southerly

Nice fish Jase, Now if I can only get my first amder, youve got your share. David

Howdy, them's are definately sandfly bites. They are in plaugue proportions at Greenwell Point and Culburra, in most places they only come out at night but down there they bite all day. Rid and Aeroguard work somewhat. Long trowsers, longsleeves and gloves work even better. Once bitten some lotions can sooth the intching, but I prefer to avoid being bit if I can. I was at the boat ramp at Culburra at first light in warm dead still conditions last year and the sandflies and mozzies were insane, thousands of them all at once. David

Nice amberjack for the harbour, well done. David

Hi Yakfishing, I have a Dagger Drift II, it is a two man SIK. It is big and heavy, very very stable, takes a huge payload so I can spread my stuff out and is relatively dry and warm. I have modified it lots with reflectors, lights, fish finder, rod holders, electric bilge pump etc. Yak fishing is just so much fun. Roberta, In big slow moving weed bed such as those in Lake Maquarie I have had success with poppers and unweighted SP's in the weed. It is in hard current and trolling situations that I find it a pest. David

With advice from another yak I launched up river on Saturday with my 10yo daughter Siena. Got the timing of the tide wrong and started driffting up stream rather than down, picked up a few small flathead then due to time constaints decided to paddle down to Orient Pt rather than wait for the tide to change. So we stopped casting and started trolling. Hit a patch of undersized everything near a small mangrove island and Siena had great fun reeling them in and releasing them all. Each time we hooked up I would stop paddling and we would drift back up stream, so that we had to re-paddle the same section. After half a dozen or so fish they stopped hitting long enough for us to clear the island and head downstream. Near the first oyster lease Siena's rod loaded up with a better fish on a deep diver and after a spirited fight up came 55cm of flathead much to her delight. We continued down the river and into the masses of sea grasses that fouled the lures constantly. After an hours solid paddle we pulled into Orient Pt as the tide changed. It was a good paddle, thanks Jeffo and Siena was chuffed that she out fished dad (again!). Sunday I took pop and 11yo Tayler out in a small tinny on the Shoalhaven, tide was comming in so it was tough fishing again. Arthur picked up a nice bream, Tayler caught a nice flounder and I got one hit on an SP. So second daughter was also pleased she outfished dad. No pics as the camera battery died. And I have to put up with ribbing fromt he kids that they are better fishers than I. David

Hi Rob, I fished that morning at Balmoral for a very mixed bag including: 5 x yakkas 1 x cowan 1 x samson 1 x flathead 1 x bream 1 x leather jacket 1 x yellow cod of some sort 1 x big puffer toad 1 x undersized red 4 x southerns All on SP's apart from yakkas and squid. I also got very wet. David

Hey Zenman, Congratualtions on puttignt he time in to find a new spot, one up the sleeve for next time. David

Great stuff, some nice cutlets there. David

Decided to get away from the harbour crowds. Got to Long Reef ramp at 5.10am with a few other yaks setting up, the wind was howling so I just stood there. Finally launched about 5.45 after convincing myself that the wind was droping. Paddled out into a slight but sloppy sea with a fair bit of swell comming through out the front. Copped a couple over the side and gave the electric bilge pump its first real workout. Paddled towards the boats as one had hooked up, then bait and kings lit up the sounder, pulled in the trolling lines and re-rigged with a fresh squid head from yesterday morning. Instantly hooked up, after a short fight a 60cm king comes in. Rebaited and dropped for a quick hookup on another king, this time a keeper at 67cm, yippee, by this time another yak had landed an 80cm and 70cm king so I was thinking maybe a better run of fish is around at last. But it was not to be, fish 3 to 7 were all undersized, one only just. Used up all the fresh bait and switch to frozen self caught squid and cuttles, landed another king, then things quiented down, so I gave away the rest of my squid and headed in after 1 hour of non-stop action. Busted off on 3 fish, missed a few good hits, most were landed most on squid, I also had a 5in gulp jerk shad in nuclear chicken hanging under the boat, had quite a few hits but only 2 hook-ups, one landed and one bust-up. I was pretty much on to fish the whole time so had a great morning. Used my brand new Daiwa Cetrtate Hyper 4000 for the first time, it is bloody awsome, didn't even start to work on the rats, while my Daiwa Kix 4000 flexes horribly when cranking a king. No pics as the camera had a full memory. Southerly

I would not be so quick to laugh, used to love putting down a really big bait offshore while fishing for jew, did not land much but the hits were spectacular, and 80lb was seriously under gunned especially around SWR. I used to cast white barrel sinkers to the frigates on 6lb at Jervis Bay too, one day a YFT appeared and snaffled the lure, it was a spectacular 30 seconds, I had about a kilo drag and I got an over-run on the egg beater. Southerly

Great report and nice to have some more yakkers on the site. Southerly

I love those smiles on the dials. Southerly

A 12ft tinny can fish just about anywhere in the harbour in any weather, North and Sth head also the go in calm weather. Just watch out for the bommies like everyone else. Southerly

Great report as always Roberta.

Ah Pete, You have my number one lure there. I don't know why the pumkin seed colour works so well but it is awsome of eastury fish. I snuck up the back of the lake mid wekk on dusk and landed to nice flathead going 45 and 47 both were released to fight another day as they came off the mud. I was using unweighted gulps in shin deep water. Good fun. David

Good luck and enjoy. If you are like the rest of it, before you know it, it will be tricked up with lights, radio, GPS, fishfinder, rod holders, bilgepump, cleats, anchor system etc.

Hi Bassfish, I agree with the others. Make sure you try before you buy as everyone has different preferences especially so you can ensure it fits you and is comfortable as you will be spending hours sitting in the yak. Doesn't matter how cheap it is if you never use it. There are plenty to yak websites around that have detailed reviews etc if you do a quick search. I would rate where you intend to fish as the most important critea as all yaks are a trade off between handling, weight, stability, speed, seaworthyness etc. I have not used the australis myself as I have a bigger yak for open water. Regards, David

Hi Wayne, I picked up one undersized king in the main harbour and saw a couple more, all undersized. Water was warm, just needed that wind in a more friendly direction. I would say it will be a good week for those who can get out. David

Hi Rookie, You can fish it the same way as Nth Head proper, it is shallower but bream, pigs, blackfish, salmon and tailor are all possibles. Was quiet around there this morning (I was in a yak) but who knows what the weekend will bring. Just watch out for that swell, if it comes up as planned I would recommend staying as far away from the rocks as you can get. Large or making swells are guaranteed rock fisherman killers, I would be pissed off if you added yourself to the 6pm news. David

Hi RPL, That is an awfully wide question as difference lures are designed for different fish and for working at different speeds. I tend to choose my lures based on what speed I wish to travel at (eg: if travelling offshore from spot to spot I may troll a christmass tree or pinksquid as I can run those lures at 15kts, if tolling the headlands for bonnies I may troll a Rapala CD7 at 8kts and if chasing kings in the washes may skip a stick bait in the propwash at 3-5kts) and then on the type of fish I expect. I usually put out a spread of different lures (just make sure they are all suited to the speed you are intending to troll at). Here is my guide to trolling speeds and lure selection, I am sure other raiders will correct any errors. * Deep trolling live baits => 1-2kts * Jigging squid stripps on leadline => 1-3kts * Skipping soft stick baits => 3-5kts * Metal wobblers etc => 2-7kts * Softplastics with weighted jig head => 2-7kts * Large flies => 3-8kts * HB Minnows such as Rapala Magnums => 5-10kts * Smiths Jigs => 3-8kts * Chrismas Trees and pinksquids => 7-15kts Perhaps one of the game boys can add the stats for small jet heads etc. The newest trolling jaunt I have been having fun with is skipping a soft stick bait just to the back of the pressure wave created by the prop wash about 5-8 mtrs behind the boat. It is amazingly effective on kings who I think come up for a look at the boat. Plus the surface strikes are great. I find 3-5kts the best speed range, any slower and they sink and fasted they just bounce over the waves. Just make sure the stick bait does not spin, if it does bring it in a re-rig it until it runs straight. (PS: At higher speed a piunk squid or christmas tree in the prop wash is also wrth running when the striped tuna are around). As to line twist, no trolling lure should spin, if it does it is not rigged properly or you are travelling too fast for that particular lure. The exception are the old metal wonder wobbler. pergon minnow and spoon parterns that are designed to spin and can be very effective on tailor and bonnies. If you wish to use these then root around in the oldest dustiest fishing tackle shop you can find for a small paravane that will allow the lure to spin without twisting the rest of the mainline. I can post a description of how to make one if you wish to fish this way. Good luck, Southerly

Hi all, After tossing up where to launch the yak with NYE and all, I settled for the relative saftey of the open harbour (well there is a wide expanse of water there for boats to ply)? Squidding was quiet with one cuttlefish and a few baby yakka's in the bucket. I headed out for a fish trolling a gulp on the 6lb and skipping a stickbait behind the yak. About 100mtrs fro my first fish stop I had a few hits on the stickbait that did not connect so I kept paddling, I pulled up in the area of my first fish and started winding the stick bait in to have it followed up by some kings, just as I was lifting it out from the water a great surface stike was had and the king sounded, a short while later king #1 was in the boat. The gulp that was still out went off so I had a fish in the boat to measure and unhook plus the 6lb going nuts. Started working the 6lb while a cruiser headed on the harbour was traking striaght towards me about 200mtrs away, as I fought the king the cruiser kept its course directly on top of me, I kept watching it intently. At 50 mtrs to impact I pu the 6lb into a rod holder and started to raise the paddle and was just about to start urgent evasive action (I was not real sure what) when he alterered course and passed a few meters to the left of me spraying water in the yak from the bow and the still breaking bow wave, while altering course he did not change speed and passed between D&G and me. A few very choise words came from my mouth, (maybe I could bring a sligshot and hit the windscreen with lead sinkers to get attention?) then it was back to the job of landing the king, however it busted me off shortly after. The cuttle lived a very short life but no hook-up. First yakka dissapeared never to be seen again, then a drop into a bait ball provided another hook-up and another king. Then it quietened down and I went home.

Welcome to the wonderful world of yakking. Makes those fish just that much more fun to catch. As to the sore bum, I use 3cm thick rubber foam, gives me about 3 hours for the the arse has it.

Nice jew, well done.

Hi all, Launched into a glassy predawn and paddled accross to Quarantine with a stick bait skiping just behind the yak and a weighted SP further back. Near the point at Quarantine a heap of baitfish started fleeing from the yak, they looked like tiny garfish about 5-6cm long. Shortly after the stick bait went off. After a spirited fight a nice salmon comes to the yak for release. About 100mtrs later with bait still on the surface the stick bait goes off again, this time a 40cm tailor joins the yak. I continue paddling around North Head, near the Monkey the SP on 6lb goes off and another 40cm tailor comes in. Then a few dropped fish before another tailor, then more dropped fish and destroyed stick baits. Run out of stick baits (thanks to the choppers) and put a rapala CD7 out for zero. More choppers on the SP then home. No predators on the surface, the bait what was all over the surface at daylingt sounded shortly after but I failed to find any really big bait balls. A fair bit on the sounder and some nice arches. The birds were looking so they may have have balled up in recent days. Conditions on the water for yaking was spectacular. No pics as I left the camera at home. Southerly

He he, what a great deep water livie that would make. I love live baiting huge baits, the hits are few are far between but always spectacular. David