Out In My Yak

[arpie]

Hi guys

It was Beautiful morning on Thurs, cloudy skies & clear water in Wallis Lake! The tide is high from a Full Moon phase & clear as - the fish had to be seen to be believed!!! I paddled over to one of my favourite blackie spots & tossed in a couple of baits/weed. Got bites but no downs, so was just watching the other fish go by when a rather nice looking flattie slid past beside me! It settled on the sand just before a dropoff & I increased the depth of my float, to try & make the weed look like a baitfish, so he may have a go at it .... he didn't! Shortly after that, an enormous flattie ambled past - it must have been 1m long & had a head on it like a shovel! I wasn't quick enough to get the camera out & probably would have frightened it off if I tried an underwater shot, anyway!!! This was a HORSE! Good to see there are still some big ones out there!

Popped on some cabbage & tossed out to the edge of some weed/scum that had floated into the corner. Previously, I had seen stacks of fish hiding under the debris in another lease, so thought it may be the same here. The weed stopped the float from moving, so I encouraged it to 'move' & immediately got a good down! Lifted the rod & you could tell by the tail thump that it was a good fish!! Didn't fight all that hard - dragged it thru the weed to net it too! A nice 40cm blackie!!

half of wallis lake in the net!

This was in amongst the weed!

Kept fishing for a while & got another nice blackie, then moved into the main channel along the washboards of the leases. First cast & I got another beautie!! It was now 11.20am & the better half was supposed to pick me up at 12 ...... so I approached a boat & asked a big favour ..... if they had a mobile, would I be able to make a quick call changing the pickup time from 12 to 2pm!! I offered them one of my fish as compensation, but they said No worries! Made the call & left a message on the answer machine ...... hmmmm, one of us is going to be in trouble, I thought!! Gave them a quick rundown on how to catch blackies & then I was back into it! Now had 3 fish in the keeper net!

The next 6 fish got off!!! All were big & one was very big!! As I was tied to the lease, I had 'pushed off' when I hooked the last fish & played it in the open water! Good idea, I thought & proceeded to try that with every other fish! The biggest one in particular paid no heed to that theory ..... it towed me back to the lease, after my rod circled the yak, trying to keep it away from the structure & then got off! The air was a bit blue, I can tell you!! It was a BIG fish!

Over the next 1.5hrs, I hooked & lost 4-5 more good fish. They are just so strong & I was only using 6lb fireline with 10lb traces. Perhaps I should try a hand line & just reef them in!!

Over the last hour or so, the skies had darkened & thunder was happening & I could see some lightening up Hallidays Point end, so thought it may be wise to head back towards the shore & safety .....

I ambled back towards the car park, happy to see that the other half was not there ..... he must have received the message! On the way back in the Breckenbridge Channel, I see a boat coming towards me, at speed & I go into my 'yak mode' .... slow down, 4 knot zone hand signal ...... only to recognise my other half on the boat, with a buddy!!! He had not received the message & had panicked, getting Colin to launch his boat to come in search of me!!!

Boy! Am I in trouble now!!! Best line of defence is Attack!! Didn't you get my Message??? What message?? This went on for a while ...... but as all was well, I think i was forgiven!! Keith hadn't been back home after dropping me off, so even if I did have my mobile, he still wouldn't have received the message!!!

Ne'er mind - a good day was had by me - & the 3 fish were despatched, filleted & skinned & are now crumbed & in the freezer

another 40cm blackie

It was so good I went out again on Fri - but only got the one 35cm fish in the bag this time! Lost a few but not as big as the day before. Still a lot of fun.

The cabbage was doing the trick first time out, then weed the next time! - I could see soooo many fish out there - can't wait to do it again!!

Edited October 27, 2007 by Roberta

[The Poacher]

Nice work - fishing by yourself in a yak!!!

structure and light lines make it hard in a boat, let alone when you are in a yak with the wind and the tide pushing you around. You deserved more than 3. Have to get them next time.

Poacher

[SUFFO]

WELL DONE,SEEMS TO BE YOUR FAV CATCHING THE BLACKIES

CHEERS

ADAM

[luderick59]

hi roberta

another great catch you and royce are cleaning up on blackies

ive been sticking to the rocks this weekend for nil results

i think they should come on strong when they start appearing on the rocks which wont be long going on water temp allready19 -20

use to get a lot of blackies under debris in the lake in the eddies

peter

[beachwormer]

Great report, Roberta.

