Squidgies Sydney Harbour Round - 15/5/11

What the? A clear, crisp morning with only slight winds and a measly 20 yaks turn up for the event. Come on Sydney, there should be at least 30 at a minimum. The boaters of course turned up in droves (92 boats, I think) to fish what has become one of the biggest and easiest going tournaments around. Really, if you want to give tournament fishing a whirl, this is the one to test your skills in. No membership needed, just pay your 50 bucks and get into it. Even if you don't catch fish, you'll meet heaps of like minded anglers and will learn more than you'll ever do scouring the forums and reading books.

I set off to where I got my bag nice and early back in November for the ABT Daiwa/Hobie tournament but try as I may, I couldn't even get a hit. I was flicking about the new blades from Mick Munns, as well as the Squidgy 100mm bloodworm Wriggler. Not even a flattie. After an hour, I changed to a TT Switchblade to see if that would make any difference. Nup, nuthin'. Now I'll try a shallow diving Chubby, and then an Atomic Semi-hardz. Crapola...let's try the good ol' Gulp camo Sandworm. Still zilcho.

Right, time for a move so I shoot off to Exile Bay. As I cruise past the moored boats, I decide to give them a quick work over with a SP. Back to the Wriggler and yes, I'm on. Yahoo! 28 to the tip and that's one in the well. A few more boats later I get a better one that is 34 to the tip and he's a much fatter fish. With all the boats exhausted, I try the flats but again I can't raise a scale.

Now I head around into France Bay and bump into Andrew Death. I'm shocked to hear he's fishless but it's still early days and I know he's a top angler, so I can't count him out yet. He's working the shallows so I leave them to him and try the boats again. Strike me lucky, I get another one. A full bag and it's only 9:17 am. Not bad seeing as I didn't get my first fish until 8:25! I've caught up to Andrew again and he now has one in the well. He swears at me when I tell him I just landed one too. Nice, eh? : )

Time to keep moving so I decide to head down towards Gladesville. For me the bite has stopped and all I manage is a couple of leatherjackets and a nice flattie of 50 cms. Try as I may, I can't get a hit on a HB today. I tried different blades and minnows but all my fish were coming on the Wriggler. Pretty unusual as normally the blades are a sure fire thing as far as I'm concerned.

Heading back I pick up a couple of more fish, with one being a slight upgrade. So now I have a 34 cm fish and two about 30 cms. Ok but I really need a kicker fish to push me up in weight. With only 10 minutes to go I hooked a screamer that had me hooting but it was only a thumper whiting (boo hiss) that normally would have been welcomed with opened arms. In a bream comp though, all they get is cursed at! At least I had my full quota though.

Back on the beach the reports were that there weren't many 3 bags but without that big fish I didn't hold out too much hope. And sure enough, Bill Woods, Luke Kay and Stewart Dunn all had fish that were up near a kilo. Stewies was a beauty and he eventually took out Big Bream amongst the kayakers with it going 0.94 kgs. He also managed third (1.81 kgs) with second going to the on-fire Luke Kay (1.85 kgs), but the top podium spot went to Bill for his first win with a 1.885 kgs bag. Bill also managed his first ever jewfish from a kayak so it's was a doubly great day for him. Well done, Bill.

I came in in fourth with 1.505 kgs and Andrew took fifth spot with 1.185 kgs. I was talking to the

top three guys and funnily enough, all their fish were caught on HB, especially blades, so it just goes to show that sometimes certain fish in certain locations will hit one thing while in other locations they won't.

All up I travelled 13.4 kms which is pretty average for me and we're really lucky to have such a beautiful harbour to get to play on. I've marked on the map the locations where I landed my six legal bream. The next round is down at the Shoalhaven but aaarrrggghhh, I won't be able to do that one due to work commitments. Bugger. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Squidgy Southern Series - Sydney round pre-amble

So tomorrow morning we hit the Parramatta River and hopefully about 90 boats and 30 kayaks will be chasing the mighty bluenoses that can inhabit the Sydney system. From a few reports I've had, the fishing hasn't been fantastic but bags have been managed and one good thing I've heard is that there have been quite a few jewfish about. Hopefully I can get one and bring it home for dinner.

