Tuross & Durras Lakes - A Must Visit Spot

[arpie]

Hi guys

When fishing Durras Lake had first been raised by my yakking buddies, I was always going to be 'in it' as it was the perfect opportunity to meet up with Hodgey and there was always the hope that we may have been able to hit the water together ..... but, alas, that was not to be!

Last Monday I headed south towards Tuross, to meet up with my yak fishing buddy from Canberra, Kim, and hopefully get into some good fish before heading further north to Durras Lakes to catch up with other yakking buddies who had decided to hit the lake for the weekend! I had a terrific drive down & instead of stopping overnight in Sydney, surprised myself & made it quite comfortably to Nowra via the M2 & M7, heading to the coast via Kangaroo Valley! All the traffic was heading the opposite direction, so, with my VW Campervan towing my trailer full of yak & fishing stuff, I didn't hold up anyone even tho I was down to 2nd gear in places! During the evening, a big southerly hit & I had to pull down the Poptop as I thought it made the campervan too unstable! Hodgey rang from Tuross to say they'd been hammered hard & were without power for 3hrs & apparantly the Sydney beaches copped a hiding too! Next morning in Nowra, I bought a front panel for our Oztent ...... a bit of extra security (after being robbed at Cessnock) for when we are away from the camp (or sleeping there, as the sound of the velcro being opened would wake the dead!) and it means that I can now park the van away from the tent & use it more for Tikki Touring & fishing instead of hiding the contents of our tent!

Before I left, I had contacted my buddy Steve Starling (who lives in Tuross) and was pleased to hear that he was keen to go bass & whiting fishing with Kim & I! I had first met Starlo in 2000 when selling 2 x Avon Royal Blackie reels on behalf of a friend whose husband had died. She was going to put them in a garage sale & I knew they would fetch a better price from those in the know. Steve bought the big one & another guy in Sydney bought the smaller one. Since then, on occasion, I have kept in touch with him by email here in Forster when he was narrating the Bream Series. He even loaned me a SW Fly reel when I went to the NT with the hope of hooking a Barra on it ..... it didn't happen .... & also gave me some SW flies to try. Being in his 'back yard' for the best part of a week was too good an oppportunity to pass up, so I made contact before leaving & was excited to be able to fish with one of Australia's other Fishing Legends (Hodgey being my first thought when the chance to fish Tuross came about .....!)

Arrived in Tuross on Tues about lunchtime & set up camp - what a magic spot!! There was very limited mobile phone coverage, so I played 'phone tag' with Hodgey and Starlo whilst trying to organise a get-together of some sort. As a result of the phone, I missed 2 initial flats session with Starlo. We stayed at the caravan park overlooking the opening & sand flats & just loved it! This shot was taken from our campsite at dawn. The areas that we 'flat fished' was across the water behind the 2 sand bars & fishing everything that was to the right of the actual photo!

View from our camp site

Some regular visitors ..... one for the kids! They were sooooo cute!

On Tues afternoon, Starlo visited our campsite & we discussed the fishing options & Hodgey popped in to say Hi & organise a drink at his place the next evening. Starlo had been popping the flats for whiting & had about 6 in his fishing bag & also a fairly large flattie that had inhaled his Sammy pencil & was bleeding badly, so kept her too. After nibbles & drinks, he invited us to his place for dinner ..... he was cooking!! That was too good an opportunity to pass up! We brought the wine & salad! The pan fried fresh whiting were scrummy! I had brought some mangoes on the way down, so we feasted on them for pudding! We offered to reciprocate the next night, with my Smoked Blackfish Pie, Pasta & salad & Starlo was keen to try it! He was busy the next day, so we decided to go yakking from just around from the camp, passed the restaurants & further up into the lake system!

But first thing Wed morning, we had to go to Narooma for Kim to get a sleeping bag, as she'd forgotten hers & had been a bit cold the evening before. Unfortunately, they sold her a 'kiddies' one & it only came up to her armpit! However, with her down jacket, she made do! We seriously depleted our bank account buying some of Steve's Favourite Poppers that had been working so well on the whiting! Keith may live to regret his parting words to me when I headed out on the Monday ........"If you need any tackle, just buy it" ......... 'Cos I DID!!!

