cruisecraft

Here's another pic of the big Blue Eye. All pictures were taken on an IPhone Regards Kit

Well done pmak n sons, Try the Trevally sashimied with wasabi and soy sauce next time you get one. Its up there with sbt/yft/ocean trout/salmon. Regards Kit

Hi Fellas, Thanks for reading the report and your comments. Firstly to Andrew(McFishn), the motor is purring along fine now, the water separator in the fuel filter has sorted the problem of water getting into the 4xstroke Johnson(aka Suzuki). To Chris(Pongrass) and pure spirit, no seal or shark problem on Saturday. There weren't that many boats about on Sat either, maybe a dozen at most. To Cungee George, we did not weigh nor measure any of the fish as we were using an electric reel and really it was just a food gathering exercise(they are yummy) and for the purist fisho "it was just not cricket" so to speak and hence we did not measure/weigh the catch. Thanks for all the comments. Regards Kit

Hi Raiders My mate Pat rings me Friday evening to see how I'm going and we decide to tee up a 6am start for Saturday 3rd Sept. I get my 12 month old Squid and slimy mackeral bait from the freezer and we set off for Browns at 6.30am for a bottom bash. We arrive at 8am to be the second boat there. By 12 noon we had 4 gemmies, 2 blue eye and 1 alfonsino. Anyone know how alfonsino should be cooked. The bigger blue eye was a "monster", we did not measure or weigh it. We shared the catch with friends/neighbours and ate very well on Fathers Day. the alfonsino Pat with the smaller of the Blue Eye the "monster" blue eye Regards Kit and Pat

"G'day Kit On this trip a jig in the rod holder worked, yesterday you had to slow wind it up 10m and the drop back and repeat to get bit. Working it like a soft plastic only resaulted in kooters stinking vermon!" Hi Greg, Thanks again for sharing your experience/expertise with the Lucanus jig. Regards Kit

Well done boys, great pics and thanks for putting up the post,Greg. So Greg, with regard to the lure you are using, is it a Lucanus type jig. If so, do you have to work the jig like a plastic(say a 5inch shad) or do you let the boat action(bobbing up and down) do the work. How far off the bottom do you have the Lucanus jig? Many thanks. Regards Kit

Everyone is asking how much, how much, how much does she weigh/measure? The real question should be where? where? where did you hook such a beautiful beast? Regards Kit

Well done Joco, Full marks for braving the cold conditions especially at dusk and dawn! Beautiful fish you have there. Regards Kit

Hi Matt Pat's been fishing the Thredbo annually for the last 11 years, and the 2 fish were his PBs(73 and 77) and hence he decided to keep the fish. He said this year's fishing has been the best with recent rains enticing heaps of big trout up the river. Thank you to the others for your kind words and encouragement. Here's one more picture of Pat's trophy fish. regards Kit

Hi fellow raiders, PK and I left Sydney in overcast conditions on Thursday 2nd June and when we got to Jindabyne at mid-day it was still overcast but colder. We met up with Patrick ,my flyfishing guru, and Richard(his mate). A quick unpacking of the vehicle followed and soon we were heading towards the Thredbo River. It was Richard's first trip to our Fly Fishing adventure so he was there to soak up the atmosphere and the ambience. PK was the photography enthusiast. Pat and I were the mad keen fishos, though I was only in my 2nd year of flyfishing A quick refresher tuition by Pat and I was soon casting reasonably. Pat soon hooks up and calls me over and hands me the rod, "Have a go, you mug." he laughs. The fish takes me down river and I have trouble with the strong current and the slippery stones and boulders. I keep the rod tip up as per instructions from the guru who follows me down stream. Oh no, I spy the submerged branches in the river, the fish saw it too and it dashes straight for the submerged tree........Ping, Bummer Fish 1 Kit 0 That's how Day 1 ended. Day 2 was a great day for bush walking. We walked and cast and walked and cast for zero results. Day 3 I woke up determined to get the better of the trout and after a hearty brekkie the 4 of us set off again to the Thredbo river. I spied some browns in some nice runs,and Pat advises me to stay and fish the spot as there was hardly any obstacles in that part of the river. Pat goes further around the bend in the river. Soon PK and Richard are bored as they watch me flick and cast the fly rod but I am unable to elicit any response. I change lures, I change position, I take a break and start casting again, but I think the fish are just not interested. PK and Richard yell out that they were going for a walk down stream and I waved them off. I continue in yen like concentration, I cast the line about 5 feet ahead of the trout and let the current take the wooly bugger and the glow bug past its mouth, I watch it go past the fish and I lift the rod and re cast 5 ft upstream, down current the lures come and I watch the lure go near the mouth, the fish turns ever slightly and mouths the wooly bugger, I strike and I am on. Yeah Baby I'm on, I'm on. Bugger the net is on the bank 30 feet away and my team have scooted off. I go downstream with the fish and I palm the reel gently, this fish has good weight and I stumble along the river bed following it downstream. I looked out for branches and submerged trees, there were none in this part of the river. 15 mins later, the fish tires and I lead it towards the bank where a little slip of the river has formed and with the left hand holding the fly rod I slip the right hand under the Brown's belly and flick it up onto the sandbank. Wow wow wow, I say to myself. I pull out the tape measure and it goes 53.5cm.I am ecstatic. Just then the whole gang turns up and Pat holds his fish up and I look down at my puny fish on the sandbank. His Brown is a massive 73cm! It must go to fishland gym daily and shoots up with roids. My 53.5cm brown looks like a baby. We pose for the pics, I am still over the moon with my catch, as it beat my PB last year by 0.5cm. It was Pat's PB as well. We head back to the lodge to celebrate. Day 4, Pat says to me that he spied even bigger ones where he caught his 73cm whopper, and he tells me that he will take me there and let me have a go. I rush over to the secret spot and in the excitement I need to pee( actually the need to pee was because it was a bloody cold day but it sound more interesting when I say it was due to the excitement) Whilst I am peeing, Pat says to me is it OK if he has a cast or two whilst waiting. 2nd cast and the bummer is on, he has hooked the fish. I put "everything back into place" in a rather rushed manner and run over to grab the rod which Pat obliging hands over. This fish is unstoppable! It takes me downriver and Pat is following and holding me up by grabbing the back of my waders. The river gets deeper and it's now up to my chest. I pass the rod over to Pat who by this time is standing up on the river bank. Pat reels line back as he walks along the bank, down stream with the fish. I get out of the river and grab the net and head as fast as I can downstream to net the catch.The first attempt fails and I then go further downstream and jump into the river. I see the Brown heading towards me and I get a clean swipe. Its in the net. This Brown is BIG. We get the tape measure out and it is a whopping 77cm and 4.9kg!!!. Regards Kit/PK/Pat/Richard

Well done again Caddis Part 2 was even better. Great pics of trout, and shame about losing the "big fella". Regards Kit

Well done Greg, Great pictures and nice variety of catch. That's glassy conditions in some of the shots.Thanks for sharing. Regards Kit

Well done Caddis Beautiful scenery and some lovely catch there.I've just got home from Jindabyne last night from my annual trout fishing trip(but 2nd year flyfishing) and will add a report when I get the pics off my mates camera.We were flyfishing the Thredbo river.Looking forward to your 2nd report. Regards Kit

Geez fellas, It looked like very hard work especially that fella with the sunnies and cap and beer in hand . I saw the "effort" he put into pushing the button , the concentration and the focus . It was so intense. I don't know if I could do it. Well done boys. Regards Kit ps I have to admit, I have the same toys(electric reels), and looking forward to using them soon.

