At Last, Something To Write Home About!

[arpie]

Hi all

Well, I've had an interesting couple of weeks. I've been out in the yak a few times & only caught little stuff since Tide'n'knots & Cam returned home. I didn't bother taking any photos, as the breambos were small, as were the flatties!

Then, I saw a guy 'rinsing' his mud crabs & thought WOW!!! Those are nice!!! I am pretty sure I know where he got them, too!

very nice!

a basket full!

A couple of days ago, a buddy contacted me asking if I wanted to fish for blackies so a friend could test out his new underwater camera! Never one to say 'no' to a fishing outing ...... I was there bright & early with nice fresh weed & cabbage! I was way down the ocean end of the breakwall & got busted off by some drummer on 3 occasions, had lots of 'small' downs and he bait was being nibbled by tiddlers! It didn't look like it was going to happen - then, the heavens opened wide and we both bailed, getting drenched on the way back to the car. Tried again the next morning, with better weather and he got some shots (once again without fish, as I kept getting busted off again, even after upgrading to 10lb leader instead of 6lb!) I might get to see the pics some time soon! Then I tried from one of the jetties & all I could catch were 2 Surgeon Fish (the biggest I've caught, actually, so a new PB!) They went 30cm. I gave them to my neighbour who ate them last night & they really enjoyed them! Next time I catch any blackies, I will ring him & get him down there to take the pics of them in the water!

So today, i thought - I've had enough of this 'no fish' .... I'm going yakking! Who said there was going to be bad weather??

Got to my first blackie spot but someone else was there, so had to wait for them to leave! I looked over the fence of the lease & was amazed to see about 15-20 HUGE blackfish hiding behind the washboards! The tide was already dropping tho, making it difficult to get the weed to them! I tried, but they just scattered & I think I only had about one down! I reckon most of them would have been about 2kg!

I headed off towards the shallows to toss some pencils & poppers around & was rewarded with a very nice breambo!! It went 38cm

The bream was in top condition & weighted 800g

An over zealous cast managed to catch my safety flag instead a fish! Just glad it didn't disappear into the distance, given the energy I put into that cast!!

I continued using pencils & caught another few small ones, then this one jumped on!

Poppers weren't working today - all fish were caught on pencils! I had the treble of one lure in driven into my finger by one bream - it had wrapped the line around an oyster covered pole & I had to pedal over & unwind the line after bringing the bream in by hand! Whilst trying to de-hook him, he jumped around, jabbing the lure into my finger! I unceremoniously tossed him overboard (without a pic! )

On the way back to the car, I had a few more hits but no more hookups - a fun day on the water! Might just do it tomorrow & Sun as well!!

The water was beautiful & clear, with the 2m+ tides for the full moon!!

Cheerio for now

Roberta

Edited January 29, 2010 by Roberta

[Jewhunter]

Great to see the weather held for you Roberta & the fish came out to play.

Well dome on some top sessions. You might have to pull out the heavy gear & pole some of those pigs!

Nice bream on the surface as well.

Cheers,

Grant.

[arpie]

.....Time to get the whoop ass gear out and show those thumpers who's boss.....

....You might have to pull out the heavy gear & pole some of those pigs!.......

Forgot to say that I had another bustoff before I got the Surgeon Fish! I am sure it was a blackie tho, hooking it in the open water, then it motored around a mooring pole & DONE ME GOOD & PROPER!! It really surprised me, that one, as I felt quite in control & was happy hooking it in clear water, saw the silver flash as it turned to take the weed ........ then GORN in 2 seconds!

Oh yeah, and I saw ANOTHER jewie being caught on the Tuncurry side breakwall too!!

hmmmm the consensus of opinion is that I should upgrade my gear if fishing that area again (normally I fish further down where you don't get the drummer, but boy it is exciting for all of a nanosecond when they hit!) ..... maybe I should use a less flexible rod (the blackie rod is too flexi) with obviously much stronger leader! The main line is 20lb braid, so hopefully should be OK? I could almost upgrade my leader maybe to 12-15lb?

I reckon I'll hit the yak again on the weekend, tho - it is just soooo gorgeous on the lake just now & there are a couple of new flats I want to check out in the big tides, too.

Check the colour of the water behind the Surgeon Fish! Beautiful Wallis Lake BLUE! Clear as, too! It almost looks as if you can touch the bottom, but it would be 6-8ft at least!!

Matter of fact, in the Yak ABT GF last year, I saw Steve Fields from Hobie jump out of his yak, thinking it was only 2-3ft deep & he went in up to his armpits!

Cheerio

Roberta

[jenno64]

I bet you're glad the tourists are back at work...now you can get to work on upgrading PBs! I've heard that surgeons are great eating so you should keep them. You are doing well with those pencils and they are fantastic bream...I don't target bream but I would like to hook something that big from my yak! As for the crabs...get out there and get yourself an entree soon!

[slinkymalinky]

Ouch!

Looks like some nice weather for your yak session. Some fit, healthy Breambos. Sorry to hear about your little accident with the hook... bet the language was as blue as the sky

Nice to see the fishing picking up for you.

