Botany Bay - 1/11/07 & 3/11/07

As I write this report I can hear it howlin' about 20 knots outside and it's chucking the rain down in bucketloads. I think I might sleep in tomorrow. But last week conditions were great for some early sessions and twice I snuck out and was home before the family were outta bed. I'm yet to get a legal kingfish this season so I'm going to perservere at the HWO until I get one. The last few times have seen tailor biting their heads off and this time was no different. The EastCoast Splash n' Dash worked wonders again and it's now looking decidedly chewed. Any colour I threw today was successful and a quick retreive had fish climbing all over them.

Once the tailor disappeared, I switched to the Mojo Sp's and the third cast was hit just as it landed. I thought it must've been a tailor but the strong, deep run told me Mr.King had grabbed hold. Line wasn't peeling off at a great rate though and this guy was quickly subdued. He put on an acrobatic display when I got him to the surface so I took a few quick snaps of him dancing away. 60cm's on the tape and he's back into the ocean to fight another day.

A couple of other kayakers had arrived (Tim and I'm sorry, but I've forgotten your mates name) and Tim was soon into a king also. I switched from the blue Mojo to the yellow to see if it made a difference. Well, I guess not, as 5 minutes later I'm hooked up to number 2! This guy has a bit more grunt and when I measure him he's HEAPS bigger than the first at 61cm's. : ) What a monster... Another one goes back but at least now I only have 4cm's to go until I catch a legal one this spring.

Saturday morning was a bit windy and overcast but nothing too extreme. But where were the tailor? Not a nibble. Ok, let's try for kings...Zip. Funny how only a few days apart can be so different. I switched to a Mirashad minnow HB as the guys from the other day had been getting into the trevors. The first fish is a cracker that was 47cm's long and screamed off at the start. The next two were a bit smaller at 38 and 39 cm's but they went almost as hard. I stuck with the HB's today but another great method for targetting these guys is to drift over the sand and flick and twitch SP's such as a 3" bass minnow in watermelon colour rigged on a 1/16th oz jighead. They'll hit them nice and hard but just remember to go fairly gentle on them as their mouths are quite soft. Bream are also a very real prospect using this technique, too.

I hope this weather improves soon so I can get out and tangle with a few thumper bream as I reckon after these storms, the bream will go nuts. Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,
Cid

Botany Bay - 24-1-07 & Georges River - 28-10-07

With it being light enough to get out on the water nice and early, I love having a mid-week session before work. Quite a few of the guys from AKFF (http://www.akff.net/) having been getting stuck into the Kings and I was eager to get my arms stretched as well. I set off for my local launch spot at Kurnell and found tailor lining up to snaffle my lures. The SP's were copping a real hiding and I lost at least six good fish by being bitten off. I'll have to get some of that knotable wire trace, I think. I switched to poppers but surprisingly they weren't the least bit interested. Back to the SP's and whooshka! they're all over them again.

I finally managed to stay connected to a good one that stretched to 47cm's and by the time I'd landed it, the fish had moved on. It was like someone had flicked a switch and turned them all off. Oh well, at least now I could get my Mojo's down near the bottom and jig them back to the yak without them being shredded. After 10 minutes or so I get a solid take and I just knew I'd hooked my first king for the season. : ) No big runs though, so I figured he wouldn't be legal and at 55cm's he has a bit more growing up to do. A quick photo and he's back into the wet stuff.

That was about it except for a single bream I picked up on a Gulp 3" minnow in the Nuclear Chicken colour which was followed the next cast by a very quick bust-up by what would have been a very big bream amongst some very fishy looking pylons. Sometimes 6lb leader just ain't strong enough...When I reached the shore I set the guy free and took a happy snap as he said goodbye.

Summer sees the start of the bream tournament season and I'm partnering up with Gary Brown for the Squidgies Series. The first round is on the Georges River on the 25th November and Ausbream had a social day as a bit of a pre-fish last sunday. Ok, so we weren't in kayaks so it doesn't really count as fishing ; ) but I can tell you I felt very out of place being that high above the water!

Man, I hope Gary and I pull our fingers out for the tournament because we didn't get much for our 7 hours worth of fishing. I managed 2 bream which amazingly saw me clinch 3rd place but only because it had been a lousy day for most of the other competitors, too. The only fish of any note was a 48cm flattie that took a liking to my 6" sandworm. A month can make a world of difference though and I'm sure the Georges will be firing for the comp. Fingers crossed, Gary and I will be firing, too. Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,
Cid

Oyster Bay - 6-10-07 & Botany Bay 14-10-07

Last weekend, Chris, Mick, Terry and I went after bream in Oyster Bay and the Georges River. Conditions were perfect and we hoped for a great session but for some reason, the bream weren't willing to play. We still managed a few between us though, with Chris getting the best of the day - a 32cm fork battler that had him in knots amongst some jetty pylons. Great rod work extracted the fish though and the performance was duly appreciated by us onlookers.

