Another Dubois starts her fishing adventure - 24th Dec 2010

Firstly, let me start with hoping you all had a very merry Christmas and a happy and safe New year. Fingers crossed you got out a few times and landed some fish and hopefully santa brought you what yopu really wanted.

A couple of years ago I took my son out on my old Hobie Sport and we had a ball landing bream in Oyster Bay. My daughter, Danielle, asked me 'When can I go fishing?' and I thought if you're old enough to ask, you're old enough to go. So we loaded up and set off for the same spot as I took Lachlan that first time.

The tide wasn't quite right (it was a bit too low) but she was really keen, so on with the type 1 PFD (much to Lachlans protestations: Hey, that's mine!) and up the front of the Outback she went and we started trolling an SX40 and a River2Sea baby vibe. She loved being out on the water and giggled with glee as we bounced over the wakes from the other boats zipping about.
We'd been trolling for about ten minutes when the River2Sea is smacked! 'Here, Danielle, hold the rod, no not like that, like this, that's it now wind like we practised, no, the other hand, wait lift the rod up, no, like that, yes, that's it, yes, that's...damn.' Between all the instructions and the excitement, the flattie chewed through the leader. Must've been a good 'un. So on with another SX40 (no more R2S's) and off we go again.

It's not long until another rod buckles and this time I sit her in my lap and hold the rod while she winds. This guy put up a feisty fight and Danielle squealed with excitement as we netted him. 40 cms he goes and he'll be perfect for dinner. We came in after this as the tide was almost bottoming out but she loved the whole experience and now it'll be trickier going out and deciding who stays at home.

To make it up to Lachlan, we snuck out a couple of days later and landed four between 38cms and 44cms and lost two that felt bigger. Naturally, when we got home, Danielle was there with hands on hips giving us the dirty look for not taking her. Hopefully, I'll have two fantastic fishing buddies for the rest of my life and I couldn't be luckier. I just hope they'll grace me with their company when they hit the teenage years.

A few days later I hit the Cooks River with Terry and landed a very nice surprise. I'll get that report up tomorrow as well as adding the session I had chasing kings in Botany Bay on poppers. Now that was exciting stuff. So until tomorrow then. happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Daiwa ABT/Hobie Kayak Tournament - H&C Bay, 21st Nov 2010

Finally the season was here for us Sydneysiders and shock, horror, the weather gods had forgotten about us and it dawned a simply beautiful morning with just a faint breath of wind. Forty yakkers lined up for the 7am kick-off and on go we spread out to our favoured haunts.

I turn right from the beach and proceeded to the jetty in Hen and Chicked Bay but the SP's I flicked into the shadows didn't even get a bump. No problem, I'll slowly make my way over to the mangroves (ah crap, I can already see half a dozen yaks over there) and pick up a few on blades on approach. Or so I thought but it was another zero.

Over on the other side, the others were all working the shallow water and I followed suit with a couple of shallow divers. I kept my eyes peeled and after ten minutes of MORE fruitless casting, I'd realised that none of the others were having any luck either. Time for a change of tactics, me thinks.

On with a Squidgy Lobby (Dusk) and I start heading out into deeper water, slowly increasing the depth, hoping I'll eventually find the depth that the fish will be in. At 1.5m depth, I hook-up. Ooh, it's a bream. I think he'll go legal, too. This year, the tournament legal length has been changed from last years 25cm fork length to 26cm total length (or one cm more than the fisheries legal length, so it'll change from state to state). This guy goes on the ruler and NOOOOOOOOOOO! He's 25.8 cms, so he back into the drink. Just once I'd like to get a good start in one of these ABT/Hobie events and today looked like it may be a typical crappy start for me.

I re-rigged and thought I'd stay in the 1.5m zone. A few minutes later the line jumps and I set the hook again. This feels better and yes, it's 27 cms so I'm on the board! Woo hoo! With the donut monkey off my back, I change to a Gulp Camo sandworm and blow me down, I hook another one. Another good tussle and this one stretches out to 29 cms total length. Two in the yak and I'm aware that I haven't seen anyone in the shallows land one yet. I'm hoping they haven't seen me and I quietly slip this fish in the well with his mate.

