Sputnik

I was lucky enough to have a pass for both days this weekend (including my wife's first Mother's Day - you gotta love my missus!). Had a brilliant time on the water. Why is it you always fish better on your own? Probably because you can spend more time experimenting and really fishing out a spot until you're convinced there's nothing there (or discover you were right and it's packed with Bream!). Saturday saw me trying to stay out of that revolting Southerly - I managed to find a couple of spots on the North side of the river that were protected by a lee shore, and thought I'd better get a bit of practice in for the hardbody challenge, so tried flicking SX40s along the sides of a few boats... Well, there's nothing quite like that flash of silver and the scream of a drag when you get a cast just right and a fish nails the lure, is there? Mind you, there's nothing quite like the words that came out of my mouth when yet another cast went astray, either! I was really struggling with the hardbodies - I even hooked a towel some poor bloke had hanging up on the back of his boat once - 'kin 'ell! I then moved off and hit the areas around Pyrmont. I lucked into a big patch of feeding fish and nailed quite a few - including two in two casts. Finished up there with a total of over a dozen keepers and a good heavy bag (I really should buy some scales, as I have no idea just how heavy). Sunday, I thought I'd try something different, so headed to Hen and Chicken. Started flicking the SX40s again, and picked up a couple of really good fish. Nice start. On the way out of the bay, I couldn't resist having a flick at a couple of boats, and found one that must have held just about every fish in the Bay - two in two casts again, plus a connection to a very, very big something that just wouldn't play ball, and kept plugging away deep - all on my softest, noodliest rod! It all ended in tears when the hook pulled... A few more fish just to top off the bag from some more boats back towards the Drummoyne ramp, and I ended up a very knackered, but very happy, little camper. Here's a shot of Sunday's bag (there were 5, but one dived back into the livewell for hair and makeup just as I was about to take the shot!). Next time, I'll use the self-timer.

Pukk, Thanks for the kind words - that was just what I needed to hear! I'm off out again this weekend - and heading to the same locations. I'm upgrading the leaders on every rig (went out and stocked up on a huge spool of 8lb this week), so hopefully the Bream will feel like playing agin. I'm 'avin' me one o' them 40 plus buggers, I am...

Thanks, Ben - a riveting read! One day I'll get up there and tangle with some of those bigger fish...one day. Any special techniques to impart about lure retrieves, or anything extra you learned from your guides? I always find that's the best part of any organised fishing trip - the steep learning curve over a few days. Thanks again, mate.

This last weekend was the "weekend of the busted leader" - I had more break ups than Jennifer Lopez! Got comprehensively done by two Melbourne Cup contenders on Saturday (both times I actually saw the fish, just to make it even worse), then got smoked THREE times on Sunday - this time I only saw two of the fish, but one of them looked as though it had to be 40+. Yeah, yeah, I know - "whingeing Pom" Anyway, Saturday was almost perfect - nice conditions, fish on the chew in a few spots, and a dirty great big blurter caught in 3 feet of water on an SX40 to end the day! Sunday, I was out with the human hurricane, Mr Matt Taylor. And, you guessed it, the wind blew its guts out! We still had a great day on the water, ran into Ross, Adam K., Scott Towner (who had a 5 kilo, 5 fish bag on board at the time!) and even the fly fisherman who Matt fished with in the Hawkesbury ABT! The Parra sure is drawing a crowd at the moment... Matt distinguished himself as the Michael Jackson of the Breaming world (played with the kids all day), while I could hardly raise a fish (and when I did, couldn't stay connected). Still, it was a great day to be out. Next time, I'm tying on the heavy leader and bringing out the big guns... Here's the photos from Saturday: Luke's nice 31cm model - part of a "two-fish-in-two-casts" set... And here's my best for the day - 34cm to the fork from under a boat in the Lane Cove.

