WSBB Bream Scramble - 16/6/13

Ooh, these mornings are pretty chilly now, but with lots of layers on, I was ready for whatever the day could throw at me. 32 boats were ready for battle and after a bacon and egg roll for breakfast, we were all keen to get underway. Gary and I were number 30 and we set off for our destination at the mouth of the Lane Cove River. The plan was to start off in the deep water until the tide started to push back in, then we'd head up Lane Cove River and fish the boat hulls. The bream for this event have to be 25 fork length and it's your best five fish.

Gary was starting off with a Blade so I opted for a 1/8th jig head and a Bait Breath 3.5" FishCurly in green. The heavy jig head was so I could get to the bottom seeing as we were fishing in 10m of water. Gary was first into a fish but he calls it for a flathead straight away. At 60 cms it was a good one too, but it's useless for us today, so back he went.

I'm next to hook up and it's also a good fish but the telltale pulsing of the rod tip signals that it's a trevally. Aaaarrgghh. Come on! We bump into Dave Tosland and he has two in the well already. I get a massive hit on the Fishcurly but no hook up. I wind in to find the plastic has been bitten in half, just behind the hook. Bummer. I re-rig and turn when I hear Garys drag squealing. 'Yes,' I say, but no, it's another trevally. About 50 cms so it's another great fish but the wrong species.

We motor back up and start another drift. I decide to change to a Gladiator Runner Blade in black and this gets a hit straight away. This feels better, definitely not a flathead or a trevally and yeehah, it's a bream. 27 fork length and he's our first one in the well. That's the donut-monkey of my back and after last year when I didn't land a single one, it was a huge sigh of relief.

Five minutes later and I'm on again and it's another 27 cm fork bream. Two! From me! Egads. And blow me down, it's only a few minutes later when I get number 3, this one slightly bigger at 28 fork. Gary has fainted so I revive him and tell him he can catch one now.

Back we go for another crack at them and it's my turn for a flathead. Then I get a bream but he's just under legal. We can see Dave and he's hooked up to something good. But it's another big trevva so there's no joy for him. Gary is next cab off the rank and this one feels right. Up she comes and she's nice and fat and at 32 fork she's our best yet. Then whack, he's on again and this one is 30 fork. Woohoo. That's our bag, so now its time to upgrade. But the bite goes quiet so we decide to venture up river.

We start working the boat hulls and I change to a Bait Breath Fishtail Shad. First boat I get a bream but he's no upgrade so he's sent on his way. I get another one (maybe it's the same one!) so he's returned also. We mooch around working different depths but we can't find any upgrades so we decide to go back to the deeper water.

This started off as a good move because Gary immediately gets us another 30 forker. I'm guesstimating we have about 2.5-2.7 kgs. We need that kicker fish. I'm back to the Runner Blade when it's belted! "Oh yes, this is it," I say. Nice strong runs and I back the drag off slightly to ensure I don't get busted off. We're peering over the side and see a flash of silver before it darts under the boat. I push the rod tip under water to keep the line clear and ease her out and NOOOOOOOO! It's a 40cm whiting! Our hopes dashed, we figure it's about time to start heading back.

There were no more fish for us and we weighed in for 2.708 kgs. Andrew was fishing this with one of his mates, Graeme, and they'd had an awesome day. Andrew snaffled the big bream with this 1.267 kg beauty and their total weight went 3.204 kgs. This fish anchored their bag and they took out 4th place, so well done guys.

Without that kicker fish, all Gary and I could manage was 9th place, but at least we cracked the top 10. And more importantly, I contributed to our bag this year! Yay! Top place went to Team Gamakatsu/Samurai Rods with 4.288 kgs, a fantastic bag and they took it out by over 800 grams.

So another superbly run event by Western Sydney Bream and Bass and I wish they did one in the summer as well. Without a doubt, Gary and I will be back next year for another tilt at the title. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

3 week catch up - Georges River Gamakatsu Round 26th May 2013, etc

Sometimes work just gets in the way and that's how it's been the last few weeks. To make amends, this report will be light on words but big on photo's. Let's get going...