Another yakking buddy had arrived, so we headed out onto the lake! I caught a small flattie & tailor & then headed over towards the shore & spotted some nice sand holes amongst the weedbeds & cast my Chubby over it & retrieved. WHACK!! A big flattie jumped onto the lure & was stripping line fast from a fairly tight drag! It was quite shallow & no structure other than the weed, so I wasn't overly concerned about it getting off ....... I should have been! Just as I got it to the yak, it spat the hook! I nearly spat the dummy!!! Had another hit shortly after, then all was quiet, so I moved over towards the restaurants, popping all the way with Hodgey's fav popper!

Nothing much happened until a seagull decided to investigate the lure! Not sure if he thought it was an imitation chip (patrons often throw them into the water, much as we had just an hour before) and I jerked the lure away from the bird a few times, before he finally got it!!! In front a of restaurant full of patrons eating on the outside deck ....... I reeled the seagull in & whilst carefully holding the beak, removed the lure & allowed the gull to go free! Luckily it was very docile & didn't fight me! A PB on popper ..... 1 x Seagull!

PB Seagull on popper

It went quiet again, so I packed up & went home to prepare for the evening meal with Starlo. We were very lucky with the weather - fine & sunny for the whole 9 days I was away & last Wed was no different. We discussed our options for bass fishing the next day & decided on a river south of Batemans Bay - I would take my yak around to his place in the morning & put it on his trailer & leave my van back at camp, to recharge.

After dinner, I headed off to Hodgey's place for a beer & chat ...... getting lost within sight of the camp & ending up at the beach again! Finally found the correct road & headed off towards the highway & found Hodgey's street. Driving down the road & I can't spot the house numbers, but I know it is a dead end & just hope they come out looking for me!!! Chucked a "Uie" at the end & sure enough, there is Hodgey waiting outside his house for me to go past again! So, finally, I managed to meet up with Hodgey, Mel and 2 lovely kiddies, Taneka and Robbie. The kids were soooo excited at being allowed to stay up & meet me - it was really sweet! Ian & I had a bit of a "show & tell" of our favourite lures & compared fishing tales ...... what a shame we weren't able to get out on the water this time! He thought my sleeping arrangement in the campervan was hilarious! It was much easier storing it there than on top of the trailer, so it now had a permanent resting spot in between fishing expeditions! At least it doesn't snore or pinch my blanket!

Hodgey & roberta

new sleeping arrangement in my campervan!

We were on the water at 9am & saw 2 guys leaving with 3 nice bass they'd caught on worms. Lovely looking water & we are keen to get going. The ride down the river was amazing - ranging from depths of 10m to less than 5cm, where we had to get out & walk our yaks, with some nice sheer stone walls along the way ....... we fished & pedalled the lot! The serenity was absolutely breathtaking & lots of big Water Dragons were jumping in the water & we had to be careful they not take our lures, as Kim had hooked one on a previous trip! Steve was in his Rosco Canoe with a leccie & had never done the 'whole trip' before, so he was surprised when what he thought was the 'home corner' became the 'halfway mark'! We continued casting & retrieving all the way down, having hits & misses here & there, seeing huge mullet jumping all over the place & wondering why the flatties hadn't come out to play! We finally got to our destination at 6.30pm & played musical cars to get all our gear together & how I wish I took a photo of my Hobie sitting on top of Steve's upside down Rosco, being held on precariously by a couple of ropes! It was a work of art! Surprisingly, it made it back to camp in one piece .....we all kept an eagle eye on it for the whole trip back to camp & Kim was behind us letting us know if anything unusual happened! After leaning to the right at one stage, then leaning to the left, it somehow actually managed to sit completely upright, very proud, for most of the trip! Kim hooked a few bass & numerous small bream, Starlo got some bream & a couple of bass & I got smashed by a big bass who took off (literally) with my favourite Purple spinner bait! I had cast to a bit of 'broken edge' where I thought some worms may have fallen in previously ...... good call! Looking back on it, I really should have put a worm on & tossed it around the snags when we put in! But I hadn't thought of that! DUH! Steve has since tried upriver of where we put in & caught a PB of 41cm on a spinnerbait! After finally reaching our camp and meeting up with Steve at the local restaurant for a late dinner, we slept very well that night! Absolutely knackered! It was the longest day on the water I had ever had! I think Starlo was surprised that we were 'up to it'! He even had to rest his leccie & walk the shallows, in case it ran dry!

