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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Apr 2019 at 11:57pm
Roly's barra, I'll have to try again in the morning

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote puglee62 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Apr 2019 at 1:06pm
thats a good Barra your turn soon i'm sure MartinWink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Apr 2019 at 8:47pm
Originally posted by puglee62 puglee62 wrote:

thats a good Barra your turn soon i'm sure MartinWink


Well it almost was my turn this morning. Using a C.R.A.F.T. fizzer / popper / stick bait (top little design this lure) I got smashed by another barra around the 70 cm mark at the wharf. A few jumps then just as I thought I was gaining the upper hand - a last ditch effort to the pylons - it made itCry and I was cut off immediately. A photo of my last one of these is below.

Mick dropped a barra that he reckons was under legal size at his feet and Roly caught a little 23 cm mangrove jack using his same little white soft plastic.

This afternoon Wal and I checked out the rocks at Archer Point not really intending on fishing. We saw a father and son from Cleveland in Brisbane fishing them. We gave them a few tips on fishing the area they were in. Using a stick bait, the father was just winding it back in like a high speed fizzer. I suggested that he may like to twitch the lure back as that's what works in that area close to some weeds. He asked me to show him what I meant and gave me his rod. First cast, 3 rd twitch and the rod loaded up to what felt like a good fish - then all went limp. The lure was bitten off by what we think was a solid mackerel. Wal was just roaring with laughter, along with the father and son (although the father didn't like loosing his lure but he saw the funny side of it), and I was just standing on that rock, mouth open, shaking my head.The father went back to his car and got a wire trace - like what he should have been using in the first place off these rocks. 

Driving back home I had quips coming from the passenger seat like 'you not only loose your lures, but other people's as well". Just wait until Wal looses a fish - at least I can hook themConfusedLOL

the C.R.A.F.T. lure by Roy Durre

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Apr 2019 at 9:59pm
A flick this early morning at the wharf.  There were plenty of BOOFS and from some big barra, but nobody could entice one to hit a lure. I used a Mark A "barra pop" lure and had briefly hooked up to an undersized barra - the only hook up by anybody this morning
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Apr 2019 at 8:33pm
Well Roly did it again this morning with his little white grub - a nice fat 81 cm barra.

We were fishing the rock wall at the waterfront recreational area and there were barra, some very big, boofing everywhere. Watching them, they were only taking little hardiheads and tiny garfish off the surface. I watched where one barra was using a rock as an ambush site and continually presented my little popper there. The barra would smash all around my popper but not the lure itself. Roly was just about ready to call it quits when he hooked up on what was going to be his last cast in the area.

My popper was the right size, but seemingly the wrong profile and / or colour. I will have some more "hardihead" looking lures with me tomorrow morning. The barra are only active in this area an hour before dawn, it doesn't seem to matter what the stage of the tide is. After dawn, you are just wasting your time.



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fishalot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Apr 2019 at 7:18am
Love the look of them salt water barra.Wink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Apr 2019 at 9:14pm
Originally posted by Fishalot Fishalot wrote:

Love the look of them salt water barra.Wink

I love the look of them too - if only I could catch oneCryLOL
Instead today I only got this little cod (lure is 40 mm long as an indication of the fish's size).Embarrassed
At least I outfished everybody else this morning.Big smile


We haven't had much rain in the past 3 days and the water is starting to clear up. We have about half a metre of visibility and no more rain in a week would just about see the water clarity back to normal. Hopefully this will mean the GTs and mackerel will come back in the river. The wind prediction for the next 10 days is currently not very nice. But the direction of it means that Archer Point may be a proposition.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote puglee62 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Apr 2019 at 12:45pm
Martin you need to drop a Deciever in fron of those BarraWink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ducks Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Apr 2019 at 12:55pm
Originally posted by puglee62 puglee62 wrote:

Martin you need to drop a Deciever in fron of those BarraWink


Can you tie him a timber one?  He only fishes timber :-P
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gimme Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Apr 2019 at 1:06pm
Hi Martin, Just been scrolling through your posts and saw the post on the 17th February where you caught some reefies and embedded the treble in your hand on one of my lures that Billy sent up to you. Always great to see fish caught on something you have made :)
Hope the hand has healed okay
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote puglee62 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Apr 2019 at 2:23pm
Originally posted by Ducks Ducks wrote:

Originally posted by puglee62 puglee62 wrote:

Martin you need to drop a Deciever in fron of those BarraWink


Can you tie him a timber one?  He only fishes timber :-P
i can make anything mateBig smileTongue
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Apr 2019 at 10:06pm
Originally posted by gimme gimme wrote:

Hi Martin, Just been scrolling through your posts and saw the post on the 17th February where you caught some reefies and embedded the treble in your hand on one of my lures that Billy sent up to you. Always great to see fish caught on something you have made :)
Hope the hand has healed okay
Cheers
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So they are your lures? Thanks for those. They work well and they caught the biggest, ugliest flathead you've ever seenLOL.

