Yowie Bay - 21-2-15

Kingies! Lots of reports of Kingies being caught in the Hacking so I thought I'd go and catch me some. Live squid would have been the best bait but being limited to time and being too lazy, I was sticking with SP's for today. On the water at 6:15am and I was at my first spot by 6:30am.

I kept an eye out for surface bust-ups but apart from the occasional splish from chopper tailor, things were pretty quiet. I was flicking out a Gladiator Smash Bait minnow in colour 15 (translucent with a pinkish tinge) and it was rigged on a 1/20th HWS jig head. 1 chopper, 2 choppers, 3 choppers...then finally a big hit but there is no hook-up!

I moved around hoping to find some baitfish but even they were no where to be seen. Bugger this, I'm off to try something different. I high-tailed it to a small reef and started blading, hoping to get a whiting or two, or maybe even a snapper for the table.

It wasn't long before I started to land a few small reddies and then whiting number one came aboard. That's one for the live well. The last few trips I've manage a few of these, so my hopes were up. They're great fighters when they get to a decent size and they're bloody good on the tooth, too.

More blading and I've noticed a few larger arches on the sounder. The rod buckles under a solid hit and up comes an almost legal snapper. Aargh, so close but back he goes to grow that extra half a centimeter. They are such a pretty fish, very tropical looking.

As I fish I wave to another 4 Hobie kayakers moving across the front of the bay, probably heading towards Lilli Pilli and beyond. When I started this kayak fishing caper 10 years ago, you'd be lucky to see one or two other yakkers in a day. Now we're bloody everywhere! Great to see how the sport has grown over the years and also good to see the amount of Hobies on the water. For a fishing kayak, you can't really beat the Hobies and they are almost the only kayak you'll see in any of the tournaments around the country now.

Behind me I hear a large splash and turn to see something big slash across the surface. Just at that moment, my blade get's hit and line zips off the reel. Ooh, this feels pretty good and a few tell-tale head-shakes transmit up the line. The fish runs into deeper water and I know I'm pretty safe out there so I back off the drag slightly and I let it run when it needs to.

I can tell it's not a huge fish but it's great fun all the same and I'm keen to get it in to take a few photos. I landed one just over a week ago while fishing with Adam Costa from Fishin Tackle Store and another one today would be fantastic.

Eventually she comes into view and I slide the net under her. They really are a magnificent looking fish: glowing silver scales along there lateral line and a purple-pink tinge across their head and back. The colours never really come out that well in photos but captured at the right angle, you can get an idea of it.

I took a few quick photos and slid her back into the dark water and swam her about while she got her strength back. A few more tail beats and she eventually shot back off into the depths to fight another day. With a self-satisfied sigh, I remembered the big splash just as I hooked up. I quickly scanned the water but there was no activity anywhere, so I figured I'd retire for the day and head for home.

Next weekend there is round 2 of the Basin Lure and Fly Southern Bream Series being held down at St Georges Basin. It's a 2 day event and fingers crossed, we'll get another good turn up and the fish will be on the chew. There's normally about 50 boats and 30 kayaks which will make it a challenging weekend but we all know there's some cracking big bream in that system. Last year in the Grand Final, Andrew Death landed a 1.76kg beast so we'll all be hoping to emulate that effort. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Basin Lure and Fly SBS - Round 1 Georges River - 8th Feb 2015

Time to get this blog back up and running. I've had a few adventures since my last update (was it really back in March last year???) with one major highlight being my selection for the Australian Hobie Kayak Fishing Team that jetted off and competed in China in their Open Championships with 9 countries and 56 anglers involved. I'll get to that at a later date but I will say the Aussie team blitzed them.

Last Sunday was the first round of the Basin Lure and Fly's Southern Bream Series and it was held on my local waterway, the Georges River. I'd managed a few pre-fish days leading up to the event and I had my game plan worked out. I was heading up into Woolooware Bay to fish channel markers, oyster racks and flats and fingers crossed, I'd have a good day. With 58 boats and 32 kayaks at this event, getting a bag early was key on my list before too many spots were hit by other anglers.

From the start I made a bee-line for my first set of markers. There were kayakers to either side of me but they thankfully peeled off and I was left alone. The tide was just starting to push in and I'd rigged a 3" Bait Breath SL Remix (colour 787 - similar to the Grenade colour) on a 1/28th HWS jighead and 6lb fluoro leader. 

On my 3rd cast I felt a slight bump, so I paused a few seconds and slowly lifted the rod tip. There was weight there so I struck and the fish charged up and rolled on the surface. 'Crikey, that's a good fish,' I thought and I stopped her from getting back to the marker and turned her out into open water. Then it was a test of patience as I took my time and let her run when she needed to and I slowly eased her back towards the net. With fingers, eyes and toes crossed, I slid the net under her and gave a small fist pump. Just over 39 fork length and wow, what a start! There's my kicker fish straight away.

 

I calmed myself, ensured the live well was full of water and set back to getting another. I moved to more markers and soon had another cracker in the well. This one went 34 fork length and I knew I was on a roll. Again, this one fell to the Bait Breath SL Remix.

From here I continued further into the bay and started fishing an old set of broken down racks. I swapped to a hard body: a Gladiator Shiver Vibe (colour SV4040 - purple black) with 8lb fluoro leader. Half way along the rack I pulled a 27 fork and a few casts later I upgraded him to a 29 fork. 

I then moved to the flats at the back of the bay and continued to land fish. Surprisingly, the only lure I could land them on today was the purple and black Shiver Vibe. I'd swap colours around but every time I came back to it, bang, I'd be on again. I got one more upgrade to a 30 forker before having to turn for home. So seven legals all up and 4 undersize saw me have a great day, especially in the still, sunny conditions which saw the bite shut down for me from 11:30am.

I knew I had a good bag but I still wasn't sure how the other guys had gone. Towra can hold some big fish and if someone had managed to find a few of them, they could bump me off. Plus Stewart Dunn, Andrew Death, Luke Kay and Jason Reid are others that know this place like the back of their hands and they usually do really well here, too. Back on shore however, I found out it'd been a pretty tough day for some and I was feeling pretty confident.

My bag went on the scales and stopped on 2.56kgs and the big girl went 1.36kgs, which is my biggest bream to date in a comp. 2nd place went to Luke Kay with 1.72kgs and 3rd was a split between Jason Reid and Brian Hunt with 1.61kgs each. 

Next round will be down at St Georges Basin later this month. Last year I won down there so I'm hoping for a repeat. Better get some more of those Gladiator Shiver Vibes rigged up! Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

ps If you want some good tips from Australia's top kayak angler, Chris Burbidge, grab a copy of the February Fishing Monthly magazine that has the ABT Angler Guide included within it. I've penned an interview I had with Chris where he highlights his spectacular year just gone and passes on some valuable information on lures and techniques.