Starlo & a small bass

Kim & Starlo bassin'

By now, it was Friday morning already & we were keen to try the sand flats where Starlo had been catching the big elbow slapping whiting & some monster flatties. Kim, Rob & I followed Starlo as we waded across the entrance & behind the dunes, to try & catch some of the wiley whiting - they spook really easily as they are often in water that is only ankle deep, so we were casting from way back on the sand (not unlike trout fishing!) Starlo showed us his 'walk the dog' style of retrieve & I just wonder how he gets the tip of the rod just quivering on a slow retrieve ........ mine is still more of a jerk! Kim was getting bites to the right of me & I cast out & the thin braid wrapped around the tip of the rod & my lure was flying faster & further than it had ever been before, as the braid had snapped! Aaaaagh!! I started towards it, spooking Kim's fish (SORRY) and luckily, found it floating some distance ahead of me & was able to remove the busted braid & just reattach the leader! A couple of times, I tried to do it 'southpaw' the reel, but I am sooooo right handed, it was worse than trying to pat my head whilst rubbing my tummy (and even worse when on the yak, pedalling too!) Very tricky! I shall try & persevere & learn the left hand wind ..... but I know it will be difficult! Steve was onto a nice whiting fairly quickly & Kim had a couple on that got off & finally landed a nice one. I had a couple of hits & dropped a couple, but didn't land any. Rob also had some follows & hits. We worked our way across the shallows & Kim was retrieving one cast when an almighty splash erupted at her feet - a huge flattie had leapt out of the water to try & grab her lure! Steve had previously actually trodden on a big flattie & wasn't sure who got the biggest surprise - the flattie or him! After a moment or two, he 'self released' it! Lucky it wasn't a stingray as he goes barefoot & there were plenty of them around too! By then we had come to a small 'bay' of deeper water & Starlo flicked his popper out & a very acrobatic Tailor obliged by jumping on!! He yelled out that he was onto a good fish & I immediately abandoned the search for whiting and cast out. Instantly, I was onto a good fish, even bigger than Steve's! It had launched itself out of the water, missing the lure, then had 2 more goes before finally hooking itself firmly on the rear treble! It took quite a bit of patience to bring it in, as I was using 4lb Crystal & 12lb leader (in case of big flatties) and didn't want to lose my expensive new lure!! This was a huge fish (for me, anyway), in excess of 50cm! I hadn't even caught one that big from the beaches in years, let alone a shallow lake! It was terrific fun playing it out & Starlo got his camera out & took heaps of photos ...... can't wait to see them! We despatched that one & I cast out & was onto a similar sized fish again within seconds, which was played out & released. By then, I yelling to Kim "Come over here, Come over here" and she did, along with Rob. Rob hooked up on his first cast & the tailor engulfed his $25 lure & busted off!! Goodbye Lure! He put on a surecatch red & white popper & hooked up again on a 50cm fish! Kim got into the act & also caught one of a similar size, before being busted off on one of Steve's rods & his favourite whiting lure (same as Rob's) also disappeared. Kim was keen to try out another 'light' flickstick, as she was looking to add another to her collection & Steve kindly offered to bring his 'other' rod along for her to try. She loved it so much, that she made an offer to Steve to sell it to her, which to my amazement, he did, but not the reel!!! By this time, we had to head back to camp as Steve had a meeting & we had to head off towards Durras & our next camp, wading in water up to our waists! That was a shock to the system! What a blast tho! Hooking into the tailor (I landed 4 & didn't lose a lure) was the highlight of the 4 days we were there & just 'made' the trip for us! We were ecstatic at Starlo's very generous participation in our Tuross Adventure and can't thank him enough.

