Well decided at the last minute to go out to one of the local creeks for a fish today, just made it off the ramp it was a race against the tide.  Got into the creek and got some good livies in the new 10 ft cast net in the first couple of casts.  I have changed my technique a little and have found myself throwing the net a lot better the last couple of trips.  The wind has been up and the temp down the last few weeks so i wasn't overly confident, anyway i persisted and moved upriver to a spot i have not fished before.  I had to hide out of the wind and i figured that the further i went up river the warmer the water would be. 

Skinny water

Anyway i got a couple of livies out and sat down to have a cold beer.  It was about an hour before the low as i watched my line tighten and go against the current.  The the ratchet screamed and i watched a barra jump up river.  Woo hoo!  A good little fight followed in the narrow creek and a good sized 88cm healthy barra came boatside and i netted it.  I could have used my offsider jay but unfortunately he had to work HA HA!

#1 88cm and released

Well it went pretty quiet after that fish, the tide bottomed out and i was just about to make my way to another spot when again i got a good run.  This barra played very hard at the beginning and then went dead.  At first i thought i had a nice sized estuary cod, however when i got the fish boatside i realised it was a very deep hooked barra and it was bleeding quite bad.  I netted it and tried to revive it straight away but no joy.  I ended up keeping her, better me than the sharks.  It was 84cm and another nice sized fish

barra number 2 today 84cm and a keeper

Barra 2 84cm and not released

Well i felt pretty bad keeping a barra today, but hey it happens from time to time. After that fish i moved out to the mouth and started a slow trip home in the rough conditions.  I was pretty happy overall with the two fish in substandard conditions.  Looking forward to the weekend.