the battle of the Canberra Mud Monsters

[roosterman]

hi guys,

had an unexpected trip to canberra tuesday and threw some gear in the car..

finished with client around 1.30 so off to get a pie for lunch and check out some fishy waters...

first went over to the dam wall area of lake burly griffin but a fisho who was packing up got zip after a couple hrs burly so i went off in search of better waters..

found a nice spot and commenced a burly trail and sent out a weightless corn laced size 4 and my already rigged blacky setup with bread and corn..

sat there watching the ducks playing etc.more on this later.....

after about 30 min i hear line peel on the blacky rod,bugger missed the down..

after a spirited fight on 6lb braid and 4lb leader a carp around 3kg is brought to shore and bugger cant find pliers so finger in gob and out he comes... .. all dramas of work gone now.. dispatched into reeds and back into it..

he was caught on corn so i start using some kernals for burly also,glad i got the large can,expensive fishing here ,$1 loaf and $1.60 for corn..

soon i look down current checking floaters out and see a nice swirl... mmmmmm pull in the line and head off 30-40 meters and just as i am sneaking up the debris i walk on cracks loudly and poof down he dissapeers like the titanic.. i quickly lob my hook loaded with about 5 kernals and in about 4-5 secs my slack line pulls tight.. woohoooo im on..proves how much a sucker they are for corn...

now this is in a little corner loaded with lots of debris trees etc.. im in under and around everything with those burrowing runs the big ones can do..

after a couple of tense moments with me waiting for the inevitable i get him to shore but cannot get close due to shoreline and no way of lifting with damaged 4lb off he burrows again i finger spool stop him but buried under and between branches..i eventually grab a long branch an poke the bugger in nose and he hits reverse... .. i then use stick and help guide swim it over stuff to where i can ,nearly fallin in grab it and pull it out...

cannot believe i went to all that trouble but i was determined to win this battle of the mud monster..

dispatch him and he pulled scales to only 4kg as he was pretty thin without the huge gut normally...

this is what worked this time...

ended up getting a handfull but that was biggest..

now i was watching in amongst the bites what i thought was a big carp surface feeding and after about 20 min he came closer..

he duck dived a couple times and was very curious and playful..

PLATAPUS...... bugger me... watched him play for about 10 min then he dissapeared again.. highlight for me as i havnt seen one in wild for nearly 30 yrs.. really made my trip..

now i watched the ducks playing and occasionally flying off a few meters etc... i then noticed a couple times big splashes/swirls....

bugger me if i dont recon it was big carp pecking at em from under and scaring them to move... piss funny once i worked it out

stopped off on way home at a nice spot as sun setting burlied for 15 - 20 min and somethings splashing about 20 meters away other side near a duck.. after about 10 min it makes its way over...

bugger me i nearly fell in.. another platapus... 2 locations hundreds ks apart and im blown away.. he plays around in fading light and another comes over and they dissapeer in the darkness... i am really spewin i had no cam and the iphone...well never an option in that light...

well a tiring trip but full of wonderfull surprises that nature shows anow an then...

only took one pic of the big one and of weapon of choice..all caught on corn..bread not touched..

i might be heading down again in next few days so i will def be taking a cam and looking for those platties....

cheers....steve.....

[slam354]

Hey steve that corn rig has got me thinking how would that go off the rocks wash fishing for bream and blackfish never tried it.

cheers steve

[roosterman]

Great report Steve but i will make sure you don't bring a rod with you when you visit my place one day. Here is some pictures of my pets ive owned over tweenty years.

Cheers mate cg.

nice....

i have had many aquariums and even used to surply some shops many moons ago but i always wanted a nice pond setup like you have...

if i knew we were staying here i would dig a nice one but know the minute i do that we will get an offer and will move on.

cheers....steve.....

[roosterman]

Hey steve that corn rig has got me thinking how would that go off the rocks wash fishing for bream and blackfish never tried it.

cheers steve

i cannot see why it wouldnt work... never tried but worth a go..

my old man used to swear by nans pudding that was flour/oil/cheese and cotton balls put on safety pins... now none of thats natural but worked a treat..

i could see how it can resemble fish roe so prob why it gets nailed by fish hard...

cheers....steve.....

[PRED-ATOR]

Great report Steve but i will make sure you don't bring a rod with you when you visit my place one day. Here is some pictures of my pets ive owned over tweenty years.

Cheers mate cg.

CG there some nice fish mate !

[arpie]

Well done Steve!! Don't you just LOVE platypus? I've nearly cast to them a couple of times in Jindy when trout fishing, when I've seen the swirl!!

cheers

Roberta

[taloyoak]

KOI rule!