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