Kayak Fishing Sydney Weekly Report

Hobie Squidgy Southern Bream - Georges River - 29/1/12

2012-02-06T13:27:00.006+11:00

Wow! 41 kayaks turned up for this years round, that's 15 more than last year. Great to see some good numbers turning up for these events. Hopefully it'll just get biggger and better each year. The conditions were great at kick off and with the 86 boats on hand, the beach was a crowded spot.

Most of the yaks set off into Woolooware Bay but 4 of us headed out towards Towra Point. This area consistently holds some big fish and I was hoping for a similar fish or two as I landed last week. But, on arrival at Towra Point, 'SNAP' and there goes my idler cable. Not a big problem though as it's mainly for keeping the turbo fins in time, but I still decided to go fairly easy on it for the rest of the day. Pretty good lifetime really, as it's 3 years old and gets plenty of workouts.

Andrew cut in towards the shallows while I remained out in the 1.8 to 2.5 meter zone. I started with HB's but soon changed to a HWS jighead with a Squidgy 100mm Bloodworm Wriggler attached. First a small flattie and then nothing for the next hour. I moved around further towards Quibray Bay and at 9:33am I landed my first bream (29 fork) that absolutely wolfed the plastic down. That's the donut monkey off my back and I decided to keep drifting the weedbeds for the morning.

The wind was howling now, probably 20 to 25 knots and conditions were considerably lumpy. I changed to a Gulp 3" Grub in camo colour (on a HWS again) and this resulted in number 2 for the well but slightly smaller this time at 28 cms fork length. I bumped into Andrew who hadn't even encountered a small one yet. Good for me, bad for him. A few of the boats I'd spoken to were doing it tough also.

The wind just wouldn't ease up and at about 11:45am I decided to start slowly heading back towards the weigh-in. As I rounded Towra Point, I decided to let the wind push me along this potentially nice drift along the shore. The ledge dropped from a meter into 2 meters and as the tide was running out, I was hoping a bream or two might be lurking there waiting for a feed. I'd changed lures again; this time it was an Atomic 2" paddle tail in translucent pink, rigged on a 1/32nd jighead, just to help it get down that little bit quicker and tied to 3lb fluoro straight through.

First cast I let is sink and give it two hops when it's hit like a freight train. This thing races off and does a wide arc around me, heading back out into Botany Bay. With 3lb silly string (and a light drag), I have to give chase and I take my time, giving a return thumbs up to two boats that are cruising around the corner and who saw me hook up. As it comes up, I can see it's a good fish (not a kilo though) and I'm wrapped to get him in the net. 35 fork length and probably 650 to 700 grams, so that's a good full bag for me. I'm guessing I have about 1.5 kgs which should get me top 10 but I douvbt it'd be enough to make the podium.

No more joy for me over the next two hours apart from one more undersize bream and at the weigh-in it's many a tale of woe but there are also some good bags thrown in, too. My main goal is to qualify for the Grand Final and with 4 spots up for grabs, I may be in with a chance. My 3 fish pull the scales down to 1.59 kg and I'm sitting in 5th place. But Luke Kay has already qualified, so I'm holding on, but only just. but then Jonathan Chen steps up and Aaarrrghh, he weighs in 1.64 kgs, bumping me out of contention. Well done to him though and it's a case of Deja Vu' for me as I came 6th here last year, too!

The winner was Ian Seeto with 1.935 kgs and 2nd was shire local Jason Reid with 1.91 kgs. 3rd was taken out by the ever consistent Jason Meech with 1.73 kgs. Overall I racked up just over 13 kms and the photo shows the path I took and where I landed my three fish.

The next comp is on the 18th & 19th February, down at St Georges Basin. This is a location that turns on some great fishing, but unfortunately, not for me. I'm due to have a good round down there though and this would be a good one to take out as it's also a qualifying round for the Hobie World Series (http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/). we should get 50+ yaks there for this one, depending on the weather but either way, it'll be a hoot of a weekend. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

January Bassin' and bream in the Georges River

2012-01-23T10:48:00.009+11:00

So another update from Tezza and also a quick report on my pre-fish on the Georges River for the upcoming tournament on sunday...

"Happy New Year to everyone, hope you all had a safe & enjoyable Christmas & looking forward to a bright 2012.

Well finally the weather is starting to warm up, after a few weeks being very unsettled, it felt like August all over again. This is a great time of year, this month & the next, to target bass, as the weather really heats up, hot days & in between balmy nights, breathless mornings & the water being a mirror which means surface action. It doesn’t get any better!

As the New Year kicked in I've been out again for bass, chasing them with surface lures. Being on the water bright an early & a 40 minute paddle one way & the steam coming off the surface, was looking very promising. As I approach a very narrow section of the river it was lit up with life, flying insects ,a few slurps & splashes from the feeding fish, as the morning was breaking through.

A cast into the snag, as the fizzer landed, it exploded with an almighty splash, not even giving me a chance to flip over the bail arm on the spin reel. As quick as I can be turning this fish around, it pretty much stitched me up into the snags. These fish can be very suprising at times with the amount of enormous speed & power they have which shock alot of people.

With an investigation trying to rescue the fish or the lure from the snag luckily it was at hand reach. This fish was quality size. Being alone made things very difficult trying to rescue the fish into the net & cutting the leader. Eventually the fish was on the lie detector at 365mm I was very happy, a quick snap shot & the fish was on its way to its natural habitat.A quick investigation showed I could rescue the fish and the lure from the snag as luckily it was just within reach. This fish was a quality size, too. Being alone made things very difficult, trying to get the fish into the net & cutting the leader. Eventually the fish was on the lie detector at 365mm I was very happy, a quick snap shot & the fish was on its way to its natural habitat.

After the leader was replaced, I was back into action. Another good fish took the liking to the surface lure, though it didn’t get a chance to stitch me up. Even the little guys were having a go. Most of the numerous fish that I landed were averaging 300mm. The biggest was 380mm. In the couple of days that I was chasing them they were shutting down early as the sun was getting high . So getting as many casts in as possible was needed.

Especially in heavily fished areas, they tend to get spooked, though there is no harm in trying for them during the day, just work the lure very slowly. Concentrate in very deep shadow pockets as the bass don’t like sun.

There are a number of surface lures on the market these days , so its important to get a various types such as fizzers, walkers, poppers, etc. They all swim in different ways, so its best to try different lures and see what works best on the day & most importantly, try matching the hatch. Here are just a few of what I use.

As I mentioned in the previous bass report, be very observant and imitate the lure as a wounded insect. Its then a matter of casting under an overgrown tree or snag & be prepared for a sudden eruption. Sometimes as the lure hits the water it gets smashed, other days you have to work a little harder to attempt them to strike. If there is no surface strikes then have a try with divers, spinnerbaits, etc and hopefully they will work."

Thanks again Terry and once more, you've brained those bass. And such amazing locations you get to fish in, too. Brilliant.

This sunday (29th January) sees the first round of the Squidgy Southern Bream Series kick off on the Georges River. Full info can be found here: http://www.ssbs.basinlureandfly.org.au/

Last year there were 84 boats and 26 kayakers, but I'm sure those numbers will be eclipsed this year as now there are also qualifying spots for the ABT Grand Finals up for grabs. The reigning champ from last year is Andrew Death (the Bearded Swine) and I'm definitely out to improve on my 6th place (with a 1.265kg bag) from last year.

I snuck out for a quick pre-fish on saturday and pinned a few with one very nice specimen coming over the side of the kayak. At almost 38cms total length, three of those in the well would do me very nicely. I wont tell you where I got him : P but I'll let you know that he fell to a Squidgy Bloodworm wriggler rigged on a TT HWS hook. He was nice and fat too, and probably just shy of a kilo. Fingers crossed I'll catch up with him again this weekend. With a range of enviroments on offer for the Georges River round (flats, weedbeds, racks, moored boats, bridges, jetties, rocky shorelines), there is ample opportunity to fish whatever technique is your favourite. Hopefully we'll see you down there. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Terry gets into the Bass - Oct- Nov 2011

2011-11-30T12:05:00.009+11:00

Still not much fishing for me except for one trip with Stewart chasing Kings. That report will go up later this week. However, Teryy has been getting into some quality bass (as he usually does) and he's sent through this report:

"Its been awhile since I have done a fresh water report. In the lead up to the bass season ( back on the 1st September ) I’ve been stocking up on fishing gear & some bass lures: hardbodies , softplastics , vibes, spinnerbaits the list goes on, there is so much on the market these days. These style lures catch bass in all conditions whether its rivers or dams.

Its always good to have various types of lures to cover all your basics & colours as well . Bass fishing can be very difficult some days, so trying out a variety of lures & colours is a must, just to see what works on the day.

Rods & reels, these days there are plenty to choose from, but only recently I purchased 2 rods - Pflueger Trions, 6ft 1-3kg . These rods are ideal for casting under overgrown trees & getting into some very skinny water. The reels I have are Shimano Stradic 1000's and they are just perfect for the outfit. I have 4lb & 6lb on these, which is perfect for targeting bass.

Now lets go for bass!

In the last month or so I have been getting out in my kayak in various locations & even in new waters. Sometimes we have to work very hard to get to some unique water ways ,whether we have to drag the yaks over rapids or rocks & let me tell ya it ain’t easy, tho' if your getting fish it really makes it worth while .

This year with the amount of rain we have been getting, most rivers are getting a great flow of water through them ,which is great for the bass to migrate back upstream from the salt. There have been some descent bass getting caught in the area that I fish & I was keen to get amongst them .

So after a very long paddle & arriving to perfect bass ground, I wasn’t wasting anytime, I cast a spinnerbait under an overgrown tree, right into the depths to the bank watching carefully for any sudden hits on the line, as the spinnerbait helicopters down into the depth. With a very slow retrieve & a few bumps through the sunken timber I was excepting a solid hit ,but it wasn’t to be .

One more cast & this should really fire up the bass , as they are very territorial, sure enough the line came up tight & I was on. The thing I like about spinnerbaits is that they can be worked very slow to really fire up the bass when they aren’t in the mood.

I kept on plugging away into the deep shadows & came up tight again . Geez they fight hard don’t they? Whether its a biggen or just a tiddler, they have an enormous amount of power. No matter what size bass you catch they are just beautiful to admire.

The bass in the last few trips have been quality & I can’t complain. When they are in the high 40’s 0r mid 50’s they are trophy fish that you’ll never forget for a long time, not for me anyway.

Just really looking forward for the weather to warm up & the insects are flying about . This is a great way of visual fishing, using top water lures. It can be retrieved in all sorts of ways imitating a wounded insect & bass can’t resist. Just be alert for an eruption.

So if there is a fresh water river near you, it might be worth taking the kayak & doing some exploring, you’ll be surprised whats out there !

cheers, Tezza"

Thanks for the report Terry, we'll have to get together and get into a few bass soon. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Oyster Bay - 17/9/11

2011-09-19T11:30:00.010+10:00

After taking a winter sabatical from the fishing reports, spring is now here and it's time to get into the fishing and writing. To tell you the truth, there wasn't much to report during those cold months except for a few jewfish sessions where Stewart and I got busted up more than we should have. Stewie did manage to land a few crackers though and here is one of them that went mid 90's. Plus he and Andrew always manage to get into a few fish wherever they go but muggins here has too little time with soccer for myself and Lachlan, but now that that is all over, let's get into a few fish.

So with a fairly miserable winter done and dusted, the weather finally warmed up enough for me to take Lachlan out on the front of my Outback to hopefully snare a few spring flathead. He was really chomping at the bit to get out on the water and the saturday morning was just about as pristine as you could get - no breeze whats-so-ever and a cloudless blue sky. We started off by trolling a Jackall Chubby and a River2Sea Baby vib. A few small bream and flathead kept the interest up until we finally landed one of 42 cms that was coming home for dinner with us.

With one in the well, we decided to move onto the pontoons and jetties to see if the bream were home. Well, one was and he went 29 cms to the tip, so that was one more for the frying pan. We moved around a fair bit but couldn't get anymore legals so we headed back towards the ramp.

About 300 meters from home, the rod with the Baby Vib buckles and Lachlan is once again all smiles. This fish was decidedly better than the first one and the drag zinged as the fish went on several short but strong runs.Finally it came up and oh yeah, she's a cracker! I could see she was hooked right in the corner of the mouth so I knew with patience we land her. Lachlan listened to my frantic "rod over there, don't wind, that's it, wind now, keep the tip up" instructions and to his credit he followed them all to a tee. We slid her (well, half of her) into the net and it was yeehahs all round.

I explained to Lachlan that this girl was one of the big mummys and that it would be best if we let her go after a quick photo. We put the lip grips on and he lifted her for a few seconds while I took one quick snap and then we set her off until the next time we catch her. We never put her on the brag mat but I guessed she would have gone 65-70cms. He couldn't stop grinning like a Cheshire cat (without teeth) and I couldn't have been prouder or happier.

Of course, now Lachlan didn't want to go home. I said times up but we still have a couple of hundred meters for you to hook another one. Back out go the lures and we've only moved 20 meters or so when the rod Lachlan is holding (Jackall Chubby) kicks in his hand. He starts winding and it comes in easily. 'Oh, this is just a baby' he says but as it nears the yak, a genuine croc of about 80cms looms out of the depths. Lachlans eyes nearly pop out and I thought 'Oh, this'll be fun..' when the big girl decided to kick into gear and she shoots off under and behind the yak. I'm too slow to turn and the line scoots under the rudder and 'ping', she's gone. We were devastated but that's fishing and Lachlan took it all in his stride.

Naturally, he wants to go out again next weekend, so lets home for some more warm weather. And maybe two front teeth so he has a complete smile... : ) Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Squidgies Sydney Harbour Round - 15/5/11

2011-05-17T16:08:00.006+10:00

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

Squidgy Southern Series - Sydney round pre-amble

2011-05-14T22:32:00.008+10:00

So tomorrow morning we hit the Parramatta River and hopefully about 90 boats and 30 kayaks will be chasing the mighty bluenoses that can inhabit the Sydney system. From a few reports I've had, the fishing hasn't been fantastic but bags have been managed and one good thing I've heard is that there have been quite a few jewfish about. Hopefully I can get one and bring it home for dinner.

I have a new weapon in my arsenal of lures and it's made by Mick Munns from Lure Logic Tournament Tackle. Mick has turned his very clever hands to producing blade lures and as always, he's gone ahead in leaps and bounds and come up with a variation that I think will be a sure fire winner. Pictured here are a few of his protoypes (that's why the finish isn't as smooth as normal) and check out those silicon legs.

I'll be flicking these about tomorrow and hopefully the bream will climb all over them. Plus the flathead and whiting and jewfish and blackfish and kingies and...

Check back early next week for an update on how they (and I) went. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Oatley & The Georges River - 26/04/2011

2011-04-26T19:25:00.013+10:00

A couple of weeks ago a got an SMS from my old mate Jay who sent me a photo of the canoe he bought, I've been telling him for ages that he needs some water wheels and he decided to buy a canoe over a kayak for storage and carrying purposes. (I can't wait for summer and some bass camp outs now that someone can carry a tent, decent esky and a gasmate.)

We'd planned late last week via email to catch up rain, hail or shine on Tuesday after Easter Monday for a session around Oatley and Como for bream, flat models and a jewie if they were around.

We met at our first spot at Oatley around 8.45am, neither of us are keen on early starts and we catch good fish during the day anyway. The spot wasn't to be, we hadn't been there before and as it was getting on towards low tide the water was well out from the bank and the mud was like quicksand so we headed further around and launched from the ramp at Oatley Bay.

We paddled slowly out from the ramp, it's been a long time since I'd been to Oatley, actually the last time I fished it was from Cameron Jone's boat about 4 years ago and I remembered back then we were peppering the boats with plastics. I rigged a 100mm squidgy wriggler and cats around a few boats before the line went tight and I was on to my first bream a nice silvery little guy that was about 24cm to the fork. I released him and headed off to the next boat where I landed another fish about 23cm. not a bad start I thought but not the size I'm after.

We paddled further out towards the main river working the boats and pontoons as we went, Jay hooked to a nice bream about 27cm and things started to look up. we headed out into the main River and it started pouring non stop, I remembered talking to Carl about jewfish last week and he mentioned an awesome day he had on the jewies when it was raining, so I got out a big squidgy fish in the black/gold colour and rigged it on a lumo jighead. I cast and trolled it for ages until I was soaked through and decided to hide under a jetty until the rain eased a little.

I waited about 15 or 20mins and then headed back out into the rain which had eased a bit and started casting the wriggler again, I saw this row of 4 poles with some heavy wire mesh and sent the wriggler on it's way, I lift the rod and nothing, then I let the plastic settle again and one the second lift the line went tight and the rod buckled over, I knew straight away it was a better bream and I had to fight hard as it tried to bury itself into the wire mesh below the water line.

I battled for a good 3 or 4 mins trying to keep the fish away from structure and finally brought it to the net. It was a nice bream which was about 29cm to the fork and fairly chunky, I was much happier with this fish and the shivers I had from the wet clothes seemed to disappear as Jay took a photo of me with the fish.

That was about it for the day, except for a nice Pike that Jay hooked on the way back to the ramp, we bought thought it was a thumping whiting for a while, but it wasn't to be.

In all a great morning even though it rained fairly heavily, was happy to catch up with a good mate and get out on the water.

Cheers,

Fordy.

Daiwa/Hobie ABT Forster & Squidgy Port Hacking

2011-04-11T14:21:00.014+10:00

Well, there's my leave of absence out of the way. A couple of busy weeks after moving into the new house but I'm back on-line and thought I'd better catch up with two of the recent tournaments I competed in. The first was the Daiwa/Hobie ABT Forster round on the 12th-13th March. Nothing of note to report here. All I managed was one legal fish the whole weekend. I was roasted a few times in the racks (which is pretty standard for up there) but apart from that it was a lot of casting for not much result. Although coming back into the weigh-in on the last day I raced past Meechy and you would've thought I'd cracked a good bag from my actions. In reality, I was just glad it was over. The photo is courtesy of the ABT website. http://bream.com.au/ The top 3 guys found the fish though and 3rd place was taken out by Stewart Dunn with a 6/6 for 2.57kg. 2nd place went to Jason Meech with a 6/6 for 2.61kg and top place went to Luke Kay with a 6/6 for 2.73kg. Luke found his fish in the Breckenridge Channel and found they took a liking to his Gulp 2" Shrimps in banana prawn colour. Well done guys on what was a pretty tough weekend as bag sizes and fish numbers were down on usual results. The next tournament I entered was the Squidgy Port Hacking Round on the 30th March. The weather wasn't great (the predictions were worse though) and this kept the kayak numbers down. Only 15 of us this time and I struggled to find fish. Pontoons and jetties just weren't working for me so I ventured into deeper water and finally pulled one up from 10 meters on a Gulp Camo sandworm. I then landed a couple of legal snapper that had me thinking I had found a chool of bream but alas, it wasn't to be. They were coming home for dinner though and then I even landed a squid, so he came home as well. I continued moving about and made it down to the weedbeds near Maianbar. The wind really kicked in then, as did the rain but I perservered and was rewarded with my best fish for the day, a 32 fork specimen that smashed my Atomic semi-hard (muddy prawn) as soon as it hit the water. I managed a few more that were just undersize and then I landed a first for me EVER! A Garfish!!! Being a first, he was granted his freedom. Time was up for me though so I it was in with the lure and into the long trek back. Reports from most was that it was a tough day, in fact only six of us yakkers managed fish. I scraped into 5th place and picked up a rod and reel combo and the podium was a who's who of the bream circuit at the moment. 3rd once again went to Stewart Dunn and 2nd went to on-fire Andrew Death (I think thats two firsts, a 2nd and a 3rd in his last 4 comps) but the winner (again) was Luke Kay who found all his bream in deep water and caught them on blades. This sunday sees the Squidgy St Georges Basin round being run (for details visit their website: http://www.ssbs.basinlureandfly.org.au/ ) and I hope we get a few more yaks at this event. Hopefully I can have a good round down there and get my bag nice and early. Happy yakkin', everyone! cheers, Cid

Towra Point...Again!

2011-03-10T15:56:00.005+11:00

More practice before the big tourny at Forster so Andrew, Stewart and myself set off into the bay and across to Towra. Great conditions again and there are very few boats around at 6:15 in the morning. Magic times and once again we are greeted to another spectacular sunrise. That little spec you can see is Andrew.

We started off working the deeper water but after a fruitless (and fishless) 20 minutes, I moved into the mangroves to try the surface shenanigans again. This time I gave the whole arsenal a go. Nuthin'... Not even a hit! What the...? Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Time for another change and I rig up with one of the Atomic semihardz that worked for me the other week. We kept dropping out into deeper water and eventually moved into the 3 meter zone. Finally, I get a solid hit and land my only fish for the day, a 32cm bream that sped off after a quick photo on the lie-detector.

I had to leave Stewart and Andrew and typically, they started to get a few fish after I'd gone. Andrew took the day out with a trevally, which according to him was the target fish. Stewart came a close 2nd with a king landed on silly string. What a fool! he should've known that a trevally beats a king any day.

But this weekend sees us attending one of the most anticipated rounds on the ABT kayak tournament circuit, it's the Daiwa/Hobie Forster round and as per usual, it'll be an absolute cracker. There are flats, weedbeds, racks, racks and more racks and more anglers are smashed up in this locale than probably anywhere else in Australia. At this stage, there are approximately 35 confirmed anglers and it'll definitely increase and hopefully we can crack the 50 mark.

As an added bonus this year, Steve Fields, General Manager of Hobie Australia, announced this very generous incentive for all of us to get involved:

"To show support for the Forster Fishing Carnival and the Daiwa-Hobie BREAM Kayak Series-R8 - Forster- 12-13th March, Hobie will provide a new 2011 Hobie Outback as a random prize. Only those who enter and fish both days of the Daiwa-Hobie BREAM Kayak Series-R8 - Forster- 12-13th March will be eligible. The top three place getters are removed from the pool for this prize. So everyone is in with a chance in one of Australia’s best fisheries! Let’s see if we can break the record for the largest field in this year’s rounds. I think Bemm was 57…..

So, even if you don't catch a fish all weekend, you still have a chance to walk away with one of the best fishing kayaks on the market, and I should know, cause I have one! For further details, please visit http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/ or http://bream.com.au/abt/2010/Forster10.pdf for a downloadable PDF with all the details.

I'm setting off tomorrow but I know a few guys that are already on their way up there and will have a pre-fish tomorrow, so I'll be picking there brains on friday night. And rest assured, whatever they tell me, I'll do the opposite! ; ) Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Towra Point & Georges River - 27/2/11

2011-03-02T14:59:00.005+11:00

Another quick trip out to Towra at dawn, hoping for those schools of Bonito and Kings to be busting up all over the place, but alas, it wasn't to be. After futiley searching for 30 minutes, I decided to head in towards the mangroves and try a bit of surface action for bream.

As I sat there rigging up with an Ecogear PX45F, I had the bejesus scared out of me by a mini water spout that decided to start up only 20 meters from where I was. It was a quite surreal experience as I'd never seen one in the 'flesh' before and the first few seconds really had me questioning what was going on. With a high pitched 'Whoosh', it shot off across the water away from me, pushing a bow wave in front of it and spraying water about 20 feet in the air. It continued on for a hundred meters or so before disappearing. As the day wore on, I witnessed another two zipping across the water in the distance and only wish I had my camera out to get a video of them. Amazing stuff.

Unfortunately, the fishing wasn't as amazing but I did manage a few bream from next to the mangroves as the tide dropped. No record breakers but still great fun on the light gear. I stuck with the PX but next time I'll mix it up a bit and try some Sammys and Sugapens and see how they go.

Then on sunday morning I took Lachlan down to Oyster Bay. Last trip I started to teach him how to cast and we continued his lessons today. We'd move along the shoreline and he'd cast towards it and I'd have him slowly retrieve the lure. He's getting pretty good at it now and he managed to land his first 'cast and retrieve' fish, a decent flattie of 42 cms that took a liking to his SX40. A little later he landed a 27cm bream while muggins here didn't even turn a reel. Looks like he's beating his dad already. And I'm as proud as punch. : ) Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Where are they??? - Kurnell - 13/2/11

2011-02-15T14:30:00.006+11:00

It'd been a few weeks since I'd been out chasing those Kings in Botany Bay with poppers so I figured it was about time to get stuck into them again. Saturdays wind forecast was looking decidedly shabby so I put it off until the sunday. Wind-wise, this turned out well as I was greeted with only about 8-10 knots from the south which was perfectly acceptable to me.

No boats at the HWO was a good site for the eyes but once again I didn't even get a hit! If someone two years ago had said 'Where is a guaranteed spot to get some fish?' I'd have said the HWO. Getting there just as it was light enough to see would see you landing a few tailor which was then followed by a kingie or two, or at least a hookup! Ah well, that's life I suppose. RIP HWO...

Maybe they're at the Drums, so I continue out, scanning the surface for any bust-ups that would give away the presence of Tailor, Kings or Bonito. On the way I stopped at one of the Channel poles and flicked a blade about. Nuthin'.

Boat traffic was still fairly low and the Drums were all by their lonesome, too. Poppers first and then I tried some good ol' Mojo SP stickbaits that were allowed to sink to the bottom before being jigged back. Again they remained unmolested.

Next stop on the journey was the west towrads the 'Sticks'. These twin marker pylons are a well known spot in the Bay. Bream, Flathead and Snapper are all a good prospect here and I did manage one of each on a blade, but only the flathead (40cms) was legal. Plus I did hook what felt like a very good fish (probably another flattie) but he was only connected to me for a few seconds so I must've just lipped him. Bugga!