Rob & Kim with Starlo

Starlo onto a fish

a trio of tailor

It was 'this' big!

We ambled from Tuross to Durras & spent way too much time & money in the tackle shops along the way ........ hence our 'later than planned' arrival at Durras, setting up camp in the late afternoon, which precluded me from joining other yakkers at Maloneys for a Squid Fish! On Sunday evening, Kim took me over to see the dreaded Sand Monster & I reckon that if I was really game, I could have made it out onto the bay & given it a go ...... NEXT TIME, definitely!!! The bloke in the Fish & Chip shop even 'opened shop' for us (after hours) to give us a great feed. How amazing was that?

Both Kim & I had to set up our NEW RODS (did I tell you that she actually GAVE ME Steve's rod???) before heading out onto the lake, hence our 'late start' on Sat morning! One guy was heading back to the boat ramp already at 9.00am with a bag full of whiting & gallantly loaned his favourite lure to me, in the vain hope that I would catch lots of whiting on it, as he had done! He even showed me the speed he was retrieving, enticing the whiting onto the lure! Unfortunately, I had no joy on it, so went to a clear Strike Pro, & got a couple of nice whiting on that! New PB on popper 32cm whiting! It was a long hard day, with not many fish 'rising to the occasion' & many a thousand casts put in! My shoulders were telling me that I had worked hard for my 2 fish on the Saturday!

A dickhead in a tinny caused a bit of excitement (re-word that as 'worry') when he headed full bore towards me, seemingly not watching where he was going! When he was extremely close & hadn't changed tack, I pulled out my trusty 'hooter' (orange plastic one ) and gave it an almighty blast, whilst motioning for him to move over to the other side of the channel! He slowed down & shouted out "F**king W**ker" and took off again! Then we had the ski boat that was testing out its motor (V8) that was missing Badly! He must have spluttered up & down 6 or 7 times, annoying everyone! We headed back to shore & it was terrific to meet up with all the other yakkers &compare notes! I mentioned the tinny incident & one guy said "I wondered what the noise was - I was looking up into the sky for a duck!'' Someone then started demonstrating the 'Hooter' on anyone within earshot! If you don't know it is coming ..... it is a real shock how loud it is! It covers over 1km on still water!

Sunday morning loomed & both Kim & I were out on the water much earlier! Kim headed to her favourite bream spot & I went back to the 'hot whiting spot' & tossed stuff around! The weed snot was a real pain - anything that went within 1ft of the bottom got covered in it! Gooey Slimey brown stuff! Horrible!

Snot weed (never seen that before!)

I remembered that one guy got some good flatties in front of the 'point' so put on a Turtleback worm tossed it out! Instant hit! WOOHOO!!! FLATTIE!! He evaded the cloth & managed to twist & turn about 10 times, spiking me on every turn! Both hands! I was bleeding like a stuck pig! Another PB - flattie on turtleback!! (thanks nexus )

43cm flattie

32cm whiting on popper

Quickly I got 3 more, but all were smaller! I also got one other small whiting & believe it or not, another PB on turtleback - an octopus .... but as I tried to take its photo, it spat the hook & shot its ink! Hardly a bag full of fish, but I had well & truly 'blooded' Starlo's rod over the weekend & was happy with that!!

I just loved the 'ambience' of the whole south coast & know that I will be back - it is the first time I had spent time there ....... next time, hopefully with Kim again ..... and possibly with my husband in tow!

