Parramatta River - 14/12/08 & Oyster Bay - 21/12/08

Squidgie Bream Challenge Round 2 - Parramatta River

While Gary sat and drank bourbons in the pool on Hamilton Island, Terry and I braved the 30 knot winds (again!) for a rather unspectacular bag. We only managed 2 fish and didn't even crack the top 20. Sure, we lost a few crackers but the only fish of note landed was a nice whiting of 40 cms that Terry picked up with ten minutes to go.

Oh, and Terry did hook a monster...the only trouble was that the monster was him. Ouch! Right in past the barb and it took him about 20 minutes of cursing, crying and yelling to get the hook out. Makes me wonder how the fish get off so easily sometimes.

Oyster Bay - Lachlans 1st fishing trip

I remember a family holiday at Nords Wharf on Lake Macquarie when I was four years old and the days were spent with my father, drifting around in a tinnie, catching bream, flathead, whiting and blue swimmer crabs. That holiday was golden and my dad instilled in me a love for fishing that will be with me forever.

I felt that my son, Lachlan, who is four, was ready to come out in the yak and I'd attempt to get him hooked on this wonderful lifestyle we lead. He was a bit sceptical when I woke him at 5 am but was keen to get in the yak as soon as we reached Oyster Bay.

Drifting the flats with one lure out the back and casting ahead with the other (I'd cast and Lachlan would wind in), it didn't take long to get a hit and Lachlan was ecstatic. This was no record breaker but it bought back those fond memories again as this was the same type of fish that I'd caught for the first time all those years ago. A bream! Not legal but Lachlans eyes were wide with wonder and he readily accepted why we had to put him back.

Over the next two hours, I had the best fishing session ever. Not because we caught the most fish or the biggest but because I was there with Lachlan, teaching him what had been taught to me by my dad and watching him get excited over the same things all us anglers do. After 3 fish, he wanted to land them on his own and I was surprised when he managed it, too.

The final tally for the day was 8 fish - 6 to Lachlan and 2 to Dad, with four keepers (3 flatties and 1 bream). Back home he couldn't wait to show off his fish and was grinning like a Cheshire Cat when Grandpa took some snapshots.

We snuck out again for a quick session this arvo and landed a hefty flattie that went close to 60 cms which was closely followed by another about 40 cms. When we'd packed up and finished putting the kayak away he said, "When are we going again, Dad?"

It looks like I've got a new fishin' buddy.

Unfortunately my father died 17 years ago but I know he'd get just as big a buzz out of seeing Lachlan enjoying himself as I do. I never said it at Lake Macquarie when I was four but I'll say it now.

Thanks, Dad.

Happy yakkin', everyone and may you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay - 8/12 to 12/12/08

I made it out for another few sessions this week but do you think I could land a legal Kingfish (65 cms)? The closest I came was 63 cms (about 4 times) but I did get smoked twice. I caught up with a few different guys out there and on friday morning there was ten of us bobbing around out there.

Once again they were hitting anything thrown. Poppers (from small to HUGE), SP's (all colours and types) and even metal slices. There'd be a frenzy of action for a few minutes then it'd go all quiet again. Then someone would hook up, and another two or three guys would get crunched as well.

Andrew (Rebel1 from AKFF) had been out most days and had a blinder with DaveyG where they landed about twenty each with Davey getting the biggest at 80 cms. But Andrew went out again this morning for zip. Not even a hit. Funny creatures these fish.

No Kingie action for me this weekend as it's the 2nd round of the Squidgie Bream comp. It's being launched from Bayview in hen and Chicken Bay and there should be over forty teams again which will make for a challenging day. Add the forecast wind and the murky water from the torrential rain we've just had, and it'll be doubly challenging!!!

Gary is up on Hamilton Island (catching Coral Trout, the swine) so I'm partnering with Terry for this one. Let's hope I can pull my finger out and land a couple this time. Happy yakkin, everyone.