Yes thanks, the finger healed up real well. Was also a good time to get a tetnus booster as I kept on forgetting to get one.
 
Tides today were bad. Only 3 tides with 2 lows and 1 high for very little run. I don't know of anything caught on a lure but a 50 cm giant trevally was caught on live bait. So the GTs are coming back inBig smile.

Tomorrow's tides are going to be worse at 1:52 am high at 2.11 metres with a low tide at 7:28 pm at 1.25 metres. There is not going to be any run in the water at all. But I'll go down to the wharf and give Roly some "immoral" supportWink .
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Apr 2019 at 10:10pm
Originally posted by puglee62 puglee62 wrote:

Martin you need to drop a Deciever in fron of those BarraWink

Yep the local fly guru does quite well - when ever he decides to fish, which is not very often. Have been seriously considering it.



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Apr 2019 at 10:28pm
Well not much at the wharf this morning as predicted. Roly got a little GT on a live bait and most people pulled the pin pretty early. But the water quality is much better and there was a surprising amount of bait around. From tomorrow onwards the tides are back to the usual 2 highs and 2 lows a day so hopefully the bigger GTs will start to show up again.

I had a quick flick up a freshwater river today. I scored a little 17 cm jungle perch before I lost the lure. The lure was cropped out of the photo because the maker doesn't want to show it off just yet (a prototype).


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ducks Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Apr 2019 at 10:50pm
You lost a prototype after proving it worked?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Seaweed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Apr 2019 at 11:35am
Looks like Roly's kicking your arse HH. You need a Seaweed Barra, see me at the Expo, got a few deeper versions this year as well as the usual.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chep Buxley Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Apr 2019 at 7:09pm
Those Jungle Perch look like a great little fish. The equivalent to the Spangled Perch a bit further south here in magnificent QLD.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Apr 2019 at 8:34pm
Yeah Ducks, got a couple of coral trout on it as well but I wanted a barra.        Will catch up with you at the expo Tony.    We have spangled perch up here as well - aggressive little fish. Too bad they don’t grow larger. JOs grow larger then a spangled though and weight for weight they pull a barra backwards. My biggest JP went around 46 cm ( depending upon what you used as a yardstick in my photo it was either 46.4 or 47.8 cm) and I thought it was a 70 cm plus barra. Gee they can pull.        Still with small tides today I only went to the wharf as a social event this morning and this evening. Nothing of note was caught even by those using live bait. But the water is clearing up more and for the first time in weeks, the Windy apps are starting to predict some lighter winds towards the end of next week. I’ll still go down to the wharf tomorrow morning as I might be tempted to have a go.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2019 at 11:03pm
The last few days have seen me flicking lures around the place at all times of the day and night. ;Pretty frustrating when you see a barra and as soon as your lure gets near it, it stands on it's head refusing to look at it. Kind of like the marine version of an ostrich burying it's head in the sand. Even Roly hasn't bothered to fish in the last 4 mornings.

With the wind, I get all excited about a predicted forecast of winds in the early to mid 20 kph in a few days time, only to have the prediction change to above 35 kph the next day. 

Well today I  broke my hoodoo and scored my first barra for the season on a HJK minnow. A nice fat 69 cm fish that I waited for over an hour for the tide to drop far enough so I could walk out onto the sand bank to cast to a pile of rocks and the eddy behind it.






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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote puglee62 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Apr 2019 at 6:50am
good to see you've finally beat that hoodoo mateThumbs Up,jeez that Barra looks tastyTongue
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HARTE Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Apr 2019 at 8:20am
Great stuff Martin, nice fish! Thumbs Up
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hooknose Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Apr 2019 at 8:53pm
Good stuff Marty 😁👍
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Apr 2019 at 9:29pm
Well all good things must come to an end. And so it was with the above HJK lure. I snagged it in a little creek (which has at least one 1.3 metre croc and we suspect a 3 metre + animal that had once followed me as I walked the adjacent beach). I tried to unhook it with a long stick and .....  yep, sadness filled the air as the line brokeCry.