The whole time I'd been out I'd been watching for diving birds or bust-ups but I didn't see any action anywhere. Other boats were cruising about and one lot of guys I spoke to hadn't seen any kings either. I also tried trolling a Rapala deep diver (CD10 I think), again for nix.

From there it was back into another marker pole for another zippo effort before heading in towards the groins along Silver Beach. The blade came up trumps again and this time it was a flounder. I tell you, these blades will catch anything. He wasn't quite big enough to take home though so back he went until next time.

Back on the beach I measured the flattie, took a quick photo and slid him back into the ocean. He quickly settled into the sand and within a few seconds he'd changed from the mottled brown to the light tawny-sand colour you can see in the bottom photo. I wish I'd captured it on film, the change was so quick. next time I'll try to capture it. No wonder they're such a great ambush predator when they can hide as quickly and easily as that.

So the fishing wasn't great but at least I managed to get out for a while, which is better than staying at home doing nothing. Remember, you're a long time dead, so make the most of it while you can. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Jakl'n Bass - Somewhere West of Sydney - Jan 2011

2011-02-11T16:45:00.006+11:00

As promised, here is another report from Terry. He said sorry about the CAPS LOCK, he isn't yelling at us, honestly. : )

WELL FINALLY IT FEELS LIKE SUMMER, VERY BALMY MORNINGS & AFTERNOONS & THAT JUST MEANS BASS.

SO I’VE BEEN GETTING INTO A FEW GREAT BASS SESSIONS , AS YOU MAY HAVE READ IN THE LAST REPORT, BUT AS I’VE NOT BEEN OUT ON THE WATER THAT MUCH, I HAD IN MIND TO TRY A NEW LOCATION. ITS AMAZING HOW MUCH WATERWAY WE HAVE AROUND OUR METROPOLTIAN AREA. I"D DONE A BIT OF RESEARCH AND I WASN’T GOING TO LET THIS SPOT "X" SLIP AWAY.

WELL, BEING A HOT DAY (TEMPERATURE 34 DEGREES) & VERY LITTLE BREEZE I WAS DETERMINED TO GIVE IT A GO . SO HERE I AM ON THE WATER PADDLING AWAY. THIS PLACE LOOKED SO BEAUTIFUL, SUPER CLEAR WATER, ROCK WALLS, THE REEDS IN THE WATER & THE SUNKEN TIMBER UNDER THE WATER LINE . IT JUST HAD 'BASS' WRITTEN ALL OVER IT ( WELL I HOPE SO ).

SO HERE I WAS , CASTING INTO THE SHADOWS, AS THE SUN WAS HIGH IN THE SKY PUNCHING OUT THE HEAT. I HAD BEEN CASTING SURFACE LURES FROM LURE LOGIC (GEES THEY HAVE A MAGNIFICENT ACTION) & WORKING THE LURE VERY SLOWLY, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THERE WAS VERY LITTLE INTEREST.

'MMMMMM,' I THOUGHT. 'OK, NO BASS, PRETTY STRANGE, NOT EVEN A LITTLE ONE CAME TO INVESTIGATE.' AS I PADDLED ON FURTHER ADMIRING THE NATURE & THE BEAUTIFUL CLEAR WATER & BELL BIRDS IN THE BACK GROUND, I WAS THINKING OF THE NEXT TYPE OF LURE I SHOULD USE AS I'VE NEVER SEEN THE WATER SO CRYSTAL CLEAR OR ARE THERE EVEN BASS HERE FOR STARTERS? LOL.

WITH THE WATER BEING VERY DEEP IN SOME PARTS (7 MTRS & MORE) I THOUGHT OF TRYING A JACKALL AS THESE LURES VIBRATE LIKE MAD & GET DOWN DEEP WITH VERY LITTLE EFFORT, AS I WAS IN NEED TO CATCH MY 1ST BASS FOR THE DAY .
AS I CAST THE LURE INTO THE DEPTHS, I WATCHED THE LINE FOR ANY HITS. A SUDDEN WHACK LIKE A FREIGHT TRAIN SAW THE LINE COMING OFF THE SPOOL VERY QUICKLY.

OH NO!!! FLICK THE BAIL UP OVER ,SO YOU CAN SET THE HOOKS TEZ! LOL WHEN I DID, WOW. THE FISH PULLED HARD & FELT VERY SOLID. THERE WAS NO WAY UP TO THE SURFACE IN A HURRY. WELL, IT FINALLY SURFACED AFTER A HECTIC BATTLE & LANDED IT. THIS FISH WAS IN PRISTINE CONDITION & THICK IN THE BODY AND WENT A VERY RESPECTABLE 360MM.

MY ADRENALIN WAS VERY HIGH, AS THIS SPOT LOOKED UNREAL. I KEPT PLUGGING AWAY, AS THIS SPOT HAD PLENTY TO OFFER, IT WAS MIND BOGGLING OVER WHICH SNAG OR CREVICE MAY HOLD BASS. LOL

AGAIN PERSISTANCE PAYS OFF. AS I WORKED THE LURE WITH A SUDDEN WHACK & I'M FIGHTING AN AGGRESSIVE FISH. IT WASN’T A DESCENT FISH, BUT HEY, WHO CARES? A BASS IS A BASS! LOL, IT WAS 220MM

WHILE BEING ON THE WATER FOR A FEW HOURS & GETTING INTO SOME BEAUTIFUL BASS OF ALL SIZES, I WAS KEEN TO GO ON FURTHER & CHECK THIS PLACE OUT. TALK ABOUT NATURAL ENVIROMENT & THE NATURE, IT WAS ENDLESS, EVEN THE PADDLING WAS ENDLESS .

AS I WAS A LONG WAY FROM THE CAR & TIME WAS RUNNING AWAY FROM ME I COULDN’T RESIST TO HAVE ANOTHER CAST WITH THE JACKALL INTO SOME AWESOME SNAGS. THE AMOUNT OF BASS THAT I SAW LURKING AROUND THE AREA , IT WAS UNREAL TO WATCH, AS THEY WERE FIGHTING OVER THE LURE AS IT WAS SINKING INTO THE DEPTHS. TAKE IT TAKE IT I THOUGHT. WOW!!!!! WHAT AN AMAZING SIGHT TO SEE THE BASS TAKE THE LURE & SWIM OFF WITH IT. IT WAS JUST CRAZY!

ALL THAT IN A BLINK OF AN EYE , THERE WAS NO TIME FOR PLAYING GAMES , THIS FISH WANTED FREEDOM ,BUT WITH A LOCKED UP DRAG & QUICK ROD WORK I WON THE BATTLE .

ANOTHER WELL CONDITIONED FISH WAS LANDED & IT LOOKED LIKE A BEAUTY. IT WENT 370MM WOW !!! I WAS STOKED. I RELEASED THE FISH BACK IN THE WATER TO LET IT FIGHT ANOTHER DAY. THIS TRIP WAS WELL WORTH IT, EXPLORING NEW WATERS. DEFINATELY, I’LL GET BACK TO THIS MAGNIFICENT PLACE.

Once again, thanks for the report Tezza. That some really spectacular country to go Bassin' in. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Squidgie Southern Bream 2011 - Georges River - 30/1/11

2011-02-08T11:26:00.010+11:00

Last years series was a hugely successful one and this year promised to be bigger and better. Conditions were going to be ideal (maybe a little too hot though) and a big field was expected. But I think even the organisers were a bit surprised with the turnout. 84 boats and 26 kayaks graced the starting beach and what a spectacle it was. It's great to see the kayak numbers up on last year and I'm sure these events will just get bigger and bigger.

At 7am the boats were off and by 7:07am, we, the real fisherman : ) were allowed to go. I'd been in mixed minds as to where to target this year. Towra Point was one of the options but I figured there'd be a mass of boats hitting it and I'd take at least 40 minutes to get out there anyway, so I put that idea to bed. Next thought was the racks in Woolooware Bay but as most of the yaks headed that way, I decided to go with the first part of my plan of last year and hit some boats and jetties early but would then continue on upstream, hopefully finding some relatively untouched waters.

I dropped a good fish only 5 minutes into the comp but at least that was pretty promising. I continued working along, flicking under jetties and pontoons with a variety of SP's, waiting for that telltale grab of the plastic but it turned out to be a long waiting game. In fact, it was as if someone had netted all the fish in the area because I couldn't even get a bite! Well, one small chopper tailor doesn't count, so I continued with my plan and headed upstream.

By 10am the water traffic was in full swing with jetskis and water skiers and all other types of boats zooming all over the place. Not great conditions for breaming and they would only make the fishing that much harder. Some flats I'd intended to hit had TWO wakeboarders zigzagging across it so that was skipped as I made my way up to Kangaroo Point.

I glanced at my watch and it was 10:42am and I hadn't even seen a bream. At times like this you start to ask questions: Should I have gone to Towra or the Racks? Maybe deep water is the go? Where are the fuggen fish??? Etc, etc.

For the umpteenth time I skipped the Squidgie bloodworm wriggler into the shadey area at the back of a pontoon. I watched the line as it sank and what the? A tic! I slowly lifted the rod and felt some weight so I struck and yes, I'm on! In she comes and yes it's a bream but it's only 25cms to the tip (it needs to be 26cms) but at least it a start.

I move onto the next pontoon and repeat the cast. Again I feel weight and this time it feels a bit better and woohoo, this one is just over 26cms, so I'm on the board. And then it was as if someone flicked a switch and suddenly, they came on the chew. Over a four hundred meter section , I hooked or landed a fish off every second jetty and pontoon. Some small or just under and a couple of legals and twice I was roasted by good fish that pinged me off on jetty pylons but them's the breaks.

By 11:30 am, I had three in the well but one was just over 26 cms, so I really wanted to upgrade him. I eventually made it around to my ol' fishing mainstay of Oyster Bay and on the third pontoon I pulled a 28 cm specimen so I knew I had three that would pass muster but unfortunately, there were no kicker fish in the bag.

The tide was dropping so I followed suit and dropped back into a deeper channel and started working it with a blade. This proved successful and I landed another four that were all 26 or 27 to the tip, so all legal but unfortunately, no upgrades. Try as I might, I just couldn't hook that kicker fish.

By 12:15 pm the bites had stopped and I didn't raise another scale. Bugger all bycatch today too, only one legal flattie and two undersize ones and one pike. I've included a map of the path I took (just under 14 kms) and the red dots are where I landed my keepers. So were all the fish just in that area? I don't think so. I reckon they just decided to start eating at that particular time and then for some reason, they shut up shop again.

As I made my way back, I figured I'd only have 1.3kgs maximum, which I was sure wouldn't be enough. Maybe a top ten if I'm lucky but that's about it. Punching home into the now very-fresh wind was not fun and I only made it back with about 30 seconds to spare. Too close for comfort really as there is a 50 gram penalty for every minute that you're late getting back to the weigh-in.

Talking to the others, it seems it'd been a tough day for everyone. An interesting fact was that most didn't get their fish until after 10:00-10:30am which correspondes closely to when my fish were caught, too. The family were there to watch the weigh in and surpirsingly, I managed 6th place with 1.265 kgs.

And who won it? Andrew Death, of course! He's hot to trot at the moment and has won his last three comps in Sydney and he well and truly smashed us in this one, too. Andrew bit the bullet and ventured out to Towra with all the boats and brought home a 2.21kg bag, eclipsing his nearest rival by 320 grams. His bag also included a bream that nearly went a kilo, so it was an impressive show of talent on a tough day.

Second place went to Robert Chambers (1.89 kgs) and third went to that podium regular, Stewart Dunn (1.585 kgs) who just nudged Dave Hedge into fourth with 1.535 kgs. Or as Stewart says, 'Smashed him!' Well done guys.

Of course, the tournament was another huge success with drinks and a sausage sizzle rounding out the day and 'Basin Lure and Fly' can take another bow for running a truly professional tournament that is accessible to all. For further details on the series, please visit their website at: http://www.ssbs.basinlureandfly.org.au/

Plus Terry has been out Bassin' again, so I'll get another report and photos off him and put that up soon. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Bassin' the Nepean - Dec 2010 or Jan 2011..not sure of exact date

2011-01-21T12:15:00.008+11:00

As stated last week, Terry has been getting into a few bass and he sent through this report that covers a trip he had a few weeks ago...

With all the rain we had in the last few weeks, I was begging hard for it to blow out to sea.
As each day this week I was watching the weather very closely & hoping to get a line wet.
Sure enough today was the day, I couldn’t resist, the humidity, the stillness & those cicada’s (don’t ya love em) buzzing in my backyard, gave me an indication to have a crack at dirty bassin.
Although the barometric pressure wasn’t favourable (not that I look at it) I set off to my local river .

It was a late start at midday, water was coffee, overcast, not a ripple in the water (mirror finish)& insects everywhere (looking good just how we like it). As I paddled along & looking at the sounder WOW the water temp was 26degrees.

Well out came the surface lure , just love my surface action so visuial. I pulled up to a great looking snag, timber everywhere, sure there's gotta be a bass here .

As the lure landed tight against the snag & the ripple disappeared BLOOP BLOOP 10 secs later BLOOP BLOOP nuthin , not even a tap, mmmmm.

I fished with surface lures for half n hr for no result even in places you think to yourself, how did i get that lure in there with all that overgrown branches where bass love to hide.

I looked in my tackle box deciding on what lure to tie on next , the stumper jumper was it , have had some great success over the years with this lure & it wasn’t before the line wet tight , drag peel’n off , WHHHOOOO , this felt like a descent fish , as he was racing back for cover, still no colur, as it was trying to snag me up.

After a great tussle & the fish landed & measured 380, my blood was pumping, a quick photo & the fish was swimming away.

By this time it was 1pm & I didn’t have much fishing time left.
As I flicked into the shadows & retrieved into the depths , was on again how good is this ( thats how fishing should be ) another well condition fish was landed it measured 350. The next half hr was just awesome fishing , it surprised me with all the rain & run off we’ve had, it was worth giving it ago in dirty water . I ended up with 9 bass ranging from 270 – 380 mm. Its only going to get better from here. Happy bassin'.

Great report, Terry. Thanks for sharing with us.

And this weekend (sunday, 23rd January) sees the next round (no. 5) of the Daiwa ABT/Hobie Kayak Bream tournament kick off in Victoria at the legendary location of the Bemm River! Last year the bags were massive (24 anglers from a field of 38 had a weigh-in bag of over 2kg's for three fish!!!) and there is sure to be a strong turnout for this one.

More info is available here: http://bream.com.au/abt/2010/Bemm10.pdf and if you can only do one tourny, this would have to be high on the list. Hopefully the yakkin' fraternity haven't been hit too hard by the floods and they can still make it to this premium event. Good luck to all attending, I know I wish I could've made it... Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Popping for Botany Bay Kings - 7 & 9/1/11

2011-01-12T15:37:00.006+11:00

It's been a while since I'd been to the HWO off Kurnell and honestly, I haven't caught a fish from there the last 5 or so times I'd been. I think the dredging for the pipes across the bay really stuffed it up as it was almost a sure-fire spot for getting a few tailor and maybe a king or two right on sun-up. But I hadn't even had a hit there lately but I'm not ready to give up on it yet, so out I go again in the dawn gloom, hoping to have my arms stretched.

There was one boat casting large poppers at it when I arrived and I decided to flick out the 6" Mojo stickbaits for something different. I gave it a good going over for 15 minutes and once again, not even a touch. The same result went for the boat who eventually packed it in and shot off to the other side of the bay. I gave it another couple of casts and decided to head out to the Sticks to see if I could get a bream or two. I'm sure that the HWO still fires at times but it's definitely quieter than it used to be.

On the way out to the Sticks, I saw a few boils ahead of me, 'Maybe Bonito?' I thought and flicked out a small metal slice and cranked it back at high-speed. After a few casts without a touch I switched to the Mojo. Nuthin'! They were still boiling up, nothing wild though and I reached for a new Ecogear popper I have, an orange and black TP88F. First cast and it's snaffled off the surface. And then the drag starts screaming! Oh yeah, this isn't a bonito.

Strong determined runs and then down deep it goes, slugging it out. Now this is more like it. I soon get colour and it's my first Kingie for a long time. Into the net and onboard but it's just short of legal at 62cms so it's back into the drink for this guy. The boils had stopped by now so I continued to the Sticks and started with a blade.

I'd been blading for about 10 minutes and had landed one small pinkie and a 33cm bream when 20 meters away there's a bit of a bust up on the surface. A quick switcheroo of rods and out goes the TP88F again. It's hit 3 times before the hooks stick and I'm dragged away by what feels like a good fish. By now a few boats have seen me hooked up and are slowly creeping closer.

I get colour again and it looks like a twin of the first King and at 63cms, it almost is. Aaaarrrgh, so close to legal, but back this one goes, too. I scan the water, searching for more bust ups but the boils have disappeared for now so I go back to the blades.

But it's not long before they're back on the surface and to test them out, I switch to the Mojo again. Still nothing. So I downsize to smaller squidgy flickbaits but again they are ignored. I even cast the blade out and landed it right in the middle of the school but to no avail. So back to the popper and it's instant action again. I pulled the hooks on two fish before I finally get a solid hook up and this guys goes deep straight away and gives me a good tow.

When I eventually drag him aboard I'm only 20 meters from one of the boats and the guy yells out 'What are you getting those bloody Kings on?' I return with 'Are you using Soft Plastics?' 'Yes', he says. 'Well I'm not getting them on those,' I say with a smile. I flicked my lure towards them and said 'Try a popper like this.' I hope he managed to get into a few.

As fortune would have it, this one is a smidge over 65 cms, so hallelujah, there's dinner. My time on the water was now up so I left them biting. Man, I hate having to do that.

Of course, after a good session like that, I was keen to have another go so on the sunday I headed out into the overcast slightly drizzly morning which at least kept the boat traffic down. The fish were a bit shyer today and again I could only get them to take poppers. The TP88F (see right) worked again, as did an NW Pencil and also a River 2 Sea popper which promptly had the light gauge hooks completely straightened. Silly me forgot to back the drag off. D'oh!

So I ended up hooking 5 and landing 2 but the biggest was only 60 cms, so none of them came home with me this time. But gees they're bloody good fun! Let's hope there are a few more sessions with bigger specimens involved over the next few months.

On a different note, Tezza has been getting into a few bass lately and will send me a few photos with a report to go with them, so I'll get those up within the next day or two. Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Cooks River - 28/12/10

2011-01-11T15:55:00.005+11:00

So from all reports the Bonito were going off their proverbials in Botany Bay, especially around the Port Botany area. A plan was quickly hatched late one night to go out and get a few as they are one of my favourite fish to eat (filleted, rolled in sesame seeds and dried chillies, seared in a pan for 30 seconds and served with soy and wasabi and pickled ginger...perfecto).

And thus Tezza and I stood at the ramp on Foreshore Rd at 5am, looking into a 20 knot southerly. A guy in a half cabin cruiser was also there at the ramp, looking at the chopped up water. 'Fugg that', we thought, and decided to skip the Bonnie chasing and head to calmer waters.

Next closest place was the Cooks, so we set off to get a few bream although the rods we had were a tad heavier than we'd normally use. At least the ramp was nice and quiet. Bouncing a TT switchblade along the side of the freeway wall saw me come up with one bream of 27cms fork length within five casts and I left the next stretch to Tezza and moved onto the boats out in the deeper water.

Hop, hop...hop, hop and boofo! Ooh, this doesn't feel like a bream. I could feel a decent weight on the end of the line and off down current we go. He took me on a bit of a run and we danced around the anchor ropes with there being one moment when I thought it would all end in tears. He was going the left hand side of an anchor rope when he suddenly veered off and went the right side. I quickly tried to turn but there was no way I was going to make it to follow him and suddenly I felt the line rubbing against the rope. There was nothing else I could do, so I flicked over the bail arm and free spooled him praying that he'd stay attached. As I rounded the anchor rope, I frantically wound in and yes, he's still there.

The runs weren't as strong now and I knew that with patience and a backed off drag, he'd be mine. Up he came and into the net (it just fitted) and our plan B turned out to be A-ok! Ha, who needs Bonnies when you can catch these brilliant fish? He was hooked right in the side of the jaw and the fluoro didn't even have a mark on it. Luckily it must've been the braid that rubbed against the rope. Sometimes ya gotta get lucky, I suppose. 78cms total length and only 4cms short of my best one from the yak.

Tezza was keen to get his own now and from the distance I hear 'I'm on!'. I can see his rod doubled over but he's right near an anchor rope too and when I catch up to him it's all over. On the hook up, this brute shot straight between the front of the boat and the anchor rope which didn't give Tezza any chance at all. Next time, buddy, next time.

To round out the day we picked up some great whiting and a few more bream, but nothing was going to top that jewfish. Well, maybe a bigger one I guess would've done it...

And sorry, but I don't have time to get the Kings on Poppers from Botany Bay report up today but it WILL be up tomorrow. Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,

Cid

Another Dubois starts her fishing adventure - 24th Dec 2010

2011-01-10T16:31:00.007+11:00

Firstly, let me start with hoping you all had a very merry Christmas and a happy and safe New year. Fingers crossed you got out a few times and landed some fish and hopefully santa brought you what yopu really wanted.

A couple of years ago I took my son out on my old Hobie Sport and we had a ball landing bream in Oyster Bay. My daughter, Danielle, asked me 'When can I go fishing?' and I thought if you're old enough to ask, you're old enough to go. So we loaded up and set off for the same spot as I took Lachlan that first time.

The tide wasn't quite right (it was a bit too low) but she was really keen, so on with the type 1 PFD (much to Lachlans protestations: Hey, that's mine!) and up the front of the Outback she went and we started trolling an SX40 and a River2Sea baby vibe. She loved being out on the water and giggled with glee as we bounced over the wakes from the other boats zipping about.
We'd been trolling for about ten minutes when the River2Sea is smacked! 'Here, Danielle, hold the rod, no not like that, like this, that's it now wind like we practised, no, the other hand, wait lift the rod up, no, like that, yes, that's it, yes, that's...damn.' Between all the instructions and the excitement, the flattie chewed through the leader. Must've been a good 'un. So on with another SX40 (no more R2S's) and off we go again.

It's not long until another rod buckles and this time I sit her in my lap and hold the rod while she winds. This guy put up a feisty fight and Danielle squealed with excitement as we netted him. 40 cms he goes and he'll be perfect for dinner. We came in after this as the tide was almost bottoming out but she loved the whole experience and now it'll be trickier going out and deciding who stays at home.

To make it up to Lachlan, we snuck out a couple of days later and landed four between 38cms and 44cms and lost two that felt bigger. Naturally, when we got home, Danielle was there with hands on hips giving us the dirty look for not taking her. Hopefully, I'll have two fantastic fishing buddies for the rest of my life and I couldn't be luckier. I just hope they'll grace me with their company when they hit the teenage years.

A few days later I hit the Cooks River with Terry and landed a very nice surprise. I'll get that report up tomorrow as well as adding the session I had chasing kings in Botany Bay on poppers. Now that was exciting stuff. So until tomorrow then. happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Daiwa ABT/Hobie Kayak Tournament - H&C Bay, 21st Nov 2010

2010-11-29T12:56:00.011+11:00

Finally the season was here for us Sydneysiders and shock, horror, the weather gods had forgotten about us and it dawned a simply beautiful morning with just a faint breath of wind. Forty yakkers lined up for the 7am kick-off and on go we spread out to our favoured haunts.

I turn right from the beach and proceeded to the jetty in Hen and Chicked Bay but the SP's I flicked into the shadows didn't even get a bump. No problem, I'll slowly make my way over to the mangroves (ah crap, I can already see half a dozen yaks over there) and pick up a few on blades on approach. Or so I thought but it was another zero.

Over on the other side, the others were all working the shallow water and I followed suit with a couple of shallow divers. I kept my eyes peeled and after ten minutes of MORE fruitless casting, I'd realised that none of the others were having any luck either. Time for a change of tactics, me thinks.

On with a Squidgy Lobby (Dusk) and I start heading out into deeper water, slowly increasing the depth, hoping I'll eventually find the depth that the fish will be in. At 1.5m depth, I hook-up. Ooh, it's a bream. I think he'll go legal, too. This year, the tournament legal length has been changed from last years 25cm fork length to 26cm total length (or one cm more than the fisheries legal length, so it'll change from state to state). This guy goes on the ruler and NOOOOOOOOOOO! He's 25.8 cms, so he back into the drink. Just once I'd like to get a good start in one of these ABT/Hobie events and today looked like it may be a typical crappy start for me.

I re-rigged and thought I'd stay in the 1.5m zone. A few minutes later the line jumps and I set the hook again. This feels better and yes, it's 27 cms so I'm on the board! Woo hoo! With the donut monkey off my back, I change to a Gulp Camo sandworm and blow me down, I hook another one. Another good tussle and this one stretches out to 29 cms total length. Two in the yak and I'm aware that I haven't seen anyone in the shallows land one yet. I'm hoping they haven't seen me and I quietly slip this fish in the well with his mate.

Back to the Lobby and it's not long before the rod bends and I'm thinking 'Please, please please be a bream.' I'm peering into the water and there's a silver flash. Ooh, it's not a flatty! Good, good. Then another flash and it's not thin. So it's not a whiting either. Gooder, gooder. Only one more thing it may be... then up she comes and yes, it's not a trevally! Into the net and I grab the camera and take a photo. Not of the fish, but of my watch. It's only 8:17am and I already have my bag. Un-bloody-believable! This one is 28 cms, so no monsters but three in the well by this time is great.

Nonchalantly whistling to myself while furtively looking around, I sneak this one into the well, too. Back to casting and looking for upgrades because those two smallest fish, although legal, are pretty thin. Try as I might though, the bite has finished and I move off to new pastures. I pass Paff on the way and he has two good fish in the well (a 29 and a 33 from what I recall) and while saying "Well done, fellow Hobie Team Member" with a big grin on my face I'm really cursing him until the cows come home. ; )

Into Exile Bay and I bump into Squidder (Squidgy GF winner). He only has a 26'er in the well. That's a big surprise for me and I leave him to his side of the bay and move to the other. I switch to blades and land a small flathead. There's little activity and I decide to give the shallows one more try even though the sun is high in the sky now and I figure the edges wouldv'e already been worked over by others before me.

I approach a section where there is a big Rubber Tree casting a shadow over the water and I shoot a Gulp 2"Shrimp (banana) towards it's edge. The line immediatly goes tight and the drag buzzes under the pull of a good fish. This thing wasn't stopping so just short of the shoreline I have to clamp down on the spool. I turn the fish and ease him out into the open but he's not finished yet. He runs again, but this time into the open so I let him have his head and follow him.

I back off the drag now as I don't want to risk loosing him in these final stages and I can see he's a good size. He keeps darting away from the net but the drag is faultless and eventually he's in the net and all mine. YES! That's what I needed. He's 35 to the tip and one more like this will see me up there amongst the leaders. I get him in the well and set the 27cm fish free. I just need one more to upgrade the 28cm one and I'll be happy. Well, I was happy now, but you know what I mean.

The wind was starting to pick up now and I move into France Bay and catch up with Scotty Lovig (the 2009 champ). He has two in the well and he hooks up but it's a massive whiting (phew, I say). Then my blade gets munched and the drag sings again but it's the twin brother of Scotty's whiting. Bugga! He had me going for a minute there.

I leave and land a few more whiting and flatties but that was it for me on the breaming stakes so I head back for the weigh in. I pass Steve Fields and Greg Lewis (AOY for the last two years) and they both only have one. Hmmm, could it be that everyone has done it tough? I still haven't seen Stewart or Andrew yet and those bloody Mexicans (Scott, Matty, etc) are too good to write off. Then there is the central coast gang (Dave, Ronnie, Jason, etc) so although I feel I'm in with a chance, there's too many good breamers that I haven't seen to start counting my chickens yet. Plus there's the Woods brothers and Gary Cook and WayneR so I'll just keep my fingers crossed for now.

At the beach there's plenty of tales of woe but also a few success stories that have me wondering about whether I'll make that podium and snare one of the GF qualification spots. Paff bagged out, as did Scotty and also Andrew. Stewart turned up right at cut-off time and shock, he only had one. I was guesstimating my bag to be about 1.4 to 1.5 kgs. Daniel Holder shot to the lead with a 1.445 kg bag which was quickly followed by Paff with a 1.435 kg bag. Only 10 grams in it and one of Paffs fish had a huge chunk (healled) missing out of it from a bite or net that if intact, would have put him in the lead. My turn next and I'm fearing that skinny fish will cost me. onto the scales and....1.390 kg! Ah, 45 grams short but at least I'm in third.

And then it comes down to Andrews turn. As he lifts his fish out of the live well, I know that my goose is cooked. He smashes us with a 1.815 kg bag and pushes me out of the qualifiers into fourth. Ooh, so close but there's more chances yet so I'll just have to get some bigger ones next time. Andrew also won the Squidgy round that was held on Sydney Harbour so we'll all be watching him the next time there is a comp on here. Here's a photo of the 'Rooster of Hen and Chicken Bay' surrounded by photographers. So well done to Andrew, Daniel and Paff for making it to the GF that will be held in Port Macquarie in October next year.

So another successful tournament has been run and won and here is a photo (Courtesy of

ABT/Hobie) of the entire group that competed. So the next round is on the Tweed River this weekend. Full details can be found here: http://www.bream.com.au/abt/2010/Tweed10.pdf

and as per all of these events, you can rock up on the day and enter so if you suddnely wake up and decide to give it a go, do it. Good luck to all the competitors and I know the usual contingent of travelling fishos will be there and good on them for supporting this great series. Work keeps me stuck in Sydney but I'll be checking the web regularly and making the obligatory phone calls at about 3pm to see what the shaledown is. Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Bloody Bream! Squidgy Grand Final - Oct 2010

2010-11-19T16:26:00.007+11:00

Two days of breaming and all I caught were three of the buggas. This can be a heartbreaking sport sometimes. Day one was at St Georges Basin and the weather was fantastic. I had a great days fishing but a crap days tournament fishing.

In total I landed 3 Luderick, all caught on blades, 2 legal squire and eight flathead from 42 to 53 cms. Plus I lost a ripper of approximately 80cms right at the side of the yak. But I didn't land one single bream all day. I don't think I even hooked one!

Day two was held on The Shoalhaven river. Talk about chalk and cheese weather. The southerly was blowing at 20-25 knots and right on start time, it started to rain. What a miserable day. There were even boats coming back in by 9:30 am. But most of us crazy yakkers stuck it out in the cold rain and wind.

The breaming today was HEAPS better than yesterday as I hooked three of them. Two I landed but both were just undersize (one was 24.8 cm. They have to be 25 cm) and I dropped the only decent sized one that looked about 30 cms or so. So back on the beach I handed back my keytag and recorded a double donut. Shizer. Here's a collage of my fish from the weekend anyway.

The top three were deserved winners and the podium list was Squidder, Rebel1 & Blueyak. I hope next years grand final (if I make it) will be better for me.

The highlight of the weekend though was seeing the biggest bream ever caught in one of these catch and release style comps. It was landed by Adrian Van and pulled the scales down to 2.510 kgs. Man, this thing was MASSIVE! Apparently it was hooked on a blade in only 6 feet of water and it buried him in the weeds before he could manage to land it.

Photos never do them justice though but this guy was 46 cms fork length and at least 4 inches thick across the shoulders. If a kayaker had landed it, it wouldn't have fitted in any of our live wells. And it was fantastic to see it swim off at the end of the day, too.

But to more recent news, the ABT/Hobie series returns to Sydney this weekend and returns to where it all started three years ago, and that's good ol' Hen & Chicken Bay. Fingers crossed and touch wood, but the weather is looking pretty good so far and from recent reports, the bay has been fishing fairly well.

Come on yakkers, let's turn up in force and get a good crowd there. You can enter on the day so just be there by 6am and sign up. Here's a link to a PDF with all the info you need: http://bream.com.au/abt/2010/Sydney10.pdf There's always good prizes for the winners and a chance to qualify for the Grand Final at Port Macquarie next year. In fact there's three spots up for grabs. Well, only two of them really, because I plan to take one... : ) Happy yakkin', everybody!

cheers,
Cid

Georges River - 2/10/10

2010-10-08T14:41:00.006+11:00

Well, the soccer season is over and we ended up the Minor Premiers and also the Premiers! Go the mighty Hedgehogs!

But with the end of one season, another begins and this weekend sees the start of the Daiwa Hobie ABT Bream Series at two locations: Mandurah and Ballina. Once again it's going to be a fantastic year with new venues and an extended competition, with the Grand Final planned for Port Macquarie on 29th-30th October 2011. The first one I'll get to is the Sydney round (where it all started nearly two years ago) on the 21st November, so put that date in your calendar and join in on a fantastic day with some great prizes and a chance to qualify for the big one next year.
For the full calendar, visit the Hobie Fishing website and start planning: http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/bb/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=317

In preparation, I hit the Georges River on a few days for some practice and now that the water is warming up, the bream are becoming more active. I ventured over to the racks at Towra Point and extracted a few (and lost a few, too) on a beautiful morning that was simply magic to be on the water. Hardbodies were the go today, and the SP's never even got a touch.

The best I boated went 27cm fork but they certainly are feisty critters. I normally get a few big flathead around here this time of year too, but try as I may, I couldn't even land a tiddler from any of my spots. They'll turn up eventually though...

A few days later, I went to Oyster Bay and targeted the weedbeds and channels. First cast and I come up tight and it's a small whiting. Any fish on a first cast is good though, and I spent the morning drifting about picking up plenty of undersize fish but there was nothing of note over the flats. The tide was still dropping, so I moved to a channel and switched to blades. This saw me land two keepers within 15 minutes as well as another three that were just undersize.

On my way back to the ramp, I rigged up with a mango ripple minnow and pulled a 28 fork bream out from under a pontoon. Another gutsy effort from a medium fish and twice I thought he had me back to the posts and his freedom. next time I'll remember to tighten the drag.

So in two weeks, a flotilla of 25 of us will be competing in the Squidgy Southern Series Grand

Final that is held on the St Georges Basin and the Shoalhaven River. The competition will be high and another fun weekend is guaranteed, regardless of how many fish we get. To read more about this comp, visit the Basin Lure and Fly website: http://www.basinlureandfly.org.au/forum/viewforum.php?f=8

The team have done a fantastic job with the series (boaters and kayakers) and they concentrate on the southern half of NSW, so you southerners have a wealth of opportunities for your competition fix and the next series dates are up already.

It's been a while, but it looks like Tezza and I will hit the Cooks River tomorrow to get a couple of kilo size bream (fingers crossed). Here's hoping for a cracker day. Good luck to all the competitors over this weekend and may your bags be full. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Snapper and Bream

2010-08-10T15:39:00.006+10:00

Only two weeks to go and the soccer season will be over. No more saturdays or sundays where time is at a premium and finally, I'll be able to get back to some serious fishing. Hallelujah!

A couple of weeks ago, Stewart and I set out for some snapper. the sea was supposed to be 0.7m but it was more like 2.7m! Still, we perservered but Stewie was the only winner for the day with a 45cm Reddie. While I, with my vast knowledge and incredible skill, I managed to land two stinky Pike. Great, huh?

Eventually we came back in and while I headed home, Stewart slunk off to his secret possie and managed five of 'em in about an hour, the biggest going 53cm. Next time, buddy, next time...

Last weekend I tried Captain Cooks Bridge for a jewfish or two and managed another donut. I wasn't going home empty handed though, so I turned my way towards shore and a set of jetties and pontoons that I was sure would hold a bream or two. It was the top of the tide and a hoped a soft plastic lobbed into the shadows would change my fortunes for the better.

The first few jetties I didn't even get a touch and I was wondering if the bream weren't there or if they weren't interested in my 3" Bass Minnow. I decided to change to a Gulp 6" Sandworm in camo cut in half. And first cast I drop what felt like a good fish.

Onto the next jetty and this time the hooks stick and out comes a plump 28 fork Bream. Yee hah! I'm on the board. Finally I can give the Hobie Livewell another run. The water temp is still quite low - only 14 degrees - so the fish are a bit sluggish still.

Off the next jetty I drop a small flattie and then it goes quiet for the next 3 or 4. I make it to the last one and there is a set of steps that lead down to the water. "There has to be one under there," I think as I skip the sandworm into the gloom.

As the lure sinks I notice the line 'tic' ever so slightly. This is normally a sign that something has picked it up so I slowly lift my rod and feel some weight on the line.When I feel it move off, I strike and I'm into number two! This fish puts on a better show and I just manage to get him out from under the steps and out into the open. A beautiful silver bream it is, too and it's the exact same length as the first one. Maybe twins, who knows? They are both in excellent condition and have obviously fattened up over winter. Two like this in a comp would be a good start and all you'd need is a kicker fish to be in with a show. But as much as I try, I can't get that one big fish on the moored boats I suss out on my way back.

Towards the end of next month is when the big flatties start to show up, so hopefully by the middle of October I'll have cracked my PB of 86cms and fingers crossed, the 1 meter mark. Come on the warmer weather! Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

WSBB Bream Scramble - 27/6/10

2010-07-02T14:13:00.004+10:00

Another year, another Scramble. This time Gary and I weren't fishing it together as he's sold his boat and still hasn't received his new one yet. So I teamed up with Dave (Just Crusin) in Jason Meech's tinnie. Thanks for the loaner, Jason!

It was a freezin' start to the morning but at least the predicted wind was absent. We started off in Exile Bay and I picked up our first (bang on 25cm fork) after about 30 minutes. We snaffled a few that were just undersize so we moved upstream to Brays Bay near Ryde bridge and started working a likely looking shoreline. Dave was fishing the shallows, I was casting out into the deeper water.

Dave gets a whack and lands number two (27 fork). Then I get another that's 26. Beauty, that's three and we still have three hours to go. All the fish have been caught on blades so far, even though we are changing between various HB's and SP's.

Then Dave calls out 'Yeah, this feels good!' and I turn to see his rod loaded up and the line zipping through the water. But bugger! It's a nice whiting of 37cm instead. Then he gets a flathead and another whiting.

I'm perservering with the deeper water and finally I hook up. This fish puts in some strong runs but every now and then I feel this 'thump, thump' reverberating up the line, so I'm starting to think that it's a trevally. And it is, too! Double bugga. 50cm worth of treva is a good fish but not what we want.

We'd reached the end of the shoreline and figured it'd be worth another run, so back to the start we go and turn the boat as it drops down into 5 meters. I purchased a new outfit last week (a Shimano Stradic Ci4 matched with an Okuma spin travel rod) and I was keen to christen it on a good bream.

We're still using the blades and first drop into the deeper water I get a double-bump and strike. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz goes the drag and there is some good weight here. There are a few head shakes but no tell-tale trevally signs so it's either a bream-from-hell or a jewie. The drag on the Ci4 is beautifully smooth, which is just as well as I'm using 2lb crystal braid with 4lb leader.

The fish takes me around the boat a few times, then turns and rewinds itself. We're still hoping for a bream, but I'm almost certain now that it's not. And sure enough, she surfaces and it's a nice jewfish. Dave does a stirling job of scooping her up in the net and at 70cm total length, she's well and truly christened the new outfit.

So that was it from this area so we scoot around a bit and only manage those evil, pesky 24cm bream that always come out in force during a tournament. We have an hour to go so head back to Hen and Chicken Bay for some drifts over a 'Spot X' that Dave has been told about. First drift and Dave gets a 26'er. That's four, just one more for a full bag. We really need a kicker fish though and as the last minutes tick away, we both drop a couple of legals but nothing that would've pushed our bag out to a tourny winning weight. So it's time up and we head in with our four fish.

We manage 18th place with 1.51 kgs so it wasn't a bad effort, we just couldn't get those thumpers that we needed. In fact we didn't even hook any that we'd call good fish. Still, it was a great day, even if Dave and I felt a bit funny fishing out of a boat rather than a yak.

On the Botany Bay front, Terry has been hitting it all this week (jammy git has been on holidays, hasn't he!) and has been getting heaps of tailor on the troll. Most of them have been up near the 50cm mark too, so they're a good size. Every now and then he'll pick up a trevally as well, so he's been having a ball in his new Hobie PA. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

First Jewfish of Winter - Georges River

2010-06-07T12:07:00.003+10:00

It was about this time last year that we started getting a few jewfish in the Georges and now that the ABT/Hobie series is finished for a few months (there is still the Squidgy Southern Series though), I thought I'd try to tangle with a few of my other favourite fish. It had to be a mid-week assault though as my weekends are pretty much tied up with family sport, so I ventured out for an early morning half-hour to catch dinner.

With a 10 knot SW blowing, it was a bit cooler than Forster a few weeks back but the water wasn't as discoloured as I thought it would be. No boats out here and I hoped I'd hook up quickly and be back for a warm shower before work.

Thankfully I came up trumps and at 51 cms, it's an ok start to the season. This guy was caught on a Strike Pro Blade lure and gave a very decent account of himself, seeing as I hooked him on 4lb braid and 8 lb leader.

Feeling that tell-tale head-shake reverberate up the line is just magic and I'm hoping it'll be another few months of peering over the side waiting to see these silver-purple fish rise out of the depths to a waiting net (or gaff )! My biggest to date is 82 cms (and that's the one in the DVD) and I'd love to crack the meter mark this winter.

Maybe I'll have another crack this week as this one went down a treat. I prepared a home made curry paste of onion, garlic, eschallots, ginger, chilli, fresh tumeric, coriander, cumin, clove, salt, pepper and lime zest, coated the fillets and baked them wrapped in foil. Superb!

Yep, I've gotta get some more...

cheers,

Cid

ABT/Hobie Kayak Grand Final at Forster- 15th-16th May 2010

2010-05-25T16:40:00.019+10:00

Day 1

Here we were! Forty nine finalists and at 7am we are off in the Hobie supplied PA's. First off I feel like I'm sitting in a lounge chair, the seats are that good. Last year I went up the Breckenridge Channel but this year I'd decided to do something different and fish the Tuncurry side of the system. Yesterday in the pre-fish I'd managed a few ok fish (the biggest at 29 cm's) and had a couple of spots in my plan and figured it may be quieter (on the competitors front) over that side.

Slowly the field dispersed and I soon found myself at spot number one. On with a Gulp 2" shrimp to work the edge of a channel that branched off the main river. Yesterday I pulled a 26 cm fork from here but today all I could manage was a 23 cm forker. Not good enough. I moved off and started to fish some racks out of the wind. Nothing here either, so I'm off to some weedbeds where yesterday I landed the 29 cm guy.

Zippo here too, except for a mass of Long Toms (they were all over the place). One of the bigger ones I got (see the photo) was after me big time once I landed him. These are the only fish (not including sharks) I've landed that WILL TRY TO BITE YOU. Vicious prehistoric things they are, but amazing looking. And their acrobatics over the water is quite fun, especially on light gear, but not when you're in a tournament chasing bream. If fishing a surface lure, you'll normally know when a Long Tom is after it as you'll see their long beak-like mouths coming out of the water trying to eat it.

Eventually I get a legal bream but he's bang on 25 cms. It's 10 am and I'm struggling a bit, so I move off and find a set of racks I hadn't fished before. Here I find Dave (Just Crusin) who's feeling a bit crook and says he may head back if he doesn't improve. He has two in the well, so he gonna keep plugging away. He moves off and I start fishing the edges of the racks with an 80mm Squidgy Wriggler in bloodworm. First cast and whump, I'm on. I skull-drag him in and this one is 26 cms. That's two!

I continue on and five minutes later I get another that is 25 cms and 2mms! Whew! That's my bag but I really want to upgrade that smallest one. Sometimes they can shrink in the live wells (they must tense up or something) and I'll be nervous until he's outta there. There are another set of racks nearby and thank the lord, I pull one more out, and he's 26 cms too, so I can put the smallest one back in the drink. Time to head back and although I have a bag, it's nowhere near big enough to be near the top and with 1.210 kgs I'm sitting in 23rd place.

Day 2

The wind has dropped a bit this morning but is expected to pick up again soon, so we're in for another breezy day. I venture up to the Tuncurry side again and land three bream quickly, but the biggest is only 24 cms fork. Shizer! No more bites from this area, so I move up to the racks where I got my bream yesterday. Today there is nothing about and by the time it's 10 am, I'm starting to twitch nervously.

Another move to some racks that looked good yesterday and where Dave had done pretty well. He was fishing not far off so I left him to his set of racks and started a drift over my own. I'd swapped to a HB and was using an Atomic Crank (green) shallow diver. The idea was to put in long casts over the top of the racks that had 30-40cms water over them and slowly roll it back, hoping to entice the bream that should be feeding on the oysters.

The PA was perfect for this as I could easily stand and scope the area. First cast and I twitch the lure a few times to hopefully draw a lurking breams attention and then I slowly crank it back to me. From out of nowhere, a shape races in and grabs the lure. I'm just as quick to react though, and I'm on the board with a 28 cm fish. Yahoo!

That's the donut monkey off my back and what a relief! Back to the same technique and half a dozen casts later I have a massive swirl behind the lure that had me cursing it had missed. I fire the lure back to the same spot and quickly a bow wave appears behind it. The lure is tapped but there's no hook up. "Come on," I pray. I twitch the lure once, twice and the water erupts and the rod loads up.

Ooh, this is what I need. I wind quickly trying to keep the breams head up and he slices sideways towards the next rack. I angle my rod to get him out and dip the tip in the water to keep the line clear of the rails. Out he comes and he zips back to his original rack. I swing the rod back to the other side and finally get his head up. The wind has pushed the yak right over another set of racks and I quickly grab the net and scoop him up before he can dive again. Oh, what a buzz! He's 36 to the fork and that's a nice kicker fish. Trembling, I get the hooks out and put him in the well. One more like that will see me in with a chance of making the top 5, I reckon.

A few casts later and I get another hit but it fails to stay on. I've reached the end of the racks so I move back to the start and begin the drift again. The wind has picked up a bit and I'm drifting across the racks rather than along them, so basically I'm getting one, maybe two casts on each rack. The little Atomic is swimming enticingly just below the surface when it's smashed again and it's another cracker.

This fish dives immediately and I feel the braid rub against the racks. Into the water goes the rod again and I'm waiting for the line to break but amazingly I get the fish out. I wind furiously to keep it coming towards me and as it comes in I can see it's a similar size to my 36'er. The wind has swung me about and I'm fighting facing backwards and just as I almost clear the fish from the racks, it dives and ping, he's gone! Nooooooooooooooooooooo.......

Oh, so close. That hurt. He would've pushed my bag way over 2 kgs which is what I need to have any chance of getting near the top. And even worse, that was my last Atomic! There's no time to cry about it though, so I tie on a Lucky Craft NW Pencil and go for a 'Walk-the-Dog' presentation. I'm still getting a few follows and it's not too long before I get another 28 fork to join his mates.

The bite continues and I land a couple of 26'ers before it shuts down. Time to change to the SP's and the wriggler comes out again. Twice I get busted up by some bruisers and before I know it, I have to head back. Man, that was an amazing session in the racks. This close quarters combat really gets the adrenaline flowing and I was chuffed to get all my fish from here today.

Dave also managed some good fish and a few times I heard him and Steve Fields from Hobie
swearing and cursing lost fish. Thems the racks , for ya!

Back at the weigh-in I was hoping for a top 10 finish. If I'd landed that other biggun, I'd be hoping for a top 5, but I'd need for the guys above me to miss out on their bag limit, which is pretty rare for these top anglers.

My bag weighed in at 1.83 kgs, which was the fourth heaviest bag for the day and at one stage I was in 2nd! LOL. The top 5 were weighing in last and I knew that they all managed three fish each, so I didn't hold out any hope for being up with them.

It was quite a spectacle with all the anglers in their tournament shirts and a big crowd watching the bags being presented to Simon from ABT. My bet had been placed on Stewie taking it out, but he couldn't get any kickers and he eventually came in at a very respectable 5th place (3.58 kg), with Dave (3.57 kg) just being edged out into 6th by 10 grams.

Top honours went to a very deserving Daniel Brown with a 4.62 kg bag. Runner up went to Andrew Krushka with 4.22 kg, 3rd was taken by Jordan Trusty with 3.78 kg and 4th was the ever consistent, nearly always in the top 10, Greg Lewis (AOY as well) with 3.61 kg.

As these guys weighed in and kept bumping me down, I was still hoping for 10th place until Adrian Ryan knocked me off by 110 grams. So I have to settle for 11th with 3.04 kg but I'm pleased with having jumped 12 places up the board.

Well done to Adrian though and all up it was an amazing weekend. The prizes on offer were fantastic, and everyone received something from lure packs to shirts, hats, line and PFD's plus the top 6 guys all took home a Daiwa Steez Reel and matched rod with a combined value of $1300! Oh, was I jealous! Don't forget the cash payouts of course and Dan also took home the Hobie Pro Angler he fished out of.

Absolutely brilliant so a big thank you has to go out to all the sponsors. Hobie, as without them, this series wouldn't have even eventuated. And how great was it to rock up to Forster, from all corners of Australia and to have a top of the range PA ready to go for you.

Then ABT who run the show so professionaly, followed by the major supporters of the comp: Daiwa Fishing Australia , Pure Fishing – Berkley, JML – Ecogear, Frogleys Offshore – Atomic Lures & Hogs Breath Cafe.

So let's sign off the tournament year for ABT/Hobie with a shot of the top 10 anglers. Any of them could have taken it out and I'm sure they'll all feature prominently in next years series as well. Thanks to all the guys who shared tips with me throughout the year and a big thanks go out to all the dealers that make us all welcome when we visit their neck of the woods.

Next year will be bigger and better still and I can't wait. It won't be long until the calendar is released and I'll be locking down some of the events immediately. especially in Victoria where some massive bags were brought in. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

ps If you buy the latest copy of Sport Fishing Australia incorporating Yak Fisher, you'll be able to read an article of mine with tips on gear and techniques for these Kayak Bream Tournaments. Read it and jump in to next years events. They're a hoot!

Pre-Forster ABT/Hobie Grand Final update

2010-05-13T15:54:00.006+10:00

Last friday morning (7th May) at about 9am, I received a phone call from Simon at ABT. He told me they'd had a few interstate finalists drop out and that I was next on the list for the Grand Final next week. That's if I was interested in attending, of course? Holy Crap! You betcha I was. I was chuffed. Talk about scraping in by the skin of your teeth.

I'd competed in four of the events this year and didn't manage a podium finish in any of them, which cheesed me off big time, as I managed to do alright in the Squidgy Comps when I entered. Go figure! But luckily for me, I'm in with a chance. There is a field of 51 anglers, with the top kayak breamers from around the country jet setting into sunny (and windy apparently) Forster, the same arena as last years Grand Final.

This year we will all be competing out of Hobies angling flagship, the Pro Angler, which is now the choice of nearly all the top anglers for the tournaments. Steve, John, Greg and the crew have been frantically setting these amazing fishing platforms up for the last week and they are ready for allocation tomorrow morning for anglers wanting to pre-fish before the comp kicks off at 7am on Saturday morning.

I haven't been in one of these yet, but from all reports I'm in for a great weekend. The stability of these craft are second to none and standing while casting is a breeze. This has distinct advantages over sitting (longer casts, casting to sighted fish, better rod control, better visibility of the surrounding area).