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay - 29/11/08 & 2/12/08

After last weeks efforts, it was pretty obvious where we were going to try next time. Saturday morning was just as calm in the grey light as wednesday but the obvious difference were the amount of boats zooming about. Terry was first off with a cast and straight away he hooks up. My cast is only a few seconds later and ditto, I'm on, too. These guys although spirited, were obviously undersize so it was quickly into the yak and back into the water for them.

Next cast and we both hook up again. Woo Hoo! Slightly bigger but still only about 60 cms. And that was it with the poppers (I find as soon as it's gets light they go a bit deeper), so we change to the Mojos. All up we managed about 6 each with two big reefings to our credit. No legals but great to see such healthy stocks of fish about.

I'm sure they went off the bite early due to the amount of power boat traffic. What really cheesed us off was a guy that raced straight over to where we were fishing before cutting the engine, then he rattled around with his anchor chain before tossing it over. If there had of been any kingies left in the area, they certainly weren't here now. : ( We gave it another 5 minutes without a touch and headed for home.

This morning I just had to have another quick flick and was greeted by two other yakkers already fishing, Andrew and Kevin (hi guys). They were also getting stuck into the kings and it was triple hookups a lot of the time. Once again they were mainly rats, such as Andrews here, but at least there were plenty to go around. No power boats to put them off and it was action aplenty until 6 am when they shut down. We floated about chatting for a ten minutes or so when ZZzzzzzzzzzzz, we're all away again.

I hooked my biggest for the day (felt like a beauty, too) on the last cast but the swine busted me off on something. Biggest I landed today went 63 cms, so I was only 2 cms off a legal one. I really do need to get some heavier gear as the 15 lb braid just doesn't cut it sometimes. I hope the weather holds for another early morning session this week. Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Georges River - 23/11/08 & Botany Bay - 26/11/08

Squidgie Bream Challenge

25-30 knot winds with gusts up to 40 knots. Sensational breamin' weather...NOT! These conditions completely stuffed any ideas that Gary and I had of venturing up to the Cooks River. Instead we stuck it out in the Georges which was a battle enough in the wind.

Things started off slowly until we hit some weedbeds that we figured would fish ok with the falling tide. Gary eventually rigged up with a Gulp 2" Banana Prawn and bang!, was on straight away. A few minutes later, he added number two to the well. After about 3 hours I finally get a hit and it's a small flattie. Not long after that I get another take and this one is much better..but it's still a flattie. Very nice size at 65 cms but useless in a bream comp.

As the day wore on, we slowly added bream until we had our 5 bag and even added a couple of upgrades. When I say we, I actually mean that Gary hooked them, I netted them and then put them into the well. I couldn't catch a bream for love nor money. Talk about being a spectator! And with 10 minutes to go I finally hook up to another decent fish but this time it's a whiting that stretches out to 44 cms. Sheesh...

Our (ie Gary's) bag ended up weighing 2.16 kgs which saw us nab 16th place out 41 boats, so not too bad considering the conditions. And to top it all off, two out of the top five boats caught their bream in the Cooks! Aaaarrgghhh.... Sorry Gary, next time I'll do better, I promise. : )

Botany Bay Kingie Madness

I'd heard that there were a few kingies around in Botany Bay so I ventured out for a midweek early morning session. Perfect conditions saw me flicking out an East Coast Popper bang on 5:30 am. Six or seven cranks of the handle and 'BOOF-O', I'm on! At first I thought it was a tailor but a strong run had me thinking that maybe it's a king. I had to go fairly easy with the 6lb braid and eventually I netted a feisty king that was about 60 cms. And first cast too, how sweet is that?

Just in case there were a few more bigger guys about, I upped the tackle to my 15lb outfit and threw out a 6" Mojo SP. Another surface smash knocks the lure flying and I can hardly control myself to fire off the next cast. I let it sink for a fews econds, then get two winds away when I'm on solid. Ooh, this feels like a good 'un. The line zings through the guides and I'm being towed back to the beach. Lot's of surging runs and I keep sideways pressure on him to tire him out. When I eventually see him through the slightly murky water I think, "Yowser, this could be close to a meter!". I make sure he's totally knackered before I tail grab him and haul him into the yak. Woo Hoo! He's a new PB for sure but on closer inspection, I don't think he'll go a meter. In fact, he came in at 89 cms and 5.82 kgs, so I wasn't too far off my estimate.

