Burrum River Breamin - the Missus Aced me Again!

[hairymick]

G'day guys,

Robin and I spent a few hours on our local river again yesterday.

Robin doesn't like to fish from a kayak or canoe so we go back to basics a bit, paddle to a yabby (Ghost Shrimp) bank gather some live bait -

and then paddle to another sand bank and set out some lines and just kick back and wait for a while.
8)

If nothing shows within half an hour or so, we move to another sand bank and try again. 8) No particular hurry or destination, just paddle round with the tide, looking for likely looking spots, set for a while and then move on. easy 8)

Anyway, the tide was falling when we got to the put in so we worked our way down stream with the current in this fashion and when the tide changed, we came back. This is pretty much our SOP on days like this. Did I mention winter in Queensland is tough?

Long story - short, We paddled and fished our way downstream 5 or 6 miles with very little to show for all the effort we put in :lol: and as the tide started to turn, pulled into a sand bank for one last shot before heading for home. In very quick succession, Robin landed a couple of fine bream to add to the couple we allready had and suddenly, we had enough fish for our supper. 8)

while the best I could manage was one very average one. :lol:

After a leasurely paddle back to the put in, we arrived in time to get a nice shot of the last rays of sunlight & reflections

Hope you enjoyed our little story.

 

[Commodore]

Fishing tale

Mick: I really enjoy your stories. The pictures are positvely excellent. I hope that someday I will be able to meet you and your wife. Keep the stories and pictures coming. Commodore

 

[Kayak Jack]

Mick,

One observation, and one question.

Observation: I have the "kick back and wait" part just about mastered. Learned some on Outhouse Key, and more on the Brazos. (Watch Jimmie aka Yakus Relaxicus)

Question: Who's the ugly bloke you let go fishing with Mz Robin?

 

[bearridge]

Looks ta me like a barrel of monkey caint have more fun than ya'll.

 

[jdupre']

Love ya stories, Mick. That's my kind of fishing trip. A good boat, a good companion, beautiful scenery and a little mess o' fish for supper.

It beats the hell out of what's called fishing over here. 80 mph ( that's , what , about 100 kilometers per hour) bass boats tearing up and down the lake bristling with 10 rods and 6 tackle boxes. These guys make fishing into a job. Why- I know quite a few of these guys that stand up to fish for the whole day. To each his own, I guess.

Keep the stories coming.

 

[hairymick]

8) 8)

Thanks a lot guys, I just love sharing our little stories here.

The beauty about this part of the river for us is that is a maze of sand banks with lots of shallow gutters running through. At low tide it is difficult to find any water at all that is over 6 feet deep and mostly at low tide, is around a foot to 18 inches.

Joey mate, we try to keep to places away from that crowd as much as we can.

We have plenty of the big dollar stink boats here, but this part of the river kills em pretty quick. Ocean going ships and barges used to ply the river in the old coal mining days. When the upper reaches of the river was dammed, it began a process of silting up and now makes all the upper reaches inaccessable to all but the smallest of stink boats and even then with great care.

As the ships and barges made their way up stream, they dumped ballast in the form of large rocks, seemingly at random, all along this part of the river. Outstanding equalizers for the lunatic mob in their very fast boats and plenty of outboard legs and transoms have been torn off over the years.

Bear, life is real good at the moment mate. 8)

Jack, I much prefer to chuck hardbaits at structure along the way or to troll a couple of them behind but Rob gets pretty bored with this - while she is perfectly happy to sit on a sand bar and look glamerous- all day. This is a pretty good compromise for us. 8)

Re the ugly bloke, not sure what she is doing with him mate. Must be some old reprobate she found along the way somewhere and felt sorry for.

Commodore,

Thank you mate. We look forward to meeting you too. 8)

 

[Wannabe]

Mick,
You talked about going to the Yabie bank to get bait, then there is a picture of Miz. Robin poking around in the sand with some sort of tool. What is the tool and how does it work?From looking at it ,it appears to be some sort of pump. Thanks.
Bob

 

[hairymick]

G'day Bob,

Mick,
You talked about going to the Yabie bank to get bait, then there is a picture of Miz. Robin poking around in the sand with some sort of tool.

That iz me :lol:

the tool concerned is an Alvey Bait pump.

http://www.alvey.com.au/default.asp?contentID=633

http://www.alvey.com.au/default.asp?contentID=522

They are a suction pump that inserted into the sand/yabbie bank and at the same time the handle is pulled raising the plunger.

this in turn suck out the sand and any yabbies (ghost shrimp) that might be in it. The entire, loaded pump is then withrdrawn from the sand and the whole lot is ejected onto the surface of the sand. We then just pick em up and put into a bucket with a little water to keep them alive.

 

[john the pom]

Psst Mick I think wannabe was calling you a tool :lol:

 

[Bilgerat]

Thanks, Mick! I always enjoy your trip reports. 8)

Mike