arpie

Topwater cicadas worked for me on Sun, Leo - they have a bit of weight to them, so easier to toss, too on the 15lb outfit. Under trees, into the deep shadows .... you don't always have to cast far - just deep under the trees. Good luck. Roberta

Read Slinky's article on squid fishing the Spit ....... in the Article Section here!! http://www.fishraider.com.au/fishing-articles/spit-bridge-squidding.php cheers Roberta He's got another article on squidding the Harbour as well!

Hi Leo I think you'd be wise to use both stronger fireline and leader. WHen bass hit, they hit hard & immediately head back towards the snag they had just left. I was using 12lb braid on the weekend and because I had 20lb on (from an unsuccessful Kingie outing .....) I just left it on and had no difficulty subduing big fat bass to 45cm. I seriously think you really should have a minimum of 10lb for Braid and about 15lb as leader!! Mine was fairly short - about 1m+ ...... Good luck!! Look forward to your report! Roberta

Quite a bit of info on them on the Aussie Hydrowave Facebook Page/hydrowaveaustralia I don't think the yak one is in 'Aussie Sounds' yet .... but should be soon From the site: A list of recorded sounds that will be available via SD card to our Hydrowave customers. Barra Boof surface and Subsurface, Bony Bream, Freshwater Shrimp, Red claw/ Yabby flick, Smelt, Jack Attack, Bream surface, Slimy Mackerel schooling and Frenzy. These sounds will compliment the sounds that the FW and SW models already have. It's going to be nuts.

I think my brother, Cam/Sails was there, as well, helping, SV ...... a really sorry tale, from what I hear! It was much calmer further along but he didn't think Cam was signaling to HIM to go further up! I know the guy, too - he has been up to SWR a couple of times with the group in Feb and I have fished with him off Longy too! He has been offshore there many times & for some reason, made the wrong decisions on the day! The bouys may have prevented a capsize - they make a yak incredibly more stable - whether sit in or sit on! See how it makes this 'very tippy yak' really stable? cheers Roberta

.....Sounds good, how much is a middle range one? ..... A couple of hundred bucks, from memory. Roberta

I know a few of the bream yak fishos are buying the smaller unit to use with their yaks in comps - Carl Jocumsen has been using the bigger sized one since his return to Aussie and swears by it for his terrific barra sessions (and bream I think!) Could be hype - but the theory behind it - that fish are attracted to the sound of fleeing bait - sounds pretty true, so I guess they should work? Who is the first Fishraider to get one?? Could it be you, Brendon? You'll have to do a report on it - fish caught with it on vs fish caught with it off!! cheerio Roberta

....Do you hold the line with your forefinger like you would if you were bait fishing and trying to detect the bite?..... No - just the retrieval of the lure, with the rod tip pointed to the lure will keep the braid in a straight line to the lure. Bass don't slurp at it like bream do - they just WHACK IT!! Check out this guy's video ..... the water is the same colour as what I was fishing and the hits, just as explosive!! He was using the same rod as me, too. He seems to keep his rod tip higher than me, tho. ....A terrific report as always Roberta. Those Bass were in great condition ... which usually means they're brawlers! Sounds like you have them sussed now and the outfit you're using is well up to the task. Top photos too!..... Thanks, Skip - I was just having SO much fun - but mindful that Michelle & Scott weren't getting any so I had to 'temper' my 'YAHOOs'!! Yep - they were brawlers, alright!! Got them sussed for that day - just hope they react like that the next time! I now know what all the bass purists are 'going on' about! In the words of Arnie ....... I'll be BACK!!! How have you been going on the greenfish??? Hope you've been getting into some?? cheers Roberta I must charge up my GoPro! Some pics that Michelle took ..... First fish 2nd fish last fish

Yes, Brendon, I use similar line control for topwater bream/whiting too - as you have to 'feel the weight' of the bream before starting to 'bring them in'. Bass (I think) are virtually turning as they hit the surface lure, so if the line is taut to the lure, it should assist in a hookup, I reckon! (LOL She says, knowlngly!!) I always point the rod at the lure so the line is pretty well straight to the lure - whereas I think Michelle & Scott had the rods pointing to the sky, so there was a belly in the line which I think may have cost them fish/hookups. I think Scotty is still in shock with him being stitched up in the sunken timber & busted off!! cheerio Roberta