As I'm re-rigging, a school of kings busts up in front of me, so I throw on an olive green Sluggo this time, seeing if the colour change will make a difference. Another instant hook up, so no, it doesn't make a difference! This one goes about 55 cms and the next one I land is probably about 70 cms. I've already kept the big one which is enough for me, so anything I catch now goes back to grow bigger and wiser.

I change lures again, this time to a Squidgie Slick Rig and it's nailed as well. I continue changing lures and it doesn't matter what I use, they are getting hit. Another angler in a hornet (Brad) had turned up and had landed a few on poppers but they'd stopped hitting them and all he had were 3" plastics which he wasn't having any luck on. I gave him a couple of the Mojo's and he was back into them straight away.

At about 7:45 am they switched off which was my cue to go home. What a session! I'd say I landed about 12 kings between 50-65 cms and 5 between 65-89 cms. Plus I was reefed three times as well by some bigger guys, so I may have to take out some heavier tackle next time. Next time? When will that be? Two parties to go to this weekend sees an early session on saturday or sunday unlikely.. Cough, cough...Ooh, I hope I'm not sick during the work next week... ; ) Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,

Cid

Cooks River - 9/11/08

Still working too much and about to go up to Coffs Harbour for a week (but without the yak). Ripped off! I've just finished loading the car so thought I'd better throw this quick report up.

Nice conditions and a good tide last week but STILL the fishing is sloooooow. Plus the water was down a couple of degrees from last week. All up I only managed two decent bream, one falling to a blade over the flats, the other from a bridge pylon on a Gulp Sandworm in camo.

As I was heading back I flicked one of my rigged blades towards a channel marker and it was crunched immediately and I thought I had the bream from hell on the other end. But 10 seconds into the fight I felt the 'thump, thump, thump' up the line and knew it was a good trevally instead. Not a bad size at 46cm's and I was wondering what he was doing all the way up here.

Next week Gary and I will be fishing our first bream comp for the season. It'll be the 1st round of the Squidgies Bream Challenge which will be run on Botany Bay. Man, I hope the fishing improves! So stay tuned next week for the report in which hopefully, I'll have photos of Gary and I grinning from ear to ear because we took it out. : ) Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,
Cid

Cooks River & Botany Bay - 2/11/08

3 weeks without fishing is crapola! To make up for it, we were hoping the fish would turn it on for us and come out chewing their heads off. The sky was overcast, the tide had just started to run in and the water was up to 20.5 degrees. All signs looked promising. We started off by fishing the Airport Bridge and Terry dropped one right at the start. This was obviously a big mistake as we're sure the little bugga swam around telling all the other fish to be on the lookout.

Bites were few and far between until I finally managed to land my first bream of the day that went 32cm to the fork. But that was it from there so we moved out into the bay to start fishing some of the sand flats.


The action was a little better out here (though not by much) and I managed to get a mixed bag of bream, trevally and a tailor. All the bites were fairly tentative and we couldn't figure it out. Maybe there was still a bit too much fresh in the system and in hindsight, fishing deeper may have been the way to go.

Terry had landed a flathead and I left him to continue along the drop off as I had to head for home. Apparently, just after I'd gone, a small school of tailor busted up but Terry said they were only choppers and there were no legals among them.

To finish off, Terry ended up with 3 nice flatties, all caught on a TN60. And, he also managed an unusual by-catch on the TN60: a squid. The unlucky guy was hooked by one of the trebles in just one of his tentacles. He was soooooo close to getting away. That's life, eh?

