Hodgey Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 G'Day all, Finally managed to get out on the water after a 4 week absence. There has been good reports of big schools of salmon in the lake, which sounded like the ideal opportunity to test a new rod. I have a Berkley Venom Black Mamba 4-7kg. The rod sounds like a broom stick, but nothing could be further from the truth. Extremely lightweight, with a very light tip, this outfit can cast 50mm poppers, 1/8oz jigheads, 3/4oz spinnerbaits and everything in between. Normally, a Stradic Ci4 3000 lives on it, but today it was matched with a Stradic 2500/10lb braid and 10lb FC Rock leader. Dene and I hit the water at the gentlemanly hour of 8:30. Light winds and NO boat traffic ... ah, life's good! No obvious signs of salmon busting up on the surface, but we headed towards the entrance regardless. It didn't take long to find them. Not a lot of commotion on the surface, but they were streaming under the boat in droves. Dene hooked up after a couple of casts on popper, but I only had a couple of half-hearted slashes on the 50mm popper so I changed to a 1/8oz jighead and a gulp 5" Jerk-shad in Glow color. Second cast and I'm on to my first salmon of the morning. Our fish weren't real big (between 50-65cm) but they had plenty of go in them! I was very impressed with the Black Mamba. A little over-powered for salmon but it was great to put it through it's paces. When I tightened the drag on the upgraded Stradic, they were conquered in very quick time. It is capable of long casts and you can feel every knock and twitch on the retrieve. This rod met all my expectations, and indeed exceeded them. Also used my faithful SOL outfit today. (2-4kg rod and 2000 reel). Didn't do it as easily as the Venom rod but gave a great account of itself as usual. Still my go-to outfit for anything in the estuary. The salmon were making short work of the Gulp lures so I decided to change to a ZMan 5" Jerk Shad in Shiner. These lures are brilliant. They are very durable yet they will stretch to in excess of 600mm without breaking. I caught the last 6 salmon for the day on one of these lures, and it's back in the packet again ready for the next trip. Unfortunately my camera is at work but I'll get a photo of the lures (and rod) and post it on Monday. Check 'em out Raiders. At $10 a packet they're worthy of a swim. We lost count of the salmon that were caught and released, and I managed to find one nice flatty roughly 57cm that went to Dene's elderly neighbor for a feed. It was great to be back on the water ... and to hear that sweet song of a screaming drag! Have a great weekend everyone. Cheers Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark brown Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Great report as always skip im glad u got to break in the new rod. mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bashful Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Great report Hodgey. Thanks for giving us beginners the info on the set-up of your rod as well, it helps to know what works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catchin Jack Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 And no photos Skip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendong Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Our fish weren't real big (between 50-65cm) but they had plenty of go in them! Dude at 65cm that's got to be on the verge of horse material surely....congrats mate sounds like heaps of fun....I may be looking for an eastury to test the new toy out in the next couple months (should arrive this week fingers crossed)...fair chance the road trip will head south....not sure the sambo's will hang around that long though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james7 Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Great report Skip! Just what I expect from you and Dene. I've been thinking it was about time you put up a report. Looks like the Black Mamba was a success. It's great getting some new gear and finding that it does live up to expectations. You reckon the sambos "weren't real big (between 50-65cm)". What do you call "big" down there??? Good to see you out on the water again. Cheers Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassboy888 Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 hodgey, what an awesome report ! cant wait too see some of the pictures of these fish. i have seen those plastics stretched and they really do stretch out a long long way! how do they stand up to tailor and flatties? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassboy888 Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Dude at 65cm that's got to be on the verge of horse material surely....congrats mate sounds like heaps of fun....I may be looking for an eastury to test the new toy out in the next couple months (should arrive this week fingers crossed)...fair chance the road trip will head south....not sure the sambo's will hang around that long though.... would the new boat from the states be the new toy poddy?