Add the extra storage capabilities (you can even store six fully rigged rods within the hull), great maneuverability and quick speed and the scene is set for a cracker of a Grand Final. Plus by Hobie providing these for all anglers, interstate travellers don't have to worry about getting their own kayaks here and the field is completely level, with no craft having any advantage over another. For more photos (and thanks to Hobie for allowing me to use their photos in this post) on the setting up, follow this link to Hobie Fishing: http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/

So who are the top contenders? Stewart Dunn (Blueyak) is my favourite as he absolutely blitzed the field back in March for the State Titles that were held on this same system. But then you have consistent performers that can catch bream anywhere it seems: Greg Lewis, Jason Meecham, Jason Price, Dave Hedge, John Chen, Peter Woods and of course, the King himself, Scott Lovig that took it out last year.

Plus there's Matty Petrie, Neil Carstairs, Gary Cook, Adrian Ryan, Andrew Death, Rowan Stanek, Craig Coughlan and that local with the knowledge on all the hot spots, Roberta Pearce. All I know is it's gonna be a tough tournament to take out and the wind is really going to throw a spanner into the works.

Now it's time to load the car up and head up to Forster. Good luck to all competing this weekend, have a great time and may a few big blue noses make it into your live wells. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Towra Point - 10/4/10

2010-04-27T14:26:00.004+10:00

So who's been fishing lately? NOT ME!!! Not even last weekend when it was my birthday! The last time out was two weeks ago when I had an early morning session with Andrew hoping for a few nice bream from the shallows, weedbeds and mangroves. The tide was good, the weather was good and all we needed was for the fish to be there.

But they weren't! I started off by picking up a few small flathead while Andrew landed a legal whiting but set it free to grow a little more. The tide was running out so we figured the fishing would be good but for some reason they just weren't on the chew. Maybe we needed to wait for a bit more water movement before they came on.

I switched from the Sammy 65 to a shallow diving chubby. By now I'd moved out to slightly deeper water and was working the edge of the weedbed where it joined the sand flats. Slow rolls with pauses and a few twitches were the undoing of a nice trevally that raced around the flats with his turbo on. These speedsters are great fun and they taste pretty good, too.

But that was it for me. I landed two more small flathead (good to see so many littl'uns around) before having to head back in. Andrew rang me a few hours later and reported that 45 minutes after I'd left he managed a few bream, the biggest going 33cms fork. If only I'd hung around. Next time I guess. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

ABT/Hobie Forster Tournament - 13th-14th March 2010

2010-03-29T11:48:00.007+11:00

So this report has taken a couple of weeks but better late than never, I suppose. Forster was the location for this years State Titles and reports from guys that had pre-fished were pretty promising. One of the guys landed a 1.47 kg horse on the friday, so fingers crossed for action like that over the weekend.

The weather was pretty gnarly and pouring rain saw us all huddled under the tent during the briefing. Luckily, by launch time it had finished and by 6:20am we were on our way.

I had contemplated moving over towards the Tuncurry side but chose to fish the waters that I knew from last year and headed straight to a set of flats which had been fairly productive. On the way, I stopped for a quick flick at a few moored boats while the other guys continued on.

'No way,' I think. First cast and I'm on. This feels like a good fish and I'm stoked...UNTIL it turns into a 50cm flathead! Bugga. Onto the next boat and I'm on again. This time it's silver AND a bream but on the measure it only goes 24.5 cm fork. Shizer! Next boat and hello Mr Pike! Crapola... Off to the flats for me.

I'm using one of Mick Munns surface lures and land a few smaller guys until I finally get a good take. This is better and he goes 28 cms fork but he's a skinny fish. Still, it's one on the board. I get a few more under size ones until my surface lure is monstered by a big (70 cm+) flattie who decides she wants to keep it as a souvenir. Swine...

Now I head into the racks where I got most of my fish last year and I'm quickly rewarded with about half a dozen undersize fish but no legals (how is that rewarded???). I now target some weedbeds but don't even get a touch but I do get absolutely soaked by some torrential rain which cooled me down a bit.

I move about trying to find some fish and eventually find an old rack with abgout a foot of water under it. I skip in a Gulp 2" shrimp and it's pounced on. 24 cm fork. Come on! Another cast and I'm on again. This ones number two for the well with a 26cm forker. One more to go and I'll have a full bag. Next cast I'm on again but it's the first guy again with 24 cms fork. Three fish in three casts is pretty good though.

I have an hour left to fish and decided on some risky tactics to get some fish. I'm moving up along the old posts and railings and putting in long casts with my shrimps, landing them on the exposed sand. The problem is, the fish only have to move two feet either way to find line shredding barnacles and oysters, so I'll have to be on my toes to get them up and out of the danger zone.

The first stretch I fish I get absolutely smoked by a big fish that didn't pull drag but pulled the kayak a good 10 feet before busting me up. A few casts later it happens again. The third fish I hook I crank up and get him 6 feet from the yak before he dives and shreds me on the rail. I lose two more before having to head for home with a two fish bag. Not good enough I'm afraid and I only manage 800 grams which leaves me in 14th place. The good news though is Stewie smacked 'em good and proper and is in the lead. Tomorrow is another day though and I'll hit some flats further upstream in hopes of finding some big fish.

I'll keep day 2 short and sweet because the upshot is I didn't land a legal bream all day. I did hook a nice one off the surface first thing in the morning but I pulled the hooks which saw me cursing a missed chance. And that was it for me. Nothing over the flats, nothing in the racks, nothing over the weedbeds.

Back at the weigh in, Stewie was already at the bump tubs and he had a massive bag and an absolute corker that went 39 cms fork and weighed in at 1.19 kgs. Stewie ended up the well deserved winner and the State Champion with a two day bag of 4.09 kgs, beating his closest rival by over a kilo. Sensational stuff and about bloody time he took one out, too. : )

So unfortunately, that's it for me for the ABT for the year. I couldn't get down to Marlo last weekend (where the fishing was simply superb from all reports) and Camden Haven is out as it's my sons 6th birthday that weekend. It's a bummer missing out on the GF which will be back in Forster in May but I'm hoping all who made it have a great time and get onto some massive bluenoses. Stewart has to be one of the favourites now and I'm sure he'll put in another sterling effort. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Squidgy Southern series - Rnd 3 - Port Hacking - 7-3-10

2010-03-11T22:03:00.005+11:00

17 kayaks and 62 boats lined up for this round and we were all away fairly quickly just after 7 am. The boats would obviously get to any spots before us yakkers and the kayak field split, half going upstream and half back out towards Gymea bay. I shoot into Mansion Bay but only landed a few small guys until getting to a small rockwall where I got my first for the day. Bang on 25cm fork and I was hoping he wouldn't be in the live well too long. Down towards south west arm and there are a few boats and a couple of kayaks. I move down into Gymea bay and there are a couple of more boats working the pontoons I had in mind.

'Bugger this', I thought, 'I'm off to Yowie Bay.' I made a beeline and passed another 3 boats and two more yaks. My god, there everywhere! Thankfully, when I rounded the corner into Yowie, there wasn't anyone else in sight. I was flicking about a squidgy 100mm wriggler (bloodworm) and the first pontoon I hook up and land a 26 fork. Great, that's two. Onto the next pontoon and what? I'm on again. Woohoo! Another 26 fork and that's my limit. Now for upgrades.

I check my watch and it's 8:45 am. My wriggler is a bit beat up, so I change to a Gulp 2" shrimp (banana). I get a few more tentative touches until I skip the lure up into the shadows under a jetty. Slowly I see the line move sideways so I lift and set the hook. This definitely feels better and some quick rod work gets him away from the pontoon and pylons and ouit into the open. As calmly as I can, I take my time and ease the net under him. YES!!! That's what I want.

A quick measure and he's about 34 fork and a good kicker fish. The 25 fork goes back into the water and I'm feeling pretty confident now. I just want to get those two 26 fork lengths out and I'll be chuffed. It's now 9:05 am.

The wind is starting to pick up and I stick in close to the shore. Another skipped cast and I'm on again. Unbelievable! This one is 26.5 cms so another upgrade. Funny this fishing game. I remember back to Redcliffe in Qld where I could even raise a bream scale over two days fishing and here I am upgrading within 2.5 hours of the start. It just goes to show that luck can play a big part and being in the right place at the right time makes all the difference.

Uh oh! There is a boat coming towards me working the pontoons and another one about 50 meters behind him. One more pontoon will do me. The line shoots off again and blow me down, I get another one that's 26.5 cms. Not huge but they're in excellent condition so the weight will be good. I figure I've got about 1.6 kgs in the well which may be enough if this wind keeps up.

I decide to make my way down towards the flats near the Ballast Heap and on the way the wind really kicks in. All I pick up down there is a few Pike and after a fruitless hour or so, I head back towards Yowie and Gymea Bay. I battle the chop and the Jet Skis and the Wakeboarders and decide that any decent bream will have scarpered off from all this racket. I slowly make my way back to the weigh in and get back right at 2 pm.

There is the usual banter amongst us all and I quickly find out that Stewie is the only other yakker with a full bag. Three good fish but no kicker, so I'm in with a chance. He weighs in first and goes 1.51 kgs. I'm next and my big fish (775 grams) stretches the weight out to 1.66 kgs. You beauty. I just made it again and ended up with the winners cheque of $330 which will pay for next weekends journey up to Forster for the ABT/Hobie State Championships.

I traced out the path I took on Google earth and worked out that I travelled 17.8 kms for the day. No wonder I was knackered! The yellow dots are where I picked up my six legal fish.

Once again it was another fantastically run comp and well done to the organisers for making it such a fun day for everyone. Stewie has qualified for the Grand Final now which is great and I'll have to pick his brains about St Georges Basin where it'll be held. I don't think he'll be to helpful though. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Deadmans - Alive and Kicking

2010-03-08T14:38:00.002+11:00

I haven't spent a lot of time in the Yak recently, a couple of bass trips and some land based, but nothing in the salt in the kayak.

I'd been doing a lot of work around the house lately and finally this weekend there was almost nothing left to do. I spent some time with my son and then after lunch today my lovely wife said "Why don't you go for a fish". I offered the young bloke a go, but he refused and I was off to fish my local creek on my own.

I've fished Deadmans before, but had only ever landed 1 or 2 legal fish, today was to be different, armed with some advice on lure choice by my good mate Carl, I headed down the creek, drifting with the wind and tide and casting to likely snags and under the bankside vegetation. It wasn't long before I was on and a lovely specimen around 38cm rose to the side but I managed to bump it off when trying to untangle the net and land the fish at the same time. "Fordy, what are you doing" I cried.

I started casting again and soon had 2 nice 26cm bream in the Yak, I was cheering, "Ciddy is supposed to be the bream champ not me" I thought as my line went tight again, this time it was a nice flathead at 44cm. It went on like this for the next hour and 45 mins until I was blown off the water.

So the final tally was: 11 fish, 9 bream and 2 flathead. 1 bream on fly, 1 flathead on fly, 1 flathead on 100mm squidgy wriggler in blood worm, 5 bream on 100mm squidgy wriggler in blood worm and 3 bream on Squidgy pro lobby 75mmm Dusk colour.

And I've realised that I need a can holder somewhere on my Yak, have you ever tried landing a flathead with a full coke can squeezed between your legs. Not much fun, especially when it spills.

Cheers,

Fordy

Breamin' - Squidgy Rnd 3 pre-fish

2010-03-04T21:25:00.006+11:00

This coming sunday is the 3rd round of the Squidgy Southern Bream Series which will be held on Port Hacking, so I needed some practice. First off, Lachlan and I set off to the Georges River (yeah, I know, it's not the Hacking) and trolled a couple of HB's for one just legal fish and three undersize ones.

Before heading back in, we scooted over to some boats and flicked out a SP. Boy, was I glad we did! This fish grabbed it on the drop and bolted. Lots of drag singing before we could control him and when it came up, Lachlan says "It's a monster, Dad!" and he wasn't far off, either.

This bruiser went 43 cms total length and was easily over a kilo. The fish even makes Lachlan look small! Of course, this guy went back into the water after the photo and Lachlan now knows that the big ones deserve another run and he quickly sets them on their way.

Earlier this week, Gary and I did hit the Port Hacking in his tinnie and we had a brilliant day. The bream were out in force and I hope they are there for this weekend, too. We moved around a lot to get our fish though and they fell for a range of HB's and SP's, with neither one standing out from the crowd.

As a bonus, on one retrieve, Gary noticed some squid in pursuit. We quickly rigged up some squid jigs and proceeded to pull eight of these super tasty cephallopods into the boat. Oh man, I can't wait for the salt and pepper squid later on. The colours on these things are amazing. Check out the electric blue dashed lines on the guy in the photo above.

So all up, Gary and I landed a dozen comp legal (25cm fork) bream, with the biggest being 36cm fork. Our five bag weighed in at 3.6 kgs, which we'd be happy with in any competition. Plus we both dropped some big fish, and I'm confident if we hadn't chased the squid for an hour that we would've eclipsed the 4 kg mark.

I'm sure there'll be some cracker bags brought back this weekend and hopefully, one of them will be mine. I guess there'll be about fifty boats and maybe twenty kayaks or more, so if you can make it to the weigh-in at 2 pm at Swallow Rock Reserve, Greys Point, you'll see some excellent fish.

And lets hope a yakker gets the Big Bream award, too. : )

Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Towra Point - 13-2-10

2010-02-15T11:34:00.005+11:00

Three of us (Andrew, Stewart and I) hit the point, a spot we would've liked to have fished in the Squidgy Round the other week. But it was just a bit too far to travel with the predicted wind. We know there are some cracker fish around here over the weedbeds, so we planned to see how we'd go. Stewart brought the coffee (thanks, Stewie) and we arrived about 7am for kick off.

The water was fairly clear, even after all the rain and I started fishing in 1.5m with a shallow Jackal Chubby (pink). Stewart headed for some racks and Andrew went in close to the mangroves. Conditions were ideal and we were hoping for a good session.

I started off fairly well, landing a 28cm fork within 10 minutes. Ooh, almost as good a start as the Squidgy round. Then I landed a pike and soon after a 24cm fork bream that went back (I was only keeping comp legals in the live well).

The bite wasn't hot so I changed to a 2" shrimp (banana) rigged on a 1/32nd jighead and hopped that over the weeds. This was pounced on by a 40cm flattie and a couple of undersize bream and another two pike!

Back to the chubby I go and it's almost time for me to head in (I only had 90 minutes to fish) when I get a good whack that stays connected. This is much better and the drag sings in short sharp bursts. Into the net she goes and she's a beauty. 34cm fork length and one that'd you'd definitely want in your bag during a competition.

I land one more that 24 fork again and turn to head back in. I faintly hear a whistle though and turn to see Andrew heading towards me. Show off, he has one that goes 35cms fork so I grab a quick snapshot for him. He slips it in my livewell so I can get a photo on the mat on shore. He'd been using surface lures without much success, so he changed to a squidgy bug that he worked sub-surface and this is what did the trick. This was a top fish to pull out of the mangroves on 4lb leader, so well done, Andrew!

Later in the day I rang Stewart to see how he'd gone. I ended up with a great 3 fish bag - 2 x 34

cm fork and 1 x 35 cm fork. That'd would've weighed about 2.6 -2.7 kgs. And all caught in only 4 hours. Another 3 hours could've seen a few bigger fish landed, so the 3kg bag for 3 fish may have been cracked. So all up it was a great morning. The fish were all really healthy and I'd love to spend a few more hours around this location. Just remember that if you do head in this direction that there is a sanctuary zone up in Quibray Bay where all fishing is banned. So check the maps before you head out.

Over the weekend there was the ABT/Hobie round in Walpole, WA. Unfortunately, there were only eight participants and four of these were from interstate. (Well done to those guys for making the effort, too). I'm still hearing and reading things concerning events from yakkers along the lines of next year they'll enter, or that they forgot it was on this weekend. The facts may be that unless the tournaments get the numbers, there may not be a 'next year' to enter. There is a lot of effort and money invested by the organisers of these events and they can't justify running it for only a handful of competitors.

I know Walpole is not exactly close to Perth, but they still managed to get 34 boaters for that section, so I thought there'd be at least 15 yakkers that would enter. So for the sake of our sport, if you're keen to help it grow, put it in your diary and bite the bullet. They are great days and the camaraderie is brilliant. You'll learn heaps and maybe even take out the event and earn some cash. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Squidgy Southern Bream Series 2010 - Rnd 1 - Georges River

2010-02-02T23:30:00.009+11:00

Earlier in the week, Stewart and I had quick yak in Woolooware Bay sussing out the options for the weekends comp. We'd both missed out down at St Georges last week so we were keen to produce the goods on our home turf. I managed a cracker of a fish that went 38 fork and was soooooooooo hoping he'd turn up again on sunday.

This year the series is being run by the Basin Lure and Fly Club (www.basinlureandfly.org.au/) and 20 yaks turned up along with 64 boats that made the beach a very crowded spot at 6:30 am. The boats set off just before 7am and 5 minutes after them, we were off as well.

I'd already planned my day and figured most yaks would head into Woolooware Bay and hit the racks and mangrove edges. I decided to gamble and headed straight for Taren Point, hoping to get my bag quickly from the pontoons and moored boats that can fish well first thing in the morning.

I started off with a Gulp 2" shrimp (pepper) and flicked it into the shadows. 7 minutes were gone when I bagged my first fish. 30cm fork length and that's a good start. At the next jetty I pull a 24cm fork and at the next one I get a flattie.

Now I move onto the boats and land another 24cm fork bream. Shizer! 'Maybe the deeper water will be better,' I think, so I move out to where it is 4 meters deep. I also go for a change of SP and rig up a medium Squidgy Lobby (grenade) on a 1/16th jighead.

I've reached the boat where I got a big girl two weeks ago and optimistically I cast close to the hull and let the lure sink. I let it settle and give the rod tip a few quick shakes and let it sit again. I slowly start to lift the rod and feel some weight and set the hook. The rod bends but there is no big run, just weight, so I wonder what I've hooked. As I peer over the side, from under the boat glides what I'm after.

This beast is just cruising and doesn't even know it's hooked and as I look, I can't see the lure anywhere. Suddenly it notices me and it's off like a shot! I dip the rod in the water and keep it away from the hull and try to gently guide it away. I back the drag off, thinking that it may be hooked deep and I want to keep minimal pressure on it. An anxious minute or so passes by before I can let out a 'You beauty!' when I slide the net under him.

This guy is not overly long but boy he's fat and that's the kicker fish I want. 36 fork length and close to 900 grams I figure which combined with my first fish should put me up near 1.5 kgs. And it's only 7:50 am! It's about bloody time I had a good start.

But he had taken the lure down deep so rather than risk injuring him, I followed the DPI Fisheries advice on deep hooked fish and cut the line and left the hook there. Their studies have shown that survival rates are above 85% and prove just how tough bream are. For further reading, visit their site: www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recreational/saltwater/catch-and-release/research and read the 'bream: the survivor' paper. I figured if he lasted an hour, he should last all day. I had my fingers and toes crossed anyway.

I land ANOTHER 24 fork bream off the next boat and then it goes quiet. As I move about, I keep an eye on the time so I can stick to my plan. Just after 8am I'm just starting to head to Woolooware Bay to hit the racks when the rain sets in. And then comes the wind. No, not again!

As I cruise under Captain Cook Bridge, I notice that the water over the shallows on the eastern side of Taren Point are quite choppy. On rough, overcast days like this, the bream often venture in close so I find the edge of the weed bed with my sounder and start casting a shallow diving Jackall Chubby.

First cast I get a whiting about 35cms long which has me thinking I've got another corker. Gees they go hard! The next cast I get a legal flathead. Third times a charm, so they say and bingo! I'm on! This feels breamy and halleluyah, it is. Another 30cm forker and that's my 3 bag. They're 3 pretty good fish and if I manage an upgrade or two I'll be over the moon.

I drift that weed edge twice and land 3 legal bream but they are all only 25 fork length, so there are no upgrades. The wind is picking up and I head to the racks I decide to fish an area with lots of oyster-encrusted boulders scattered over the seabed. I'm now using a an SX40 and i get another two bream, both 24.5cm fork length.

Suddenly I think, 'What's that splashing?' My eyes quickley widen. I spin around and lift up the lid on my live well and see the three fish on their side in two inches of water. "Yeeeeaaaarrrggghhhhhh" Weed has blocked up my intake and stopped water from getting in. I quickly start scooping some water in and start to head for shore. Ahead of me I notice a yakker. It's Just Crusin (Dave) and as I explain my dilema he comes to my rescue and passes me over his large water scoop. Thank, Dave, you're a legend! I gotta get me one of those.

Back on the beach I unblock the inlet and it's as good as gold. The fish are still kicking strongly thankfully and there is now not too long to go until weigh-in. I don't manage anymore fish and pull up at the weigh-in site at 1:55pm.

There is a long wait for a weigh bag and the fish get constant top ups of water to keep them healthy. Finally it's my turn and I know that the leading weight so far for us yakkers is just over 1.5 kgs by daniel Holder. I'm confident of beating that and hope to crack the 2kg barrier. I have a quick chat to the guys as my fish go on the scale and I punch the air when they announce "2.175 kgs".

Still, my big worry is Stewie. I hadn't seen him all day and he's so good he can catch a fish in a rain puddle. If he'd fished the racks, he might have extracted a couple of real horses. But luckily for me, although Stewie did get three fish, he didn't manage to land any of the bruisers he hooked, so with 1.77 kgs, he took out 2nd place which gave me my first kayak tournament win. $400 for first place, which will obvioulsy be re-invested into the fishing industry! These bream can cost you a fortune...

Happily, my big guy powered off when I released him, so hopefully he'll be in that 85% that survive. The organisers did a fantastic job of the day and with that many anglers I see a hugely successfull series in the offing. I was a bit disappointed that there were only 20 yaks there, especially seeing as it was a Sydney event, too, and for only $50 entry you'll learn heaps and have a great time mixing with other like-minded anglers. Here is a pic of Stewie with his two best fish but I didn't notice the water spot on the lens, so sorry for the slightly smudged photo, Stewart.

The pressure is well and truly off me now, as I've automatically qualified for the Grand Final in

October. Now I can just fish the other rounds and have some fun. but I'll still be aiming for a podium spot and some of the cash. The next round is at Batemens Bay followed by Port hacking on the 7th March. come on yakkers, lets make it a great turn out and try to get at least 30 along for the day. Then we can show these power boaters what real fishing is about! : ) Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

For some more breaming tips, buy the Kayak Fishing Sydney DVD. : p

ABT/Hobie St Georges Basin Tournament - 23/1/10

2010-02-01T15:57:00.005+11:00

Remember that plea of mine a couple of weeks back to catch bream at St Georges like I'd been catching in the Georges River. Well it obviously fell on deaf ears as I didn't get any of them... well, not enough of them anyway.

23 yakkers set forth and spread far and wide. I started shallow hoping for some surface action but couldn't even attract a follow. I dropped back into slightly deeper water and flicked about a 2" Gulp shrimp (pepper). Whack! And I'm on. This fish goes 32 cm fork length and that's a good start after only 30 minutes.

I got a few more tentative hits but no hook ups. I drop back into deeper water (4.5 meters) and switch to a blade. Eventually I hook up again and swing in another bream. Ooh, it'll be close, better put this one on the lie detector. I fumble around inside my hull but cant find my ruler. Ah well, into the live well he goes.

I landed a couple of flatties and a whiting before deciding to move on. And so I ventured about, hooking and landing some thumper whiting and a dozen or so flathead but no m ore bream. Where are the buggas?

And then, right on midday, the southerly hit. And boy, did it hit! 30 knot winds whipped the basin up and things were pretty hairy out there. I wasn't far from the start and figured the churned up water may get the fish biting on the weed edges. Back to the blade (the only thing I could cast with any distance in the wind) and I quickly get a crunching hit. This is what I'm after. Breeam number three. But unfortunately, it's sunburnt and has blue freckles. Aaarrrgghhh. It's a squire. Back he goes and half a dozen casts later I get another hit. And you guessed it, another Squire.

By now the basin is really like a washing machine and I decide to pull the pin. Many of the yaks have already returned and I can see the others heading in, too. The landing site looks like a surf beach now (in fact the water is o rough that there are a couple of smaller tinnies that have pulled up to get out of the rough water) so I stow away all my gear and tether the rods, all except for one because I don't have a tether for it.

The wind is howling, the waters churning, there's weed everywhere and I'm being thrown about all over the shop. I'm not far from shore when I get swamped over the back of the yak and I feel

the wave picking me up. I throw my body sideways and stay in the saddle but now I'm side on and can see another wave bearing down on me. I kick the mirage drive but it's too late and I'm struck fullly on the side and over I go. I bail out and land on my feet in chest deep water. I quickly right the yak and notice immediately that the untethered rod is missing. I feel around with my feet but there is so much stuff churning about under the water (and I can't see the bottom either) that I can't feel it anywhere.

It's too rough to stay out here so I jump back on the yak and get into shore. I wan't the only one to get a dunking and even the guys in the PA's said they nearly went over, too. It's a great reminder that conditions can change at anytime and that a PFD should be worn no matter where or when you are out on your kayak.

Now I'm onshore, I get out my trusty ruler and put the smallest fish onto it. NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! 24 .8 cms. Can you believe it? 2mm short. Back he goes and I weigh in my 1 fish for 660 grams. There were some great bags weighed in, with Peter Woods taking it out with 2.3 kgs and the ever consistent Jason Meech getting 2nd with 2.18 kgs, closely followed by Jason Price for 3rd with 1.9 kgs.