I must say that the fishing hasn't been all that great in the Bay lately and I'm starting to wonder if all the dredging that's going on is having an adverse effect on the fish. I'm hoping it's just a slow start to summer and that things will come good any day now. I hope... Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Parramatta River - 8/10/08 & Botany Bay - 11/10/08

Another 2 reports but for one of them I was on a dirty, rotten, filthy, stink boat...but gees, I still had fun! A midweek session with Gary Brown (http://www.garybrownfishing.com.au/) on the Parramatta River was a chance to practice for upcoming bream tournaments and the early morning start saw us land a few nice flathead, the best going 55cm's and we ended up keeping 6 for the BBQ.

The bream were fairly quiet today but we still managed to swing a few onboard with the 38cm fella above being our biggest for the day. All the bream we caught were nice and fat though so at least they are in good condition.


Over one of the flats we worked, Gary had his Ecogear VX40 crunched big-time and we thought he had a ripper of a bream on the other end but when he eventually came to the surface he'd turned into this cracker of a whiting. Just over 40cm's and another welcome addition for the pan.

The water temp is slowly creeping up and surely it can't be too long now before the bream really start to put in a few great days for us.

Before the weekend chores, I raced down to the HWO on saturday morning for an hour to see if any kings were about. No luck there but I did land a few trevally (mostly on the blades again. These lures are great!) and dropped a nice bream right at the side of the yak.

On the way back in I did a sneaky and quickly had a flick under the oil jetty amongst the pylons. I felt some weight as the SP slowly sank, so I struck and ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip....ka-ping! I had no chance of stopping this guy and I was left with shakey hands to rig up again. Another cast to the same pylons and ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip....ziiiiiiiiip....ka-PING! Aaarrrggghh, done over again. On with some 10lb leader, another cast and bloody hell, I'm on again and it's looking like a repeat of the first two. I clamp down on the spool with my hand and now it's a brute strength tug-o-war and somethings gotta give. Unfortunately, it was the hook, which half straightened out which was enough for the fish to get off. Ooh, 3 casts and each one an adrenaline producing rush.

The bites stopped after that but when heading off I did see a couple of schools of bream which looked like they had a few 40cm+ specimens among them. Ah well, better luck next time, I guess. And to the two yakkers that were heading out in the Viking Tempo (I think that's what it was), I hope you had a great day and got into a few fish. I'm sorry I didn't get your names but thanks for saying hi and I'm glad you like the website. Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Multiple reports this week so let’s get straight into them:

Cooks River – 27/9/08
Terry and I launched at 5am although due to a mix up in communication, we were at different ramps! Deciding to meet in the middle, we fished our way towards each other. By the time we met, I had one bream and one flathead while Terry had one bream and had been royally smoked by another that did him over on the oyster-encrusted rocks.

Drifting along and chatting, there was a lone branch sticking out of the water. I flicked my SP and Terry flicked his Pygmy II HB. I snag up and Terry hooks up! And this thing took off like a banshee. It ran straight under my yak so I quickly pushed the mirage drive fins up against the hull. Some swift rod work by Terry sees him work the fish clear and he lands a ripper bream that goes 42cm’s total length.

A few minutes later, Terry lands a 50cm Flattie while all I can get is a Trevally. Pffft, show-off…

Georges River – 4/10/08
The water temp was over 20 degrees but the fish are still not playing fairly. We worked some weedbeds with blades and landed a mixed bag of whiting, flatties and bream but none of them were monsters. I let a banana tag along to give the theory another chance to trip me up (or tip me over, I suppose) but I still managed to catch a few.

WSBB Devlins Bass Comp – 5/10/08
One of the regular social days was held by WSBB (http://www.wsbb.com.au/smf/index.php?topic=2263.0 for the full report) and although I didn’t attend, Terry did and managed to take out top spot for the day with a few nice bass. I’ll let him tell the story so here is his report:

A very calm morning with no wind & thunder in the back ground made it very promising to catch a Bass or two. We left from the ramp at 6 am to our hot spots Half an hour into fishing & I scored, on the board. Yeeha! 200mm got a few at that size which I was hoping for a bigger model. By 9am I finally got a 265mm; it was tough going to get a descent fish. But just as it was nearly time to head back, caught some quality fish taken on SP'S which things looked promising for the win. It was a awesome day & plenty of action.