THanks David!! They fell to a Tiemco soft body, David!! I put a Siglett out & they didn't want it. I'd tried poppers & Zara Puppy - didn't want them, then Michelle got a bloop & miss on the Tiemco & luckily I had one in my jar of tricks ...... It is the only lure that got hits and hookups on the day!!! I've fished it before for donuts - but never used the Tiemco there before! I will from now on tho! cheerio Roberta Does anyone know if the Tiemco Trick Trout Cicadas are hard body or soft?

....I must have a pretty crappy sense of smell..... Nah, Dan - probably just needs an onshore breeze as well as the fish actively wallowing!!

I've only noticed the smell once - but was only walking the beach at the time, so no fishing gear!! Up til then, I thought the old bloke had 'imagined it'! LOL Roberta

Nice one, Diesel!! They really 'go' once they get past that 35cm size, eh? Roberta

Hi KK The Hobies that are suited for offshore are the Revoution 13, Outback and Adventure Island (with or without the Outrigger kit & sail.) The best would be the Adventure Island with Sail & amas ...... they are amazingly stable, you sail out to where you want to fish, do your fishing, then sail home again! Some buddies sail their's to Fraser Island every year & camp on the beaches, chasing big fish. One guy hooked a marlin up there this year. Other buddies regularly catch marlin 80kg+, big snapper, cobia, kingies, tuna, mackerel, wahoo - pretty well anything with fins!! You really need to 'try before you buy' - most hobie dealers will have a 'demo day' for you to try them (make sure you take your fishing rod & lures with you) - but the best way would be to buddy up with guys here (who may have a spare yak for you to borrow) and go out with them to see how you go, even on a paddle yak as well, so you have a true comparison. If most of your fishing is offshore, I'd also add an automatic bilge to your safety gear, especially if you prefer to fish alone. Or, if getting the Revo or Outback, maybe add a stabilising outrigger or 2. It can be as simple as adding a couple of 'buoys' to the sides - you could work out a way of fitting them offshore if it gets a bit hairy - but would make the yak MUCH more stable going out & coming in from the surf launch. Check out these 'sponson' ideas - some are inflatable. http://www.google.com.au/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=sponson+on+kayak&oe=UTF-8&gfe_rd=cr&hl=en&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ei=H4inUoGWBO6tiQeCiICQBw&ved=0CCcQsAQ With a pedal yak, you are less at the mercy of the wind & current than a paddle yak. You are 'hands free' and can fish on your way out to your spot (much as paddle yaks can troll) but we usually prefer to fish 'ahead' of ourselves! Particularly in river, lake, estuary and dam situations. I don't take an anchor with me as I can hold my position in the current & am not usually affected by wind & current unless it causes big swell - and then I hightail it back to shore! Paddle Yaks usually go faster - but with hobies, you can just pedal all day! (Slow & steady is the way with the hobies - excess effort on the pedals can be detrimental to the drive and the hull!) There are a heap of yakkers in your area - introduce yourselves to them when you see them & ask questions on their yak! They usually love telling you why theirs is the best! With a bit of luck, they may let you try it!! Good luck on your hunt! Roberta

Well done, PT & Coyote ..... an awesome river side session!! Aren't those Tiemco cicadas amazing?? I was chucking around sigletts on Sunday & they just weren't getting hits! Put on a tiemco - WHAM!! Just watch out for snakes down there! Lots of blacks & browns in the bushes around here when wandering along creeks! Great report & pics Roberta

Nice one, Kel! Your buddy will have a new lease on life & look forward to his next 'fishy' outing .... hope you can get him on to some more fish soon Cheers Roberta

Thanks Scratchie - I'd only ever pulled one nice fish (about 40cm) from that creek before and that was about 3 years ago - and usually caught donuts!! Last time i fished there, I was targetting the Water Monitors as they were the only thing that was interested in the lure!! LOL I feel a bit bad about pinching Michelle's fish tho! After I'd caught the first 2, I put her over onto 'my' side in the hope that she would hook them as it seemed to be 'the side to fish' (I'd NEVER caught fish on that side before - go figure!) - then when I got a hit & miss on the other side, I put her over there ...... so we'd swapped sides & front & rear all day .... in the hope of putting her onto the bass as she's only really done dam fishing ..... It was very interesting to see that I was getting quality hits & hookups from 8am thru to 2.30pm in the full sun - I was SO glad I didn't get up a dawn! Mind you - none of the hits were out in the middle!! cheers Roberta

LOL ..... that is the sized bass I would catch!! A bass is a bass, is a bass!! Well done, Jeff! Watch it - you'll get bit by the bass bug! Cheers Roberta

Well done, Ian - aren't they fun on Topwater? I love the 'smacks' when they can't quite find the hooks!! LOL It is so visually exciting! cheers Roberta

Thanks, Swordie - I was SO stoked!! Poor Michelle - she missed all her hits altho using the same colour cicada as mine (after putting me on to them as nothing I'd tried til then had worked!!) I also must have been moving it that little bit slower, I think!! Some of the boofs were amazing!! SO much water displacement!! I sharpened the hooks after the first couple of 'misses' too. Also, I was holding the line 'tighter' to the rod, so as the fish turned to take the lure down, it virtually 'hooked itself' whereas Michelle & Scott had loose line on the water! Thanks Ian - luckily it was a 'back up' rod - I'd won it in the Forster Fishing Carnival a couple of years back (altho virtually new!) so it didn't hurt as much as if I'd paid for it!! I'll let Cam fix it up & keep it - the break was about half way down the top section! cheerio Roberta

Hi guys Michelle and Scott were coming up to Forster today to drop off my 'refurbished' Mirage Drive (courtesy of the Hobie Boys at Belmont!) What went in as a bit of a 'wreck' came back as SUPERB!! Well done boys! Gee it makes a difference - mine had been bent & busted from running into Oyster Leases over the years & the fins had been so shredded that I'd used cable ties to keep them on the Stems!! We discussed whether we wanted to do salt or freshwater fishing today - and after the rain that we've had recently, we decided to do Freshwater - for the good fighting BASS!! So .... where do we go?? Scott had never caught a bass on lure before & Michelle mainly fished the Dams in the lead up to the ABT Yak Bass Grand Final .... where she caught fish both days & did really well given her limited exposure to bass fishing! SO .... I thought some 'wild bass' might be the way to go! We headed out towards Wingham & found a suitable spot to try ...... and after putting in, I realised that I'd forgotten to get the Mirage Drive from Michelle - and whilst 'fishing my way back' to shore, I forgot that the rod I'd laid down on the front of the yak still had a lure 'in the water' & by the time I realised that the lure had snagged a snag .....it was too late ...... CRACK! One Catana 2 piece is now a 3 piece! I was just pleased that it wasn't one of Mark's rods!! - So now I was down to only the 1 rod!! My Matrix 4-10lb and it was PERFECT for pulling big bass out of their lairs! Out on the water again, Michelle called out that she had had a hit on a cicada lure, so I chucked one on too & shortly after, I missed 2 BIG bloops! How on earth did they not find the hooks?? Shortly after that, I'm on!! It has a fair bit of power ......and the big tail displaced a large quantity of water ..... and finally, it is in the net!! I was VERY pleased to be playing him on my Mark's 4-10 Matrix rod ..... combined with a 2500 Caldia & 12lb SAS braid & the 20lb leader (left over from last week's kingie session) it brought the fish to the net quite quickly! Michelle was surprised! A Nice 42cm Wild River Bass!~! Michelle got some happy snaps & I got the ones on my lap! A chunky fish! Michelle was hoping to 'blood' her new Outback yak ..... and was annoyed at missing a couple of hits - but she DID crack the pattern on what was working for her! Mind you, the cicadas were singing ..... We were basically casting towards shadows between trees & under trees - and past any obvious timber that was littering the creek ..... and once again, i was rewarded by a football of a fish! It fought much harder than the first one - so I assumed it was a bigger fish! I am more used to seeing these 'football' fish in Qld Impoundment Reports! Bigger, No - Fatter - Yes!! It went 38.5cm - I had initially called it as being bigger than the 43cm one, it pulled so hard! Must have been full of cicadas! MUCH fatter!! Continuing along the creek, I had another hit - this time just a little tacker on another cicada pattern lure! It would appear that there had been a flood in the area at some stage - probably back in January,when the Mid North Coast really copped it! Further along, I missed a couple of massive hits and dropped 2 fish that were lightly hooked, then I had another hit & was lucky enough to get another bass on .... this one went 39cm Now .... Michelle & I had been chatting about bass fishing & we reckon that whilst tossing lures in to 'bassy territory' .... that there is still very much an element of 'luck' in getting the 'big ones!! So, we were changing places as we moved along the creek ..... and later in the day, when I hopped in front of Michelle and put a cast into a 'bassy spot' ...... and a nice BIG bass jumped on board, I could hear Michelle in the background saying "You Stole My Fish! I was going to put a cast RIGHT THERE" Needless to say, my reply was a mix of "Sorry & Bad Luck!" This one really fought hard, it kept deep & really tested the rod, line & my knots to the max! It went 45cm! I had cast under a tree just after a big gust of wind had gone thru - and it obviously thought that the cicada had fallen in because of the wind, cos he NAILED IT! One Happy Chappy!! Very happy with my Matrix rod!! This is now my FAVOURITE Bass rod! Scotty hasn't done much bass fishing .... yet ..... but he now knows where some of them live .... so expect to see him on the water again some time soon!! Late in the session, he was busted off by a BIG bass that stitched him up in submerged timber - he was in 'la la' land & it was his first hit of the day!! All up, a great day on the water with good friends! This has been my personal best day of wild bass fishing, EVER!! My previous best bass day had been up at Cania Dam some 5+ years ago, but it is a stocked impoundment, so doesn't compare to Wild River Bass! I mustn't leave it so long til the next time I go out!! Cheerio & thanks for reading Roberta

