Cid

Fantastic report guys and an awesome video. Well done Richo on your first GT. Go the Hedgehogs! cheers, Cid

Wow, what a ripper of kingie! Congrats on a great catch. Go the Outbacks!!! cheers, Cid

Top effort, guys. Well done. You really had some horses in that bag, Andrew. cheers, Cid

CJ, some great fish there and well done on the bream PB. cheers, Cid

Terry and I launched in to the pre-dawn gloom accompanied by some lazy drizzle that we hoped would disappear. Thankfully it did and Terry and I had a cracker of a morning. First cast and Terry comes up tight on a good tailor and my East Coast popper is smacked all over the surface by a hoard of them but none of them would hook up. Next cast it's chased down again until it's finally nailed and the culprit takes off for the heads. Hmmm, me thinks this is not a tailor and after a 12 minute fight on 6lb braid, I lift in my new PB Kingie from the yak. 79cm's to the tip and I have a grin from ear to ear! Top it all off with a few trevally and bream and it doesn't get much better. cheers, Cid

A fellow yakker, Terry, and I have been working Botany Bay for Kings the last couple of weeks and have managed to land our fair share. We've been working the usual haunts (the Drums, HWO and channel markers) with 6" sluggo-style SP's and the action has been fairly consistent with mornings being the best. But can we land a legal one? No way! We've come very close with a couple of 64cm specimens and I'm sure I've landed the same 63cm model about 6 times! All great fun though and I know there are bigger ones out there as last week I bumped into Kenny who'd just landed an 80cm beauty from the drum I was heading towards. If only I'd been 5 minutes earlier... cheers, Cid ps Merry Xmas everyone!

G'day Andrew, Well done on 5th place. For a while there I thought you and Mark were gonna hold onto that 3rd spot for a podium finish. Good to catch up and a great bag, too. cheers, Cid

G'day Marty, That's a cracker of a bream and on your first cast, too. Simply sensational. Welcome to the wonderful world of kayaking. It doesn't get much better really... I'm looking forward to seeing future catches from a yak as I'm sure you'll want to keep at it. cheers, Cid

Hooo-eee! A couple of sensational fish there, Windy. Congrats to you and Chopper and a great report, too. cheers, Cid

Hi Ben, Congrat's on your first...and hopefully with many more to come! In fact I hear on the grapevine that you got an even bigger one today. Sensational, buddy. We'll have to catch up for a fish soon. cheers, Cid

Great stuff, Andrew. Two prime EP's there. cheers, Cid

G'day Stylo, The Hobie has a hole for a mast and I've removed the centre post of a tripod and it fits in perfectly. It's just far enough away to get the fish in the shot but still close enough for me to reach. cheers, Cid

Whooo-eee, Greg, that's a thumper! What'd he go? 60 cm's? cheers, Cid

Thanks for the comments everyone. To answer some of the questions, I was fishing around the Hotwater outlet but the fish were scattered a bit. There was lots of surface action over a wide area (not confined to any structure though) and I figured that bigger things may be lurking below the tailor schools. The baitfish were about 3" long. I have a Hobie Sports, Roberta and she's a great fishing platform. I've been out in the middle of the Bay in pretty choppy conditions and even up to a km or so off the heads, when the conditions are right, of course plus I always wear my PFD. cheers, Cid

Cracker bag, Greg. 5 kilo's plus is awesome. That's the sort of bag you want in a comp. Oh, hang on...you guys get bigger bags than that in a comp! cheers, Cid

Way to go, Azza. What a way to bust your YFT cherry! Awesome. cheers, Cid

Last saturday morning was perfect to take the yak out onto Botany Bay and after a week of constant rain and wind I thought there'd be boats everywhere. Wrong! I had the place virtually to myself and what a session! Maybe the cold, dark starts at 6:30am keep most people in bed. First cast with an East Coast popper and it's snaffled by a tailor. Then the next cast, the next cast and the next cast. 3" baitfish were jumping everywhere with tailor in hot pursuit. After half a dozen fish I lose the popper (Rats! ) so I change to a Mojo twitchin' minnow on a 1/4oz jighead. I decided to let it sink in case something bigger is lurking below...and it was, too. Woohoo! This ain't a tailor! Deep runs, howling drag and me being towed about. What a hoot! Into the yak and she's a new PB for me. 72cm's and a welcome addition for the BBQ. Back I go and very next cast it's hammered again and this one screams off even harder. 'Un-bloody-real,' I think and there's not one other boat out here to join in. I keep the pressure on and before long she's circling below me. They don't give up easily and I make sure she's ready before I lip-grip her and slide her over the side. And this one goes 75cm's so now I'm only 25cm's off the meter club! I take a few photos and send her back on her way. Unfortunately I had to head back in and leave them biting but I'd caught more than enough. How good has this winter been for kingies? Keep 'em coming, I say. cheers, Cid

Top shots there, Col. Oooh, salmon are beautiful, one of my favourites when panfried in butter and served with cracked black pepper and fresh lime wedges. Mmmmmmmmm... cheers, Cid

Thanks for the replies everyone. IFishSick - I landed both fish on a 6" Mojo Twitchin Minnow in garfish colour rigged on a 1/4oz jighead. They are SP's similar to Slug-gos, but about half the price. The tailor turned it into a 1" SP though! cheers, Cid

In the pre-dawn light yesterday, I set the yak up with hopes of getting a kingie or nice tailor from the Hotwater Outlet. 'HA! Good luck on the kingies,' you might be saying, 'It's winter!' Well, I'm happy to report that there are still a few about and I managed to get one to come up and say a quick hello. Only a small rat of 53cm's, which was promptly put back, but they're still great fun on light tackle. Plus I also landed a nice tailor of about a kilo which will go down a treat for dinner tonight ! Happy days. cheers, Cid

Thanks everyone. It certainly dragged me around a bit. The outlet is on the western side of the jetty, about 500 meters from the shore. cheers, Cid

After helping Fordy bust his Kingie cherry on the weekend, I decided to have a whirl myself. I've caught kings before but never from my yak, so I headed off at the crack of dawn into the wind and chop towards the hotwater outlet in the Bay to flick around a mojo lure, hoping to repeat Fordy's effort. I was using a Pflueger Supreme rod, rated at 3-4kg's but I had my doubts. It looks just too flimsy. I rigged the Mojo to a Squidgy jighead and tied off onto 10lb fluoro that was connected to some 10lb braid. Same technique as before: cast out, let it sink then jig it back. Well, I'd been there about 20 minutes when only 4 meters from the yak there's a big boil and yahoo, we're off! We circled each other for 10 minutes or so and I have to say my doubts in the rod are now well and truly dispelled. She worked a treat and I finally netted my first kingie for the kayak. 69cm's to the tip and what a way to start a working day. It's just a bummer I can't stay out and try for another. A big thanks goes out to the guys in the boat "Spanardo" who snapped the photo for me. Thanks guys, I hope you got into a few. cheers, Cid

A good mate of mine recently purchased a new boat and wanted to take it out on Botany Bay to try and finally land a kingie. With a few good tips from Gary Brown we set off at dawn to flick a few sluggos around various drums and pylons. Well, we only got the one for him but it was a ripper for a first kingie! The first run had the reel howling in protest and Fordy was shaking like a leaf when we finally netted it. 72cm's total length and Fordy is still grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Thanks for the tips, Gary. cheers, Cid

Mick Munns and I tested out a few of his poppers on the weekend in the rain and came up trumps with a few nice bream. His best was a 38cm total length 'bewdie' he wrestled from the shallows on a brand new prototype, while my best was a 40cm total length beastie that fell to a Gulp 3" minnow in Lime/tiger colour. Great company and great fish in not so great weather. But who cares if the fish still wanna play! cheers, Cid

Hi Greg, Below is my baby! And I've added a few of the fish I've caught from her. She's a Hobie Sportsfisherman and although not cheap (about 2 grand), she's an exceptional fishing platform. Last year I competed in the Ausbream Socials and took out AOY, so for breamin' and bassin' they're ideal. I've installed a FF (Eagle Cuda 168) and the transducer is siliconed to the inside of the hull. On the back I have a 25 litre livewell that is great for livebait and will even hold a few bream or bass for a few hours until weigh-in. I have a $20 aerator that keeps the fish in good nick. On hot days I'll refresh the water every 30-40 minutes, too. The Hobie Sports aren't the quickest yaks around but they are super stable. I've had mine outside of Botany Bay heads with a good 2 meter swell and a lot of chop and she handled it a treat. Always wear a PFD though. The mirage drive keeps my hands free and is invaluable for fishing structure in the wind and tide as I can slowly pedal and remain in one position while I keep casting. I can be sitting at home and think 'Why don't I go for a fish?' and 20 minutes later I'm out on Oyster Bay. Clean up is a quick hose down and that's it. Nice and simple. cheers, Cid