I'd like to pass on a big thanks to David O'Toole from Outdoors and Beyond in Nowra and Huskisson who ran the BBQ and provided every angler with a food and drink pack. Such support is greatly appreciated by us competitors.

Well yesterday I competed in the Basin Lure and Flys 'Squidgy Southern Bream Series' held on the Georges River. But for that update, check back tomorrow. ; ) Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay & Georges River - Jan 2010

2010-01-14T15:26:00.004+11:00

After months of nagging, I finally convinced Gary Brown to ditch the dirty filthy stink boat and join me in a kayak session to find out what true angling is all about! We launched off Silver beach at Kurnell and were greeted with a calm but overcast day.

Gary was a little apprehensive at first and asked a few times if he'd get wet. 'Only if you fall in,' I said. Gary's only other experiences in a similar size craft were two trips in a canoe a few years ago. Both of these ended up with Gary in the drink, so he was hoping not to make it three out of three.

Once in and out on the water, I gave him the run down on the Mirage Drive and the rudder and we quickly moved off to the HWO. The wind was up a little bit but Gary quickly got the hang of it and after 10 minutes without a touch, we moved out to The Sticks. Here we started using smaller SP's: Berkley 3" Bass Minnows (pearl watermelon) and Gulp 2" Shrimps (pepper) rigged on 1/16th TT jigheads.

We quickly landed a few reddies before Gary lands his first legal (just!) fish from a yak - a fiesty Botany Bay Trevally. I had to catch up quickly and hooked up to something that felt very decent. A few good runs and strong surges had me calling it for a treavlly too, but when she came up she'd turned into a nice fat Bream. 37cms fork length and Garys trevally now looks like a tiddler.

We manage another two bream and another trevally before heading back in. Gary said that surprisingly, it was a quite enjoyable morning and nowhere near as bad as he thought it may be. So will he sell his power boat? I don't think so!

The next day I took Lachlan out but the wind picked up so we were only out for 30 minutes. This was enough time for him to land his first ever trevally which we picked up while trolling a couple of Ecogear SX40's. He played it out perfectly and was chuffed at getting a new type of fish. Back on the beach he reminded me about eight times how I didn't catch anything. Cheeky bugga!

After that, we had a few sessions on the Georges River chasing bream and flathead. The bream were about but once again, the flathead eluded us. Well, we did get a few small ones but the bigger specimens have been decidely quite for me this summer. Apart from the big girl I got a few weeks ago, of course.

The bream all fell to HB's, with Jackall Chubbys (shallow divers) and the SX40s being the weapons of choice. Lachlan hasn't quite got the hang of casting just yet but it wont be long before he's got it under control.

I snuck out one morning for a quick trip by myself and managed to find a few bream, this time all on SP's. The main fish of note was taken from a boat hull on a Gulp 2" Shrimp (banana) and really had the gear stretched to it's limit. Twice I had the rod tip right down in the water to keep the line from rubbing on the boat hull. She went 39 cms total length and was easily over a kilo. Back she went and I hope she comes back to me during the Squidgy Comp Georges River round in a couple of weeks time.

On the way back I changed to a blade, hoping for a flattie or two but the final fish of the day was another bream, this one going 35 cms total length. Please, please, please let me get fish like these in the comp!

On Saturday the 21st January it's the St Georges Basin round for the ABT/Hobie Kayak Bream tournament. Visit http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/ or http://www.bream.com.au/ for more details. From reports I've heard, there have been lots of fish about with some absolute horses amongst them. I can't wait. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Micks Bassday

2010-01-07T19:45:00.005+11:00

Mick and I decided to head out again on Tuesday, a bit of a celebratory trip for Mick's birthday.

Well the small ones started early as per usual, but it was much slower than out last trip, the bass basically wanted the fly to sit dead still for about 30 seconds before they would go near it.

I'd just finished building a small fly rod to use in the kayak, my 9 foot rod was just too hard to handle when trying to land the fish, so I got an old rod and some bits of old broken beach rods and started to create a nice rod around 6'6". I flounder with the size difference at first but once I got into the rythym I was soon extremely happy with my new creation.

We worked the banks for a while for a few small fish before Mick hooked up to a nice fish around 29cm, from here they just got bigger for Mick with a 32cm fish coming about 15 mins later.

We decided to swap banks and we worked the shady hole under the trees, sometimes we could even sight cast our fish and sit quietly in the kayak until the fish decided to eat the fly.

The action slowed a little and it had been about 1 hour since I'd had any hits, while Mick was still catching the odd small fish it wasn't until we drifted up the river into a nice shady hole that the fish came on again.

I'd just called out "I'm on" when Mick also hooked up, this time it was a nice fish around 350cm and Mick was grinning again. It wasn't the 400 plus he was looking for, but it was still a nice fish and it was good to see him smiling on his birthday.

We fished for a while, with still more 25cm fish hitting our flies, it was at this point that I thought Mick had caught his birthday present until he called out again "I'm on", it wasn't a big fish, but when you love your bass as much as Mick, to see a tagged fish and be able to record the details, it topped off a great morning fishing.

Happy Birthday Mick

Cheers,

Fordy

Flying Bass

2010-01-02T23:22:00.005+11:00

In Carl's last report he said "it's been a long time" since he went bass fishing, with a crazy year for me on the work front and the trout streams around Lithgow getting a fair go, it's certainly been a long time since I did any decent kayak fishing.

I've been looking forward to catching up with my good mate Mick Munns for a while now and after he and Carl did so well on the bass we planned to hit Penrith for a morning session on Sunday 27th December.

What a top morning we had, the rain held off but the overcast conditions meant that the annoying waterskiers and site seeing boaties had gone to the movies or shopping the post Christmas sales instead.

Within the first few casts Mick was on, not a big fish but it was the surface strike we were looking for. I tried a few different surface lures but the hits kept coming on Mick's HSJ flies and soon after I started fly casting a louder hit came and I was on to a good fish in the late 300s. It was a long battle with the fish burrying me in the weed and when I finally got him near the Yak and reached for the net, he spat the hooks and swam away. A shower of bleeps rained from my mouth and I turned to see Mick filming every second of my disaster. He turned away and chuckled to himself as he started casting again.

Soon we decided to change sides of the river and I was rolling my line in under some heavy cover and pulling out fish after fish, problem was they were all around 25cm and not really impressive by anyones standards.

I rolled another cast and heard Mick call out "This is a much better fish", I flicked my fly out to the centre of the river and paddled up to see what was going on. Mick had the net hidden next to him, but I could tell he was trying to hide his smile and he lifted the net to reveal a beautiful bass coming in at 41.5cm. After a quick photo session, he released it back to it's snaggy home and we fished for a few more small ones before returning to the ramp.

It was a top morning and it's certainly re-ignited my passion for bass fishing and I'm keen to improve on my fly fishing techniques from the Yak.

Anyway's it's off to the tying table now to make some more HSJs before our next session on Tuesday the 5th January.

Cheers,

Fordy

Nepean - 20/12/09

2009-12-22T15:04:00.009+11:00

It's been a long time but I finally made it out for a bassin' session with Mick Munns from Lure Logic Tournament Tackle. We launched from Tench Reserve at 5:15am into the gloom and very slight drizzle, hoping the bass would be willing to play.

I had rigged up with my favourite bass lure, one of Micks Micro Rack Rats with the rubber legs, that is all battered and bruised from previous surface hits from these bronze battlers. Mick is fifty meters ahead and has already landed a small tacker. I leap-frog him and miss my first two boofs before I hook a good fish. He dives straight down into the weed and buries me. I move in and lift the line slowly but as I thought, he's gone.

Lots of little guys are trying to hit the lure even out in the open but it's a cast right next to a semi-submerged log that gets a good hit. I'm quicker this time and keep him up out of the weed and in comes the first bass (29 cms) for the season (yeah, yeah, I know, it's a bit late...).

Mick has moved over to the other side of the river and is swoffing away with the fly wand. I hear him yell out "Good fish!" so I quickly set off to see what all the fuss is about. 30 meters away I pull out the video camera just in time to see him haul in a monster! Lots of yahoos and on the lie detector she goes. 44 cms and she's absoultely gorgeous and in prime condition. We take a few happy snaps and quickly get her back into the water where she gives a few hard tail beats and shoots back to her lair.

Mick had pulled her out from under some overhanging branches. He'd rolled his black & purple Bass Hopper fly right under it with his 3 wgt flyrod and given it a few twitches when all hell broke loose. First she came out, then darted back in, then back out and into the weeds, then back under the trees again before Mick could tame her. What a catch!

We continued moving downstream and enjoyed a great couple of hours taking fish off the surface. My best for the day was a 33 cm fish that came with its own salad supply. I really thought it'd buried me like the other fish had done earlier but luckily some quick rod work managed to extract her from her hidey hole.

This bassin' is such great fun and I can't wait to get back out and have another crack at these fish. The surface smashes and close quarters combat is so exciting. And hooking a fish like Micks is simply superb. My best is 40 cms, so I've got a bit of work to do to catch up to him, especially seeing as his best from the Nepean is over 56 cms!

And just in case I don't get another post in over the next day or two, thank you all for supporting Adam and I and our DVD and website and may you all have a safe and merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

ABT/Hobie Redcliffe Tournament - 12th - 13th Dec 2009

2009-12-17T15:55:00.008+11:00

OMG!!! Worst. Tournament. Ever...

For me, that is! As per usual, Hobie and ABT lived up to their excellent reputation and showcased another professional tournament that combined with the good naturedness of kayaking to provide a fun and informative weekend for all. Including those that didn't catch fish.

Saturday greeted us with 20-25 knot winds and a surf launch which proved a bit wet for some. I'd never fished here before and had a choice of north to the reefs or south (to more reefs). I chose south and dropped a good fish only 10 minutes into the comp. Little did I know it, but I could've packed up and gone home then. I made it all the way down to Redcliffe and back, battling wind and some pretty wild swell for absolutely zip! Nuthin', nadda, zilcho. In fact, I not only didn't land a bream, I didn't land anything. Not even a small flattie.

Ooh, I was so frustrated. Heading back north at about 10:45 am, a wave picks me up and as I look down I see a large rock with my name written all over it. "Hmmm, not good," I think. "But wait, I think I'll make it!" Well, I almost made it. Crunch!!! The only part to hit was my rudder but that was enough to sheer off the pin that holds it in place. Now my kayak is swirling around and it's out with the paddle. I look at it for a minute thinking "How do you use one of these?" before I get into gear and head into shore.

As the others head back in, it's apparent that whoever went north had a pretty good day. Lots of tales of unstoppable fish but no really big bags which is quite surprising. After the wash up, it's the ever consistent Greg Lewis that's on the top of the table with 1.72 kgs. He's a breamin' machine and could catch one in a rain puddle, I reckon. Another regular that always manages to get fish that are just undersize is Steve Fields from Hobie, but today he has flung the donut monkey off his back and also bagged out.

Sunday is the opposite of saturday and we are greeted with almost glassy conditions. North I go with about half the fleet and start peppering the numerous reefs with HB's. I see a few yakkers hook up but no bream are coming over the sides.

I finally take up position next to a reef and decide SP's may be worth a shot and rig up a 100mm Squidgy Wriggler (Avocado) smeared with S-factor. Another angler pulls up about 30 meters away and we exchange hellos and general banter. I hear a reel sing and turn to see his rod bucking under the strain of a good fish. In comes a crackin' bream. 10 minutes later, he's on again and it's another beauty.

I'm thinking "I must be next," when he lets out a yeehah! Three fish in 25 minutes and he's off to weigh them in. I stay in the area but don't even get a touch. Please insert a dozen swear words here.

I'm starting to wonder if there are any fish at all around here when I finally, FINALLY hook

something. Not a bloody bream but a Moses Perch. That's a new species for me but I'd much prefer a bream. More casting and I get a flathead. Aaarggghhhh. Come on! It's bloody hot, the wind is starting to pick up and I still don't have a bream to my name.

I keep on casting and try numerous lures hoping to hit on a type and colour that will work. I try slow retrieves, fast retrieves, twitch retrieves, 'crank 'em down and bump the bottom' retrieves, surface lures with poppers and walk-the-dog style lures, floaters, sinkers, suspending and the whole kit and caboodle of SP's in my arsenal.

I do manage a small Rock Cod and another Moses Perch but these are all I can muster from the northern reefs. I head back towards the launch beach and decided to target the small reefs just out from it. The wind is pushing the waves and it's washing over the back of the rocks, so I settle in behind them figuring any fish will be searching for bits and pieces washed off into the white

water. I rig up with a gulp 2" shrimp (peppered) and stay put. I stick it out for the next hour and get busted up by two HUGE fish that I didn't even see and drop what would've been a 30cm fork bream.

With my tail between my legs, I mope into shore, utterly defeated by Redcliffe. Not one

bream (not even a tiddler) did I land all weekend. Frustrating.

And then to top it all off, the guy, Nicholas Meredith, who caught the 3 bream next to me ended up winning with 1.92 kgs (well done Nicholas). And what did he catch them on? A 100mm Squidgy Wriggler in bloodworm. Obviously the bream don't like avocado, eh? Greg Lewis held onto 2nd place with 1.72 kgs and 3rd was taken by Will Lee with 1.46 kgs.

It was great to see some of the top guns of the sport, Tristan Taylor and Darren 'Dizzy' Borg, getting in a yak and refining their techniques to temp the bream and hopefully in future tournaments we'll see a lot more of these top anglers joining our ranks. I've already thrown the gauntlet down to Steve Morgan and he's promised that soon, he'll jump in one and give it a go, too.

This weekend I might give the bream a miss and chase bass instead...Bloody bream... Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay and Oyster Bay

2009-12-09T16:07:00.007+11:00

Get your Orders in!

You have just over a week left to get your orders in for the Kayak Fishing Sydney DVD to gain entry into out giveaway. Place your order through our website by COB on the Friday 18th December to have a chance at winning one of our 10 prize packs.

The photo shows a selection of the items we have to giveaway and include rods, reels, hats, hard body lures, soft plastics, jigheads, braid scissors, rod covers, tackle boxes and shirts. The 10 winners will be randomly drawn and will be announced on the website and contacted by email.

Botany Bay

Terry set off from Kurnell last week and left the lures at home and decided to chase some fish with good ol' bait. He anchored up and started off a berley trail and rigged up with nippers to get a great haul of bream and trevally. Mixed in were a couple of undersize flathead and whiting so it was a pretty good session that he had out there.

CJ gets the goods...

Another report I had was from CJ, a regular reader of the reports and who recently purchased

the DVD and fired Adam and I off a few questions on the best way of catching his first king. So he watched the DVD, followed our advice and managed to catch a couple of beauties from Botany Bay.

CJ has really put in the time and effort and was amply rewarded. These two fell to the Mojo lures that we use in the DVD. I'm sure he'll rack up some big numbers now, in fact, I might have to get him to give me a lesson or two. Well done, CJ. I'll keep an eye out for you when I'm out on the Bay next.

Oyster Bay Bream ... but just one!

I had a quick one hour practice breamin' session last week and found it pretty quiet. It was the middle of the day however, so I wasn't expecting too much to be on offer. I did manage to get one cracker though, which nearly had me wrapped around the jetty I pulled it out from. He (or she) fell to a camo Sandworm on a 1/20th jighead. A couple of these would be nice in the next ABT/Hobie tournament.

Speaking of which, the next round is on this weekend at Redcliffe in sunny Queensland. You can enter on the day and fish either the saturday OR the sunday or both if you wish, but only your best bag will count. For further details, visit http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/ or http://www.bream.com.au/ .

If you're after a yak or extra gear in Qld, the place to visit is Sunstate Hobie. Mal Grey (07 5447 6317) is the boss and he has all the answers (although he wouldn't tell me where the good spots are at Redcliffe). http://www.sunstatehobie.com.au/ has all the info on hobie yaks and accessories.

Time to pray to the Bream Gods... Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Oyster Bay - 21/11/09

2009-11-24T12:01:00.006+11:00

My brother-in-law, Brendan, was around for the weekend so it was time to get him out on the yak to show him what this kayak fishing caper is all about. I was tempted to take him out onto Botany Bay to chase a few salmon or kings but seeing as it was his first time, gently does it was the favoured choice, so off to Oyster Bay with Lachlan in tow to get a few flatties and bream.

Brendan quickly settled into the Outback and although a bit sceptical about the Mirage Drive at first, within minutes he was totally blown away by how quick and easy it was. Lachlan jumped on with me and we started trolling around a selection of HB's - Jackall Chubby's, SX40's, Atomic Hardz and a River 2 Sea Baby vib.

Lachlan is first off with a small flathead that goes back into the drink. A few more small fish come in for a quick visit but it's a fairly slow day so we head down to the Georges River to work the weedbed edges. I'm hoping Brendan gets a few fish and on the way we hear 'Got one!', and in comes his first fish, a flathead, from the yak. And what a monster, too. : ) At least he's on the board.

Using the sounder we troll right along the drop offs and I get a 'Narrabeen' bream before we hear Brendan again. 'Yes, much bigger!' he yells. Lachie and I go over just in time to see him swing a very nice bream aboard. 29 fork length and we finally have a keeper.

The flatties are still very scarce, as well as the bream. Water temp is 24 degrees so it's nice and warm for them. As we turn around and head back along the weedbed, Lachlan's rod bucks and the drag starts singing. His grin is like a Cheshire Cats and he's 'Oohing' and 'Aahing' as he tries to control the fish. 'This is HUGE, dad!' and up comes another keeper bream but it's only 26 to the fork. The reason for the big fight was because it was foul hooked in the side but it certainly gave Lachlan a big thrill.

Time to head back and I'm still fishless (small ones don't count according to Lachlan). Brendan is next to us and his rod whacks back and he's on again. Jammy git! Another bream and that's 3 for the morning, so it ended up ok in the end. Brendan is seriously looking at getting one of the Outbacks now so I guess that's another convert to the yakkin' world.

I take a quick snap at the ramp as the two 'beginners' ask the 'expert', "Where's your fish?" Cheeky swines, I should make them walk home... Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

ABT/Hobie Narrabeen Tournament & Oyster Bay - Nov 2009

2009-11-16T15:50:00.005+11:00

Sorry, but last week was flat out at work (and still is), so here is a belated and brief report for the tournament. Saturday saw about 40 spreading out over the lake to catch their 3 bag. I had a great day for catching bream BUT none of them were legal. I landed 14 of the buggas with the biggest being 24 cms to the fork; 1 cm shy of going in the live well. Plus I landed 2 flatties and lost a monster about 70 cms. And I also landed two Long Toms, both about 3 feet long.

Sunday was seeming like a repeat with a multitude of small fish and wrong species coming in to say hello. The excitement of the day was hanging around with Greg L while he was hooked up to a massive Jewfish on 3lb line. I sat at the ready with my camera for 30 minutes until deciding this was gonna be a long battle and left him with Stewie standing guard seeing as I still needed to get a legal bream. Eventually (at 11:14 am to be precise) I got one! 26 cms fork and he fell to a Jackall Chubby worked slowly over the weed beds in the center of the lake.

This was followed by a few more flatties and another 24 cm bream (Aaarrrggghhhhh!!!) before time ran out and I had to head to the weigh in. I worked out the distance I travelled on Sunday and here is the path I took. All up, 18.62 kms and boy did I sleep well thet night.

A few guys had managed to find the bream and there were a few crackers, too. The best was a 1.1 kg specimen that really put my 360 g fish to shame. All I could manage was 12th place. However, I backed myself before the start of the event and upgraded to PRO status for $50. Only 6 of us took this option and seeing as I was the only one to land a legal bream, I walked away with the 300 buckeroos. Thank you very much indeed! Well done to the top 3, Matt, Jason and Dave.

Oh, and on Greg and his jewie. To the right is a picture mid-battle with Stewie standing on his Outback, trying to get a glimpse of colour. Greg was also competing in the comp in Queensland the following week and his kayak had to go on the truck to be transported there, so Stewart went back out in his kayak, they swapped mid-water and Stewart took it back to be loaded up. He then grabbed his surf board and a pair of goggles and paddled out to sit next to Greg. 'If you don't hurry up and land it,' he said, 'I'll dive down and gaff the bloody thing for you!'

By now a crowd had formed on the bank and a kind-hearted canoeist brought Greg a few beers to quench his thirst. 6 hours after hook up, the beast decided it'd had enough and bolted. Greg took chase but eventually....PING! The leader parted at the lure. So close yet so far but kudos to Greg for staying connected for that long on 3lb gear. And top marks to Stewie for staying around, too.

For results of the weekends comp, visit: http://bream.com.au/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=550&mode=&order=0&thold=0

For a heap of photos, visit http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/

Oyster Bay - 18/11/09

Now that the weather is a bit warmer, it was time to get Lachlan back out and into a few fish. Tides were perfect for Oyster Bay so we went after a few flatties. Fifteen minutes into the day and Lachlan hooks up. A good tussle and in comes keeper number one - a 27cm bream. We're trolling around a couple of different lures: a River 2 Sea Baby vib 45 and an Ecogear SX40.

Around we go and we cover a fair amount of ground but the fish are very scarce. Two small flatties and one more bream that's just under (it must've come from Narrabeen) and that's all we can rustle up. I was really surprised as I thought 3 or 4 flatties would've been on the cards for sure. Oh well, it was good to get the little guy out again and This summer will see him get his quota up into higher numbers for sure. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

SP's for Bream

2009-11-04T11:45:00.006+11:00

Last week I covered the selection of Hard Bodies I'll be using during the ABT/Hobie Kayak Bream Tournament round at Narrabeen this coming weekend and as promised, here is a selection of Soft Plastics (SP's) that will get a swim sooner or later over the course of the two days. Again, these are my preference and by no means is it a be all and end all for what will work. On certain days some work, on other days they don't even raise a scale, so remember to mix it up to see what the fish are interested in at the time.

One of the most popular SP's at the moment is the 2" Gulp Shrimp and this can be really effective either rigged on a hidden-weight jighead and fished slowly above weedbeds or even 1/16th or 1/20th oz jighead and left to sink and hopped off the bottom. If there are big bream around, they love the 3" version.

For those early morning presentations on the flats or over weedbeds, the Lobbys or Squidgie Bugs rigged on a unweighted hook and slowly rolled back to the yak can result in some spectacular hookups. Hold the rod tip high and slowly swim the lure across the surface. The fluttering arms and tails fire up the bream so watch for the fish following and be alert at all times.

The Gulp Minnows and Sandworms are my favourites around structure such as bridges and pontoons. I buy the 6" Sandworms (they are also available in 2" and 4") and cut them in half and rig them as you'll see in the photo.

For more information regarding the tournament this weekend, visit http://www.bream.com.au/ or http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/ . There'll be a great turnout this weekend and it's still not too late to enter as you can sign up on the day. You can fish either day or both days and regardless of how many fish you catch, you'll have a great time and get to meet a whole bunch of like-minded yakkers and maybe learn a thing or two along the way.

ABT, Hobie and Sailing Scene (http://www.sailingscene.com.au/) will be putting on a BBQ after each days weigh-in and after the yaks are finished, the boaters (that will be fishing on the Hawkesbury) will be weighing in. It's guaranteed there'll be some crackin' fish caught, so even if you don't want to compete, come and watch the spectacle and see what all the hype and talk of the tournament fishing scene is about. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Oyster Bay - 24/10/09

2009-10-28T09:22:00.004+11:00

Busy, busy, busy with the DVD, which is a good thing but it certainly chews into you fishing time. A big thanks to all those that have invested in the DVD already and Adam and I really hope you enjoy it.

I did manage to sneak out for a quick session to Oyster Bay as I'd promised the In-laws a feed of fresh fish. Tides weren't the best but the water is noticably warmer and I managed to have a pretty good morning. I was working the edges of the weedbeds where they drop off into deeper water and varied between SP's and HB's over the two hours I was there.

First to come aboard were two whiting, one caught on a shallow diving Jackall Chubby and the other on a Berkley Gulp 2" Shrimp (molting). I then changed to a 6" Sandworm (Camo) and picked up a flattie quickly followed by a bream.

Another change of lures, this time to an Atomic Hardz mid Shad 40. First cast and it's hit hard and the drag howls. 'What's this?' I ask. Some strong, fast runs and I see a glint of silver but it doesn't feel breamy. I'm over the flats and with no structure for the fish to bust me up on so I take my time. Eventually it glides into view and it's a Silver Trevally. Wow, this is the first one I've caught this far upstream from Botany Bay and he's a welcome addition to my bag.

I figure I need one more fish and stick with the Atomic and roll it along the weedy edges. Three quick flatties in succession but they're all too small, however it's promising to see so many about. Eventually a keeper jumps on and I'm off home with the task at hand completed.

The ABT/Hobie Kayak round at Narrabeen is just around the corner and I've had a few questions about the lures I use. I thought that this week I'd show a photo of the Hard Bodies I'll use. Based on the fact that Narrabeen is a fairly shallow location, most of these HB's are shallow divers or surface lures.

Early morning is ideal for using the Pencil, Sugapen or Sammy on the surface over the weedbeds and a slow walk-the-dog presentation should attract a few interested fish which will hopefully whack them with gusto!

The Atomic Hardz and Chubby's are shallow divers, so they can also be worked over the weedbeds with a slow roll with lots of pauses and twitches added in. Vary your retrieve until you work out what the fish are interested in on the day. Sometimes they like an aggresive retrieve while at other times they like it nice and sloooooooooooow.

For the deeper areas and drop-offs, I'll use the SX40's, Pygmy or Blades. If it's extra windy, the blades can really be effective as you can still cast them a mile, even into the wind. Next week I'll give a run down on the Soft Plastics I'll be using. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Kayak Fishing Sydney DVD Released!