Sorry it's taken a while to get back to you, Trev. Yes, I've had the boat out in the harbour a few times and felt perfectly comfortable, but make no bones about it, this is a rig made for fishing estuaries and impoundments. The decks are a little high for anyone who's not too confident (or a heavy chop). There is a small lower section, but that really only accommodates one fisherman. However, for the puropose it was built for, I still reckon it's a great boat. Hope that helps.

Nice one, Joe. All I can say is thank heavens for the cooler weather - at least you kept your shirt on in this "big fish" pic! Sounds like you had a great time and an epic battle. Keep it up, mate - that real hoodlum can't be far off...

Mate, not too sure about 1.8kg Fireline - like I said, you have to be prepared to beef up your gear in the racks, but don't worry too much about the stick - as long as it's got some grunt and you can cast accurately with it, you'll be fine. As for the plastics, I'd have been thinking of some slightly more "natural" colours, but in the dirty water of the Hawkesbury, you might be fine. If I don't see you tomorrow, make sure you post your results, won't you? Cheers - and tight lines...

Ken, I can't vouch for the 3.85, but my 4.75 is an absolutely brilliant boat. Smooth riding, dry, good stability at rest and plenty of room to fish from - very well though out, too. Call the guys at Belmont Affordable Boats (who are, spookily enough, in Belmont near Newcastle): 4947 0055. They're really nice to deal with and will put a good package together... Even before I got mine, I used to fly-fish from an old Stessl in Tassie, and that thing was just about bomb-proof. Great boats, IMHO.

Knapers, I'm not what you'd call a seasoned rack fishermen - there are a few other blokes on this site who've done wayyyyyyyy more than me, but here's what I've picked up in the few times I've fished 'em: At high tide, when the racks are covered, it's much harder to locate the fish (and the racks!). However, in the Hawkesbury ABT a couple of weeks ago, people like Andrew Howard were still catching fish in these conditions by casting lures up onto the tops of the racks. You can try running a shallow-diving hardbody (Predatek Micro-Mins are great - particularly if you take off the front treble) over the tops of the racks, then giving them a bit of a twitch to get them to dive as soon as they clear the edge of the rack (assuming you can see it). But keep your eyes on the tops of the racks - if the water's deep enough, the fish may be up there feeding anyway. Alternatively, you can cast as straight down the edge of a rack as you can, then slowly wind your hardbody back along it. But slow seems to be the trick, in either case. As Mick Collins says: "just enough to get the rattles working". Other HB lures to look at are the Ecogear SX40 and SX48 (but at those prices, they cause a lot of heartache when a big bream busts you up on an oyster!), Attacks, Scorpions and even the good old Rebel Crawdad. But don't discount plastics in the racks - a lightly-weighted or unweighted Bass Minnow or Single Tail grub can do pretty well if you're casting's accurate and you can drop it in the shade of the racks. Leaders do need to be upgraded for the racks (some people fish as heavy as 16lb+). Recently, I spent a day using 12lb Yamatoyo, and it seemed to go pretty well. But do check your leader often - it'll pick up lots of little nicks just fishing in those areas, and that's the last thing you need when a fish takes and dives back under the racks... The tide tomorrow looks pretty good - high early, then a big runout until the early afternoon - should give you plenty of opportunity to fish the racks at different stages of the tide. Oh, and if you see a blue Stessl Edgetracker out there tomorrow, come and say "Hi" - it'll be me, as I'm hitting the Hawkesbury then, too!