That's Terry for you, good on the bream and good on the bass. Like I said, show off! ; ) Well done, buddy. Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay - 13/09/08

Ok, it's spring, the weather is getting warmer and we arrived right at the crack of dawn...so where are the tailor and kingies??? Terry and I were positive there'd be a few about but nary a nibble could we get on our various soft plastics and metal spinners. However, we did notice a few schools of 2" long baitfish that shadowed our yaks, which is definitely a promising sign. Another few weeks and the singing of reels should be sweet music to our ears.

To ensure we didn't go home empty handed, we started to target various marker bouys and channel markers with 3" minnows and 6" sandworms. I was first on the board with a 30cm trevally and a few minutes later, dropped a slightly bigger one right next
to the yak. Aarrggh! Terry then called out he was on and landed the first bream for the day.

We continued out to the Sticks and by now the wind had dropped off completely and it was a magical day to be out on the water, too. A few more bream and couple of small squire came over the side of the hobies before I landed my best treva for the day - a 36cm specimen that had a later appointment with my BBQ.

The water temp was about 16 degrees which is up a couple from a few weeks ago. Thankfully the legs don't have to freeze off while launching anymore. This weekend I'm tempted to give the bass a go but it might need a couple more weeks before they to start to really come on the chew. I'll decide on friday where to go, based on the weather this week, I suppose. Either way, whether salt or fresh, it'll be good to be out. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Botany Bay - August

No fishing for me this week due to the crapola weather that saturday turned on but I managed to catch up with Pete Smith from the Compleat Angler store in the Dymocks Building in the city (http://www.compleatangler.com.au) who was the lucky bugga that landed that corker of a tailor that I reported on last week. Excuse the quality of the snap, but it's a photo of a photo, as Pete didn't have a digital copy.

The short story is that Pete was chasing bream in Botany Bay (at a secret spot, as for some reason he wouldn't tell me where!) from his canoe and was using one of the new Koolabung X-ray blade lures (pink and white). He felt a bump on one cast and momentarily hooked up before dropping the fish. Thinking it was a bream, he fired off back to the same spot and whamo!, hooked up solid.

Luckily for Pete, he'd hooked the fish right at the front of the mouth and the line was safely out of the way of those considerable chompers. The brute went 64cm's fork length and the total length was 74cm's (I think, sorry if i'm wrong Pete). This is easily the biggest tailor that I've personally seen come out of Botany Bay and the fact that it was landed on bream gear is a fine testament to Pete's angling skills. To get the full account, drop in and quiz Pete and maybe you'll be able to get the exact location out of him. : )

I think I may just have to head out on the weekend and see if I can get one myself. Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay - 30/8/08

Well Hallelujah! After bad weather, holidays, work and 'it's too damn cold to go fishing' sleep ins, I managed to get out on the blue wobbly stuff. As I dragged the Hobie down the beach off Foreshore rd, I noticed that the distinct nip in the air that had been lurking around for far-to-long now, was conspicuous by it's absence. Let's hope that the worst has left us until next year and we can get back to some summer sessions accompanied by lots of fish.

I was after a feed and hoped that the flats would hold a few flatties that, hopefully, would lurk about in the shallows trying to soak up some of the warmth from the sun. I made my way out along the 3rd runway, casting towards the runway from the marker bouys and I had rigged up a 3" Gulp minnow in pumpkinseed on a

1/16th jig head. The first fish for the day was a small wrasse which received a nice hello before be set free.

A few casts later however, I felt a distinct thump and knew that I had one for the BBQ. A nice run followed by a couple of head shakes that settled down quickly and my best flathead for quite a while slid into the net. 55cm's long and it's right on the limit for what I'll keep.

