A Brief Review of the Last 18 Months of Fishing

My last post on Scoutfisher was back in February last year. Life has been busy and I have been away for too long.  Now that things are finally starting to settle down again, it ‘s nice to be getting back to some normal routines. I’ve managed to squeeze some fishing in but the sessions are shorter and less frequent than usual. Hopefully you guys have been getting out there wetting a line and having some success. This post is a bit of a summary of what I have been up to over the last 18 months.

In my time away, I have started a new job, had my second son, moved house and finally replaced my old workhorse-Samsung laptop which had served me so well for over a decade.  I have been fishing in between but obviously nowhere near as much as I would have liked. Could you ever really say you have fished as much as you would have liked?

The new job means I no longer frequent my favourite fishing spots in Central Queeensland as much I used to. The newborn however is what has really impacted my fishing the most. Gone are the days when I could drop everything at a moments’ notice and go fishing for a day or two.

Nowadays when I do find a slot to go, I take my 5-year-old with me so as to reduce the workload on mum. This is both a blessing and a burden. I have had the great pleasure of introducing my young fella to fishing but it also has restricted the fishing I can do with the little one in tow. Rock fishing is no longer the go-to plan for a Sunday morning and so my style of fishing has had to adapt accordingly.

I have managed a few of trips north in my time away. A couple up in Mackay where I hit all the usual spots – the bridge, the harbour rock walls and a few creeks as well. I have an upcoming post on a particularly nice session I had there recently.

In April I did a trip with my old man and uncle up to Lucinda for a few days. We struggled getting onto the Barramundi despite hearing tales of other punters landing quality fish while we were there. It is a huge system and for a couple of first-timers, it was a lot to try and work out in such a short space of time. In retrospect, it probably would have been worth getting a guide on day one so that the next couple of days could be more targeted and productive. Alas you live and learn.

We did manage to have a bit of fun around the Jetty there at Lucinda where some truly big fish regularly demolished our tackle. After upgrading gear, I was able to get some of the better Trevally to the boat.

Out in Moreton Bay, I managed to catch my first Longtail Tuna in May. It had been a tough morning for Uncle Dave and I with not much going our way. Getting a couple of these on our way back to the boat ramp was an awesome way to finish the day. We left them still biting as it was my sons birthday and he wanted me to pick him up from school.

Fishing around the Brisbane area has been mostly sessions with the young fella around Bribie Island and the Gold Coast. We tend to do a combination of both bait and lure fishing depending on the situation. He’s pulled in a few tiddlers here and there but the epic highlight of our fishing adventures was Taiyo catching his first Flathead on lure.

Lure Fishing with Taiyo for Flathead

I was wading the sand flats and towing Taiyo around behind me on a swimming pool inflatable tied to a rope. He was sitting up and flicking his weedless soft plastic rig as far as he could cast it. We had been fishing for a couple of hours when he asked me why I was catching Flathead and he wasn’t. I didn’t go too much into the detail but simplified it for him as “I am using a good lure with trebles while you are using a weedless soft plastic lure that won’t hurt you”. He accepted this and we continued to fish.

After hooking another fish, I gave him my rod so he could wind in the small Flathead. I asked him how it felt to catch his first Flathead on lure? He was not particularly enthusiastic and told me that he “only reeled it in and so didn’t really catch it”. I couldn’t fault his response.

Just as we were about to leave, we found another patch of fish. I hooked one and dropped it and told him to cast into the same area. He managed to get a decent cast in and his rod immediately started bouncing. I told him to wind quickly but the fish shook itself off and was gone. I then told him he had both hooked a fish and landed a fish which pretty much added up to catching his own fish. “How do you feel now?” I asked. He was not impressed with the stretch in logic and knew what he still needed to do. We cast a few more times for nothing before I called it for the day. I started walking us both back to the beach. Taiyo made one last cast behind and unbelievably he hooked up again.

He started yelling and winding it back in. I just kept walking toward the beach, towing the floaty, Taiyo and the fish with me. Taiyo wasn’t messing around and kept winding until the flathead was now up beside the floatie. “Stop winding” I told him but his adrenalin had kicked in and he couldn’t stop. The rod bent over as the 45cm fish started getting winched out the water. I was sure it was going to wriggle itself off as it dangled off his bent rod. I just kept power walking toward the beach.

I can now see that it will be these kinds of fishing experiences that will be the real memories and highlights over the coming years. I’m already starting to look forward to more of them.