Fishin’ Maggie
What’s Happening On Maggie
Easter is over and the winds just did not let up for a moment. Horseshoe Bay was the only bay for boating, although I saw some visiting anglers trying to make the most of things spending the day in the harbour in tinnies fishing the bottom. It’s a shame the winds were so strong virtually since Debbie left, murky waters are not good for snorkelling. They have brought out the crabs though, big crabs, and full. One caught at Westie was 28cm across the carapace, that’s a massive Buck, well done YT. Barra and Muddies love the murky waters, so get your crab pots out.
The Barra continue their dominance in Horseshoe Bay, being regularly caught between the stinger nets and the boat ramp. I’ve never seen such a top year for Barra at Horseshoe Bay, most are around that nice 60 to 75 cm, which makes them 3 to 4 years old. These Barra live in the caves along the far edges of the bay and sweep in morning and night, for a feed of mullet, which is holding in the rough ground near the boat ramp.
Congratulations to Ray K for his big Fingermark landed in the harbour just before dawn. Ray lost 3 bigger ones before finally landing his dinner. Apart from Queenie’s and Tarpon, the harbour currently holds a big school of 3 to 5 kg Golden Snapper which are stalking bait after dark. They will take a vibe lure at night, and love live mullet and live Herring.
Anglers using the beach in the harbour in th strong winds have been rewarded with some nice Bar Tailed Flathead, and small GT Fun. GT schools run through the harbour on the tides causing great light tackle action. Look for the bait ripples when the Hardyheads start getting harassed.
Geoff and many other Picnic Bay anglers are landing plenty of hungry Queenfish at the Picnic Bay Jetty, along with a bunch of other hungry predators, although the Macs and Cobias seem to have disappeared. Other fish caught at Picnic last week include the very pretty Sand Bass (which look like a Barra and have a beautiful glowing eyes), Coral Trout to 3kg and Trevally I have also had reports unfortunately, of too many stonefish. I didn’t know until the last few days that there were so many stonefish around the end of the jetty, although it is habitat that they love. Take care swimming; these are very painful fish to tread on.
Ray C been picking up some 2 kg Grunter at WestPoint, near the shoals, but the only other thing getting caught out there are sharks, and lots of them.
Anyone see those campers in the pullover zone at Rocky Bay headland Saturday morning? One man tents set up in the hard gravel tied to the rail and the car. When we went past the guy was doing his morning pee over the edge of the rail, in full view of passers-by. Very Bizarre, but what a great view from the loo.
Arachnophobia 2
So the other Arachnid story that triggered the first one, told last week with the same angler friend, happened on our last trip. We were kayaking along a very pretty patch of riverbank flicking lures. Every angler knows that the closer to the structure you can flick a lure, the more chance of getting Barra and any other ambush predators. This unfortunately causes a few annoying snags, and some can be difficult to get out of the bush. When you kayak alone, you have to do the hard work myself, but when you’ve got a fishing buddy, you can be lazy and let them help you..
I asked for assistance after snagging up, and he graciously came in to get the lure from the tree. As he jiggled the branch up and down, a big eyed hairy bush spider dropped into the kayak, along with the lure. The poor guy could believe his bad luck, another spider encounter, why me? (My mate was still going to Spiders anonymous dealing with the wolf spider incident.)
We had a strong current trying to drag us down stream, towards some rocky rapids and I was trying to keep my kayak level and keep the fishing line over to his boat loose, but my mate was more concerned with the spider and with the spider was going to do now it was in the open. His hands were holding my line and the river bank, so no he dad free hands. As he dropped my line to try and flick the spider away, the kayaks twisted and my lure flicked around his back and wedged firmly into his new rain jacket. Now we were in one of those stupid situations, linked together, hooks loose, kayaks uncontrolled, and still that spider watching closely. My mate has a Mirage Drive Hobie which has the hole in the front where the Mirage Drive is supposed to be. It was pulled out for this trip, and the spider finally made a decision and mercifully backed into the hole, big bug eyes still watching my mate as it went. I could read the fear in my mates face, so I said let’s sort the lure first and then we will tackle the spider issue last because we’re not in a good position buddy, rapids coming up. I hauled myself closer, cut the leader, and then carefully cut the lure out of his jacket luckily with minimal damage. Then I grabbed the pliers dealt with the feisty spider, and we got the kayaks untangled. Honestly I think any more spiders and I will lose a fishing buddy forever.
Until next time gone Fishin’…. be back at dark-thirty
Cheers Dale
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