Yak Fishing With Wendy

[arpie]

Hi all

Well, what can I say!?? On Friday, I had a call from Wendy/Gdcalmer, saying that she would be in Forster for a few days, so we immediately started talking 'fishing'!! YAAAY!

The bad news is that she had sold her kayak, but I said "No worries, I have 3 spare!!" Bewdie! All organised - we would go over to Tuncurry & fish a quiet backwater, away from any boats! Yes - the hordes have started to arrive already! Usually they all arrive on Boxing Day ........

Wendy also thought she'd gotten away with anyone knowing it was her birthday on Fri, but Fishraider Knows All!!! hehe When she arrived at the car park Sat morning, I surprised her with a Birthday Hug & a cicada top water lure ....... knowing full well, that the cicadas were working well on bream over the last few weeks!

We hopped into our yaks & headed towards the tree lined shore & pretty soon, we were rewarded with slurps & bloops ..... and bream!! OK they weren't HUGE bream, but at least some thought our offerings were worth taking!

We moved around a bit & Wendy swapped between gulps & the cicada, getting lots of bloops on the cicada, but only the one small taker ...... so far!

There was bit of wind that annoyed us, but by carefully placing the yaks at best advantage, we managed to 'make the wind our friend' by having it on our backs, hence, nice,long casts!

More small bream fell to our lures and I had lots of fish following .... possibly some whiting, as I tried a Sammy65 & NW pencil! YES! Finally, a nice whiting joins the growing number of fish brought to the net! Only need a flattie now, to complete the 'trifecta'! Oh yeah - plus the small matter of a legal bream!

We moved to more open water, still in the shallows, and start casting towards the mangrove trees! Lots of spots for bream to hide, here!! Once again, more small bream fall to the topwater lures. I change to my Sammy65 & shoot it towards a weedy drop off & a fish explodes from the water as it inhales my lure! OMG!! What was that fish!?? Surely it would be a tailor? I had the drag set fairly lightly as I was using the 'silly string' & it took line freely. Gradually I brought it to the yak & Surprise Surprise - a nice flattie in the mid 40s!! I was amazed that it had become aerial like that - but as we were only fishing .3m, maybe they launch themselves at 'topwater bait'??

Once again, I toss a topwater lure out into the unknown .... this time an NW52 Pencil that I had coloured myself ....... the line tightens to a nice fish & almost immediately, I feel the line go limp! NO!!! I've been busted off ...... down near the reel!! Bloody 1lb Fireline - you can't trust anything these days!! hmmm - I shouldn't slag off about the line - maybe it was a bit worn down there, but I would still have expected it to break closer to the leader?? I lost a good 20m of line! I had cut off the first bit of line that had scuffed, but hadn't checked further up the spool! Ah well, it was the first Hard Body lure that I had lost in ages, so can't really complain, given the amount of fun that they have given me over the last few months! I had a spare NW that I coloured up last tonight ..... maybe I had 'deja vu' - I had actually photographed the lure Sat morning from all angles, so have the colours on record!

Wendy had now joined me in the shallows & was tossing her cicada lure towards the mangrove shrubs - bloop, bloop "I'm on''!! The fish actually towed her yak for a bit & then went in circles around the yak, before she brought it to hand ..... a VERY NICE BREAM!! Caught on her 'NOW' favourite lure, the cicada imitation that I had just given her for her birthday (originally orange, but I coloured it black with a marker pen!!) The bream was about mid 30s - and it had all three hooks of the treble firmly in its gob - so was unlikely to get off unless it found one of the numerous oyster outcrops that hid amongst the mangrove shrubs! High Fives all round!! We now have the Trifecta - in the bag, for Wendy to clean & fillet & leave in her Mum's freezer for some nice fish dinners.

Slowly, against the wind & tide, we make our way back towards the car park, tossing our cicada lures towards the shore at every opportunity - lots more 'bloops', but no more captures!

We pack the yaks back onto my ute, give each other a Merry Xmas hug & I head home & Wendy heads to her Mums.

A terrific day with a great buddy - look forward to yakking again with you, Wendy, whether down here or up Macksville way!

Cheerio

Roberta

[Chris 55]

Hi Roberta

sounds like a great days with a good mate

nice that you and Wendy had so much action and a feed

Could you post the pics of the re coloured NW52 to give us an idea

of how to customise a lure to a colour that works when that colour

isn't available

keep up the great reports and Merry Xmas to you and Keith

Chris

[arpie]

Hi Chris

......Could you post the pics of the re coloured NW52 to give us an idea of how to customise a lure to a colour that works when that colour isn't available.....

Ooooh - that would be telling!! But seeing as how you asked so nicely .......

From memory, it was a clear NW52 & I just used some cream fingernail polish for the belly & lower sides, a navy blue permanent marker for the shoulders & a green permanent marker for the along the spine.

Then I coated it with clear nail varnish ...... which 'melted' some of the colours, making them a bit lighter & a bit 'see thruish'!

It already had the orangy/red bit on the chin.

I think there is a similarly coloured one available in the shops, but I was just too lazy & stingy to buy it! I think mine has a bit more blue on it!! I wish I'd seen the fish that gobbled it!!

Many thanks for the Xmas wishes, I hope you and your family enjoy a safe, Happy Xmas too!

Cheerio

Roberta

[Day's Fishin]

Another great post to read Roberta. You really have fun & have great fishing buddies. Look forward to reading about your next outing.

Regards Jeff

[slinkymalinky]

You know you're getting a little obsessive when you spend time colouring in your lures with textas

I can just imagine Keith shaking his head and rolling his eyes in the background while you work on them.

Terribly shoddy workmanship when they manufacture that 1lb Fireline . You might have to top shot your spool now as I imagine the line load is now 0.00000001mm lower.

Other than these trials and tribulations, sounds like you had a blast with Wendy as usual. Loved the report and there were some beautifully handsome fish in those photos.

Have a fantastic Christmas both of you. May Santa bring you a nice big set of Marine Crayolas.

Best wishes, Slinky

[Hodgey]

What a terrific session! You are having a great time with the surface lures at the moment Roberta. Very interesting to see Wendy catch a nice bream on the cicada lure I'll have to file that info away in the memory bank. I love the colour scheme you came up with. I have a couple of NW pencils in that color and find it very successful on the bream down here too. Have a great Christmas mate. I hope the tourists leave you a little corner of your world all to yourself!

Cheers

Ian

[Luke K]

Hey Roberta,

Awesome read and lots of fun by the sounds of it. After Tristan got back from his trip up there a few weeks ago he told me about those nw52's and farout are they awesome or what. Very addictive too. I'm heading up to Macksville next week and I'm hoping to crack a few whiting up warrell creek. If your up that way between christmas and new year give me a burl.

cheers

Luke

[jewgaffer]

Great session and a nice reunion with Wendy, Roberta I'll bet you're glad to have Wendy back in the happy hunting grounds around Forster for a while ay.. Just thinking Roberta, it's sure going be very interesting to read the reports next time you and Wendy get the chance to fish the Nambucca River together....

Cheers

jewgaffer

[Ray R]

Hey top day out Roberta, you and Wendy had some great fun out there away from the crowds,

bet ya it get busy now up Forster way.

Congrats to you and Wendy...

[tide'n'knots]

great report roberta, I am hoping to come up your way for a couple of days around the 15th jan, if your at home we might be able to get a session in together if you like.

pete,

[arpie]

Hi Pete

I'll be here!! Give me a yahoo when you get here & we can hit the water in the yaks! It'd be great to catch up!

Cheerio

Roberta