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.
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