Brisbane’s XOS Threadfin

It’s every fisherman’s dream to catch that monster of any given species.  The satisfaction of landing a 2 kilo plus bream, a 10 kilo snapper or a meter plus barra is difficult to convey in text.  To get some appreciation of what the angler felt you really need to hear the excitement in ones voice as they recall their moment of glory.  The endorphins that overwhelm the angler often overflow to those on the boat, even if some experience a tinge of jealously.  The experience is enjoyed and recalled by all onboard time and time again.   Sometimes the capture is one of chance, however, for that 10% of fisherman who catch 90% of the fish more often than not it comes from confidence, planning, preparation, time on the water and inside information.  

For anglers like myself residing below the Australian tropical regions targeting and catching threadfin salmon is often relegated to that of dreams.  For some those dreams transpire into well-planned and expensive expeditions to the tropics in search of such species.  In recent times with the discovery of a healthy population of threadfin salmon in the Brisbane River it has bought dreams of those expeditions back to a short drive to the local boat ramp.  Now here in Brisbane stories of monster Threadfin Salmon have been recalled to many and by more than just the 10 percenters.  The grapevine was in overdrive as news spread like wild fire once it was leaked that metre plus threadies were on the chew in the dirty old Brisbane River.  Over the years there have been catches of big salmon mainly by bait fishos, however, once the lure fisherman stuck a pattern for these XOS fish the hotspots have been a popular place to be for all.  With the old saying of “who shares wins” ringing true many anglers were reaping the rewards or had tails of monumental bust-ups. 

Threadfin salmon are predominantly encountered in the eastern tropical estuaries and coastal fringes of Australia.  Often caught by anglers in the 1 – 5 kg range they offer excellent fighting qualities powered by a deep forked cordal fin and long caudal peduncle or tail wrist.  Even in the deeper sections of the Brisbane River these oversize 10kg plus speedsters often perform aerobatics in an effort to avoid capture. Typically bottom feeders, threadies prefer to feed in muddy waters and possess a thick membrane protecting their eyes.  To feed in such discoloured water they are assisted by 5 long whisker like feelers on either pectoral muscle, located slightly forward and below the pectoral fins.  These long threaded pectoral fins are extended some distance either side of their head and can also be projected forward of their mouth when foraging the muddy bottoms.  Referred to as King Salmon in some parts, they have a blunt nose with big nostrils sitting over a huge mouth with finely rasped bony plates on their upper and lower jaws. 

My first official confirmation of the BR beasts came while driving south to NSW for a month long work trip.  Having just hit Coffs the familiar tune of a text message rang from my phone.  Stopping for a strong black coffee I opened the message to be greeted with a photo of my mate Maurice “the Momakian” Blackman struggling to hold a 1.3 metre salmon.  Right there my inclination was to turn the car around and head for home.  Visiting tackle stores over the ensuing weeks that photo was shown many times with responses of disbelief, however, the evidence was there for all to see. 

The next report came by way of a phone call while working at Canobolas Marines annual trade show in Orange.  The call was from my housemate Brad Smith after just been blown away by a bigger model than Maurie’s 130cm fish.  Having got the fish beside the boat twice fishing 30lb threadline gear with a fully torqued up drag his voice trembled with excitement. “Man, it came to the side of the boat like it just wanted to have a look at us then took off, I had nothing.  The rod was fully loaded up, man, it worked well but I had nothing with a locked up drag it just screamed until the leader rubbed through.”  Well that quote is close to what he said except for the many deleted expletives.  The rod was a 30lb XS687BA that I had designed for the Blue Acres Lamiglas range, referred to as “the big girl” I was yet to put it to its limits.  Affectionately known as Eve Stirwin the gocodile hunter, it takes a lot for Brad to get excited like he was.  “I’ve gotta go man, I’ve gotta land one of these things”.  The phone went dead and I was left thinking that I still had 3 weeks on the road before getting home.  The next text message I was to receive was another photo this time of Eve holding an 111cm fish. 

