First published on our first blog BassFishingAddicts.com 14/02/2013
I’ll put my own spin on a line from one of my favourite movies, Billy Madison, and say that yesterday afternoon was really (Think blue duck) Crankatastic! After Sunday’s success in the creek Chris and I knew we had to get back there A.S.A.P. and the stars aligned in our favour which gave us a window after work to go up there for a couple of hours.
I had recently purchased a couple of Cranka Lures (Cranks & Shads) to improve the look of my tackle box and even though we had been having success on the weekend with the Daiwa SC Shiners, I always love to test out new lures. Chris stuck with the Shiner and I tied on a Cranka Shad in BBQ Prawn colour. We arrived at our spot that produced days before and whilst Chris belted out some cast, I rigged up. We felt a couple of taps but nothing with any substance until we reached the end of the corner, where the weed bank turns to Mangroves. A slow roll with a few twitches thrown in saw me produce the first fish of the afternoon, and thankfully it was our target species!
This fish was picked up at the opposite end of where we were getting them the other day, so we moved turned around and moved back along continuing to work the bank downstream.
We found there weren’t as many strikes occurring, but they were still here. We were used to the hits but continued to miss them. Not that we were too worried as the size of the fish hitting the lures were nothing to be to concerned about.
The edge went quiet again and it wasn’t until the last 1/4 before the mangroves started again that we had taps. My next cast was placed near a horses skeleton (if you know the creek, you can’t miss it!) and on the 3rd or 4th crank the taps continued. A short pause, a couple of twitches and some weight was felt on the other end.
We had now made our way into Mangrove country and flicking under the overhang with a slow retrieve continued the tiddlers rain of terror. At this point Chris punched in a great cast and was smoked upon entry. After a screaming initial run the fish must have really liked Chris’s lure as that was the last we ever saw of that Gold/Orange Shiner.
Chris was pretty disheartened after losing a good fish, but after raiding my tackle box…again… turning the boat around and heading back upstream he was back in the water and onto 2 fish in quick succession which lifted his spirits.
We were back into the Mangroves again a found a hole that was producing fish. Lots of small fish with the occasional mid 20’s. We made mention that it was now a numbers game as to when we might get something a bit bigger, as surely if there were this many small fish in here there has to be bigger right?
Whilst the bite was on I was varying my retrieve trying to find something that would increase my hook up rate, from Slow rolling, twitching and a combination of the two. A few more fish came aboard for both Chris and I, but then I decided the next cast would be a slow roll with no pause, no twitches and just see if they would take a steady retrieve.
I was hit, no hook up but then it was back and missed again but 3rd time lucky and I hooked up. This thing flew to the surface for a big splash but quickly went for deeper water…thank god! It stayed deep and ran across the creek only to scratch the surface which is when I got my first glimpse at this creature. A couple of swear words later and I had Chris’s attention. It made a run behind the boat so I quickly moved back then around the starboard side where after a couple of small runs, he was in the net. We couldn’t believe what we saw, something that neither of us expected and definitely a new P.B. for me!
A quick high five later and it was in the live well for some photos later on. We were both pumped and continued to plug this hole for some other un-noteworthy fish. Chris miscast into an overhang and we were over the top of the spot to retrieve his lure.
Things really settled down after the last fish and we struggled to find many more. It was time for a change of location so we made our way downstream again. We fished timber structure and reeds for not even a bump and continued to follow the river looking for the bite we experienced earlier. Another one for me again off the Mangroves but this was to be amongst the last for the afternoon.
Chris and I were both gobsmacked at how well the Cranka Shad produced for me that afternoon as Chris’s estimate would put it at a 5 to 1 advantage over his lure. We tried a couple more spots on the way back to the ramp but realistically we should have stopped fishing over an hour ago as now we were just chasing the high.
A brilliant afternoon in the creek again, and it is now definitely a favourite destination which we know can and will produce!
