There was one boat casting large poppers at it when I arrived and I decided to flick out the 6" Mojo stickbaits for something different. I gave it a good going over for 15 minutes and once again, not even a touch. The same result went for the boat who eventually packed it in and shot off to the other side of the bay. I gave it another couple of casts and decided to head out to the Sticks to see if I could get a bream or two. I'm sure that the HWO still fires at times but it's definitely quieter than it used to be.
On the way out to the Sticks, I saw a few boils ahead of me, 'Maybe Bonito?' I thought and flicked out a small metal slice and cranked it back at high-speed. After a few casts without a touch I switched to the Mojo. Nuthin'! They were still boiling up, nothing wild though and I reached for a new Ecogear popper I have, an
orange and black TP88F. First cast and it's snaffled off the surface. And then the drag starts screaming! Oh yeah, this isn't a bonito.Strong determined runs and then down deep it goes, slugging it out. Now this is more like it. I soon get colour and it's my first Kingie for a long time. Into the net and onboard but it's just short of legal at 62cms so it's back into the drink for this guy. The boils had stopped by now so I continued to the Sticks and started with a blade.
I'd been blading for about 10 minutes and had landed one small pinkie and a 33cm bream when 20 meters away there's a bit of a bust up on the surface. A quick switcheroo of rods and out goes the TP88F again. It's hit 3 times before the hooks stick and I'm dragged away by what feels like a good fish. By now a few boats have seen me hooked up and are
slowly creeping closer.I get colour again and it looks like a twin of the first King and at 63cms, it almost is. Aaaarrrgh, so close to legal, but back this one goes, too. I scan the water, searching for more bust ups but the boils have disappeared for now so I go back to the blades.
But it's not long before they're back on the surface and to test them out, I switch to the Mojo again. Still nothing. So I downsize to smaller squidgy flickbaits but again they are ignored. I even cast the blade out and landed it right in the middle of the school but to no avail. So back to the popper and it's instant action again. I pulled the hooks on two fish before I finally get a solid hook up and this guys goes deep straight
away and gives me a good tow.When I eventually drag him aboard I'm only 20 meters from one of the boats and the guy yells out 'What are you getting those bloody Kings on?' I return with 'Are you using Soft Plastics?' 'Yes', he says. 'Well I'm not getting them on those,' I say with a smile. I flicked my lure towards them and said 'Try a popper like this.' I hope he managed to get into a few.
As fortune would have it, this one is a smidge over 65 cms, so hallelujah, there's dinner. My time on the water was now up so I left them biting. Man, I hate having to do that.
Of course, after a good session like that, I was keen to have another go so on the sunday I headed out into the overcast slightly drizzly morning which at least kept the boat traffic down.
The fish were a bit shyer today and again I could only get them to take poppers. The TP88F (see right) worked again, as did an NW Pencil and also a River 2 Sea popper which promptly had the light gauge hooks completely straightened. Silly me forgot to back the drag off. D'oh!So I ended up hooking 5 and landing 2 but the biggest was only 60 cms, so none of them came home with me this time. But gees they're bloody good fun! Let's hope there are a few more sessions with bigger specimens involved over the next few months.
On a different note, Tezza has been getting into a few bass lately and will send me a few photos with a report to go with them, so I'll get those up within the next day or two. Happy yakkin, everyone!
cheers,
Cid
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment