Last bronze trip for the season

The first of the cool weather a month ago and subsequent drop in the water temperature signalled an end to what has been a difficult bass season on the far south coast. 

The bass turned and began their journey down stream to look for like-minded bass to make little bass with; I like to leave them in peace to do this. 

As an addict, I look for a different buzz to get my fix. EP’s in this part of the world are a month or so behind the bass and as such offer an extension to my fishing adventures, albeit only for a few weeks. 

About the time the first proper frosts ice the valley floor, I leave the EP’s to the important business that is essential to their continuity and search for a new buzz to see me through the winter. This time is very near.

With the prospect of a few months void of bronze coloured fish, I take the last weekend of the ‘season’ as a last chance opportunity for a trip.

We could fish locally, but the added bonus of some walking and camping in solitude draws us to lesser-frequented systems. 

The company of two of my favourite fishing companions makes for a really enjoyable adventure.

With time and observation certain predictability to fish behaviour is evident, this trip bore that out with EP’s taking our surface offerings in all the likely holds. Like bass, EP’s are structure based ambush predators. In a healthy system you can almost guarantee a fish from decent structure with a bit of tidal flow past it.

Fishing takes me to such beautiful places, this has led to a different appreciation of it nowadays; the landscapes, water, weather, ebbs and flows of nature all get noticed more.

I am lucky to live in a part of the world that abounds with places that are just beautiful to fish. The fishing in these locations can be spectacular but I would still travel there regardless of whether the fish were there or not. 

I am sure the distractions of nature mean I catch less fish, it does not seem to matter though, it makes me a worse fisherman but a better person.

So, another season of chasing bronze coloured fish is over and I will now chase bream until the frozen months pass. No doubt the cold nights spent pouring over google earth and topo maps will lengthen my already long wish list of trips for next season, but three months is such a looooong time.

Season change Bonnies

Well the days are cooling as autumn takes hold and the daylight hours get shorter.  The bass are no longer worth the effort of chasing, as they no longer look upwards in search of dinner.  EPs are beginning to school up to breed and the big blue nose bream are heading up into the creeks,  I will begin chasing some trophy estuary fish soon.  

At this time of year the coastal currents have finished heading south bringing warm water and pelagic fish to the far south coast.  In a few weeks the currents will turn and head north taking the fish with them.  In the mean time some excellent surface fishing is to be had with schools of big bonito cruising the inshore waters smashing baitfish schools.

The usual haunts such as washes and inshore current lines are the obvious place to start throwing baitfish imitations for these speedsters but watching the birds is an easier way to ensure you find them.  Diving birds are a sure fire indicator of pelagic action and more often that not a guarantee that you'll get fish casting slugs or flies.

As the day progresses it my be necessary to sink your lure or fly down deeper to find fish.  Trolling a deep diving minnows along the rocks is a good way to locate schools.  Once hooked up it pays to cast back over the school as often mulitple fish can be taken.

Bonnies are a great sport fish; they take a range of slugs, flies and trolled minnows and are easily targeted by the inshore angler.  Occasionally Stripped Tuna, Kingfish or Autralian Salmon are also chasing the baitfish and make for great by catch.  

Time you enjoy wasting

Bertrand Russell said: "The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time." Sometimes fishing adventures can be exactly that, time you enjoy wasting.

Easter is such a time for me, with the southern bass season all but over, I head off for a walk, some camping, some time just sitting quietly enjoying what nature has to offer.

My expectations at this time of year are not great, EP's provide some entertainment until the wintery winds bring a stop to my coastal adventures. 

I can waste hours on the flats; exploring, walking and searching for evidence

I watch the movement of the tides, finding perfection in the patterns left by the passage of the day, the movement of water.

I ponder the similarity of the sand and rock; a day to shape one, thousands of years to shape the other, such a contrast in the passage of time. 

Like the sand and rocks, the melaleuca trees take character by the interaction of wind, sun and water.

beneath the trees eyes scour upward, searching, looking, taking it all in. Sometimes I see myself in those eyes

