Goulburn Trout Trip
Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 8:15 pm
After a lot of planning, I managed to get together 6 of my mates for a trip to the Goulburn. The weather forecast was not looking good, the first day was raining, and so too was the last which not only meant miserable weather but a low barometer. Undeterred, on the first morning one of my mates and I set off down river on the kayaks. Expectations were low, and seemingly appropriately so, as after two hours we hadn't had a touch. Suddenly my mate excitedly announces that he’s on! I see a big brown tail flop in the current, it’s a good fish, he does his best to stay in contact but despite his efforts the fish spits the hook. If anything we were happy just to know the fish were biting, I took note of the fact he was using a soft plastic and tied on a brown slim swim with a 1/8oz jig head. Before long I feel a violent tug, I’m hooked up to a good fish. The fish starts to tire and flops on the surface it’s easily 2lb, my mate eagerly approaches to try and help me land it due to the lack of a net. As he does he loses control and slams into my kayak, the fish goes underneath and I lose pressure for a second, when I try to reconnect there’s no weight and I reel in a fish-less soft plastic. NOO! I don’t blame my mate at all as I know that it’s extremely hard to control the kayaks in the current. Now pretty frustrated we continue, but manage no more fish for the morning. In the evening session we head out again, finally we manage a few with some nice 1lb browns and rainbows. We decide to keep a few for a feed back at camp so we take 3. The following day yields similar results, nothing big but a few 1lb fish. Overall the fishing was very slow, on average I’d say between the 2 of us it was about a fish an hour. On the last day I decide to give the morning session a miss and just have a lie in at camp, activities included, basketball, cricket and dumping a mate in the river. Midday I went into town to have a look in the tackle store as glance around I notice a small gold lure, I reckon it looks perfect and I decide to buy it to give it a crack on the final session. So when my mate and I headed out for the last time, giving ourselves only 30 minutes before dark I tie on my new lure. I cast it out a few times with no luck, so I change up my retrieve I jerk the rod every few rotations of the reel. First cast I hook a good fish, it’s a rainbow and as usual it puts on an acrobatic display. After an intense fight I manage to get it beside the kayak, I manage to grab it behind the gills and haul it in. I paddle over to the bank and despatch it, soon it was dead and on a stringer so I paddled back out. Next cast I use a similar retrieve and a fish slams it right next to the kayak, this one stayed deep and tried escaping in the weeds but eventually I manage to get it to the surface. A very nice brown trout of 2lbs appears and I comfort lift it into the kayak. This one has absolutely engulfed the lure and is bleeding heavily so I make the decision to kill it as well. I continue to fish until dark and manage 3 more, all released. I can’t believe how successful the lure was, before this I hadn’t caught a trout on a hardbody in Australia, it definitely pays to try new things. In the end it was an absolutely amazing trip, even without catching a fish it would have been some of the best days of my life. Everyone had an awesome time, and I was very pleased that a few of them were able to get their first trout. They are all keen to go again as soon as possible, so hopefully it happens in the near future.
Cheers.
Cheers.
was the water high and fast?