I have a new weapon in my arsenal of lures and it's made by Mick Munns from Lure Logic Tournament Tackle. Mick has turned his very clever hands to producing blade lures and as always, he's gone ahead in leaps and bounds and come up with a variation that I think will be a sure fire winner. Pictured here are a few of his protoypes (that's why the finish isn't as smooth as normal) and check out those silicon legs.

I'll be flicking these about tomorrow and hopefully the bream will climb all over them. Plus the flathead and whiting and jewfish and blackfish and kingies and...

Check back early next week for an update on how they (and I) went. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Oatley & The Georges River - 26/04/2011

A couple of weeks ago a got an SMS from my old mate Jay who sent me a photo of the canoe he bought, I've been telling him for ages that he needs some water wheels and he decided to buy a canoe over a kayak for storage and carrying purposes. (I can't wait for summer and some bass camp outs now that someone can carry a tent, decent esky and a gasmate.)

We'd planned late last week via email to catch up rain, hail or shine on Tuesday after Easter Monday for a session around Oatley and Como for bream, flat models and a jewie if they were around.

We met at our first spot at Oatley around 8.45am, neither of us are keen on early starts and we catch good fish during the day anyway. The spot wasn't to be, we hadn't been there before and as it was getting on towards low tide the water was well out from the bank and the mud was like quicksand so we headed further around and launched from the ramp at Oatley Bay.

We paddled slowly out from the ramp, it's been a long time since I'd been to Oatley, actually the last time I fished it was from Cameron Jone's boat about 4 years ago and I remembered back then we were peppering the boats with plastics. I rigged a 100mm squidgy wriggler and cats around a few boats before the line went tight and I was on to my first bream a nice silvery little guy that was about 24cm to the fork. I released him and headed off to the next boat where I landed another fish about 23cm. not a bad start I thought but not the size I'm after.

We paddled further out towards the main river working the boats and pontoons as we went, Jay hooked to a nice bream about 27cm and things started to look up. we headed out into the main River and it started pouring non stop, I remembered talking to Carl about jewfish last week and he mentioned an awesome day he had on the jewies when it was raining, so I got out a big squidgy fish in the black/gold colour and rigged it on a lumo jighead. I cast and trolled it for ages until I was soaked through and decided to hide under a jetty until the rain eased a little.

I waited about 15 or 20mins and then headed back out into the rain which had eased a bit and started casting the wriggler again, I saw this row of 4 poles with some heavy wire mesh and sent the wriggler on it's way, I lift the rod and nothing, then I let the plastic settle again and one the second lift the line went tight and the rod buckled over, I knew straight away it was a better bream and I had to fight hard as it tried to bury itself into the wire mesh below the water line.

I battled for a good 3 or 4 mins trying to keep the fish away from structure and finally brought it to the net. It was a nice bream which was about 29cm to the fork and fairly chunky, I was much happier with this fish and the shivers I had from the wet clothes seemed to disappear as Jay took a photo of me with the fish.

That was about it for the day, except for a nice Pike that Jay hooked on the way back to the ramp, we bought thought it was a thumping whiting for a while, but it wasn't to be.

In all a great morning even though it rained fairly heavily, was happy to catch up with a good mate and get out on the water.

Cheers,

Fordy.

Daiwa/Hobie ABT Forster & Squidgy Port Hacking

Well, there's my leave of absence out of the way. A couple of busy weeks after moving into the new house but I'm back on-line and thought I'd better catch up with two of the recent tournaments I competed in. The first was the Daiwa/Hobie ABT Forster round on the 12th-13th March. Nothing of note to report here. All I managed was one legal fish the whole weekend. I was roasted a few times in the racks (which is pretty standard for up there) but apart from that it was a lot of casting for not much result. Although coming back into the weigh-in on the last day I raced past Meechy and you would've thought I'd cracked a good bag from my actions. In reality, I was just glad it was over. The photo is courtesy of the ABT website. http://bream.com.au/ The top 3 guys found the fish though and 3rd place was taken out by Stewart Dunn with a 6/6 for 2.57kg. 2nd place went to Jason Meech with a 6/6 for 2.61kg and top place went to Luke Kay with a 6/6 for 2.73kg. Luke found his fish in the Breckenridge Channel and found they took a liking to his Gulp 2" Shrimps in banana prawn colour. Well done guys on what was a pretty tough weekend as bag sizes and fish numbers were down on usual results. The next tournament I entered was the Squidgy Port Hacking Round on the 30th March. The weather wasn't great (the predictions were worse though) and this kept the kayak numbers down. Only 15 of us this time and I struggled to find fish. Pontoons and jetties just weren't working for me so I ventured into deeper water and finally pulled one up from 10 meters on a Gulp Camo sandworm. I then landed a couple of legal snapper that had me thinking I had found a chool of bream but alas, it wasn't to be. They were coming home for dinner though and then I even landed a squid, so he came home as well. I continued moving about and made it down to the weedbeds near Maianbar. The wind really kicked in then, as did the rain but I perservered and was rewarded with my best fish for the day, a 32 fork specimen that smashed my Atomic semi-hard (muddy prawn) as soon as it hit the water. I managed a few more that were just undersize and then I landed a first for me EVER! A Garfish!!! Being a first, he was granted his freedom. Time was up for me though so I it was in with the lure and into the long trek back. Reports from most was that it was a tough day, in fact only six of us yakkers managed fish. I scraped into 5th place and picked up a rod and reel combo and the podium was a who's who of the bream circuit at the moment. 3rd once again went to Stewart Dunn and 2nd went to on-fire Andrew Death (I think thats two firsts, a 2nd and a 3rd in his last 4 comps) but the winner (again) was Luke Kay who found all his bream in deep water and caught them on blades. This sunday sees the Squidgy St Georges Basin round being run (for details visit their website: http://www.ssbs.basinlureandfly.org.au/ ) and I hope we get a few more yaks at this event. Hopefully I can have a good round down there and get my bag nice and early. Happy yakkin', everyone! cheers, Cid

Towra Point...Again!

More practice before the big tourny at Forster so Andrew, Stewart and myself set off into the bay and across to Towra. Great conditions again and there are very few boats around at 6:15 in the morning. Magic times and once again we are greeted to another spectacular sunrise. That little spec you can see is Andrew.

We started off working the deeper water but after a fruitless (and fishless) 20 minutes, I moved into the mangroves to try the surface shenanigans again. This time I gave the whole arsenal a go. Nuthin'... Not even a hit! What the...? Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Time for another change and I rig up with one of the Atomic semihardz that worked for me the other week. We kept dropping out into deeper water and eventually moved into the 3 meter zone. Finally, I get a solid hit and land my only fish for the day, a 32cm bream that sped off after a quick photo on the lie-detector.

I had to leave Stewart and Andrew and typically, they started to get a few fish after I'd gone. Andrew took the day out with a trevally, which according to him was the target fish. Stewart came a close 2nd with a king landed on silly string. What a fool! he should've known that a trevally beats a king any day.

But this weekend sees us attending one of the most anticipated rounds on the ABT kayak tournament circuit, it's the Daiwa/Hobie Forster round and as per usual, it'll be an absolute cracker. There are flats, weedbeds, racks, racks and more racks and more anglers are smashed up in this locale than probably anywhere else in Australia. At this stage, there are approximately 35 confirmed anglers and it'll definitely increase and hopefully we can crack the 50 mark.

As an added bonus this year, Steve Fields, General Manager of Hobie Australia, announced this very generous incentive for all of us to get involved:

"To show support for the Forster Fishing Carnival and the Daiwa-Hobie BREAM Kayak Series-R8 - Forster- 12-13th March, Hobie will provide a new 2011 Hobie Outback as a random prize. Only those who enter and fish both days of the Daiwa-Hobie BREAM Kayak Series-R8 - Forster- 12-13th March will be eligible. The top three place getters are removed from the pool for this prize. So everyone is in with a chance in one of Australia’s best fisheries! Let’s see if we can break the record for the largest field in this year’s rounds. I think Bemm was 57…..

So, even if you don't catch a fish all weekend, you still have a chance to walk away with one of the best fishing kayaks on the market, and I should know, cause I have one! For further details, please visit http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/ or http://bream.com.au/abt/2010/Forster10.pdf for a downloadable PDF with all the details.

