Well only one full day and two nights away this time.  We left in 2 boats on sunday night which was fantastic, knowing that i didnt have to be at work on monday morning was a great feeling.  The weather was good for the trip although not very hot we were hopefull that things might be ok.  We were hoping to get a barra for one of our mates from perth who was visiting us, there had been a few reports of some good fish comming through just before our departure which helped boost our confidence

the carpark at camp, i mean boatpark.

Well as soon as we got to our spot we set up and rushed out to get some livies before the sun was completely set.  It was hard work, the wind was right in our face and the mullet were scarce. We struggled for a few hours but managed to get a few solid turbos for the night fish!  After dinner we ventured out in the boat to the ever trusy rutt and got the livies in.  I had a bait in for about 30 seconds got a huge run / jump all the antics and then dropped it.  Damm i had a bad feeling that it was going to be one of those nights.  Did manage to land a few threadies and one decent sized one.

I hoked up on another three or so barra, they ran really timidly (if that is a word) or probably half assed is a better way to describe.  i dropped them all.  Mark got a good fish boatside, then we dropped that as well, probably through a little bit of disorganisation on our part.  He did managed to land a nice fish of 835mm which was tagged and released.  Well done mate!

835mm tagged and released

Well i didnt get a fish and i dropped about 4, not a good start.  Mark dropped about three fish as well, the barra just were not running hard, its like they were playing with the baits.

Anyway the sun brought a new day and we were keen for some more fishing.  I started the day wanting to try out some soft plastics, keen to flick them into the scrub and see what was around.  Caught a lot of fish, last count was 5 flatties in about 7 casts and every other species in between.  Had my heart in my mouth for a second when i hooked on to something solid, turned out to be a meter queenie, oh well!

plastics fingermark, released!

plastics flatty number 2435,

plastic caught threadie

There were heaps of threadies schooling up baitfish. Barra boofs were starting to happen as the sun got a bit more heat into the water so we decided to go on the hunt for some more livies.

fish on a snag, they were hitting soft plastics every time they went passed.

well once again lives were hard to get, blind casting into the rutts seemed like the most productive way to get them.  The mullet were hiding deep in the water putting them just out of reach with the cast net.  Still we managed to get a few and that put us in with a chance of a few barra.  Once out in the boat we got the livies out and straight away our perth mate craig got a moster run on a fish estimated to go 90 to 95 cm.  Its back was breaking the surface until it burried him in a snag, unlucky but exciting none the less.  It wasnt too long before craigs rod went off again, this time a nice threadie.

Craigs first threadie

I was having one of those days or trips for that matter, i snapped the tip off my new xcell rod, dropped the camera in the water (write off managed to save the memory stick and most of the photos) and i dropped another 4 barra because of things like knots, hook bedding themselfs into the side of the mullet and finicky fish not taking the bait hard.  Oh well we still got a few and tagged all of them so it was great and much better than being at work.

Barra boatside

Another barra tagged and released, a very healthy smaller fish

Unfortunately our perth mate craig didnt get a barra, he did drop three and still managed to land quite a few nice fish and experience a little bit of pilbara fishing.  Mark landed another healthy little barra on a dead headless mullet of all things.  I have never seen it happen before but have heard about it, amazing.

Mark definately gets best on ground for this trip, a dead bait caught barra, tagged and released!

Was a great trip, although short.  Got a heap of fish and released them all, cant wait to get back up the creek again soon.  Hopefully the barra will not be as playfull and rejuvinate my tarnished ego.

Cheers

PB