Gone fishing
Craig Harris
LAST weekend I wrote about the Garmin Panoptix sounder, this week it is also something new.
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I have mentioned before about the new Minn Kota “Ulterra” bow mount electric motor.
The little beauties have only just been released into Australia (on the sixth of this month actually) and we have already sold two of them.
Yes they are a little expensive, but are they worth it, in one word – bloody oath – I know that’s two words but it sounds more dramatic.
Most fishing enthusiasts have seen the advert on YouTube about them and that looks very impressive and after fitting and operating a couple of them, they are a really good bit of gear.
If you are as old as me, and that is ancient, they are great and very easy to use.
You push a button and it deploys itself and if like me you fish by yourself (cos you don’t have many friends) you can single handedly launch your boat, no ropes, just back the boat into the water, deploy the motor, hit the spot lock and then put your car away.
No more holding up boat ramps or having to find a spot to tie the boat up whilst putting the car away.
Walk back to the water and bring the boat to you.
You can raise and lower the motor as the depth of water changes, back the boat into the shallows if necessary and step right on.
It has all the functions of an Ipilot plus a bit more.
You can hook it up to your compatible sounder and control it from there, the cordless control unit is rechargeable so no more carrying batteries and it also comes with a corded foot pedal.
On Mmy website www.waggamarine.com.au (a shameless plug there) we have made a little video (told you I was old) on how easy it is to “play” with one and I know the shirts they make these days make my stomach look big but it’s the way the make them, bring back the old shirts I say.
If you have a runabout style boat this is the only way to go, there is no getting through or over the windscreen to deploy and stow a bow mount electric anymore and this will open up more areas to fish for these style of boats.
Also, and I am guilty of doing it, when you want to go from point A to point B using the outboard you sometime leave the electric motor down as you are not travelling too far and you hit something.
I haven’t broken anything yet but I know of and have repaired a lot of shafts by fishermen who have.
Some people will think that it is just lazy, I don’t think so, its progress and it assists you.
As you get older it is more difficult to do things and if you can get something that assists you in doing something you love – go for it I say.
Fishing around
- Burrinjuck: Still a little on the very quiet side with little or no reports of anything substantial even the carp don’t want to play.
- Blowering: A bit better than the Juck, quantity is not there but the quality is good, lots of yellas schooling but not interested in eating at the moment.
- Talbingo: A couple of medium trout on the troll, ford fenders/cow bells with worms.
- Tantangara: Some good reports of nice fish, rainbows and browns, on the troll top and bottom of the dam but the water level is dropping again so that may change a few things.
- Eucumbene: Crap weather but some good fish being reported, Buckenderra and Seven Gates have been giving the best numbers flat lining tassies. Fly fishing the shallows when the wind is not blowing has been successful as well.
- Jindabyne: Rainbows and browns have been reported but as usual there is no pattern, up high, down low down riggers are all catching fish not in huge numbers but pretty good quality.
- Hume Weir: Picking up with some good reddies on lure and bait, a couple of nice trout as well in the mix and a report of a very fat but short cod.
- Mulwala: No reports – not saying there are no fish, just no reports.
- The river: Some good cod being caught very close to Wagga, an 83cm under the Gobba bridge, was talking to Fisheries and there are some nice lobsters around, no small ones which is a bit worrying and there have been a few pots found in the creek – not good, not allowed to lobster ANY creeks. There really are some stupid people around.
- South Coast: Once again the weather is yuck, if you can get out there are some snapper around, very small numbers of blue fin, like 1, and the estuaries are slow as well.
Pictures to – craig@waggamarine.com.au or 0419 493 313.
Water levels
Eucumbene 47.8%
Hume weir 36.5%
Blowering 37.2%
Burrinjuck 54.1%
Jindabyne 60.1%
Tantangara 32%
Talbingo 86%
Mulwala 37%
Dartmouth 71.8%