I'm setting off tomorrow but I know a few guys that are already on their way up there and will have a pre-fish tomorrow, so I'll be picking there brains on friday night. And rest assured, whatever they tell me, I'll do the opposite! ; ) Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid

Towra Point & Georges River - 27/2/11

Another quick trip out to Towra at dawn, hoping for those schools of Bonito and Kings to be busting up all over the place, but alas, it wasn't to be. After futiley searching for 30 minutes, I decided to head in towards the mangroves and try a bit of surface action for bream.

As I sat there rigging up with an Ecogear PX45F, I had the bejesus scared out of me by a mini water spout that decided to start up only 20 meters from where I was. It was a quite surreal experience as I'd never seen one in the 'flesh' before and the first few seconds really had me questioning what was going on. With a high pitched 'Whoosh', it shot off across the water away from me, pushing a bow wave in front of it and spraying water about 20 feet in the air. It continued on for a hundred meters or so before disappearing. As the day wore on, I witnessed another two zipping across the water in the distance and only wish I had my camera out to get a video of them. Amazing stuff.

Unfortunately, the fishing wasn't as amazing but I did manage a few bream from next to the mangroves as the tide dropped. No record breakers but still great fun on the light gear. I stuck with the PX but next time I'll mix it up a bit and try some Sammys and Sugapens and see how they go.

Then on sunday morning I took Lachlan down to Oyster Bay. Last trip I started to teach him how to cast and we continued his lessons today. We'd move along the shoreline and he'd cast towards it and I'd have him slowly retrieve the lure. He's getting pretty good at it now and he managed to land his first 'cast and retrieve' fish, a decent flattie of 42 cms that took a liking to his SX40. A little later he landed a 27cm bream while muggins here didn't even turn a reel. Looks like he's beating his dad already. And I'm as proud as punch. : ) Happy yakkin, everyone!

cheers,

Cid

Where are they??? - Kurnell - 13/2/11

It'd been a few weeks since I'd been out chasing those Kings in Botany Bay with poppers so I figured it was about time to get stuck into them again. Saturdays wind forecast was looking decidedly shabby so I put it off until the sunday. Wind-wise, this turned out well as I was greeted with only about 8-10 knots from the south which was perfectly acceptable to me.

No boats at the HWO was a good site for the eyes but once again I didn't even get a hit! If someone two years ago had said 'Where is a guaranteed spot to get some fish?' I'd have said the HWO. Getting there just as it was light enough to see would see you landing a few tailor which was then followed by a kingie or two, or at least a hookup! Ah well, that's life I suppose. RIP HWO...

Maybe they're at the Drums, so I continue out, scanning the surface for any bust-ups that would give away the presence of Tailor, Kings or Bonito. On the way I stopped at one of the Channel poles and flicked a blade about. Nuthin'.

Boat traffic was still fairly low and the Drums were all by their lonesome, too. Poppers first and then I tried some good ol' Mojo SP stickbaits that were allowed to sink to the bottom before being jigged back. Again they remained unmolested.

Next stop on the journey was the west towrads the 'Sticks'. These twin marker pylons are a well known spot in the Bay. Bream, Flathead and Snapper are all a good prospect here and I did manage one of each on a blade, but only the flathead (40cms) was legal. Plus I did hook what felt like a very good fish (probably another flattie) but he was only connected to me for a few seconds so I must've just lipped him. Bugga!

The whole time I'd been out I'd been watching for diving birds or bust-ups but I didn't see any action anywhere. Other boats were cruising about and one lot of guys I spoke to hadn't seen any kings either. I also tried trolling a Rapala deep diver (CD10 I think), again for nix.

From there it was back into another marker pole for another zippo effort before heading in towards the groins along Silver Beach. The blade came up trumps again and this time it was a flounder. I tell you, these blades will catch anything. He wasn't quite big enough to take home though so back he went until next time.

Back on the beach I measured the flattie, took a quick photo and slid him back into the ocean. He quickly settled into the sand and within a few seconds he'd changed from the mottled brown to the light tawny-sand colour you can see in the bottom photo. I wish I'd captured it on film, the change was so quick. next time I'll try to capture it. No wonder they're such a great ambush predator when they can hide as quickly and easily as that.

So the fishing wasn't great but at least I managed to get out for a while, which is better than staying at home doing nothing. Remember, you're a long time dead, so make the most of it while you can. Happy yakkin', everyone!

cheers,
Cid