Just a thought about the dropped fish - small hooks as used for luderick pull through easily. Do you think if you tried a mono trace with a bit of stretch in it it might go better than the fireline? Of course there are some days when you just seem to drop a lot of fish and it makes you wonder what you're doing wrong, and maybe there's no reason.

[arpie]

Hi Poacher - yak fishing is challenging at the best of times!!! I have ropes hanging off all over the place, to take advantage of anything I can tie off to & an anchor system that is 'extendable' as well!!! Worked out very quickly that I wasn't too fussed on paddling all the time whilst trying to use the rod as well! They are a challenging fish, that is for sure & when they are bigger & hiding amongst the leases, it gets very exciting, if frustrating at times!

Yeah, Suffo - I'm hooked on blackies! Will be up Port for 5 days from mid week ..... hope to tempt some onto the hook there, too!

Hi Peter - shame they are hit & miss still on the beach! I used to find them hiding under the scum/debris in the gutters when fishing with cunje. You'll have to come up here & have a go in one of my yaks along the leases!! Serious!!

Hi Beachwormer - I do actually use mono for the traces & also the line on the sinker setup. I am toying with the idea of using a longer 'blackie' rod next time .... I have a 3 piece, 13ft collapsing Ryobie Super Mesh rod (found it in a junk shop at Laurieton for $20) that I will take out next time! My 6ft rod just wasn't long enough to pur more pressure on them. Usually long rods are a pain in the proverbial when in a yak! I am sure if I had the 'shock absorber' affect of the longer rod, I maybe could have turned the biggest one's head! One hook was straightened (an old trace I had made up - hadn't put my suicide on!) & a couple were obviously just lip hooked too. The others were just too plain cunning!

Landing a strong fighting fish from a yak is just so different from landing one otherwise, even from a boat. Next time you are in a boat, sit on the floor & see how you go! No standing to gain extra 'purchase' or ability to steer them in another direction!

Always exciting when fishing from a yak! i can recommend it to all!|

Cheers

Roberta

[jewgaffer]

What a top report and another amazing kuyak session Roberta

Struth those horse size flathead must be having a picnic up there. I don't suppose it would be much good to pin a green weed skirt on the tail of a frozen pilchard ?

Notice luderick59's new aviator pic, Pete must be getting some new type of bait ready.

Now they'll only be three of us, Royce will be off to New Zealand for a while. He'll probably land a few 40lb snapper on blackfish weed and 18lb blackfish on whole cuttlefish , seems fish are a little different over there

Cheers Roberta,

jewgaffer

P.S. I'm not game to set the session up with Pete just yet. Undersize ones are mostly being caught at the moment, might pay to wait for a while and see.

[southerly]

Great report Roberta, nicw blackies. Good to see you back in the yak.

David

[gretsch]

Awesome effort Roberta..

Intreresting that the cabbage worked well.

[mpreston55]

G'day Roberta,

Great catch from your kayak. It must be a whole lot of fun fishing this way. I had a canoe that I used to fish from a couple of years back but it had an argument with some rapids in the Shoalhaven River and came off second best. Have been thinking about getting another one.

It's great to be able to see the blackfish while you are fishing for them. Had the same experience down at Sussex Inlet last week.

All the best

Howard

[arpie]

Hi Howard - yakking is a great way to fish, specially if you can get away during the week when less stink boats are out! Shame about the canoe!! The polyprop yaks are very strong & actually 'go' with the shape of any rocks or leases they run over!

Hi Ceph - you never know if it is cabbage or weed they are going to take, but usually weed along the leases. Am hoping to go out with Greendog/Peter today in his boat to show him the spots!!

Hi David - it was great to be back on the water - will be doing it more often again, now!! If I'd been in the Hobie I would have been able to pedal away whilst fighting that big fish & should have been able to turn his head!! Next time, I will take out the hobie, I reckon!

Hi Gaffer - it really was fun - still looking forward to getting together on the water with you, too!!

Cheerio

Roberta