Cooks River - 21/2/09 & Oyster Bay - 22/2/09

Cooks River

With work on this weekend, I couldn't manage to get up to the Sunshine Coast for the 2nd Round of the ABT/Hobie Kayak Bream Series so I decided to have a mini comp with just myself in it! To make it a bit tougher, I stuck with the two fish limit but I would only fish for 3 hours AND I'd take a dreaded banana along with me. As far as I'm concerned, I've already dispelled this old wives tale but I like testing it out every now and again just for fun.

The tide was almost at high when I launched and I proceeded over to the freeway wall and started casting some Squidgie lobbys. I'd travelled nearly it's entire length with only two bumps before I hooked up solid and number one came aboard. He was nice and fat I and I guestimated him to be about 700 grams. That's a good start.

Up to the bridge and after 30 minutes of working the pylons with only one small bream for my efforts, I move up to some rockwalls and buntings. I change to a Berkley Gulp 2" Shrimp in banana (ahh, double jinx!!!) and first cast I hook up but it doesn't feel like a bream. A flathead of 40 or so cms emerges from the depths and I slip him off the hook and send him back.

The tide has almost stopped running now and I decide to go a bit more aggressive and rig up with a TT switchblade that I bounce off the bottom with pauses in between. Another legal comes aboard and shortly after that another one but he's not as big so back he goes.

Two more flatties and one more bream (not an upgrade either) and ding, ding, ding, my time is up. The two bream go 1.165 kgs and yes, I did take the banana out before I weighed them. So no monsters but it was a pretty good session with 4 legal bream and three legal flathead landed. Oooh, I hate those bananas...Bwah ha ha. : )

Oyster Bay

Lachlan was pretty cheesed off with me for going fishing without him so I promised him we'd go the next morning. With a banana as well, of course. We launched at 6:45am and set out two

lures, a River 2 Sea Baby Vib and a Ecogear SX40. Lachlan was having a ball pointing out all the jumping mullet but after 5 minutes of trolling he said "Where's the fish?"

No sooner had he finished speaking when his rod jumped in his hands and he yelled "Got one!". I turned the Hobie to face the fish as he wound it in and I knew it was a pretty good one, too. With only minor coaching, he brought it along side and I slipped the net under his biggest bream to date - 27 cms to the fork and he says "Ha, when are YOU gonna catch one?". Show off...

We go off along the shoreline and bang, off goes his rod again. I can see I may have to make him swim to shore. Only 23 to the fork but still legal and he's giggling like a lunatic. Come on, I've gotta get one and finally my rod goes off and this is a good 'un. It feels like a big flathead and she scoots off across the flats. I'm hoping that she hasn't engulfed the SX40 when there is a head shake and she's gone. Bugga! I reel in and the leader is shredded to bits.

Re-rig with a pink Halco Scorpion and this is boofed as soon as it hits the water. Woohoo, I'm finally on the board with a 24 fork breambo. Then Lachlan gets a flattie of 43 cms and It's time to head home.

We troll up another flattie and although it's undersize, Lachlan wants to take it home to show mum. I explained about size limits and why we have to put the small ones back and he finally agreed but still wasn't happy about setting it free. He'll learn though. By the time we got back to the ramp he was all smiles again and I was lucky to get a snapshot with the banana as Lachlan was just about to peel it and guts the lot. Happy yakkin, everyone.

cheers,

Cid

Oyster Bay & Botany Bay - Feb. 2009

You'd think that after a month of no reports I'd come back with heaps of stories of monster fish and hot sessions reeling in one after the other. Well, you're wrong! I've only snuck out twice and each time was for about 45 minutes each, so the report is fairly brief.

A couple of weeks back I took Lachlan down to Oyster Bay and we managed a few bream to 30 cms and one flattie that went 45 cms but the camera batteries gave up the ghost just after getting a superb dawn shot of Lachlan and the yak. Conditions were ideal and a few of the boys from KFDU were getting a bag of flatties that were falling to Ecogear SX40's.

Then of course, there was the Port Hacking round of the Squidgie Bream Challenge last week and Gary and I managed 16th spot with only 3 fish. It was a really tough day and I've never seen so many watercraft out and about. When we made it back to the ramp, we had to wait 35 minutes to get the boat out. Man, now I know why I have a kayak and not a stinkboat!

Then the rain set in and this afternoon I said "Right, enoughs enough!" and zoomed down to the HWO at Kurnell. Plenty of wind and rain, but no kingies (what do they look like again...). The were however a few tailor about with the best measuring in at 47 cms, so not a bad day really. They all fell to a 6" Mojo skipped across the surface but were only on the chew for 10 minutes so I was lucky to be there at the right time.

Lets hope this weather clears up and we can get back out on the water for a bit longer. Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,
Cid