With the monkey off my back, I kept casting and dropped a fish only 20 meters fruther along. The next 10 minutes passed with nary a touch until again there was a quick chomp and number two at 45cm's joined his mate in the livewell. That was enough for me for dinner so I moved about and had a few throws at the marker poles in the hopes of an early kingie but it looks like I'll have to wait a little longer.

I kept my eyes open for any surface activity but there wasn't a seagull in sight, let alone any bust-ups. The tailor have been pretty scarce for me this winter but I spoke to fellow angler last week that landed a 75cm tailor over near Kurnell. What a monster! He's promised to get me the photo, so if I get it, I'll put it up next week.

Oh, and Happy Bass Day for yesterday, too. I'm hoping the bass season will be a ripper and I look forward to getting out and flicking a few surface lures up under cover, waiting for that adrenaline-enducing water explosion when your lure is engulfed by that bronzed Aussie icon. Ooh, I can't wait. Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,

Cid

Botany Bay - 20/7/08

Work is still the bane of my existence but at least it keeps the wolves from my door. It was a week and a half ago that Terry and I ventured out of the Cooks River and over towards the runway as during the week he'd bagged a half a dozen salmon on SP's over the flats. Showing the stability of the Hobie Outback, Terry stood to cast a popper at a few surface boils not far away, but to be honest, I think he was trying to temp the Qantas jet. Thank God he didn't hook up! : )

Unfortunately, the boils only proved to be small chopper tailor that were no bigger than 25cm's. There were no signs of any salmon on the surface and our submerged SP's couldn't raise a scale either. We started to target the marker bouys and eventually picked up a few legal bream but nothing to write home about. I hooked what felt like a nice trevally (thump, thump, thump coming back up the line) but I pulled the hooks on it 30 seconds into the fight. A minute later, Terry lands one but he's in a generous mood and sets it free to grow a little more.

Heading back I switch to a TT Switchblade and start working the flats, hoping for a flathead. No flatties but I did manage to rack up another species on the blade, this time a Flounder that came home with me and tasted magnificent once filleted and dipped in a beer batter and served up with fresh lime wedges, Maldon Sea salt and cracked black pepper. Mmmm Mmmm...

The weather is looking a bit dicey this weekend but if there's a chance, I'll give it a go somewhere. I just hope it warms up a little...

cheers,

Cid

Cooks River - 6/7/08 & Botany Bay - 13/7/08

A short and sweet report as work is keeping me too busy! Boooo Hisssss!!! Another attempt at jewies in the Cooks and apart from a HUGE hit that was over as soon as it started, there was no jewfish coming up to say hello to us. I'll get one one day.

Back to the TT Switchblades and the bream start to come in fairly consistently. Terry calls out and I turn to see he is being towed upstream, so I head over to take some photos. It's a beauty, too and goes 39cm's total length (37cm's fork). She's a real porker and we set her free to go eat a few more mouthfuls for breakfast.

I lose a cracker that must have been lip hooked and then Terry drops another horse that is also taking him for a tow. All up we landed about 15 bream and I finish off the day with a very nice trevally that also hit the gold Switchblade. As I head back to shore, Terry heds outside the mouth of the Cooks and proceeds to land 8 salmon that are working over the flats. No bust ups on the surface, they're just scoffing down his 3" bass minnow in pearl watermelon colour that's rigged on a resin jighead. A couple of trevally finish off the day for him and all up it's been a great session.

Last sunday I had an hour and fifteen minutes to kill (ha!) and after talking to Terry who'd bagged out on salmon and trevally over near Foreshore rd yesterday, I launched from Kurnell at 6:30am for a commando assault on the resident fish. First off, poppers at the HWO, hoping for tailor. Nuthin'. I change to Mojo Twitchin' Minnow's and hope for a winter kingie. Zip. Over to the bouys around the fish cages and I let a few various SP's sink next to them hoping for bream. Zero result, so I head out to the Sticks, trolling a deep diving HB, which doesn't even get a nudge.

