On numerous occasions now, I have caught more
fish on lures than on bait. This may be due to the fact that I am getting
better at getting the lures into the right spots and am improving my technique,
or it could just be the fact that the lure looks more like a meal to the
fish than the dead bait on the end of the hook.
The last two occasions this happened were both on the Brunswick River. There was little action on baits, so I tried casting lures along the banks with almost instant success.
We had tried everything whilst fishing baits,
right tides, fresh bait, live yabbies etc etc, but we just couldn't get
onto any good fish. Yeah there were plenty of small fry around constantly
picking at the bait, leading to even more frustration, but nothing that
even looked close to ending up in the pan. So out came my arsenal of lures.
I started with the Halco Scorpion 52s, casting them in to the mouth of
a small creek as the tide was starting to runout. After a few casts it
was still looking grim, but the next one was hit by a good flathead which
took off in an attempt to get out into the deeper water. As with most lizards
it didn't take long to subdue the fish and it was quickly scooped into
the landing net, and my account was opened. Hooray I thought.... didn't
fancy going home with an empty bag (again!).
I continued fishing the small creek with the scorpion,
but didn't get anything for a while. Muzza was using a small Killalure
and casting it towards the banks of the 
small
creek. Again it was off to a slow start but his patience was also rewarded
with a nice little dusky flathead. The other guys in the boat, Bill and
Rick, continued with there baits and continued to catch undersized bream
along the banks of the river.
I decided to change over to the RIO prawn in the clear with gold fleck colour. A few casts later and whoosh, something inhaled it and off it went. After a short struggle another nice dusky flathead found itself going head first into the landing net, much to my relief. On the day persistence paid off and the lures outfished the bait.
We went up the river again a couple of days later
and again it was pretty quiet on the bait. We moved around a bit and as
we slowly powered up the river, I decided to try trolling some Scorpion
68s behind the boat. On the way up one of the lures was hammered by
a nice dusky. It was one of the darkest duskies I have ever seen, obviously
trying to camouflage itself with the surrounding dark mud bottom it calls
home.
A few hours later and we were on the move again. the lures were dropped out of the back of the boat and allowed to run about 20 - 30 metres behind. I decided to hold one of the rods and give it an occasional pull and then let the line go slack. This action was soon rewarded with a bang and the sound of the drag on the reel being brought to life. This ain't no flathead I thought to myself and sure enough the fish started to swim in circles as it got close to the boat. Shortly afterwards a nice Giant Trevally found itself in the boat and lining up for a mug shot.
That trip came to a close, but I had learnt alot about the art of lure fishing for the various fish found in the estuary, and had absolutely caught the bug. As a result of the success of this trip the tackle box started to expand with extra lures in anticipation of my next sojourn.
The next real opportunity to get into luring was during the Olympics. I took a much needed break and headed up to the Brunswick River again.
The North East winds were absolutely howling, and according to one of the guides I chatted with, this in turn shuts down the fishing. This was showing to be true with the results of our first few outings. We caught a few fish, but only ever one or two keepers. So out came the lures and I spent a fair percentage of every outing just casting lures as we drifted along the river.
I tried a few different lures this time. The scorpions didn't score a hit, the DOA prawns likewise. I pulled up to some snags and cast small gold bombers into the snags, and again not even a look! Out came the 65 mm RIO prawn in the ever faithful clear with gold speckle. It took a few practice casts to get use to the difference in weights, but once my hand was in, I was getting the little prawns right into the fishy domain.
We drifted along over various banks and past several
fallen trees. I cast one right into the base of a fallen tree and started
my twitch - drop retrieve, trying to make sure the lure hit the bottom
after each drop. Sure enough, the lure was grabbed and away went the fish.
Beauty, the drought was broken as I pulled a nice 45 cm dusky into the
landing net. Continued along the bank for a while, but no further action
was had. 
As the tide was still on the run in, we decided to try one of the many creeks that join the Brunswick along is path. We anchored up near a mangrove patch that was hanging over the river. I cast into the base of the mangroves, and again employed the twitch - drop retrieve and after a few casts had another nice dusky flapping in the bottom of the boat. Unbelievable I thought. Got that fish of the hooks that it had impaled itself onto and cast back into the same spot. No sooner had I started my retrieve when the rod tip doubled over, there was a silver flash and the drag of the little baitcaster screamed as line peeled off. The fish headed further up the creek. I adjusted the reel's drag and fought the fish back down the river. The call went out for the net as a nice trevally found itself coming along side the boat. It was a great little session that one!
The next day saw us back at the same spot, and saw me casting the RIO into the snags again. As i retrieved the lure and basically got no hits as it came back to ward the boat, I pulled the lure up out of the water ready for the next cast and noticed a nice dusky follow it up, break the surface with it's tail and head back down to the depths. Well after a few well chosen words, I continued casting and retrieving in a hope that I hadn't scared the lizard off. As the lure got close to the boat each time I would pause and just jig the lure up and down a few times hoping to attract the attention of the flattie. It didn't take too many more casts to arouse it's interest and as they do, it inhaled the lure and took off back to the depths. A bit more a fight this time, but I subdued the fish and again had a nice 42 cm lizard lying in the net.
A couple of other interesting points. I lost one
of my RIO prawns and tied on another RIO but in a different colour. Got
no hits on it at all for 2 days. Went and bought another RIO with the gold
speckle and swapped over to it. Two fish in one day! I also tried Halco
Scorpion 35s cast into the banks hoping for some bream, but again got no
interest from any fish. I guess it's all experience and each time you go
fishing, you gain more.