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