25 Kayaks and 53 boats at this round of the Basin Lure and Fly Southern Bream Series. Conditions were good for Saturday but a little more wind would ruffle up the water a bit and hopefully get the fish on the chew over the flats and shallow weed beds. My plan of attack was to head out to the cockle beds in Erowal Bay. I'd had a little pre-fish there and picked up a 36 fork bluenose that engulfed one of the Bait Breath SL Remix soft plastics, so I was hoping to emulate that effort on comp day.On the way I had a few quick throws with a Gladiator Kozami surface lure but the water was way to still for my liking, so I ventured the 700 meters to my first way point. Checking the sounder, I could easily see the cockle weed and fingers crossed, the bream would be here too.
I was fishing a 3" SL Remix (colour 787), this time rigged on a 1/40th HWS jig head with 4lb Fluoro attached to Gosen Mebarin 8lb PE. I gotta tell you, this Gosen is unreal stuff. It's super thin and casts a mile and is amazingly strong for its size. Being able to get those extra few meters each cast really makes a difference I think, especially over the flats.After 45 minutes, all I had to my name was one 50cm flattie and two small bream. Hmmmm, what to do? I decided to mix it up and I rigged up with a 1/20 jig head. Maybe the fish were feeding more off the bottom. This did the trick for me and within half an hour I had two fish in the well. Not beasts, but good enough for a start.
I bumped into Gary Brown and David Tosland (in a dirty filthy stink boat) and they still didn't have one in the well yet. They moved off to try different waters while I decided to give it another 30 minutes. This turned out to be a good decision as five minutes later I landed number 3 for the day. Well that's my bag but it's nothing special. I need a kicker. A few people today will get fish near a kilo and to be in with a chance, you have to have on in your well, too.
I eventually moved into deeper water to see if the fish were there in bigger numbers. I land a few small snapper and eventually I get a mighty wallop and the rod buckles over. There's some good weight here but it doesn't feel breamy. As I peer into the depths, a big flattie planes into view. Luckily I see Gary and David again, so I call them over and they scoop her up for me in their large net (Note to self: I've got to get myself a bigger net.)I'd called her for 70cms when I saw her in the water but now she looked a little bigger, so I called out to Gary, 'What is she? 72?"
"No way," he says. "She's 71!" Well I was close. A few quick photos (thanks Gary) and she slides back down into the depths until next time.
By now the wind had picked up a bit so I moved over to the shallow weed beds and again switched to a lightly weighted SL Remix. I picked up another 3 legal bream but none were upgrades. These fish had obviously been living among the weed for a while as they were all a coppery-gold colour. Close to me Simon Morley was hooked up to something that was giving him the run around. I asked what it was? "Don't know," says Simon, "it's silver though!" Jason Reid and I are both spectating when he finally brings it aboard and it's a big trevally. "Oh, bummer!" we say sarcastically and return to our fishing. : )My measly bag weighed in at 1.26kgs and saw me sitting in 12th place, 840gms behind Brian Hunt in 1st place. See, I told you I needed a kicker fish!
Day 2 dawned the same as Saturday but there is a predicted southerly so the organisers have called an early finish. The kayakers have to be back at 11:45am so we'll have 2 hours less fishing time. Ok, time to get my finger out and get a big fish or two.
Well, unfortunately no-one told the fish about my plan and by 9 am all I'd brought aboard was one small tarwhine. Ok, think Carl, think... Right, the last few days it's been blowing a North-Northeasterly. "Fish the wind blown banks," they say (who 'they' are I don't know) and if that's the case, I'd better get a move on so I can fish the southern side of the bay directly across from the launch site. It takes me 45 minutes to get there and I want to give myself at least an hour to make it back with plenty of time, so I have 1 hour to catch my bag.
There's a few boats in the area so I'm hoping I've made the right decision. First drift I get one in the well. 2nd drift I get another. Then BAM and my drag screams. Please, please, oh please be a bream but there's a few violent head rattles and I'm thinking it may be a snapper. Sure enough it is and I land my first legal snapper from the Basin. It was fun but not what I'm really after so I set off for another drift and it's not too long before I get number 3. Yes, what a turn around! From nothing to a bag in 45 minutes. I land another two legals but again they aren't upgrades and I have to head back for the weigh-in. Bummer, no kickers again and I know I'm out of the running for a podium placing.
There are a few slight gusts of a southerly as I head back and by the time I make shore, it's up to about 15 knots. Excellent timing I reckon and within 10 minutes, it's blowing about 30 knots! Good call Basin Lure and Fly, glad to see that angler safety always comes first. Kudos to you all for calling it early.
My bag came in at 1.6kgs (two day bag of 2.86kgs) and it was enough to bump me up to 7th place. Any time you make a top 10 is good and I was quite pleased with my efforts but without those kicker fish, it's very hard to get into the top spots. See, I told you I needed a kicker fish!
Top place went to good mate Stewart Dunn who smashed us on day 2 and ended up with a weight of 2.32kgs (2 day bag of 3.97kgs). 2nd went to Scott Marcinkowski (3.9kgs) and 3rd went to ever consistent Simon Morley (3.67kgs). Simon also took out the big bream prize with a beast of 1.32kgs. So again, another title comes back to live in the Shire! Yay Stewy.
Round number 3 is going to be held on the Clyde River, a place I've never fished before, so I'm really looking forward to it. Apparently there's lots of oyster racks in this system, so I reckon my Gladiator Bingos and Shiver Vibes are gonna get a work out. Thanks again to Stephen Blackmore from Gladiator Tackle for his continued support and for bringing in the great lures that keep catching me bream (and flathead and snapper and jewfish and whiting, etc, etc). Happy yakkin', everyone!
cheers,
Cid
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