Flatties were out in force though, with Mick and Terry landing half a dozen each on a variety of HB's and SP's. We also bumped into Buj and a Andrew (9Ball) from KFDU (www.kfdu.com.au) that had also cleaned up on the flatties by working HB's over the flats in the upper reaches of Oyster Bay. Good to see you guys!

There's been some great kingfish sessions off Clovelly lately and I joined a group of about seven like-minded yakkers midweek to tangle with these mighty adversaries. If only we'd told the kingies to turn up, though! The water was a bit lumpy (it's Gatesy in the photo) and there were thousands of Blue Bottles which had been absent the earlier days. Maybe these put them off the bite. I think one or two small kingies were landed but nothing to write home about. Gatesy had been braining them over the last week and his best session was 9 legals in just over two hours, all caught on lures. Sensational fishing when you can get it. And well done on passing your exams, Michael. Congrat's.

Finally, Terry and I launched from La Perouse today hoping to find some schools of salmon near the mouth of the bay. There was no surface activity first thing in the morning, so we headed over towards Molineux Point. This turned out to be an excellent choice as birds started working within Yarra Bay as we approached. Out go the lures and yeehah! Double hook ups are on the cards. Two tailor hit the decks and it's grins all round.

And so it was for the next two hours but we had to keep our eyes peeled to find the feeding schools. They'd come up for only 20 or 30 seconds and you had to be ready to cast as soon as you were close enough. At one stage we had a school nice and close and Terry had just hooked up on his metal lure when his SX40 he had out the back took off too! In the photo you'll see one rod between his legs with it's tip bent down into the water while he's playing the other fish. Bloody show-off! : )

One of the fish I landed coughed up what they'd been feeding on and it proved that my lure had matched the hatch perfectly. Here is the half a pilchard/anchovy type of baitfish shown next to my SP which landed all my fish today.

We were hoping that there'd be a few salmon underneath the schools of tailor but today it wasn't to be. If you could manage to get your lures under the surface fish, the avarage size was a bit better though. Most fish were in the 35-37cm range, with my two best both going 40cm's. Not monsters, sure, but on light gear they're great fun. Terry and I probably landed over a dozen each and we easily dropped that many as well. As the sun rose the schools busted-up less, so if you're planning on chasing a few tailor, nice and early is the way to go. Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,
Cid

Cooks River - 29/9/07 & Liverpool Weir - 1/10/07

Terry and I stood on the beach on Foreshore Rd with the predicted 10 knot winds (yeah, right) blowing sand into our faces. 'Fugg this,' we thought and made a quick retreat to the Cooks River to target a few bream out of the wind. The Cooks is one of my favourite breaming waters and it normally fishes best on an outgoing tide. Even though the tide was running in, I assured Terry we'd get a few.

At the Princes Hwy road bridge we flicked our SP's between the pylons. I was using a Gulp 6" Sandworm in camo and felt a bump as the lure dropped. I set the hook and this thing ran away from the pylons into open water. 'What's this?' I thought. 'I'm sure it's not a bream.' And it wasn't either. My first jewfish for the warmer months surfaced and I was pretty chuffed. No record breaker, he probably went about 50cm's but gees they're a beautiful fish. I checked to make sure he wasn't tagged, took a few quick snaps and back into the wet stuff he went.

And that was about it for our session on the Cooks! I landed two small flatties and Terry snared our only bream for the day, picked up on an SX40 cast in towards the mangroves. Very frustrating indeed. Except for the jewie, of course! : )

Monday morning I only had 2 hours spare and figured it was about time I got my first bass of the season. I set off for Liverpool Weir and slid the kayak into the fresh at 5:30am. I had the whole place to myself and I started with a few surface fizzers and poppers. Nuthin'! Figuring they may be down deep, I tied on one of East Coasts single bladed spinners rigged with a 1" grub. Purple had been working well in the Nepean, so I gave that colour a whirl first. Not having caught a bass on a spinnerbait before (well, I hooked a big bugga but lost it a few weeks ago) I was hoping my technique was right. A nice slow roll is what I hoped would turn them on seeing as the bass didn't seem very active. 'Bump, bump' and yes, the rod loads up. Into view comes one of the lovely little locals and it's now officially my first bass on a spinner! 28cm's and no matter what happens from now on, the trip is a success!