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted August 1, 2011 Author Share Posted August 1, 2011 And no photos Skip? Too many words and not enough pictures for ya? Unfortunately I didn't have my camera on the water, but there's is a couple of shots of the lure and rod as promised at the bottom of the post. Dude at 65cm that's got to be on the verge of horse material surely....congrats mate sounds like heaps of fun....I may be looking for an eastury to test the new toy out in the next couple months (should arrive this week fingers crossed)...fair chance the road trip will head south....not sure the sambo's will hang around that long though.... I'll be ready for a sesh 24/7 mate. Best wishes to the young fellas! Great report Skip! Just what I expect from you and Dene. I've been thinking it was about time you put up a report. Looks like the Black Mamba was a success. It's great getting some new gear and finding that it does live up to expectations. You reckon the sambos "weren't real big (between 50-65cm)". What do you call "big" down there??? Good to see you out on the water again. Cheers Peter G'Day Peter Most of our fish were in the 50-60cm range, with a couple around the 65cm mark, but there were some significantly bigger ones out there on the day. They would have been in the high 70's at least! hodgey, what an awesome report ! cant wait too see some of the pictures of these fish. i have seen those plastics stretched and they really do stretch out a long long way! how do they stand up to tailor and flatties? Apologies about the fish photos mate ... I will hopefully remedy that for you this weekend I haven't thrown those lures at the flatties yet but I reckon they'll hold up ok. There are some BIG tailor mixed in with the salmon schools at the moment, so I guess I'll find out soon ... provided I can get them to stop biting the jighead off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joco Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 NICE work Hodgey, Salmon are always fun to catch, especially on light gear and soft plastics.... Im sure your arms must have been aching... Next time try a 1000 reel, 4lb braid, 4kg rod, for some EXTRA fun I LOVE IT! Like you, Ive been absent from fishing a little over 5 weeks... Withdrawal symptoms are kicking in... Went to the coast the other day and the water was dirt brown Might have to come down and join you, for a session such as the one you experienced... Joey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Well done Ian - always fun, those big Tuross Salmon!! Shame you didn't have your camera with you! It'll be the Tailor next time, I reckon! YUM! (Tho the salmon I smoked when Tide'n'knots was up was a real treat, too!) Not MORE lures to invest in!! Cheers - isn't it nice having the better weather to play in? Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 NICE work Hodgey, Salmon are always fun to catch, especially on light gear and soft plastics.... Im sure your arms must have been aching... Next time try a 1000 reel, 4lb braid, 4kg rod, for some EXTRA fun I LOVE IT! Like you, Ive been absent from fishing a little over 5 weeks... Withdrawal symptoms are kicking in... Went to the coast the other day and the water was dirt brown Might have to come down and join you, for a session such as the one you experienced... Joey Thoroughly agree Joey. I had a session a while ago on similar gear. The best effort for the morning was a 58cm salmon caught on a Strudwick SicStik Pro 1-3kg matched to a SOL 2000 loaded with 2lb braid and 6lb fluro leader. That report can be found here You know you're welcome anytime mate. Look forward to catching up with you again soon. Cheers Skip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicktoozoff Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Nice work Hodgey, good to here that the sambo's are back in numbers. How do you find the ZMan placcies hold onto the jighead? I have had probs once they get pulled down, not staying put. Might be time for a session down there with you again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 Nice work Hodgey, good to here that the sambo's are back in numbers. How do you find the ZMan placcies hold onto the jighead? I have had probs once they get pulled down, not staying put. Might be time for a session down there with you again. G'day Mate. It's been a while! I was running them on nitro jigheads and didn't have a drama with them. I trim 5mm off the face of the lure before inserting the hook, which allows me to get the lure snug against the face of the jighead. Definitely need to catch up for a fish again. Cheers Skip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breambucket Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Top effort mate! If i had of found a school of them a couple of weeks ago in that comp i recon i couldnt resist chucking a couple of plastics there way thats for sure Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray R Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Good one mate, good to see a report from you as it has been a while, I too own a black mamba and mate they are anawesome bit of gear. Glad you had fun with those sensational salmon.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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