More SP's flicked about, followed by switchblades and then back to different SP's. And still, I come up with a big fat donut. I head back to shore dragging another HB and as I land I realise it's the first time EVER that I've been out on the yak and haven't even had a bite. Now, there's been times I haven't landed a fish during a session but to go out (albeit a short time) and not get even a small bump was, I think, pretty unusual.

Fishing...just when you think you have it sussed out, it comes back and bites ya in the bum big time. And we wouldn't have it any other way, would we? Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Cooks River - 29/6/08

I had planned to go chasing Jewies on the weekend but I dragged my lazy bones out of bed too late, so instead I thought I'd bother the local bream population at one of my favourite breamin' grounds, the Cooks River.

First off I hit the freeway wall and picked up four average bream (biggest 29cm fork) using a TT Switchblade in gold, the same colour that did all the damage last weekend. When I reached the airport service bridge, I switched to SP's and rigged up with a 3" minnow in pumpkinseed. On the 2nd set of pylons, I flicked it right up into the shadows and after letting it sink to the bottom, I hopped it out with a few pauses between hops. I felt the line go tight, so I lifted the rod then BOOYAH!

At first I thought I'd hooked a jewie but I couldn't have been happier to be wrong. The fight was a little more sluggish than I'd expect but I figure the cold water has a lot to do with that. To make room for her in my live well, I had to put the 3 smallest bream back into the river!

At just over 41cm's fork length, it beat my previous PB by 2 cm's. Back on shore, I measured the girl alongside my next biggest bream and she makes him look like a tiddler! She would've been 3 inches thick at the shoulder and even though I didn't have my scales with me, I reckon she would've been close to 1.4-1.5 kg's. She was a thumper!

As I eased her back into the water, she was obviously none the worse for wear after her short stint in captivity and she sped off into the depths with a few quick tail beats, quickly followed by her smaller brother. So no jewfish to report but who cares when you can catch a bream like that? At a total length of 45cm's, I'm now only 5cm's away from my goal of a half meter bream. : )

So what to do this weekend? Try for some more winter bluenoses around the breakwalls, spin up a few greenback tailor in the Bay or get out of bed on time and try for the jewfish around the bridges? What a choice... Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Parramatta River - 22/6/08

WSBB Bream Scramble 2008
5:30am and Team Pflueger (Gary and I) were chomping down our Bacon & Egg Rolls and finalizing our plans for the day. 44 teams had turned up and after the key-tag draw, we’re going to be the 36th boat past the starting line, which gave the number 1 boat about an extra 10 minutes worth of fishing time. This can make a huge difference at the end of the day, so we had a plan. A cunning plan…: )

To counter this, Gary and I made the shortest trip out of the entire field to our first spot. Straight onto the flats in Exile Bay and we proceeded to throw TT Switchblades about and hop them back to us. First up was a small flathead, then a few timid bumps that failed to hook up. I get a huge hit and feel one head shake and my 6lb leader is sawn through. Must’ve been a big flathead…or at least I hope it was? An hour quickly passes for no bream and we’re talking about moving when Gary loads up on something that bolts off and peels line off his reel.

“If this is a bream, it’s a beauty,” says Gary and we watch the braid slice through the water, first out into the open water and then back towards the mangroves. Gary plays it out perfectly, keeping the rod high, staying calm and easing off the drag as we get first sight of the leader. After a couple of tense minutes, what we’ve been hoping for slowly appears out of the slightly murky water. We hold our breaths as I slide the net under her and then simultaneously yell “YES!”

What a fish to start off with! 39cm’s to the fork with big, thick shoulders and I guesstimate about 1.2kg’s. What a relief and it spurs us on to keep working the flats. But that was it from here and keeping an eye on our watches, we stick to our plan and motor up to Silverwater and work the rock walls with SP’s. Finally I get one that’s just legal (25cm fork length minimum for this comp) and that’s 2 in the well. 5 minutes later it’s another one for me that’s just legal and we’re on our way to a full bag.

A quick check of the time and it’s off to our next spot, fishing the down current side of some buntings. I get a flattie, then Gary gets a bream that goes 27cm’s fork, quickly followed by one of 29cm’s for me. That’s a full bag now but we really need to upgrade the 2 smallest guys.

Off to some more flats and Gary comes up with the goods and gets a 33cm fork bruiser that looks like it’s been eating non-stop for weeks. That’s a good upgrade and as the wind picked up we moved to our penultimate spot.

Gladesville Marina worked well for us in the Squidgy Comp and we planned to give it another crack for 40 minutes before moving back to exile Bay for the last 30 minutes of the day. The wind made it difficult to stay in position and we were constantly buffeted by waves from passing boats but it didn’t stop Gary from hooking up (yet again) and strike me pink, it’s another cracker that’s 35cm’s fork length and fat as, as well. As I tossed our last small bream back into the briny, we had a look at the 5 swimming around and thought ‘Hey, we can do this.’

As we approached the flats again, I half joked, half challenged Gary. “I’ve got the 2 smallest fish in there; you haven’t got the balls to kick them out.” We counted down the final minutes. ‘Gary, 7 minutes left,’ I said. ‘Ok, 3 more casts and that’s it,’ he replies. Cast number 1: nothing. Cast number 2: nothing. Cast number 3 and Holy Moley, he’s hooked up again! I laugh as I compare it to my smallest fish and say “Well, it’s at least 100grams bigger, so it could make a big difference.”

As we walked to the weigh in, I saw Alan Loftus and Ross Cannizzaro releasing their fish and there were some thumpers in there, too. On the scales goes our bag and it settles on 3.835 kg’s, our best bag to date, but was it good enough? Gary’s big bugga went 1.285kg’s and was the leading big bream until the very end when Jorge van Hussen weighed in a monster 1.315kg bluenose.

We nervously waited as they tallied the bags and then started the count down from 5th place. When 3rd was announced at 3.737 kg’s, we suddenly realized how important that last fish was and when 2nd was called out as 3.780 kg’s, we knew we’d won it.

We were over the moon as it’s our first big comp win and we put our result down to the facts that we stuck to our plan and never gave up. The $1,000 prize money will definitely help restock the tackle bag and the beer (or bourbon) will taste extra sweet from the winner’s mugs. Thanks for a great comp, Gary and you certainly put the runs on the board for us today. I’ll get the big guys next time, okay? And of course, a big thanks goes to the great team from Western Sydney Bass and Bream (http://www.wsbb.com.au/) who certainly know how to run a good competition.

Back to the yak next week and I’ll probably try my luck for a jewfish again. Happy yakkin’, everyone.

Cheers,Cid

Botany Bay - 19/6/08

Last weekend saw 40 knot winds keep almost everyone off the water but I was tempted to chase a few bream in Sylvania Waters. Here you can stick to the canals and find some shelter but finally I opted for a quiet weekend instead and had a couple of well deserved sleep ins.

To make up for it, I made a quick dawn raid on the HWO off Silver Beach this morning. It doesn't get light enough to see clearly until about 6:20 or so and I crept up to the upwelling water hoping for another big King or two. No joy with the kings but the tailor were certainly out in force! The East Coast Splash n' Dash that fooled the Kingie last week was on fire again this morning. Afterlanding half a dozen, with the biggest going 44cm's, the bite as per usual, shut down within seconds. I switched to SP's hoping for Mr. King but every 3 or 4 casts it'd get shredded by a lone tailor.

Deciding to head back in, I started casting a Gulp Sandworm in Camo ahead of me and was rewarded by a nice trevally to finish off my morning. I'm always amazed by how hard these guys go and can't wait until I eventually get to tussle with one of their big cousins, such as a GT, up north. All I gotta do is get up there, I suppose.

This weekend the yak will get another rest as I'm fishing in the WSBB Bream Scramble on Sydney Harbour with Gary Brown. so far there are over 30 teams entered so it should be a top day with some excellent fish being weighed in. Have a look at the website (www.wsbb.com.au) in the General Discussion area for more info, especially if you want to come down for the weigh in and see some of the stonker bream before they're released. Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,
Cid