The Gama Round held on the 26th May was a bit of a non-event for me. I just couldn't find fish at my normal spots and only managed two legals: one fell to my ever trusty Bingo HB and the other to my favourite SP at the moment, the Bait Breath Fishtail Shad. Neither of them were big fish but I did get done over a couple of times and for a brief few seconds a Trevally really had my hopes up. The two bream (0.73kgs) placed me 26th out of  41 yakkers. Top spots went to Simon Morley (1.97kgs), equal 2nd went to Chris Seeto and Jason Reid (1.89kgs) and 3rd went to Craig Coughlan (1.64kgs). An extra big congratulations to Craig is warranted as he also managed to take out the Angler of the Year for the Gama comps. Top stuff buddy.

In the boaters, my fellow Team Gladiator/Hobie anglers - Glenn Ross and Mark Crompton - were just bumped out of 1st place. They had a cracking bag of 3.98kgs and were pipped at the post by Alan Loftus and Ross Cannizzaro with 4.15kgs.

Fishing has been non-existent for me since that weekend but thankfully others have been out and sent me a couple of photos.

Stewart and Andrew have been on multiple trips, hitting the Georges River, Port Hacking, Shoalhaven and St Georges Basin. Stewart started it off with a nice jewfish one night that was promptly released after going on the lie detector.
 

 This was followed up the next night at a different location. This time, he and Andrew both managed a few each...

Then it was down south to mix it with bream, flathead, snapper, tailor, luderick, etc...

But of course, Andrew smashed it by getting that most coveted fish of all: the Leather Jacket! 

What a champion!

And then just to rub salt into my wounds, Tezza sends some photos of the jewfish he's been getting in Botany Bay, too. Makes ya sick, doesn't it...

So at least I'll be getting out this weekend though. It's the annual Bream Scramble of the Western Sydney Bream and Bass Club. It's open to all comers and is a teams event held on the Parramatta River. Gary and I placed 4th last year so we're looking to improve a few places. If you're keen, you can pay on the day (and get brekky and lunch, too) so just go to their website for all the necessary information: www.wsbb.com.au. 

Hopefully we'll see you there for a great day and some big fish. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Georges River update

This Sunday, 26th May 2013, sees the Gamakatsu Team Series make it's way to the mighty Georges River. There'll probably be 50+ boats and 30+ kayaks trying to get their best bags and the fishing has been pretty good from the few reports I've heard. I also snuck out for a quick couple of hours and nabbed a few myself, so I'm really looking forward to fishing this comp on my home turf.

There's a huge variety of locations to target and boats and yakkers will scatter far and wide. Some up to the Cooks River, some out towards Kurnell, others to Towra Point, Wooloware Bay or Kogarah Bay and some will go upstream towards Como and Oatley. There's boats, racks, flats, weedbeds, rocky shore lines, mangroves, jetty's and deep holes everywhere and all of them hold bream at some stage or another, it's just finding out which ones on the day.

Some of the bigger bream are really chunky, so I expect to see some good bags weighed in. My best from last week went just over 34 fork but he had massive shoulders and a big gut on him and would've come close to 900 grams. A few of these in my well would be a welcome addition, that's for sure. Of course, this guy went back so I'm hoping he'll recognise me and know that he'll only have a short ride before eventually being set free. Fingers crossed, eh?

This round is also a qualifier for the Daiwa Hobie ABT Grand Final to be held in Marlo in November and it's a good chance to get through as a lot of the competitors have already qualified. So crack a top 10 spot and you may just get a ticket to the biggest dance in the Kayak Fishing Tournament calendar. The weather is looking pretty good too, so come on down and jump in. You can sign up on the morning too, so there's no excuses for not having a go. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Gladiator Bingos and Bream - 12/5/13

The other week I gave Andrew Death a few of the Gladiator Bingo Hard Body lures to see if he could wrangle a few bream out of their homes on them. For those of you that don't know Andrew, he's been lurking around the very top of the kayak tournament scene for quite a few years now and has some pretty impressive results with a 2nd place in the Squidgy Southern Bream Series Grand Final and the next year he went one better and took out the top spot. Last year he managed 4th in the ABT/Hobie Kayak Grand Final so as you can see, he is no slouch when it comes to landing a few bream.

So here is the short but sweet report that Andrew fed back:

"I headed out solo this morning on the Georges River. Carl Dubois recently gave me a handful of Gladiator lures to try. After recent pressure to stop throwing Crank 38's, I decided to give the Bingo's a run.

These small Chubby-style lures swim well straight out of the box and cast a fair distance considering their size. I immediately upgraded the hooks to Owner 16's as the original hooks were a little too thin for my liking.

