Rack 'em up! - Woolooware Bay - 16/2/13

After last weeks miserable effort, it was time to get into some fish. Stewart was working today (sucka!) but Andrew was free and decided he'd give me a lesson in the old oyster racks down in Wooloware Bay. The sky was overcast and there was a little bit of wind about but as long as that rain stayed away, we'd be all right.

First off we hit the many scattered channel poles on the way to the racks and I picked up a small bream on a Green 7cm Gladiator Smash Bait. That was it though and yay, just as we made it to the racks, here comes the rain. It's not too torrential though so we push on and into the 'Gnarly Zone'. These places look so good, you just know there's going to be bream lurking about ready to tale your lures home with them.

The water was slightly murky, so I switched to a Saku Jr in Banana Bone colour hoping the rattle-sound would get the breams attention and draw them in. It only took a minute or two to get my casting-eye in and I started landing the lure right next to the racks on the shady side figuring this will be the location where the fish will be taking shelter.

I had a few tentative bumps before I eventually landed number one for the day. Not a big guy (25 fork) and he had little chance with my 8lb braid and 10lb fluoro leader on my Daiwa Advantage reel with a locked-up drag. As he skipped across the surface I yelled out '1 nil!' to Andrew. I turned to see him get a hit but the hooks pulled straight away. Nyah nyah...

This area doesn't have commercial oysters in it anymore but the amount of structure is amazing. This in turn attracts oyster, barnacle and weed growth, thus attracting the bait fish, prawns and crabs that are welcome additions to the menu for the feisty bream. Regular rack fishers know that there can be some serious 1 kg+ sized Bluenosed Bruisers and trying to extract them from their homes is no easy feat. Heavy lines and a no-give attitude is necessary and you have to be on your toes to get them out as soon as they hit your lure.

We continue along and just after I take a snap of Andrew with a rainbow showing where the pot of gold is, he get's another hit and again fails to hook up. So far, it's a good lesson he's teaching me and to rub it in, I land number two for the day. This guy is a bit better and he tries to make it back under the racks but I'm too quick and into the net he goes. He's a beautiful clean silver colour so has probably come in off the flats for something different. I bet he wishes he'd stayed on the flats now though. Onto the ruler and he's 28 fork length. Two for me, none for the 'Teacher'.

Times running out for me so I leave Andrew and he continues further into the racks. The tide is coming in now and is almost at the perfect stage where the water is just lapping at the base of the trays. In fact, it's too tempting and I duck back into the rows and decide to fish the last set of trays which is about 30 meters long.

First cast and I'm on. Woo hoo! Again it's not big (26 fork) but anything in the racks is great fun. This Saku is going great, so I flick it out again. CRUNCH! Another one, magic! This guy is 27 fork and I'm cursing the fact I have to head home. Third cast and I get two bumps but no hook up. Back out goes the lure and it's given a big whack. I pause the lure for a few seconds then give it a slight twitch. It gets another whack. This time I give it two quick twitches and that's obviously enough to fire up this bream and I'm on.

This definitely feels like a better fish and he dives under the rack. I push my rod into the water to keep the line away from the rails and crank him out into the open. He breaks for the adjacent set of racks so I swing my rod over to the other side and halt his progress. He's in the clear now and makes a few darting lunges but it's too late and I scoop him up. Lovely, he's just on 30 fork length and nice and fat. I'd be happy with three of these in a competition. And thus I finished my session in the racks and reluctantly left them biting. Ooh, that was hard to do... I couldn't see Andrew but I was sure he was smashin' them.

But no, he wasn't. He managed one and dropped another three or so. And that is so typical of how a day fishing can be. Next time, he'll probably kick my butt and I'll be the one cursing the lost fish. Either way, it was happy days and it was great to get a good breaming session under my belt before the next tournament.

Speaking of which, the next one I'm off to is the next round of the Gamakatsu Hobie Fishing Series down at St Georges Basin on the 3rd March. Check out the details on the Hobie site: www.hobiefishing.com.au or visit www.fishingcomps.com.au to pre-enter and save yourself some money and also get a good starting spot. I'm also pretty sure that David O'Toole from PaddlePedalsail ( www.paddlepedalsail.com.au ) will be manning a BBQ like he did at the Brisbane Waters round and if the snags are as good as they were up there, then they're worth the price of entry alone.

No reports from me this weekend as I have some friends from interstate staying with me and as comfy and stable as the Hobie Outback kayak is, we won't all fit on the one kayak. So stay tuned for the update of the St Georges Basin round after its run and won. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Port Hacking - 9/2/13

'Ok,' I said, 'I'm in. Where are we going?' 'Grays Point,' said Andrew. 'Okaaaaaaayyyyyy...,' was my not-so-enthusiastic reply. The Hacking can be tough at the best of times but then again, sometimes it really fires and the action can completely change your opinion of it. Until the next time, when she'll dash your spirits on the rocks and leave you shattered! But I was committed now and continued to sort out my HB tackle box which was getting it's annual re-arranging (not that it does any good) to make it look more fish-catching than last year.

I don't fish the Hacking very often and when I do I normally launch in Yowie Bay. Why I don't like launching at Grays Point is due to a number of reasons. Firstly, the boat traffic around here on the weekend is crazy. Secondly, unless you go upstream, it's a long slog back towards Gymea Bay to find some fish. Sure, you may get some fish from the edges but 9 times out of 10 I reckon it's a struggle. Thirdly, you'll have to compete with the jetskiers and wakeboarders and ski boats zooming all over the place.

But we went anyway and it was a beautiful morning. Andrew wasted no time and started throwing around a HB at the mouth of the small creek opposite the ramp and latched onto a monster straight away. How he landed it I'll never know? He'd set the bar pretty high and I knew that Stewart and I had our work cut out to beat him today.

As we made our way downstream we peppered the few boats and jetties with SP's for nary a touch. While Stewart and Andrew decided to work the shoreline with cicada HB's, I ventured into Mansion Bay to try the moored boats and pontoons. Luckily for me, no fish were about to ruin my leisurely casting practice. Swines!

So I left the Bay and thought, 'I know, I'll work some HB's over the flats and weedbeds out at the front of the bay.' As I neared them I noticed that Stewart had the same idea and was approaching from the opposite shoreline. But what's this, we aren't the only ones with the flats in mind and with music blaring, a wake boat and it's following wake boarder did a few figure eights right where we were heading and promptly scared off any fish that may have been in residence.

Ah well, looks like it's back to the shorelines for us. Stewart and Andrew both say they've dropped a couple of fish and I watch Stewart pull the hooks on one, but it wasn't a keeper anyway so it was no great loss. I figure I'll go to the point at the end of Deer Park to fish the weed beds but joy of joys, I get to share it with four ski boats. That's it, I'm off and I wish the boys good luck.

As I pass over the edge of the flats, I figure I'll throw an Atomic 38 Deep Crank out and see if there is anything remaining in the area. The rod buckles under the strain and I pull in a tarwhine. A quick photo with the iPhone and I send it off to Andrew and Stewart with a message: 'I'm winning!'

A few more casts and this time I'm beside myself. Another photo and a message: 'Smashin' ya now.' Oh, how can I lose? Closer to the ramp I start flicking a popper deep into the mangroves and only manage a half-hearted swipe from something that didn't even come close to hooking up.

Later that day I hear that Andrew landed a bream of about 30cm fork length which I thought had trumped me BUT then I learnt that Stewart had hooked a small snapper AND a tailor on a blade at the same time. He kicked us outta the park and was the hands-down winner for sure. What a champion! In other words, he has a head like a spark plug. LOL : )

This coming weekend sees one of the biggest rounds of the ABT Hobie Kayak Series being run on the mighty Bemm in Victoria, the same place where the Grand Final was last year. This will attract a huge field of maybe 60 or more kayaks so it'll be a cracker. Keep up to date with results here at www.hobiefishing.com.au and if your online at 2pm, check out the live streaming of the weigh-in here at www.bream.com.au. It'll be a good rematch between the GF winner, Shane Taylor and the runner up, Richard Somerton. I'll be logging in for sure.

I think I'm going to go chase some bream in the racks for a change this weekend and see if I can manage to pull a big angry Yellowfin Bream out of his home for a short while. At least I know there wont be any ski boats hooning around there. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Gamakatsu Hobie Fishing Series (GHFS) - Brisbane Waters - 3/2/13

And we're off! The great turn-out of 43 kayaks swiftly dispersed from the start and I settled in to my long journey to my destination which was over 4 kms away. Along the way I noticed a few locals heading to the same location so I figured my plan had some semblance of 'being on the money'. Hopefully, it wouldn't turn into merely an exercise voyage.

