Of Tuross and tannin

[GreyNurse]

G’day Raiders,

At long last my wife and I finally got away to Tuross Lake for a much needed proper holiday last week. We had been planning this since mid last year, booking the accommodation (just next to the Tuross Boatshed) and greedily anticipating a great getaway and relaxation week for both of us.
We left Sydney on Tuesday and, just south of Sussex caught up with the rain. We arrived at Tuross with the skies continuing to dump what was to become a 36 hour deluge.
Undeterred and with the only accommodation with a rear deck over the lake waters, I set up the gear and, as evening fell, started baiting up. Despite the rain, I managed a chopper tailor, a bream and a flatty, all undersized and returned.

The next morning produced more flathead between 30 and 39cm, a 30cm flounder and a decent 42cm greenback. I must have looked a site standing there in a poncho and holding the rod in one hand and an umbrella in the other, but, as they say, as needs must.

That night produced a catch of keepers. I kept being amazed at how the fish continued to bight despite the continuing heavy rain. Most of what I was catching was undersized flatties, so I was kept busy, despite the discomfort.

I had brought my kayak down with me but it was raining so hard that launching it would have to be delayed until the weather cleared. Also, the lake level was rising fast, the tides were out of whack as a result, and the amount of flotsam carried along in the strong current made even the short trip from the launch site around the point to the house a bit hazardous.

Finally the skies cleared the next morning. More flathead was the order of the day. Most were undersized, but 1 in every 4 was legal. Still, it was great just catching fish, so for the next two days, all fish were returned. At this point, I gave up keeping score of fish caught and just enjoyed the experience. The water by now was heavily tannin stained and the lake remained about 15 inches above the high tide mark.

On Friday afternoon, I noticed that the water level was starting to recede, the current in the main channel was slowing down and the amount of crap in the water was starting to reduce, so I launched the yak and paddled around to the house and tied up to the “boat deck”. Actually, I was able to paddle up onto this sloping deck as it was still half submerged.
Then the bite shut down completely on Friday night. I suppose the O2 levels were no longer fish friendly. Whatever the reason, I turned in early as I planned to take the yak out the next morning.

Saturday dawned bright and clear with the sound of outboards cuising the main channel. I think I must have counted 6 boats at Tuross Lake peak hour. Certainly a change from Sydney! I jumped in the yak and headed off upstream, patting myself on the back for bringing the Watersnake motor as the current would have had me knackered in a half an hour!

I turned on the Lowrance Elite 4x, set the range for 15 feet and was concerned at what I was seeing. As I was motoring over 12 feet of water, the bottom would intermittently drop away and the depth reading would flash 5 feet. Then the bottom would return to the screen and I would get a 12 foot read again. I finally set the depth for 40 feet and it would appear that if I went over any more than 30 feet, the bottom would remain on screen, but the depth indicator would flash 5 feet or less. As this only happened in the one deep part of the lake I navigated, I just took note of the issue and continued on. The sounder worked fine everywhere else.
Having no luck at the deep hole, I turned south and circumnavigated Horse Island. I pulled up at the oyster lease in the channel at the southern tip of the island and drifted my bait. I had a few touches, but no hook ups. I continued on, trolling a Gulp Crazy Legg shad but, as it turned out, never got another touch from yak for the rest of my stay.

Meanwhile, back at the house, it was a completely different story. The water out from the rear deck was about 8 feet deep and seemed to be a highway for flathead and bream. Sunday night produced this nice brace of fish. A 26cm bream and seven flathead between 37 and 42cm. I even landed three fatty on a Gulp 3 inch minnow in neuclear chicken!
The action was heating up with numerous fish dropped, my 20 lb FC trace being bitten off, and a break off. I had to replace the 6lb mono trace as the flathead bite were so aggressive, they were swallowing the hooks, including all my 1/0 circle hooks and numerous long shanks, and consequently sawing though the light line.

Monday was my wife and I’s 30^th wedding anniversary, so fishing that morning was restricted to an hour before my spouse awoke. But I couldn’t complain. She cooked me breakfast and brought it out to the deck while i was securing the gear. It doesn’t get much better than eating bacon and eggs on toast with a cup of java while gazing out over the glassy surface of Tuross Lake.
Cards and gifts exchanged, we decided to have lunch at the nearby country club. And what a lunch! My wife’s chicken schnitzel was the size of a turkey and my king prawns and oysters was a sight to behold. These were the biggest king prawns I’d ever eaten in my life. They made king prawns from Sydney look like schoolies!
We were due to return home the next morning, so I had to get the yak back on the car. I headed back around to the boat ramp that afternoon, not realising how low the tide was. Tip: Do not launch or retrieve anything at the Tuross Lake boat ramp unless it’s high tide, or you’re willing to drag your craft over the sand flats.

However, the day had one last surprise in store for me. I resumed fishing after a light dinner. More flatties caught and released. The all went quiet for an hour or so. Damn, I thought, so that’s it then. My wife retired to bed and about 30 minutes later, my rod bent double and started peeling line. I thumbed the spool to apply a bit more drag and felt the weight of a good fish. 5 minutes later, after it swam back and forth though another line I had out, I landed a stud 36cm bream. I had a set of analogue scales handy so I took a happy snap and placed him on the scale........2kg!. A beast like that deserved to live. So he was also returned to fight it out another day.

The next morning, I snuck in a quick session for three flatties and a bream before departing back home.
I know this is a long winded report, so thank you to those who stayed with it.
What started out as a rain fest became a truly wonderful estuary fishing holiday. I’m looking forward to returning to Tuross. Maybe not next year, but the year after that. As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Edited April 2, 2014 by GreyNurse

[codezz]

Sounds like a good weekend away mate. I used to live down that way, it is a beautiful area. I was down there recently and I saw the local paper which had an article about a fishing comp that had just been help in Tuross. The fisherman were pulling 84 cm flatties out, to bad you didn't get a hold of one of those

[Matt]

_{I was there for the week prior to the one in your report. Stayed at the Lakeside Caravan Park with the boat moored in front of it all week. I love it down there, magic place.}

_{The place is crawling with either small Flathead or Big Flathead (60cm+) but the word is that a whole generation of Flatties is missing (45 - 55cm). We got a lot from illegal up to about 42cm and a few over 65cm but nothing in between, its been like this for about 3 years!. Coila next door though was crawling with Flatties all over 45cm, this is the lake you should get the 'yak onto, shallow, weedy and loaded with quality Flathead, Flounder and Bream.}

_{That comp mentioned by Codezz is the annual Tuross Flathead and Bream comp, a great laid back fun comp. Best was an 84cm Flattie and a 34cm Bream.}

_Cheers

_Windy

[GreyNurse]

I saw that comp, Matt, and had high hopes of a good flatty, but I think the big ones took to the deeper waters to escape all the fresh. I read somewhere that Coila was poached illegally by netters, big time. Nearly all the bream were taken and people were only catching juveniles. It'll be years before the bream come back, they reckon. Still I was happy with flatty up to 42cm in Tuross, given all the rain and tannin. Not to mention a couple of real bruisers that broke my 6lb traces off. I switched to wire for a while with limited success, then tied on 20lb FC. The fish didn't seemed spooked by the heavier trace at all. The downside is that this trip has spoiled me for Sydney's waters now.

[Matt]

I know what you mean about spoiling Sydney Greynurse! Hard to get enthused to get out onto the Harbour with all its traffic!

That might explain why i didn't encounter a Bream in Coila this year, all quality Flathead or Flounder. Previous years I have done really well on Bream with small floating minnows run just above the weed. Thats a damn shame if its true about the illegal poaching, its a cracker of Lake.

Funny you mentioned that the fishing was poor up around Horse Island, I had the same. The further up the system I went the worse the fishing got. Barely touched a fish from about The Four Ways up?

Loved your report too, was sitting here in the office thinking about the week down there and then saw your report. Damn I want to go back!

Windy

[GreyNurse]

Well picked. It was actually 36cm (check out the tape in the pic). My mistake. Typo now fixed.

Edited April 2, 2014 by GreyNurse

[lukeyj1973]

Great report - thanks for sharing.

We stayed at the van park for a long weekend before Christmas and managed a couple of large flatties (65 and 74cm), but also none between that and under size...

Great place though, and will definitely be back.

[Witha]

Mate great report and looks like a cracking week away! That's a great spread of fish, interesting situation with all that fresh coming in. Obviously didn't turn them off!

What baits were you using mate? Hopefully I can steal some of your fish mojo next week

Cheers

Witha

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[Yaulpang]

Great report, love Tuross to bits

[GreyNurse]

What baits were you using mate? Hopefully I can steal some of your fish mojo next week

Cheers

Witha

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

Mate, I was using salted pilchards bought from the Shell servo in Tuross. I was going through a packet a day, at $7 a pack. A bit pricey, so next time I'll stock up before I leave. As stated, I did manage three flatties on soft plastic, but, being a lazy bugger, I preferred to bait up and sit down with a cuppa and just relax between bites. Most of the fish caught themselves.

[Scratchie]

Great report mate! Was an awesome read start to finish and happy anniversary! Glad to see you get amongst the fish and a few good catches at that. I love the scenic photo on the yak! Doesn't get much better than that. Well done

Cheers scratchie!!!

[Robinsoi]

Magnificent story Nursie!

Sounds like a great escape away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney.

Good on you for making the most of the crappy weather earlier on and very nicely done on a great bag of fish.

Happy Anniversary and thanks very much for sharing, great read and I stayed till the end

Very well done Sir!

Ian

[GreyNurse]

Thank you all for the kind comments. Can't wait to catch up with some of you at the Soft Plastics Social. It should be a great day.

[muttski]

Great report, hoping for some action like that this weekend. I hadn't noticed the pattern of the missing mid sized flatties until it was mentioned. I have been fishing the waterway at least monthly since xmas, nothing personally over 47cm. Brother inlaw has landed a few around 80cm.

There was 3 dolphins trapped for a few years in the lake the last time it was closed to the ocean, one went from a baby to full grown. Maybe that explains a gap in a particular age class.

If i land an elusive 50cm fish I will let you know!

[thefisherman6784]

Nice fish and nice feed

Well done

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[GreyNurse]

That's interesting Muttski,

I didn't hear about the dolphins, but that could well explain it. Anyway, there's such a great assortment of fish in the lake, a few "mid sized" flatty's going missing won't spoild the fun. I'm going back in 2016. Next year though, I want to fish the oyster leases at Forster. Can't wait!

[scratchie_junior619]

That's a sick catch and a awesome feed there mate!

Cheers scratchie_junior