I ended up with eight legal bream and two flathead. I also dropped the kicker bream (approx. 35 fork) at the side of the kayak. I will be making sure I have a few more Bingo's ready for the Georges River bream competition later this month."

Thanks Andrew and it's good to see them get a good review from someone that takes their bream fishing seriously.

These are already rigged on my rods and along with the Mutants and Hip Baby 40's, I'm hoping they'll  help me secure a good bag on the 26th May for the final Kayak round of the Gamakatsu Hobie Series that is being held on the Georges River. Whether I fish the racks in Woolooware Bay, the weedbeds over at Towra or any of the rocky shorelines scattered throughout the system, this selection of HB's will cover everything. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Day 2 - ABT/Hobie Forster Super Series - 4th-5th May 2013

After a great nights sleep at Andrews Uncles house at Rainbow Flat (thank you Noel and Celia), we were up at 5 am and ready for day 2. With the reverse order start, I was now 54th out of the gate. I was sticking to the same plan as yesterday, hoping that today I'd extract that big bugga from the racks. I skipped the first set of racks though as there were already a couple of yakkers in there and I headed straight for the rails where I got my first fish the day before. Out with the same Hip Baby 40 and after about 10 minutes I load up but I'm pinged before I even get a chance to wind the handle. Must've been right next to the rail I suppose.

I tie on another one and move up and down between the rails but it pretty quiet today and I only get a tentative bump for my troubles. Nothing to do but move onto where I lost the big ones yesterday. I'm pleased to see that there is no one else in the racks. Which could mean that I'm the first here, or that others have fished it and moved on.

Again I decided to go with soft plastics and I rig a Fishtail Shad on one of my modified jig heads. I paint the lead section with fluorescent orange nail polish and this gives a slight orange-ish glow through the plastic, hopefully tempting the fish into thinking its a crab or prawn or whatever with roe.

Up and down through the racks and all I can get is a 20 cm bream and a 30 cm flathead. Very different to yesterday and I'm guessing the amount of anglers through the area may have put the fish off the bite. Time to find some fish, so I venture another couple of hundred meters upriver to a set of floating racks. About half way along I hook up and the poor bream doesn't even know what's happened as he's in the yak quick smart. I put him on the tape and he juuuuust scrapes in at 26.5 cms. That's the Donut Monkey (a donut is when you get zero fish for the day) off my back but I need to get a move on. It's just gone 10 am and I'm wondering how all the other anglers are doing.

That's all I can pull from this set of racks though and I wonder what to do? Well, if my secret spot was good to me yesterday, maybe it'll do the right thing by me again today. I had worked it fairly thoroughly though so my hopes weren't very high. Fingered crossed there's no-one there and yippee, there isn't. I'm sticking with the Fishtail Shads and the first cast I see a fish follow the lure out and dart back to the shelter of the racks. That's a good sign. But an even better one is a bite next cast and number two (27 tip) goes into the well.

'Come on, just two more,' I mutter, and a few casts later I reef out a 29 tip. Ooh, I only need another one for a full bag and if everyone is having a tough day, it may see me creep up into the top 10 and possibly get a qualifying spot. I land another bream but he's only 25 tip and on the last set of broken down racks I set the hooks on a better fish. This guy is definitely better and I angle the rod to get him away from cover and quickly guide him into the waiting net.

'You beauty!' He's 30 tip and there's my full bag. Thank you Secret Spot, you saved my day. Again! I finish off the last rack but there are no more breambos coming my way so I start to slowly make my way back. I bump into Craig (yesterdays leader) and he only has 2 fish. Next I meet up with Andrew and he has a full bag too, and his fish are better than mine, which means that he may leap-frog me on the leader board. That's ok though, as he's already qualified and won't take one of the spots up for grabs today.

We both move down to The Paddock. It's nearly midday so we have just on two hours left to fish. And then, disaster! The current is really pushing through this area and I hook a nice flathead that takes off behind me. I turn to get him back under control and while my attention is averted, the current quickly takes me along with it and I run aground into a sandbank with my Mirage Drive fins down. There's a clunk and my eyes widen. I've snapped the front mast and this renders the drive unusable.

I still have my paddle though but the tide and wind is pretty strong so I paddle (paddle? How do you do that???) across to the set of boats moored on the other side of the river and I hope I can get out of this wind and current. This is the first time I've fished without the mirage drive and let me tell you, I don't want to do it again. Trying to position myself while being pushed about was sooooooo frustrating. Eventually I figured it was a waste of time in these conditions so I headed back in an hour early.