Back to the Lobby and it's not long before the rod bends and I'm thinking 'Please, please please be a bream.' I'm peering into the water and there's a silver flash. Ooh, it's not a flatty! Good, good. Then another flash and it's not thin. So it's not a whiting either. Gooder, gooder. Only one more thing it may be... then up she comes and yes, it's not a trevally! Into the net and I grab the camera and take a photo. Not of the fish, but of my watch. It's only 8:17am and I already have my bag. Un-bloody-believable! This one is 28 cms, so no monsters but three in the well by this time is great.

Nonchalantly whistling to myself while furtively looking around, I sneak this one into the well, too. Back to casting and looking for upgrades because those two smallest fish, although legal, are pretty thin. Try as I might though, the bite has finished and I move off to new pastures. I pass Paff on the way and he has two good fish in the well (a 29 and a 33 from what I recall) and while saying "Well done, fellow Hobie Team Member" with a big grin on my face I'm really cursing him until the cows come home. ; )

Into Exile Bay and I bump into Squidder (Squidgy GF winner). He only has a 26'er in the well. That's a big surprise for me and I leave him to his side of the bay and move to the other. I switch to blades and land a small flathead. There's little activity and I decide to give the shallows one more try even though the sun is high in the sky now and I figure the edges wouldv'e already been worked over by others before me.

I approach a section where there is a big Rubber Tree casting a shadow over the water and I shoot a Gulp 2"Shrimp (banana) towards it's edge. The line immediatly goes tight and the drag buzzes under the pull of a good fish. This thing wasn't stopping so just short of the shoreline I have to clamp down on the spool. I turn the fish and ease him out into the open but he's not finished yet. He runs again, but this time into the open so I let him have his head and follow him.

I back off the drag now as I don't want to risk loosing him in these final stages and I can see he's a good size. He keeps darting away from the net but the drag is faultless and eventually he's in the net and all mine. YES! That's what I needed. He's 35 to the tip and one more like this will see me up there amongst the leaders. I get him in the well and set the 27cm fish free. I just need one more to upgrade the 28cm one and I'll be happy. Well, I was happy now, but you know what I mean.

The wind was starting to pick up now and I move into France Bay and catch up with Scotty Lovig (the 2009 champ). He has two in the well and he hooks up but it's a massive whiting (phew, I say). Then my blade gets munched and the drag sings again but it's the twin brother of Scotty's whiting. Bugga! He had me going for a minute there.

I leave and land a few more whiting and flatties but that was it for me on the breaming stakes so I head back for the weigh in. I pass Steve Fields and Greg Lewis (AOY for the last two years) and they both only have one. Hmmm, could it be that everyone has done it tough? I still haven't seen Stewart or Andrew yet and those bloody Mexicans (Scott, Matty, etc) are too good to write off. Then there is the central coast gang (Dave, Ronnie, Jason, etc) so although I feel I'm in with a chance, there's too many good breamers that I haven't seen to start counting my chickens yet. Plus there's the Woods brothers and Gary Cook and WayneR so I'll just keep my fingers crossed for now.

At the beach there's plenty of tales of woe but also a few success stories that have me wondering about whether I'll make that podium and snare one of the GF qualification spots. Paff bagged out, as did Scotty and also Andrew. Stewart turned up right at cut-off time and shock, he only had one. I was guesstimating my bag to be about 1.4 to 1.5 kgs. Daniel Holder shot to the lead with a 1.445 kg bag which was quickly followed by Paff with a 1.435 kg bag. Only 10 grams in it and one of Paffs fish had a huge chunk (healled) missing out of it from a bite or net that if intact, would have put him in the lead. My turn next and I'm fearing that skinny fish will cost me. onto the scales and....1.390 kg! Ah, 45 grams short but at least I'm in third.

And then it comes down to Andrews turn. As he lifts his fish out of the live well, I know that my goose is cooked. He smashes us with a 1.815 kg bag and pushes me out of the qualifiers into fourth. Ooh, so close but there's more chances yet so I'll just have to get some bigger ones next time. Andrew also won the Squidgy round that was held on Sydney Harbour so we'll all be watching him the next time there is a comp on here. Here's a photo of the 'Rooster of Hen and Chicken Bay' surrounded by photographers. So well done to Andrew, Daniel and Paff for making it to the GF that will be held in Port Macquarie in October next year.

