We have been talking Graeme the Grey about not being able to get the fish to take our flies on good tides while he and Craig were killing a pig with them. He was saying that he had struck the same problem as us in some spots and he thinks it may be because of colder water. It had been bloody cold down in the Bynoe area last week, needed two bunny rugs and a jumper of a night, so the fish may have had the same problem. We found a flat on the eastern side of the harbour, that was still in the shade of a morning and before the low tide, the water was just under 26 C and there were barra, threadies and blues there. But they would not take our fly, one school, probably six or seven threadies with three of four barra leading them was circling around but not matter how many flies we dropped on them, they would not take them. I think we spent too much time on the flat because when we went to the main flats, they were too low and I ran the battery flat on the electric driving through the mud, where we could see fish over in the shallows but you needed a 100ft cast to get to them. I forgot that Dave was a bit heavier than Cathie on the front of the boat, and the motor was digging trenches.
Graeme mentioned that when he found fish in the 26C mark they would not take, so he looked for water 28C or more and in that water the fish took the fly.
I know a heap of you are out fishing over the next few days, so I hope that this may help, if the fish are too lazy and not interested, try water that is out in the sun and low enough to warm up quicker. That might make a difference.
Although they say the El Nino is coming in August, which apparently warms everything up, so the fish might be waiting for that?
That could be good for the Bynoe Sheep Station Stakes on the 21st and 22nd September!!
We have some great tides this year, and the info is that Corroboree is about to fire, so with a long weekend coming up the fishing should be great. I know some are off to Kakadu while others will be fishing other spots. So a lot more stories coming in.
Hi Roger,
ReplyDeleteCraig here from last week with Graeme. We did indeed notice the lack of attention from the barra when the water temp dropped, so I think your article holds very true.
On a personal note, I just wanted to say thanks for you kind hospitality last week, it was great to chat and meet yourself, Cath and Dave and talk endless amounts of rubbish about life, the universe and everything. Also, I think the website is fabuluos reading for a jealous guy as myself stuck in cold Sydney...
Well done to all those that contribute.
Cheers,
Craig.
Hey Rog,
ReplyDeleteThere has been a heap written and spoken about temp, but the biggest thing, I believe anyway, is a changing temp. I have found with the fish here at work that they slow right down as the temp is dropping or rising, once it is steady, the fire up again. The movement between 26 and 27 degrees is, for some reason a real downer. In fact I have trouble tempting anything to feed in the aquarium at work when the temp is fluttering around these temps.