The long wait started and slowly the other kayakers started to filter in. One of the top 10 guys tells me he only has one fish. That's good news for me but not for him. As the field returns there are a few tales of woe but also some excellent fish caught, too. The top 10 were weighing in last so I got my turn out of the way to see where I'd sit. My bag went 1.48 kgs (total 2 day weight of 3.22 kgs) and by the time everyone else had weighed in I was sitting in 3rd. Andrew had smashed me with 1.910 kgs (total 2 day weight of 3.6 kgs) and was sitting in the hot seat up on stage.

The next two to weigh in each only had one fish and couldn't bump me down. By my calculations, I might just grab the last spot. However, Chris (snapper Chris from a few reports back) was up next and he needed 1.08 kgs to beat me. Up he goes and he only has two fish for 650 grams. That was it! I knew now I'd grab a  qualifying spot and what a relief that was. Top angler for the weekend was Denis Metzdorf and congratulations to him and the other podium anglers, Russel Babekuhl and Dan Brown. Rounding out the top 5 were Stewart Dunn and Andrew Death. Which means that with a 4th, a 5th and a 9th, Team Rainbow Flat had a fantastic tournament.

With a place in the Grand Final, I was a very happy yakker. Firstly, thanks to Steve Blackmore from Gladiator Tackle for sponsoring me and providing all the fantastic gear that helped me grab this top 10 placing. Their lures and range of tackle are pure gold! And a big thanks goes out to ABT and their excellent crew for putting these competitions on for us and also to Steve Fields and the rest of the Hobie staff for always ensuring that these comps are the best on the circuit.

Next comp is the Gamakatsu Georges River round on the 26th May, so I'd better put in a few sessions to see where the bream are. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Day 1 - ABT/Hobie Forster Super Series - 4th-5th May 2013

What a turn out! 64 of the top kayak anglers (well, not all of them, but a good percentage) on the Eastern Seaboard had turned out to fish famous Forster and it's infamous Oyster Racks. No other location creates as many stories of 'the one that got away' and today would be no different. When a kilo plus bream takes your lure only a few inches away from a line-shredding oyster rack, its a battle of brute strength and speed to see who wins.

With this large number of yakkers, it means that often your go-to spot may well be already taken or that you'll have to share it with a few others but this is all part of the fun and games. The bonus though is that there are now 6 qualifying spots up for grabs for the Grand Final at the end of the year at the mecca of bream fishing - Marlo!

I'm the 14th off at the start and I'm heading to the same spots I went to last year. Andrew Death was following the same tactic and we started off in exactly the same set of racks. This weekend it's a 4 fish bag limit for each day, so if you can get your bag both days, it' should see you up near the top of the leader board. Andrew was busted up on the 3rd cast and I landed my first bream a few minutes later but he was only 25.5 cms. So close (has to be 26cms tip minimum) but it was good to see that the Hip Baby 40 was working.

The tide was really pushing out still, so we decided to move on further up river. Anglers to the left of us, anglers to the right and bugger, there's someone in my next planned spot. Nothing to do but continue on another couple of hundred meters and pull into a section with no racks but plenty of old rails with growth all over them.

Out goes the Hip Baby again and it's not long before the first fish of the day goes into the well. He's only 28 to the tip but he's well and truly legal. Another guy fishing a couple of rails over from me is dusted over 3 times and ooh, he's not happy. They can be vicious these bream. And expensive, too!

I continue making my way to my next set of old racks. These are loaded with oysters and are in about a meter of water. The technique here for HB's is to run the lure down the length of the racks, directly on top of them. The lure will bump into them every now and then and this can really get the breams attention. I've swapped over to one of the Gladiator Mutants and this lure accounts for bream number 2. Shortly after I get another one but he's only 24 cms so back he goes.

I'm starting a new row of racks and I think it's time I give the Bait Breath Rockin Crab a go. The way to fish racks is to move up and down in between them (see arrows on photo to the right), casting as close as you can to the edges as generally the fish are sheltering or hunting food that is hiding in the shadows or among the oysters. Once I get to the end I move over a row or two and start again. Keep doing this until you've worked the whole section then move off to another set of racks once completed.

