WOW! Doesn't a nice weekend on the water make a difference to one's well-being?
The fish were biting, the wind had dropped out and the sea flattened out somewhat, allowing most to get out on the water.
Last week saw a few getting into the black jew. Like Ray Noe, who landed this beauty up near Rundle.
Well done, along with Terrin Sharpe and Jon Pike, who just love showing off their big jewies as well.
The whole region fished very well, with plenty of barra caught in Raglan Creek, the Calliope and right across the whole system.
How about Greg Elliot's barra on the front page of The Observer this week?
What an awesome fish. And there were others - like Andrew Barnes, who caught and released a 1.3m barra, Brent Barnes-Mayman landed a 1.3m cobia, and Mark Bycroft landed a nice 45cm Jack using a vibe lure.
There were so many good catches on the weekend.
Yours truly had the pleasure of being invited out with Johnny Mitchell and although a 3am rise is just not right, I got out on the water at 4am (yawn), fishing the 8-15 mile range outside the entrance to the channel, targeting nannygai, reds, trout and whatever else chewed on the line.
Learning more about the sounder, bait collection and even my method of striking a fish was all part of the learning curve with this chap, and like a good golfing stroke, all these little coaching tips certainly help increase your chances of nailing that fish.
We came home with 17 keepers and ended up with about 8kg of fillets.
Mark Patton was able to slip out on Monday morning before the wind popped up and among his binful was a 5kg grassie sweetlip. Solid fish Mark, well done.
This weekend, Greg Realf and I, along with Glenn Churchill from the GAPDL, are manning the Gladstone and Banana Region's stand at the Brisbane Tinny and Tackle Show in Manly.
The goal is to answer any questions people have about the region and in the past the four of us (Matty Branthwaite helps as well) have been kept pretty busy.
There are a lot of perceptions about our region down south, but as those who slip out on the water can contest, we have it very good, with a variety of places to go and myriad species to target.
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| The HookUp major prize is a fully kitted out Haines Signature 602F. |
The 20th Boyne Tannum HookUp is rapidly approaching, and Darren Brown, from Curtis Coast Marine, posted a photo of the major prize on his Facebook page - a Haines Signature 602F Hardtop fitted out with Garmin electronics and a mighty 150hp Suzuki four-stroke.
Visit www.boynetannumhookup.com.au to enter.
This weekend looks as though it'll be a tad ordinary out front, with 15 knots expected tomorrow afternoon, plus maybe a shower.
Big tides, though, and for the best results the last couple of hours leading up to and down to the high and low tides seem to produce the best results.
