Yarra Bay & Molineux Point - 28/12/07

Well I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and are looking forward to a safe and prosperous new Year. I've been flat out lately so I'll keep this report short and sweet and let the photos do the talking.

Last week I continued my assault on the HWO, but this time was accompanied by Terry who was keen to get a king or two after returning from a successful month bike racing in Europe. I was first to hook-up and guess what...? 63cm's! I reckon its' the same kingfish that's stalking me! Terry then landed a 55cm kingie and followed up with a 64cm bandit that looked big enough but just didn't make the grade.

My next trip there I got stuck into some nice tailor up to 45cm's but there were no kings about that day. I picked up a few cracker bream on the way back on Gulp 3" Minnows in Mouldy Cheese colour and I was surprised to see the colour difference in the two largest - one was the normal silvery colour caught around here but the other had a real golden tinge to him. I'd say he's come down from the upper reaches of the Georges or Cooks to get ready for the spawning season. You can see the big difference in the two fish in the photo and they were caught only about 10 meters apart from each other.

Terry had been out on the Bay yesterday and cleaned up on Aussie Salmon so we launched from La Perouse at 5am and ventured straight over to Yarra Bay where all the action had been. It was a picture perfect morning and there were hundreds of seagulls sitting around on the water waiting for things to fire up. Unfortunately, they didn't though! Not one bust up all day did we see and although we trolled nearly the whole 4 hours we were out, we didn't get one hit.

Molineux Point was jam packed so we ventured around a bit more to the port and decided to flick a few Mojo's at the Channel Markers. First marker and I skip the lure across the surface. Nothing. Ok, this time I'll let it sink. 2 meters or so down and the line goes tight so I lift the rod and YEEHAH, I'm on. I'm oh so close to the pole so I don't go hard and I slowly lead him out into the open water. When I feel I'm a safe distance out, I get stuck into him. ZZZzzzzzzzzz....oh Jasus, I hope he stops! He was heading straight back to the pole but I pulled him with up with about 5 meters spare (phew, that was close). He slugged it out down deep most of the time and when I got first colour I just knew I'd bagged my first legal for the summer.

67cm's on the tape (about bloody time, too) and as homage to the Kingfish God's, I set him free to fight another day. Terry and I had a couple of more hits at various markers but that one kingie was the only fish we saw this morning. At least I have that 63cm monkey off my back now. : )

Adam and I would like to thank all our regular visitors to the Kayak Fishing Sydney site for a very successful year. We have had visitors from over 30 countries in the last 12 months and we hope you'll continue to visit us over the next year as well. The DVD is in the editing stage and slowly but surely it's all coming together. Work has been a bit of a killer for me the last 6 months which has meant I haven't been able to dedicate as much time as I'd like to the DVD but we'll get there eventually. Thanks for your patience. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay - 13/12/07

As many will know, the legal size for Kingfish was increased this year from 60cm's to 65cm's. This will mean a lot of fish will be going back into the drink that would have been going straight onto the barbie last year. And I know that I'm putting my fair share back because the only ones I've caught so far the last few trips have been just under.

Last thursday I had a late start and planned to fish the flats over near Towra for bream but the supposed 8-9 knot winds were more like 15-20! It was a grey day and I figured I'd give the HWO a whirl instead. There was already a boat anchored just off from it and they were casting a variety of baits and also slowly retrieving a gang-hook rigged garfish. I approached from the opposite side and proceeded to lob out my Mojo's. The tide was about an hour away from top so I felt the conditions were pretty good.


Ooh, what was that??? I had a hit but the hooks didn't stick. That put me back on my toes so to speak and the next cast there's a 'whack, whack' and the rod bends under the weight of a nice fish. The guys in the boat are watching as my line zips back and forth. It's obviously a kingie and we dance around each other for a few minutes until I lift him aboard. And hello, what's this? Hanging out of his mouth is a one meter trace with a swivel on the end so I unhook my lure and have a look down his throat. The fella is gut hooked so I just cut the line as far down as I can. Onto the tape and 'Aaaargh', he's 62cm's. For a previously hooked fish, he was in great condition and he powered off when I set him free. So if anyone was busted up last week that was using about a 25lb trace, don't worry, it wasn't a legal fish anyway. : )

Back to the HWO and I change to a Bass Assassin for something different. The guys in the boat haven't landed anything yet and they looked pretty cheesed off when my rod buckles over for the 2nd time. This guy takes a nice long run and I'm calling it for a 70cm specimen. When I finally bring him alongside, I'm shocked at his size (or lack of it) and he only stretches out to 63cm's. Man he went hard! He's in top condition too and another one (sheesh) is returned to the old briney.

The boat has had enough by now and they haul anchor and do the Russian Ballet. The wind is picking up a bit so I decide on 10 more casts and then I'll call it a day. On about cast number 6 there's a 'tug, tug, tug' as my lure nears the surface and then the smallest kingie I've ever seen almost leaps out of the water to get the SP. No real challenge here and as I lift him in I notice he has a mark on his side where he's been grabbed by something a bit bigger than him at some earlier stage. At least he managed to escape relatively unharmed and at 45cm's he's waaaaaay under legal. Maybe next year, buddy, maybe next year.

So not a bad couple of hours and I think the HWO is showing some sort of pattern to me. If it's dead calm without a breath of wind, I never seem to catch anything there but if it's blowing it's t!ts off with lots of surface chop, I normally pick up one or three. The overcast conditions and the tide phase would've helped also but I'll start to keep track of the wind conditions a little bit better from now on. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Georges River - 25/11/07 & 9/12/07

Kayak fishing has taken a backseat the last couple of weeks due to a few bream tournaments that have been and gone. The first was the squidgy Bream challenge where I joined up with Gary Brown as Team Pflueger. These team-event tournaments have a 5 bag limit of bream with a minimum 25cm fork length and you have 7 hours to catch your bag.

Gary and I hit a lot of our favourite spots and we caught a heap of bream, the only problem was that they were JUST short of the min length! It was sooooooo frustrating, catching a 26-27cm fish and tossing it back because it is 24.5 cm's fork length. We managed a bag of 3 fish that went 1.268kg's and we knew that it wouldn't be good enough. Out of 33 boats we came in at 17th. The best fish of the day went to Gary with his 35cm whiting, pictured above.

Of course, some teams hit pay-dirt big time and the winning bag weighed 4.88kg's. These were caught on the flats around Towra Point, working the edges of weedbeds with SP's as the tide dropped. But the fish of the day went to Chopper (g'day Bill!) with a monster that pulled the scales down to 1.618kg's. It was a horse and is easily the biggest bream I have ever seen in the flesh!

To ease the pain, I had a quick flick mid-week down at Oyster Bay and figured it was about time I carried out the Banana Theory test number 3. No 1.5kg bream came over the side but I did get a few with a nice couple of flatties as well that went very well on the BBQ later that night. All fish were caught on SP's. Funnily enough, I haven't hooked up on a HB the last two times I've been out. Strange that, as the flathead normally pounce all over them.

Last weekend there was the Berkley Summer Series first round which was held on the Georges River as well. This time I was with Steve Sommerville and we were team MOJOMAN! This time we got off to a better start and by 10:30am we had three ok'ish fish in the live-well. Little did we know it but we could've packed up then and there. I'd say we landed a dozen bream that were 24cm fork length. Deja Vu, or what? Plus we must've landed about 20 flatties each, ranging from 15cm's to a nice one that Steve pinned that went 50cm's.

We each had our share of hard luck stories and I was absolutely smoked by a big bream amongst some jetty pylons. He picked up the Gulp camo sandworm ever so gently but when I set the hook he ripped line off the reel and wrapped me around the nearest pylon before I could lock the reel up. Ooh, he would've been a nice kicker for the bag. Our three fish weighed 1.3kg's and out of 33 boats we came....17th! If nothing else, we're consistent. : ) The winning bag this time was 4.67kg's which came from the groynes over near Kurnell, I hear.

It's all good fun though and as long as you're having a good time, it doesn't really matter where you come on the leader board, although the $1,920 for first place does sound kinda sweet. There's a few more to go yet, so we still stand a chance of getting on the podium, I guess. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Cooks River - 18-11-07

Another session looking for the elusive bream even though I'd said last week I'd go and chase bass but it was only because Mr Munns had said the bass were a bit quiet. This time we thought the Cooks would be worth a shot but it was unusually quiet. I've had some brilliant days here and for C&R fishing, it one of my top spots. (There is NO WAY I'd eat one of the fish caught here. There is just too much pollution from old factories on the river that I'm sure is seeping into the water.)

Mick had managed to persuade Paul from Sailing Scene (http://www.sailingscene.com.au/) to part with a Hobie FloatCat 75 to take it for a spin...or paddle, I suppose. This beast was very stable and I was really surprised at how quickly and effortlessly Mick scooted about using it's two oars. (Not as quick as my mirage Drive, of course!) You can't see it in the photo, but Mick could dangle his legs in the water if he wanted to: it'd be easy to wear a pair of fins for extra maneuverability while you keep fishing. I don't know if I'd want to go outside the heads in one but I can see it as being perfect for chasing bass on the Nepean. In summer it'd be sweet to simply skim across the top of that dreaded weed that always shows up and makes the kayaking tough.

Back to the fishing. Within the first few minutes, Mick and I had both been smoked by good fish and shortly after, Mick landed a 28cm bream. I was landing plenty of small (read that as 20cm's) flathead and couldn't even raise a bream scale. Two hours into the fishing, I landed a monster that went 17cm's. Yeehah! Try as we might, they just weren't interested in what we were throwing about. At one point I thought I'd hooked a nice one but it turned out to be a 34cm Luderick which had taken a 3" bass minnow. That was definitely a first for me.

On our way back, I had one last spot to try. On with a Gulp 2" Minnow Grub in pumpkinseed and BOOFO! it's hit as soon as it sinks just below the surface. This was a much, much better fish than the 17cm tacker I'd landed earlier and twice I thought he'd get back to his snag and do me over. Luckily the knots held and this 37cm beauty was the result. At least I ended up with one good bream for the day.

Next week I'll be fishing in the first round of the Squidgy Challenge with Gary Brown so I hope I fair better with the bream then. I'll still try to sneak out mid-week for a fish so the report won't be all powerboat stuff. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Georges River - 10/11/07

Last week I said I couldn't wait to get out to chase a few bream as I reckoned that after the rain there'd be a few on the chew. And boy was I right! The first round of the Squidgy Bream Comps is on in a couple of weeks and I wanted to suss out a few spots. I won't give exact details of where but I did get around a fair bit.

The best of the day was this 42cm (total length) bluenose that took a fancy to the Berkley Gulp 6" Sandworm in camo that I was flicking about. It was in fairly shallow water and the SP had just settled on the sandy bottom when my line zipped sideways. I struck and this guy hit the afterburners! Now bream aren't like kingies but these big guys certainly put the light gear to the test. It's essential to have drags working perfectly and set accordingly. Around jetties and racks you may need to lock up and hold on but on the flats it's ok to let them take line when they need it.

After half a dozen runs he was pretty well played out but I took my time getting him into the net as he was still darting about trying to get under the yak. I hope I can land one or two of these guys during the comp, that's for sure. The bream weren't in any particular area today. I found them on the flats, along rocky shorelines and holding under boats. Back at the ramp I put the smallest I got (28cm) next to the big fella so you could see the difference in sizes! Makes him look like a tiddler, doesn't he? : )

With the tides being high, I thought there would have been a few flatties about but I could only manage one of 50cm's on a Halco HB I was trolling while moving between spots. Maybe all the fresh in the system put them off but it certainly felt like flattie weather to me.

Of course, I also had a mid-week fish down at the HWO, still trying to get a legal king. I had one HUGE hit that ripped the Mojo off the hook but unfortunately it missed the pointy bit. Tailor

were still about but not in the numbers that they have been previously. I'll blame the fresh water again. To the right is an example of the last thing that many baitfish will see this summer. CHOMP! Man, it'd be fricken scary being one of those baitfish. Imagine swimming around at night knowing that things like this were looking for ya!

If the rain stays away this week, I think a bass session on the Nepean may be on the cards for next weekend. Looks like I'd better ring Mr EastCoast and get the lazy bones out of bed. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

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

Oyster bay - 25/8/07

'Another two weeks between reports', you say. 'What the hell is going on???' Well, last weekend it was our soccer grand final (which I'm glad to say we won 2-1. Yay!) and I wasn't in any fit state to go fishing on sunday. But I made up for it with two quick trips this week to Oyster Bay.

The first was a mid-week session that was very slow starting. The first hour went by without a touch. I tried various SP's and always had two HB's out the back when I moved from spot to spot. I mean, I nearly always pick up something while trolling around here. Once again it was as I turned for home that I got my first fish of the day. Here he is (all 33cm's of him) with the Gulp 3"minnow in pumpkinseed hanging out of his mouth. I pulled him out from under that jetty you see in the background. The only other fish I got was another bream from the next jetty and he went 29cm's.

Saturday morning was perfect on the water but it was Deja Vu time as again the first hour was fishless. This winter fishing can be very frustrating. As I surrendered to the moored boats and headed back to Oyster Bay I picked up a nice tailor on a black Smak Rackwalker. He was the biggest I'd gotten this far up the river. I switched back to SP's and from the same jetty I got the bream above from, I picked up my 2nd fish for the day. Another Gulp lure but this time it was the 2" grub in pumpkinseed. That's two for the livewell but not really enough to feed the three of us.

As I approached the ramp there were two boats launching so I decided to flick an Sx40 about while I waited. Three casts later I get a solid hit with a fair bit of weight but there is no surging run. I felt sure it was a flattie and when I got first glimpse of it I was a bit surprised about the lack of fight. it was only after I'd landed him that I saw that his tailed had been chewed to almost a 3rd of what it'd normally be. That explains the lack of get up and go then. With him in the bag I had enough for dinner and the bream was sent back to count his blessings.

As you can see, the fish have been measured on AKFF's new brag mats. These are excellent products and if you don't have one yet, get onto the site and order one straight away. Not only are they a fish-friendly way to measure your catches, they look great and all funds go to keeping AKFF up and running for all of us kayakers. The 1 meter mats are $25 and include postage. I paid for mine on wednesday and DaveyG and it at my door by friday. You don't get much better service than that. Thanks AKFF!

And for those interested in our upcoming DVD, I can finally say we've finished all the filming. It took a lot longer than we expected to get the footage we wanted but we feel it was worth the wait. If you want a quick preview of some of the kingifish and tailor action, we've up-loaded a clip on Youtube. Of course the video quality was kept low for the web and the actual DVD looks a hundred times better. Now all we've got to do is get the footage into the edit suite, which is where the fun starts.

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz2deaLhwuM

Happy yakkin, everyone.

cheers,

Cid

Oyster Bay - 5/8/07

Sorry for the lack of a report last week but I had trouble getting the right roof racks for the new car. I just know that every time I walked passed the kayak she was looking at me, almost saying 'Don't you love me anymore?' Finally the racks turned up though and sunday I snuck in a few hours down at the local. It was a real gentlemens launch time - 11am - and I was able to fish the last of the run in. Accompanied by the ever-present wind, of course.

After the dismal efforts the other week, I had a discussion with Gary Brown about where the fish might be lurking. He told me he'd caught some bream the other day over some flats in Sydney Harbour as the tide rose, so maybe they were up there in the warmer water. It made good sense to me so I figured it was worth a shot. I started by flicking a Halco Scorpion about and after 20 minutes I landed my first bream, a 28cm model that was introduced to my livewell.

5 minutes later I had another hit but the hooks didn't stick. I paused the lure for a few seconds, gave it a twitch and 'WALLOP', I'm on again. 29cm's this time and I'm pretty pleased with myself. The water temp was up near 14 degrees so it was much warmer than the cool 11 degrees of the Cooks River two weeks ago.

I moved off the flats and worked the rocky shorelines. Nuthin'! I switched to SP's (Sandworm in Camo) and on the first cast I feel a bump and set the hook into a 47cm flathead. 'Go the SP's!', I say. But that was it, no more bites. I even gave a few of the regular pontoons a good working over but all for nought. Back to the flats I go and bang, bang, two more bream fall to the HB's in quick succession. Only 25 and 26cm's this time but still legal.

And that was it for the day. I think most of the bream are still closer to the ocean but there are still a few about up where I was. I'm sure the warmer water over the flats was a key factor and I'll test it out again in a few weeks. If I can time the tides with an early morning, I think it'll be a good session. The HB's were worked fairly slowly, just an easy roll with a few twitches and pauses mixed in to spice things up. Happy yakkin, everyone.

cheers,
Cid

Cooks River - 22/7/07

This will be a short and sweet report...because there isn't much to report! : (

I decided to give the consistent westerly wind a miss this weekend and set off for the Cooks River where I know I can lurk around bridge pylons and behind mangroves to seek shelter. It seems though that the fish were also seeking shelter...from ME!

I tried a lot of my regular spots but couldn't even tempt a nibble from a bream. I used HB's and SP's, fished the shoreline, deep holes, bridges and boats for a big fat zero. The water temp was very cool: 11 degrees in most places but I did find one tropical spot that zoomed up in temperature to 11.9. And guess where I caught the flattie? That's right, in that small pocket of warmer water.

The fight, if you could call it that, was something akin to a wet towel that half swam up with me. It was only when I got him near the surface that he put in a few half-hearted tail flicks. He went 42cm's on the lie detector and he probably hated me for putting him back into the cold water. How much longer until summer gets here? Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,
Cid

Botany Bay - 11/7/07 & 15/7/07

These early morning starts are getting tougher and tougher. With temp's getting down to 6 degrees and the wind blowing at 15 or more knots, even I'm starting to think I'm a little bit crazy. But still, I figure you're a long time dead, so why not, eh? The first morning I was about 50 meters from the outlet when I looked at my sounder. Arches and lines all over it! 'Surely they're not fish,' I thought? The closer I got the more lines appeared so I flicked out and within a micro second my plastic was pounced on. Tailor numero uno was wound in and placed in the livewell. Next cast was a repeat, as was the next and the next and the next! All the fish were about 38cm's in length.

Tailor were jumping all over the place but after landing a dozen or so I tired of them and wanted a kingie. But try as I might I just couldn't get a plastic through them. Twice I managed to get the lure down about 2 meters and both times I was rewarded with a better class of fish, with both of them nudging 46cm's. The plastics were really copping a hiding so I figured maybe a metal lure would be able to sink to the bottom and I might be able to get a kingfish that way. To quote the movie 'The Castle'..."Tell him he's dreamin'!"

I cast the Halco twisty lure out and let it sink. As it did I watched the line go zip, ziiip, ziiiiiiiip and I was on again. Let's try that again. Zip, ziip...nothing. Damn! Bitten off on the drop. On with another Halco and the very next cast I'm bitten off again on the drop. Forget that idea!

I tie on my last metal slice and spin up another 7 or 8 and at 7:30am I head back to shore with the hot bite still going. Great fun on light tackle but it would've been nice to have been able to have a crack at a kingie. I reckon there would have been a few lurking under the schools of tailor, picking up any scraps filtering down from above.

The next session I met up with DavyG from AKFF. With both of us standing on the beach, rugged up like the Michelin Man, looking out at a 18 knot westerley that I'm sure was blowing straight off the Snowy Mountains, Davey mumbled 'Lunatics!' and we pushed off into the half-light.

The tailor were there again and Davey had 3 in the yak very quickly. Todays wind proved how invaluable the Mirage Drives are on the Hobies as I was able to stay within casting distance of the outlet while Davey had to constantly keep paddling back after every few casts. We both were bitten off a few times and Daveys last fish looked like it would've
been a beauty. By the time we both re-rigged and cast out again, the fish had gone. Just like that. We perservered for another 20 minutes until I made my way over and said 'I've had enough. I'm going in.' Funny, but it didn't take much to twist Daveys arm to join me back on the shore.

The tailor are hard to predict. Most days they are there right at dawn but disappear once it gets light but every now and then you get a day like wednesday when they just go nuts. If it was only another 6 or 7 degrees warmer it'd make it so much more enjoyable. Happy yakkin, everyone.

cheers
Cid