good! :woohoo:

[Luvit]

Some great fish there Sammy.

Yellas on light gear are worthy adversaries. I'll have to get out there and get amounst them

That combo must be casting sweet with those results.

Catch up soon.

[Binder]

great result and lovely looking country.

[Angus]

Looks like a very pleasant stretch of river mate well done!

[Samrenny]

Cheers guys, yeah it really is beautiful country, doesnt hurt when the fish are biting either

That wasnt the new baitcaster combo either Wayne, I was using my 1-3 and the 2-6 the kingy or whatever it was dusted me on :whistle: was perfect for the yellows!

[Samrenny]

Oh and Wayne, I guess I owe you a thankyou for those spinnerbaits you sold me...killed it! Except I lost one when the line caught on the rod holder as I cast and my leader whip-crack snapped, spewing! I also found out the hard way why they call the wright knot or whatever that leader not was you taught me the "Alright" knot...lost my brand new Maria 2m diver when I hooked a fish, was getting one every cast with it! Haha

[Surfingant]

Good report Sam, congrats on the new PB Bass, now to get that 50!

[Ash]

How good does that look! Looked like a great session! Good pics and report too,

Cheers,

Ash

[Luvit]

Your welcome Sam.

It looks like they were 'switched on' meaning the bright colours chartreuse (bright green) work well when fish are quite active. A quick tip is the purple and white one I see just behind one of the fish is very good in very dirty water because of the contrasting colors.

I have rarely had the albright knot let go on a fish. Make sure your apply plenty of lubricant/spit before pulling it tight. I test it well before it goes in the water by wrapping the braid around my arm many times with a towel to protect skin. It could be just practise in tying it, because I have recently started using the slim beauty knot and have had failures to a fish. I'm not suggesting there is anything wrong with either knot tied correctly just that as anglers we need to practice them because if they are not correct they will break well below breaking strains.

We should be losing them to some monster cod.

My personal favourite SP color is black with red tips.

[Samrenny]

Cheers Ash!

Ohh thanks for the tips Wayne, I liked that purple spinner, but unfortunately it now lays on the bottom of that river, never to be seen again :whistle: I'll definitely be looking to buy some more spinners when I get back, super keen to head out and chase cod! I'll make sure to include a spinner in the black with red tips in my purchases speaking of monster cod, I was searching through old threads today and came across a photo of you with a 110cm or something monstrous like that :woohoo:

Ah okay well it probably was my tying skills or lack-thereof at work I'll give it another go and try the test method you mentioned

[Luvit]

If you know where some cod are lets go :woohoo:

[fenelious]

NIce one Sam.

I've been using the Slim Beauty knot for main-to-leader for a few years now and would never go back. I started off using a Double Uni and then an Albright and Improved Albright, but what I love about the Slim Beauty (besides it never breaking) is that the tag end of the leader faces back away from the lure, and the braid tag faces sideways and a bit back. This means that it doesn't catch on the rod guides when you cast, and so you're more likely to get a longer accurate cast, but also avoids damaging the knot over time. I literally get weeks of fishing from one knot. I only need to change it when the leader gets short from cutting off the damaged end near the lure. When my line does break it's almost always at the lure clip knot or where the leader is damaged.

You can get even greater knot strength if you use a double in your main line, but I find this unnecessary, and I don't like the extra bulk it adds to the knot.

-Steve.

[Samrenny]

Thanks for the tip Steve, I'll definitely have to start learning the Slim beauty. Nothing worse then losing a fish to a bad knot!

[samsteele115]

Ive been using the FG knot recently for heavier leaders. I'm not sure how it compares to the slim beauty, but its very thin and strong! So worth it when you're out on the water. Even with 40lb you dont really notice the knot running through the guides compared to other knots. The slim beauty is very popular though so I'm sure they do the job just as well as each other.

I had to branch out from the double uni because it becomes harder to cast when using 20lb plus leaders.

[Samrenny]

Yeah I think the double uni is what I'm using now...I really need to start bringing a couple of rolls of line out to work so I can practice these knots in my room at work