gdcalmer

Hi guys, Never a dull moment when you happen to live in Forster,and especially when you have such a fun fishing buddy like Roberta. Since Roberta has taken me under her wing I have discovered kayak fishing, black fishing and lure fishing and I was only thinking yesterday how my love for the sport had broadened & I get a phone call from my mate asking if I want to go prawning. Instantly I replied, sure why not. Having never tried this form of hunter/gatherer pastime, I was keen to have a go! Arrangements were made to meet up at waters edge around 9.30-10.00. Keen to do a little sp flicking practice, I wandered down around 7.30 and anchored at the edge of a drop off. As the sun slowly went down and the darkness set in, I became quite nervous and gradually backed the yak into the shallows, thinking I really don't want to go paddling around in the dark, you just never know what's out there having a feed. Before long Roberta turns up, full of enthusiasm and I thought to myself what the heck, and by the time I managed to squeeze into the yak with my waders up under my armpits the hebe jebies were left behind. It actually felt like an adventure as we paddled across the channel to the shallows. We parked our yaks on the edge of the island and proceeded with the hunt for glowing eyes on foot. What a sight, two silly woman walking around the knee deep water, dressed in waders and spotlights on our foreheads in the middle of the night, what a hoot. Well, I had gained my Dutch Courage in no time, and there was a lot of hunting happening but not much gathering going on, so when Roberta suggested we hop in the yaks and tie up in the channel I was all for it. I managed to tie up onto a floating pontoon and then things started happening. Because this was my first ever prawning adventure, I had no idea how many was an "exceptable catch" and aparently it was a quiet night . Who cares - we had a lot of laughs and I faced my fears and tried something that I have wanted to do for years. Thanks Roberta for yet another first in my diary of life on the water Cheers Wendy

Beginners luck guys. I have'nt posted for a while,the mojo has been off the boil I woke up this morning feeling like the fish were calling me ,so I reported the plan to the teacher and wondered down to the break wall with a positive attitude. After collecting some fresh weed,I found a confortable and safe spot to fish from and had a lovely time getting a reasonable amount of downs and dropping two hefty fish then finally ending up with dinner for mum and dad, as per photo's. If the rain holds off tomorrow morning Roberta I was thinking the red houseboat in yak , launching around 8.30. Thanks for posting pix, Cheers Wendy

You are so right about the polaroids Roberta,its great to be able to see through the water , Its almost mesmerising. Good to see the teachers photo on screen for a change,that blackie looked much bigger in real life. I'm going to wonder over to our new spot tomorrow, I will give you a call in the morning when I pick up my phone which I inadvertently left behind today at mum and dads Slinky,my boat is a quinni 435 coast runner,she is 3 yrs old but looks and goes like brand new,I was sort of hoping to get Roberta more enthused about fishing in it ,but she much prefers the yak,We plan to tie her yak to the boat oneday and venture further up the lake and then Roberta can paddle in some new territory and I can enjoy the confort of the boat, sounds good to me Cheers Wendy

Hi Jewgaffer If you ever get to Forster I have the 435 Coastrunner to fish from and if we can pry Roberta out of the yak we might find some jewies aroud the bridge and don't worry us gals will be the deck hands and you can be the captain Catching a jewies has always been a dream for me,never had anyone to show me how Thanks again for the great hat,love it.I sent you a P M , HOPE YOU RECEIVED IT CHEERS WENDY

Have you had enough yet Roberta? I've got tomorrow off,and I finally found a pair of waterproof pants so guess what I will be doing rain, hail or shine There has to be other spots where the blackies are hanging out besides you know where I mean . Cheers Wendy

Hi Slinky Interesting,my brother lives in Kellyville, and also has a pond down the bottom of his street with carp in it. His wife Dawn takes their grandsons down there for a fish. Ring any bells? Wendy.

MMMMM INTERESTING Love it when you drop a line in while killing time and stumble on a hot spot , what time was it,when and where?...Have you stopped smiling yet? You have brightened my day up, thanks, and you know why I picked up some H B lures including a Chubby and a new b/f float today over at the tackle shop in Tuncurry Cheers Wendy.

Hi peter. gdcalmer ,aka good calmer is the name of my 435 Quintrex Coastrunner. There is a saying that if you are a good person duing this life and true of heart you will be rewarded in your next life,hence good calmer......but if you are a bad person you will receive bad calmer in next life. Something like that anyway. Fishing in my boat on a quiet treelined river in calm water is when I'm at my happiest..... gdcalmer!! Wendy

Thanks Slinky,I still carn't get the smile of my face Those blackies can really test your ability to be pacient,and have confidence in you tackle. The fish I was bringing in in that photo seemed to take forever to land,thats when you know your testing your abilities,and it helps when you have a great mate behind you steadying you down and reminding you to tier the fish out before you attempt to net him, she is a pretty good photographer to. When your having as much fun as we were Steve 7 hours just flys by The rod I was using Jewgaffer was a J.W. VECTOR SERIES 111. 8' 6' SUPERTIP I bought it years ago when I was landbased,found it to soft for that but perfect out of the yak for blackies. I spent the first half of the day modifying the little red yak you were kind enough to lend me Roberta Then I natually had to go out and test everything, a couple of tweeks were needed,but alas no fish to be found Carn't waite for the next lesson

Well done Reggie, Its good to know someone else experienced the joy of their first deliborate blackfish catch. Thanks to our buddies sharing their knowledge we have the chance to become real fisho's. Cheers Wendy

Thanks guys for all the congrats, but really how can you go wrong when you've got Roberta in your corner I still carn't get the smile of my face,those bloody blackfish are awsom to catch!!! I reckon half of Forster would have heard me yelling I'm on !, I'm on, and Roberta steadying me down and saying pull him to the right, pull him to the right,keep him away from the racks!!! Amagine this,my rod bending in half I'm thinking is my line going to bust ,I'm trying to wear him down a bit before reeling him towards the yak and trying to get the net ready only to realise the nets to short So here I am with trying to keep this bruiser to the right and the nets between my knees trying to extend it and finally just getting the catch of my life in to the net and could hardley lift it up with my weak left hand. Luckerly my mentor cruises up beside me support the end of the net and if I could have stood up in the yak I would have done a highland jig Roberta you should be holding classes for blackfishing you would make a fortune Thanks mate carn't waite till friday for my next lesson.

Great report Roberta, is the float in the austar dish reflexion? I see what you mean about the weed,top stuff. You should be chuffed getting to cudle up to E T I hope he realises he was in the company of a great fishing embassidor for Forster. Can I mention to everyone ITS ROBERTA'S BIRTHDAY ON TUESDAY Cheers Wendy

Hi Roberta, Wondered around Forster and Tuncurry on saturday trying to find the fish but alass no luck. Then sunday arvo I went to my special little pontoon and before I could finish my first cup of coffee I was reeling in the fattest bream I've ever caught. He was 37cm ,it was'nt roe it was all food.He was a hungry bugger he took the mullet all the way down. Then with in the next hour I scored a 40cm and a 45cm flathead Just shows that persistace does pay and good old mullet never lets me down I love fishing. wendy

Hi Jewgaffer Way ahead of you ,got the fresh mullet fillets this avo. Roberta may be introducing me to the world of kayaking but I going to coaks her into using the goog old mullet for bait. I always catch my bream and flatties on it. Car'nt beat it. Wendy.

Hi guys and gals I"m feeling quite full after a scrumpsious feed of smoked mullet. Thanks Roberta my mum and dad thought the fish was great,we have only ever had smoked cod, you will have to show me how to smoke fish . What a day we had out in the kayaks. I love being able to croooze in and out of those leases. Its funny, I was to exited with the great fight the mullet was giving to realise it was taking me for a ride You must have been cracking up!! I must admit I did get a little nervous when the wind blew up all of a sudden, but I knew my new buddy was keeping an eye on me , all the same , I was sure glad to light that smoke when we got back to shore. Tomorro the gals are in the Quinni and I'm going to make sure Roberta has something to eat and drink.That girl would fish all day without a thing to eat :thumbdown:Gotta keek up your streanth to pull those big black fish in! Lets see if we can have as much fun in the boat as we did in the yaks. Wendy

Hi all, Thanks Roberta for the intro,its great to finally catch up with some obsessed fisho's. Moved to Forster 14 months ago from Macksvills to look after my elderly parents, and its been hard to find anyone around my age who loves this wonderful world of fishing as much as I do. There is so much I want to learn about the different styles of fishing and as Roberta would have already noticed I'm pretty set in my ways with the strip or mullet on a hook. Don't worry Roberta I will convert. Its just that there is nothing better than feeling that tap, tap, tap and the the line spooling off and gauging when to set the hook then off we go , the fight is on!!!!! Must admit ,the yak must be great for sneeking up on those big blue nose bream among the racks.Carn't waite to try it. I have spent hours and hours reading everyones postings with such excitement, this is such a great site , I'm learning so much and enjoying hearing about your fishing adventures!!! Even though I've fished for over fifty years (from the bank) I have only been boating a short time. I started with a little Quinny 315 tinni, with a 5 hp Yamaha but soon realised I need a real boat. So when I moved to Forster I bit the bullet and found my dream boat. A Quinni 435 Coastrunner.She was 3 yr old with all the extras and only 39 hrs on the clock. I have to admit its taken me a while to get my confidence up but I do beleive I finally getting the hang of things now. So, I hope my new raider friends don't mind but I will be asking a few silly questions from time to time to improve my knowledge... No 1.....I noticed one of the wheel bearings was warming up on my last trip back to Forster from Macksville .Around 250 k's.Would that be a lack of grease? and what is the consenses on bearing buddies? By for now. Wendy.