ABT/Hobie Narrabeen Tournament & Oyster Bay - Nov 2009

Sorry, but last week was flat out at work (and still is), so here is a belated and brief report for the tournament. Saturday saw about 40 spreading out over the lake to catch their 3 bag. I had a great day for catching bream BUT none of them were legal. I landed 14 of the buggas with the biggest being 24 cms to the fork; 1 cm shy of going in the live well. Plus I landed 2 flatties and lost a monster about 70 cms. And I also landed two Long Toms, both about 3 feet long.

Sunday was seeming like a repeat with a multitude of small fish and wrong species coming in to say hello. The excitement of the day was hanging around with Greg L while he was hooked up to a massive Jewfish on 3lb line. I sat at the ready with my camera for 30 minutes until deciding this was gonna be a long battle and left him with Stewie standing guard seeing as I still needed to get a legal bream. Eventually (at 11:14 am to be precise) I got one! 26 cms fork and he fell to a Jackall Chubby worked slowly over the weed beds in the center of the lake.

This was followed by a few more flatties and another 24 cm bream (Aaarrrggghhhhh!!!) before time ran out and I had to head to the weigh in. I worked out the distance I travelled on Sunday and here is the path I took. All up, 18.62 kms and boy did I sleep well thet night.

A few guys had managed to find the bream and there were a few crackers, too. The best was a 1.1 kg specimen that really put my 360 g fish to shame. All I could manage was 12th place. However, I backed myself before the start of the event and upgraded to PRO status for $50. Only 6 of us took this option and seeing as I was the only one to land a legal bream, I walked away with the 300 buckeroos. Thank you very much indeed! Well done to the top 3, Matt, Jason and Dave.

Oh, and on Greg and his jewie. To the right is a picture mid-battle with Stewie standing on his Outback, trying to get a glimpse of colour. Greg was also competing in the comp in Queensland the following week and his kayak had to go on the truck to be transported there, so Stewart went back out in his kayak, they swapped mid-water and Stewart took it back to be loaded up. He then grabbed his surf board and a pair of goggles and paddled out to sit next to Greg. 'If you don't hurry up and land it,' he said, 'I'll dive down and gaff the bloody thing for you!'

By now a crowd had formed on the bank and a kind-hearted canoeist brought Greg a few beers to quench his thirst. 6 hours after hook up, the beast decided it'd had enough and bolted. Greg took chase but eventually....PING! The leader parted at the lure. So close yet so far but kudos to Greg for staying connected for that long on 3lb gear. And top marks to Stewie for staying around, too.

For results of the weekends comp, visit: http://bream.com.au/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=550&mode=&order=0&thold=0

For a heap of photos, visit http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/

Oyster Bay - 18/11/09

Now that the weather is a bit warmer, it was time to get Lachlan back out and into a few fish. Tides were perfect for Oyster Bay so we went after a few flatties. Fifteen minutes into the day and Lachlan hooks up. A good tussle and in comes keeper number one - a 27cm bream. We're trolling around a couple of different lures: a River 2 Sea Baby vib 45 and an Ecogear SX40.

Around we go and we cover a fair amount of ground but the fish are very scarce. Two small flatties and one more bream that's just under (it must've come from Narrabeen) and that's all we can rustle up. I was really surprised as I thought 3 or 4 flatties would've been on the cards for sure. Oh well, it was good to get the little guy out again and This summer will see him get his quota up into higher numbers for sure. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid