28 anglers (14 boats and a lone yak) set off at 7am, scattering to all points of the river. As per usual, I made my way to the first bit of structure, a row of pontoons encrusted with mussels, oysters and weed. I was using a 1/16th jig head rigged with a 6” Sandworm Camo. On the second pontoon I had a bump which was encouraging and the next pontoon came up trumps.
The fish picked up the SP on the second hop and when I set the hooks he did me the favour of swimming away from the pontoon, which was a nice change from their usual dirty tactics! Quickly he realised his mistake and reversed direction but a bit of sideways pressure turned him and I played him out in the relatively safe open water. He went 35cm total length and was a very nice first fish for the day.
The next lot of pontoons produced a few smaller fish and only one legal (just) of 25cm’s. I dropped one of about 30cm’s right at the yak which had me cursing. The fishing has been tough the last few weeks and maybe I’d just been lucky and hit a patch of fish. Who’d know if I’d get another chance to upgrade?
The tide was dropping and I felt it was getting a bit too shallow so I made my way down to the main river. Some more crusty pontoons and my first cast at one of them skipped the SP right under it into the shadows. BANG! I struck more on reflex than anything else and this thing bolted. The reel screamed and I pushed the rod under the water as I clamped the spool but it was all too late. This beast well and truly smashed me up quick smart and reinforced the fact that you have to be on your toes every cast.
Mumbling and grumbling expletives, I pedalled over to Oyster Bay. All the moored boats were out except for one so at least my choice was simple. New leader, new SP, drag tightened and just as bloody well, to! Another quick bite as the lure touched the bottom and I’m onto another nice fish. This time the drag only gave about a meter before I was towed towards the boat. More gymnastic rod work under water to keep the fish away from the boats keel saw me ease it out into the open and after a few more surges I netted him. 41cm total length and that’s the kicker that I needed.I then tried the flats in Connels Bay and Kyle Bay with hard Bodies but could only manage a few smaller bream and two flathead, one of these a nice fat fish of 59cm’s that scoffed the SX40. A bit of delicate work removed the hooks and she swam off maybe a little wiser. Hopefully this warmer weather will see some more of these great fish pay a visit to the Hobie.
At the weigh-in I realised I’d been a bit lucky as half the field didn’t manage to land any keepers. It was close but I managed to take out top spot by about 30 grams. The fish of the day though was caught by Luke (Docky), a sensational 46cm fork Estuary Perch (EP) that looked like a mini barra!So finally a weekend when I caught a few fish and it’s always nice to beat the power boats from a kayak. Another interesting catch today was a bream that at some stage in its life had been chomped right in the middle of its back. It had healed completely and this small guy was as feisty as anything. Just goes to show you what sort of injuries these tough critters can recover from. Happy yakkin’, everyone!
Cheers,
Cid
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