Twelve pounds from Arthurs

Adam Rice recounts his capture of a lifetime (so far).
Well, I've been fishing for a while now and been hanging out for the elusive big fella. My patience and persistance paid off recently - Tuesday 16 September.

My mate Vossy (Peter Voss) and I took off for a mission to Woods Lake. We left home at about 3 pm and arrived to a stiff breeze and white caps, which ruined any chance of a late arvo flick. Wondering what to do we initially thought we'd go to Bronte/Bradys area, but at the last minute I mentioned Arthurs. We found a sheltered area and it was supposed to clear up, so we parked it there for the night and well we would just wait and see what the morning held weather wise.
We set up - fire, food, beverages and a couple of grubs on the bottom. We were half way through tea and my baitrunner squeals. I jag onto a big snag and snap off. Not happy and I presume it is an eel. Twenty minutes later Vossy gets a bite and nails a brownie on his lil grub. It is a small fish about a pound, I had another touch, but nothing. Vossy pulls the pin early, but I venture on. I'd had a few bourbons by this stage when my bells rattled hard. I sprint down and the old Black Queen was bent a little and bouncing. I felt a tap, a pause and then a hit. I strike, but nothing. Frustrated, I recast and go back to tea.
I'm cooking and I hear the distinct rattle of my bells. I dump the chicken and bolt. There is no movement of my rod. I move to the ole queeny and I see its tip bent slightly and then a nice bite bounce shortly after. Totally on the ball I pick up my old queeny, hold her tight and feel the tension build and the rod bounce. I lift and bang!, Iwas on. Immediately, about 25 metres out, there was a huge splash. My heart skipped a beat and I started to shake. My eyes did light up and I thought what the ?#%* have I got on here. Huge splashes, head shakes and immediate grunt and speed.
I have a go at reseting my dodgy tension on the old baitrunner. I wasn't happy with the line I was running either - it should have been replaced. Then fish bolted straight at me. I didnt realise at first and thought id lost it, but wound fast and hard to gain line. I managed to keep the tip bent slightly to keep up. The run stopped and veered right.
Then my dodgy drag took over. I had to up the drag another notch. This stopped him, the queeny bent in half and did that horrid thing, peeling line off under tension. I was screaming at Vossy by this stage who apparently was sound asleep. How would I get the net? I had it close now circling deep and somehow I managed to stagger back up the bank, keeping pressure on and grab the net. My heart was racing. I hadn't seen the fish or gauged its size. I just knew it was a ripper. Man was I pumped.
I turned on my torch to get my bearings even though it was a full moon and bright. Up it came and tail smacked and splashed and went ballistic at my feet. Awkwardly I somehow had the net in place. It more or less danced into the net and as I lifted, somehow still holding the torch I ran, jumped up and down, bellowed and screamed. In an instant I was at full noise. I knew it was a fish of a lifetime, but I took off up the bank withought even looking at it.
I was at Vossy's swag bellowing at the top of my voice till he finally woke and realised what was going on. I've never screamed and yelled so much in my life. All I could say was have a look at the size of this thing, over and over.
This was a huge brownie. Twelve pounds in the net, 10.25 lb cleaned and in fantastic condition. I didnt get much sleep.
We were up at sparrows, cooked brekky and laughed about last night. We were frozen and so was most of the gear and the fish was too. It was a beautifull morning and we headed to Woods Lake. We trolled for the morning, nailed five and lost just as many. Tired and spent we head back home. I get an official weight of 4.68 kg cleaned, 79 cm long, 45 cm girth. I did think of mounting it as its my first over 10 lb, but there's always next time.

Adam Rice

Go to top
JSN Boot template designed by JoomlaShine.com