Oyster Bay Report – 12/5/07

One of the things I love about kayak fishing is that with a moments notice you can be off fishing and who cares if you have limited time on the water. I only decided at 10:30pm on Friday to throw a few lures around my local, Oyster Bay. Within 10 minutes I had all the gear ready and the yak on the car. The next morning I was up at 5:30am and on my way within 15 minutes. At 6:05am I was pushing off from the ramp ready to catch my first fish. I only had 2 hours but big deal. Now if I had a boat it’d be a different story. Would I bother going for only a 2 hour session? Probably not.

The tide was getting towards the bottom so the poppers were put on hold this time. Well, not completely, I still had a few casts while heading for the deeper water. I had a couple of half hearted swipes at the lure but nothing that really connected. My first serious attempt at a fish was at the same jetty I landed the 40cm bream from the other week while out with Mick Munns. ‘Why change tactics?’ I thought and I flicked a Gulp 3” minnow in Lime/tiger towards the leading pylons.

No bumps this time, just the line moving sideways. I strike and yeehah, we’re on! This guy makes a few strong lunges for the pylons but the rod tip cushions the runs and the drag is set nice and tight for this battle in close confines. Not quite as big as last week but still nice at 35cm’s and it’s a bloody good start to the day.

I decide to give the SMAK rackwalkers (black and silver) are workout and I picked up a few smaller bream but they are all just under the legal length of 25cm’s. The tide is a bit low so I move to the front of the bay and return to the SP’s, this time rigging up with the fav 6” sandworm in camo. It’s not long until the next legal comes aboard but it just makes it at 26cm’s.

A quick glance at the watch and all to soon it’s time to head back for home but I know of a moored boat sitting in 3 meters of water which nearly always has something underneath it. Once I was smoked by what was either a nice jewie or a HUGE bream that I hooked under the boat. Whatever it was, I wasn’t stopping it with the 2lb braid I was using. : (

I positioned myself downstream from the boat and cast right up next to where the mooring line entered the water. I let it sink then slowly hopped the jig back to me. There was a solid ‘Thump’ and I thought, ‘Hello, this feels like a flattie.’ And it was, too! Once I got him near the surface I could see I’d hooked him right in the side of the jaw, so I took my time as I knew he couldn’t chew through my leader. Into the net and onto the lie detector and he (or she) is bang on 60cm’s.

The last few pontoons were still in shade and I dropped a nice fish of about 30cm’s right at the side of the yak. Bugga! Another few casts and I notice a slight ‘tic’ on the line. I lift the rod and this thing takes off back under the pontoon. I dip the rod and keep the line safe until I can get this guy out into the open. I had the drag tight but this guy still pulled some line so I knew he was a ripper. As I ease him into the net I let out a ‘YES!’ as he’s a new PB for me. 42cm’s total length (38cm fork) and approximately 1.3kg’s.

So if I’d owned a boat instead of a kayak, I more than likely would’ve stayed in bed and missed out on a fantastic mornings fishing. How good do us yakkers have it’ eh? Happy yakkin’ everyone.

Cheers,
Cid