Long Reef 25/5 By Yak

[sails]

Hi guys,

this is my first post for a while,been a bit quiet, but I hit the water last Sunday afternoon.

I Put my Kayak in at Collaroy 2pm for a bash at anything that would take a hook. Headed nth along the beach to Sth Narra, with two rods with spinners for nothing, so headed straight out and then veered across towards Long Reef.

On the way I spied three boats that were to the north of Longy , so thinking they were fishing I headed over to see what depth and action they were getting. As I approached they split and headed nth and S, and then I realized they were whale watching. Saw 2 humpbacks do some amazing breeching, full body out of the water kind of thing. I tried to catch them up, but could not close the gap quick enough , so by the time I was off Sth Narra again, I gave up and headed back to Long reef.

Found the shallow area to the north of Long reef, (is that the Wall?) about 23 ft, and began dropping cubed pieces of yellow tail. Lots of bites , but no hook ups, so changed hooks to a smaller bream hook and that was the trick .Caught what I think was a silver drummer, and by the time I had pulled him in and re baited, I was East of the point and heading to NZ. Quite a strong current flowing there.

Got back to the shallow area and as there were fish showing on the fishfinder at half depth I dropped a cube down just passed half way . Had a couple of small taps then a solid take, which took a little line then began towing me NW in towards Collaroy, which was fine by me as that was where I needed to go and it was 4.20pm.

Ten minutes passed ,Rod and reel (Abu Muscle tip and Dam Quick 800 Champion over head) were doing fine, but I was a bit concerned about the fact that what ever I had on was showing no sign of tiring. It is beginning to get dark around 5pm, and I didn’t want to be out there after dark with no lights etc, so I added a bit more pressure with both thumbs on the line with max drag and tried to get a lift on to see if I could spot what ever it was .All of a sudden the spool free wheels and gives me a birdsnest, and I thought I must have hit my chest with the spool release. At first the fish didn’t react, and I thought “maybe I can retrieve the situation” , but as soon as I thought it, the fish ran and all I could do was hold on, and of course the line broke.F***** . The line had thrown a loop around the spool release mechanism, which I had not seen.

I rerigged and tried again but had to give it away as I had a half hour paddle in and I was out passed the end of Long Reef again..

Had two hits on the silver spinner on the way in and landed one pike, which will become bait next time.

Last night I was testing the drag on the reel to try to understand what had happened out there, and the same thing happened while testing. On opening the side cover of the reel, I found the geared wheel that drives the worm gear had stripped. It is made of some kind of plastic and was obviously not upto the load I was putting on it. It made me feel a bit better as I was sure I had caused the problem by hitting the spool release botton.

I am now busy stripping and servicing my other reels and testing the drags and putting together new rigs so I am ready for the next chance at a big fish. Hopefully the weather will be as kind as it has been as it was very comfortable out there Sunday afternoon.

Tight lines

Sails

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[Guest]

TOUGH LUCK MATE ON WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A VERY GOOD FISH

Time for an upgrade of tackle me thinks as all that paddling has to knock you around and when you hook a good fish you definately want to land it.

Cheers Stewy

[jewgaffer]

That was an excellent read Cam fishing off shore in a yak. After all that and whales nearby blowing water and then getting towed off by some off shore species. If I owned a yak I think I'd just sit back anchored to a backwater sandflat fishing for garfish.

Very good outdoor stuff Cam.

Cheers

jewgaffer

[slinkymalinky]

Ouch! At least you know now that it wasn't anything over which you had control. Keep telling yourself that it was a lip-hooked shark and not a big Snapper or out of season Cobia or anything like that and you'll feel a little better. See you soon.

Slinky

[arpie]

Hehehe Got any Overhead reels for sale as well, Slinky???

Shame, Cam - Perhaps it would have been worse if you'd actually got the fish up to the surface & identified it! Ah well, you know where to go the next time!!!!

Lots of head shakes could be a big snapper - I think big kingies just power away, maybe a cobia?? (never hooked one of those yet that I am aware of.) Big stingrays just go down & hide in the sand before powering off with all your line ..... take your pick! Giant Squid???

Don't forget your camera next time!

Cheerio

Roberta

[sails]

hi guys and gals,

thanks for the replies;

Stewey, what do you recommend as a good overhead for yak fishing. I dont want to be over gunned, but it does need to be able to handle the strain of a big fish. Currently (apart from the Dam 800 which I have repaired today with a drive gear for an ambassadeur 6500), I have an Ambassadeur 6000 and an Ambassadeur 6500C3. All 3 reels are basically the same.

Hi jewgaffer,

it is a thrill being off shore on the yak. I used to go out on my Byron Bay wave ski with a sholder bag and hand line, but not as far as I go now. There is a certain amount of optimism one needs to have for this , as the down side is not to be contemplated for too long, especially with the wife!!

Cheers Slinky, it was a relief to find the damage to the reel. could have been a shark, but I prefer the thought of a big snapper!! Any comments on a suitable reel? Everyone has a favorite, overhead or spinner, . the Abu have been great for the Barra in the territory, and they are not too expensive.

Hi Roberta,

I pulled in an eagle ray last week from the pipe, and it was a bit like a sack of wet sand. There are some big black rays around here at present; there were two around the pipe two weeks ago Sunday and they would have been 2 m across. I like the thought of a giant squid, they have been pretty scarse here for the past few weeks, only coming in in one and two per night.

cheers

Cam

[gretsch]

What is a Dam Quick 800 Champion overhead? Sounds as though it may not have the gear box you need for large speedsters!

[arpie]

Cam

Check the For Sales regularly - a nice overhead there the other day .... depends on the $$ you want to spend!??

Better still, put up a 'Wanted'!!

Here's a GPS up for grabs

http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=31103

Roberta

[sails]

[Hi Ceph,

DAM are the initials of the company in Germany that manufactured the reel. It is almost identical to the Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 6000 overhead that I have, and the gears are interchangable, so who came first is up to the historians. It is a good reel, but at least 20 years old, probably undergunned for the big fis h,and the plastic gear could have become brittle.

Sails

quote name=Ceph' date='May 29 2008, 08:34 AM' post='241040]

What is a Dam Quick 800 Champion overhead? Sounds as though it may not have the gear box you need for large speedsters!

[Guest]

Sails ,if it was my decisoin I would go for a calcutta 700 or a tld 25 as they are not too heavy to lug around and you can load that up with 30lb braid and put some hurt on.

Cheers Stewy

[sails]

Hi Stewy,

I hit the tackle shop today and ended up with a TR2000LD, Charter special, based mainly on price . As I am fishing from a yak size was also a considertion, and it is a bit smaller than the TLD25, about the same price, but still has the levelwind. Would love the Calcutta 700, but couldn't justify the cost. At least it will give me a greater chance for victory!!

cheers

Sails.