Derek showed me where to get good weed

[linewetter]

So I’ll start from the beginning of the day since @DerekD and I spent the day fishing together.  We met up in the morning with @foxyfisher and hit some topwater on the Parra River.  First time meeting him but I've heard so much about him from Derek based off his username 😁.   It was a good little session, with @foxyfisher walking away with a very nice sized bream and a tailor.  Derek landed a tailor and I came away with nothing but lots of hits.  Need to start throwing glasses in the river so the fish can see my lures better because they kept trying and missing.  After a few hours FoxyFisher had to leave and Derek and I head off to try our hand at freshwater fishing.  I’ve not fished much freshwater before and Derek let me borrow a spinner to try out.  After a fair go at the spinners and getting not much interest, we switched to topwater lures.  Derek pulled out a cicada topwater lure and was demonstrating it to me.  On first cast close to shore just to demonstrate the action, as soon as the cicada hit the water, SPLASH.  It was an Australian Bass.  Think both he and I were both a little startled because we were there for a good bit with no interest and suddenly a splash so close to our feet.  First time I saw a bass in real life and man the hit was aggressive.  We fished around a bit more with no luck before deciding to head off to lunch. 

After a good lunch and some frozen yogurt to top it all off, we headed off to find where the weed was.  On the way there, he talked about the varieties of weed there are, where you can generally expect to find it, and where you can even find it for free in the wild!  We got to the spot and he started to point it out along with the two different types of weed:

 

 

 

 

We took enough only for burley and bait.  I’ve read a lot about this stuff…I initially thought when people talked about fishing with cabbage they literally meant cabbage from the grocery store.  It wasn’t till a bit later that I found out they meant this stuff.  We were trying our hand at blackfish today, a new species to me to catch.  We took only enough for burley and bait and left the rest to flourish. 

 

We then headed off to our fishing spot where Derek showed how to put the weed on the hook effectively.  He mentioned that 80% of the stuff we collected would be burley and only a small amount used for bait.  I see why now because you really do only use a tiny amount as bait.  I zoomed in for the picture and in real life, it's even a lot less than it looks!  This was a tiny hook as well:

 

We threw our burley out and Derek had first cast to demonstrate how to fish with a float.  I've never fished with a float before and I've actually been really interested in learning how to.  I've been making due with adding a tiny split shot to my line and letting out enough line to just let my bait float in the approximate depth I want it at but have been wanting to learn how to float fish so I could set depth more effectively.  It wasn't long until we heard line starting to peel and Derek had a fish on!

I was in a rush to snap a photo while trying to watch Derek and the fish so it's not the best photo but captured the essence!

The blackfish fought harder than I expected honestly.  It was smart, made runs for the oyster encrusted pylons and giving Derek a run for his money.  After a bit of back and forth Derek pulled up his fish.  It was a chunky one and had some good weight on it:

 

Now it was my turn...I put some burley out and did a gentle cast out.  I watched the float intently and it wasn't long before it started to bob a little.  Suddenly it dove underwater and I had a fish on!  Derek told me that you have to set the hook on these with intention and I agree.  It doesn't feel like catching other fish to me, I don't think I would have even known I had a fish on if it wasn't for the visual indicator of the float.  The fish made runs for the oysters again and I guided it away with Derek's advice.  Still new to fishing and get the tunnel vision when I've got a fish on, so I don't always notice the surroundings.  After some runs, I eventually got it pulled up!  It was my first blackfish and also the heaviest fish I've caught so far.  This one had some weight on it:

 

 

We caught a few more blackfish after this and even saw some kingfish.  I was on a time limit though because I was told in the middle of the fishing session that ants had invaded my kitchen and then later on, a breaker tripped and I was out of electricity for the fridge so I had to go take care of that...  It was like life really didn't want me having too much fun because we had so much more fishing planned for the day and I was excited.  Nevertheless, I had a great day out meeting @foxyfisher and learning and experiencing something new yet again with @DerekD. 

Edited February 24 by linewetter

[Steve0]

Congratulations on you catches. It sounds like a nice day out with good instruction.

Ants. You got me started, but I'll skip the battle stories! 

Recently I heard about Diatomaceous earth (DE) It worked on some carpenter ants on a track of the frame they were following to get inside our house. Inside, those ants didn't seem attracted to anything but came to the shower at night between bouts of chewing rotting timber (which is now replaced). Unlike other things, DE is perfectly safe for humans and most pets (e.g. not pet cockroaches).

 

[foxyfisher]

Fantastic report @linewetter, love the title 😄 Was great meeting you, cracking top-water session yesterday morning! Looking forward to more of the same, @DerekD's knowledge has been a game changer! 

 

[linewetter]

5 hours ago, Steve0 said:

Congratulations on you catches. It sounds like a nice day out with good instruction.

Ants. You got me started, but I'll skip the battle stories! 

Recently I heard about Diatomaceous earth (DE) It worked on some carpenter ants on a track of the frame they were following to get inside our house. Inside, those ants didn't seem attracted to anything but came to the shower at night between bouts of chewing rotting timber (which is now replaced). Unlike other things, DE is perfectly safe for humans and most pets (e.g. not pet cockroaches).