Now thats cool! Hmm gotta try that out! GregL Hi Greg The chopper thing does add to the cool factor, but the places(where the barras are) it can get you to, is what it's all about.There were heaps of fish and the Wet is not finished yet. The R44 has a small payload so Greg you cannot bring all your "toys". Regards Kit I need to work harder to go for trip like that haha. Boy53 Hi Boy53, The cost of the trip(3/4 day option) is double what a full day barra boat charter will cost, so bite the bullet and just do it. Regards Kit Well Kit what a great time you must have had mate crocodile kit dundee you deserve it mate I dont know anyone who works as hard as you do I have had some great times up in nt but never been hele fishing one day catch you next week great post got bloody excited reading it great photos got to do that before I die. regards pommie ben Hi Ben, Look whose talking, I am looking forward to your appearance on TVS in the near future.(best of luck) Regards Kit Definitely a trip to add to the bucket list Sounds like an amazing trip mate. Terrific report and photos. Cheers Hodgey Hi Hodgey Funny that the other 9 items on my bucket list is the same as the first item. ha ha. Regards Kit Fantastic report Kit, thank goodness that weather passed you by. Seems like there is plenty of Barra and the season hasn't even started yet. Can't wait to get our boat out in the water to catch my first Barra. Have been talking to a few of the local aboriginals who have kindly said that they will take Rex and myself out to some of the traditional fishing spots, so hopefully it won't be long before I am putting in my own Barra report. Cheers Cath Hi Cath Thanks for the kind words,will be looking forward to your barra post. I was very fortunate with the weather, it was touch and go at one stage. Are you living in the Territory or FNQ? Regards Kit

Hi Kit, Look like you had a well deserved break .Did you take the family or just pure fishing holiday . Great report. Adam Hi Adam, The kids(18 and 20yo) don't like to tag along with mum and dad anymore so it was only me and the wife with another couple to Darwin. I went fishing alone as the others were not as keen as I am. Regards Kit Great report mate and congrats on the barra, they are a stack of fun to catch, I went last year with Mark and 2 others to the remote areas of the Daly River and had a blast. That chopper is a fragile little thing but very exciting... Hi Ray Yes, the R44 is fragile but the views and perspective were well worth it. The fishing wasn't too bad either. Regards Kit woah how kool is that. its like stuff you only see on TV. dont even want to know how much that was...it was worth it Hi Bennoz, The cost is on Helifish website, it is bit over double the price of a boat charter per person. I took the 3/4 day tour option. Regards Kit

Hi Raiders, My arms were aching on Sunday morning as I lay in bed, and I smiled as I recalled events leading up to the day before........................................ I had touched down in Darwin at 5.15 pm Friday 1st April and I sms Mark of Helifish to inform him of my arrival. He rings me back on the mobile and the news is not promising. There is a tropical low that is hanging just southwest of Darwin and moving towards the WA’s kimberley coast, and the planned trip for the next day is in jeopardy. Mark says he’ll ring me at 6am the next day and he will decide then, whether the planned helifishing for barra trip can go ahead. That evening I go to bed with my fingers crossed. At 5.30am my alarm goes off and I venture out onto the balcony of the apartment to check the wind, and it’s blowing about 20 knots. I start to get ready, ever the optimist. At 6am the mobile rings and Mark says the magic words, “we’re going fishing” but it will be a 8am start rather than the planned 7am start due to the conditions At 7.45am, I am at Noonamah airfield under grey skies and I meet Mark(guide and pilot) and the other fisho, Ron, a local who lives at Humpty Doo. We head over to the R44(a Robinson helicopter) and Mark gives us the run down on dos and don’t on a chopper, main one being always approach from the front. Its then, that I see Mark has a side holster and it is packed with a pistol, this is one serious fishing trip! During the briefing Mark also goes through how to use the satellite phone and epirb should he be incapacitated. We get in and the chopper soon takes off after a few mins of warming the engines up. I get the front passenger seat on the outgoing trip. Mark then points out the numerous “sticks” in the many ponds next to the airfield. It is the Darwin Crocodile Farm,that we are flying over and the “sticks” are moving! Soon we are over Humpty Doo, and then next the Adelaide river. We are over the floodplains and travelling at 100 knots in a NE direction and soon the coast is in sight and we are ~150 km from Noonamah. Mark points out the feral pigs which do untold damage in the NT, he adds that most of the buffalos have been eradicated during the shooting programs in the 80s and 90s. Mark then hovers over a spot where there is runoff from the floodplains heading seawards, he checks the area out for “moving sticks” and seeing none, he sets the chopper down in a patch of dry hard ground. Due to the rain the place is very muddy. He tells us it is best to go bare feet and we follow his instructions and he hands us over the weapons. They are curado baitcasters with 80lb braids and junior B52 lures, I get the gold B52. Mark instructs us as to the best directions to aim for and on the 2nd cast I am on. Ron is not far behind and we have a double hook ups galore. The action is almost non-stop and after nearly an hour of fun, Mark ask for our lures and he crushes the barbs on the trebles to even out the playing field so to speak. After 2 hours at this spot, the action starts to slow down and we hop in and Mark takes us “down the road” and checks for “moving sticks” prior to landing.The 2nd spot is also run off fishing and it is nearly as good as the 1st spot. All this time the wind was between 20-25 knots and at the second spot it rained heavily for 20mins soaking us thoroughly, we did not stop fishing. After the rain Ron brought out his fly gear and landed barra after barra with slow twitches of his fly line. I gave it a go but the “black craft” is difficult and I meekly hand the fly rod back after 30mins. Its soon 1pm and Mark has us boarded and he then heads to Tommy Cut, the mouth of a river(I can't remember the name) and we have lunch there. Whilst we are having lunch he sets up a couple of rods with live mullet but all we get is a cat fish and a ray which burst us off. There were heaps of boats trolling the area whilst we were there, the fishos were all holding their rods instead of setting it in their rod holders and I asked Mark whether trolling was the main method of fishing for barra, to which he replied that trolling leaves the other hand available to hold the tinnies. Yes, it gets hot up there in the Territory. After lunch we head for spot1 but the action of the morning is missing and we fly off to spot2, it is better but not as good as in the morning. Come 4pm it is time to head home and just as well as we fly into heavy rain just before Noonamah All in, Ron and I landed around 40 barras each, we released all the barras. My best barra went 79cm (in the first barra pic). Most of the barras were in the 40 to 50cm mark and about 6 were >70cm. At one of the better looking spots, Mark decide not to fish as there was a hugh croc nearby. Crocs are never far off as you can see from the pic taken at Cullen Bay ferry jetty on Sunday. Get yourself up to the Territory for some barra madness because when they are on the bite, it is heaven. Regards Kit

