Cook's River (Tempe)

[adamski]

I was feeling a bit low after going down to Walsh Bay on Saturday and watching everyone bar me hauling fish in, plus I'd got up at 5 this morning to watch the Champion's League Final (hard lines Atletico), so this trip almost never happened...

... but thank God it did!

I was looking for somewhere a bit different and not too far. A quick search of the Raider forums threw up the Cook's and Tempe (saw Witha and SwordFisherman's reports). So I spent part of the early morning pre-match making up a mix of chicken thigh and chopped garlic (3 thighs, 1 bulb), it was super potent, and I think the people on the train later gave me a wide berth. Also-side note- my first time using chicken, I think that'll be my bait of choice in future. First thing to say is it's so much easier to put on the hook than prawn or bread, plus it stays there for multiple casts. Second thing is- wow!- bream love it!

Anyways, I arrived about midday and set up near the bridge at the station. There was one other guy there pulling out a few tiddlers but he packed up fairly soon. I stayed for the incoming tide and put on a very light sinking rig (2 small shot spread evenly on the leader, plus the smallest hooks I had). My first cast, I burleyed, cast out and let the little cube of chicken just drift along in the current. Nothing for a minute or two, then I felt a few tugs and got a small bream. Kept getting hits on my line at that spot, but no more hook ups.

After a while I decided to add an extra shot to the rig just to give me a bit more casting distance. Got the line out to the second bridge pylon and got a tailor about 20 cm or so. Then started to get snagged around some of the structure.

Not to be outdone, I moved down the river a little, stopping in the shade of a tree. Returned to my original 2 shots on the rig and again, just let the line drift right round so it was almost in close to the bank. Started to notice I was getting tugs close in, but I thought it'd be the same old story of lots of nibbles and no bites. But no! This time the rod bent properly and I had my first decent bream of the afternoon. A nice little chap, just over 22 cm long. It was also my first decent fight from a fish in Australia!

I caught a couple more smaller sized bream on the same method and was thinking about packing up, when a Spanish guy and his family came over and were talking to me a bit about the stuff I was using. When they went away, I thought to myself, "okay, let's have one more cast." So I cast out, waited waited, waited no tugs, twitches, nothing. Then BOOM! Not kidding- I just about had a heart attack. Had a decent battle on my hands and had to keep the fish from darting for cover at the side of the river. After what seemed like an eternity (but was probably in fact around a minute!) I pulled out MY FIRST LEGAL AUSTRALIAN FISH!!! He scraped in at a whopping 25 cm! I was so happy, I know in comparison to most people on this forum, it sounds like nothing, and I know it was on the Cook's so no take homes (I was a bit devastated about that, why couldn't this have happened east of the Sydney Harbour bridge?!) but I'm ecstatic. My faith in fishing has been restored!

Thinking back on it now, I've learned a few lessons from today- firstly to never be afraid of trying different baits, secondly a lighter rig is definitely better for fishing in that style on an incoming tide and thirdly I'm learning how to handle fish so that they don't return to the water traumatised. Final lesson? Never lose hope after a crap day's fishing!

Edited May 25, 2014 by adamski

[adamski]

Thanks for the congrats! I meant to say the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Edited now.

[scratchie_junior619]

Great bream there mate! Good work

Cheers scratchie_junior

[thefisherman6784]

Great work on the bream mate congratulations

What where the guys catching at Walsh bay

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[adamski]

Guys at Walsh Bay had pretty much everything you can think of- a few large bream, trevally, tailor... one old dude even pulled up this monster crab. The guy from Korea next to me also hooked something pretty enormous based on the strength with which it was pulling. Everyone on the pier reeled in so he could fight it, but he lost it close in.

[Witha]

Nice work mate glad my less productive sessions spurred you on! If you're heading down there again flick me a pm

Had a chat with a couple of nice old viet blokes down there the other day they tend to eat what they catch. ..tried to convince them it wasn't the best idea but didn't want to push the subject as they'd obviously fished there for years. Good luck on your next outing!

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[W4z]

Great fish mate congratulations! They sure are fun to catch

[poohbear]

Great catch

I often the Cooks and agree its only worthwhile on and around high tide. I use a float as there are just too many snags and have caught some bream of reasonable size. I definitely release all fish in the Cooks and am still surprised people eat fish from the cooks.

[Witha]

Just got back from a quick flick at that same spot, wanted to try the slack of the low and first of the incoming, big plastics etc. Nothin but snags and lost lures lol. First I've fished the bottom and yeah definitely say the top feels "fishier"

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[adamski]

Yeah mate, up near the bridge in particular there seemed to be quite a few snags about and there was one spot about halfway down that grassy area where I lost a couple of traces. It's a shame I hadn't thought of using the float there as poohbear suggested- might have given better casting distance at the bridge whilst avoiding the stuff on the bottom. There are definitely a lot of fish up there- saw schools of tailor hanging around the pylons. Might head back there again this weekend for another shot.