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

Cooks River - 31/5/08 & Botany Bay - 8/6/08

COOKS RIVER
Keen to get into a few Jewfish, Terry and I thrashed the river to bits for 3 or 4 good hits but no hook ups! Very frustrating but with a bit of perserverance, I'm sure we'll get a few over the sides of the kayaks before too long.

An hour into it, Terry had a big hit and initially we thought 'YES!' but it turned into a big 'NO!' when a trevally (a nice one though) surfaced next to him. After a couple of hours of being fishless, I couldn't hold out any longer and turned to the good ol' bream to give me my fishy-fix for the week. First off I threw the TT Switchblades over the flats and pinned two, and from there moved onto the bridges and changed to SP's (Gulp 3" Minnow in pumpkinseed) where I managed another two before having to head home.

The tides look good for the weekend so I only hope the wind and rain will back off a bit and let us have another go at the Jewies.

BOTANY BAY

A visit to the HWO was scheduled in for sunday morning after Terry and I had heard about a

few big tailor being landed throughout the Bay. Terry was 20 meters ahead of me and fired the first cast off and promptly yelled "I'm on! Good Tailor, too, I think." I swiftly flicked out one of Mick Munn's East Coast poppers that has done really well for me in the past and as I skipped it back over the surface it was pounced on by 4 or 5 sets of gnashing teeth. In the turmoil, the bloody fish were knocking the lure every which way but failed to hook up. Terry continued to hoot and holler so I responded with a 'Shaddup...' as I fired off cast number 2. Same scenario as the first cast but half way back the popper is finally nailed and I'm on.

"Yeehah! Double hook up!", I yell and to make sure I'm well connected I set the hook again.

'ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,' goes the drag and I turn to Terry and say "Ah... don't think this is a tailor anymore" before getting the legs moving and taking chase. This thing rockets off and I put on as much pressure as the 6lb braid and 10lb leader will allow me to. I gain some line, I lose some line and so it goes. I'm pretty sure I know what this fish is now but I'm still waiting for colour. After several minutes the big runs have subsided and I slowly work this guy to the surface. My thoughts are confirmed and I eventually slip the now very small looking net under a very healthy Yellowtail Kingfish.

Oh man, how good was that! A new PB for me as he goes 79cm's and weighs in at 4.15kg's. And my first on a popper, too. The lure he took is a Splash n' Dash that I'd modified by taking out the middle treble. I removed this because I like the lure to sit right on top of the water when chasing tailor. Hook ups mightn't be as prolific but I also think it stops a lot of the damage that may occur to fish (especially around their eyes) if there'd been two sets of hooks.

By the time I'd made it back to the HWO, the tailor had disappeared so we tried for kings for another 15 minutes then moved out to The Sticks where we picked up a few bream and trevally on SP's. I had to leave but Terry stayed back and landed another 6 tailor by trolling deep diving HB's, with the biggest for the day for him going 55cm's, which is a cracker of a Tailor.

I just checked my diary and June last year was a great month for me and Kings. I landed over a dozen all up so I'm sure I'll be putting in a few more visits over the next few weeks. Still, the Jewie Fever is in my head and there is only one cure for that. Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,

Cid