So another successful tournament has been run and won and here is a photo (Courtesy of

ABT/Hobie) of the entire group that competed. So the next round is on the Tweed River this weekend. Full details can be found here: http://www.bream.com.au/abt/2010/Tweed10.pdf

and as per all of these events, you can rock up on the day and enter so if you suddnely wake up and decide to give it a go, do it. Good luck to all the competitors and I know the usual contingent of travelling fishos will be there and good on them for supporting this great series. Work keeps me stuck in Sydney but I'll be checking the web regularly and making the obligatory phone calls at about 3pm to see what the shaledown is. Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Bloody Bream! Squidgy Grand Final - Oct 2010

Two days of breaming and all I caught were three of the buggas. This can be a heartbreaking sport sometimes. Day one was at St Georges Basin and the weather was fantastic. I had a great days fishing but a crap days tournament fishing.

In total I landed 3 Luderick, all caught on blades, 2 legal squire and eight flathead from 42 to 53 cms. Plus I lost a ripper of approximately 80cms right at the side of the yak. But I didn't land one single bream all day. I don't think I even hooked one!

Day two was held on The Shoalhaven river. Talk about chalk and cheese weather. The southerly was blowing at 20-25 knots and right on start time, it started to rain. What a miserable day. There were even boats coming back in by 9:30 am. But most of us crazy yakkers stuck it out in the cold rain and wind.

The breaming today was HEAPS better than yesterday as I hooked three of them. Two I landed but both were just undersize (one was 24.8 cm. They have to be 25 cm) and I dropped the only decent sized one that looked about 30 cms or so. So back on the beach I handed back my keytag and recorded a double donut. Shizer. Here's a collage of my fish from the weekend anyway.

The top three were deserved winners and the podium list was Squidder, Rebel1 & Blueyak. I hope next years grand final (if I make it) will be better for me.

The highlight of the weekend though was seeing the biggest bream ever caught in one of these catch and release style comps. It was landed by Adrian Van and pulled the scales down to 2.510 kgs. Man, this thing was MASSIVE! Apparently it was hooked on a blade in only 6 feet of water and it buried him in the weeds before he could manage to land it.

Photos never do them justice though but this guy was 46 cms fork length and at least 4 inches thick across the shoulders. If a kayaker had landed it, it wouldn't have fitted in any of our live wells. And it was fantastic to see it swim off at the end of the day, too.

But to more recent news, the ABT/Hobie series returns to Sydney this weekend and returns to where it all started three years ago, and that's good ol' Hen & Chicken Bay. Fingers crossed and touch wood, but the weather is looking pretty good so far and from recent reports, the bay has been fishing fairly well.

Come on yakkers, let's turn up in force and get a good crowd there. You can enter on the day so just be there by 6am and sign up. Here's a link to a PDF with all the info you need: http://bream.com.au/abt/2010/Sydney10.pdf There's always good prizes for the winners and a chance to qualify for the Grand Final at Port Macquarie next year. In fact there's three spots up for grabs. Well, only two of them really, because I plan to take one... : ) Happy yakkin', everybody!

cheers,
Cid

Georges River - 2/10/10

Well, the soccer season is over and we ended up the Minor Premiers and also the Premiers! Go the mighty Hedgehogs!

But with the end of one season, another begins and this weekend sees the start of the Daiwa Hobie ABT Bream Series at two locations: Mandurah and Ballina. Once again it's going to be a fantastic year with new venues and an extended competition, with the Grand Final planned for Port Macquarie on 29th-30th October 2011. The first one I'll get to is the Sydney round (where it all started nearly two years ago) on the 21st November, so put that date in your calendar and join in on a fantastic day with some great prizes and a chance to qualify for the big one next year.
For the full calendar, visit the Hobie Fishing website and start planning: http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/bb/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=317

In preparation, I hit the Georges River on a few days for some practice and now that the water is warming up, the bream are becoming more active. I ventured over to the racks at Towra Point and extracted a few (and lost a few, too) on a beautiful morning that was simply magic to be on the water. Hardbodies were the go today, and the SP's never even got a touch.

The best I boated went 27cm fork but they certainly are feisty critters. I normally get a few big flathead around here this time of year too, but try as I may, I couldn't even land a tiddler from any of my spots. They'll turn up eventually though...

