 |
| Sunset on the McKenzie |
Bedford Weir Campground is 26 km from Blackwater on the
McKenzie River. We had camped here before in September 2015 to fish in the “Saratoga
Spectacular” fishing competition. Long term followers of my travel blog might remember
that we were spectacularly unsuccessful in catching any Toga but Linda won $100
in the novelty red claw draw.
We had been keeping in contact with our caravaning friends
Steve and Carol who were meandering north from Vic so we met up and headed out to the
campground.
 |
| Tea break |
Linda and I were determined to better our Saratoga record
(zero last visit) but after flogging the water to foam for four hours a day for
a week only catfish saw the landing net. Time for a change of plan – early in
the week Linda had a smashing hit on a spinner bait which looked “toga-erish”
so out came the smaller spinner baits and lots more Toga hits. Linda soon had
two big 70cm Toga in the net but after 5 hook-ups I still had zero score.
 |
| Catfish Kerry |
On
the morning of our pack-up day I set out to our favorite spot for a final foray
to snatch a sneaky Toga and was finally successful with a 65cm fish netted and
photographed 15 min before go home time. Bad news was that on the way back to the
ramp my outboard failed and I may have cooked the motor. Last three kilometers
was on my little electric motor with breath held wondering if the battery would
hold out.
 |
| Roast dinner with friends |
Enough about fishing – every afternoon/evening we enjoyed
the company of our friends Steve, Carol and Roxy (the bull dog) sitting around the
camp fire for drinks, cards, cook-ups, more drinks and lots of laughs.
Sad to leave Bedford Weir but we will always have great
memories of laughter, food, card comps, wine and beer, camp fires and the
occasional elusive Toga.
Made a short video link is HERE