If you like sashimi, the wings are the best part of the squid with a bit of soy and wasabi. The head and tentacles need to be rubbed in salt and washed off (three times) to take the slime off then they too are fantastic sashimied. Regards Kit

Hi Huey Thanks for that very useful info, as I have had mine stored up due to the shape of my boat cover and had some concern about it, as I had heard previously to store in the down position. I have a 5 year old 4stroke 140hp Johnson/Suzuki and have not had any problems with the motor, storing it in the up position due to, as you pointed out,the mildness of our winters. Regards Kit

Hi tentonner, Try uni knots joining braid to mono. Better luck next time. Looks like salmon are about (usually at the heads)see report by fishraider mgj and ganymede. Regards Kit

Hi Fellow Raiders, Mike rang me yesterday, with the news that he had caught a yellow fin at Bermi and would I be interested in helping him devour some of the fish. In no time, I was over at his place and he handed over a nice slab of prime yellow fin. The last 2 dinners at my place, have seen Bermagui yellow fin sashimi on the menu, yummmmm. Many thanks Mike. Regards Kit

It went 75cm, it looks bigger in the photo as the cameraman aka fishbones got Andrew to position the fish at its best camera angle using his camera phone. Regards Kit ps it was sashimied for dinner that day

Hi Fellow Raiders Fishbones(Mike),McFishn(Andrew) and myself went out on Sunday 27th to the Peak to jig for Kings. I should have known better as the forecast from the BOM was for 20-25knots SW. We had a late start ~9am, as we launched from Burraneer Bay. The conditions were difficult but Andrew got this King jigging. Only one jig lost to jackets. Regards Kit

Hi Moro Mou Beautiful pics of fish and scenery. Well done. 22 hours of sunlight to fish! Wow, that would be a BIG day of fishing. Regards Kit

Hi Fisheroudge Yes, the brown water after the deluge does not help in trout fishing, and yes it was a very wet weekend all over the state (except in the Snowie). I am only a novice at fly fishing but it is very relaxing and addictive. It helps me focus and concentrate on the one target whereas when I'm spinning and bait fishing my mind does tend to wander and day dream. I intent to salt water fly for bream/flaties/whiting over the next few weeks as I am getting the hang of it and have the bug. I was also fortunate to have a good expert fly fishing partner with me to coach me and who knew the river like the back of his hand. Try Lake Lyell and Thompson Creek Dam(~3hr drive) if you are looking at something closer to Sydney. The Thredbo river is particularly beautiful in May/June. Regards Kit