 

Have you had trouble with ants in the car as well?  They seem to come in whenever weather's bad and just camp out in random crevices and try to build a home.  So far I've tried cinnamon which seems to work temporarily but might try DE next....but also wanted to see if there was anything else that worked too.

[linewetter]

3 hours ago, foxyfisher said:

Fantastic report @linewetter, love the title 😄 Was great meeting you, cracking top-water session yesterday morning! Looking forward to more of the same, @DerekD's knowledge has been a game changer! 

 

Hahaha I was trying to think of a good title too so I'm glad 😁  I agree with you, his knowledge has been a game changer!  I've gone from catching fish every now and then to being reasonably confident I could land one each session.

[Larkin]

Well done linewetter! nice luderick! 👍

just watch out sticking your hands in the weed in the ocean pools without checking - I’ve been done by a fortescue fish when I was a young kid. The small 5-10cm fish hide in the weed. Most intense throbbing pain I’ve ever felt!

[linewetter]

1 hour ago, Larkin said:

Well done linewetter! nice luderick! 👍

just watch out sticking your hands in the weed in the ocean pools without checking - I’ve been done by a fortescue fish when I was a young kid. The small 5-10cm fish hide in the weed. Most intense throbbing pain I’ve ever felt!

Good warning!! I didn’t think about tiny fish hiding out like that. I will most definitely be more careful. So much to learn, stuff I wouldn’t have even thought about so thank you for the advice and saving me from a hard lesson learnt!  😄 Derek made mention of blue ring octopus being a potential hazard too in those.. honestly would not have guessed in a million years. 

[Steve0]

4 hours ago, linewetter said:

Have you had trouble with ants in the car as well?  They seem to come in whenever weather's bad and just camp out in random crevices and try to build a home.  So far I've tried cinnamon which seems to work temporarily but might try DE next....but also wanted to see if there was anything else that worked too.

In the car one-ups my locations. Maybe the spiders scare them off?

Borax usually works but, as bait mixed with other things, not on its own. Web search 'kill ants with borax'. If you don't find one that includes a peanut butter recipe along with the sugary substance recipe, search for kill and with borax and peanut butter. Pets and kids like peanut butter and sugary things, so be careful to make it safe. It is slow, but that's a good thing. It allows plenty of time for workers haul it back to the nest to feed the rest.   

[Little_Flatty]

Nice report @linewetter. Those luderick do fight hard.

I should've called you guys as I had a very rare afternoon off and fished two spots hard for three hours for one measly chopper tailor!

[DerekD]

32 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

I should've called you guys as I had a very rare afternoon off and fished two spots hard for three hours for one measly chopper tailor!

Wish you had as I always enjoy catching up with you. It is also good for @linewetter to meet up with some of the other members on this site.

I'm planning a really long and busy day fishing with L.W. on Sunday. Going to cover lots of locations and styles of fishing.

[Burger]

Good to see DerekD also taught you the most important part of Luderick fishing…..

Dont give away your fishing or weed spots in your photos! 😂🤣😉

[DerekD]

1 hour ago, Burger said:

Good to see DerekD also taught you the most important part of Luderick fishing…..

Dont give away your fishing or weed spots in your photos! 😂🤣😉

Was it that obvious...?

[nutsaboutfishing]

This post read very differently to what I was expecting from the title

 

[Little_Flatty]

5 hours ago, nutsaboutfishing said:

This post read very differently to what I was expecting from the title

 

Yes, when I saw the headline, I was thinking oh no, do I have to use the again? 🤦‍♂️🤣

But thankfully it was very above board  

That said, those luderick anglers and their weed sources...

[kantong]

great report mate! well done on the blackfish and lovely weed!

[big Neil]

Many thanks for your report Linewetter. I enjoyed reading it. Good. relevant photos used too...adding to the presentation.

When I was in school a few hundred years ago we were taught how to construct a report. Set the scene...describe the events...summarise the conclusions. You did all of that with your report and I really enjoyed reading it. Moreso because it created a visual image of Master and Apprentice(s) interacting to achieve the desired results.

I wish you well in your pursuit of the Luderick and no doubt the Australian Bass as they are both very exciting species to chase down.

Good luck with your angling journey.

Well done Derek for launching another couple of keen anglers into this amazing sport/hobby that we all share.

bn

[big Neil]

On 2/26/2024 at 11:05 AM, DerekD said:

Was it that obvious...?

YEP but necessarily so.    bn

[linewetter]

5 hours ago, big Neil said:

Many thanks for your report Linewetter. I enjoyed reading it. Good. relevant photos used too...adding to the presentation.

When I was in school a few hundred years ago we were taught how to construct a report. Set the scene...describe the events...summarise the conclusions. You did all of that with your report and I really enjoyed reading it. Moreso because it created a visual image of Master and Apprentice(s) interacting to achieve the desired results.

I wish you well in your pursuit of the Luderick and no doubt the Australian Bass as they are both very exciting species to chase down.

Good luck with your angling journey.

Well done Derek for launching another couple of keen anglers into this amazing sport/hobby that we all share.

bn

Thank you sir I’m glad you enjoyed it. With all that I have gained from the overall community and shared knowledge, it’s only right that I contribute back to it for others. May not be good enough to be the lesson giver yet so I stick to trying to remember to take photos for a good and proper report of my experiences out