Funda

Jews, kings etc etc ? If that's the case then you should really look at the Daiwa Bluebacker as an option, I have one and it really is a gutsy reel for targeting larger fish near reefs. Mine has performed flawlessly over the last 12 months and really is a dream to use. Hopefully a site sponser can look after you on this reel, if they are daiwa tournament dealers. Look at campells website to see the reel Cheers, Allan

If you want to use it in the salt I definately agree, I've owned and used the Alphas and loved it. If it's only going to be used in the fresh you cannot go past the Steez, no other reel I've ever owned has come close to this baby, simply magic!! Cheers, Allan

I agree with everything said above and will stress yet again. "it doesnt matter how good a swimmer you think you are, wear a PFD every time you go" I'm off to Perth in a few weeks and hopefully I can report back with my findings on "jigging for samsons" with 50lb braid out the back of Rottnest Island from my yak Wish me luck

HAHAHAHA buy a kayak and the serenity is yours, no doubt about it

All the rainbows were caught on powerbait in the lime twist or rainbow colours except for one that was caught on the new gulp trout bait, we switched to bait in the middle of the day when the fish seemed to go deep. My brown trout was caught on a trolled pink tassie devil early in the morning, the atlantic was caught sight casting with a small minnow type lure in a trout pattern and the other two browns were both caught on a TN60 Jackall in 20 feet of water amongst some trees. A couple of us went up there a few weeks ago and could only manage a few rainbows on bait, the weather was fairly bad and it snowed on us whilst we were out trolling from our yaks. Heres a few pics from our previous trip

Fished Jindy from my Hobie Adventure Kayak last saturday in the freezing cold for a reasonable days catch, there were a few of us lunatics that braved the sub zero tempratures of the snowy mountains in our yaks. I'll let the pictures tell the storey. Tally for our group was 1 Atlantic Salmon, 3 Brown Trout, and about 9 Rainbow trout all up. Heading back again ASAP, this place rocks!

Oh somebody mentioned "yak fishing" and yeah I love it!!! I'm getting a bit flattered here Roberta tho, but the Canberra yak fishing social is already a happening thing with at least between 4 to 10 fishing every w'end locally. Catching big fish from a kayak adds another dimension to the art of angling and requires quick thinking and even quicker reactions/actions on dogged fish close to structure, it's pretty hard digging your heals in on a good fish in a yak. Cant wait till the big snapper start showing up down the coast, I will be out in the big blue wobbly every w'end once the cuttle fish start coming in close followed by the big knobbies, after my 10kg snapper goal I'll be looking at maybe a montague island trial for some big palagics next feb/march when the nor easters start backing off. You aint caught nuthin till ya done it in a kayak Cheers, Allan PS. if you think I'm mad you're prolly right

A lot of peeps want to know where I get my cod from, but if that happened I reckon I prolly wouldnt be getting many, hence the spot x title of the topic Not trying to be a snob but I protect my spots regretfully after past experiences showing so called mates, so now it's time to be selfish, and yeah I know it's a shame it has to be that way but three times bitten a dozen times shy.

getting drunker by the minute Thanks guys n gals

Hi Billy, I use a 3 to 6kg Heartland Z baitcast rod matched with a Daiwa Steez baitcast reel all loaded with 10kg braid for medium sized river fish, I personally dont believe light line outfits have a place in C&R on easily stressed fish like Murray Cod. A 2500 spin reel on a 3 to 6 kg spin stick loaded with 10kg braid would be fine, use at least a 10kg leader too, depending on the area you might need to increase leader to 15kg. Hope that helps. Cheers, Allan

How dare you, I'm glad the poor little bugger cant hear that. May all your hairy bits be infested with the fleas of a thousand camels

Feeling pretty happy and getting bored at home I thought a walk down to one of my special spots was in order this morning, keeping things simple i just grabbed the bare essentials and headed off not really expecting much at all, I really only went to see how the river is recovering after recent natural events. Anyway once down to my spot I was happy to see the water has cleared quite well and my confidence grew dramatically as I cast the spinnerbait into a hole in a rock face, not long after about my 10th cast I had an absolutely massive strike before I could even engage the reel in gear. After a reasonable couple of runs and a decent tug o war on locked drag a beautiful 80cm wild Murrumbidgee river cod was landed, we said our hello's and had a little chat when he decided to let me get a few pictures for my birthday. Once the pics were done I put mr Murray in the water and we bid farewell to each other, bye mate I said then got absolutely soaked as he swam off laughing at me, yeah he got the last laugh but I was so stoked I just got up and came home. pics. Cheers, Allan

Is that one of those cheap Berkley imitations?

Yeah the cod record is gone, funny the old record was mine hey Win news friday night I think I'm going to get a mention in Rob Pax's report, if not grab a copy of the Canberra Times on Sunday Still floating on cloud no. 9

This is the report written by my good friend Derek "Paffoh" Steele, Derek and myself are members of a kayak fishing forum from where this report was originally written. Canberra - Googong Dam 13/5/07 Mothers Day, my mum lives in Sydney ( So I went fishing )... Typical start to the morning this time of year, it is getting bloody cold in Canberra and must have been around the 4 degree mark when Funda arrived to pick me up complete with Thule carrier to house my Quest for the journey through Queanbeyan out towards the Dam, a few heart flutters as we were pulled up for a breath test but Allan laid off the grog more than usual opting for a headache free launch onto the gin clear waterway. Arriving at the gate about 7:45am, which was open early, we opted to meet Craig at the ramp which is totally out of the water creating a muddy exit, Craig arrived bang on 8am complete with his cute orange Ocean kayak ‘Frenzy’ and we all rigged up in hope of a native fish or two, was a bit surprised to see Craig’s kayak had no seats and no rod holders ( And scupper holes located in the seat position ) so felt sorry for him till he remarked the kayak was a gift from his sister, nothing like a FREE yak no matter which brand or model. Paddling / Pedaling past Shannon’s Inlet behind the island we moved off in search of shelter as the wind was blowing ever so slightly creating a cold and overcast morning, a journey to the far reaches of Wells inlet was on the cards looking for the rocky structure and decrepit dirt cliffs to cast Spinnerbaits along, on the way we trolled amongst the 4-5m mark for a good half an hour parallel to the shallow weed beds often sighting large schools of active Redfin on the sounder, these fish were either high in the water column or lying on the edge of my sonar beam hugging the bottom hard in numbers. The water was deep in parts with 36m registering often so staying tight to shore was the only option till structure was established, removing weed from trebles was a common occurrence so in frustration at lack of sunshine and shoreline cruising Golden Perch we spilt up with Allan powering his Adventure ahead while Craig remained central in deep water following slowly behind, I moved on to the opposite side of the Dam hoping to catch some fish off guard in untouched water ( We had the whole Dam to ourselves ). Rounding a significant point I noticed Craig had caught up to Funda and from a distance they seemed to be having a chat, I watched them from afar occasionally but I was too busy trying to focus my energy on trolling and the GPS / Sounder to pay much attention, out of the corner of my eye I saw Craig jostle to the side and remain patiently alongside Cod Whisperer below some steep rocky structure, I knew this only usually means one thing so pulled in my Viking Talisman and franticly paddled the 700m distance hoping I wasn’t to late to witness the catch ( The time had just passed 9am, catch of the day already? ). Seems the fight had been going on longer than I thought ( Around 10 minutes before I arrived on the scene ), as I got closer Craig was waving me over and Funda smiled and remarked ‘ Get your camera ready, biggest fish you will ever see ‘, I asked him if it was a Cod but in hindsight realised that was a stupid question as his Heartland Z was buckled to breaking point, the battle continued and was watched by a well traveled bank angler who had made the long trip from the carpark, he was caught mid step in awe when he saw / heard Funda coaching / coaxing the fish from the bottom. After 20 – 25 minutes the leader knot appeared and a MASSIVE Murray Cod measuring 1m + ( 115cm to be exact ) was secured with the Boga grips, we quickly moved over to the bank and its angler offered some assistance grabbing Funda’s paddle which allowed for perfect controlled handling of the fish and the opportunity for 20 seconds of photos as I drifted by, I must say I am getting better and better at taking photos of Allan with Cod and think I captured the moment superbly with my 3.2mp Olympus Digital Camera. Funda joked that it was time to go home but promised to stick around for us newbies to get a shot at the title but with a fish like that we new are chances were slim to nil, I mentioned I was off to get a Redfin and departed the duo thanking the bank angler again as I moved back to the other side of the lake I was working previously before I was so rudely interrupted, after I could hear Cod Whisperer mentioning to Craig what a poor bastard I was being only able to catch fish with red colours, English Perch, Red Rock Cod and Sgt. Baker ( Don’t forget the occasional Snapper mate! ). Deployed the silver and red Viking Talisman and commenced trolling once again only this time I hit a large school of Redfin on the head cruising the foreshores, a quick check on the rod tip indicated I was on to a 20cm Specimen much to the amusement of Funda, I was determined to at least catch a horde of the English invaders but as time took its toll ( About 45 minutes later ) I only managed to land a slightly larger model around 25cm… Wonder how Craig was faring? Caught up with Craig who exclaimed ‘No glory’ so we had a nice chat, was great to catch up with Craig as he was around when I first started Dj’ing out at Raves and Dance parties and lived with some good mates of mine back in the day, we both spotted some fishy looking rocky ledges in the distance ( Known locally as ‘The Cliffs’ ) but before we could both head over we realized Allan was already there throwing Spinnerbaits in search of Perch ( I don’t think he was targeting Cod anymore by this stage ). Well and truly entrenched in Wells Inlet we pulled over on a bank for some lunch and a few brews while we talked smack, I finally had a chance to show Allan the photos I was so happy with and the look on his face said it all, he mentioned he was still shaking from the experience and was on cloud 9 at the moment, I mean who wouldn’t be… Some people go Skydiving, some people go Bungy Jumping and some people just catch metre plus Murray Cod ( Enough said really, don’t you think? ). The wind had dropped for the most part but was starting to pick up so we headed back towards the ramp following roughly the same route but with slight variations, I moved on ahead of the duo who were eagerly swapping fishing stories and tried my luck trolling different lures and casting Jackals into unknown small Inlets, at one stage a fish appeared on the surface next to my yak and headed deep into a weed bed but I was only able to sight the trailing fin breaking the surface, I was running out of time to get a decent comp entry ( Feral species or not ) but knew today was not my day… Somehow I didn’t feel too dejected after witnessing such an awesome spectacle beforehand and I felt extremely proud that Craig and I witnessed such a feat, what a way to welcome a new member to the forum. Derek Steel. (Paffoh) Pics to follow........ pics.