queensland Awoonga - 2007

[ellicat]

Might have to screw in the wide angle lense:)

[Brian D]

Another step closer - I fitted a new hummingbird colour sounder 141c today.

Why Hummingbird?

Cause the old one was a hummingbird so I only needed to run a new transducer and change the screen.

The transducer bracket, the power cable and the screen mount from the old one all fitted the new model.:laugh: :cheer: :cheer:

One problem: the transducer connection was a little wider then the old one so I had to drill out the hole in the transon a bit, other then that - sweet.

[Feral]

Sounds good Brian, I have been working on mine as well, put a fuse box and earth bus bar up under the front, running from the front batteries, and mounted a tall anchor light to the front (fold down) to compliment the not so tall one mounted on the rear. Thinking about adding 240 power to the old girl as well, got an old inverter lying around somewhere.

[rayke1938]

Gunna electrofish???

Ray

[Feral]

theres a thought, there is an 8kva diesel generator sitting in the back shed at work doing nothing........

[Brian D]

rayke1938 wrote:

Gunna electrofish???

Ray

:laugh: :S :laugh: :laugh:

Full moon so you wont need street lights but you could take a onboard fridge for all the barra.

Here's a thought - what are Terry and Lee gonna do with their fish if they manage to land one? Like are they gonna tow it back or lay it length ways along the front?:woohoo: Remember 60-70 lbs of barra. :S

[Fisher_90]

Hahaha hilarious if they tied it to the yak and it was still alive and flopped itself into the water How f**ken pissed off would you be,

Terry: \"It was this(________) big\"

Brian: BS!

Terry: \"The one that got away\"

[Terry H]

Well..

Brian, I'm hoping you have a UHF radio - I'll contact you with my walkytalky, and you can come pick me up

Failing that, I'll tie it down to the yak and go row to someone with an esky

OR

contact one of you guys when I think it's getting close to landing, and have a photo then release:P

[Brian D]

Terry they are too bgi for the esky.

Not caught be me. [img size=285]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/Picture_058.jpg

[Terry H]

Yeah... it's partly on ice though:p

How big is that big esky you have in the fibre glass boat?

What boat are you taking

[Terry H]

OR , I could get some skupper hole plugs... fill the back section up with ice and hold it down in that....

yes.. tha tmight work

[rayke1938]

If it was a \"horse\" barra you could break it in and put on a set of reins and get it to tow you in.:laugh: :laugh:

Ray

[Terry H]

Yes... Laugh it up boys! Don't cry too much when the yakkers get the biggest :woohoo:

Did you guys c&r any last year?

[rayke1938]

Only the ones that threw the hooks at the side of the boat or when they jumped.

Ray

[Feral]

Brian D wrote:

Here's a thought - what are Terry and Lee gonna do with their fish if they manage to land one?

Thats easy Brian, remember Terry's bait deploying blow up? make a great tow behind esky / barra holder!!

[Terry H]

Feral: You're tempting me into doing that.

[Feral]

Why not, I'd reckon it would be bugger all drag.

[Terry H]

yeah, plus it won't get sunk by any barra fins - the inner hull might get a hole in it, but the outer will still be good!

[Brian D]

I'll be taking the Cruise Craft Terry, I haven't done any work on the cannon ball.

The Esky is 90cm (think)- just big enough for the 80cm plus ones that taste better.

The one in the black tub went 122cm. What If they are too big for eskies do what Ray did last year abd cover his with wet towels.

As to the tow Terry - we can sort something out but I was not kidding when I suggested the launch area. THere is good timber near and a good trolling spot within 500 meters. It is such a huge dam we'll have to just play it by ear, depending on conditions and etc.

[Terry H]

Brian, I don't think I'll be casting near the sticks mate. The reason being, I don't want the barra to tow me into the sticks - I might be in a bit of trouble if that happens, getting stuck, wrapped around trees even more etc

How big are the trolling spots? do you go a km in each direction or something? Also, how fast do you troll? Is it a lot faster than for bass?

[Brian D]

Terry this is a huge dam, like it take about 40mins in the cruise craft to get up the back end. About 10 times bigger then hinze. Troll spots everywhere.

Very slow trolling is required. I have bought a sea anchor to slow my boat down.

Last year I use then wind to troll down wind but it was blowing about 30knotts. THen into the wind I needed about 1100 revs just to keep the nose straight.

Have another look at the main basin to get an idea. But you'll be right. [img size=492]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/awoonga.JPG

[rayke1938]

Terry as Brian said trolling spots everywhere. Quite productive following drop off from Main Ramp at Ironbark Gully along to past restricted access ramp in Riverton bay in front of caravan park. You will be able to use the restricted one if you are prepared to wheel your yaks around 50m from the gate to the water.