Across the creek though I saw a lure hard up amongst the snags. I re-rigged with a sinker and after about 50 casts I managed to get that sinker into a tiny little gap in the snags to pull out a Classic f18 (?) mackerel lure. I feelings I had was akin to when my name was drawn second in a competition and I scored a bar fridge instead on a street legal replica of an Irwin Tools Bathurst special race carConfused.

A walk on the beach, keeping an eye out for any crocs, and .... well .... as a beach comber I would starve to death.LOL. I went back to the scene of the crime (the creek) to reminisce my lost lure. I then notice a suspended leaf, it wasn't moving upstream with the incoming tide. A move to the left to cut out the glare and YES .... hooks hanging off it - my lure. Happiness and joy could once again be used to describe me as I went back for my rod. The first cast connected to the leader and pulled it off the log. The second cast went over the now floating lure lure and tangled up with the belly trebleBig smileBig smileBig smile. Glee warmed my heart as I walked back with my wayward lureLOL.

OH, no fish today even after trying half a dozen spots - but I got my wooden lure back with interest (even if it is only a plastic lure).


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Apr 2019 at 9:34pm
Forgot to mention. Roly lost a big barra at the wharf with his little white grub. He doesn't rinse his lures and the hook rusted. The hook broke right at the point where it exits the soft plastic, the rust had eaten away about a third of the thickness of the hook.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Apr 2019 at 8:55pm
Finally a day with low enough winds to get out to the reefs. An early start planned, except for the deckie who forgot to wake up until a phone call asking him if he was awakeLOL.

We tried a troll out for no success. In fact it was very very quiet with no bait schools or birds working. Out on our "coral trout" reef a succession of little ooglies and 3 small trout came on board - then back overboard . Mick got bitten off by a mackerel in less then 2 metres of water over the reef.  Chasing coral trout we generally don't use a wire trace as we don't expect mackerel in the shallower water over the reef. 

I then scored a nice shark mackerel on a  foiled HJK minnow in the deep water of a channel in the reef. Another 4 or 5 mackerel chased it around and I was expecting one to bite me off. When I landed the fish I realised how close I was to being bitten off as one of those other macks had connected to the belly treble and ripped it off split ring and hook.

I replaced the lure with a Ray Murphy jointed stickbait and scored a few more ooglies. Then over the reef in less then a metre and a half of water the flash of a huge mackerel as it grabbed the stick bait, then let go. I replaced that lure with a foiled Murphy stick bait. Not expecting another mackerel in such shallow water over the reef and - you guessed it, another mackerel and an instant bite off. The mackerel must have been feeding over the shallow reefs as there was not any bait schools in the deeper water. Mick didn't learn and lost another lure (Bomber) and a soft plastic to more mackerel.

By this time the tide had changed so we slow trolled the outside of the reef. I had a foiled HJK lure on (with wire) as this was what the mackerel were hitting over the reef - small foiled lures. I had on another rod a Wade Garland made jew lure (with wire). Mick ran an Illusion Lure. We trolled along this reef then over to another reef to chase GTs at "GT corner". We didn't register any hits but my Whiptail lure had a couple of extra tooth marks in it.

I switched over to an Illusion Lure and was hit by a big GT. i had the line slack as I was controlling the electric motor as the winds had got up and was blowing us all over the place so no hook up. Mick got hammered by a shark and lost it boat side as he was figuring out how to get his lure back. As we got to GT corner, Mick hooked onto something big on a white curly tail soft plastic. We couldn't figure out what it was, then we saw the shark, then we saw a big GT in front of the shark. 2 minutes later and the shark rubs up against Mick's line as it tried to chase down the GT - cutting Mick off. 2 minutes after that a big GT, easily 110 cm shadowed my lure then disappeared. Nothing else happened for 20 minutes after that so we trolled back home still for no further action.

Checking the tides again, there were 4 tides but very little run. Fishing GT corner, I prefer a low tide at under .9 of a metre, this low tide was 1.29 metres. Over the next 2 tides, the variation is 0.08 metre. Time and again it has been proven to me with the tides - no run no fun. But we still had a good day on the water.


Photos in a new post - lap top issues and I want to save this ramblings.