A few days later, I went to Oyster Bay and targeted the weedbeds and channels. First cast and I come up tight and it's a small whiting. Any fish on a first cast is good though, and I spent the morning drifting about picking up plenty of undersize fish but there was nothing of note over the flats. The tide was still dropping, so I moved to a channel and switched to blades. This saw me land two keepers within 15 minutes as well as another three that were just undersize.

On my way back to the ramp, I rigged up with a mango ripple minnow and pulled a 28 fork bream out from under a pontoon. Another gutsy effort from a medium fish and twice I thought he had me back to the posts and his freedom. next time I'll remember to tighten the drag.

So in two weeks, a flotilla of 25 of us will be competing in the Squidgy Southern Series Grand

Final that is held on the St Georges Basin and the Shoalhaven River. The competition will be high and another fun weekend is guaranteed, regardless of how many fish we get. To read more about this comp, visit the Basin Lure and Fly website: http://www.basinlureandfly.org.au/forum/viewforum.php?f=8

The team have done a fantastic job with the series (boaters and kayakers) and they concentrate on the southern half of NSW, so you southerners have a wealth of opportunities for your competition fix and the next series dates are up already.

It's been a while, but it looks like Tezza and I will hit the Cooks River tomorrow to get a couple of kilo size bream (fingers crossed). Here's hoping for a cracker day. Good luck to all the competitors over this weekend and may your bags be full. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Snapper and Bream

Only two weeks to go and the soccer season will be over. No more saturdays or sundays where time is at a premium and finally, I'll be able to get back to some serious fishing. Hallelujah!

A couple of weeks ago, Stewart and I set out for some snapper. the sea was supposed to be 0.7m but it was more like 2.7m! Still, we perservered but Stewie was the only winner for the day with a 45cm Reddie. While I, with my vast knowledge and incredible skill, I managed to land two stinky Pike. Great, huh?

Eventually we came back in and while I headed home, Stewart slunk off to his secret possie and managed five of 'em in about an hour, the biggest going 53cm. Next time, buddy, next time...

Last weekend I tried Captain Cooks Bridge for a jewfish or two and managed another donut. I wasn't going home empty handed though, so I turned my way towards shore and a set of jetties and pontoons that I was sure would hold a bream or two. It was the top of the tide and a hoped a soft plastic lobbed into the shadows would change my fortunes for the better.

The first few jetties I didn't even get a touch and I was wondering if the bream weren't there or if they weren't interested in my 3" Bass Minnow. I decided to change to a Gulp 6" Sandworm in camo cut in half. And first cast I drop what felt like a good fish.

Onto the next jetty and this time the hooks stick and out comes a plump 28 fork Bream. Yee hah! I'm on the board. Finally I can give the Hobie Livewell another run. The water temp is still quite low - only 14 degrees - so the fish are a bit sluggish still.

Off the next jetty I drop a small flattie and then it goes quiet for the next 3 or 4. I make it to the last one and there is a set of steps that lead down to the water. "There has to be one under there," I think as I skip the sandworm into the gloom.

As the lure sinks I notice the line 'tic' ever so slightly. This is normally a sign that something has picked it up so I slowly lift my rod and feel some weight on the line.When I feel it move off, I strike and I'm into number two! This fish puts on a better show and I just manage to get him out from under the steps and out into the open. A beautiful silver bream it is, too and it's the exact same length as the first one. Maybe twins, who knows? They are both in excellent condition and have obviously fattened up over winter. Two like this in a comp would be a good start and all you'd need is a kicker fish to be in with a show. But as much as I try, I can't get that one big fish on the moored boats I suss out on my way back.

Towards the end of next month is when the big flatties start to show up, so hopefully by the middle of October I'll have cracked my PB of 86cms and fingers crossed, the 1 meter mark. Come on the warmer weather! Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

WSBB Bream Scramble - 27/6/10

Another year, another Scramble. This time Gary and I weren't fishing it together as he's sold his boat and still hasn't received his new one yet. So I teamed up with Dave (Just Crusin) in Jason Meech's tinnie. Thanks for the loaner, Jason!


