Squidgies Sydney Harbour Round - 15/5/11

What the? A clear, crisp morning with only slight winds and a measly 20 yaks turn up for the event. Come on Sydney, there should be at least 30 at a minimum. The boaters of course turned up in droves (92 boats, I think) to fish what has become one of the biggest and easiest going tournaments around. Really, if you want to give tournament fishing a whirl, this is the one to test your skills in. No membership needed, just pay your 50 bucks and get into it. Even if you don't catch fish, you'll meet heaps of like minded anglers and will learn more than you'll ever do scouring the forums and reading books.

I set off to where I got my bag nice and early back in November for the ABT Daiwa/Hobie tournament but try as I may, I couldn't even get a hit. I was flicking about the new blades from Mick Munns, as well as the Squidgy 100mm bloodworm Wriggler. Not even a flattie. After an hour, I changed to a TT Switchblade to see if that would make any difference. Nup, nuthin'. Now I'll try a shallow diving Chubby, and then an Atomic Semi-hardz. Crapola...let's try the good ol' Gulp camo Sandworm. Still zilcho.

Right, time for a move so I shoot off to Exile Bay. As I cruise past the moored boats, I decide to give them a quick work over with a SP. Back to the Wriggler and yes, I'm on. Yahoo! 28 to the tip and that's one in the well. A few more boats later I get a better one that is 34 to the tip and he's a much fatter fish. With all the boats exhausted, I try the flats but again I can't raise a scale.

Now I head around into France Bay and bump into Andrew Death. I'm shocked to hear he's fishless but it's still early days and I know he's a top angler, so I can't count him out yet. He's working the shallows so I leave them to him and try the boats again. Strike me lucky, I get another one. A full bag and it's only 9:17 am. Not bad seeing as I didn't get my first fish until 8:25! I've caught up to Andrew again and he now has one in the well. He swears at me when I tell him I just landed one too. Nice, eh? : )

Time to keep moving so I decide to head down towards Gladesville. For me the bite has stopped and all I manage is a couple of leatherjackets and a nice flattie of 50 cms. Try as I may, I can't get a hit on a HB today. I tried different blades and minnows but all my fish were coming on the Wriggler. Pretty unusual as normally the blades are a sure fire thing as far as I'm concerned.

Heading back I pick up a couple of more fish, with one being a slight upgrade. So now I have a 34 cm fish and two about 30 cms. Ok but I really need a kicker fish to push me up in weight. With only 10 minutes to go I hooked a screamer that had me hooting but it was only a thumper whiting (boo hiss) that normally would have been welcomed with opened arms. In a bream comp though, all they get is cursed at! At least I had my full quota though.

Back on the beach the reports were that there weren't many 3 bags but without that big fish I didn't hold out too much hope. And sure enough, Bill Woods, Luke Kay and Stewart Dunn all had fish that were up near a kilo. Stewies was a beauty and he eventually took out Big Bream amongst the kayakers with it going 0.94 kgs. He also managed third (1.81 kgs) with second going to the on-fire Luke Kay (1.85 kgs), but the top podium spot went to Bill for his first win with a 1.885 kgs bag. Bill also managed his first ever jewfish from a kayak so it's was a doubly great day for him. Well done, Bill.

I came in in fourth with 1.505 kgs and Andrew took fifth spot with 1.185 kgs. I was talking to the

top three guys and funnily enough, all their fish were caught on HB, especially blades, so it just goes to show that sometimes certain fish in certain locations will hit one thing while in other locations they won't.

All up I travelled 13.4 kms which is pretty average for me and we're really lucky to have such a beautiful harbour to get to play on. I've marked on the map the locations where I landed my six legal bream. The next round is down at the Shoalhaven but aaarrrggghhh, I won't be able to do that one due to work commitments. Bugger. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid