SgtBundy

Booked a few days off work explicitly for the purpose of going for a fish. Hit the water this morning just before 7am from Clontarf as usual and went looking for yakkas and squid around Chinamans beach, but only managed a tiny whiting and baby snapper on the bait jig. Hoping when I get a sounder I might have better luck picking where the yakkas hold up - had not had much luck finding squid of late either but maybe that is my technique. Spent about an hour hunting for live bait and drawing nothing I moved on. Headed over towards Balmoral trolling a lure and also some unweighted pillies, and followed the shore around to middle head. Decided to try crossing over to North head seeing as the swell as pretty benign and some of the recent reports suggested there might be pelagics around. Crossed over and drifted around staying just inside and around in front of old mans hat. I was trying out my new Fin Nor bait teaser reel setup (dual drag live bait reel) with the pillies and had a few hits nothing that hooked up - usually just a short run of the drag. Probably not using the rig for it as I was just using a single live bait hook intended for livies. I also threw around some poppers and xraps but nothing hit - unfortunately lost my favourite xrap when a line tangle on casting busted the leader. Having the rest of the day available I figured I might as well troll my way over and explore south head. Made my way over and then after looking up where sow and pigs was I made my way there to drop some small servo squid and flick a few plastics, again to no avail. Headed back over around middle head and threw some plastics around between middle head and the navy base. Trolled back over towards chinamans stopping periodically to just prospect with some plastics again. Once I got near chinamans I went to retrieve my trolling lines and probably from stopping for the plastics they lines managed to get insanely tangled (like two lots of braid trying to breed like octopi tangled - lots of very fine twists around each other). I tried for a while to untangle but gave up and decided to deal with it at home. Continued around chinamans flicking SPs for flathead but no takes. Headed back to Clontarf around 2:30 to pack up. Nice enough day on the water and some new territory explored - wasn't able to bring any fish to the party though.

If that was as cranky as the little ones are then your boat must be a solid coat of black now

I have it as south of there. My nav point for it on sunday was 100m straight out from the brown house next to the one under construction.

Ok - its pretty much where I got the bonito. That might give away when I get distracted near the nudie beach though... I am still very much learning the area myself, just getting technique and my yak setup without dealing with learning a new area too. I have still been meaning to try over around in front of Dobroyd head or even trying to cross over to North head if conditions permit. I normally have Sunday mornings pencilled in for a session, depending on family needs.

There isn't much room to handle any sizable fish on the kayak - the only real option is right between your legs. Thrashing flathead are bad enough, there was no way he was coming on board! It was interesting with the waves reflecting back from the headland - the other week I was out the incoming waves were enough to put me off even trying (in the trough it seemed like the waves were higher than me), it was a bit flatter this week but it was a bit of a ride none the less. Do you mean just around the Balmoral side of the head along the rock ledges? I have got them around the Balmoral wharf before when land based. I did go looking for weed patches between cobblers and the navy base boundary but couldn't make out anything useful - the water was pretty green and with the overcast light at that time it was hard to distinguish the weed beds, but I recall reading people have caught them there. I have seen people going for yakkas just off rocky point too, but without a sounder though I wasn't going to try lucky dipping. My mark for the fridge was working out some reference points on google earth before I went out and roughly dropping the line around there. I have been meaning to put navonics on my phone to help mark places to hit.

My dad and I were fishing the wharf at Patonga once and watched two yaks head out, one loaded with a very large gentleman and riding low in the water. They came back a while later and the big guy was clearly struggling, and the back of the yak riding even lower. About 50m from shore he capsized (calm conditions, so I assume he was taking on water or just badly balanced somehow). As the kayak was righted everything was missing off it - multiple rods, gear bags on the back - all gone. Once they got the kayaks and the big buy back to the beach the other guy went back out diving for the gear but in the fading light he couldn't find it. Leash it or lose it!

Still a long way to go for that - the kayak certainly helps get around and trying new things, but there is a lot I don't know yet. Even workout out where to place stuff on the kayak is still in progress. Was a bit of a long run today - probably 14-16km all up I think over 8.5 hours. Surprisingly not that hard an effort - worst part was the overcast day deceiving me into not applying enough sunscreen and now my legs are red raw.

Launched the kayak from Clontarf around 5:30 (non DST) and headed straight for the fridge to try for yakkas. Got about 6 but dropped a few trying to get them in the live bait tank. Strung one out and set out across the water towards the navy base hoping for kings. Half way across in front of Balmoral I stopped to check the livie, he was ok so put out again. As I let it out he got anxious then stopped - I took a little weight and it took off. I thought that was odd for a king (no smash) but it was running hard like a king. Between runs I could feel weight and was sure I was on to a good king. As I got it up to the kayak I got the distinct profile of a hammerhead - a small one about 80cm. As I struggled to get some photos before I figured out how I was going to release it he bit me off, thankfully. First shark to deal with on the kayak. I rerigged, set out a new yakka (after losing yet another as I got it out of the tank) and continued towards the navy base. I sat off the perimeter and flicked some plastics while I let the yakka swim. While having a snack I checked the plastic and was surprised to find a 25 odd cm snapper on it, which was released. I trolled the yakka out to in front of middle head where he got smacked but I missed the hookup. While the waves were a bit daunting I managed to rig the last yakka and trolled it across middle head and back where the last one was hit I was on. Not quite the power of a king but definately was strong with a rapid tail beat. Once landed I had a decent Bonito which I bled to take home, the first Bonito I have kepyt. Having no more yakkas I headed back the way I came trolling a lure and even found a floating popper next to middle head. I worked my way back to chinamans trying plastics along the way. I was unable to get any squid, so I tried for more yakkas at the fridge but no luck (really need that sounder). I decided to flick some plastics to finish out the session. I managed to snag a whiting near weed beds that was kept (I mistakenly assumed it was legal thinking the limit was 23cm, it was about 28cm so I should have checked seeing as the limit is 27cm). Another first in having a keeper whiting, even if size was a guess. As I worked the plastic I found some squid chasing so I switched to a jig and managed two decent calamari, and dropped one that was just hooked on the candle. With new live bait I set one out and repeated my circuit back to the navy base and middle head and back. By this time the sun was out in force, having spent the morning in a rain jacket. The long jog over and back took some time and resulted in nothing touching the squid. I got back to Clontarf around 2ish and kept the squid for home. The day ended with some annoying pratt parking stupidly close to my car so I couldnt load the kayak (despite explicitly parking by a walkway so I could do so, more annoying because they were clearly there for kayaking too) - an annoyance but worked around. With a good haul for dinner we had cajan bonito fillets, crumbed whiting and salt and pepper calamari. The kids even enjoyed it. Would have been nice to find some kings but a session with highlights none the less. Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

Well, the next trip I wont forget the lid (its now attached on a bungee) so they might have that obstacle too. I am sure they will try inking me from there at some point too.

Flyscreen zip tied over the outflow now - they are going to have to jump to escape

Have not thought of that - as above I went with the basket so it would not fill with water and I guess it would help in that situation. I think I would have more issues with tangled rods trying to flip the kayak than I would with the barrel, but another 30kg of water on it might make it interesting. At this stage I don't plan to test this scenario Thanks - its something I thought about but I would need to go digging for some suitable materials, think I have flyscreen somewhere.

Seeing as I dug up plenty of info on building this from the forums, I thought I would contribute back my build which was setup for a kayak. Recently I took loan of my Dad's spare Hobie Outback after he upgraded to a new version. One of the first things I found taking it out on middle harbour was the need to hang onto some live bait, as I kept finding squid while looking for flathead but I had nowhere to hold them other than the landing net. I wasn't keen on the price of the hobie version so I looked at some options for making my own and found a few examples on other forums using eskys. While looking for suitable materials I found some posts here about using some 30L barrels available from the big green hardware store which others have used for tanks on tinnies. Based off that I sorted out a few parts: 30L barrel + tap fitting (I thought it was a good idea to be able to drain it through the scuppers before having to offload it) A cheap 12V bilge pump and 20mm aerator nozzle fitting from a large camping store Some 40mm PVC and fittings for an overflow 20mm reinforced hose and stainless hose clamps I had put this all together and when test fitting it was plain that sitting the barrel loose would not hold well using the kayak bungees. Putting it into some box would give more area for the bungees to hold it down, and also provide some additional storage and ability to add rod holders. I didn't want a closed box though that could fill with water and instead found a reasonably suitable cheap washing basket. This was light, would allow water to drain, had convenient handles and also was already holed up for running the piping in and out and tying things on. The plastic is a little light structurally but otherwise it works well. Once I worked out my layout - mostly dictated by the need to still place the kayak wheels in the scupper holes, I setup the system into the washing basket and attached it using some bungee cords. The bilge pump was to hang over the side into the water, the battery was to be housed in the rear hatch and I was to make a control unit to sit up near me to run the pump. Originally I wanted the outflow to just drop down to the scupper holes but it was a little bulky near the wheels there, so instead I placed it to the rear and with plenty of PVC it was easy enough to have it run straight over the side. The control unit came from an idea I saw about a timer circuit that could control the on/off cycle and reduce battery usage. Having done some electronics as a teenager I thought it would be simple enough. The circuit was simple enough, but my solder skills were lacking as were suitable tools to make the circuit board properly. I had a working setup on the 3rd attempt but when trying to fit it into the housing the circuit board broke. Having spent several weeks hacking at it and getting frustrated with it I decided to put it aside and just rig up the switches directly so I could use the setup. I took it out to middle harbour and first trip out after a bit of hunting finally got a customer for it: I didn't really notice the drag from the pump, but it was a little awkward trying to fish it out when I wanted to pull it in. Also I found the hooks I used to attach the bungee cords on the barrel caught my shirt too often. I decided to rework it so the bungee cord just ran straight through the top of the barrel which was much cleaner. I also thought I should try and shade the bait a little and if doing that I might as well make it a colour that helps me be visible to boats on the harbour, so I gave it a bright orange spray on top. I also fixed on some additional rod holders to help store rods out the way while casting. I also didn't like the battery in the rear compartment and there was plenty of room in the basket. I got an airtight food container from Coles and rigged the battery up into that, and it sits snugly in the back of the basket, with a bungee strap across the top of it. There is still room left to fit storage for other kit as well. The battery box is big enough for two batteries so I might set it up for handling my sounder when I get one. It might not be pretty, but it works well and if I get that circuit going it should also be fairly well featured Only other thing I am thinking about is attaching some clips to it for my gear leashes, that way I can just toss the gear into the basket and its all ready to go once sat on the kayak. Just putting it up there as an option for anyone looking to do the same sort of thing.

Same - some carabiners, bungie cord and heat shrink tube - made a set of custom ones for rods and other tools.

I have just started taking a yak out having been land locked since I got back into fishing a few years back. I have been hitting middle harbour launching from Clontarf beach. Only done 4 trips so far but on two of them I got stuck into kings, and the last one would have probably been another if I had rigged the live squid better. I was concerned about distance, dealing with boat wake and the like but so far I have had no problems. My trips generally start at Clontarf, run over the other side to Chinamans, then over around Balmoral or Cobblers, then back across towards Grotto point and to Clontarf - probably 6-7km each trip no worries, usually over 5-6 hours. I am on a hobie too so its all legwork. Crossing the channels tends to mean dodging some traffic, and the worst offenders are the fast boats ignoring the 4kt and no wake signs, but even working around the cruisers and rich bastard yachts isn't a problem. Have not had anyone be dangerous yet just have to keep an eye out crossing those traffic areas. On busy days you can get lots of boats coming in to anchor around the beaches for a swim too, so if you are drifting flicking plastics you need to keep an eye out for them. I have not tried other locations yet - I am mostly trying to get the lay of the land around middle harbour and work up ways of doing things on the kayak without worrying about learning a new area. I did venture towards the front of middle head last Friday but the swell was getting a little serious for my liking. I know other guys launch around the spit and go up middle harbour and get kings there. Others might be able to offer info on other locations.

I was using a bait jig in middle harbour on Friday and every time I thought I had a yakka it turned out to be one of those little bastards.

