# NSW - Tuross Lake, Sunday 17th



## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

Haven't posted here for a while. I enjoy the water, the fishing and the writing but this winter the lack of time, too many things needing attention and a bout with the blues all seemed to take away the urge to write it all down. Not "depressed" just got a bit blue.

Some of the things that have been taking the time away from the water are the kayak trailer I have been building - big job - recladding and painting the old house which also involves removing the old fibro and trying to renovate the kitchen etc and all this while putting in 5 days a week at work... But now we are getting to the end of the trailer, the days are getting longer again and daylight savings means I can get out on the water after work some evenings - stuff the blues lets go and live life while the opportunity is there.

The child bride wanted to get out to Tuross to see if the wild orchids were in bloom so we loaded the kayaks a thermos and the rods and headed out for the morning. It was a rather stunning day and we just drifted in the tide and the breeze floating some unweighted baits and tossing lures at likely snags. There was the odd bump but not much happening to disturb the peace and the bride pulled into a bank to check on some orchids which had long seed pods but the flowers were all gone. We were in a channel between some islands and I cast a bait upstream and slowly twitched it back in with the running tide and with a fairly timid tap slowly tightened the line thinking that the previous bumps were probably very small bream. I felt a bit of weight but then it became pretty obvious that a small fish had taken the bait as it just followed the line with little to no resistance, that is till it got in close to where I was standing and had a change of heart and decided that it wanted to be somewhere else. It took a big diving run and then came to the surface and did a couple of tail walks revealing itself to be a good table size flathead so they appear to be waking up. I wish I could go back and explain a few things to myself when I was a young bloke and from a fishing standpoint, light tackle would be one of the majors...

The blues didn't seem to have fully disappeared as when I landed the flattie I stepped backwards and discovered that my feet were quite literally stuck in the mud and I ended up falling over backwards, sitting heavily in the mud and a couple of inches of water. The child bride's mirth was loud and long but somehow I failed to see the funny side and it took me a while to get past the uncomfortable feeling of having a cold,wet bum... bad attitude was running the risk of spoiling my day and the lady tried to stop laughing but the eyes were still sparkling and the odd giggle still escaped. Got back on the water and passed another kayaker who was also on an Adventure but going the other direction and when we reached the little spot we were heading for I made a few casts into some snags along the banks and had a few "explosions" that hooked up on the surface but never made it out of the snags. We pulled in for a cuppa and while the coffee pot was on I netted the second flathead. These were both in the 40cm range so were good keepers and after the coffee we drifted through the area casting towards the shallower areas and weedbeds, twitching the baits and lures back to the kayaks. It was quite mesmerizing watching the child bride cast as it seems such a short time since she was struggling to get the baits where she wanted them and often splashing into the water beside the yak, but now they were lovely long looping casts reaching right to where she wanted them to go.

The best flattie of the day came from a small drop-off near a weed bed and it fought hard all the way to the boat, the bride caught and released a bream and after I got my attitude sorted we had a great day before heading back home mid afternoon.

The only photos I took were of the wild orchids and the stag-horns but with the spring and summer just starting to warm up I think we are going to have a good year on the water...

Cheers

John


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

Thanks for the report John. I've been wondering what Tuross was like. It seems to be awake. It's hard to remain blue when you are in the present, even with a wet bum. Great work to shake it off and get out there.


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## gcfisho (Oct 31, 2009)

Sounds like a nice day mate . Nothing like a day on the water to rid you of the blues . Hope you get out a bit more often .


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

John at least by catching some fish it wasn't a case of wet arse and no fish mate.


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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

Dodge said:


> John at least by catching some fish it wasn't a case of wet arse and no fish mate.


Dodge, love your take... you always seem to find a funny side that gels with my own (sometimes wacky) sense of humour... I think that this is one where the kids would say "lol"...

cheers

John


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## southcoastmatty (Jan 21, 2009)

Nice report John. Nothing like a fish and some sun to sort things out.
scm


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## ifishwithhim (Jun 27, 2010)

Sounds like a perfect day John...even with a wet bum - I'm used to that as I always seem to find the deep water :lol:

Hubby & I are heading up your way in a week or so... and its all new ground to us. Have booked into Nth Durras for a couple of days (we have 2 small dogs) but Tuross sounds like a magic place.

Any advice re the area would be good... take it you drive up there from Moruya. Do you do it as a day trip or do you stay over? We are set up to free camp or primitive camp, so are easy pleased.

All suggestions appreciated.

Cheers,
Elle ;-)


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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

ifishwithhim said:


> Sounds like a perfect day John...even with a wet bum - I'm used to that as I always seem to find the deep water :lol:
> 
> Hubby & I are heading up your way in a week or so... and its all new ground to us. Have booked into Nth Durras for a couple of days (we have 2 small dogs) but Tuross sounds like a magic place.
> 
> ...


Elle - first, welcome to the forum...

- second, is "him" a forum frequenter that we might know of...