I will probably use the restricted ramp some of the time as I get access with my disabled sticker. I can only use it during the rangers working hours as I have to ring them and wait for them to come and unlock the gate so I can use the ramp whenever I wish to launch and retrieve.

Other handy spots are in front of dam wall, from dam wall to yellow bouy which is somewhere in front of Rocky point or anywhere around the yellow bouy.

It will depend on where the fish are holding.

Has anyone come across a decent map ? The best one I have found so far is in the B2B and it is too small and not much detail.

Ray

[Terry H]

a very slow troll? Like slower than bass?

[Feral]

Depends, but yes sometimes slower. Main basin is 11km across, so once in each direction should keep you busy!

[Terry H]

slower than bass? I'll need something to slow me down too!

As it is, the troll for bass is a very slow paddle - which is very easy to maintain, providing you don't get bored.

How many hook ups did you have last time? Is it trolling for hours before a hook up, or do you get a couple an hour.

[Fisher_90]

H-a-v-e f--u------n T--------e------------r--------------r---------------y

You may be their for hours

[rayke1938]

3 days before first hit, it was a little slow. We were only trolling the deep.

[Terry H]

Fisher: I have no problem waiting hours for a hook up.

Ray: Hopefully we get a bit more action this time around then

[Brian D]

I got my first hook up after about 2 hours of trolling. Then I went casting and got nothing for 6 days:blush: After that I developed casting elbow so I went back to trolling and got 2 more.

But our coditions where way bad, dam roll over, hard wind and freezing temps. Remember I was fishing for Barra in ug boots, ski jacket and beany. Gezz I wonder why I didn't get many fish.:S

[Feral]

Yeah, Barra dont like Boguns Brian!

[Terry H]

Yes. Lets hope it's not that windy again. Then that slow troll will require some effort

[ellicat]

Terry, You could always drift a bucket to slow you down if necessary.

[Terry H]

I've been reading a few articles, and thinking a bit about this trip.

I might run some black wire trace at night on one rod, and 60 or 80lbs doubled (Bimini Twist) mono leader during the day and on the 2nd rod at night.

I'll have my TLD 25 (60lbs MONO line) set with 1/3 BS drag. I just hope I don't get thrown into the water when that goes off:P All I know is I'll be keeping all items in dry bags and thoroughly tied down or in the hull. Other rods will be a 20lbs braid rod, and I might pick up the rod n reel Schultzy recommended to me and run 30lbs braid on that.

A few of the articles have mentioned to really lock up the drags and apply as much pressure as possible on these fish. In this situation, I can't wait for the Barra to tow me around at speed.

During the day I'll probably be trolling a few of those Hyper Vipers, and at night some Sand Vipers/Vipers and maybe even a surface lure or two.

Any thoughts on that?

[Brian D]

Feral :P Bogun:takes one to know one:P

Hey Terry, when they say lock up the drag, this applies very much to the timber areas. I got busted off before my brain registered I was hit.

The open bay is more forgiving but not fully forgiving. Don't ever think you got em under control until they are in the bag.

Here's another thought - full moon means good LB barra fishing. There are some great spots to cast some big poppers from the shore line. I will be taking a rod and reel just for this. I would suggest that you pack your longest casting outfit you have.

Also - if the wind gets up too hard you can drop your yak into the river on the other side of the wall. But as you are only there for 3 days you may not have time.

[Brian D]

Terry here's another thought. You will not be able to lock up the drag too tight or you will get pulled over on the hit.

And another thought! Do you have lights on your yak? If not it might be an idea to get some. Some blokes get very tired and go full tilt heading for home.

[Terry H]

Yep, will have a 360 degree white light on the yak. I'm thinking about wearing my PFD at night and put some highly reflective strips on that - or Feral could take up one of those main road vests?

Yes, I know about the timber.. however some of the guys also lock 'em up in the open to make sure they really set those hooks in 'em - saves the hook flying back at your face when the barra goes airborne

I should be right with the drag of 20/30lbs outfits brian, it's the 60lb outfit I'm concerned about falling in with:P

[Brian D]

yeap and undo the yak and go water skiing

[Feral]

Terry, you could always use a handline to troll, attached to a 4 litre juice bottle, let it go over the side when you get a hit, then just follow the bottle until Mr Barra tires out!

[Fisher_90]

Pfft lol. What happens when the bottle is going under?

[Feral]

It will come back up sooner or later! 5 kilo's of lift, (plus surface friction) even on a 30 kilo fish is pretty good pressure.