I have a tank setup from a 30L barrel from bunnings and a bilge pump from BCF but I am trying to make my own timer circuit for it. Trouble is my soldering skills have not been used in 20 years and its not been as simple as it seemed to make it work. Always interesting to make something with your own hands but I am at the point that its no longer xost effective so it might just become a fancy switch box... Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

Thanks all. The kayak is certainly working out well for me so far - 3 squid caught for 3 kings is a strike rate I fear I wont hold on to but will take it while I can. Certainly the mobility helps try new things. I am not sure what that thing is in the photo but I think its just a leaf on the water. I was not far from the bank and I didnt notice it at the time. Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

Snuck out at 5:30ish on Sunday morning to get in a morning session trying to improve on my previous attempt. Hit the water around 7 from Clontarf and was greeted with a brilliant sunrise. This time went straight over to Chinamans to hunt squid and after a bit of prospecting got hold of two. As I still lack a kayak live bait tank (working on it) I just took the two. Moved to the middle of the harbour and set out the first squid and slowly made my way towards Cobblers with the squid in tow, prospecting with soft plastics as I went. As I approached the navy base boundary my squid rod took a big hit and started to scream off. With the plastic line still out I was in a tangle of leashes, lines and hanging on to my heavy rod while trying to keep the small steam train on the end of the line from wrapping around nearby boats moorings. After a few minutes of chaos I had him beside the boat and netted. This time I had grips so he was not getting away. When I finally had him on the mat it was just short of 65 - couldnt honestly keep it so he was swam and released. Some good fun none the less. Another kayaker came over to check it out and have a chat. He somehow managed a flounder on a 15cm pink whipbait but no kings. I set out my second squid and stayed in the area moving more towards the point of cobblers ledge. After about 15 minutes of more plastic prospecting I got a hit on the squid but whatever did it just roughed him up. I fixed the squid up and put it back and within 3 minutes my kayak was being turned around as another king was on the hook and running. This time I got the other rod out of the way and stuck in to this fish who again ran near an anchored yacht nearby. Hearing the reel screaming a nude couple from the yacht popped up to watch the fight - an eyefull from my low position on the water... more so when they had a conversation with me. After a minute or so and 5 net attempts I had the king in the kayak. With a few measure attempts I had it at a touch over 65 and I figured with 2 close ones released it was good enough to have a take home. I dispatched it and tucked it into a keeper bag to bleed out. However in dealing with that I ended up with some unholy tangle between the two lines when the rods where being handled out of the way of the nets and leashes and I spent a good 20 minutes undoing it and then giving up to cut and retie lines. With that sorted and now more squid I decided to set out a lure to troll back over towards castle rock beach. No hits on that but once over the other side I cast the lure (12cm rapala) around the rocks near the lighthouse point. A few casts in I got a light hit and some small runs, but way too small for this setup. To my surprise I had my first bonito - a small one about twice the size of the lure. He was put back and next cast I had a similar hit but this time it was a similar size tailor, also returned. I made my way back around to clontarf as it was around 11:30 and I wanted to wrap up so the family could do stuff in the arvo. Prospected some plastics back around clontarf but no hits. Cleaned up the kingfish back at the beach and found it had a small snook in its stomach which a nearby woman asked in the fish was having babies... Filleted the fish at home and had a little for sashimi tonight. Was quite good and the wife didnt mind it either even though she is not a sashimi fan. A very enjoyable day on the water - to have two kings in one day is a big step up for me. Definately a lot of fun to fight and a target I am keen to hone in on more. Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

Thats a great catch. The write up needs a lot more work though - where is the metaphysical juxtaposition on the futility of mans endevours? Where is the counterpoint imagery that alludes to the struggle of man in his persuits and the symbolism of male virtue. Or maybe I dont recall all that crap from when I did HSC english and you just did something that was artwork anyway

Yeah - as soon as that line was peeling off I was grinning like an idiot - so much fun. Now working out how to rig a DIY live bait tank to take out next time.

It was probably good he got away, it may have been an optimistic measure but not one I could have been sure of until I was off the kayak. I plan to find a fix for that anyway. Still - a lot of fun on the fight Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

The bites in the back of the yakka would have been squid - if its a chunk out of the middle of the back that is how they do it. Or maybe an octopus - that might explain the "snag". Had one of those buggers convinced I was snagged until I reefed him out of his little hidey hole.

Thanks Frag. It was a total surprise for that rod to take off - I had been towing that squid around for about 3 hours at that point and it was near 11:00. I would have thought I had more of a chance earlier but there you go. Still doing little happy dances for that fight. Yeah, I think next time I will leave the flatties alone and try for squid first to throw at kings, thats too much fun to ignore. I need to sort out a live tank though. Today I just sort of kept the squid in the landing net until I was ready to use it. I thought about putting it in the keeper bag but I didn't think it would hold it. I wouldn't mind seeing a PA-12 in action too. The outback is a good, but I think the flatter deck of the PAs would suit my bulk more. The 2015 outback my Dad has is definitely an improvement on the 2010 in that regard and for storage. Happy to meet up but I am a little adhoc in my planning though - never quite sure when I get time to head out, normally Sunday mornings are reliable depending on family commitments. Thanks. I had a keeper net and in hindsight I should have secured it in that first before I tried to kill it. I thought about lip grips too - I already have a way of making my own leashes so a tethered one would be easy enough. Part of the learning process - its been a while since I had a decent fish so I am always in a bit of a fluster for handling them when I do land one, more so in a yak.

My Dad upgraded his hobie outback a while back and recently I got some roofracks so I could take loan of his older yak. I did a short session at Narrabeen to get used to it and hit McCarrs creek and scotland island last week without a touch. This morning I was going to try Clontarf and have a crack around the harbour. Launched around 6am and potted around looking for others who were going to be there off a FB group, but didnt find them. Still a nice pre dawn start. Tried around with plastics after seeing some mullet jumping but no hits. Moved around the north of Chinamans beach and hooked on to a reasonable flathead, my first proper kayak catch. Didnt measure, even if it was legal it didnt seem big enough to warrant killing for a feed. As I moved around the front of Chinamans I saw a squid chase my plastic so I switched to a jig and pulled him straight away. Tried for more but couldnt find any and I lacked a live tank anyway. I moved out to the middle and sent out the squid live on my 8kg rod and kept prospecting with plastics, pulling another small flattie. Around this time the boat, paddle board and kayak traffic was picking up so I thought I might bypass Balmoral and take a line over towards the navy base, trailing the squid. I had heard the base held kings so I thought heading that way might find some, also because I wanted to see how much effort there was in crossing that open water. With nothing showing up on that side I crossed back to castle rock beach and threw some plastics there, still keeping the squid in tow. When I checked it thr head was gone but the hood was intact. I set that out again towards the channel and set about with plastics again. I noticed some taps on the squid bait, but it seemed to subtle to be a take. Then some more taps. Next the rod woke up in a serious way and I scrambled to grab it while putting away the plastics rod. At first I thought it might have been a decent flathead because of the initial run and not much fight. As it came into view I thought that was confirmed for a second then it took off. Damn that sound is awesome. 8-10kg rod, 20lb line and a fin nor lethal 40 with moderate drag and it was singing. This was not a flathead and it did not want to be near the kayak. It took off 2 or 3 times everytime I got it back. I got it near the yak and got the net in the water but it took off again. Finally I managed to coordinate rod and net and was letting off a few cheers... After one accidental release I had it back again to measure. After 3 attempts as best I could with a brag mat in a kayak with a non compliant kingfish I called it for just on 65cm. My first legal kingie. I took the hook out and went to dispatch him but he disagreed and slipped back over the side. Damn - oh well, it was a great fight and a cool feeling to finally get stuck into one. I tried again for more squid back at chinamans but had no luck. Crossed back to Clontarf but when a dinghy motored over my line and cut it I called it a day. It was time to head back for other duties anyway. A brilliant day on the water and good to be able to be mobile while fishing to try different things. More lessons learnt too about how to handle things in the yak. Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

I hear most people wont feed it to their cat, but fillet, cut off the red meat, crumb and fry it and the kids love it. I usually also throw in some cajan spices into the flour. Dunno why but its the kids favourite fish to eat out of what I catch.