2009-10-14T09:57:00.006+11:00

Finally, Adam and I have finished the DVD we've been working on the last three years! With fishing being such a fickle thing, it took a lot longer than expected to get the footage that covers most of the fish you'll catch around Sydney. Here's a run down of what you'll see us catch on the DVD - Bass, Bream, Tailor, Kingfish, Trevally, Salmon, Flathead and Mulloway (Jewfish).

Adam and I run through the lures and techniques needed to catch these species which can be used throughout all locations Australia-wide, so don't think that this is a DVD that's only relevant to Sydney. But for those that are Sydney siders, or even potentioal visitors, we've include maps that show locations for all the surrounding waterways, like the Nepean, Cowan Creek, Pittwater, Sydney Harbour, Parramatta River, Botany Bay, Georges River and Port Hacking.

Also on the DVD is a brief description of the set up on my own Hobie Sport, a segment on installing a sounder and a fish photo ID page covering the main species I've caught throughout the Sydney area from my kayak.

Running time is 82 minutes with 10 minutes of extras. RRP is $24.95, which includes postage and handling to anywhere in Australia. To purchase, please visit our main website, http://www.kayakfishingsydney.com/ and click on the online store button.

As a bonus, purchase before 5pm 18th December 2009 to enter our draw to win one of 10 giveaway packs. Each pack will vary but items to be given away include a Pflueger Rod and Reel, Hobie Kayak products, Tackle boxes, Lurelogic, SMAK and Halco Hardbody lures, Berkley Soft Plastic packs, Berkley Fireline, braid scissors, Fishing Caps and other various products. Winners will be notified by email and final results will be posted online.

Another DVD just released is by Gary Brown and Scotty Lyons: 'Port Hacking - Jewel of the South'. I've been working on this DVD with Gary and Scott for just over two years and although it's filmed from a power boat, it's locations and tips can equally apply to kayakers. The Hacking is regularly thought of as a tough fishery but armed with the location maps and Garys and Scotts tips, such as how to correctly pump nippers, catch Poddy Mullet, spin for Bonito or rig up for Luderick, you'll be able to increase your bags and maybe expand your repetoire of species targetted.

Available in almost all tackle stores throughout Sydney, please visit http://www.garybrownfishing.com.au/ and click on the reports button under the Home drop-down list to see the list of tackle shops stocking the DVD. RRP is $24.95

Now that the DVD's are out of the way, it's time to do some serious practice for the Narrabeen round of the ABT/Hobie comp that is just around the corner. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Captain Cook Bridge - 30/9/09

2009-10-01T11:37:00.010+10:00

Every now and then, if you're lucky enough, you'll land a fish that's pretty special. I'm glad to say that yesterday I managed to land that special fish. After a fairly medicore start to the day where Stewart and I had gone to catch jewfish but ended up with only an average flattie and a squid (and Stewie caught both of those), we decided to head in to where the weedbeds reach the edge of the drop-off and attempt to spin up a flathead to add to the bag.

A TT Switchblade was my weapon of choice and seeing the water was a bit murky, I went for a bright colour to give the fish something to zero in on. I was using a Daiwa Capricorn reel, loaded with 6lb braid with a 2m leader of 6lb Vanish Fluorocarbon. We drifted with the wind, casting upcurrent and double-hopping the lures back towards us. Second cast and I hook a whiting. Finally I'm on the board. This guy put up a good scrap, mainly because I'd hooked him right near the tail. The next cast I hook up again but this one actually pulls some line. 'Nice fish,' I think and this time it's a real elbow slapper of a whiting, close to 40 cms I reckon. And that's all I'll be doing as it spits the lure back at me as I'm reaching for the net.

It's nearly time to head back and go to work. Three more minutes will do us. I put in an extra long cast and let the lure hit the bottom. Hop, Hop, wind in the slack, let it sink. Hop, hop and crunch! Ooooooooooh, this has some weight. Stewart is right next to me but is slowly left behind as I'm towed up current. The rod tip bucks as this beast shakes it head. 'Jewie?' we both think and it goes on another run, drag singing as it turns and goes with the current now. I try to lift her but she's hugging the bottom and I hope there are no large rocks down there where she can bust me off.

Basically, for the next 8 or 9 minutes it's a stale mate. I'll gain a few meters of line, then she'll take it back it a strong surge. We still haven't had any colour yet and an ID is being bantered about. Jewfish? Big Flathead? Maybe a Kingie? They have been getting them up at the mouth of the Cooks River lately. 'Bream?' I say with raised eyebrows!

Eventually I feel I'm starting to win and Stewart and I are both peering into the depths for first colour. And ever so slowly we see a dark shape gliding up. 'Holy S#%t!', I say, 'she's HUGE!' Two meters under the water we can see the biggest flattie I've ever hooked. My best to date is 82 cms but this girl looks bigger. She has a massive head, it looks as wide as mine. Luckily I've hooked her in the side of the mouth and my leader is out of harms way. I glance at my net and think no way we she fit in that. Stewart has one of the fish-friendly rubber nets and seeing as this girl will be released, we decide to use that and get some quick photos before setting her free.

I get her on the surface and guide her towards Stewart who does an expert job and scoops her up. A foot and a half of her tail is hanging out the top and she a big fat porker, too. Hoots and

hollers all around and we get a few snaps on the water before I put her back in the net and swim her to shore. Onto the lie detector and she is a new PB, topping out at 86 cms. Stewart has been taking the snaps (thanks, Stewie) and we don't muck about and ease her back into the water. She sits there for a few seconds, probably saying 'What was all that about?' and then gives a few quick beats of her powerful tail and scoots back off into the depths to scare the bejesus out of any baitfish in the area.

Woo hoo! I'm stoked. Catching a big girl like that is magic, and seeing her take off to fight another

day is even better. Landing these big crocs is all about patience and having good tackle that works well under pressure. The drag on my reel is silky smooth and the line easily played out when she went on her strong runs. If I'd have had a reel with a drag that stuck or had the drag too tight, she'd have easily done me over on 6lb. Making sure your knots are good is also essential in these longer battles.

I'm not sure on her weight (we didn't muck about with the scales) but she would've passed the old 10 lb mark easily. I can see how estimates of big flathead can be way off as in the water they look so huge. When she first came up I would've called her as close to a meter. Well, she was, but not that close! Now to crack that 90 cm mark and then... the 1 meter club! Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Towra Point 2 - 19/9/09

2009-09-23T10:57:00.007+10:00

Another great morning but this time with a rising tide that would allow us to get up and over the oyster-encrusted rocks that are scattered over the flats off Towra Point. Terry and I worked the edges of the racks while waiting for the tide come in and it wasn't too long before I had my first in the well.

This guy fell to a Gulp 2" Shrimp in molting colour rigged on a 1/40th hidden weight jighead. Not forgetting my first hookup last week, I'd made sure the drag was nice and tight today. Lots of strong, surging runs told me this was a good fish but by using the cushioning effect of my rod and dropping the tip when the fish ran, I was able to keep him from busting me off or making the safety of the snags. Man, the fish are in good condition! I wonder how the guys are going down at Glenelg?

By now Gary Brown (http://www.garybrownfishing.com.au/) had turned up in his tinnie and after a quick chat we all split up. The water was just starting to cover the rocks so I made use of the kayaks skinny-water abilities and moved in to harass the bream that would hopefully be moving amongst them looking for a snack. I started off with a Lucky Craft pencil but only had one half-hearted swirl behind it for 15 minutes worth of effort. Time to switch to a shallow-diving Chubby. By keeping the rod tip high, I knew the Chubby would dive to about 30 cms, just swimming above the rocks. This was scary territory and I'd have to be on my toes to make sure I didn't get busted up!

First cast and I get a quick tap on the lure. Second cast and I get another whack, but still no hook-up. At least I know there are a few fish about. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a silver flash so I flick the Chubby in that direction. Crank, crank, crank, BOOFO! Oh yeah, lovely! The fish scoots sideways and I keep the rod tip up as high as I can while trying to keep him up on the surface. I prevent him from getting his head down and I slip the net under a twin of the first fish I caught. How I'd love to have two fish like this in a comp.

By the now the sun is quite strong and the fishing goes quiet. An overcast day over these flats would be sensational. I pick up a flathead right on the edge of the flats where they meet the weedbeds and that's it for me for the day. Terry had a day like I had last week and couldn't manage to get any legals. He'd moved up into the mangroves and picked up half a dozen off the surface but the biggest only went 24 cms. My two guys both went 33 cms to the fork and pulled the scales down to 1.305 kgs.

Back at the ramp, we could see Gary fishing around Captain Cook Bridge. I rang him and although he'd not managed any bream, he'd put three flatties of 50 cms into the well, as well as a 60 cm jewfish! Great stuff for middle of the morning with lots of boat traffic about.

Checking the results of the Hobie/ABT kayak tourny at Glenelg, I saw that day 1 was very tough. Only 5 legal (28 cm fork length) fish were caught but day two was being held closer to the mouth of the river where it wouldn't be so affected by the fresh water run-off. As predicted, more fish were weighed in and when all was done and dusted, the angler on top was Greg Lewis, a fellow member of the Hobie State Fishing Team. Greg's a top breamer and really knows his stuff and was the only angler to manage a full bag for the day. For a complete wrap up of events, please visit http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/ or http://www.bream.com.au/. Congratulations Greg on a deserved win.

Now the countdown is on for the first NSW round which will be held on Narrabeen Lake on the 7th-8th November. This should be a big turnout and remember, it's open to all SOT kayaks, not just Hobies. So get involved, meet some great anglers and see what it's all about. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Towra Point - 12/9/09

2009-09-18T14:28:00.008+10:00

More bream! The tide wasn't great for Towra Point as it fishes better on a high tide but Terry and I were still keen to get into the old racks and see what we could stir up. As we set-up, the wind decided to be nice to us for once and it slowly eased until it was almost non-existent by the time we reached our destination. As the sun rose, so did our expectations of getting some bluenoses. We started with some surface lures but after ten minutes without a follow, I tied on an Ecogear SX40 and twitched it over the weedbeds. First cast and i'm on but it's too small for the livewell.

That was it for the weedbeds so we moved off into the racks, splitting up. I changed to a Squidgy Lobby and flicked it in between the crusty pylons. Thirty minutes had passed by and I'd only had one small tap-tap on the lure. I smeared some more of the S-factor on it and lobbed it right next to a couple of extra gnarly posts. The line immediately went tight and I set the hooks into a mighty solid fish. ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz goes the drag and my eyes widen in shocked disbelief. I, the fool, had forgotten to lock up my drag! In the racks it's go hard or go home and this fish made me pay for my forgetfullness. Ping went the leader, quickly followed by a tirade of curses.

Eventually I met up with Terry and the jammy swine had two beauties in his well! Both caught on an SX40 which he'd just lost to an even bigger bream when the knot came loose just as he was about to net him. 'Aww, diddums', I thought and continued along another fruitless stretch of racks. I did get one hook up that I pulled the hooks on but I'm not counting that! Meeting back at the start, Terry had landed another two (WTF???) but they were just legal so we deemed them unworthy of a photo.

We had time for a quick flick under some boats in Woolooware Bay and on the way I trolled my SX40, the one with the Oil Slick colour on it's side. Half way to the boats and the rod is almost jerked out of my hands. 'Good fish', I yell and the yak and I slowly dance around what feels like a good flattie. And it is, too! 64 cms in length and she a new PB from the yak for me. If only I was fishing in a flathead comp, I'd be laughin' all the way to shore. I'd better pull my finger out and start catching some bream. Not long until the Hobie/ABT comps hit Sydney.

The first round for 2009-2010 actually kicks off this weekend on the Glenelg River in Victoria and there should be a good number of yaks entering. Good luck to all participating and I hope they get some real thumpers to bring back to the weigh-master. If I get out this weekend, it'll be to Towra Point again. This time the tide will be high and I'll have no excuses. Looks like I'd better get my A-game into gear. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Oyster Bay - 29/8/09

2009-08-31T16:02:00.006+10:00

The last fishing trip, Terry and I tried to get a few bream in the Cooks River. As it turned out, we weren't very successful. But almost a month had past since then and I was hoping that a few of them may have started moving back up into the estuaries. Plus we've had a few more warmer days and if the water has warmed slightly, then even better.

I launched at 6am and was surprised at how light it is at that time now. Beauty! That means I can launch even earlier and get in a few more valuable minutes fishing time. The tide was already half-out, so conditions weren't the best. I find Oyster bay works better for me on a run-in tide. I headed towards the weedbeds at the mouth of the bay and quickly picked up my first fish for the day, a just legal whiting that snaffled a Gulp Camo Sandworm. This was quickly followed by an undersize flattie. Back he goes!

A few rowers were coming through so I moved in towards the pontoons to give them plenty of room. First flick under the pylons and I'm on. 'Hello, what's this,' I said? Silver, yellow fins, roundish...OMG! It's a bream. 27cms total length and he's into the livewell with the whiting. The next few pontoons I get a couple of more hits and eventually land bream number 2. Ah, this is more like it.

I decide to give the HB's a go and head back over the flats. No fish are interested and as the wind picks up I venture back into Oyster Bay for shelter. As I drift past a pontoon I have one last flick over my shoulder. Suddenly the line goes tight and this feels like a good fish. There's a few head shakes and I pull him out from the pontoon. This is when I can see that it's a good bream but he's only got the tail of the worm in his mouth. It's funny to watch - as I pull on the line, he shakes his head from side to side, trying to win the tug of war. I reel him in but as he nears the surface he obviously thinks that something is amiss and spits out the worm. I put him at about 30 cms, so he wasn't a bad size.

I make it to my last pontoon and skip a cast right up into the shadows. 'That's gotta be worth a fish,' I think and sure enough, ziiiiip, I'm on! This guys hits the afterburners and I throw the rod tip into the water to keep the line away from the pontoon. Ah yes, this is what it's all about! She scoots sideways and out from under the pontoon before turning and running for the jetty pylons. I stop her just in time and the sideways pressure leads her away again. Up she finally comes and this is the calibre of fish I'll want in the upcoming Hobie/ABT tournaments. She only goes 32 cms fork but she's nice and fat and would easily go 700 grams. I put her in the well so I can get a photo on the brag mat back at the ramp. If I'd landed that other one I would've had a two fish bag of roughly 1.3 kgs, which is not bad for a couple of hours fishing.

So a quick photo at the ramp and back they all go for catching on another day. These Hobie Live wells work a treat. Easy to set-up and trouble free, they keep the fish swimming in constantly circulating water. The fish normally come out more energetic than when they went in. You can get by with just an esky in the comps (I did last year) with fresh water changes every 30 minutes or so but these live wells are set and forget.

Hopefully we'll get the dates for the Hobie/ABT comps released this week and I can plan my summer. Tides are good for this weekend too, so another bream session could be on the cards. But if the water is warming up, then the kings could be starting to show up too. Decisions, decisions... Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Cooks River - 26/7/09

2009-07-31T16:17:00.005+10:00

Time for some Breamin'! Terry and I launched from the Kyeemagh boat ramp and conditions were ideal. Slight breeze, incoming tide and overcast. Straight up to the airport service bridge and Terry started with some Switchblades and I rigged up a Camo sandworm.

After 20 minutes I'd only had one tentative take and Terry hadn't even had a touch. I glanced at the sounder and the temp display didn't tell a good story. Only 14.1 degrees (brrrrrr) which could mean the fish may be a little lethargic. We kept at it and eventually I get a nice hook up. Solid runs and a 'thump, thump, thump' up the line and into the yak comes a fiesty trevally.

We move over to the rock walls and try the buntings but still the bream won't come out and play. terry is keen to head out the front to try the flats for a few more Trevally so we about face and head out to the bay.

I'm on a curfew so decide to work the freeway wall with blades as we drift along with the wind. I only have 10 meters of wall left when I hook up again. Not a treavally this time but what is it? Well surprise, surprise! It's a first for me from the yak and I'm chuffed to get him. It's an EP (Estuary Perch) and he's a healthy guy of about 38 cms. Woohoo! A few quick snaps and I send him back to his lair under the structure. Hopefully I'll get a few more next time I'm in the area.

I head in and Terry heads out. Smart move by him as he manages to get 4 Trevally, one bream and a great 70 cm flathead that he set free to keep breeding. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay - 11/7/09

2009-07-13T21:24:00.007+10:00

There'd been a few mutterings about good size tailor being caught in the Bay so the crack of dawn on saturday saw Stewart, Terry and myself pushing off to the Hot Water Outlet hoping to catch a few off guard. The conditions were ideal, with only a slight SW wind of 8-10 knots. The cold weather certainly keeps the traffic on the water down and we had the outlet to ourselves, except for a boat anchored 100 meters away.

First cast and Terry hooks up as soon as his lure hits the water. That's a good sign. The fish jumps three times before spitting the lure back at him. Sucka! I'm in position now and as I cast I notice out of the corner of my eye Stewart hooking up, too. And Terry is also back on. Triple hook up, yeehah!

I've cast one of Mick Munn's creations - a 'Splash and Dash' that I've reduced to one treble on the back. I find the tailor don't seem to throw this lure as much as when there are two trebles on it. I crank it quickly over the top and instantly it's mauled by a fish. In the background I hear Terry cry out as his fish jumps off. That's two he's lost. Double sucka!! Mine stays connected and he looks about 35 cms, so into the livewell he goes.

Stewart has also dropped his fish but is on again immediately and eventually lands a nice one that looks about 45 cms. Terry yells out "I'm on," but it's quickly followed by "Aaarrggghhhhh, not again!" when this fish does a Houdini on him, too. Triple sucka!!! Stewart and I are giggling like fools but finally, Terry gets one in the boat that is about 40 cms. And next cast he gets another almost the same size. He's on a roll now.

My popper is getting smacked across the surface non-stop and I land 6 fish and lose 3 before the action stops. As is typical of tailor, they disappear not long after sun up, so it's essential to be on the water at the right time. If your twenty minutes late, it's no fish for you! We landed a couple of decent fish between 45 and 50 cms and we all lost some bigger ones that put on a great acrobatic display leaping clear of the water several times before gaining their freedom.

We also tried for some kings but didn't even get a touch and eventually wound up the day with a couple of bream that were found lurking underneath some moored boats and barges. Not a bad couple of hours in the middle of winter. Happy yakkin', everybody!

cheers,

Cid

WSBB Bream Scramble - 21/6/09

2009-07-06T16:19:00.005+10:00

Well you've probably guessed that because I didn't get a report up on the 21st June, Gary and I didn't win the Scramble. And you'd be right, too! Basically, we had a pretty average day, only managing 3 bream (Gary got two of 'em) and none of those were noteworthy either. Overall we finished up 18th amongst a field of 30.

We started off ok when Gary landed our first bream after 20 minutes. Further exploring in Exile Bay proved fruitless (or fishless), so we moved up towards Putney and fished some rockwalls. I'd hardly had a touch all morning while flicking about a Gulp 2" Shrimp (banana colour) so I changed to the old faithful Camo sandworm. As my cast landed 6 feet from shore, Gary said "You'll probably hook up first cast." No sooner had the words left his mouth when I noticed my line zipping sideways. I struck and immediately thought 'Holy Moly, what's this?' The fish made a strong surge for deeper water and peeled line off my reel. "Trevally?" says Gary. Nope I say, no tail thumps. I'm guessing it's the bream from hell and back the drag off now that we're in safer water. I gain some line, it takes some line. With heart pumping and sweaty hands, I'm envisioning a great kicker fish - 1.5 kgs perhaps...or more! Yeah, baby!

As Gary and I peer over the side into the depths we both let out a "Get $%#*ed" when we see the culprit. What the bloody hell is a Yellowtail Kingfish doing way up here, and what the hell is he doing taking a measley little sandworm? We laugh and curse, get a photo and put the undersize fella (he was only 60 cms) back into the drink.

No more joy up here so we head off to some flats. Gary again comes up with the goods and adds number two to the well. I get an undersize one and that's it. Next spot is Westport Marina and first cast I get one that's a keeper. Yahoo!

All our usual spots are very quiet and as time wore on we decide to give Exile Bay one last chance for redemption over the last half hour of the comp. I change to a shallow diving Jackal Chubby as we're fishing water only 2 feet deep and on the second cast it's hammered big time. I see a quick flash of silver. Finally, a good bream. But no-way, Jose. This time it's a nice trevally that goes 55cms. Another great fish but useless to us today. Gary asks if I know how to hook a bream when his TT Switchblade is snaffled on the drop.

"Good fish," he says, and his line zips this way and that. True to our form, it's not a bream at all but a bloody big whiting of 42 cms. We're p!ssing ourselves laughing by now and at the end of the day, if you're having fun that's all that really matters. Next year we'll get 'em.

On a good note, Gary competed as a non-boater in the ABT Pflueger Lake Macquarie round last weekend and took out top spot which sees him qualify for the Grand Final in October. It was a fantastic effort against a large, highly competitive field and was well and truly overdue for Gary. Well done partner, great to see.

Word is out that Hobie and ABT are about to announce the dates and venues for the next lot of Kayak Bream Tournaments for 2009/2010 and it's going to be bigger and better than the last season. I can't wait for it to kick off again and I'm looking forward to getting to as many as possible. Keeping checking the usual sites (http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/ and http://www.bream.com.au/) for updates. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

More Jewfish on the Georges - 12/6/09 to 19/6/09

2009-06-19T14:27:00.005+10:00

Another week of chasing these truly beautiful fish with more mixed results. I wish I could crack a pattern but as yet it's still a case of being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes I get 'em, sometimes I don't! That's why they call it fishing and not catching, to quote a well known phrase.

This time though, I didn't catch any around structure. They were taken in the middle of the river, fishing the edges where the water drops off into deeper sections. I won't say exactly where, but it's inbetween Como Bridge and Captain Cook Bridge. : )

One thing is that mornings have worked slightly better for me but then again, I don't stay out too long once it gets dark. Tides haven't made a big difference on whether they are running in or out but I definately catch fewer fish right in the middle of the tides.

The same lures caught fish again and next time I'm going to give a few of the larger blades a go. I'm pretty sure they will be just as effective and they will ensure I get near the seabed when the tide is really moving along.

The wet weather hasn't put them off either. If anything, I've caught more when it's been pretty

miserable. This is probably due to the fact that there is almost no boat traffic rather than the fact that they like the rain. But I'm still waiting to get a biggun'! So far, the best I've managed is a 55 cm specimen, with most between 40 cms and 50 cms. I'll just keep sluggin' away and putting in the time. Every cast I make gets me one cast closer to that absolute stonker.

This sunday sees Gary and I defend our champions title as we compete in the Western Sydney Bream and Bass (www.wsbb.com.au) annual Bream Scramble. It's a one day teams event, catch and release, with our 5 best bream to be brought back for the weigh-in. Last year was really close but we hope to repeat our performance and come out on top again. Here's hoping... Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Georges River - 30/5/09 to 5/6/09

2009-06-05T15:58:00.006+10:00

With all the bream comps out of the way (except for one coming up in 2 weeks), it was time to give the bream a rest and chase after a much more elusive quarry. I've been wanting to nail a few jewfish the last few years and haven't really had much success but I guess that's because I don't really target them specifically very often.

Well, it was time to change all that and this week, with a little help from Andrew and Stewart, we hit the usual spots in the Georges River, which are well known to most anglers - Captain Cook Bridge, Tom Uglys Bridge, Como Bridge as well as a couple of the deeper holes off headlands, such as just outside of Oatley Bay. Funny fish these Jewfish, one day you'll catch them at one spot and the next day there's not a scale to be raised. We would always manage some bycatch of flathead but they weren't what we were after so whenever anyone landed one you'd hear, "Aargghh, it's a bloody flattie!" This was quickly followed by chuckles and smart R's comments from the two who hadn't landed it.

The lures we used varied and at times they all seemed to work. I'd had most hits using a Squidgie Slick Rig 110mm Black and Gold Fish but when I ran out of these and switched to the Evil Minnow colour (light purple and silver) it didn't seem to make any difference. Andrew and Stewart were getting their fish on a prawn imitation SP that was rigged on a TT Revhead. The tackle I'm using is a Daiwa Advantage 2500 on a matching Daiwa rod. The TD Sensor braid is only 8lb, tipped with 20lb fluoro leader but the fish aren't that big at the moment, so the heavier gear can wait a little longer.

The technique I used was one I read in an article in Modern fishing a while back (I think Phil Bennet was the author. If so, thanks Phil!) on catching jewfish on lures. I was casting upcurrent and giving the lure a sharp lift and would then let the current carry it back towards me. The secret (well, Phils secret) to this was keeping contact with the lure as it fell back to the seabed. I reckon that 90% of the hits came on the drop and you had to have that tension on your line to be able to feel the bites and react quickly with a strike.

On one of the sessions I lost a real thumper of a fish that done me over on some piece of submerged structure. I'd just flicked my bail arm over after letting the lure sink to the bottom when I felt an almighty whack. Instinctively I set the hooks and this thing took off like a train. I only had time for one "WOOHOO!" before I felt the leader grind against something before all went slack. Man oh man, what an adrenaline rush.

I plan to concentrate on these magnificent fish over the next few months and I know that Port Hacking has some beauties within it's system too, so it'll be just a matter of getting out and giving it a go.
I'm still a relative beginner when it comes to catching these guys so I'll stick with the normal suggestions for best times ie The last and first hour of the top or bottom of the tide and if it coincides with dawn or dusk, then even better. Hopefully it won't be too long before we start seeing some quality specimens come over the side of our yaks. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Towra Point - 6/5/09 & Oyster Bay - 17/5/09

2009-05-27T12:11:00.007+10:00

TOWRA POINT

Andrew (Rebel) and I thought a surface session amongst the mangroves would be successful so we headed to Towra Point for the last of the runout tide. Conditions were great but I wasn't. I was a bit out of condition due to my lack of activity after my stay in hospital.