About 10 minutes later, I'm on again! Oh, this is great fun. This guy absolutely smashes my previous spinner record as he goes on the lie detector and stretches out to a whole 29cm's. Magic! Two PB's (sort of) in one day.

Another two bass came out to play - one to the spinner (go East Coast) and one to a purple SX40. Purple really worked for me today but who knows if it will work next time. I may have to try another colour to see what happens. Four fish in 2 hours was enough to keep me happy though. I've only fished here twice and I hear that the bass aren't huge but at least they are about. It was good to see they were all really healthy specimens, too. No red blotches or ratty fins. Let's hope they grow and prosper. Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,
Cid

Botany Bay - 19/9/07

I absolutely love these warm spring days with nary a breath of wind, which is how the morning dawned when I set off onto Botany Bay in search of a few more trevally. I had two hours to persuade a few to chomp my SP's and after our last session I was highly confident. I moved along towards the end of the 3rd runway, staying just outside the markers, casting towards the runway wall. I only had two of the Gulp 3" minnows in limetiger so I figured I'd use them up before moving onto the Pumpkinseed ones.

The first fish hit the minnow on the drop and I knew it was a good bream. Back and forth he went and at 33cm fork length he was a good start to the day. The very next cast I hooked up again (yeehah!) and this was a twin to the first one. As I started to lift him into the yak, he did a quick backflip, threw my hook back at me, gave me the two-fin salute and swam off quick smart. That can happen when you crush your barbs down. I guess I should have used the net. D'oh!

I had the camera with me to finish the trevally segment for the DVD and had just finished running through the lures we use when I heard some 'splish splash' behind me. 50 meters away there was a school of something chopping up the surface. It actually looked more like 'sucking' at the surface so I guessed (and hoped) they were salmon and not tailor. I zoomed over and flicked out the minnow. I skipped it across the surface in the middle of these fish and I didn't even get a sniff. 'Ok,' I thought 'this time I'll let it sink and give it a few twitches.'

This did the trick and the line went tight and I knew I was into my first salmon. A nice hard run followed that had my Pflueger Trion reel singing it's beautiful song. This was my first salmon from the yak and I love the gusto these guys have. I kept the rod high and reached forward to turn the camera on to capture the fight on film. They don't fight dirty like kings and as long as you have some patience and don't overtighten your drag you should land them. They can jump and throw your lure sometimes but this guy stayed deep. Into the kayak he finally came and I held him up for a quick snapshot before sending him back to his mates. Unfortunately, the school had sounded and even though I kept my eyes peeled, they didn't resurface again anywhere near me.

The tide was pushing in a bit now so for the last half hour I fished the flats with a small HB - a Halco Scorpion. Flicking around the edge of weedbeds, I snared a nice 50cm flattie as well as a another just legal bream. Normally I'd keep a flattie of this size as I love flattie fillets in garlic butter with fresh lime and cracked black pepper, but I was heading off for a few days and there's no point in not having them fresh. The lucky guy was sent packing. Oh, and the Trevally? Not one of the buggers anywhere. Typical...

I forgot to give a quick report on my new ST fins that I put on my Mirage Drive last week. These fins fit onto the same masts as the original fins and are a piece of cake to install. There is a noticeable difference between the two and I'm glad I decided to upgrade. Mick Munns has the larger Turbo Fins on his outback and we set off together, using his GPS to monitor our speed. We were comfortably cruising along between 5 and 6 knots and with a bit of up-tempo, we we're up to 8 knots. I told Mick to give his some 'oomph' and he clocked up 10 knots before clutching his chest and falling overboard. Only joking. : )

And to finish off, when we left Terry last week he stayed out for another few hours and absolutely brained the bream when the tide started to run out and he also picked up a nice little king from one of the marker poles. Only 55cm's but a sure sign that they are on their way. Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay - 15/9/07

With spring here I'm ever hopeful that the kings are just around the corner. With a few reports of kingies being caught just outside of Botany Bay, I had a quick 'before work' dash to the Hotwater Outlet. There was a lot of that slimey weed floating about and every cast the jighead would come back coated with the stuff, so after 20 minutes I packed it in.

Not wanting to go home empty handed though, I decided to have a flick about with a Gulp 3" Minnow in the Lime Tiger colour. 25 minutes later I'd caught my '5 bag' of bream for a total weight of 2.3kg's. If only I could do that in a competition!

Gary Brown from http://www.garybrownfishing.com.au/ had been out on Botany Bay last week and bagged out on the trevally, so Mick Munns, Terry Grima (who was taking his Hobie Sportsfisherman for it's maiden voyage) and myself launched from Foreshore Rd hoping to lure a few of them off the flats. The weather was perfect and we felt confident of getting a few.

Terry was casting a Berkley 3" Bass Minnow in watermelon and it wasn't long before he had his first onboard. These fish are great fighters and really use their broad sides to gain leverage within the water and you'd swear the fish was twice as big as what they actually are when you eventually get them to the surface.

As we moved over the flats, we looked for any variations or features of the seabed that may hold fish - weed patches, slight drop offs or indentations in the sand, even a solitary marker pole serves as a refuge for any baitfish and thus, also a feeding point for the bigger specimens that we were chasing.

I was using the same lure as I'd had success with the bream and it was rigged on a 1/16th oz jighead. I'd cast out, let it sink for a few seconds then give a few subtle twitches. Half way through a retreive there were two quick, sharp hits - bang, bang - and I was hooked up. This fish zipped through the water and I knew it was a good fish. The tell tale 'thump, thump, thump' could be felt up the line and my rod tip pulsed, the sure signs that it was a trevally. Mick quickly pedalled over and started filming just as I was lifting her into the yak. 48cm's long and 1 cm shy of my PB.

Terry and I picked up another 3 each and Terry even managed a nice 50cm dusky flathead which sped off quickly on release. Mick, who normally fishes me out of the water, couldn't pull a fish today so I've managed to peg a few back on him. Fishing can be like that. Same gear, same lures, same techniques and the same area but some poor schmuck gets nuthin'. Thankfully today, Mick was the schmuck! : ) Happy yakkin, everyone.

cheers,
Cid

Nepean - 7/9/07

SPRING IS HERE

Ah, the weather is warming and that means that those great Australian Bass are a realistic target again. Sure, you can still get them through winter but those balmy summer days when they are smashing lures off the surface are pure magic! I called Mick Munns from East Coast and we met at Tench Reserve in the early morning twilight. He had a few new lures to show me and the twin blade spinners look absolutely sensational.

The reports from the Nepean have been good but they've been from way up in the gorge and we weren't planning on venturing that far. We stuck close to the ramp and tried working the surface we various fizzers and poppers but there was no action on top today. Give the water another few degrees and I'm sure they'll come on the chew.

We switched to spinners and I tied on a small single bladed version with a purple skirt that Mick said had been working well on earlier trips. I was flicking this up the back of snags when I finally hooked up. Nothing spectacular but a solid hit and I could feel some weight on the end of the line. The line zipped right and I could feel the line rub on the submerged snags. I worked the rod left and the fish turned. Ooh, more line rubbing but I eventually get the girl out away from her hidey-hole. I finally get to see her and I'm now grinning. She healthy, fat and looks about mid forties which will easily be my PB...or so I think. As I guide her to the side of the yak she gives two big tail beats and 'TINK', the line breaks and she slowly swims out of view. Bugger...

Then to rub salt into my wounds, 20 meters downstream Mick hooks up and lands a 33cm bass on a red-skirted spinner. 'That's how you do it!' he says. This fish is also in prime condition and it looks like there could be a few really big bass caught this coming summer. Hopefully I'll be able to stay connected and bag one myself!

We continued down to the rail bridge but had no more success so we turned and slowly made our way back to the ramp. I had to leave but Mick stayed to have a lunch with a few guys from WSBB (Western Sydney Bass & Bream). They'd been upstream and between two boats they'd landed over 35 fish, with not one of them being below 30cm's.

If the fishing shapes up as good as I hope it will this summer, it's going to be hard to decide what to chase. Kingfish in the Bay, Bonitos and Salmon off the headlands, bream in the racks, flathead over the flats or bass amongst the snags. Two of my goals are to get a bass over 40cm's (ooooooh, I was soooooooo close) and a kingie over a meter from the yak. With a bit of luck and perseverance I'll hopefully get there.

I recently purchased a pair of the ST fins for the Hobie and I'll be giving them there first run this week. They should give me that little bit of extra speed and I'll give a report on how they went next week. Look out fish, here I come! Oh, and in case you missed the video of the kingfish action, here is the link again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz2deaLhwuM

Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,

Cid