Fishing Australia

FAMILY FISHING ADVENTURE ON THE CLYDE

I can’t count how many times I have phoned home to say hi to my family whilst on a live aboard mother ship in a far away place.

Like most dads I would’ve loved to have my better half and my kids on the water there with me but things like rough seas and other factors can make it uncomfortable or dangerous, especially for younger kids.

So when the chance came up to go house boating on the family friendly Clyde River my family and I jumped at it. Calm protected waters, no crocodiles, no tropical strength mossies, some warm weather forecast and the chance to live on the water and show the kids all the wonderful things that this entails. This was likely to be one of the best family holidays yet.

After a brief on how to use the house boat we set sail up the Clyde River and within 20 minutes we found a nice spot to anchor just upstream of Chinamans Point.

We had missed the slack water at top of the tide, which is always a good time to catch fish, but none the less a few bream and flathead soon came our way anyway.

A half ounce (14 gram) running sinker, 3 kg main line, 3 kg trace and thumb sized strip of striped tuna was the most effective technique by a country mile.

Importantly I used size 2/0 VMC circle hooks so all the fish were mouth hooked-this facilitated easy release for the unwanted and undersized fish.

About all I missed having was some carp fillets which are just as effective as striped tuna but resist the pickers much better.

A shovel nosed shark and a few stingrays also came our way after some epic battles on the light tackle.

Shovel nose sharks are safe and easy to handle but you have to stay a safe distance from rays-some have 2 meter long tails! I showed the kids how to hold the line well above the ray and then yank the line so that it brakes at the hook. Safe and easy.

I was using some beaut new lead free enviro sinkers I got from BCF so there was no need to worry about leaving any lead on the river bed. We have some magnificent waterways and I for one take every step I can to keep them that way.

The kids joked that it seemed like the same stingray was coming back for more, and some times they do: perhaps circle hook lip piercings are trendy for stingrays in the Clyde these days??

The next day we made our way upstream just past Nelligen and I spotted some good whitebait and garfish schools along the way…a clue to where I might catch a prized jewfish later in the trip.

We did some swimming in the warm 21 degree incoming tide and the kids got a real buzz out of being able to swim and play under the boat.

Marilyn enjoyed leaving me to mind the kids while she peddled the Hobie out around the shallower areas and collected some unbelievably big and healthy oysters on the low tide.

We opened them by putting them in the microwave until they popped, which usually takes just under a minute. They made for a tasty entrée for the grilled bream and fresh salad lunch that followed. We were really getting into the swing of things now.

That afternoon Rob Fish who runs Clyde River Houseboats brought Nanna Rose up to Nelligen so she could spend some quality time with the grandkids. He also brought ice creams, fresh bait and a grin from ear to ear-this bloke and his lovely wife Sue and team love their job and the River. Their hospitality is legendary in Tourism Circles-I can now see why.

That night I picked out a new spot that I thought would hold a few jewfish-a deep rocky area next to some shallow feeding grounds.

Sure enough an hour before the slack tide I got a lovely 80 cm specimen that put up an absolutely brilliant fight on the 3 kg tackle.

The girls were so excited they insisted l leave a few baits in overnight. I didn’t want to be getting up to a too often so I put on a larger fillet of tuna and hung it meter off the bottom straight under the boat to lessen the chance of bream, flathead and stingrays.

About midnight the drag on my favorite 6 kg Fishing Australia outfit went off like a siren and was followed by a big splash. I looked out of my window to see that the temporary rod holder had broken and I had lost the rod and reel!

Still half asleep I put in a huge bait on a bigger 15 kg outfit, placed it in the much stronger bolted on rod holders and went to bed wondering if the fish that stole my rod was a big ray or a big jewfish. I guess I would never know!

Just as I was dozing off again the big rods ratchet went off so I rushed out in a startled state and started fighting the fish. Marilyn peeped out the window and started shaking her head-it was 2 am and I was still fishing!

Funnily enough I had a really strange feeling I would see my old rod again sometime and low and behold up it came out of the depths tangled by just a single loop!

I gladly got my rod back and to make things even more interesting there was still a fish on the end so I hand lined in what was another 80 cm jewfish! Cripes this fish was a punch above its weight to pull line off two reels, but she was also terribly unlucky so I let her go to grow into a whopper.

What a fitting end to a trip that everyone is still talking about. I already miss waking up with my family in a wonderfully relaxed holiday mode and a view of the brilliant emerald green tides of the Clyde and endless surprises they bring with them.

See you on the water.

Rob Paxevanos

Footnote: No license is required to drive these houseboats and practically anyone can operate them.  For more information check out www.clyderiverhouseboats.com.au  For more info on the south coast check out www.eurobodalla.com.au