Rebel started out with his famous Sugapen while I tied on a Sammy 65. We had a few half hearted hits but nothing that would connect with the hooks. Finally I succeeded and landed my only legal bream for the day, a 29cm specimen that put up a good fight for his size. I changed to a Squidgie 100m Wriggler in bloodworm rigged on a 1/40th HWS jighead and landed a flattie of about 40cms from the edge of a weedbed. Not quite big enough for me so I released him to grow a bit more.

It was surprisigly quiet and we pushed way up into the mangroves to try to find the fish. Maybe they were waiting for the tide to change? I had to leave early and left Andrew in the wilderness where he finished up with 2 legal bream and a handful that were just undersize.

Back at the ramp I took a quick snap of my one and only then sent him back on his way to catch up with his flathead mate so they could talk about their kayaking experiences.

OYSTER BAY

Lachlan had been pestering me for another round at Oyster Bay so in the afternoon we hit the slightly murky water. Last time we were here we lost Lachlans Baby Vibe to a big flattie so I'd bought him a replacement one which bought a grin to his face. I decided on a bit of a comparison with a more expensive lure, a Jackall Chubby which was almost twice the price.

We were only going to be out for an hour or so and it wasn't long before Lachlans lure gets a hook up. A small bream that is sent back. Five minutes later, lachlan hooks up again and this time it's a nice flattie of about 45 cms. Then two minutes later he hooks another undersize bream.

I wind my chubby in to make sure it's not covered in weed. It's not, so I flick it back out again. Whack! Holy crap...Lachlan's on again! This time it's a legal bream

so we at least have two keepers to take home. Finally, I hook up and net another flattie but at 40 cms he's smaller than Lachlans that's in the well. I get the lip grips on him, swing him around to put in the live well and then proceed to drop him over the side of the yak and back into the water. Lachlan giggles his head off and proceeds to hook the next three fish but they are all undersize so we go home with only the two.

So the Baby Vibe came out a clear winner today but I know that on any given day, certain styles of lures will outfish others. Colour, shape and action all play a part and only further testing will define the lure that will be the "King of Oyster Bay". Lachlan already knows that his is the King between him and I anyway. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Squidgie Bream Grand Final - Parramatta River - 3/5/09

2009-05-05T12:35:00.006+10:00

Firstly, a big apology for not putting any reports up for a few weeks but I DO have a good excuse! A couple of weeks ago I managed to put myself in hospital (just unlucky me, I guess. I had a Mallory-Weiss Tear. Look it up if you want to) for 6 days (4 of those in Intensive Care) and for some reason, they wouldn't let me out to have a yak and a fish. All is good now though so I should get out this week sometime and get a few runs on the board. To top it off, this report isn't even about fishing from a kayak. Oh the shame...

Luckily, all my dramas happened before the Squidgie Grand Final so Gary and I could still attend and go for gold. 20 teams departed from Hen and Chicken Bay at 7am and Gary and I had already worked out a detailed plan that we were going to stick to. First stop was a rock wall 5 minutes up river. Gary started throwing a Chubby and I was working a 2" Gulp shrimp (pepper) rigged on a 1/20th jighead. Only 10 minutes into it, and I hook up. Nice fish and he's 31 cms to the fork. That's a good start. Gary then hooks up but drops it and 5 minutes later, I do the same. Bugga. No more bites after that so we move off to work some bridges with blades.

For the next 3 hours Gary and I proceeded to hook and drop fish left, right and center! I thought I had rubber hooks on at one stage. It was soooooooooo frustrating. Finally, at Gladesville Marina, Gary gets the hooks to stick and number 2 (29 cms fork) is in the well.

Off to Birkenhead Point Marina and more dropped fish. Over to some flats for one flathead. Back upstream to Westport Marina and BANG, I hook up big time. Thump, thump, thump up the line and I realise it's a trevally. A good one too but useless in a bream comp. A quick photo and back he goes.

The next fish I land is a nice Leather Jacket. Oh, for fuggs sake! With only 45 minutes to go, we venture up to Exile Bay. I'm flicking a berkley Big Eye Blade around when it gets crunched as soon as it hits the water. I see a flash of silver and call out to Gary, "Yes, finally, get the net." But our luck today was well and truly absent and in comes another trevally. Aaaargh! Time ticks away and I hook up again. Another flash of silver and you guessed it, ANOTHER Trevally. Gary and I are laughing at this stage and we couldn't have caught a bream if you thrown one at us from 3 feet away. That's fishing for you. Sometimes it all comes together and sometimes it all goes to s%#t.

Our two fish weighed in at 1.040 kgs and the winning bag by Team Squidgie was over 4 kilos so we weren't even close. We still had fun though and that's what it's all about. A big thanks to Gary for having me on board and our next comp together will be the WSBB Bream Scramble in a couple of months, where Gary and I will be defending our win from last year. I think we'd better get out there and practice. Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,

Cid

ABT/Hobie Kayak Bream Grand Final - Forster, 24-25 March, 2009

2009-04-02T11:34:00.012+11:00

So much for the plan of getting to Forster on monday afternoon and having a quick scout around to suss the area out. Sheesh! I arrived at 7:30pm and settled into my motel and got organised for the next morning. New leaders, changed a few trebles, and checked all my gear twice. I think it was about 12:30am before I got to sleep. To say my anticipation level was high was a huge understatement.

5:15am saw me having my yellow Hobie Outback assigned to me. She was fully kitted out with rod leashes, livewell, etc but no sounder. Not really needed up here as the water is quite clear and you can see the bottom in most places anyway. It sure was impressive having all these Hobies lined in a row, ready for action. The briefing went without a hitch with the only change being a delayed start due to the lack of daylight at 6am. At 6:45am, the flag was dropped and 26 bream anglers spread out to their various locations that would hopefully hold some kicker fish.

I'd decided on fishing a junction up Breckenridge Channel and about half a dozen of us ventured the same way. Conditions were almost ideal: I would've preferred a bit more cloud cover but at least there was no wind. Reaching my spot, I started off with a Gulp 2" Shrimp (Banana Prawn) rigged on a 1/20th jighead and 4lb leader. I targeted marker poles and drop-offs but I had only managed one tentative tap before reaching some washboards surrounding an Oyster Lease. I changed to an Ecogear SX40 and started casting my way round.

About 20 minutes later I hook up. "Beauty, here comes number one," I think. I land him, put him on the tape and I forlornly look skywards with a sigh. 24.8 cms... Typical. The minimum length is 25 cms, so after a quick curse, I send him back. The bites are few and far between and I'm livid when I drop a keeper after doing the hard bit of extracting him from under a jetty.

I decided to head further upstream and eventually find a nice set of racks with a few inches of water over them. I change to a Jackall Chubby (shallow diver) and start working the edges. The wind has started to pick up now and it's getting tricky casting and keeping the yak on course at the same time. Suddenly, Whacko! Ooh, I'm on!

The trick to working the racks is to always be on your toes, have your drag nice and tight and get the fish in ASAP before they can get their heads down and bury you in the pylons. Of course, it doesn't always work but this guy was no trouble and I skipped him towards me easily. 23 cms and back he goes, too. Shortly after I get another that's 24 cms and I realise I'm running out of time. With an hour to go I've changed back to the 2" shrimp and YES! I get one that's a keeper. He's not a bad fish and boy, what a relief.

That was it for me and I head back thinking one isn't good enough. Back at the weigh-in, it's been a tough day all round and my one fish of 400 grams sees me sitting in 10th place. The leader is only on 980 grams for two fish, so I'm still in with a chance if I can get a big fish tomorrow.

Conditions where identical to the previous day and the first loacation saw Dave, Ken and I fishing the same flats with surface lures over only a foot of water. Lots of laughs and chatting (typical for a kayak tournament, I'm glad to say) which was only broken by Dave swearing and sobbing when busted up by a big bugga that would've seen him shoot up the rankings quite a few spots. Bad luck, Dave, it was probably a flattie anyway! : )

There was quite a bit of action but the fish were only small to start with and I figured if I wanted to give myself a good chance at getting a big bruiser, I'd get him in the racks. I left the boys and headed back to my racks from yesterday. The was a bit more water over the racks this time so I started with the Chubby. I'd cast right over the racks and hold the rod high while I twitched and wriggled the lure back to me. I figured the fish would be on top feeding and luckily I was right.

10 minutes into it, the lure is pounced on as it lands and I know straight away this is a good fish!

He shoots off to the adjacent racks but I'm quicker and throw my rod sideways to pressure him away. He darts back but I swing the rod again, all while winding furiously to keep him coming towards me. With one quick movement I grab the net and scoop him up. YES! That's what I want. I didn't measure him but he was probably about 33 cms fork length and approximately 600-650 grams. It's a good start and now all I need is a big kilo fish to put me in the running.

Only 15 minutes later I hook up again, and this guys goes 26.5 cms fork. Not big but good enough for the live well. That's my bag limit, now to upgrade. Over the next 4 hours I land another 5 bream, all legal, but none big enough to replace the two I already have. The wind picked up again, even stronger than yesterday and I knew heading back would be right into it, so I reluctantly set off, knowing that the two wouldn't be enough to grab the lead. I'd be happy just to hold onto my 10th place.

I made it back with 2 minutes to spare and by the time I got to the tent they'd already started the weigh in. Holding top spot was Scott Lovig with a total bag of 4 fish for 2.19 kgs. Before me was the day one leader, Michael Maas. He had some nice fish too, and the crowd (and Scott) were on the edge of their seats as the scales ticked over. He needed 1.22 kgs to take it out and the crowd let out a collective sigh when the scales settled at 1.17 kgs, for a total of 2.15 kgs. So close but not good enough. My two fish weighed 1.02 kgs, so not a bad bag and enough to see me edge up to 7th place overall.

The results were tallied and finally, Scott was crowned the inaugral ABT/Hobie Australian Kayak Bream Champion. Well done, Scott. A thoroughly deserved win, a fantastic trophy and bragging rights for a whole year. Taking the final podium spot was Ken Raley, who'd caught all his fish on surface lures, for a 4 fish bag of 1.95 kgs. For a report on the final, including the gear used by Scott and Michael, please look at

http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/

The level of professionalism shown in running these events by ABT and Hobie have set an amazing standard and the future bodes well for next years season of events. More rounds, more venues, more kayakers and more prizes will surely see our wonderful sport prosper and surely only good things will come of it. I know that I for one, can hardly wait. Happy yakkin', everyone!

Cheers,

Cid

2009-03-18T10:31:00.015+11:00

Due to me amassing HUGE amounts of Brownie Points (and then cashing them in), I managed to escape to sunny Qld for the 3rd round of the ABT/Hobie Bream Tournaments held on Budds Beach on the Gold Coast. I'd never fished this arena before and I'd heard some good reports about the prefishing and was eager to get stuck into the multitudes of bream throughout the Nerang River and its canals.

With minimal sleep, Paffoh and I drove the 500 meters from our accommodation at 5am and saw that there were already a couple of dozen yakkers setting up. Steve Fields from Hobie and organised a yak for me (thanks Steve) and it was a first time for me - a fully kitted Hobie Revolution. Totally different to my Sport but a kayak I was keen to test out, as well as the Hobie Live Well of which I'd only heard good reports.

Once the briefing was concluded, 39 competitors spread out in all directions. My initial plan was to head north to the Gold Coast Highway Bridge, but with another kayak tournament starting off from the beach next to it, I revised my plan and decided to head upstream. Firstly I shot over to the other side of Chevron Island to fish the pylons and pontoons that were still in the shade.

I've gotta tell you, this Revo goes like a rocket! With minimal effort, it slices through the water and seemed to be twice as quick as my Sport. It took a short time getting used to her as my Sport is much wider and more stable than this baby but after 10 minutes or so I felt right at ease. Though I did miss the storage trays where I normally lay out my gear for the day but adjusting to the Revo's layout was still fairly easy.

Oh, and the Live Well? Brilliant. Great design and it worked flawlessly. I ran it all day and it never missed a beat. I normally use an esky with an aerator but I'll definitely be getting one of these. It has plenty of room for the fish and the water is constantly be refreshed, so it really is a 'set and forget' piece of gear.

Chevron Island looked the goods and I quickly picked up two bream (21 cms and 20 cms) on a Berkley Gulp 2" Shrimp in banana, rigged on a 1/20th oz jig head. This was followed shortly after by a spectacular roasting from some big ooglie that wrapped my leader around the closest barnacle-encrusted pylon it could find. Must've been a bream of about 50 cms, I guess. : )

The bite slowed up then so I proceeded upstream, casting at pontoons and marker poles as I went. There were a few kayakers about though, so I motored off and ventured into the Paradise Island canal. The first pontoon on the left as I entered I felt a take but the SP was quickly dropped. I flicked it back into the shade and this time I hooked up. This felt better and I prayed it'd be a bream. Ooh, and it is, too, and definitely legal. About 28 cms, I guess. But jasus, he's only JUST hooked, so I back off the drag and take my time. "Easy fella, easy" I think and I gently guide him towards my net. Only 6 inches to go when shake, shake and he's off and gone! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

Oh man, that hurt! The fishing had been slow and losing one so close like that really kicks you in the guts. To compound my woes, I hook another bream only 20 meters away and he goes 22 cm fork. Aaarrrghh, where's a mallet so I can thump his tail out just 1 more cm? From then on it was as if all the fish had gone for a siesta. I tried HB's, blades, various SP's over a multitude of locations from flats to weed beds to bridge pylons and every single pontoon that came within range.

Time was ticking away and I started to get anxious which was affecting my casting, with targets being missed when they shouldn't have been. 'Time to relax,' I said. So I checked out the map, picked a new location and set off at a leisurely pace while having a cooling drink. Thinking the old tournament motto, that it only takes two casts to get a full bag, I eased into a canal system recomposed and ready to go. I changed to a Squidgie Lobby in grenade and started peppering the jetties, targeting the shady areas.

One of my casts landed right in the zone and immediately my line darted to the left, away from the structure. I lift my Daiwa Advantage rod and yes! I'm on! Staying calm, I keep the pressure on but suddenly my heart is in my mouth when I see he's a beauty. Not huge but good enough for me at this stage in the game. It seemed like an hour but it was probably only a minute before I netted him. That was definitely the most nervous I'd ever been landing a fish and with a hoot and a holler, I slipped him into the Live Well.

What a relief! Getting that first fish in the well is always good but leaving it with only just over an hour to go is cutting it a bit fine. Okay, only one more needed. The very next pontoon I get another touch and soon after that I get roasted again! So that was it, time to leg it and get back to the weigh-in.

I was sure my one fish wouldn't cut the mustard but back on the beach, there were may tales of hard luck and under size fish. As the weigh-in started, I soon realised my lone specimen may do okay. I had one brief moment of panic when I grabbed the weigh bag, ran down to the yak and opened the live Well to find that it was empty. "What the...?" Oh, hang on, wrong yak. D'oh! Too many sand coloured Revo's!

Onto the scales and he's written down as 450 grams which is enough to secure me 3rd spot but more importantly, qualification for the Grand Final at Forster. I was over the moon! Top spot was taken out by Greg Lewis who got the only full bag for the day and 2nd was Brian Rutledge with a very nice fish of 490 grams, which was also the big bream winner. All up, only eight anglers landed a legal fish, which testifies as to how tough the day was.

With Greg taking out the top spot for the day, he also secured the AOY (Angler of the Year) title which was thoroughly deserved based on his excellent form throughout the series. Congratulations, Greg.

So it was a tough day on the water and I'm sure the hot, humid, still conditions and the thousands of watercraft weren't conducive to a good bite. This waterway just oozes breaming potential and I'm sure that with the right conditions, full bags would be the norm for the day. As usual, the day was run with consummate professionalism by ABT and Hobie and these days are an absolute pleasure to fish. The camaraderie is exceptional and the on-water banter reflects the great attitude that everyone has towards this format of competition.

Here is the map of my journey throughout the Nerang. All up I travelled 10.13 kms, which is about the norm for me during a competition of this length. Hopefully next time I'll land a few more fish., though.

Next week, the Grand Final at Forster, where 25 anglers will compete over two days from Hobie supplied kayaks. Forster is a renowned location for big bream so I'm expecting the bags will be up on previous rounds and hopefully someone will nab a bigger bream than Wayne Robinsons 1.32kg bruiser from round one. Forster is another new arena for me, so I guess I'll be pouring over a few maps of the area this coming week. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Cooks River - 21/2/09 & Oyster Bay - 22/2/09

2009-02-25T15:45:00.006+11:00

Cooks River

With work on this weekend, I couldn't manage to get up to the Sunshine Coast for the 2nd Round of the ABT/Hobie Kayak Bream Series so I decided to have a mini comp with just myself in it! To make it a bit tougher, I stuck with the two fish limit but I would only fish for 3 hours AND I'd take a dreaded banana along with me. As far as I'm concerned, I've already dispelled this old wives tale but I like testing it out every now and again just for fun.

The tide was almost at high when I launched and I proceeded over to the freeway wall and started casting some Squidgie lobbys. I'd travelled nearly it's entire length with only two bumps before I hooked up solid and number one came aboard. He was nice and fat I and I guestimated him to be about 700 grams. That's a good start.

Up to the bridge and after 30 minutes of working the pylons with only one small bream for my efforts, I move up to some rockwalls and buntings. I change to a Berkley Gulp 2" Shrimp in banana (ahh, double jinx!!!) and first cast I hook up but it doesn't feel like a bream. A flathead of 40 or so cms emerges from the depths and I slip him off the hook and send him back.

The tide has almost stopped running now and I decide to go a bit more aggressive and rig up with a TT switchblade that I bounce off the bottom with pauses in between. Another legal comes aboard and shortly after that another one but he's not as big so back he goes.

Two more flatties and one more bream (not an upgrade either) and ding, ding, ding, my time is up. The two bream go 1.165 kgs and yes, I did take the banana out before I weighed them. So no monsters but it was a pretty good session with 4 legal bream and three legal flathead landed. Oooh, I hate those bananas...Bwah ha ha. : )

Oyster Bay

Lachlan was pretty cheesed off with me for going fishing without him so I promised him we'd go the next morning. With a banana as well, of course. We launched at 6:45am and set out two

lures, a River 2 Sea Baby Vib and a Ecogear SX40. Lachlan was having a ball pointing out all the jumping mullet but after 5 minutes of trolling he said "Where's the fish?"

No sooner had he finished speaking when his rod jumped in his hands and he yelled "Got one!". I turned the Hobie to face the fish as he wound it in and I knew it was a pretty good one, too. With only minor coaching, he brought it along side and I slipped the net under his biggest bream to date - 27 cms to the fork and he says "Ha, when are YOU gonna catch one?". Show off...

We go off along the shoreline and bang, off goes his rod again. I can see I may have to make him swim to shore. Only 23 to the fork but still legal and he's giggling like a lunatic. Come on, I've gotta get one and finally my rod goes off and this is a good 'un. It feels like a big flathead and she scoots off across the flats. I'm hoping that she hasn't engulfed the SX40 when there is a head shake and she's gone. Bugga! I reel in and the leader is shredded to bits.

Re-rig with a pink Halco Scorpion and this is boofed as soon as it hits the water. Woohoo, I'm finally on the board with a 24 fork breambo. Then Lachlan gets a flattie of 43 cms and It's time to head home.

We troll up another flattie and although it's undersize, Lachlan wants to take it home to show mum. I explained about size limits and why we have to put the small ones back and he finally agreed but still wasn't happy about setting it free. He'll learn though. By the time we got back to the ramp he was all smiles again and I was lucky to get a snapshot with the banana as Lachlan was just about to peel it and guts the lot. Happy yakkin, everyone.

cheers,

Cid

Oyster Bay & Botany Bay - Feb. 2009

2009-02-16T01:01:00.007+11:00

You'd think that after a month of no reports I'd come back with heaps of stories of monster fish and hot sessions reeling in one after the other. Well, you're wrong! I've only snuck out twice and each time was for about 45 minutes each, so the report is fairly brief.

A couple of weeks back I took Lachlan down to Oyster Bay and we managed a few bream to 30 cms and one flattie that went 45 cms but the camera batteries gave up the ghost just after getting a superb dawn shot of Lachlan and the yak. Conditions were ideal and a few of the boys from KFDU were getting a bag of flatties that were falling to Ecogear SX40's.

Then of course, there was the Port Hacking round of the Squidgie Bream Challenge last week and Gary and I managed 16th spot with only 3 fish. It was a really tough day and I've never seen so many watercraft out and about. When we made it back to the ramp, we had to wait 35 minutes to get the boat out. Man, now I know why I have a kayak and not a stinkboat!

Then the rain set in and this afternoon I said "Right, enoughs enough!" and zoomed down to the HWO at Kurnell. Plenty of wind and rain, but no kingies (what do they look like again...). The were however a few tailor about with the best measuring in at 47 cms, so not a bad day really. They all fell to a 6" Mojo skipped across the surface but were only on the chew for 10 minutes so I was lucky to be there at the right time.

Lets hope this weather clears up and we can get back out on the water for a bit longer. Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,
Cid

17/1/09 - ABT/Hobie Kayak Bream Tournament - Hen & Chicken Bay

2009-01-23T09:59:00.005+11:00

Finally the wait was over! History was in the making and it was absolutely sensational to see 43 yakkers turn up. I'm sure there'd have been a few more entrants if that 'slight' breeze had stayed away. Talk about testing weather.

Hobie had organised free drinks for all and I'm sure all anglers were impressed and they quickly realised that this was going to be a fantastic day. The debrief was held at 5:45 am and at 6 am we were off. Our target species - Bream - with a two bag limit and they must be a minimum of 25 cms to the fork to be eligible. Lure and fly only and no trolling.

I had a few plans up my sleeve and when I noted the wind direction, I headed into Exile Bay hoping to pick up a couple over the weed beds. I started off with a Gulp 2" shrimp in Banana, rigged on a 1/20th jighead with 4lb leader. I'd cast with the wind and slowly lift the lure and let it drop back, keeping an eye on my line for a take at any stage. I landed my first at 6:20am but Aaarrggh, only 24 cms so back she goes. Ten minutes later I get another that's 21 cms then straight after that I get one that's bang on 25! Beauty, I'm on the board.

Great camaraderie was the order of the day as there were about eight or nine of us all fishing away and chatting and generally having a ball (as much as could be had with the 20-25 knot gusts, anyway.) An hour later (after another three just undersize), I get one that's 26 cms and that's my bag. This guy fell to a TT Switchblade in gold. Time to upgrade.

I moved off to the marinas and found another dozen or so yakkers trying to get out of the wind. Thirty meters in front of me I see Gary C hook up and it's a cracker that looked about 40 cms to me. Lots of well dones from everyone nearby but as soon as he was out of earshot it was 'You lucky bastard!' All in good jest, mind you and it was great to see some quality fish being landed.

I moved about a bit and managed flatties, whiting, flounder and more undersize bream but that was it for me. Heading home into the wind was fun...NOT, and I stayed relatively dry until I jumped out of the yak at the beach, stood on a slippery rock and went A over T as Steve from Hobie was taking photos. I hope he didn't get that shot!

The weigh-in was great and I think all realised how exciting a live weigh-in is and when Wayne brought up his two thumpers, you should have heard the "Oohs and Ahhs' from the crowd. Kraley was leading up until then, too. Wayne took the first place out easily and all from a Hobie Sport. Go the Sports!

Everyone at this stage was chatting away and it was great to walk up and down the beach and see how others have pimped their yaks. The set-up from Hobie and ABT and Sailing Scene was sensational and the professionalism really shone through with a smooth, fun event had by all. Big thanks to Steve, Steve, Paul and of cause Bazoo, who graciously decided to give us all a chance and stayed on shore looking after the BBQ.

I had a chat with Steve Morgan from ABT afterwards and he was wrapped with the turnout. He said that normally for a first off series they get about 20 entrants, so to have over double that amout was superb. Another interesting fact he revealed was that the average size of bream from the Ausopen held just before this event was 550 grams while us yakkers (being the supremely better anglers ) averaged 610 grams.

I can only see this as being the beginning of great things for the Kayak Tournament Scene. Before we know it, we'll have our own AFC style show with Bream, Bass and Barra (how good would that be) rounds on prime time TV. And we were all there at the start of it. Congratulations to all involved (especially the top 5 that had great bags which included Scott that now has bragging rights! ) and bring on the next tournament! Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Squidgie Bream Challenge - Round 3 Hawkesbury

2009-01-14T14:13:00.007+11:00

Sorry for the lack of photos (battery died on me) but 51 teams, after lining up at the start (Photo courtesy of http://www.ausbream.com.au/) spread out through Pittwater and the Hawkesbury after 5 breambos! Gary and I had a plan and it was simple - fish the weedbeds at the back of Palm Beach. This spot has been very popular the last few years and it has become known as "The Parking Lot". Today there were about a dozen boats so it wasn't too bad really.

First off we started catching Pike and Long Toms. Then a Snapper, then a Whiting...then a Flathead. Sheesh! Are there any bream down there? At the top of the tide, we moved off hoping to find a few before we returned when the tide started running out.

We found a small reef and Gary hooked up to a good fish. Nice strong runs, definately not a Flattie but also definately not a Bream when we saw it. Bloody Luderick! Nice at 35 cms but useless to us. A few casts later and just a few feet from the surface, a King screams up from the depths, grabs Gary's Switchblade and zooms back off. The next ten minutes I listened to Gary yelling 'Give me my lure back!', which he finally achieved.

