Towra Point - 6/5/09 & Oyster Bay - 17/5/09

TOWRA POINT

Andrew (Rebel) and I thought a surface session amongst the mangroves would be successful so we headed to Towra Point for the last of the runout tide. Conditions were great but I wasn't. I was a bit out of condition due to my lack of activity after my stay in hospital.

Rebel started out with his famous Sugapen while I tied on a Sammy 65. We had a few half hearted hits but nothing that would connect with the hooks. Finally I succeeded and landed my only legal bream for the day, a 29cm specimen that put up a good fight for his size. I changed to a Squidgie 100m Wriggler in bloodworm rigged on a 1/40th HWS jighead and landed a flattie of about 40cms from the edge of a weedbed. Not quite big enough for me so I released him to grow a bit more.

It was surprisigly quiet and we pushed way up into the mangroves to try to find the fish. Maybe they were waiting for the tide to change? I had to leave early and left Andrew in the wilderness where he finished up with 2 legal bream and a handful that were just undersize.

Back at the ramp I took a quick snap of my one and only then sent him back on his way to catch up with his flathead mate so they could talk about their kayaking experiences.


OYSTER BAY

Lachlan had been pestering me for another round at Oyster Bay so in the afternoon we hit the slightly murky water. Last time we were here we lost Lachlans Baby Vibe to a big flattie so I'd bought him a replacement one which bought a grin to his face. I decided on a bit of a comparison with a more expensive lure, a Jackall Chubby which was almost twice the price.

We were only going to be out for an hour or so and it wasn't long before Lachlans lure gets a hook up. A small bream that is sent back. Five minutes later, lachlan hooks up again and this time it's a nice flattie of about 45 cms. Then two minutes later he hooks another undersize bream.

I wind my chubby in to make sure it's not covered in weed. It's not, so I flick it back out again. Whack! Holy crap...Lachlan's on again! This time it's a legal bream

so we at least have two keepers to take home. Finally, I hook up and net another flattie but at 40 cms he's smaller than Lachlans that's in the well. I get the lip grips on him, swing him around to put in the live well and then proceed to drop him over the side of the yak and back into the water. Lachlan giggles his head off and proceeds to hook the next three fish but they are all undersize so we go home with only the two.

So the Baby Vibe came out a clear winner today but I know that on any given day, certain styles of lures will outfish others. Colour, shape and action all play a part and only further testing will define the lure that will be the "King of Oyster Bay". Lachlan already knows that his is the King between him and I anyway. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Squidgie Bream Grand Final - Parramatta River - 3/5/09

Firstly, a big apology for not putting any reports up for a few weeks but I DO have a good excuse! A couple of weeks ago I managed to put myself in hospital (just unlucky me, I guess. I had a Mallory-Weiss Tear. Look it up if you want to) for 6 days (4 of those in Intensive Care) and for some reason, they wouldn't let me out to have a yak and a fish. All is good now though so I should get out this week sometime and get a few runs on the board. To top it off, this report isn't even about fishing from a kayak. Oh the shame...

Luckily, all my dramas happened before the Squidgie Grand Final so Gary and I could still attend and go for gold. 20 teams departed from Hen and Chicken Bay at 7am and Gary and I had already worked out a detailed plan that we were going to stick to. First stop was a rock wall 5 minutes up river. Gary started throwing a Chubby and I was working a 2" Gulp shrimp (pepper) rigged on a 1/20th jighead. Only 10 minutes into it, and I hook up. Nice fish and he's 31 cms to the fork. That's a good start. Gary then hooks up but drops it and 5 minutes later, I do the same. Bugga. No more bites after that so we move off to work some bridges with blades.

For the next 3 hours Gary and I proceeded to hook and drop fish left, right and center! I thought I had rubber hooks on at one stage. It was soooooooooo frustrating. Finally, at Gladesville Marina, Gary gets the hooks to stick and number 2 (29 cms fork) is in the well.

Off to Birkenhead Point Marina and more dropped fish. Over to some flats for one flathead. Back upstream to Westport Marina and BANG, I hook up big time. Thump, thump, thump up the line and I realise it's a trevally. A good one too but useless in a bream comp. A quick photo and back he goes.

The next fish I land is a nice Leather Jacket. Oh, for fuggs sake! With only 45 minutes to go, we venture up to Exile Bay. I'm flicking a berkley Big Eye Blade around when it gets crunched as soon as it hits the water. I see a flash of silver and call out to Gary, "Yes, finally, get the net." But our luck today was well and truly absent and in comes another trevally. Aaaargh! Time ticks away and I hook up again. Another flash of silver and you guessed it, ANOTHER Trevally. Gary and I are laughing at this stage and we couldn't have caught a bream if you thrown one at us from 3 feet away. That's fishing for you. Sometimes it all comes together and sometimes it all goes to s%#t.

Our two fish weighed in at 1.040 kgs and the winning bag by Team Squidgie was over 4 kilos so we weren't even close. We still had fun though and that's what it's all about. A big thanks to Gary for having me on board and our next comp together will be the WSBB Bream Scramble in a couple of months, where Gary and I will be defending our win from last year. I think we'd better get out there and practice. Happy yakkin', everyone.

cheers,

Cid