The going was tough seeing as we were battling against the run-out tide but after 50 minutes, we were there with only a few pauses on the way to flick a soft plastic at a few jetties and boat hulls. I started throwing an Atomic 38 Crank deep into the shallows and had a bump the first cast! Oooooh, come on, hook up. Thankfully, I didn't have to plead for long and a crunch signaled a bend in my rod and the line slicing through the water. It's not a big fish but what the? The rod stops kicking and I'm stuck. I keep the rod up high and circle where the line enters the water. I can see a submerged post and the line around it. But the bream is still there so with some swift rod work, it's off and back out into the open water. This time he's mine and it's 27 tip, so it's into the well.

 I stay in the shallows but can only snare an under size bream so I decide to move into the racks in Cockle Bay. There are only old railings and a few posts left here now but these can still be bream magnets. I'm still working with my Atomic Crank when it's smacked. I've got this attached to 10lb fluoro that's connected to 8lb braid. The drag is locked up so I quickly skull-drag the fish back and into the yak. This one is 28 tip, so that's two in the well for me. One to go.

I move up and down the rows and as I'm fishing inbetween two rails, the lure is tapped. I pause it for a second then give it a twitch. Another whack, slightly harder this time but still no weight on the end. Another twitch then BOOF-O! This is a good fish and I see him twisting at the end of my line. I get him up and over the rails but he gets his head down and he dives for the one solitary post between him and the net. Ping goes the fluoro and another good rack bream gets his freedom. Curses ensue and try as I might, I can't get any more fish out of these racks.

I mooch around to various places and snare three more bream that are all 25 tip which are all no good to me as they have to be 26cm tip length minimum. It's now 11:30 and we have to be back by 1pm so I start to head for home. While heading down the main channel, the wind kicked in and turned the water pretty choppy. As I push into the incoming tide and wind, I drift towards a half dozen boats moored in 2m of water. I decided to have a quick flick as I move past them.

I flick my 1/20th jighead loaded with an ol' school  Berkley 2" Power Hawg to the middle of the boat hull and let it sink. Well, I would of if a bream hadn't of grabbed it and raced off with it. Yahoo, this guy is 26.5 tip length and is my number 3. That's a full bag but unfortunately there's no kickers amongst them. Onto the next boat and this time it reaches the bottom. Hop, hop, grab, Zzzzzzzzzz, ping! Holy Crapola, done like a dinner. That was a good fish, too. I curse for the 2nd time today and re-rig.

The next two boats see another two legals come aboard but only one of them is an upgrader. I fuss around getting out the smallest fish (no mean feat in a windblown kayak) and review my bag. I have 2 x 28 tip and 1 x 27 tip. I still need a kicker. One more boat to go and would you believe it, I get another dusting by a good fish.

I hot-foot it back towards the sweigh-in and pass one more boat that's sitting in 3m of water. This time I flick out the Hawg on the 10lb fluoro and 8lb braid outfit and check that I have locked up the drag. I slowly hop it and feel something grab it. I ease up, slowly lift the rod until I can feel the weight, then strike! The rod bucks down and the yak gets pulled towards the boat. The drag doesn't give though and I know this one can't run and do me over on the boat hull. And then the line parts! Aaarrggghhhh. I wind in and the line has been scuffed right on the end. There must've been a rock or something down there for the line to brush against. Either way, that's 3 good fish I've lost in 30 minutes, and all off boats. Losing one fish under a boat is bad enough, but three?

Kudos to Gamakatsu for the hi-tech check-in system (register on the I-Pad, scores updated automatically on the big LCD screens) before you weigh your fish although I would have prefferred to have started our weigh in as soon as we got back. Once we were combined with the boaters, the procedure took way too long. I'm sure they'll iron out the kinks for the next round though. And a huge thanks go to the major sponsors for the round, Atomic Lures (www.atomiclures.com.au/) who provided $14,000 worth of product for the goody bags handed out to competitors at the start and for prizes and give aways later in the day.

I was hoping to make the 1 kilo mark for my 3 fish but alas, I just came up short. All I could do was 990 grams and 15th place. The top spots went to Patrick McQuarrie (1.71 kgs), Bryce Beechey (1.69 kgs) and Sean O'hagan (1.5 kgs). Still, it was a fun day and the BBQ run and supplied by David O'toole from Hobies Paddle Pedal Sail (www.sailingscene.com.au) was eagerly attended by all the anglers. Thanks David.

I have a month off now until my next tournament which will be another Gamakatsu round down at St Georges Basin on the 3rd March. I think I'd better practice landing some big bream. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Bronze Monsters - January 2013

I've yet to get out chasing bass this season but Terry as you know, is addicted to these iconic Aussie sportfish and he's been venturing out for them rather regularly. After looking at these photos, I wish I'd tagged along with him. Here's his story...

Well finally a bass report is here. I've just been a bit too lazy, tho I haven’t been lazy chasing them .A lot of fishing and quite a few kilometers have been done since this bass season kicked off . The rivers are looking at their best with plenty of rainfall in the right areas during 2012 & a flood had cleaned out most of the noxious weed. Some of the old snags disappeared but fear not, new ones were created to make a home for the bronze battlers.

This season has kicked off with great results with plenty of water flow early on & luckily it's still flowing quite well, making it much easier for the bass to be able to travel their way upriver for the duration of summer.

This time I decided to give the bass a different approach; I've been heading down to my local river in the early hours of the morning, in search of those big bronze battlers, while everybody else is in bed.

Surface lures have seen me get my best success for the big bass in the past. Big surface walkers that make plenty of noise & rattle have been getting the attention & there is nuthin' better than hearing a massive explosion or seeing a surface strike only metres away from the kayak.

Casting isn’t that important when fishing in the dark, tho bear in mind it will still need to be close enough (2ft-3ft) to the bank or snags. In this low or non-existent light, knowing your area is a bonus.

The Splatterbug by Lurelogic has been by far the best lure for me and the bass can’t resist it.

This summer has been one of the best in a long time as I have been getting into some quality fish. Getting big bass means beefing up your fishing tackle is a must if you want the results.  10lb braid with 15-20lb leaders should be able to stop them before they bust you off and there's a great chance that you’ll land that trophy fish of a lifetime.

Fishing in pressured waters like my local river, can prove tough to score big fish, tho if you put in the time & effort & learn the waterway it will all fall into place. If your not keen to head out in the middle of the night it doesn’t matter too much as early mornings or late afternoons will still see you get tangled into some great fish.

Getting a bass at 400mm these days is still a great fish and in most peoples terms is still classed as a trophy fish. For me, this bass season has been incredible with a lgreater than normal amount of great bass being landed that were over the 400mm mark and being caught in various times of day. As I mentioned earlier, I did try very early in the mornings for those big mummas but it had proved tuff . Most of the fish surprisingly were caught a little later in the day.

On one of my days I on the water I had a great session & amongst the catch I had a few fish that were previously caught & tagged by the NSW Fisheries.  Its great to see them out on the water doing their research on how the bass travel & grow. I was lucky enough to retrieve the number information from the tag  & submit it to the NSWDPI. Its very interesting on how they travel & grow. It can take time for the DPI to get back to you, but eventually they will. By returning the info on fish size, where you caught it and the tag ID, you will score lures for each tagged fish as a reward. So grab your yak & head out there for some hot action hopefully next time it could be you landing that trophy fish.

Here a are some photos of some quality fish this bass season so far, hope you enjoyed them

Happy yakkin

Tezza

Schweppes, Terry! Those fish are unbelievable. I spoke to Terry about the biggest fish and it was just shy of 60cms. It looks more like a jewfish than a bass. Great to know that they are still out there swimming about.

I didn't manage to make it down to Glenelg for the first tournament in the new Bream Season so this weekend I finally start with my first one up on Brisbane Waters, launching from Woy Woy. With the sad folding of the Squidgy Southern Bream Series, Hobie and Gamakatsu picked up the reins and have organised for a range of comps up and down the coast. For full details, please visit www.hobiefishing.com.au/ and click on the Tournaments button. 

It looks like we'll get over 40 yakkers there, so it'll be a good field. Lets hope the weather is kind to us and we all manage to get into a few big breambos. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid