Tuesday 17 July 2007

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