We was burgalled again at Durras ...... by 4 legged critters & guess what they took??  2 of my MANGOES!!!  One was eaten right to the seed & the other half eaten!  What a waste!  Had to laugh tho!  Kim was sleeping just inches from where they ate & heard nothing.  Looking forward to getting down there for more fishing adventures ....... it was terrific meeting up with the other fanatical yak fishos .......... I bet the lake needed a rest after being pounded by poppers & lures for 3 days!

Monday morning, we packed up camp & the original plan was for me to make it to Kiama & spend the night, but I got there before lunch & felt too lively to stop & so continued on! I thought I'd missed the turn for Hwy 88 across to the Hume hwy,but found it halfway up the steep hill towards Wollongong ...... but fear I might have been pinged by a speed camera when I almost took a wrong turn on the Bulli turnoff & re-joined the Hwy just under the camera ........ I didn't see any flash, so hopefully I missed the 'trigger points' by coming in on the side!

I made my way towards Hornsby & still felt 'fresh' but knew I had to pull over soon! I thought 'Central Coast' sounded good ..... so I headed towards Ettalong where RayR lives & made contact via Hodgey! After flicking some sps into the lovely water there, Ray arrived & we nattered away about fishing & photos and then Hutcho turns up as well! What a shame it was a weekday & we couldn't hit the water the next morning before heading off to Forster! Like Arnie says ...... I'll be back!!

We had a big storm again on Monday night (what is it about storms on Monday nights!?) - thunder & lightening & lots of rain ...... Tues morning also, so I bypassed a shower & decent breakfast, to head for home before getting thoroughly drenched! I arrived home about 11.30am & started the massive 'unpack'!! Finished that just in time as the storm finally caught up with us & lots more rain happened ..... Keith was cleaning the exterior of the van & said .....Something wrong here - I can't go into Reverse!! I tried too! Sure enough, NO REVERSE!!! Thank God it didn't happen yesterday or the day before!!! So it was off to Taree yesterday to get it all fixed up ..... ready for my Hawkesbury trip at the end of the month , but more about that later!!! Anyone with tips on fishing Wiseman's Ferry, please don't hesitate to send me a PM with extensive tips!

Cheerio for now

Roberta

Edited October 17, 2008 by Roberta

[Bream Mad]

Great report roberta

sounds like you had a ball!!!

might have to book in the family for trip before christmas

cheers

kael

[Tony Soprano]

Wow.

What an awesome report Roberta.

Thanks for sharing such a detailed account of your trip...

Cheers

Tony

[Hodgey]

Gee you travelled some miles, Roberta, and covered a lot of new water. It was good to see that Starling made some time for you girls and showed you a couple of different techniques.

As you have seen, our entrance is all but closed now, which means there is little run in the tides. This is probably why our blackfisherman are struggling so much. It also means the dolphins are stuck in the lake for the foreseeable future

It was great to catch up for a chat and to exchange ideas and tackle. Don't forget to chase up those plastics in the e-mail

Some terrific photos once again. Bass, whiting, flatties, tailor, bream, and sea gulls ... your trip had it all Next time you visit I will ensure I am available for a session or two.

Great trip!

Ian

[Jewhunter]

Top stuff Roberta.

That was an awesome report.

What a great trip you had. Catching up with a couple of legends & catching plenty of different species of fish as well. Bloody fantastic!

Thanks for going into so much detail sharing your trip with us.

Cheers,

Grant.

[jewgaffer]

Terrific report and photos Roberta. Reading the report was just like fishing along with you and having a guided tour of Adventureland

I'm glad you caught up with Steve Starling again and you got together with Ian Hodgey. If ever the three of you get a chance to get together for a few days down there I reckon the education alone will be well worth waiting for.

Cheers

jewgaffer

[The Iceman]

Great report Roberta

Dont tell me we are going to see you in a magazine article

So what is Starlos favorite whiting popper?

Stiffy, rebel or something new and different

[arpie]

Hi hodgey - re the sps ..... i have a buddy looking into it as we speak! That day on the river was amazing! Just wish I'd landed that darn bass! I will be 'doing' the Hawkesbury at Wismans Ferry in 2 weeks, so hope to have a bash at some bass there!!