It was a freezin' start to the morning but at least the predicted wind was absent. We started off in Exile Bay and I picked up our first (bang on 25cm fork) after about 30 minutes. We snaffled a few that were just undersize so we moved upstream to Brays Bay near Ryde bridge and started working a likely looking shoreline. Dave was fishing the shallows, I was casting out into the deeper water.


Dave gets a whack and lands number two (27 fork). Then I get another that's 26. Beauty, that's three and we still have three hours to go. All the fish have been caught on blades so far, even though we are changing between various HB's and SP's.


Then Dave calls out 'Yeah, this feels good!' and I turn to see his rod loaded up and the line zipping through the water. But bugger! It's a nice whiting of 37cm instead. Then he gets a flathead and another whiting.


I'm perservering with the deeper water and finally I hook up. This fish puts in some strong runs but every now and then I feel this 'thump, thump' reverberating up the line, so I'm starting to think that it's a trevally. And it is, too! Double bugga. 50cm worth of treva is a good fish but not what we want.


We'd reached the end of the shoreline and figured it'd be worth another run, so back to the start we go and turn the boat as it drops down into 5 meters. I purchased a new outfit last week (a Shimano Stradic Ci4 matched with an Okuma spin travel rod) and I was keen to christen it on a good bream.


We're still using the blades and first drop into the deeper water I get a double-bump and strike. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz goes the drag and there is some good weight here. There are a few head shakes but no tell-tale trevally signs so it's either a bream-from-hell or a jewie. The drag on the Ci4 is beautifully smooth, which is just as well as I'm using 2lb crystal braid with 4lb leader.


The fish takes me around the boat a few times, then turns and rewinds itself. We're still hoping for a bream, but I'm almost certain now that it's not. And sure enough, she surfaces and it's a nice jewfish. Dave does a stirling job of scooping her up in the net and at 70cm total length, she's well and truly christened the new outfit.


So that was it from this area so we scoot around a bit and only manage those evil, pesky 24cm bream that always come out in force during a tournament. We have an hour to go so head back to Hen and Chicken Bay for some drifts over a 'Spot X' that Dave has been told about. First drift and Dave gets a 26'er. That's four, just one more for a full bag. We really need a kicker fish though and as the last minutes tick away, we both drop a couple of legals but nothing that would've pushed our bag out to a tourny winning weight. So it's time up and we head in with our four fish.


We manage 18th place with 1.51 kgs so it wasn't a bad effort, we just couldn't get those thumpers that we needed. In fact we didn't even hook any that we'd call good fish. Still, it was a great day, even if Dave and I felt a bit funny fishing out of a boat rather than a yak.


On the Botany Bay front, Terry has been hitting it all this week (jammy git has been on holidays, hasn't he!) and has been getting heaps of tailor on the troll. Most of them have been up near the 50cm mark too, so they're a good size. Every now and then he'll pick up a trevally as well, so he's been having a ball in his new Hobie PA. Happy yakkin', everyone!


cheers,
Cid

First Jewfish of Winter - Georges River

It was about this time last year that we started getting a few jewfish in the Georges and now that the ABT/Hobie series is finished for a few months (there is still the Squidgy Southern Series though), I thought I'd try to tangle with a few of my other favourite fish. It had to be a mid-week assault though as my weekends are pretty much tied up with family sport, so I ventured out for an early morning half-hour to catch dinner.

With a 10 knot SW blowing, it was a bit cooler than Forster a few weeks back but the water wasn't as discoloured as I thought it would be. No boats out here and I hoped I'd hook up quickly and be back for a warm shower before work.

Thankfully I came up trumps and at 51 cms, it's an ok start to the season. This guy was caught on a Strike Pro Blade lure and gave a very decent account of himself, seeing as I hooked him on 4lb braid and 8 lb leader.

Feeling that tell-tale head-shake reverberate up the line is just magic and I'm hoping it'll be another few months of peering over the side waiting to see these silver-purple fish rise out of the depths to a waiting net (or gaff )! My biggest to date is 82 cms (and that's the one in the DVD) and I'd love to crack the meter mark this winter.

Maybe I'll have another crack this week as this one went down a treat. I prepared a home made curry paste of onion, garlic, eschallots, ginger, chilli, fresh tumeric, coriander, cumin, clove, salt, pepper and lime zest, coated the fillets and baked them wrapped in foil. Superb!

Yep, I've gotta get some more...

cheers,

Cid