I've rigged the Rockin Crab on a 1/20th HWS jig-head tied to 10lb leader and 14lb braid. I put out a nice long cast but instead of landing right next to the rack where it should go, it lands right in the middle between the racks. As I wind in the slack line I notice that the line is moving sideways. I quickly wind in and set the hook and oh boy, this is what we came here for.

The rods bucks violently in my hand and I furiously wind as quickly as I can. The fish quickly comes to the surface and I see it's a good fish. A really good fish, possibly a kilo or more. He dives towards the racks but the drag is cranked right down and there is no give. I throw the rod to the right to angle him away and he shakes his head in fury as I pull him away from cover. I'm still winding fast to stop him from getting his head down. He's coming with me but he makes a final lunge and NOOOOOO! Ping! He just brushes against the edge of the racks and he's gone. Schweppes!

And that is typical for most anglers at Forster. Every now and then you win one, but a lot of times you don't. Nothing to do but re-rig and go again. Two casts later, replay the last two paragraphs and another big fish gets away. Oh man, it's so frustrating but also so exciting and it's what makes us come back year after year.

By the time I'd set up again, the bite had dropped off so I had to mooch around to other areas. It was very quiet every where I went so I took a gamble to travel a bit and go to my secret spot. Well, it's not completely secret but I haven't seen many anglers in the area over the years so I was hoping it'd be untouched. And yes, there's no-one about so it's fingers crossed for a couple of fish to add to the live well.

By now I'd rigged up with another soft plastic, a Bait Breath 2.5" Fishtail Shad loaded onto a 1/40th HWS jig-head. To cut the story short, the racks came up trumps for me and I landed two fish out of them and pulled the hooks on another fairly good fish. That was my full bag and man, was I pleased. I did manage to land another legal fish later on but it wasn't an upgrade, so he didn't get a ride back to the weigh-in with me. His good luck I guess.

As expected there were many tales of big fish that gained their freedom but the top angler for the day was Craig Coughlan that had a crackin' fish of 1.04kgs and a total bag of 2.74kgs. My bag went 1.74kgs and anchored me in 11th spot. That's ok with me as I'm still within striking range of the top 10 and also one of those coveted qualifying spots for the GF. If I can just get my full bag tomorrow, I'll have a good shot. Stay tuned for the day 2 report tomorrow. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

What lures to use for Forster ABT/Hobie round this weekend? -

This Saturday and Sunday (4th-5th May) sees the ABT/Hobie Super Series round being played out at Forster, famous for it's oyster racks and big bluenose bream that love taking your lures home as souvenirs. In preparation I've selected the Hard Body Lures and the Soft Plastics that I'll be using to catch my limit (hopefully). All of this great range of these lures are distributed by Gladiator Tackle and all good tackle stores stock them so you wont have any trouble getting your hands on a few.

First off, the HB's.  At the top of the photo are a couple of surface lures, Kozami 60's, as this is still a viable option above the racks. Below these are the Tackle House Elfin Shrimps. With lots of prawns in the system at the moment (according to reports) these will probably be the first things I flick out to run down the sides of the racks and wash boards.

Below these are the Hip Baby 40's, a great inexpensive lure with a good action that casts well even on windy days. The black one is a favourite and I hope he comes home with me safely. Under these are the Mutants, a longer profile which I think is a big fish attractor and when I'm after upgrades, this'll be tied onto some 10-14lb leader to extract those bigger fish.

At the bottom are the Bingo's. Another lure that casts like a bullet and with a few shallow diving examples in my kit, these'll get a run over the top of the racks, too.

Onto the soft plastics and most of these will be rigged on a Hidden Weight System (HWS) jighead with weights varying from 1/20th to 1/40th. The lure on the top is a Bait Breath Fishtail Shad and this colour is a great replica of a prawn. Below these is the new 3.5 in Bait Breath Fishcurly. I haven't flicked one of these out yet but it'll definitely get a swim this weekend.

Next down is the famous Gladiator 7cm Smashbait. The green colour is a renowned fish catcher and these drifted down and twitched next to the racks are sure to get some special attention. The Rushcraws and the Swifttails below these are great for a more finesse presentation and finally we come to the Bait Breath  Rockin Crabs. These things are the bees knees over in WA and I'm certain that a lightly weighted one floated down next to the washboards will be snaffled very quickly.

Now all I need to to do is find the fish. Wish me luck. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid