Breamin' - Squidgy Rnd 3 pre-fish

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

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

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

ps

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

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

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

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

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

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