With the big tides on again this weekend we decided to head up the inside of the Cape in search of the big Barramundi again. 2.95m tide at about 8.30am should have been ideal! We put in at Cocoa with Li'lDave early and managed to find our way out the mouth relatively easily with the calm incoming tide. After taking it easy over the shallow sections we were soon off at full pelt across a very calm sea...things were looking good. The water was a little dirty, but we expected that to clear up as we headed wider. But unfortunately the wind picked up the further we went! And it just didn't have enough East in it to provide any decent protection for where we were.
We stopped for a look just the other side of Long Beach, but the water was terrible. A quick look around and it was clear we were not going to find fish in this water! It was choppy, but not dangerous for the small boats, so we poked out a little wider and tried to find protection around the inside of the rocky headlands, at least the water was a bit cleaner this far wide. But we had to keep in mind the run back into the chop that we would have later in the morning.
We put in a few casts around the rocks and it wasn't long before Dad was hooked up to nice little fish. Its been a while since he had a Barra of any size connected, so it was nervous times as the fish swam into the next. A quick measure of the tape put it at 55cm. While not legal, it was nice for him to be on the board again! A few more casts and we simply couldn't repeat the success. It was hard going holding a small boat around the rocks with an electric in the wind, chop and swell!
At Dads recommendation we gave one more rocky headland a go before we were to pull the pin and head back closer to the creek. First cast and Dad was connected to a solid fish. It took the lure almost immediately in a big swirl and swam out away from the rocks into open water. It was obvious this was a BIG fish, lots of unstoppable power. It manoeuvred its way around the boat a few times and then suddenly the hooks pulled. We never got to see the fish, but we are guessing one the Big Barra we came to see!
A few more casts saw a small GT before we gave up on the conditions and headed back into the creek. We looked in on some of the mangrove areas inside the Cape, but the water was dirty everywhere we went. As a final resort we headed into Cocoa for look in the clearer water upstream, but the tide was simply too big. Dave did manage one 36cm Jack on this 3in prong, but that was the only fish seen. One last ditched effort at the mouth saw Dave smacked by a Barra, but it failed to hook up.
Home by lunctime the weather really did dissapoint us. We were in the right place at the right time, but the wind just wouldn't let us fish it properly. All we needed was a little more East in the wind and it would have been protected, but not to be!