being in such beautiful places is a privilege
 

Lucky EP's, they live in such places

Wilderness Exploration

From the comfort of my home I peered down from outer space at the molten dark green of the forested coastal range. The deep valley was clearly evident but zooming in just made a pixelated mess of what I hoped was a navigable creek. Google Earth has it's limits and there comes a time when you just have to gamble that there will be water when you get there. I had crossed this creek higher up a few years early and it was nothing but rock. I was really hoping that the rain of the last few years had increased flows downstream in the section we were heading to. Thankfully after descending a ridge through thick scrub we found what we had hoped for. Unsure as to what we may find we had allowed 3 days, this was not so much a fishing trip but rather an exploration adventure. Backpacks were loaded with all the usual toys that make such trips possible, notably our packrafts and of course bass gear. The blur of green on Google earth where the creek should have been was the full canopy of water gums that covered the deep long upper pools. Every bank was a tangle of bass cover, it was difficult to pick an obvious target to cast at, it was ripe with potential. As we worked our way downstream the canopy opened up and gave glimpses of the surrounding hills that protect this hidden gem of a creek. Pretty much the only way in was the way we had walked and the only way out was downstream a day or more to our 'out point'. Despite the amount of cover and appearance of being bass heaven, the bass proved difficult. Hundreds of cast to snags that would normally be a guarantee went untouched, perhaps it was the cold water, lack of insect activity, bad casting….. As is often the case though, persistence paid off, the Storm Hopper Popper and Koolabung Cicada Fizzers proving a temptation to great. These were fat wild fish of great tenacity. They fought hard, barrelling through the messes of fallen timber, pulling the little Alpackas in circles with deep dives and lunges. This was an amazing place with some of the oldest and largest Water Gums, giant Yellow Stringy-barks and huge Forest Red-gums I have ever seen. A truly primordial landscape, it is a gift to travel through such places. The steep nature of the banks and heavy riparian vegetation made camping almost impossible. We were lucky to find a small 'island' that was essentially a pile of debris that had accumulated to the edge of one pool. It made a wonderful camp for the evening, surrounded by towering rock faces, a sky full of stars and the sounds of the water, it made for a peaceful nights sleep. The creek turned out to be a series of pools connected by shallow rocky rapids that had to be walked. This made for fairly slow going but we still managed to travel the length of the creek by late the second afternoon, albeit a little bruised and worn 2 days paddling on a wonderfully wild creek, we discovered that the real earth is better than the Google one.

Australia Day

A pictorial account of an Australia day spent fishing up a local estuary into the fresh and back again.

No fishy tail

Drifting

Greedy Perch

Black water EP

Creek blurr


Toothy Bycatch

Sadly the bream remained tight lipped as did the bass up in the fresh but still a great day out

4 Afternoons - No Donuts

The New Year saw me on the tools and back onto my never-ending house-building project. Duncan (The Knave) kindly ventured down the coast to lend a hand for 5 days, the promise of 4 afternoons fishing may have been the deal clincher. In the cool of our first afternoon we hit a stretch of creek not too far from home. A few fish in the low to mid 30's and one mid 40's kept us amused until the days toil, need for dinner and a beer sent us home. Sadly my trusty camera let us down, note to self - batteries need charging if they are to work.... Following afternoon we hooked up with Peter and hit a lovely section of river with high expectations. It was a real Alpacka packraft gathering with all three of us in our little blow up toys, They are well suited to the tight waters and stealth approach and it was not long before the first boofs came. The afternoon was a little cooler than I would have liked and the fishing was a little slow but it was pleasant being out, chatting as we cast our way along the cover. A tight bit of casting produced a good surface hit for Duncan. The little bass played hard and pulled above its weight. On closer inspection it had a deformed lower lip unlike any I have seen before. A few more fish came our way, nothing huge but enough to keep us fishing into the dark, always hope of bigger fish. Peter had paddled upstream a little and had just landed this little bronzy when I caught up with him. As always he was pretty stoked. Satisfied with a few bass and a pleasant arvo we headed home for a feed, a few beers and some shut eye before facing another day building and fishing. The usual Christmas family obligations had meant that Jeff and I had gone a few weeks without fishing together so Jeff’s email titled "PB-EP" stood out amongst work stuff and offers of Viagra.....it had this pic attached and a few scant details. A true stonker and brilliant capture for Jeff, suffice to say there was a desire to chase EP's the next afternoon. We hit the water late afternoon and within 10 minutes I pulled my first EP from deep down in the water column. Another fish followed a few cast later, nothing huge but I knew I was in the ballpark and the game was looking good. Duncan nailed a decent flathead bouncing a Berkley soft vibe down deep then shortly after headed up the creek with Peter to explore a few snag sections with the hope of a big EP. It was almost dark, Jeff and I had switched to surface and where casting at a snag that the last flood left. A boof and miss, then I hooked up on a fit 42cm. Not to be out done Jeff nailed a similar fish a few casts latter. The action pretty much stopped after that so shortly after we called it a night. We had really wanted to get into the upper reaches of one of my favorite creeks but the cooler weather, bit of a drive and walk pushed us to fish a lower section on foot as we thought our efforts would not be rewarded. As predicted it was a little slow, but again it was pleasant to walk the banks, watch the birds and platypus and get some casting in. Duncan and Peter where getting amongst a few fish here and there on surface lures. My mojo was a little shot after a dodgy cast saw me leave a Sammy 65 up a giant Cassurina tree. I then proceeded to drop the only 2 fish that I had hooked, one of them felt a decent fish and pulled a little line (I usually fish pretty locked up) Duncan had gained the nickname "Duncan Donut" on past trips owing to...well... it is kind of self-explanatory.... he had however redeemed himself by landing fish every day for the last four days. By the time it was getting dark I was looking at taking his "Donut" title, so a solid hit on my 'after dark spinner bait' saved me the indignity. We finished getting the last of my rafters up onto my roof the next arvo and Duncan headed off back to the big smoke. We'd had a really enjoyable week despite the fishing being a bit slow for this part of the world, although on my past experience fishing with Duncan we could have had a donut.