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Jumpinpin 101


slinkymalinky

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Hodgey told me before heading out today from Jacob's Well with Jewhunter, that "it's a treacherous waterway". :1boat:

After heading out to one of Australia's most famous flathead spots I've realised he meant the fishing as well as the potential for boating disaster in the maze of channels, islands and obstructions.

Having never fished the area before we went out with an 'explorer' mindset... lucky because at one stage in the tangled waterway we ran across this Doctor Livingstone bloke. I was worried we might never find our way back to the ramp.

The fishing was tough. Started early with a high tide that created some amazing looking water, which we peppered with poppers, plastics and SX40s for a couple of half-hearted follows and bumps.

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Snags to make your mouth water

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It isn't whether you catch fish that count's... it's how you look playing the game!! Poppers at sunrise.

Then the wind steadily rose and rose from glassed out to about 20-25kt by the time we got back in at about 11am. Along the way we fished hard, constantly trying different techniques and areas. We only found one truly fishy looking spot where a little snaggy island was getting slammed by a ripping current, congregating bait in its droves.

Throwing a 3" Gulp Pogy around on a 2/0 jig head I was expecting Flathead but it got by a nice bream that took me through the timber and needed some T-Curve persuasion to get out.

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First 'Pin' fish

If you look at my right shoulder in the photo you can see a little black lump which is a piece of the snag that came back on my leader. It fought like stink and it fought dirty and we called it for a small jack or trevally, then overestimated its size by a lot. In the end a tidy fish that went 31cm to the fork.

Mrs Slinky is NOT happy with me because said Bream went back and didn't end up on her dinner plate :wife:

Along another nice looking stretch I had my only other definite quality fish action (we were pestered by chopper tailor almost everywhere). I pulled up tight on a snag... swore... then the snag started to move with that sluggish weight of a good flathead... then it shook its head immediately spitting the hook that I had thoughtfully failed to bury, trying to avoid losing the jig to the 'snag'. A bit more swearing and a horrible case of jelly legs from the adrenalin hit... followed by a bit more swearing. :badmood:

Hodgey... it's an awesome looking waterway that we didn't see too much of because of the wind. Correct me if I'm wrong mate, but I think one of the keys to unlocking the place (because all the spots look good) is finding the ones where the current concentrates the bait. The rest is there to fool the young players like me.

A lot more work needed but I've got all the time in the world now that the boat ramp is only 10 minutes away.

Thanks Jewhunter, for another nice day on the water.

Cheers, Slinky

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It's been a long time since I've been there but it doesn't sound like it's changed much. It has been the undoing of a lot of unsuspecting boaters with sandbars, sunken timber and rocks, swift currents and often the sheer volume of boat traffic. Look at it as you would fishing barra water up north ... find the eddies and the bait, and the good fish will be lying underneath/amongst them.

The one thing I tried with some success was rigging my plastics weedless in the shallows. I also found it easier to avoid the tailor in the deeper water by upsizing my jig heads. Tipplers Channel and Kalinga Bank are two spots that produced good flathead and bream, particularly on a runout tide. Local knowledge is a definite bonus and I used to get a lot of info from a mob in Beaudesert, but I am not sure if they're still there?

Persevere mate ... an intricate waterway that has the capacity to produce some very memorable fish! Once you get a feel for the place, you will feel more comfortable, and have a lot more success!

Cheers

Skip

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WOW :1yikes: - those snags must hold some serious secrets if you could ever get them to talk.

Good to see that you perserveered even if it was only 1 fish boated, it certainly would have whet my appetitie for a rematch with the river :biggrin2:

Boat ramp 10 minutes away - WTF ? - It doesn't get any better than that. :thumbup:

I'd better sign off before the slaiva drips down and ruins the keyboard :tease:

You're one lucky bugger there Slinky, go for it!!!!!!

Cheers

Mariner :mad3:

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What an interesting place. The biggest question we had was " where do we start? "

With the tide up over those islands it looked amazing & very fishy. The whole area looks the goods.

Slinkys bream fought well above it's weight. It was a fat, angry fish.

I had a bit of a rough day today. My casting was off, I was trying new line & some new techniques & ended up with a big, fat, krispy cream donut!!! Ahh well. That's the beauty of fishing. I can always try for redemption & have a ball doing it. :biggrin2:

Thanks for the day once again Slinky. It's always great to catch up with you for a fish, even when they don't play ball.

Cheers,

Grant.

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tough place to fish, the fish are thin and widely spread down the pin. i think the place has been fairly heavily fished. I'd be looking elsewhere slinky.

lovely place though great for sand crabing.

Thanks for the tip mate.

I have never seen so many crab pot floats in my life. :1yikes:

Best part of the day, apart from the company, was learning to throw a cast net properly. Thanks Slinky!!! :yahoo:

Cheers,

Grant.

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