Well, this was my first ABT event as well. And what a load of fun it was! Here's how the days panned out: My 5-month-old son decided that what I really needed to give me the edge on Saturday was no sleep on Friday night, so he put in a great performance, waking up about 4 times on Friday night - thanks, Luke, you're a pal! However, I was still standing at the Bayview Boat Ramp as the dawn crept into the sky on Saturday morning. I'd been drawn with Gary, a really nice guy from Taree who has a little "Blue Fin" boat. Turns out he'd been tossing and turning all night worrying about taking it past West Head (with good reason, mind - the waves were a pretty good size). We got round ok, but he'd been crook all night with bad guts, which carried on well into Saturday morning, so he didn't enjoy the day much. We pulled up at a rock wall in a small bay at the mouth of Cowan Creek (Gary was looking for a spot where he'd pulled a couple of stonkers on Friday - we couldn't find it). First cast with the old smelt Bass Minnow on a 1/8th head...twitch...twitch...wallop...28cm Bream. I'm thinking "way hey...this ABT stuff is a piece of piss". I now know that getting a fish first cast is the curse to end all curses in a tourney! We tried several other areas and, despite getting a few hits here and there, couldn't stay connected to anything (I suspect a lot of them were Leatherjackets and Tailor anyway). We even hit Pittwater for the last hour or two, and discovered that, yes, it really is a "piscatorial desert", to quote Matt Taylor. Day two saw me paired with Jason, who's fished the Hawkesbury quite a bit. His boat was an Ally Craft that could certainly take the knocks. Good job, too. We hammered out past West Head and went waaaaaayy upriver - at one stage we couldn't tell where we were because of the fog! Got to his "secret spot™", somewhere near Spencer. Bashed it for a while and I pulled nothing but undersized Bream - he got a keeper, though it was only a small one. Headed back, fishing a few mangroves and pontoons on the way. Hit Porto Bay and found that the fish were definitely "on" - another keeper for him, but more undersized ones for me. Also witnessed Joe (Pukka) coming unstuck from what sounded and looked like a really nice fish. As I said to him later, there were little old ladies in Brooklyn phoning the ABT to complain about the language - you get a nice echo in Porto Bay! With it looking like getting back might be a very damp experience, we decided to head back to Pittwater - only to find that it was actually pretty glassy! Bugger - we could have stayed at least another half hour at Porto! In all, I caught about 5 Bream on Sunday - but all under-bloody-sized... Nevertheless, I really enjoyed my weekend. Great to see how other people fish (techniques, lures, etc.), and really great to see some familiar faces getting into the money and/or the GF. Now all I've got to do is work out a way to break it to the missus that the next few aren't quite as close to home... Thanks again to Gary and Jason - you both helped make a relatively fishless weekend remain good fun.

Roseville, eh? Gee, that boat sure gets up on the plane well at 4 knots!

Mate, it was sensational - one of those ones where the rod is actually bucking down into the water up to about the 4th guide from the top as he was heading down under the boat... I was certainly very relieved to see him hit the old environet!

Nice shots, Mark (and Ankles). Apparently, the Wyong is well worth a flick for Bass. I was chatting to a bloke on Sunday who fishes it regularly. His best Bass to date: 58cm!

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. Sure was a pretty fish - looked even better swimming away to fight again another day. I've got to get myself a set of scales - just for interest's sake, I'd love to know what that porker weighed.

Have to use espresso here - can't get any nice warm beer!

I realised yesterday that I hadn't fished Iron Cove since I hung up my waders and bought my blue-nosed beast. So, with the Hawkesbury ban now in place, I decided to head to my "local" piece of water today. A good early start, usual shaking of the head at the Drummoyne ramp monkeys, then it was off to the Cove. Started off at the bridge, which yielded a couple of hook-ups and a couple of dropped fish, then I thought I'd nose down towards the shore by the moored boats near the UTS boat shed. I switched to my "lighter" gear (I'd been trying to concuss the fish at the bridge - well, it is 18ft of water). First couple of casts with the trusty PE yielded nothing, then, suddenly: WHAMMO. I instantly knew I was onto a good fish - thank God this one wasn't in the Hawkesbury racks, or I'd have been looking at nothing but frayed Nitlon! After he made a few concerted efforts to wrap himself around my electric (this does wonders for the heart at 7:30am, I can tell you - better than an espresso enema for waking you up!), I had him netted and in the boat. At 38cm, he's my second-best fish ever. Fat as butter and obviously in great condition. The rest of the morning was good, but not quite as good as that first hour or so. A few fish boated, lots of action on all the flats - great fun! I really should fish locally a bit more often....

Unfortunately, Mitch had to pull out at the last minute, which left me wondering whether I should stay or go. I guess I made the right choice! And judging by the clarity in his voice at 6am, Joe, I wouldn't say it was a Buck's night! (Unless he simply hadn't been to bed).

Thanks, mate - it was a really fun day when everything just seemed to work out well. I caught a bunch of fish, and 5 went legal. Considering how I struggled at the last Chippo social, I was a very happy little pom, as you can well imagine! Looks like the Fishraider Social was fun, too - although I see you had a problem with the Queen Mary - is everything ok?

Troutboy, I've done a fair amount of fishing in Tassie for lake trout (and boy, is that a destination for the keen fly fisherman!). We tend to use 5-weights for most of our fishing (although we’ve chased tailing trout in the shallows with 3-weights!). However, so much depends on conditions. If it's blowing a gale (as it often is in Tassie), you may need to go up as high as a 7-weight - just so you can still control your line. However, if the spot you're fishing is relatively sheltered, fish as light as you can - you scare a lot less fish, and they're great fun on lighter tackle. But if you want to pick a great all-rounder, go for a 5 or 6-weight, matched with a suitable floating line.

I hope that pigeon survived - and that it learned its lesson. Mussels make good fish food, but pigeons should stick to crumbs and chips! JD and I did it pretty tough yesterday (just for a change!), but also suffered from some pretty shocking luck - we both dropped fish, and spent rather too long playing with the "kindergarten" end of the Bream schools. It was only when we headed downriver towards the harbour proper that we found any "real" fish. Oh, and if anyone catches a Flathead down in Brays Bay in the next week or two, it'll still be a "bonus" fish - it's got one of my SX-40's stuck in its gob! Bloody thing came up to the boat shaking its head like a Def Leppard fan and bust me off just above the lure. Cheers to me mate JD for staying cheerful in the face of adversity, thanks for a great day out again, Matt - and well done to the top 5. Seeing fish like Mick's (and Rich P's very impressive collection, too) makes it all worthwhile. And makes me realise how much I still have to learn. Ah well, there's always next time...

GM, If it's any consolation, I had exactly the same "problem" with my Edgetracker when I first got it - and you're absolutely right - reach in under the livewell, find the little tap, give it a couple of turns to open it up and bingo - next time you're out on the water, the well should fill just fine. Obviously, if it doesn't, then a quick call back to the builders is in order... See you at the social, I hope.

Who was guiding for you in Tassie? I know a few of the lads down there...

Jethro, I always found the pre-made leaders a bit too pricey in the long-term, so I always re-cycle them! I buy one, then make sure I simply have plenty of tippet material in various different breaking strains handy, then, as I gradually have to cut more and more off the original tapered leader, I'd simply use a three-turn water knot to attach a new tippet to the existing butt. This way, you still keep enough size in the butt to turn over most flies and give a decent presentation (something I always found was a bit harder with "home made" tapered leaders), without having to fork out for a highly expensive new Cortland, Orvis or Rio tapered leader every time. Hope that helps. (You can tell I'm a penny-pinching Yorkshireman, can't you? We're always described as being "like Scotsmen with all the warmth and generosity removed"!)

I have to say that I'm with the other guys - I now have a TD-Z and two Certates, and they rock! They also have a drag system that would stop a truck. The best thing of all (particularly with the Certates) is that they seem to be very easy to keep in great condition - a quick rinse after every trip and they're still purring like the day I bought them. If you can, give 'em a go - you won't be disappointed.

Well, the year might have started promisingly for some people, but not for me! I’m seeing more dougnuts than the inside of a Homer's stomach at the moment... However, I've got to say that I’ll definitely be heading back to the Hacking at some stage. I’ve always enjoyed sight fishing since my days of fly chucking, and watching some of those big old Bream cruising the shallows and chasing (but not eating, of course) my lures was a thrill in itself. Thanks to Matt for organising another great session, and to the top 5 for coming up trumps on a day when almost everyone seemed to be finding it tough (I noticed we weren't the only ones with a livewell full of fresh air). However, I'm the born optimist, so roll on the Parra!