-third, your heading to my favourite part of the world. From Moruya the places you are talking about are only a few Kms so generally just go out for the day and can even get out for a couple of hours after work.. tough life hey. Nth Durras opens up some fantastic coastline as well as some v. good rivers etc but the dogs may close some of the areas to you as there is a lot of National Park where they can not go. Depending on the time your going to be here you will be able to do easy trips pretty much anywhere from Jervis Bay in the north to Tathra going south. There are other places outside that range but travel time may not be what you want. We kayak and fish all over the south coast as a husband and wife team although the child bride doesn't venture out onto the big blue so I go there alone.
If you have any specific queries send me a PM and I'll do my best to give you a relevant answer..

- fourth, what part of the high country? I am familiar with some of it or at least I used to be when I lived near Albury/Wodonga..

cheers

John


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## ifishwithhim (Jun 27, 2010)

Hi John,
Thanks for the feedback. I suppose what I was really asking was - are there any campgrounds or spots near the lake at Tuross, perhaps that you can free camp quietly without being obvious. National Parks are out for us of course with the two dogs on board.

Rob (Hi Rob  ) mentioned a couple of caravan parks at Tuross... and I know one of them is a Big 4 and they as a group don't permit dogs at all, caravan parks are OK (if you can get in with dogs that is) but ideally we do prefer to be doing our own thing off a river or lake if possible.

Nooo.... my other half is pretty shy and retiring, he is not into computers that much let alone typing. But he does enjoy reading stuff on AKF and has taken a lot of the advice on board making up live bait traps ect... My tag 'ifishwithhim' came about as we have the tandem 'Outfitter Fish' - and 'he' would tell you I am the one who buys all the gear.. rods/lures ect... isn't he the lucky one!!! :lol:

We presently live in the foothills on the n.w. side of Mt Buffalo with great views... we can see Stanley & Mt Beauty & Feathertop in the distance. 
Cheers, Elle


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## Ado (Mar 31, 2008)

ifishwithhim said:


> are there any campgrounds or spots near the lake at Tuross, perhaps that you can free camp quietly without being obvious. National Parks are out for us of course with the two dogs on board.


There is a council run camp ground at the North Head of Maruya (near the airport). It allows dogs and it borders a dog friendly beach. Highly recommended and 15 mins from Tuross. Small camp fees apply.


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

Feel free to post the flower photos, doesn't have to be a fish to be posted in a trip report.


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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

Barrabundy said:


> Feel free to post the flower photos, doesn't have to be a fish to be posted in a trip report.


Dear Mr Barrabundy, just didn't think too many others would be enthralled by these... It is a fascinating place if you know where to look though

cheers
John


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

RedPhoenix said:


> They're those yellow-flowered ones that grow in the she-oaks aren't they John?
> 
> They're straggly little buggers, but the flowers are worth it when they come out.
> Plenty up at Durras also; I reckon there's a particular set of trees along one of the banks there, that would just about turn completely yellow when the orchids come into flower - every tree seems to have dozens.
> ...


Red, do you remember what time of year the orchids bloom? I would love o get there at the right time for once...

cheers

John


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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QlpoOTFBWSZTWdih1T0AAA5XgAAQQIMAIRAAPu/foCAAajDxIGnqejTQnqNBqMInpGQAaPULSYLYRaWFo5FADdO4162AhRlnA3GRZpWhj9dr8BsCmbRlAnONG3FxdBITR3JV4sSTH1WNYWoyIfK4/F3JFOFCQ2KHVPQ=


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## seawind (Mar 29, 2007)

Hi John,
Reference the wild orchids growing in the Casaurina trees lakeside at Tuross, Durras,the Tomaga River and numerous other spots on the South Coast, you'll need to look out for them in late August/early September to catch the flowering.


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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

seawind said:


> Hi John,
> Reference the wild orchids growing in the Casaurina trees lakeside at Tuross, Durras,the Tomaga River and numerous other spots on the South Coast, you'll need to look out for them in late August/early September to catch the flowering.


Thanks Les/Dawn... now to try and remember that fact for a whole year so I can be there for the flowers...

will have to get together out on the water some time soon, had a great afternoon out at Barlings with Mal.com last week and will soon have the new trailer in use and able to take the whole kit and caboodle to work for after-work sessions.

cheers

john


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## ifishwithhim (Jun 27, 2010)

Ado said:


> ifishwithhim said:
> 
> 
> > are there any campgrounds or spots near the lake at Tuross, perhaps that you can free camp quietly without being obvious. National Parks are out for us of course with the two dogs on board.
> ...


Thanks Adrian for advice re campground. I hadn't realised Tuross was so close to Moruya. We stayed at Moruya Heads 'primitive campground' on our first visit to the area a couple of months ago... it was beaut.

Clarification here ... I was using the term 'free camping' which for independent caravanners or campervaners or tenters for that matter... means that you prefer to camp outside caravan parks - as you carry your own facilities... water/power/loo/shower etc and of course take your refuse (and usually collect what is about your campspot as well) and dispose of responsibly. It wasn't so much the cost of the caravan parks... just our preference is for 'independent camping'.
There are a number of camping books on sale that identify sites among them Camps Australia Wide and the Boiling Billy Books for each state... but nothing is as good as local knowledge - so thats why I asked ;-) The coastal region is difficult when travelling with dogs as there arn't many spots that we can utilise due to restrictions. We have often stayed at Mystery Bay down Bermagui way which is a great spot near the beach.

Cheers,
Elle


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