Over the remaining weeks that I was in NSW information was continually conveyed to me from the sunshine state.  So much information from different sources almost resulted information overload.  Now it was up to me to piece it all together and come up with a plan before returning to Brisbane.  First thing was to stock up on some gear.  A selection of soft lipless crankbait lures was first on the list and I decided on 40lb leader after all the water clarity was nonexistent, the rest I had at home.  One piece of information continued to reverberate in my mind “take it easy on the old girls until you get them in the clear and deeper water.” With the size of a threadies mouth and the number of reports I had received of pulled hooks the first thing to do was remove the trebles from the lures.  I replaced these with a single 7/0 chemically sharpened hook attached to the tail of the lure with double split rings.  The double split rings are attached together to provide a chain like structure.  This gives more flexibility between the hook and the lure thereby providing better security of the hook twisting out in a drawn out fight or if the salmon jump. 

Next was to devise a soft plastic presentation that would provide a strong vibration.  The lipless lures are a vibration bait and when connected to the leader via a loop knot send out strong pulses that is sensed by the threadies lateral line and pectoral whiskers.  Most soft plastics on the other hand have very little vibration.  To add more vibration I simply chose to attach an Ecogear Blade Spin to the underside of their BTS shad profile soft plastic.  The Ecogear BTS has a thick paddle tail that offers a stronger wobble than similar soft plastics. The blade spins are a colorado or willow blade attached to a corkscrew wire via a high quality ball bearing swivel.  Once the plastic is placed over the hook the corkscrew is twisted into the plastic and around the shank of the hook for a secure attachment.  Not only do they provide vibration, in clearer water it sends out a fish attracting flash and are a great enhancement regardless of your quarry. 

With the tide topping out as the boat slipped off the trailer anticipation filled my body, I could feel it in my bones, I was going to catch.  As the Lamiglas tag line informs the angler “Fish With Confidence”, confidence is everything when fishing.  Confidence in your plan, your gear, your preparation and your ability.  If you are confident that you are going to catch you will be concentrating when that bite comes, it’s that simple.  We motored from the Port of Brisbane ramp reaching our first chosen destination in good time with the assistance of a big horsepower motor.  Slowly driving over the deeper water adjacent an expansive mud flat the signs were good.  Concentrations of bait showed on the helm mounted sounder as well as a couple of good size returns close to the bottom.  With the wind pushing us into the shallow flat the boat was positioned a little wider than we would normally choose to allow for a reasonable amount of water to be covered before being blown over our lures.  I had decided to start with the lipless lure.  For a heavy line rated rod the Lamiglas fired out the small 60mm lure quite a distance, landing well up on the flat.  Already I was impressed with the rod’s first test, a big pass mark for casting ability.  

As I hopped the lure over the mud flat the vibration of lure returned to me via the 30lb braid and through the rod, I was comfortable that my modifications did not detract from the lures performance.  Reaching the beginning of the drop off to deeper water I let the lure sink on a tight line before it went limp indicating that I had hit the muddy bottom once again.  A couple more hops down the decline and Eve had completed his first retrieve with his lure vertically underneath the boat.  I could feel my lure rising off the bottom as he moved us out into the wind under the power of the electric motor.  Opening the bail arm I let the lure sit on the bottom until Eve stopped and cast for a second time.  Continuing my hopping retrieve down into deeper water the line again went slack before I hopped again, this time on the drop I sensed a tap and that’s all it was.  I reported “just got a hit” no sooner had the words passed my lips I let out a loud “ON!”  The big girl loaded up and I lent back driving the 7/0 in with the words coming over my shoulder “don’t get into it yet take it easy”.  Too late this fish was making a beeline straight for the nearest structure and fast.  I lent back on the rod pushing it to it’s limit in an effort to halt the run, line was still rapidly leaving the reel, the drag screwed to its maximum.  The extra pressure applied through the rod finally slowed the first run.  Just short of the structure the big thready turned, some line was regained and we coaxed the big female to deeper water to slug out the fight.  After three more long powerful runs the XS687BA Lamiglas finally had this monster defeated and listing on the surface.   The lip grip was secured in place and we carefully lifted my biggest fish caught on a cast lure onboard, all 1 metre and 27 centimetres.  Once again that euphoric sensation filled my body, I was on top of the world 127cm of King Threadfin Salmon with my first cast.  I love it when a plan comes together!  

