Squidgie Southern Bream 2011 - Georges River - 30/1/11

Last years series was a hugely successful one and this year promised to be bigger and better. Conditions were going to be ideal (maybe a little too hot though) and a big field was expected. But I think even the organisers were a bit surprised with the turnout. 84 boats and 26 kayaks graced the starting beach and what a spectacle it was. It's great to see the kayak numbers up on last year and I'm sure these events will just get bigger and bigger.

At 7am the boats were off and by 7:07am, we, the real fisherman : ) were allowed to go. I'd been in mixed minds as to where to target this year. Towra Point was one of the options but I figured there'd be a mass of boats hitting it and I'd take at least 40 minutes to get out there anyway, so I put that idea to bed. Next thought was the racks in Woolooware Bay but as most of the yaks headed that way, I decided to go with the first part of my plan of last year and hit some boats and jetties early but would then continue on upstream, hopefully finding some relatively untouched waters.

I dropped a good fish only 5 minutes into the comp but at least that was pretty promising. I continued working along, flicking under jetties and pontoons with a variety of SP's, waiting for that telltale grab of the plastic but it turned out to be a long waiting game. In fact, it was as if someone had netted all the fish in the area because I couldn't even get a bite! Well, one small chopper tailor doesn't count, so I continued with my plan and headed upstream.

By 10am the water traffic was in full swing with jetskis and water skiers and all other types of boats zooming all over the place. Not great conditions for breaming and they would only make the fishing that much harder. Some flats I'd intended to hit had TWO wakeboarders zigzagging across it so that was skipped as I made my way up to Kangaroo Point.

I glanced at my watch and it was 10:42am and I hadn't even seen a bream. At times like this you start to ask questions: Should I have gone to Towra or the Racks? Maybe deep water is the go? Where are the fuggen fish??? Etc, etc.

For the umpteenth time I skipped the Squidgie bloodworm wriggler into the shadey area at the back of a pontoon. I watched the line as it sank and what the? A tic! I slowly lifted the rod and felt some weight so I struck and yes, I'm on! In she comes and yes it's a bream but it's only 25cms to the tip (it needs to be 26cms) but at least it a start.

I move onto the next pontoon and repeat the cast. Again I feel weight and this time it feels a bit better and woohoo, this one is just over 26cms, so I'm on the board. And then it was as if someone flicked a switch and suddenly, they came on the chew. Over a four hundred meter section , I hooked or landed a fish off every second jetty and pontoon. Some small or just under and a couple of legals and twice I was roasted by good fish that pinged me off on jetty pylons but them's the breaks.

By 11:30 am, I had three in the well but one was just over 26 cms, so I really wanted to upgrade him. I eventually made it around to my ol' fishing mainstay of Oyster Bay and on the third pontoon I pulled a 28 cm specimen so I knew I had three that would pass muster but unfortunately, there were no kicker fish in the bag.

The tide was dropping so I followed suit and dropped back into a deeper channel and started working it with a blade. This proved successful and I landed another four that were all 26 or 27 to the tip, so all legal but unfortunately, no upgrades. Try as I might, I just couldn't hook that kicker fish.

By 12:15 pm the bites had stopped and I didn't raise another scale. Bugger all bycatch today too, only one legal flattie and two undersize ones and one pike. I've included a map of the path I took (just under 14 kms) and the red dots are where I landed my keepers. So were all the fish just in that area? I don't think so. I reckon they just decided to start eating at that particular time and then for some reason, they shut up shop again.

As I made my way back, I figured I'd only have 1.3kgs maximum, which I was sure wouldn't be enough. Maybe a top ten if I'm lucky but that's about it. Punching home into the now very-fresh wind was not fun and I only made it back with about 30 seconds to spare. Too close for comfort really as there is a 50 gram penalty for every minute that you're late getting back to the weigh-in.

Talking to the others, it seems it'd been a tough day for everyone. An interesting fact was that most didn't get their fish until after 10:00-10:30am which correspondes closely to when my fish were caught, too. The family were there to watch the weigh in and surpirsingly, I managed 6th place with 1.265 kgs.

And who won it? Andrew Death, of course! He's hot to trot at the moment and has won his last three comps in Sydney and he well and truly smashed us in this one, too. Andrew bit the bullet and ventured out to Towra with all the boats and brought home a 2.21kg bag, eclipsing his nearest rival by 320 grams. His bag also included a bream that nearly went a kilo, so it was an impressive show of talent on a tough day.

Second place went to Robert Chambers (1.89 kgs) and third went to that podium regular, Stewart Dunn (1.585 kgs) who just nudged Dave Hedge into fourth with 1.535 kgs. Or as Stewart says, 'Smashed him!' Well done guys.

Of course, the tournament was another huge success with drinks and a sausage sizzle rounding out the day and 'Basin Lure and Fly' can take another bow for running a truly professional tournament that is accessible to all. For further details on the series, please visit their website at: http://www.ssbs.basinlureandfly.org.au/

Plus Terry has been out Bassin' again, so I'll get another report and photos off him and put that up soon. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid