Mary Valley Magic Nov/Dec 2011

 The full moon just visible through the morning mist over the launch spot

 Looking back to the launch spot

 This stretch had one platypus feeding actively although he kept a watchful eye on me keeping his distance.

 The first long pool a bass and a cod came from

 The top of the pool leads to this nice spot that requires a long portage or just walk and fish from the bank. I really would like to get the yak in here but the drag is a bit daunting.

 The first fish on this homemade lure - a 40 something cm bass

 Next was my first cod a Mary River Cod on the homemade coming in at around 50 cm.

 This carpet python was having a quiet sunbake until I turned up. I really wanted to put a lure into those roots but didn't want to disturb him if I hooked up on a snag.

 The beginning of the long portage up to the top pool all up probably close to a kilometre portage !!!

 Downstream has some nice water although quite shallow but a further hundred metres or so and its walk/drag your yak for a long way. We turned around and went back upstream with the prospect of a long drag at the end of the day.

I've been doing alot of exploring in my kayak this season in search of bass on lure and fly. Catching a fish in some of these places is just a bonus as the early starts (usually 4-5.00 am) open up the chance to see alot of wildlife including platypus, many bird species and reptiles like water dragons,lace monitors,pythons and tortoise.The misty mornings give a surreal feel combined with the mirror-like reflections on the water. Not alot of fish have been raised but the ones that have been have been well worth it.

Night fishing the "Bat" lure for Bass spring 2011 (Oct/Nov )

I've had a few good night sessions earlier in the season chasing Bass at night using the Kokoda "Bat" lure which is a cicada imitation lure. The night time seems to have thrown up a higher percentage of bigger fish but the ratio of hits to hook ups is probably 1:10 - very frustrating. A few tweeks of the lure using different size hooks and placement on the lure don't seem to have improved the ratio so the other night I decided to try a much larger lure hoping the larger size easier to find and larger hooks a greater chance to find their mark. Unfortunately my first cast of the timber 110mm fizzer lure saw the leader knot jam in the top guide snapping at the mono to braid join sending the lure out into the night. It didn't get far so as I quickly tied on another to try and jag it back keeping an eye on where it landed the lure was boofed by a bass and was gone -Damn. Anyway here are some of the catches over the past month on the Bat. Cheers Pat.