After the obligatory quick photo session with my own Brisbane River monster I slipped her back into the murky waters.  The next 20 minutes was spent driving my trophy fish around reviving her to swim and spawn again.  After a few false starts and tense moments I was so relieved to see her dive toward the depths with strong beats of her tail.  For me seeing a fish like this swimming away only heightens the euphoria of the capture. With threadfin being a hermaphrodite species releasing these fish in good condition has huge implications for their survival.  The large females need to be retained to ensure adequate egg production. Salmon change sex between 6 to 10 years of age across a broad size range.  Studies estimate that 50% of females reach sexual maturity at 115cm total length with 50% of male threadies reaching maturity at 35cm total length.  While they have a reputation as a good table species these XOS models don’t really stack up.  The flesh is very soft almost mushy, somewhat dry and falls apart during cooking.  They are difficult to fillet even for an experienced fish processor with large calcified knobs along the spine, dorsal and adipose fins. 

Even though I had a plan, thorough preparation, a plethora of inside information and brimming with confidence, there obviously was an element of luck to my first threadfin salmon on my first cast.  However, had I not had a plan, been prepared or confident, that first cast could have easily ended with a different result.  In subsequent trips I added the missing ingredient to the equation to square the ledger between fish, time on the water.   It was a good 15 - 20 hours of casting before I experienced another XOS capture and this time as the assisting angler.  While I didn’t have the adrenaline rush of actually catching the fish, I did get to experience 122cm of salmon breaching the surface after being hooked in 50ft of water.  Maurie’s excitement did spill over to me and I know he was grateful for my part in a capture that looked certain for heartbreak.   

With Brisbane’s fishing circles rife with thready fever there were always boats peppering the hot spots so it was some months before we targeted them again.  Despite not hearing of any recent captures I hit the water full of confidence after deciding to have another crack at them.  Again we first located concentrations of bait followed by the now familiar arches of a thready.  While it didn’t come on the first cast it was not long before I was doing battle with a 110cm fish after the tell-tail light tap of a threadfin bite.  Having spent plenty of time targeting the BR threadies since then it is clear that these fish do in fact have a bite time with long periods spent sulking on the bottom shut down.  The key to hooking these XOS fish once you have located them is patience and perseverance.   However, when they decide to bite it’s white knuckle action.

One memorable encounter with a BR thready came while sitting in 35 ft of water. I was holding off on casting as Brad was getting bites with his lure in about 6-10ft of water.  Looking at the sounder I noticed a thready sitting directly under the boat just above bait hard on the bottom.  Dropping the lure at the transom as soon as the line stopped peeling from the spool I flicked the bail arm over and gave the lure a couple of short lifts and drops.  Sensing the tap I said to Brad “guess what” then lent back on the Lamiglas to cries of “get @#$%^&” coming over my shoulder.  That fish put on quite a display and was a very weighty fish measuring 122cm.  When they decide it is tucker time they will eat just about anything.  We have hooked and lost a number of threadies on lures such as 2” shrimps and Ecogear VX40’s when targeting bream.  It has been difficult to define a pattern to the bite times of the Brisbane River threadfin; however, the run out does seem to be a little more consistent.  In saying that we have hooked them in all stages of the tide including the slack. If you find mud flats, deep water and concentrations of bait the BR threadies are not too far away, just keep casting and fish with confidence.