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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Apr 2019 at 9:23pm
Going by the head, which all the features isn't evident here - some sort of scorpion fish (HJK Lure)


A little trout (HJK Lure)


My shark mackerel (HJK Lure)


not sure what this is (HJK Lure)


Another one of those not sure of fish - very similar to a tomato cod but not quite . On the Murphy joined stick bait.


double up  with the not sure fish (HJK Lure)


a just legal trout on a HJK Lure, it went back


Mick with his shark, moments before the bust off


the beaten up Murphy jointed stick bait, there's also slashes on the tail but that photo didn't come out all to well (too close for the phone)



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ducks Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Apr 2019 at 10:07pm
Mate I reckon they are what I've seen called "coral cod"
Colours of a trout, but on a cod chassis.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hooknose Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 2019 at 6:59pm
Ray makes a great lure hey mate 😁👍
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 2019 at 8:32pm
Originally posted by Ducks Ducks wrote:

Mate I reckon they are what I've seen called "coral cod"
Colours of a trout, but on a cod chassis.

You may be right there Ducks. I just compared them from the Qld DPI Fisheries app on my phone. Many similarities but a few differences. We haven't caught any over 35 cm and the min legal size is 38 cm. The  main differences at a quick glance are the eyes and the shape of that caudal and anal fins. Colouration variances may just because of these being juvenile?

Ray sure does make a great lure. As you can see by the tooth mark near the head, I was lucky I wasn't bitten off.

Well wind climbed up enough today to make it too bad to get out again. At the moment, the next good day seems to be Sunday next week, if the forecast holds. Still waiting for Battle Camp Road to Lakefield National Park to open again. From what I was told, they still have to grade through the river crossings and they may not have receded enough for that to happen. Well if a dozer can't get through then my car won't.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HARTE Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 2019 at 8:43pm
Great stuff Martin, good looking fish.
As Steve just said, Ray makes a great lure!
You are living the dream mate.Thumbs Up
Cheers, Graham.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Seaweed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Apr 2019 at 1:31pm
You threw back a legal sized Coral Trout? You must be spoilt. Are those HJK lures timber or plastic? I assumed they were foil covered timber, after reading a comment by Debbie Dare.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote p.j. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Apr 2019 at 7:33pm
Some amazing Fish you get there
How deep is the water were you get them
Thanks fore showing Martin

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Apr 2019 at 9:24pm
Originally posted by Seaweed Seaweed wrote:

You threw back a legal sized Coral Trout? You must be spoilt. Are those HJK lures timber or plastic? I assumed they were foil covered timber, after reading a comment by Debbie Dare.

2 legalsized coral troutTongue. At 38 cm, by the time you fillet them it ends up being a lot of work for a couple of fish fingers. I usually don't keep a trout under 44 cm now. 

Yep the HJKs are timber and the foiling is very very good. Even after numerous teeth marks, the foiling does not lift with water not getting in behind it. Howard knows how to foil a lure.

PJ, when chasing the coral trout, we drift over bommies or reef flat between 1 and 2 metres deep. At those shallow depths you really have to work hard to keep the fish from burying your lure into the coral. Even a very small fish can snag you on the reef if you  are not on the ball.  The channels between the bommies we fish are usually 3 to 4 metres deep but can reach up to 10 metres deep for those bommies on the outer edge of the reef.


I had a few flicks this evening around the rock wall. Bait was scattering in patches next to the water's edge. I ended up with a wolf herring (no photo) as I tried to let it go fast. These things do not survive well after being hooked, but it swam away. I  don't think it survived as I saw some of it's scales float to the surface.

A few small trevally had been caught today on live bait. But the most encouraging news is that some good schools of herring turned up this morning and with that juvenile spanish mackerel were being caught (and released). It's only a matter of time now for the bigger models of trevally and mackerel to enter the river.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote horrorhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 May 2019 at 9:47pm
Had to go to Cairns for some personal business and stayed at Cam's on Tuesday night. Wednesday Cam and myself visited Transom  - HJK Lures. What a great morning and he sure knows his stuff (thanks for the lures too mateClap)

Back home late last night as I always do a big shop in Cairns or Mareeba on the way home - much cheaper prices plus lifetime staff discount from Coles SupermarketsBig smile. At the wharf this morning for 2 minutes and it poured with rain so back home to bed. I did manage to  talk to a regular and he said that I hadn't missed anything.

To give you and idea of my frustrations, on Monday, this Saturday was supposed to be winds in the low twenties, today it is predicted to be gusting up to 40 kilometres per  hour. Long range wind forecasts are a nightmare - yesterday for Saturday next week the predicts were for under 20 kilometres per hour, now its saying 53 kph with gusts up to 64 kph. The wild unpredictability of weather up here is amazing and frustrating. You have to be ready to go out at the drop of a hat.

We will see how the winds are tomorrow.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HARTE Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 May 2019 at 1:37pm
You are certainly getting your share of windy days Martin!
I hope that changes soon and you get a chance to get out for a decent fish in 
great conditions. Thumbs Up
Cheers, Graham
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