Hey Byron, it was a terrific week, all up!

hehehe Iceman .... Dont tell me we are going to see you in a magazine article ....... you never know!!! I think he just takes photos of anything holding a fish as his camera is always in his backpack!! his current favourite is a Lucky Craft Sammy - the greeny one, but I got more & bigger tailor on the mullet coloured one ..... without losing a lure (got hits on the whiting too.) Steve ended up losing his to a tailor too!

When I can get the photo thing sorted, i hope to add some more :)

Roberta

[The Iceman]

Yep I know the lure expensive one as well

The whiting must be really aggressive to hit a 65mm lure

Very good bass lure as well

[james7]

Wow! What a report Roberta! Absolutely awesome!

Certainly worth waiting for!!! Starlo, Hodgey, Ray etc etc - great fishing, great company, great story

I have so many questions, but will leave them for now. I'm just going to enjoy re-reading the report.

I wish you'd taken a television crew with you.

This photo is sensational!

Cheers

Peter

[soft-on]

Oh my im Gealous!!

What a top report Roberta, i read it last night and it made me want to go fishing

Some really good photos too. Shame i didnt know you were driving back up because we could have caught up for that bass fish we have been talking about.

Thankyou i really enjoyed it was a great read.

Cheers Cam

[arpie]

Ooooh!! Cam - I didn't realise you lived down that way!!! Fishing Heaven (and that comes from someone who lives in Forster!!!!)

Next time ...... I promise I will make contact & Hodgey, Dean, you & I can hit the water! Now that will really be a danger to the fishing population of Tuross! Would love to hit the Bass water with you!

Peter - glad you liked the pic - it really is a 'calendar picture' area! I had to hold back on not taking more!!!

Ask away!!!

Cheerio

Roberta

Edited October 17, 2008 by Roberta

[bart]

Spent a week at Durras Lakes many ,many, years ago. ( 50 ) with my parents and cousins. They were out spearing GROPER off the islands if I can remember. Lovely spot, and there were lots of roos around at the time as well. Will have to call in there some time in the future to reminisce.

CHEERS BART.

[jenno64]

Roberta,

You've been A-listing with some gurus in Starlo and Hodgey...great post and love the sleeping Hobie in the van

Cheers

[slinkymalinky]

Roberta... have you got writer's cramp? What a fantastic report. You got to sample just about every kind of fishing you could hope for. That seagull is a honker (or should that be squawker?). Nice to see you sorted out the pic spacing

Thanks for giving us all such an enjoyable read and I'm glad you had such a great and varied time on the water. The pics are beaut as always

I wish I was occasionally told to buy tackle instead of having to find newer and more cunning and ingenious hiding places all the time

The price of all those new high-end micro lures is staggering, but it's just impossible to resist isn't it?

Loved every word of it.

Cheers, Slinky

[Day's Fishin]

Hi Roberta,great tale.

Sounds like everyone had a great time.

Re wiseo:I don't know if it's your cup of tea or not,but I fish from webs creek back to dads corner for bass using wood grubs.These turn even the smallest bass into a feeding frenzy & I hardly ever miss on hooking up.

Jeff

[arpie]

....wood grub....

Thanks for reminding me Jeff - I actually have some bardi grup 'lookalikes' that I should take with me next time I go bassin'! A buddy does well high up in the Manning on spinners & sx40s ..... must give it a go this summer!

Thanks for the kind words, SLinky - yeah ....... a couple more spacings there made a HUGE difference!!

Roberta

[Ray R]

Hi Roberta, that was some read, your a star, glad to be a small part of your journey, and the pics look great too.. Cheers..

[arpie]

Here is a top map of the Tuross Lake system, with tips on where to fish!

http://www.obriensboatshed.com.au/rivermap.html

We were fishing the flats in that area where it says "Sand and Mud" just behind that big sand island/dune.

Wish I'd seen it before I left!....

Roberta

Edited October 18, 2008 by Roberta