Oh dear, sounds like you were 'stung', Donna?? We were with Keith's bike once - an extra $400!! Great to hear your plans are coming along nicely, Jani!! A bit warmer here than over there just now, tho! cheerio Roberta

Hi guys A bit of safety on the road this time, instead of on the water!! I was driving to Taree today and had been passed by a 4WD with one of those long, sleek 'surf kayaks' - all nicely wrapped up in it's protective 'bag' & tied to the roof racks! Shortly after, whilst approaching the first bridge across the Manning River heading north (on the Pacific Highway) I could see a truck ahead of me slowing down appreciably & then it changed abruptly to the right hand lane. I quickly saw why ...... there was the 4WD - in the left lane - in REVERSE, traveling over the hump of the bridge, back towards ME! There were cars behind me, so I immediately indicated 'right' and then changed it to the Hazard lights to 'grab their attention' as I changed lanes ...... I also realised that the kayak that had previously been on the roof - was now lying on the highway, with roof racks still attached!! The car was reversing back to it!! It's been VERY windy here over the last couple of days & as you cross the Manning, it really whips from right to left (I could feel it trying to shift me out of my lane!) Obviously this guy's roof racks had come a little loose & with the pressure of the wind belting on to the yak, it ripped the roof racks off the car along with the kayak & onto the highway! If the safety rail hadn't been as high as it was, it would have gone straight into the river & headed out to sea!! No-one could stop to help him or they'd have had other cars up their rear - I have NO idea how he would reattach the yak to the car (or whether it was even worth reattaching!) as the roof racks would have been pretty well stuffed from what I had seen, much as I imagined the yak would have been. How often do you check if your roof racks are still securely attached to your vehicle? It might be a good idea to check, particularly if you are traveling over the holidays, with yak on top! I had to go back to Taree again this afternoon - and some of the roof rack was still on the highway! Safe travels this year, take care, stay safe cheers Roberta

Congratulations DTROJAN - great snapper!! Great comp! Cheers Roberta

YES!!!