Cheers, Slinky

[arpie]

Hi Rob - you really must try top water fishin' for breambos! It is really addictive!! I hooked a decent flattie today too & it tried to power off into the mangroves, then managed to spit the hook (or it busted his jaw) as it was very well hooked!! These days, flatties & blackies are lower down on the pecking order now! And I don't even eat bream!!! At least I do eat flatties & blackies!

Thanks for the sympathy, Slinky! The language was as blue as the water! Amazing colours just now & crystal clear on these king tides! Went out again today & headed further into the mangroves than I ever have before! I was knocking spiderweb aside (finding 2 of them on the yak some time later! ) I hope they know how to swim, cos they were treading water last time I saw them!

Wow! What a day! I woke up at 6am & it was bucketting with rain! Oh good, a sleepin!! Awake again at 7.30 and the rain had stopped & there was full sun again!! I got my gear together & headed to the lake, realising when I got there, that I had forgotten my rock hoppers! Darn!! I couldn't be bothered going home for them, so just used the Skin coloured Blockout stick to paint my toes (about the only bit not covered with clothing!) After I showered this evening, I found the bright red bits that the blockout missed!

My plan today was to go as far as I could with the big high tides & explore some of the mangrove swamps around the area I had been fishing. I found some absolutely gorgeous white sandy 'lake within a lake' that can only be accessed on the king tides. Dirty sanded mangroves are all around it, but this spot is pure white sand! It was full of blackfish & mullet but very shallow. I hooked a nice flattie there - he jumped out of the water to take the Sammy65!! He powered into the mangroves & I turned his head & thought I was about to net him when he went under the yak & out the other side, spitting the hook at the same time!

Back in the shallows, the wind was making it difficult to position myself as well as yesterday, but the bream kept biting!

First fish was in the low 30s and put up a spirited fight! I thought he would be much bigger than that!!

with a nice set of chompers - he he you can see my sunblock covered toes!! That brown stuff was everywhere by the end of the day!

Shortly after, another nice bream was pulled in. It went just a tad over 25cm

I was trying different methods today, casting more to the shore rather than in the middle & it paid off bigtime, except in this case! It is only marginally bigger than the lure!!

I often found myself up the end of a dead end creek! It was fun exploring new waterways. I had lots of hits in this spot, but no hookups.

Then, in virtually 2 casts, I caught the 2 bream that really brightened my day! the first one went 31cm

Then I caught the Grand Daddy of the day - he went 34cm & fought as is he were 44cm!! He really gave me a hard time - ducking under the yak, rubbing into the weeds, trying to get off - but I held solid!! Finally he came on board! He went 600g.

Another nice set of chompers

Back in the water, to grow bigger, for someone else to catch later! This shows you how shallow I was fishing!! And as he swam away, you couldn't see any of his fins, either, which goes to show that BIG BREAM can live in SHALLOW WATER!!

THen I caught a nice whiting on the Sammy too! It went 31cm & went back to grow bigger, along with the other fish. It fought so hard, I thought it was another bream!

As I headed back to the ute, I put one extra cast in & got this!!

Funnily enough, I'd been patting myself on the back for not getting any wind knots today & then I got that doozy!! I thought, this is a sign! GO HOME! I did & untangled it in minutes! God knows I've had lots of practise at it!!!

WOW! WHat a great day to be out on the water. Because of the wind, there weren't many boaters out there, so I basically had the lake to myself!!! In the hobie, being able to cast as you pedal - I threw casts left & right & even had some good hits on the way back to the car, but alas, no more hookups! Didn't matter!! I had had a blast!!!

Sun Morning ...... after a bit of a broadband glitch last night (this post was a mess when I logged on this morning ..... and I hadn't even hit 'submit'!) Rural Broadband is nothing like city broadband! I ended up 'bailing' halfway thru the post and continued 'writing it up' elsewhere, to copy & paste this morning with the pics!

Anyway, the plan was to get out on the water again this morning, but after fishing 5 mornings in a row (until 3.30pm most times!!) the big wind this morning has encouraged me to have a day off!!! I will hit the water again tomorrow morning ...... shame, as today is the biggest tide of ...... 2.03m!!

Ah well, the fish will still be there ..... I hope!!

Today is the first time I have caught enough bream that were big enough (over 25cm to the fork) to fill what would be a 'yak comp fishing bag' so, if I was to compete, would have had a reasonably solid bag! Gotta be happy with that!!!

Cheerio & tight lines!!

Roberta

Hi Ray - I had a blast out there on Fri & Sat - the surgeons on Thurs really did put up a fight - I assumed they were big blackies (I hoped they were!!) I'd only ever caught baby ones before!!

Hi Marcel - I actually found 2 abandoned crab traps in one of the mangroves - no float or name & the cages are absolutely covered in slime & crap - so haven't been 'attended to in years' I reckon!! They looked in OK condition other than that tho! Obviously well built!

Edited January 30, 2010 by Roberta

[Ray R]

Hi Roberta, great post and some neat shots too, some of those bream are a great size

and that surgeon must have been a surprise, I believe they put up a good stoush..

Congrats..

[marcel haber]

hI Roberta,

Good to hear and see you getting out there and ejoying the glorious surroundings.

Love the shot of the surgeon fish, you should invest in some crab pots and set these out whilst you have a fish.

Those crabs do look yummy and it would be great to get a few if the fishing is quite.

Twin 1]

[arpie]

Boy!! Am I glad I didn't go out this morning!!! It is now bucketting down!! I'd woken up to rain during the night, but it looked quite nice this morning (apart from the wind!!)

Good decision to have a lay day!!

Roberta

Hey Marcel - I reckon that Surgeon looks like he is pouting!! if I'd 'realised' the bridge was in the background, I might have put more of it in!!

Edited January 30, 2010 by Roberta

[tide'n'knots]

hi roberta, you are really on fire ATM . it must be awesome to get your waterway back to yourself and not have to share it with hundreds of tourists. I would definately up the anti on your trace line - at the end of the day, if they still bite, your a much better chance of actually landing a fish when you hook a big surgeon or drummer.great report as usual.

by the way if you speak to cam tell him we did the first load in the washing machine the other night - works fantastic - tell him thanks heaps.

pete.

[Hodgey]

Great stuff Roberta! Well done on the surgeon fish ... yet another species I have yet to capture.

Tossing surface lures from a boat is very rewarding as it can be highly visual. It is pretty easy to impart the appropriate action to a pencil as well. Yak fishos are highly disadvantaged when it comes to both these factors IMHO, so it's great to see the haul of breambos you got into. The likes of yourself and Mako have really got the 'surface luring from a yak' thing wired now

How's the floating weed situation down there? The water quality looks terrific! look forward to a chat soon

Cheers

Ian

[arpie]

..... we did the first load in the washing machine the other night - works fantastic.....

That's great news Pete!! Cam will be chuffed!

....Tossing surface lures from a boat is very rewarding as it can be highly visual. It is pretty easy to impart the appropriate action to a pencil as well. ......

Hi Hodgey - I know what you mean!! But now, I can do 'the action' better in the yak than standing up!!! I have a modified version that I worked out myself that is totally different from anyone else I see doing it, but it works for me!

... Yak fishos are highly disadvantaged when it comes to both these factors.....

Agreed!! I generally just toss into areas that I 'think' have fish (or where i have caught before), rather than standing up & sight fishing. Or like on Sat, when I tried something different & got 2 more quality fish. Funny how it doesn't work with all pencils tho! I must stand up more in the yak in the shallows tho - now that I have fitted the buoys to both sides, but I don't always take them out with me! Matter of fact, one ruptured when I left the pole in & hit some shallows, so I need a new saddle for that side. Must also make another stake out pole/aka ski pole, so I can put one on both sides of the yak, then I can choose what direction I fish into - with just the one, the yak swings around (like a boat on anchor) either with the wind or the current. I find that I can stay there pretty well the whole day & have regular hits over 5hrs!!

The 34cm fish was so aggressive, he was still smashing the lure within rod distance of the yak until he got it!! Usually when they get reasonably close to the yak, they lose interest! Should have had the video on to film it!

In the main channels & the Paddock (the huge shallows behind the bridge) the weed is everywhere! It is a pain!! However, where I have been fishing, you hardly get any! Which is why I keep going there (or to similar spots nearby.) The main entrance & Breck Channel is just such a brilliant colour just now! Virtually the same colour as the blue that surrounds this post as I am writing. Mesmeric!! Problem is, tho, that people virtually come to a dead halt on the bridge to take a photo & get run up the xxse!!

We gotta get you up here one day!!! You will love it!!!!!

Cheerio & thanks for reading

Roberta

All going well, will be out again today!

Edited January 31, 2010 by Roberta

[james7]

Some great fish there Roberta. A couple of thumper bream too.

I've never caught a surgeon, but I hear they go hard.

Great photos and a top report to read.

Thanks

Cheers

Peter

[Juzza]

Hi Roberta, ahahha the dreaded wind knot! You day dream for a couple of seconds and when you're winding unknowingly you only make the problem worse =]. Great to see you catching the bigger brutes up in your area!

Justin

[Mondo Rock]

Great report Roberta - as always.

Lots of detail, lots of atmosphere, and great fish pics to top it off!! I always enjoy reading about your adventures. There can't be many better ways to spend a day than yakking in and around the quiet mangroves and leases up your way. I can hear the water lapping against the side as I write . . . .

As for those muddies - hell, if I wasn't convinced before then I am now. Muddies are definitely next on my list of species to master. I fish out of Brisbane Water and am almost certain that you can't use any sort of net or trap to catch them in that system, so I'm trying to suss out some methods for catching them on line. Dunno how effective that's going to be but if it results in even one of those tasty buggers then it'll be worth it!

Anyway - keep those reports coming! They're a balm for my days in the office.