The tide turned so we went back to the weed beds. It was 10:45 am and we still hadn't seen a bream. 10:46 am and Gary hooks up and it's numero uno in the live well. Ten minutes later, I add number two which is followed 5 minutes after that by the third, courtesy of Gary. Fifteen minutes and 3 fish, that's more like it.

We were using Gulp 2" Shrimps in Banana or Peppered colours as well as Squidgie Lobbys in the grenade colour, all rigged on 1/24 oz TT jigheads. I feel a tentative tap and set the hook into some solid weight. This guy screamed off and I was done and dusted within 5 seconds. Ooh, that was a beauty. But I make up for it a few minutes later with our fourth. Just one to go but the conditions are deteriorating, with the wind really kicking up now. Five minutes of fishing time left and I'm busted up by another good fish! Aaaarrggghhhh.

That was it for us and our bag went 2.404 kgs, which wasn't bad for 4 fish. The winners had 3.786 kgs for 5 fish, with two of the fish just under a kg each. Real bruisers. Overall we came 8th and were only out of the top 5 by 400 grams.

ABT/HOBIE Kayak Bream Tournament - Bayview Park, saturday, 17th January.

Just a reminder that this weekend sees Sydneys first ever Kayak only Bream Tournament on Hen & Chicken Bay. I know many yakkers have been waiting years for these to eventuate and now they're here, lets give them the support needed to see this format grow. If we can get close to 100 entrants, then the fishing magazines and tackle suppliers will see what a real force we kayakers are with regards to the fishing industry which will only bode well for the yakking fraternity.

Any type of kayak can enter and for rules and entry forms, please visit http://www.bream.com.au/. The comp starts at 6am and weigh-in is at 12pm, so even if you don't want to compete, come on down and meet some fellow yakkers and check out some of the pimped rides.

Hen & Chicken Bay holds some quality bream and there are a multitude of areas to target, from flats, to weed beds and moored boats and marinas. Plenty of room for lots of kayaks and there should be some great fish weighed in at the end of the day. I can't wait! Good luck to all the competitors and I'll see you down there. Come up and say hi. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay - 27/12/08 & 30/12/08

2009-01-07T21:34:00.006+11:00

Back to work and I've had a complete break from technology, which is why there hasn't been a report for a while. During the break I made it out a few times, mostly getting in practice for the bream comps coming up, especially the ABT/Hobie tournament that will be held at Hen & Chicken Bay on the 16th January. I've been waiting for a dedicated kayak comp for years and I can't wait for this very first one in Sydney. I hope there will be a good turn-out to support it.

Terry and I ventured out just after Christmas and tried for a few kings around the HWO. No luck there, so we went spinning for flatties instead. We managed 4 each up to 52 cms so it turned out to be a fairly good session.

On the 30th December, Terry, Lachlan and I made our way out to Towra Point. On the way Lachlan trolled up his first pike and if we'd have been fishing for jewies, he'd have been prime live-bait (the pike that is, not Lachlan). Lucky for him, we were after flatties and bream, so back he went. We'd no sooner arrived at our destination when Lachlan said he didn't feel well. There goes the fishing, so 'See ya, Terry' we say, and head back to shore. We didn't end up missing out on much though as Terry only picked up two flatties, a trevally and a bream.

Twice I've fished the flats and weed beds just out from Oyster Bay this year and picked up a few bream and half a dozen flatties each time. No real size to the bream but the flatties were close to 50 cms, with the best landed going 56 cms. I lost an absolute croc that would have been close to 80 cms when it shook its head at the side of the yak just out of the nets reach and sawed through the 6lb leader. I'd have let her go anyway, so I'll count it as a capture. Close enough is near enough. : )

This weekend Gary and I are fishing the 3rd round of the Squidgie Bream Series up on the Hawkesbury River. Stay tuned for the report next week. Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,

Cid

Parramatta River - 14/12/08 & Oyster Bay - 21/12/08

2008-12-24T23:41:00.008+11:00

Squidgie Bream Challenge Round 2 - Parramatta River

While Gary sat and drank bourbons in the pool on Hamilton Island, Terry and I braved the 30 knot winds (again!) for a rather unspectacular bag. We only managed 2 fish and didn't even crack the top 20. Sure, we lost a few crackers but the only fish of note landed was a nice whiting of 40 cms that Terry picked up with ten minutes to go.

Oh, and Terry did hook a monster...the only trouble was that the monster was him. Ouch! Right in past the barb and it took him about 20 minutes of cursing, crying and yelling to get the hook out. Makes me wonder how the fish get off so easily sometimes.

Oyster Bay - Lachlans 1st fishing trip

I remember a family holiday at Nords Wharf on Lake Macquarie when I was four years old and the days were spent with my father, drifting around in a tinnie, catching bream, flathead, whiting and blue swimmer crabs. That holiday was golden and my dad instilled in me a love for fishing that will be with me forever.

I felt that my son, Lachlan, who is four, was ready to come out in the yak and I'd attempt to get him hooked on this wonderful lifestyle we lead. He was a bit sceptical when I woke him at 5 am but was keen to get in the yak as soon as we reached Oyster Bay.

Drifting the flats with one lure out the back and casting ahead with the other (I'd cast and Lachlan would wind in), it didn't take long to get a hit and Lachlan was ecstatic. This was no record breaker but it bought back those fond memories again as this was the same type of fish that I'd caught for the first time all those years ago. A bream! Not legal but Lachlans eyes were wide with wonder and he readily accepted why we had to put him back.

Over the next two hours, I had the best fishing session ever. Not because we caught the most fish or the biggest but because I was there with Lachlan, teaching him what had been taught to me by my dad and watching him get excited over the same things all us anglers do. After 3 fish, he wanted to land them on his own and I was surprised when he managed it, too.

The final tally for the day was 8 fish - 6 to Lachlan and 2 to Dad, with four keepers (3 flatties and 1 bream). Back home he couldn't wait to show off his fish and was grinning like a Cheshire Cat when Grandpa took some snapshots.

We snuck out again for a quick session this arvo and landed a hefty flattie that went close to 60 cms which was closely followed by another about 40 cms. When we'd packed up and finished putting the kayak away he said, "When are we going again, Dad?"

It looks like I've got a new fishin' buddy.

Unfortunately my father died 17 years ago but I know he'd get just as big a buzz out of seeing Lachlan enjoying himself as I do. I never said it at Lake Macquarie when I was four but I'll say it now.

Thanks, Dad.

Happy yakkin', everyone and may you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay - 8/12 to 12/12/08

2008-12-13T22:57:00.006+11:00

I made it out for another few sessions this week but do you think I could land a legal Kingfish (65 cms)? The closest I came was 63 cms (about 4 times) but I did get smoked twice. I caught up with a few different guys out there and on friday morning there was ten of us bobbing around out there.

Once again they were hitting anything thrown. Poppers (from small to HUGE), SP's (all colours and types) and even metal slices. There'd be a frenzy of action for a few minutes then it'd go all quiet again. Then someone would hook up, and another two or three guys would get crunched as well.

Andrew (Rebel1 from AKFF) had been out most days and had a blinder with DaveyG where they landed about twenty each with Davey getting the biggest at 80 cms. But Andrew went out again this morning for zip. Not even a hit. Funny creatures these fish.

No Kingie action for me this weekend as it's the 2nd round of the Squidgie Bream comp. It's being launched from Bayview in hen and Chicken Bay and there should be over forty teams again which will make for a challenging day. Add the forecast wind and the murky water from the torrential rain we've just had, and it'll be doubly challenging!!!

Gary is up on Hamilton Island (catching Coral Trout, the swine) so I'm partnering with Terry for this one. Let's hope I can pull my finger out and land a couple this time. Happy yakkin, everyone.

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay - 29/11/08 & 2/12/08

2008-12-02T22:07:00.005+11:00

After last weeks efforts, it was pretty obvious where we were going to try next time. Saturday morning was just as calm in the grey light as wednesday but the obvious difference were the amount of boats zooming about. Terry was first off with a cast and straight away he hooks up. My cast is only a few seconds later and ditto, I'm on, too. These guys although spirited, were obviously undersize so it was quickly into the yak and back into the water for them.

Next cast and we both hook up again. Woo Hoo! Slightly bigger but still only about 60 cms. And that was it with the poppers (I find as soon as it's gets light they go a bit deeper), so we change to the Mojos. All up we managed about 6 each with two big reefings to our credit. No legals but great to see such healthy stocks of fish about.

I'm sure they went off the bite early due to the amount of power boat traffic. What really cheesed us off was a guy that raced straight over to where we were fishing before cutting the engine, then he rattled around with his anchor chain before tossing it over. If there had of been any kingies left in the area, they certainly weren't here now. : ( We gave it another 5 minutes without a touch and headed for home.

This morning I just had to have another quick flick and was greeted by two other yakkers already fishing, Andrew and Kevin (hi guys). They were also getting stuck into the kings and it was triple hookups a lot of the time. Once again they were mainly rats, such as Andrews here, but at least there were plenty to go around. No power boats to put them off and it was action aplenty until 6 am when they shut down. We floated about chatting for a ten minutes or so when ZZzzzzzzzzzzz, we're all away again.

I hooked my biggest for the day (felt like a beauty, too) on the last cast but the swine busted me off on something. Biggest I landed today went 63 cms, so I was only 2 cms off a legal one. I really do need to get some heavier gear as the 15 lb braid just doesn't cut it sometimes. I hope the weather holds for another early morning session this week. Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Georges River - 23/11/08 & Botany Bay - 26/11/08

2008-11-27T16:00:00.007+11:00

Squidgie Bream Challenge

25-30 knot winds with gusts up to 40 knots. Sensational breamin' weather...NOT! These conditions completely stuffed any ideas that Gary and I had of venturing up to the Cooks River. Instead we stuck it out in the Georges which was a battle enough in the wind.

Things started off slowly until we hit some weedbeds that we figured would fish ok with the falling tide. Gary eventually rigged up with a Gulp 2" Banana Prawn and bang!, was on straight away. A few minutes later, he added number two to the well. After about 3 hours I finally get a hit and it's a small flattie. Not long after that I get another take and this one is much better..but it's still a flattie. Very nice size at 65 cms but useless in a bream comp.

As the day wore on, we slowly added bream until we had our 5 bag and even added a couple of upgrades. When I say we, I actually mean that Gary hooked them, I netted them and then put them into the well. I couldn't catch a bream for love nor money. Talk about being a spectator! And with 10 minutes to go I finally hook up to another decent fish but this time it's a whiting that stretches out to 44 cms. Sheesh...

Our (ie Gary's) bag ended up weighing 2.16 kgs which saw us nab 16th place out 41 boats, so not too bad considering the conditions. And to top it all off, two out of the top five boats caught their bream in the Cooks! Aaaarrgghhh.... Sorry Gary, next time I'll do better, I promise. : )

Botany Bay Kingie Madness

I'd heard that there were a few kingies around in Botany Bay so I ventured out for a midweek early morning session. Perfect conditions saw me flicking out an East Coast Popper bang on 5:30 am. Six or seven cranks of the handle and 'BOOF-O', I'm on! At first I thought it was a tailor but a strong run had me thinking that maybe it's a king. I had to go fairly easy with the 6lb braid and eventually I netted a feisty king that was about 60 cms. And first cast too, how sweet is that?

Just in case there were a few more bigger guys about, I upped the tackle to my 15lb outfit and threw out a 6" Mojo SP. Another surface smash knocks the lure flying and I can hardly control myself to fire off the next cast. I let it sink for a fews econds, then get two winds away when I'm on solid. Ooh, this feels like a good 'un. The line zings through the guides and I'm being towed back to the beach. Lot's of surging runs and I keep sideways pressure on him to tire him out. When I eventually see him through the slightly murky water I think, "Yowser, this could be close to a meter!". I make sure he's totally knackered before I tail grab him and haul him into the yak. Woo Hoo! He's a new PB for sure but on closer inspection, I don't think he'll go a meter. In fact, he came in at 89 cms and 5.82 kgs, so I wasn't too far off my estimate.

As I'm re-rigging, a school of kings busts up in front of me, so I throw on an olive green Sluggo this time, seeing if the colour change will make a difference. Another instant hook up, so no, it doesn't make a difference! This one goes about 55 cms and the next one I land is probably about 70 cms. I've already kept the big one which is enough for me, so anything I catch now goes back to grow bigger and wiser.

I change lures again, this time to a Squidgie Slick Rig and it's nailed as well. I continue changing lures and it doesn't matter what I use, they are getting hit. Another angler in a hornet (Brad) had turned up and had landed a few on poppers but they'd stopped hitting them and all he had were 3" plastics which he wasn't having any luck on. I gave him a couple of the Mojo's and he was back into them straight away.

At about 7:45 am they switched off which was my cue to go home. What a session! I'd say I landed about 12 kings between 50-65 cms and 5 between 65-89 cms. Plus I was reefed three times as well by some bigger guys, so I may have to take out some heavier tackle next time. Next time? When will that be? Two parties to go to this weekend sees an early session on saturday or sunday unlikely.. Cough, cough...Ooh, I hope I'm not sick during the work next week... ; ) Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,

Cid

Cooks River - 9/11/08

2008-11-16T21:56:00.005+11:00

Still working too much and about to go up to Coffs Harbour for a week (but without the yak). Ripped off! I've just finished loading the car so thought I'd better throw this quick report up.

Nice conditions and a good tide last week but STILL the fishing is sloooooow. Plus the water was down a couple of degrees from last week. All up I only managed two decent bream, one falling to a blade over the flats, the other from a bridge pylon on a Gulp Sandworm in camo.

As I was heading back I flicked one of my rigged blades towards a channel marker and it was crunched immediately and I thought I had the bream from hell on the other end. But 10 seconds into the fight I felt the 'thump, thump, thump' up the line and knew it was a good trevally instead. Not a bad size at 46cm's and I was wondering what he was doing all the way up here.

Next week Gary and I will be fishing our first bream comp for the season. It'll be the 1st round of the Squidgies Bream Challenge which will be run on Botany Bay. Man, I hope the fishing improves! So stay tuned next week for the report in which hopefully, I'll have photos of Gary and I grinning from ear to ear because we took it out. : ) Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,
Cid

Cooks River & Botany Bay - 2/11/08

2008-11-05T14:27:00.005+11:00

3 weeks without fishing is crapola! To make up for it, we were hoping the fish would turn it on for us and come out chewing their heads off. The sky was overcast, the tide had just started to run in and the water was up to 20.5 degrees. All signs looked promising. We started off by fishing the Airport Bridge and Terry dropped one right at the start. This was obviously a big mistake as we're sure the little bugga swam around telling all the other fish to be on the lookout.

Bites were few and far between until I finally managed to land my first bream of the day that went 32cm to the fork. But that was it from there so we moved out into the bay to start fishing some of the sand flats.

The action was a little better out here (though not by much) and I managed to get a mixed bag of bream, trevally and a tailor. All the bites were fairly tentative and we couldn't figure it out. Maybe there was still a bit too much fresh in the system and in hindsight, fishing deeper may have been the way to go.

Terry had landed a flathead and I left him to continue along the drop off as I had to head for home. Apparently, just after I'd gone, a small school of tailor busted up but Terry said they were only choppers and there were no legals among them.

To finish off, Terry ended up with 3 nice flatties, all caught on a TN60. And, he also managed an unusual by-catch on the TN60: a squid. The unlucky guy was hooked by one of the trebles in just one of his tentacles. He was soooooo close to getting away. That's life, eh?

I must say that the fishing hasn't been all that great in the Bay lately and I'm starting to wonder if all the dredging that's going on is having an adverse effect on the fish. I'm hoping it's just a slow start to summer and that things will come good any day now. I hope... Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Parramatta River - 8/10/08 & Botany Bay - 11/10/08

2008-10-13T22:23:00.006+11:00

Another 2 reports but for one of them I was on a dirty, rotten, filthy, stink boat...but gees, I still had fun! A midweek session with Gary Brown (http://www.garybrownfishing.com.au/) on the Parramatta River was a chance to practice for upcoming bream tournaments and the early morning start saw us land a few nice flathead, the best going 55cm's and we ended up keeping 6 for the BBQ.

The bream were fairly quiet today but we still managed to swing a few onboard with the 38cm fella above being our biggest for the day. All the bream we caught were nice and fat though so at least they are in good condition.

Over one of the flats we worked, Gary had his Ecogear VX40 crunched big-time and we thought he had a ripper of a bream on the other end but when he eventually came to the surface he'd turned into this cracker of a whiting. Just over 40cm's and another welcome addition for the pan.

The water temp is slowly creeping up and surely it can't be too long now before the bream really start to put in a few great days for us.

Before the weekend chores, I raced down to the HWO on saturday morning for an hour to see if any kings were about. No luck there but I did land a few trevally (mostly on the blades again. These lures are great!) and dropped a nice bream right at the side of the yak.

On the way back in I did a sneaky and quickly had a flick under the oil jetty amongst the pylons. I felt some weight as the SP slowly sank, so I struck and ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip....ka-ping! I had no chance of stopping this guy and I was left with shakey hands to rig up again. Another cast to the same pylons and ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip....ziiiiiiiiip....ka-PING! Aaarrrggghh, done over again. On with some 10lb leader, another cast and bloody hell, I'm on again and it's looking like a repeat of the first two. I clamp down on the spool with my hand and now it's a brute strength tug-o-war and somethings gotta give. Unfortunately, it was the hook, which half straightened out which was enough for the fish to get off. Ooh, 3 casts and each one an adrenaline producing rush.

The bites stopped after that but when heading off I did see a couple of schools of bream which looked like they had a few 40cm+ specimens among them. Ah well, better luck next time, I guess. And to the two yakkers that were heading out in the Viking Tempo (I think that's what it was), I hope you had a great day and got into a few fish. I'm sorry I didn't get your names but thanks for saying hi and I'm glad you like the website. Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,
Cid

2008-10-07T22:39:00.005+11:00

Multiple reports this week so let’s get straight into them:

Cooks River – 27/9/08
Terry and I launched at 5am although due to a mix up in communication, we were at different ramps! Deciding to meet in the middle, we fished our way towards each other. By the time we met, I had one bream and one flathead while Terry had one bream and had been royally smoked by another that did him over on the oyster-encrusted rocks.

Drifting along and chatting, there was a lone branch sticking out of the water. I flicked my SP and Terry flicked his Pygmy II HB. I snag up and Terry hooks up! And this thing took off like a banshee. It ran straight under my yak so I quickly pushed the mirage drive fins up against the hull. Some swift rod work by Terry sees him work the fish clear and he lands a ripper bream that goes 42cm’s total length.

A few minutes later, Terry lands a 50cm Flattie while all I can get is a Trevally. Pffft, show-off…

Georges River – 4/10/08
The water temp was over 20 degrees but the fish are still not playing fairly. We worked some weedbeds with blades and landed a mixed bag of whiting, flatties and bream but none of them were monsters. I let a banana tag along to give the theory another chance to trip me up (or tip me over, I suppose) but I still managed to catch a few.

WSBB Devlins Bass Comp – 5/10/08
One of the regular social days was held by WSBB (http://www.wsbb.com.au/smf/index.php?topic=2263.0 for the full report) and although I didn’t attend, Terry did and managed to take out top spot for the day with a few nice bass. I’ll let him tell the story so here is his report:

A very calm morning with no wind & thunder in the back ground made it very promising to catch a Bass or two. We left from the ramp at 6 am to our hot spots Half an hour into fishing & I scored, on the board. Yeeha! 200mm got a few at that size which I was hoping for a bigger model. By 9am I finally got a 265mm; it was tough going to get a descent fish. But just as it was nearly time to head back, caught some quality fish taken on SP'S which things looked promising for the win. It was a awesome day & plenty of action.

That's Terry for you, good on the bream and good on the bass. Like I said, show off! ; ) Well done, buddy. Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay - 13/09/08

2008-09-16T22:57:00.007+10:00

Ok, it's spring, the weather is getting warmer and we arrived right at the crack of dawn...so where are the tailor and kingies??? Terry and I were positive there'd be a few about but nary a nibble could we get on our various soft plastics and metal spinners. However, we did notice a few schools of 2" long baitfish that shadowed our yaks, which is definitely a promising sign. Another few weeks and the singing of reels should be sweet music to our ears.

To ensure we didn't go home empty handed, we started to target various marker bouys and channel markers with 3" minnows and 6" sandworms. I was first on the board with a 30cm trevally and a few minutes later, dropped a slightly bigger one right next
to the yak. Aarrggh! Terry then called out he was on and landed the first bream for the day.

We continued out to the Sticks and by now the wind had dropped off completely and it was a magical day to be out on the water, too. A few more bream and couple of small squire came over the side of the hobies before I landed my best treva for the day - a 36cm specimen that had a later appointment with my BBQ.

The water temp was about 16 degrees which is up a couple from a few weeks ago. Thankfully the legs don't have to freeze off while launching anymore. This weekend I'm tempted to give the bass a go but it might need a couple more weeks before they to start to really come on the chew. I'll decide on friday where to go, based on the weather this week, I suppose. Either way, whether salt or fresh, it'll be good to be out. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Botany Bay - August

2008-09-08T21:35:00.007+10:00

No fishing for me this week due to the crapola weather that saturday turned on but I managed to catch up with Pete Smith from the Compleat Angler store in the Dymocks Building in the city (http://www.compleatangler.com.au) who was the lucky bugga that landed that corker of a tailor that I reported on last week. Excuse the quality of the snap, but it's a photo of a photo, as Pete didn't have a digital copy.

The short story is that Pete was chasing bream in Botany Bay (at a secret spot, as for some reason he wouldn't tell me where!) from his canoe and was using one of the new Koolabung X-ray blade lures (pink and white). He felt a bump on one cast and momentarily hooked up before dropping the fish. Thinking it was a bream, he fired off back to the same spot and whamo!, hooked up solid.

Luckily for Pete, he'd hooked the fish right at the front of the mouth and the line was safely out of the way of those considerable chompers. The brute went 64cm's fork length and the total length was 74cm's (I think, sorry if i'm wrong Pete). This is easily the biggest tailor that I've personally seen come out of Botany Bay and the fact that it was landed on bream gear is a fine testament to Pete's angling skills. To get the full account, drop in and quiz Pete and maybe you'll be able to get the exact location out of him. : )

I think I may just have to head out on the weekend and see if I can get one myself. Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay - 30/8/08

2008-09-02T22:08:00.004+10:00

Well Hallelujah! After bad weather, holidays, work and 'it's too damn cold to go fishing' sleep ins, I managed to get out on the blue wobbly stuff. As I dragged the Hobie down the beach off Foreshore rd, I noticed that the distinct nip in the air that had been lurking around for far-to-long now, was conspicuous by it's absence. Let's hope that the worst has left us until next year and we can get back to some summer sessions accompanied by lots of fish.

I was after a feed and hoped that the flats would hold a few flatties that, hopefully, would lurk about in the shallows trying to soak up some of the warmth from the sun. I made my way out along the 3rd runway, casting towards the runway from the marker bouys and I had rigged up a 3" Gulp minnow in pumpkinseed on a

1/16th jig head. The first fish for the day was a small wrasse which received a nice hello before be set free.

A few casts later however, I felt a distinct thump and knew that I had one for the BBQ. A nice run followed by a couple of head shakes that settled down quickly and my best flathead for quite a while slid into the net. 55cm's long and it's right on the limit for what I'll keep.

With the monkey off my back, I kept casting and dropped a fish only 20 meters fruther along. The next 10 minutes passed with nary a touch until again there was a quick chomp and number two at 45cm's joined his mate in the livewell. That was enough for me for dinner so I moved about and had a few throws at the marker poles in the hopes of an early kingie but it looks like I'll have to wait a little longer.

I kept my eyes open for any surface activity but there wasn't a seagull in sight, let alone any bust-ups. The tailor have been pretty scarce for me this winter but I spoke to fellow angler last week that landed a 75cm tailor over near Kurnell. What a monster! He's promised to get me the photo, so if I get it, I'll put it up next week.

Oh, and Happy Bass Day for yesterday, too. I'm hoping the bass season will be a ripper and I look forward to getting out and flicking a few surface lures up under cover, waiting for that adrenaline-enducing water explosion when your lure is engulfed by that bronzed Aussie icon. Ooh, I can't wait. Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay - 20/7/08

2008-07-29T22:18:00.004+10:00

Work is still the bane of my existence but at least it keeps the wolves from my door. It was a week and a half ago that Terry and I ventured out of the Cooks River and over towards the runway as during the week he'd bagged a half a dozen salmon on SP's over the flats. Showing the stability of the Hobie Outback, Terry stood to cast a popper at a few surface boils not far away, but to be honest, I think he was trying to temp the Qantas jet. Thank God he didn't hook up! : )

Unfortunately, the boils only proved to be small chopper tailor that were no bigger than 25cm's. There were no signs of any salmon on the surface and our submerged SP's couldn't raise a scale either. We started to target the marker bouys and eventually picked up a few legal bream but nothing to write home about. I hooked what felt like a nice trevally (thump, thump, thump coming back up the line) but I pulled the hooks on it 30 seconds into the fight. A minute later, Terry lands one but he's in a generous mood and sets it free to grow a little more.

Heading back I switch to a TT Switchblade and start working the flats, hoping for a flathead. No flatties but I did manage to rack up another species on the blade, this time a Flounder that came home with me and tasted magnificent once filleted and dipped in a beer batter and served up with fresh lime wedges, Maldon Sea salt and cracked black pepper. Mmmm Mmmm...

The weather is looking a bit dicey this weekend but if there's a chance, I'll give it a go somewhere. I just hope it warms up a little...

cheers,

Cid